An atmosphere holds in heat and all the gasses necessary for organisms to survive. It also shields against harmful radiation from the sun and any other radiation wandering in space. Once a primary atmosphere is formed, another layer will take form because of the low magnetic field that Mars's core emanates. This field is an ionosphere, it interacts with particles in space and ionization occurs. This ionization is one of the leading protectors against radiation in conjunction with a layer of 03 called the ozone layer, which protects against ultraviolet rays produced by the sun. Mars is 50% farther from the sun than Earth yet it gets enough light that if a strong atmosphere was present, it could hold in the heat. Changing the atmosphere is the major part of terraforming.
Earth and Mars have enough in common that scientists can possibly perform a theoretical process called terraforming in order to break the boundaries between livable and non-habitable. Terraforming is the process of changing an environment in order to create suitable conditions. Terraforming is ideal for emulating the biosphere of Earth on Mars. There are already many ideas of how terraforming can be performed on Mars. The main aspect of terraforming is the changing in atmospheric conditions.
There are four well-known ideas for terraforming Mars. They are fairly simple to understand but very difficult to implicate. The first method is to make mylar mirrors and position them in space. These mirrors should be about 250 kilometers in diameter and would reflect the sun off the mirrors at the ice caps of Mars in the hope that the caps will melt releasing carbon dioxide into the thin atmosphere. The water from the ice would in theory start running down the many empty canals that were viewed by NASA's Pathfinder as well as many other spacecraft. The carbon dioxide would thicken the atmosphere and help keep in any heat and water vapors. The influx of carbon dioxide would heat the planet up using the greenhouse effect. Which is caused buy the trapping of heat under the atmosphere.
The second method proposed is to make carbon dioxide and other gas producing factories on Mars. These factories would increase the greenhouse effect on the planet and heat it. They would be doing what humans have been doing unintentionally on Earth now for years. The factories could harness the power of the sun and use it to carry out a process similar to photosynthesis as well as the reverse of this process. If enough of these factories were built, the atmosphere would surely change over time.
Another possible way to create an atmosphere also includes melting the ice caps. But, instead of giant mirrors, giant heating stations could be applied to the surface of the ice caps. This method can be as good, if not better than the mirror melting method because the heating stations could be powered by energy created by nuclear fusion. The amount of energy given off by fusion is massive and is extremely hot.
The fourth method is the most dangerous. This method requires rockets to be placed on the backs of multiple asteroids that are ammonia based and propelling them out of the asteroid belt into a collision course with the surface of Mars. The explosion created by the impact of the asteroids on surface would not only release much water by the immediate incineration of the asteroid, but would raise the temperature on Mars to about 3 degrees Celsius higher. If this process took place for fifty years than an estimated 25% of the planet could consist of water. The setback to this method is the amount of radiation produced by the asteroid's impacts would be equivalent to that of 70,000 megatons worth of hydrogen bombs being dropped. This would make human settlement impossible for hundreds of years because the radiation takes many years to dissipate.
One other important factor is the means in which more than six billion humans are going to be transported to this new habitat. One thing to consider is if there is enough room to hold these people. There is enough room on Mars currently, being that the surface area of Mars is even more than that of Earth because, there are currently no oceans, lakes, or rivers. The master plan would fill up about %25 of the planet with ocean, which is necessary to ensure plant life, which will be used for oxygen. The only type of plant life necessary in order for oxygen to be produced is algae, which currently makes most of the oxygen on Earth because of its enormous quantities. Algae is one of many types of plants that could be genetically altered in order to grow and multiply faster in the hypothetical oceans which could be formed on Mars. Vegetation could also be genetically altered and cultivated on floating farms in the oceans. All land must be for the human population because of the limited amount of space.
It is almost impossible to transport the entire human population to Mars or anywhere for that matter. Therefore a better plan of action must be conceived. A possible plan of action is to take around a million women and a few hundred thousand men. These men and women would procreate in mass numbers, eventually replenishing the population. The principal idea is to make sure that the human race survives.
Another thing that has to be given thought to is the means of transportation for so many people. Even if a spaceship could be built to hold many thousands of people, this ship would run out of food and supplies in a matter of days. At its closest distance from Earth, Mars is about 35 million miles away. With current technology, a trip to Mars takes 2 years with no crew. Growing plants in space is far from perfected. It has been found that the absence of gravity keeps plants from growing well. There is a way around this problem. It has been concluded that if an object in space were put inside a spinning wheel, that wheels motion would create a pull that could emulate gravity such as what is found on Earth.
