NASA Wants To Put A Huge Magnetic Field On Mars To Make It More Like Earth

Just when you think our fascination with Mars is about to wane, something big comes along to blow that away. Ever since astronomers pointed their telescopes at Mars, we knew it was a special place. Of course, the more we've studied it, the more we've changed how we view it. But we will always be tied to the red planet. Even though it's barren now, it's still the planet most like Earth, and that's enough to get us dreaming.

The Mars we know today is a cold and barren desert planet. We know that it's a ghost of its former self, once a home to running water, which is now trapped as ice. And we also think that its past might be its future.

However, that's an even taller task than it sounds. But NASA is already working on a plan to get it closer to its former glory.

In a recent workshop, NASA scientists suggested deploying a massive magnetic field to shield the red planet from solar winds.

Researchers believe Mars' own magnetic field collapsed about 3 billion years ago, allowing solar winds to strip it of its atmosphere. As it did so, water both evaporated and cooled until it froze.

Shielded from the solar winds, NASA scientists theorize that Mars would regain some of its atmosphere in a few years. With more atmosphere, the planet would warm enough for the northern polar ice cap to melt and release its carbon dioxide.

That carbon dioxide would then power up a greenhouse effect that could melt Mars' frozen water. It's unknown how long the process would take altogether, but NASA is already running simulations to figure it out.

The idea of making a huge magnetic field sounds fanciful, but it's based on research underway for future Mars missions.

Researchers have been studying ways to protect astronauts and spacecraft from cosmic rays on long journeys with small magnetic fields. It's believed that there's no reason why these smaller magnetic fields couldn't be scaled up to shield Mars. If so, the terraforming of Mars would take a giant leap forward. "If this can be achieved in a lifetime, the colonization of Mars would not be far away," the scientists said. 

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