A bold plan for the terraforming of Mars includes an artificial magnetic field and Phobos
Mars has a core that is too small and cold for it to be able to blow up a planetary dynamo without completely miraculous technologies. However, for the purposes of terramorphing Mars, such a magnetic field can also generate interventions in space around the planet. What to try to create a plasma arc along the orbits of the moon Phobos?
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Marsforms Terraformace. Credit: Daein Ballard / Wikimedia Commons.
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The terraforming of Mars, the transformation of the Red Planet into Blue-Green, is one of humanity’s great dreams. Mars is a terrestrial and relatively accessible planet that has a number of advantages that could make it a candidate backup Earth. But it has a catch. Mars lacks a strong planetary magnetic field that would act as a shield against annoying cosmic rays. We are protected on Earth, but the surface of Mars is under constant fire from dangerous particles.
Ruth Bamford.
Kredit: Mars Society
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Another thing is that a sufficiently robust magnetic field protects the planet’s atmosphere. It’s okay on Earth, but radiation is pounding the atmosphere on Mars, and the atmosphere looks like that. It would be great if Mars had such a magnetic field. But it’s not just that. On Earth, this magnetic field is generated by not entirely clear processes in the extreme conditions of the planet’s core, which function as a planetary dynamo. Our technology is not enough for something like that yet. Fortunately, there are other options that we might be able to manage over time.
Ruth Bamford from the British company RAL Space and her colleagues offer a bold solution. According to them, you need a strong stream of charged particles to create a functioning planetary magnetic field. Whether inside the planet or around the planet. The second option could be the right idea for the terraforming of Mars.
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Terraformation of Mars with the assistance of Phobos. Credit: Ruth Bamford.
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Bamford et al. they believe that we can create a massive ring of electrically charged particles that would surround Mars, thanks to the moon Phobos. It is the larger of the moons of Mars, and also the closer one on the surface of the Red Planet. It’s so close that Mars will orbit in 8 hours. The researchers suggest ionizing the particles on the Phobos surface and then accelerating them to create a plasma torus or annulus along the Phobos orbit. It should create a magnetic field strong enough to protect the terramorphed Mars from dangerous radiation.
It is a very ambitious plan and we would have to strain our options. But basically it doesn’t require anything exotic, so it’s basically feasible. Landing on Mars is (hopefully) approaching and future colonists have something to think about.
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