Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

sanman · 2013-02-03 11:26:30

Could we smack a suitable asteroid into Mars in just the right way, in order to speed up terraformation?

I was thinking of a metal impactor like the one which hit Earth -- but of appropriately tuned size -- in the hopes of jump-starting Mars' core to give it a stronger magnetosphere.

The resulting volcanic ash and gas which would be thrown up into the atmosphere could also boost atmospheric pressure. The increased heat flux would also help with core dynamics for boosting the magnetosphere. The Martian albedo would also decrease to improve solar radiation absorption. The overall surface temperature would rise, with less severe temperature swings due to buffering by the thicker atmosphere.

Sure, there would be massive disruption of the crust, but some parts would stabilize more quickly than others.

We would quickly start seeding the atmosphere with bacteria, in order to take advantage of the improved temperature and pressure conditions near the surface. With the surface experiencing greater turbulence and turmoil, it would help any proliferating bacteria to spread faster.

What do you think?

Last edited by sanman (2013-02-03 11:30:51)

Void · 2013-02-03 12:15:11

I am sure there are many more capable of answering the Magnetic Field part of your post.

However, I have read that it is thought that the Moon of Earth had a temporary magnetic field when an striking object caused it's crust to spin at a rate different than that of a then liquid core. An oblique impact might work, but I think we still don't know enough about the interior of Mars. I have also read that "A" scientist thinks that tectonic action is only now beginning on Mars, that it was slow in comming. I think that is a minioirty opinion. In that theory, the rift valley is just the beginning.
Maybe a shattering action could unlock or create plates?

As for assisting terraforming with impacts, I would look into an old thought I read about where the thinkers wanted to impact a chain of asteroid pieces sequentially in the same spot in the Hellas Basin, to produce a small very deep depression, where they thought that a lake from ground ice could form. They thought that that little spot being warm from the impacts (The rocks retaining the heat), and having a lake in it would be the seed where life planted would automatically terraform the whole planet eventually (100 years?).

I think the hole would be arid. However perhaps a combination could be considered to improve the situation.

-If possible generate a temporary magnetic field (Temporary being 1000 to millions of years). Do that with an oblique impact if it is possible to do.

-Make the deep hole in the Hellas Baisin.

*Maybe one or both of these events would cause the atmosphere to be thicker as well on a temporary basis.

-Address Phobos and/or Demos as a terraforming source potential.
-Toss dirt on selected sections of the polar ice cap in hopes of inflating the atmosphere more, if necessary.
-Try to scrub the Chlorine out of the Martian atmosphere in hopes of allowing some type of Ozone layer, using dust from
Martian moons.
-Fo the deep hole in the Hellas Baisin, try to produce snowfalls, using moon dust to try to seed precipitation.

-If needed also introduce greenhouse gasses.

A consirvative estimate supposes that there is enough C02 in the South polar ice cap to move the average surface pressure to 11 mb. I am going to guess that if that occurs the best pressure in Hellas might be 20-25 mb. In the deep hole it would be more.

Anyway that's all I have for it.

Terraformer · 2013-02-05 04:20:42

If you want plates, you need oceans to lubricate them. That's why Venus doesn't have any.

I think the best thing to do with impactors is target them to melt ices or maybe even vaporise nitrates or carbonates.

Do remember that if you have a metal asteroid, you're probably better of using it to manufacture a soletta.

karov · 2013-02-11 06:56:09

Really deep impact, could be done by elongated / rod shaped projectile.

Void · 2013-02-11 17:27:15

Terraformer,

You can have it all, manipulate the planet, and the impacts could generate atmosphic alterations.

I have been wondering (Way out there) if the planet could be given a more Earth similar day in length. Lots of sideways impacts for that. I wonder if multiple impacts like that could scoop a large gouge in one or more places. I am not sure that humans will even maniupate objects on that scale, but after that the atmosphere would have to be altered in chemestry, and volume I would think.

As for the hole, I think a gouge in the bottom of Hellas might end up with a pressure of 33 mb, if the average surface pressure had already been moved to 11 mb.

With further terraforming with an even denser atmosphere such a hole would be the first place where a partial pressure suit could be used, a city could be put in the hole.

Terraforming even more, eventually that hole would be the first place where you only needed a breathing apparatus.

KAROF

What are you thinking of doing with your "Really deep impact, could be done by elongated / rod shaped projectile"?

