There's not Enough Sequestered Gases on Mars for Terraforming

Science fiction writers have long featured terraforming, the process of creating an Earth-like or habitable environment on another planet, in their stories. Scientists themselves have proposed terraforming to enable the long-term colonization of Mars. A solution common to both groups is to release carbon dioxide gas trapped in the Martian surface to thicken the atmosphere and act as a blanket to warm the planet.

However, Mars does not retain enough carbon dioxide that could practically be put back into the atmosphere to warm Mars, according to a new NASA-sponsored study. Transforming the inhospitable Martian environment into a place astronauts could explore without life support is not possible without technology well beyond today's capabilities.

Although the current Martian atmosphere itself consists mostly of carbon dioxide, it is far too thin and cold to support liquid water, an essential ingredient for life. On Mars, the pressure of the atmosphere is less than one percent of the pressure of Earth's atmosphere. Any liquid water on the surface would very quickly evaporate or freeze.

Proponents of terraforming Mars propose releasing gases from a variety of sources on the Red Planet to thicken the atmosphere and increase the temperature to the point where liquid water is stable on the surface. These gases are called "greenhouse gases" for their ability to trap heat and warm the climate.

"Carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O) are the only greenhouse gases that are likely to be present on Mars in sufficient abundance to provide any significant greenhouse warming," said Bruce Jakosky of the University of Colorado, Boulder, lead author of the study appearing in Nature Astronomy July 30.

Although studies investigating the possibility of terraforming Mars have been made before, the new result takes advantage of about 20 years of additional spacecraft observations of Mars. "These data have provided substantial new information on the history of easily vaporized (volatile) materials like CO2 and H2O on the planet, the abundance of volatiles locked up on and below the surface, and the loss of gas from the atmosphere to space," said co-author Christopher Edwards of Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona.

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2nd link.

The atmospheric pressure would be the same as 61,000 feet on Earth and would still require a pressure suit to go outside.

Let's not forget the perchlorates.  They make up .5% of Martian soil and are toxic to humans.

What Else the Chinese are Doing on Their Artificial Islands in the South China Sea

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The Shorelines & Drainage Systems of Mars

Waterfront on the Martian Planitia: Algorithmic emergent catchments on disordered terrain

Authors:

Handmer et al

Abstract:

Under a terraforming scenario, a reactivated hydrological cycle on Mars will result in upwards movement of water due to evaporation and precipitation. If Mars' embryonic fossilized catchments provide inadequate drainage, Mars' limited supplies of water may be absorbed entirely by crater lakes and glaciers, with negative consequences for the terraforming effort. We demonstrate a stable, convergent algorithm for the efficient modeling of water flow over disordered terrain. This model is applied to Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter data and successfully predicts the formation of fossilized waterways and canyons visible only at much higher resolution. This exploratory study suggests that despite its impossibly rugged appearance, ancient water flows have carved channels that provide effective drainage over the majority of Mars' surface. We also provide one possible reconstruction of a terraformed surface water distribution.

Research Begun on how to Terraform Mars

Whether it’s extreme climate change, an impending asteroid impact, scientific curiosity or even space tourism, there are compelling reasons to think about calling Mars our second home. But before expanding humanity’s cosmic real estate holdings, scientists will need to make the Red Planet feel a little more like our blue marble.

That, in a nutshell, is the goal of researchers thinking about ways to terraform another planet.

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Wait! WHAT?!?! DARPA Working on Genetically Engineering Mars Terraforming Organisms?!

It’s no secret that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is investing heavily in genetic engineering and synthetic biology. Whether that excites or terrifies you depends on how you feel about the military engineering totally new life forms. If you’re in the excitement camp, however, here’s a nugget for you: DARPA believes that it's on the way to creating organisms capable of terraforming Mars into a planet that looks more like Earth.

The goal of terraforming Mars would be to warm up and potentially thicken its atmosphere by growing green, photosynthesizing plants, bacteria, and algae on the barren Martian surface. It’s a goal that even perpetual techno-optimists like Elon Musk think isn’t going to happen anytime soon, but it’s a goal that DARPA apparently already has its eyes on.

“For the first time, we have the technological toolkit to transform not just hostile places here on Earth, but to go into space not just to visit, but to stay,” Alicia Jackson, deputy director of DARPA’s new Biological Technologies Office said Monday at a DARPA-hosted biotech conference. As she said this, Jackson was pointing at an artist's rendering of a terraformed Mars.

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Knowing DARPA, I suspect they are going more for an Scalzi Future rather than terraform Mars.  Then again, maybe DARPA is prepping Mars as the American bolthole in case we lose in a fight with China.  ;)

New Subsurface Mars Compatible Microbe Found from Siberian Permafrost

Single-cell analysis of the methanogenic archaeon Methanosarcina soligelidi from Siberian permafrost by means of confocal Raman microspectrocopy for astrobiological research

Authors:

Serrano et al

Abstract:

Methanogenic archaea from Siberian permafrost are suitable model organisms that meet many of the preconditions for survival on the martian subsurface. These microorganisms have proven to be highly resistant when exposed to diverse stress factors such as desiccation, radiation and other thermo-physical martian conditions. In addition, the metabolic requirements of methanogenic archaea are in principle compatible with the environmental conditions of the Red Planet.