One possibility for a space ship would be to use what NASA scientists are calling, a "solar sail." A "solar sail" is what it sounds like. It is a sail attached to a spacecraft that harnesses the immense energy of the sun to power it. The waves of energy from the sun push the sail and the spacecraft at extreme speeds that cannot currently be achieved by engines of today's standards. The other possibility is to create an engine. There are two possible engine ideas. One is an engine that harnesses energy from plasma or ions. The other is an engine that sucks in the vast amounts of hydrogen in space and goes through a fusion process releasing massive amounts of energy. The basic goal is to get mass quantities of humans to a livable habitat on Mars in a brief period of time. The ship will only have a limited amount of time to travel to Mars because the reserves of food would run low fast because of the mass quantity of people.
The master plan mixes many of the examples and ideas presented in order to create a big plan that would work more effectively than any one idea alone. It should be followed as an outline and not with strict accordance.
First, Mars must be terraformed. The first step in this process is to create an atmosphere. In order to do this the "Greenhouse Effect" must occur. The Greenhouse Effect is the process of high frequency rays from the sun being trapped inside the Earth's atmosphere and then turning into low frequency rays. This process creates global warming, which in the case of Mars is necessary since its average temperature is way below that of Earth. In order for the Greenhouse Effect to occur an abundance of gasses such as carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), or methane (CH4) must be present. Just the global warming of Mars by means of the Greenhouse Effect alone would make a major difference to the habitableness of the planet. By raising the temperature of the planet more Greenhouse Gasses will be channeled. If the temperature of Mars were to significantly raise then Greenhouse Gasses that remained dormant in the planets floor would be let loose and would rise and aid even more in the warming process.
The Greenhouse Effect has to be established. Once this occurs, its cycle will continue regardless of human aid given. The process will be done by using giant mylar mirrors. Mylar is an ultra-thin metallic material, most notable for being used in creating balloons. Mylar is very reflective making it good for the process in which it will be used. These mylar mirrors should be around 250 square kilometers in size and their should be at least four of them. These mirrors, being that they are made of mylar, can be folded open. The fact that they can be folded open not only makes them easier to transport and make, but also makes them feasible to create by today's technology. The mirrors will be used to reflect the suns radiation at the ice caps in order to melt them releasing plentiful quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere and starting the warming process. The water-produced layers of ice on the caps would also be melted creating water vapors. When the second process in underway, the oxygen will increase the air pressure enabling water vapor to turn to water, which could potentially fill the empty canals and runoff streams on the surface of the planet. The runoff will be an important factor in the later parts of the next step in the process.
The next step in the terraformation of Mars is to produce an abundance of oxygen, which has to stay in the atmosphere. This oxygen will remain inside the atmosphere because of its increased density attributed to the warming and gasses released from the previous process. There are several ways in which the oxygen will be produced. It should be noted that the runoff of water created by the previous processes would attribute a major role in the survival of the organisms. First, lichens will be genetically altered in order to survive under the harsh conditions of Mars. Lichen is any thallophytic plant made up of an alga and a fungus growing in symbiotic association on a solid surface. Anything thallophytic belongs to the to the subclass Thallophyta of the plant kingdom. Thallophyta is any organism that has single or multi-celled sex organs that give rise to gametes. The lichen could be altered to grow in mass numbers and convert much carbon dioxide to oxygen. It would do this through a process called photosynthesis. The plants harness the energy of the sun in this process in order to convert the carbon dioxide to oxygen. Whether the CO2 is in the air or in the rocks, the lichen would convert it to O2. The soil of Mars is red because of its high concentration of iron oxide, which can yield carbon dioxide. The genetically altered lichen would feed off of the CO2 found in the rocks as they multiply exceedingly fast. It has been hypothesized that the only feasible way to terraform a whole planet would be to stet chain reactions. Producing lichens for the surface of Mars would definitely create a chain reaction in growth. These plants would produce enough oxygen over time to sustain life. Many processes working together in order to form a atmosphere and oxygen would get the job done much faster than just one of these working alone, which can take hundreds of years therefore more processes will be used to give Mars the necessary water to sustain life.
