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Bringing Life to Mars,

Bringing Life to Mars,. and Mars to Life. Terraforming defined. Genesis of term Basic definition

danielwallace
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Bringing Life to Mars,

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  1. Bringing Life to Mars, and Mars to Life

  2. Terraforming defined • Genesis of term • Basic definition • "...a process of planetary engineering, specifically directed at enhancing the capacity of an extraterrestrial planetary environment to support life. The ultimate in terraforming would be to create an uncontained planetary biosphere emulating all the functions of the biosphere of the Earth–one that would be fully habitable for human beings.” - Martyn J. Fogg • Ecopoesis – partial terraforming • Biospheres and Terran ecosystem services

  3. Exploration/colonization • ISS vs. Terran biospheres • Materials imports and exports • Lunar and Martian outposts • Closed loop systems • In-situ resource utilization • Economic & political pressures

  4. Earth-like Mars • Ecosystem size, complexity and stability • Interest in terraforming Mars • Day length • Year length and seasonality • Land surface • Surface gravity

  5. Alien Mars • Mars is cold (-63 oC vs. 15 oC) (heat budget) • The air is thin (6.4 mb) • and ‘unbreathable’ (95% CO2, N2, Ar, O2) • No liquid water • No global magnetic field

  6. Warm, wet, anaerobic? Warm, wet, anaerobic Earth and Mars history Multicellular life Extant life??? Cold, dry planet Atmospheric O2 CO2 sequestration H2O loss Climatic cycles, Plate techtonics Magnetosphere loss Techtonic shutdown Core cooling Early life Early life????

  7. Mars today, re-examined • Flotilla: Pathfinder, MGS, Odyssey, Mars Express, MER Spirit & Opportunity • Polar icecaps: water ice and CO2 • Subsurface water, Surface water(??) • Implications for current water cycle • Cycles of climate change • Search for carbonates

  8. Mars terraforming goals • Raised surface temperature (~ 60oC) • Increased mass of the atmosphere • Availability of liquid water • Protection from UV and cosmic rays • ===== • Composition of atmosphere

  9. Runaway greenhouse effect • CO2 and H2O reserves • Polar CO2 dynamics • Positive feedback mechanism to raise T and Pa • Impacts on water cycle • Unknowns: reserve levels and formats, time constants

  10. CF3CF2CF3, CF3SCF2CF3, SF6, SF5CF3, SF4(CF3)2 Triggering the runaway • Artificial greenhouse gas production • Initial interest in CFC’s • Search for designer greenhouse gasses • Unknowns: effectiveness, lifespan, in-situ resource utilization issues

  11. Other triggers • Change albedo of icecaps • Orbital mirrors • Cometary bombardment • Nuclear explosions in regolith

  12. Atmospheric composition • Results of greenhouse runaway • How to oxygenate the atmosphere? • Carbon cycle – carbon sequestration needed • Candidate primary producers for ecosystem • How to build functional ecosystems?? • Time to build up O2: 1000’s of years • Nitrogen issues

  13. Mars terraforming possibilities • Planet can be warmed and the atmosphere thickened • Easier to work outside and harvest resources • Replicating Terran biospheres is much more difficult, and will not happen soon

  14. Environmental ethics

  15. Discussion time

  16. Environmental ethics concepts • Obligations and restrictions • Moral standing and moral agents • Intrinsic vs. instrumental values • Anthropocentrism • Biocentrism • Ecocentrism

  17. End of show

  18. Atmospheric heat budget

  19. Polar icecaps

  20. Subsurface water

  21. Recent surface water?

  22. Polar CO2 dynamics • Relationships between Pa, T and Pv • Stable and unstable equilibrium points

  23. Deep ocean burial of C Carbon Cycle

  24. Extremophiles Cyanobacteria Cryptoendoliths

  25. Ecosystems

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