Can humans go to Mars and live there?

The atmosphere of Mars is thinner than that of the Earth, 95% of which is carbon dioxide, 3% of nitrogen, and 2% of argon; the ground temperature at the equator of Mars is -113°C at night, and the maximum is 7°C during the day; Mars The average temperature throughout the year is around -58°C. The oxygen-free atmosphere, freezing temperatures and arid surface have become the three major obstacles for humans to immigrate to Mars.

So, how about using human wisdom and technology to transform Mars into another Earth? This idea sounds a bit incredible, but it is actually completely achievable, and using the technology of the 21st century, within a few decades Within a short period of time, the environment of Mars can be completely transformed. In the idea of ??Mars turning into Earth, the most important thing is actually the first step, and this first step is not difficult to achieve: the temperature only needs to be raised a little bit

The earth is currently facing a serious environmental problem-- Global warming. Scientific research shows that this is caused by an increase in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The current environment of Mars is just opposite to that of the Earth. Our Earth seems to need to cool down, while Mars needs to heat up. Why not let Mars also suffer "global warming"? ,

There is no shortage of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mars. In fact, it also had a warm and humid climate environment back then. It can be judged from the traces of river erosion that still remain on its surface. Until now, the Martian atmosphere still contains large amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. The reason why Mars is now cold is due to the water cycle on Mars. A lot of carbon dioxide in the air was absorbed by the water, combined with the surface materials of Mars, and was fixed in the form of sedimentary rocks or ice. The early atmosphere of Mars was not dense, and it became even thinner after the carbon dioxide was fixed, so the warm climate of Mars was terminated. Fortunately, the carbon dioxide lost from the Martian atmosphere did not leave Mars but was buried in the Martian soil. As evidence, the Martian Antarctic tundra seems to be composed of ice and dry ice, and ice is solid carbon dioxide.

To allow solid form of carbon dioxide to return to the atmosphere, it would only be necessary to raise the temperature on the surface of Mars just a tiny bit. As long as the temperature on Mars increases, a lot of fixed carbon dioxide will return to the Martian atmosphere. Once the carbon dioxide concentration in the Martian atmosphere increases, the greenhouse effect will begin to take effect, the heating process will continue, and more carbon dioxide will change from solid to gaseous state. This is the principle of positive feedback between temperature on Mars and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is conceivable that if we can trigger this positive feedback effect, Mars' long-standing severe cold will be reversed in one fell swoop. How can the new weapon that "bombards" Mars fire the first shot of Mars transformation and increase the temperature of Mars just a little bit? The most direct idea is to improve the ability of the surface of Mars to absorb solar energy, such as sprinkling some black carbon powder on it. The frozen regions at the poles enhance Mars' absorption of light energy.

The ever-changing nanotechnology allows us to have better solutions. Some scientists imagine that the continued development of nanotechnology will enable us to master the method of manufacturing nanoscale robots. These invisible robots can be mass-produced, uniformly programmed, and then scattered like dust to the frozen soil of Mars. With the belt, humans can uniformly command hundreds of millions of nano armies on the earth to directly decompose materials in soil and ice, allowing carbon dioxide, water, and oxygen to escape from them. If technology permits, nanorobots can use local materials to replicate themselves on Mars, expand their teams, and the transformation speed will be faster. After the atmosphere of Mars has been modified, humans will issue instructions to have all these nanorobots change jobs and decompose on the spot.

Even if nanotechnology cannot reach such a wonderful level for the time being, we can still build huge, high-reflectivity orbiting mirrors to reflect more sunlight to the surface of Mars. This solution is not technically difficult and can be realized using current solar sail manufacturing principles. In order to achieve the effect of initiating positive feedback of temperature rise, perhaps we need a very large reflector with a radius of 100 kilometers to reflect sunlight onto the Antarctic ice cap of Mars. While the ice is melting, carbon dioxide is also released. If a large mirror is made of solar sail materials, the total mass of the mirror will reach 200,000 tons. It would be too expensive to transport so much material from the earth. You can consider using local materials and manufacturing on planets near Mars, such as its satellites. The resources needed to start the space factory can be obtained from the satellites of Mars, and the required energy can be considered to build a nuclear power plant. Solar sail technology responds to solar light pressure, so we can adjust the angle of the mirror appropriately to direct sunlight to the latitudes of the Martian surface where sunlight is needed.

Now, humans have synthesized a "super greenhouse gas" that is tens of thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide, which is perfluoropropane (C2F2). The soil on the surface of Mars contains carbon and fluorine, making it very convenient to artificially synthesize perfluoropropane on Mars. Therefore, to transform Mars, we do not need to focus on carbon dioxide. We only need to build some "greenhouse gas" synthesis factories on Mars to completely transform Mars. Scientists have discovered through computer simulation experiments that when the concentration of perfluoropropane in the Martian atmosphere reaches 3 parts per million, it can trigger an unstoppable chain greenhouse effect, causing Mars to continue to heat up, eventually turning Mars into a planet in a few hundred years. A warm and humid world with a spring-like climate and melting ice and snow.

Of course, this extremely powerful weapon must be used with caution, because until a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of Mars is obtained, people cannot judge how much perfluoropropane is appropriate to discharge into the Martian atmosphere. If you invest too much, Mars may become so hot that it truly becomes a "fire" star, making it difficult to approach, and humans will be self-defeating. Rejuvenating Mars

The technological level of the 21st century can completely change Mars. The new Mars is actually more like the early Mars, warm, humid, with rivers and oceans, but unfortunately there is still no oxygen. To work and live on the new Mars, humans may also need breathing equipment. The good news is that we don’t need to wear pressure suits. We can use the various methods mentioned above to increase the carbon dioxide concentration and increase the atmospheric pressure of Mars to a level that we humans find comfortable. As the atmospheric pressure of Mars increases, humans can begin to build large-scale construction on the surface of Mars. Once the temperature in many areas on Mars is regularly maintained above 0°C, we can transplant many earth plants to Mars. Species from cold regions such as pine, fir, birch, oak, and cherry trees should like the modified Martian environment. The prosperity and expansion of plants will produce a large amount of oxygen, which in turn will allow animals on Earth to migrate there. Eventually, humans on Mars will also throw away their bulky oxygen bottles and move freely as they do on Earth.

There is no doubt that as long as the first step of transforming Mars is achieved, everything will fall into place and we will get a new Earth.