Terraforming-Is it a Practical Option?

As many of you know, NASA recently completed the first step to putting humans on the Moon for a long term stay, which in itself is part of an even bigger plan to colonize Mars. This raises the question of terraforming, the modification of a planet or moon to make it Earth like. If we were able to successfully terraform a planet, we'd never have to worry about overpopulating a colony, or a leak in the colony's sealed atmosphere. Populating a planet and building a civilization are much easier to do under a natural atmosphere than under a glass one. However terraforming a planet would be a massive undertaking which would take at least a century and a lot of very careful planning and work to complete. So do we simply erect some dome encased cities on top of the Martian soil, or do we attempt to build a second Earth?

If we did all the necessary planning and research, taking into consideration all the unique attributes of the planet in question, I don't see why not. As long as the terraforming doesn't fail spectacularly.

And I think the process would take a few decades rather than centuries.

It would make more sense to terraform, even if it takes longer. It reduces the possibility of human error harming civilians.

The major problem, however, is inadvertent side effects-we may make a habitable Mars but with extremely severe storms, for example.

This would have to be done with utmost care.

I say yes to terraforming. I believe that one day man will colonize other planets for various reasons, such as leaving Earth because it will start to become too crowded or to avoid the problems man has caused, and it would be a good idea to have these planetary colonies as inhabitable as possible.

Yes. Not now, but it will be once it becomes something that we need to consider.

Originally Posted by attackʞɔɐʇʇɐ

we can't land on Mars yet though, so I'm sure the two technologies will meet up concurrently.

Yes we can. It just costs a lot, and probably wouldn't be able to make a return trip.

Terraformation is much more reliable, you don't have a dome that can be punded by meteorites; and an atnosphere can do a lot. It'd take a lot of work to make Mars like Earth, though. This atnosphere took a while to form.

Terraforming sounds like a good idea. So does moving to the moon. But aren't we just gonna make a mess of that like we did we the mudball we're currently stuck on? It'd take a long time, but if it reduces the risk ..I'd still rather go for the galss bubble. Futuristic and practical. It'd probably take a lot less longer than terraforming.

How exaqctly do they go about terraforming the moon? I've heard the idea being tossed around but I've never understood how they plan on making an atmosphere on the moon.

On the idea; it would take the futuristic fun out of things for sure. I've never been big on the idea of colonizing other plannets to begin with. I think finding am effective way to control the popluation n Earth is better. That's a long term solution, moving to other plennets just means they'll become over popluated as well, and i don't think it would take very long to do either. However if we're going to anyways, and it's possible, I think terraforming would be a better idea because it would allow us to use the whole plannet as oposed to just the area inside a dome. However, I think they should build domes anyways to keep that sci-fy moon colony feel.

Oh wow, this reminds me of Cowboy bebop what with all the spaceship traffiking and Mars colonozation.

All this talk of terraforming makes me want to play Spore.

Anyway, one must realize the delicate precision we would have to take if we were to terraform. It would be an incredibly costly procedure, for one thing, and any flaws could cause a devastating loss of money and lives. That being said, I do think terraforming would be more practical than building this dome. Safer and more effective. More long-term.

as of now, terraforming is an impossibility.

Terraforming would not work on a planet like mars, or the moon, at least not a way which will sustain human life. The reason is because the gravity is too low on the moon and mars to sustain a suitable atmostphere. The gases are too light and escape the atmosphere. While it wouldn't become a complete vacuum, the atmosphere would be far to thin for human life to survive in. So the only possible way would be to set up enclosed, pressurized bases.

Plus, humans which lived for long periods of time on planets with less gravity would change physiologically due to the lower gravity. They would be taller, have weaker bones and muscles, and weaker hearts due to it not having to pump as hard to move blood from the lower extremities. While its a novel idea for bases for temporary living or exploration, its not a practical means for colonizing other worlds for the long term.

Shadow OfHyrule: You beat me to the post

I am against Terraforming, but the process itself looks beautiful.

Originally Posted by shadowofhyrule

Terraforming would not work on a planet like mars, or the moon, at least not a way which will sustain human life. The reason is because the gravity is too low on the moon and mars to sustain a suitable atmostphere. The gases are too light and escape the atmosphere. While it wouldn't become a complete vacuum, the atmosphere would be far to thin for human life to survive in. So the only possible way would be to set up enclosed, pressurized bases.

The thinning of the atmosphere would be a very slow process. It would take millions of years for the Martian atmosphere to thin to its current thickness. Some occasional maintenance could easily counteract this.

Plus, humans which lived for long periods of time on planets with less gravity would change physiologically due to the lower gravity. They would be taller, have weaker bones and muscles, and weaker hearts due to it not having to pump as hard to move blood from the lower extremities.

So what?

Originally Posted by John Henry Eden

The thinning of the atmosphere would be a very slow process. It would take millions of years for the Martian atmosphere to thin to its current thickness. Some occasional maintenance could easily counteract this.

No, it would happen almost immediately.

Gases in a "pro human" atmosphere just aren't dense enough to sustain suitable pressures with the lower gravity. It may last for very very short time, but definitely not millions of years.

And that is assuming you could instantaneously pressurize the entire martian atmosphere to match earth's all at one time. Putting in a little at a time would be practically useless, as what you put in would just vacate the planet anyways. So its not possible, or practical even if it was.

So what?