(I thought puncture a magma pocket if there are any).

karov · 2013-02-12 08:29:46

Void,

1. lots and lots of sideways hits would splash out too much shite across the System.

2. "hot rod" - many things - outgassing the interior, injecting energy underground - minimizing surface consequences of impact ... ...

Void · 2013-02-15 17:43:20

Karov,

I will take the caution. The sideways impact was just to change the length of days of Mars towards that of Earth.

I still think about the hole though, but yes there would need to be an evaluation of costs/benefits.

Conveniently something else has come up.

http://phys.org/news/2013-02-asteroids- … earth.html

If you can stop asteroids from hitting Earth, it should be possible to make them hit Mars.

There has been much talk about altering existing resources on Mars, and also with some method moving desired materials to Mars, but asteroid hits are like a re-boot arn't they?

With such a system, a very mild "Great Bombardment" might reset Mars to a temporary youth.

Of course I would want a deep hole.

Rods are also a notion to think about. If you have robots they can make them for you?

What about segmented rods?

A segment of reduced materials such as Magnisium, with some Sodium inclusions, and then a segment of a solid peroxide?

Altenating segments, and then plunge them into the crust, and let them mix and react.

I am not sure how much more energy that would inject, but it would be more.

If the normal number for energy were 1.0, and the chemestry added .1, still 1.1 might do something that 1.0 would not.

sanman · 2013-02-25 09:18:14

Comet C/2013 A1 is believed to have a small chance of colliding with Mars in October of 2014:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2013_A1

So this would be a potential cometary impactor rather than an asteroid impactor.
If an event of this type were to occur, it could release upto 19 billion megatons of energy.

While the chance of such a collision is small, what if that probability could be increased by a small nudge?

What would the effects be?

Void · 2013-02-25 15:53:06

I took the time to find out that comet is an Orrt Cloud comet, so lots of energy as you indicated. But I don't know the size and cannot quantify how much that energy is relative to a process perhaps desired.

I do know that a very large object with high energy could envelope Mars in a steam bath for 10's of years. A huge one could cause the present atmosphere to float off, and would leave an iron atmosphere for a time.

I guess you could try the "deeper hole in Hellas" trick, but ideally for that you would cut a object into pieces, and have high precision trailing impacts to the same spot.

A different trick would be to take some of the materials of Phobos and Demos and construct a object to strike first, shreding the comet before it hit. That could reduce the amount of shattering of the bedrock, and might lessen the amount of atmosphere lost to a splash.

In my ideal world, Mars would heat up to just above the point where high temperature Earth organisms could survive, and as it cooled you would inject a sequence of lower and lower temperature organisms. By the time Mars reapproached frigid, perhaps the biosphere could stand on it's own, generating greenhouse gasses, and maybe even allowing for a significant ozone layer.

In another direction, it would be good practice for terraforming Extrasolar cold Earths, an impact allowing a window of habitibility where a crew could habitat that location and promote a biosphere, or at least have a favorable temporary climate until they had dug in and set up to prosper in a glacial type world.

Void · 2013-03-03 14:26:45

I want to speculate on a possible associated process, one that might be available if humans did in fact have the ability to manipulate small space rocks and asteroids.

Several methods for the manipulation are alternates, but I am going to suppose this one again:

(The multi laser system)

http://phys.org/news/2013-02-asteroids- … earth.html

I will define my scope next. Some people think that a Mars flyby has use. Some focus on a first landing on the surface, which I agree is likely the hardest, and for the most part is beyond my skills. I am suggesting a later era where space mining is occuring in the Earths gravitational field and beyond, and people are being moved in significant numbers to those "beyond" locations.

I will reassociate this with the notion of the Terraformation of Mars, because to me it is logical that having people in the proximity of Mars will facilitate terraformation. Automated systems will as well, but I am mostly interested in how you comfortably move significant numbers of people to the area of Mars.

Moving and mining small objects in the proximity of Earth is the vision that I think I have seen emphasized.

However, as a trial balloon, I suggest creating "Focal" points in a solar orbit with a 15 month period.

A crew would have a sized down transport which would have the ability to reach these focal points, and pause for a period of time. During the pause, the persons would be employed in asteroid processing work, and would have access to artificial gravitation, and exercise equipment when they were off shift from their work.

I have gestimated 15 months, reasoning that it takes some energy to exit the Earths gravity well, and it takes more force to move outward in the suns gravity well nearer the sun than further away.