Another method that will be used to bring water to Mars's surface depends on the technology that could possibly be available at the time that the terraformation process is being performed. If rockets are created that have the force to propel asteroids then the problem with water and greenhouse gasses would be easily solved. Asteroids, which are predominately made up of substances such as ice and ammonia could be propelled out of the asteroid belt. Coincidentally, the asteroid belt lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, which is a great convenience. Because of he intense amounts of radiation that would be given off if the asteroids were to impact Mars with full velocity, it is a better idea to instead land asteroids on Mars, and use the mylar mirrors to melt them releasing water and other substances.
Once water can be found in liquid form on a planet it is possible to have vast amounts of photosynthetic creatures that reproduce rapidly. Basically, water and light is the key to having life be sustained on a planet. Once these photosynthetic organisms create the amount of oxygen needed for human survival, the process of terraformation is done. The only thing left to do is plant edible vegetation, which is the easiest part. Seeds just need to be planted before the colonists arrive. Any livestock could be transported to Mars after the colonists and procreate in a similar fashion to the process that the humans used. Fish will definitely be a major source of food. Other issues such as transportation to Mars and survival must now be dealt with.
The next thing that must be done in the master plan is the construction of rockets and how they will be used. It must be assumed that it is almost impossible to take all 6 billion humans to Mars. A better method has been decided that will at least ensure the survival of the human race and the eventual replenishment of the population. The method that would work best would be to take a large amount of women and a small amount of men. Women will be able to breed a new human population on Mars. Once this group of men and women establish themselves on Mars, they will procreate exceedingly in order to ensure that the human population grows in numbers. The number of women that will be taken to Mars will be 1,000,000 and the number of Men will be 300,000. This would make a total of 1,300,000 humans that would all have to get to Mars. It is taken into consideration that separate ships have left earlier and performed the terraforming process on Mars in advance. The average 747 airplanes hold about 500 people. A rocket ship could be made that was the size of a 747. The ships primary purpose would be to take humans to the moon. A moon base would then be made. If 100 of these 747 sized reusable spaceships were made then it would take 26 waves of these ships to transport 1,300,000 humans to the moon. This is equivalent to 2,600 separate missions in all. The rocket engines of today are almost to the point where this type of mass transportation would be possible. By today's standards it takes about 3 days to get to the moon. Theoretically, all 1,300,000 humans could be sent to the moon in 156 days. This estimate includes return trip of the rockets from the moon each time.
While the humans are in the process of being transported to the moon base, a giant space ship will be being constructed on the moon using mined oars from the moon itself. This spaceship will be the mother ship. It will bring the people that will continue the human race to a new environment. It will transport all 1,300,000 humans to Mars. The mother ship will be in a giant cylindrical shape for simplicity. Because there is little resistance or friction in space, the ship does not have to be aerodynamically designed being that space is a vacuum. The ship will supply the humans aboard with food for the duration of the trip as well as an area to live, which, will be about the size of a seat. All seats will be situated throughout the ship wherever surface area could be made to fit a seat, since all room needs to be used. Every person will be confined to his or her seat until the end of the trip. Any food rations will be automatically distributed in liquid form through tubes to each seat. Every aspect of the ship has to be efficient. Therefore all seats will have to have latrine mechanisms. The more automated the ship is, the easier it will be to handle such a vast human population in one area. The situation with food will be handled by using a giant cylindrical pinwheel at the center of the ship which holds a greenhouse area inside. The area will emulate gravity for the vegetation. Since plants do not grow well without gravity, the pinwheel is necessary to produce a gravitational effect. The plants will be genetically altered to grow well and will have artificial sunlight on them. There will be a waste system that will recycle and purify water from excrement in order to be reused as well as the recycling of solid waste as a fertilizer for vegetation.
