Scientists Float Plan to Inject Dust Particles into Mars’s Atmosphere to Make It More Habitable for Humans

Scientists have found a significantly cheaper way to make Mars more habitable.

Knewz.com has learned that the newly conceived idea entails using material already on the red planet to engineer a specific type of dust—and inject it into its atmosphere .

The study theorized that this process would create a greenhouse effect with a general temperature hike of up to 122°F.

The effects are expected to be observable within months and result in the prevailing layers of ice below the planet ’s surface (permafrost) thawing out and producing water.

“This suggests that the barrier to warming Mars to allow liquid water is not as high as previously thought,” the study’s co-author Edwin Kite, said .

The main ingredient to such an eventuality is the iron and aluminum particles already existent on the planet’s surface.

While trapped in the dust, these particles are poor conductors of heat and contribute to the planet’s cool temperatures.

These minerals, however, can be repurposed and turned into nanorods a fraction of the size of a piece of glitter.

Due to their minuscule size, these particles will be whipped up by the planet’s winds and deposited in the atmosphere , and while the Sun ’s rays will be permitted, escaping heat will be impeded

According to the study, at the rate of 10 liters per second for a decade, the planet’s current temperature of -85 °F would be brought into the positive with one degree to spare.

The latter means a total of two million tons per year will be needed, and as excessive as this may sound, it is 5,000 tons less than the material needed for the known alternatives.

This solution on its own, however, will not make the planet fit for human inhabitants.

“Increasing the temperature of the planet is just one of the things that we would need to do in order to live on Mars without any assistance,” said Juan Alday at Open University in the United Kingdom .

Other key issues are the air which is unsuitable for breathing and the barren soil that would make farming impossible.

As a nod to the academics, enthusiasts, and experts’ aspirations to place a human on the fourth planet from the Sun, NASA ’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) program has completed its first Mars simulation.

During the experiment, Kelly Haston (mission commander), Ross Brockwell (flight engineer), Nathan Jones(medical officer), and Anca Selariu(science officer), spent a year in a 1,700-square-foot, 3D-printed Texas hangar.

Grace Douglas, in charge of the data processing aspect of the experiment, explained :

“We planned the last 378 days with many of the challenges crews could face on Mars and this crew dedicated their lives over that time to achieve these unprecedented operational objectives.”

“I am looking forward to diving into the data we have gathered, preparing for CHAPEA Mission 2 and eventually, a human presence on Mars.”