I don't want to be dogmatic about the form of propulsion, there are many and will likely be many more. However, at this moment I am speculating about a cylinder to hold powdered printed metal/slag, which could be inserted into a thermal insulator jacket. A laser would pump heat into it from one end. When it was hot enough, a tank with a mixture of water and Hydrogen Peroxide would provide Oxydizer for chemical energy for a burn. (The insulating jacket would reused at the focal point and would not go on the trip). I choose these, because some metals and other materials could be used to build the local infrastructure in the "Focus", some could be exported to Earth and Mars, and some "Slag" could be reduced and turned into the powdered printed fuel. As for the mixture of water and Hydrogen Peroxide, I simply want to reduce the amount of Hydrogen expended and boost the Oxydation potential for chemical energy release. I also want to reduce the need to handle things like cyrogenic propellants.

Having reconditioned themselves, by exercise and perhaps medical treatments for radiation damage, and having served for passage, the crew would re-occupy their ship and depart for Mars.

By the above process, I want to reduce the size of the ship that carries people. By doing "Jumps" this might be an availible option.

Most likely these people would have the intention to move to Mars as immigrants.

Last edited by Void (2013-03-03 14:36:10)

Terraformer · 2013-03-04 06:21:33

I don't think the comet will blow off the atmosphere if it hits, I suspect it's too big to be effective at that. Nearly all of it would survive to impact the surface, which, if Mars behaves like Terra did last big impact, means we'll get a lot of volcanic action on the other side of the planet. Hopefully melting a lot of the permafrost and driving out CO2, in addition to the effects at the impact side. Another thing to bear in mind is that a lot of projectiles would be thrown up into orbit, some quite sizeable, only to come back down later as secondary impacts, though with nowhere near the same amount of energy.

I'm really hoping it hits, contains Ammonia, and hits a nitrate bed. Or even better, a frozen ocean of clathrates...

Especially since a hit would at least show people what being in a cosmic shooting gallery means.

If we're lucky, Mars in a few years time might have conditions favourable to life - perhaps not to the extent where we could walk around with just a breathing mask, but to the point where we could plant pioneering lifeforms to generate greenhouse gases to further warm the planet, allowing us to get a partially terraformed Mars capable of supporting advanced plant life... by 2045. Homesteading on Mars?

Void · 2013-03-04 23:04:36

Courage to try is a good thing.

Laying down in the dirt and giving up... Not so good.

I like your optimism. But beyond that point of desperation, I actually think this could happen.

RGClark · 2013-03-05 09:55:43

Speculation here that such an impact could make Mars habitable:

Rush to Mars: Comet impact could make Red Planet inhabitable.
Published time: February 28, 2013 16:32
http://rt.com/news/mars-comet-tito-flyby-601/

Bob Clark

Terraformer · 2013-03-05 13:10:29

I think if we get lucky enough for a strike, it won't terraform the planet - but it would make it habitable to lower lifeforms for the next century or so, which is a very good starting point, being now a biocompatible/easily terrafomable planet. If we got that, we could just use engineered lifeforms to boost the global warming effect further with methane and ammonia, causing further outgassing and proteroforming the planet without us even needing to set foot on it.

God willing, we could have people on a much more habitable Mars within the decade... maybe even part of a one-way mission.

louis · 2013-03-05 18:52:18

I am sure in the future asteroid impacts will be used to accelerate terraformation.

I am sure atomic explosions would also be useful - though more controversial.

Another approach might be robot cars heating the regolith and forming gases from it. The Mars community might make billions of them.

Seeding the poles to reduce the alebedo is another quick route to terraformation.

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#1 2013-02-03 11:26:30

Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#2 2013-02-03 12:15:11

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#3 2013-02-05 04:20:42

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#4 2013-02-11 06:56:09

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#5 2013-02-11 17:27:15

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#6 2013-02-12 08:29:46

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#7 2013-02-15 17:43:20

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#8 2013-02-25 09:18:14

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#9 2013-02-25 15:53:06

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#10 2013-03-03 14:26:45

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#11 2013-03-04 06:21:33

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#12 2013-03-04 23:04:36

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#13 2013-03-05 09:55:43

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#14 2013-03-05 13:10:29

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

#15 2013-03-05 18:52:18

Re: Terraformation by Asteroid Impactor

Board footer