SpaceX and Tesla motors CEO, Elon Musk, has many plans. To start, he wants to colonize Mars by working with his company to create reusable SpaceX rockets that will allow people to travel to the Red Planet. Interestingly enough, this is not his most radical idea. As discussed on Late Night with Steven Colbert, his ambition to make Mars more inhabitable involves sending nukes up there and exploding parts of the planet in a process called terraforming.
Where the explosions would take place
The proposed explosions would occur at the poles of the planet, although this is not an easy task to carry out. Musk wants to send thermonuclear bombs up there and activate them one by one. He, along with other scientists, believe that this can ultimately help to raise the atmospheric pressure and surface temperature of Mars.
How would that exactly work? Well, the poles of Mars are comprised of water and carbon dioxide. The nuclear weapons could be used to vaporize and release them into the atmosphere; since CO2 is also a greenhouse gas, it can help insulate the planet and make it more hospitable after its initial release from the poles.
Are there other options?
Some scientists state that a technique like this could work. However, it is not the preferable way of terraforming Mars. Releasing greenhouse gases in the planet’s atmosphere, as a secondary option, would be less damaging to Mars’ surface. However, the process may take up to a few decades to complete.
Furthermore, there’s also the option of redirecting an asteroid to hit the poles (as a natural way of “nuking Mars”) and someone has even offered the suggestion of sending genetically modified microorganisms to the Red Planet, which could theoretically set up the beginnings of a more progressive life form.
When will this actually be a possibility?
It is obvious that Elon Musk is not alone in his idea of creating an inhabitable Mars. In fact, the idea is something that has been thought about frequently, due to the Earth’s current environmental condition.
At the moment, however, it is not something that is actually viable. As mentioned previously, even the quickest option of sending nukes to space could take several decades to complete. Regardless, Musk is optimistic about the possibility.
