News Archive

Monday, August 29, 2005 New Article: On the Possibility of Terraforming Mars A terraformed Mars. Credit: Mars News Martyn Fogg, long-time terraforming expert and a leader in the field of planetary science, has submitted one of his articles, On the Possibility of Terraforming Mars. Dr. Fogg has published many articles on terraforming over the years, and his research has helped develop many of today's most accepted theories on terraforming. Here's a snippet of his article: If space exploration can be said to have a purpose beyond that of reconnaissance and understanding of the universe, it is expressed by many involved in the space business as space settlement: the founding of new branches of civilisation remote from the Earth. However, the technical issues involved in a permanent stay remote from our salubrious home-world are far from trivial. Initial missions such as visits to other planets, followed by outposts and pioneering settlements, are all likely to have their life-support subsidised in the form of machinery and consumables supplied from Earth. This strategy will not be sustainable for long. To achieve growth and permanency, space-based civilisations must harness local resources in autonomous and stable bioregenerative life-support systems, energised by the sun. @ 22:43 EST