You are talking about a major change in human physiology, and one which would happen very quickly. Even assuming that humans could survive at all with significantly less gravity for long periods of time, they would be extremely weak and their descendants would be hard pressed to survive as humans have evolved for earths gravitational strength. Given a million years or so, they could adapt and evolve to the new environment and may even do very well, but getting to that point, going from earths conditions to radically different ones on mars would either make adaptation extremely difficult for humans living there, or eliminate them altogether.

Its not something that can be considered for long term colonization, only short term research and exploration.

Originally Posted by shadowofhyrule

No, it would happen almost immediately.

Gases in a "pro human" atmosphere just aren't dense enough to sustain suitable pressures with the lower gravity. It may last for very very short time, but definitely not millions of years.

And that is assuming you could instantaneously pressurize the entire martian atmosphere to match earth's all at one time. Putting in a little at a time would be practically useless, as what you put in would just vacate the planet anyways. So its not possible, or practical even if it was.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

It has been suggested that Mars once had an environment relatively similar to that of Earth during an earlier stage in its development. This similarity is indicated by the thickness of the Martian atmosphere, as well as the evident presence of liquid water on the planet's surface in the past. The atmosphere has thinned over millions of years as gases have escaped into space, although it has also partially condensed into solid form. While water once appears to have existed on the Martian surface, it now only appears to exist at the poles and just below the planetary surface as permafrost. The exact mechanisms which led to the current atmospheric conditions on Mars are not fully known, although several hypotheses have been proposed. One hypothesis is that the gravity of Mars today indicates that lighter gases in the upper atmosphere could have contributed to the thinning of the atmosphere, with the excess atoms escaping into space. The evident lack of plate tectonics on Mars is another plausible contributing factor, since a lack of tectonic activity would in theory slow the recycling of gases from being locked in sediments back into the atmosphere. The lack of a magnetic field and geologic activity may both be a result of Mars' smaller size, which allows its interior to cool more quickly than Earth's, though the details of such a process are still not well known. However, none of these processes are thought to have a significant impact over the typical lifespan of most animal species, or even on the time-scale of human civilization, and the slow loss of atmosphere might even be counteracted by ongoing low-level artificial maintenance.

You are talking about a major change in human physiology, and one which would happen very quickly. Even assuming that humans could survive at all with significantly less gravity for long periods of time, they would be extremely weak and their descendants would be hard pressed to survive as humans have evolved for earths gravitational strength.

No, their bodies would simply grow differently. They would be taller with less physical strength, but they would still be able to survive.

Given a million years or so, they could adapt and evolve to the new environment and may even do very well, but getting to that point, going from earths conditions to radically different ones on mars would either make adaptation extremely difficult for humans living there, or eliminate them altogether.

That's the whole point of terraforming, to make a planet Earth-like. The only major difference would be the gravity, and I doubt that would be enough to kill off any people living on the planet. You're underestimating human adaptability. On Earth humans have adapted to radically different climates, ranging from cold barren tundras to scorching deserts. Going from Earth to a terraformed Mars would not be much more of a radical change than the first Cro-Magnons migrating from Africa to Europe during the last ice age.

That's the whole point of terraforming, to make a planet Earth-like. The only major difference would be the gravity, and I doubt that would be enough to kill off any people living on the planet. You're underestimating human adaptability. On Earth humans have adapted to radically different climates, ranging from cold barren tundras to scorching deserts. Going from Earth to a terraformed Mars would not be much more of a radical change than the first Cro-Magnons migrating from Africa to Europe during the last ice age.

The difference between adaptation on earth and adaptation on mars is that on the earth, its simply adapting from one climate to another. That is accomplished with humans by simply changing their clothing. For example, Inuit tribes wear dense fur and are fully covered because they live in a cold climate. Tribes new equatorial regions wear much less, usually completely naked. However, adaptation on mars isn't a simple adjustment to a new climate. It would require a major evolutionary change to adapt to the thinner atmosphere. It doesn't matter where you go on earth (minus heading up a mountain) the air density will remain about the same. On mars, even if the atmosphere could be made suitable, it would still be at a much lower pressure than on the earth, probably to an equivalent elevation of 10-15,000+ feet. While a human can survive breathing at those altitudes, it greatly hinders their systems. It just wouldn't be practical. As for the gravity, if humans could survive long enough to evolve to thrive in lesser gravity, of course they would do fine. However, its surviving as humans currently are that is the problem. Its unlikely that humans would be able to sustain themselves for an extended period of time as they currently are. Its not a good comparison to say going from earth to mars is like going from tropical to arctic. Thats just a simple change in climate. From earth to mars is a change in climate, barometric pressures, 02 saturation, gravity (and the effects it has on human physiology), length of day, tidal forces due to it having 2 moons, no magnetic field (and no protection from solar winds) and a whole list of other things. While a temporary colony is possible, long term colonization is improbable.

To put things simply, there is a reason the other planets do not contain life (higher level life at least), and its because they do not meet the criteria for life. For whatever reason, if mars once had a suitable climate, it lost it and will most likely never gain it back. If the planet can't sustain its own climate, there is no way humans will be able to synthesize one.

Actually from what I heard it would take centuries maybe even millenia given our current level of tech. Until then we can just live in nice bubble cities.

Also John if we continued to live and develop on Mars it is possible that the "Colonists" could eventually evolve into a seperate species or race of humans. And not having as dense a bone structure would be tough to deal with because they might be crushed by Earth's gravity. Although it wouldn't be as dangerous as a moon colony.

Originally Posted by Oni Dark Link

Also John if we continued to live and develop on Mars it is possible that the "Colonists" could eventually evolve into a seperate species or race-

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