The ExoMars mission will deploy a rover carrying a Raman spectrometer among the analytical instruments in order to search for signatures of life and to investigate the martian geochemistry. Raman spectroscopy is known as a powerful nondestructive optical technique for biosignature detection that requires only little sample preparation. In this study, we describe the use of confocal Raman microspectroscopy (CRM) as a rapid and sensitive technique for characterization of the methanogenic archaeon Methanosarcina soligelidi SMA-21 at the single cell level. These studies involved acquisition of Raman spectra from individual cells isolated from microbial cultures at different stages of growth. Spectral analyses indicated a high degree of heterogeneity between cells of individual cultures and also demonstrated the existence of growth-phase specific Raman patterns. For example, besides common Raman patterns of microbial cells, CRM additionally revealed the presence of lipid vesicles and CaCO3 particles in microbial preparations of M. soligelidi SMA-21, a finding that could be confirmed by electron microscopy. The results of this study suggest that heterogeneity and diversity of microorganisms have to be considered when using Raman-based technologies in future space exploration missions.

How to Terraform Mars: Start with Antarctic Lichen

Adaptation of an Antarctic lichen to Martian niche conditions can occur within 34 days

Authors:

1. Jean-Pierre de Vera (a)
2. Dirk Schulze-Makuch (b)
3. Afshin Khan (b)
4. Andreas Lorek (a)
5. Alexander Koncz (a)
6. Diedrich Möhlmann (a)
7. Tilman Spohn (a)

Affiliations:

a. German Aerospace Centre, Institute of Planetary Research, D-12489 Berlin, Germany

b. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Washington State University, USA

Abstract:

Stresses occurring on the Martian surface were simulated in a Mars Simulation Chamber (MSC) and included high UV fluxes (Zarnecki and Catling, 2002), low temperatures, low water activity, high atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and an atmospheric pressure of about 800 Pa (Kasting, 1991 and Head et al., 2003). The lichen Pleopsidium chlorophanum is an extremophile that lives in very cold, dry, high-altitude habitats, which are Earth‘s best approximation of the Martian surface. Samples with P. chlorophanum were exposed uninterruptedly to simulated conditions of the unprotected Martian surface (i.e. 6344 kJm−2) and protected niche conditions (269 kJm−2) for 34 days. Under unprotected Martian surface conditions the fungal symbiont decreases its metabolic activity and it was unclear if the algal symbiont of the lichen was still actively photosynthesizing. However, under “protected site“ conditions, the entire lichen not only survived and remained photosynthetically active, it even adapted physiologically by increasing its photosynthetic activity over the 34 days.

So do you think NASA is wasting money being overly paranoid?

Or perhaps we ought to just get on with it and terraform Mars how we can?

Noctis Labyrinthus Looks Like a Cross Between the Scablands and Greece

The Noctis Labyrinthus looks like it was meant to be a Martian Greece.  Or the Scablands(*).  Alas, its too high up even at the canyon floors to be Greece.  The eastern end of the canyons would have ocean access, but the western not...huh.  The canyon walls would be ~4000m/13,000 ft.  10 to 20 km/6 to 12 mile wide canyons, too. 

The Xanthe Terrae seems like it'd be an interesting place if Mars was ever terraformed to have an ocean.  (I prefer the 350 m depth on Toth's map).  Tropical, for Mars, right smack in the middle of the equator and off the oceans.  Its a peninsula with the 'neck' being VERY high lands.  With the Hadley cells, I'd imagine it'd be dumping rain there like crazy.

However, I'll still take Elysium.  Its going to be an awesome island.


*. anyone looked for evidence of an uber glacial lake above?  A Martian Lake Missoula? 

Martyn Fogg's Terraforming is Available Online

Its here and in the title link.  This is awesome since I've been wanting a copy forever, but the ones which had been listed on Amazon were ridiculously priced.

Mars Was Once One Third Ocean

I had a post about an applet that let you set the height of the Mars and Venus oceans to see how it would look.

World Building Query: All other things being the same, the photic zones for Mars and Venus (given terraforming) are going to be different than Earth's. Mars' will only penetrate to 50m (guessing here since there is 1/4 the light) whereas Venus would have 400m (twice the light).

Personal preference is for Venus to have a +700m depth in the applet making the deepest parts of its world ocean no more than around 1800m deep. With Mars, I prefer a +350 m depth which makes parts of the Hellas Planitia/Sea deeper than 7850m. Still not even as close as the Mariana Trench.

True Blue Moon

From the Planetary Society's Blog: what would a terraformed Moon look like?

Bright as heck too irl. IIRC, the moon reflects single digit amounts of light. The Earth does about 40%. You are looking at as much as a 10x increase in light from the Moon now.