When the second Star Trek movie came out in 1982 (Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan), I was enamored of the premise of terraforming in one of the movie’s central themes called the “Genesis Project.” In the movie, there was a Genesis device that — when shot down to an otherwise barren planet’s surface — would cause a chain terraforming reaction creating a complete M-class (i.e., like Earth) planet with water, an atmosphere, and other ingredients required for life as we know it.
Now it looks like NASA researchers are thinking-through injecting synthetic “super” greenhouse gases into the planet’s atmosphere to raise its temperature and melt its polar ice caps to provide conditions suitable for biological life. The main thought? Injecting synthetic greenhouse gases into the negligible atmosphere of Mars could make the planet hospitable for humans.
With a travel time of two and a half years to Mars each way, NASA better get moving so I can go there while I still have my teeth.
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