The most important aspect of the ship is its propulsion system. Propulsion means to push or drive an object forward. A propulsion system is a machanism that produces thrust. Thrust is a mechanical force generated by engines in order to move a rocket or other vehicle in a direction. A force is a push or pull in a direction. The amount, or magnitude of force can be determined by multiplying an objects mass by its change in velocity over its change in time. Force causes change in velocity and velocity generates a force. This is explained in Newton's Second Law of Motion. Force is measured in newtons (N). One newton of force is enough to accelerate one kilogram of mass at a rate of one meter per second squared. Assuming that the average weight of a human is about 150 pounds and that there will be 1,300,000 humans aboard the mother ship, and estimated amount of force that must be applied can be determined. A pound is a unit of weight, which is usually relative to the Earth's gravity and is equal to the product of the mass of an object and the gravitational acceleration of the body that it is attracted to. Force is calculated using mass, not weight. Mass is a measure of the total amount of matter in an object when it is not being related to a specific gravitational field such as Earth. Therefore, pounds must be converted to mass first in order determine the force. Given that 150 multiplied by 1,300,000 is equal to 195,000,000 which is the total weight of all humans being transported, and this added to an estimated mass of the ship, which is around 25,000,000 pounds if light material is used, will make the ships total mass altogether equal to 220,000,000. 2.2 pounds on Earth is equal to one kilogram. It can be found that the mass in kilograms of the whole ship will be exactly 100,000,000 kilograms given that the conversion is 220,000,000 divided by 2.2. The force that the engines must exert can now be found if the distance and time are plugged in to its equation. Now the speed that the ship should travel has to be found. At its closest orbital position with Earth, Mars is about 56 million kilometers away. An ideal amount of time for the spaceship to take to reach Mars would be one year. Since velocity is measured in meters per second (m/s) it should be noted that Mars is 5.6 * 10 ^10 meters away when 56 million kilometers is the distance. The velocity, which must be attained to reach Mars in a year at this distance, is determined by the equation [(5.6 * 10 ^ 10 meters)/365 days/24 hours/60 minutes/60 seconds] = 1775.748351 meters per second (m/s). Now that the time and velocity have been determined, the force necessary can now be calculated. Assuming that ten minutes will be given for the ship to achieve the necessary velocity, the equation for this will be 100,000,000 kilograms * ((0 - 1775.748351 meters per second)/(0 - 600 seconds)) = 295958058.5 newtons (N).
Now that the amount of force necessary has been determined a propulsion system must be chosen. The ship will have a duel propulsion system. A massive engine will be attached to the back of the ship. This engine will be used based on the assumption that by the time a ship such as this is needed, fusion energy will be harnessed with the capabilities of outputting more energy than what had to be input in order to fuse the atoms. This engine will work like a vacuum by sucking in the vast quantities of hydrogen atoms that are present almost everywhere in space and fusing them together and letting the influx of energy given off by the reaction out the back of the rocket propelling the ship at incredible speeds giving off enough force to at least propel the ship away from the moon's gravity and into an orbit around the Earth. The fusion generator could possibly be use to do other things as well. It is theorized the when an atom is heated to a certain degree its properties could change and it could become a different atom altogether. The fusion generator could branch of into sections. One section could be making water while another can be making oxygen. When the ship reaches an orbit around the Earth, it will be able to use the gravitation pull of the Earth and the advantage of barely any friction to increase its speed tremendously while orbiting the Earth. When the ship reaches the maximum limit of velocity that can be attained from the fusion rocket, it will initiate a side thruster rocket that will make the ship break orbit and "slingshot" at tremendous speed. It should try to do this right when Mars is a year away from its closest orbit, which is also known as its perihelion, with Earth being that the goal is to get the ship to Mars in a year. This will ensure that Mars will be in the right position in its orbit upon arrival. When the ship has left its orbit around the Earth and has been "slingshot" towards its target, the secondary propulsion system will engage. This system will be a "solar sail." This "solar sail" will increase the velocity of the ship using the great amounts of radiation from the sun propelling it in the same fashion as a wind sail.
A very important aspect of the mission cannot be overlooked. This is the landing procedure. It is important that the ship matches Mars's orbital velocity and angle. If these were not matched Mars would go right passed the ship in its orbit. Once the ship reaches Mars, it should prepare to enter the atmosphere. It is assumed that the terraformation process has gone according to plan and that the atmosphere has thickened. Because of the ships massive size, it will have no trouble entering the atmosphere. Instead it will have more trouble with the gravity. The ship must be equipped with a landing system. The best approach would be to use a combination of side thrusters to keep the ship level horizontally and to use a massive parachute and the fusion engine to keep the ship level vertically. Now that the colonists have landed on their new biosphere, there is not much left that has to be done.
The colonists will need to farm or fish in order to ensure that there is enough food. They will need to rebuild civilization as well as replenish the human population. After all this is done, the survival of the human race will be ensured.
Someday, when humans need to move to a new habitat, they will be well prepared because of all their scientific accomplishments and the vast number of people that have taken the time and money to come up with plans of how great events such as these will be dealt with. The human race has a strong will to survive. I believe that when the time comes for a new home to be found to sustain our species, we will be prepared and we will persevere.
