Terraforming Mars

For decades, planetary scientists and science fiction writers alike have toyed with the idea of making a planet other than Earth habitable for humans, a process more commonly known as terraforming. Due to its size and rocky composition, Mars is the most common target for such theories, with the much hotter yet mostly earth-sized Venus also making the occasional appearance.

Terraforming Mars

Now, recently retired, forty-plus year NASA veteran Jim Green sat down with the New York Times for a long ranging interview about this terraforming concept, the overall search for extraterrestrial life and the upcoming Europa Clipper mission.

Finally, Green addresses the ongoing search for signs of life on Mars dating back to the Viking lander missions of the 1970s, while offering his own thoughts about the hunt for life in the clouds of Venus, a planet he also thinks would make for a great terraforming target.

The study, co-authored by Northern Arizona University planetary scientist Christopher Edwards, refutes the popular notion of terraforming by examining what would be needed to release carbon dioxide from several different sources. The paper serves as an inventory of CO2 available for terraforming Mars, including in the Martian polar ice caps, which would require vaporization on a massive scale; CO2 attached to the surface of dust in the Martian soil, which would require an enormous heating effort to release the gas; and carbon locked in mineral deposits, which would require extensive strip mining.

Working towards parametres will grant players a higher terraforming rating, which will increase the amount of funding they receive every round. Building cities, growing forests and placing oceans can help players to increase the number of resources they have and can produce every round, giving them an advantage over their opponents. Playing certain cards can also grant players victory points, as will purchasing awards and milestones. Whichever player has the most victory points by the end of the game is declared the winner.

But in 2020, Mars is very much on the agenda. NASA, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic -- they all want to put space boots on the ground, and in some cases as soon as the 2030s. But as scientists work toward blastoff, the concept of terraforming will most likely be a case of "failure to launch."

There's a solid pile of ideas around terraforming Mars, and they all sound pretty wild. Mostly, they have to do with getting a lot of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, releasing it from the planet's ice and soil.

In 1993, researchers Robert Zubrin and Chris McKay wrote a paper analyzing theories for terraforming the red planet. One involved building giant orbital mirrors to reflect sunlight to raise the temperature of Mars, melt the frozen water on the planet and thereby release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In another scenario, settlers could build factories whose express purpose is to pump out artificial greenhouse gases like fluorocarbon gases. Humans could maybe harness ammonia-rich asteroids, aligning them to hit Mars.

RZ: It appears that Mars does have all the elements needed for terraforming. The one outstanding question is nitrogen, whose inventory remains unknown. However theory suggests that Mars should have had an initial supply of nitrogen comparable to the Earth, and it seems likely that much of this is still there.

There remains only the question of science. Surely we should avail ourselves of the opportunity to study native Martian life before we terraform the place. We surely will. Terraforming Mars will be a long term project, and should native Martian microbes exist, there will be ample opportunity to study it before terraforming takes place. There will also be opportunity to study how it adapts to warmer, wetter conditions and the presence of terrestrial microbes after terraforming takes place. Furthermore, if Mars actually is terraformed, there will be much more people on Mars to study every aspect of Mars, including both its native and immigrant life. So in fact, our knowledge of Martian biota will be increased by terraforming, not decreased.

In this expansion, players take on the roles of corporations like in the original game (see "'Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition'"), and adds Crisis cards. Each round, players will draw a new Crisis card. The Crisis cards require players to fulfill an objective to remove the card from play. If Crisis cards are not handled, they will lower one or more of the terraforming metrics that keep Mars habitable. At some point, a Crisis card will be drawn that will let the players win the game once they have finished re-terraforming Mars.

In the 2400s, mankind begins to terraform the planet Mars. Giant corporations, sponsored by the World Government on Earth, initiate huge projects to raise the temperature, the oxygen level and the ocean coverage until the environment is habitable. In Terraforming Mars you play one of those corporations and work together in the terraforming process, but compete in doing the best work, with victory points awarded not only for your contribution to the terraforming, but also for advancing human infrastructure throughout the solar systems and other commendable achievements. The players acquire unique project cards, which represent anything from introducing plant life or animals, hurling asteroids at the surface, building cities, and establishing greenhouse gas industries to heat up the atmosphere. You compete for the best places for your city tiles, ocean tiles and greenery tiles. When the terraforming process is complete, the player corporation with the most victory points wins.

In this expansion, you will terraform Venus along with Mars, which unfolds on another small board with a 4th global parameter track to keep an eye on. The board also contains a couple of spots for extra cities. The 4th global parameter does not have to be fulfilled for the game to end, so we are still terraforming Mars, but we're kind of terraforming Venus on the side, if we want to.

In the 2400s, mankind begins to terraform the planet Mars. Giant corporations, sponsored by the World Government on Earth, initiate huge projects to raise the temperature, the oxygen level, and the ocean coverage until the environment is habitable. In Terraforming Mars, you play one of those corporations and work together in the terraforming process, but compete for getting victory points that are awarded not only for your contribution to the terraforming, but also for advancing human infrastructure throughout the solar system, and doing other commendable things.

When the three global parameters (temperature, oxygen, ocean) have all reached their goal, the terraforming is complete, and the game ends after that generation. Count your Terraform Rating and other VPs to determine the winning corporation! 041b061a72