Most of Mars' air was 'lost to space'
bbc.co.uk
bbc.co.uk
> However, climate models, based on the limited evidence to date of what the atmosphere was like, have struggled to simulate a Mars on which conditions were warm enough to allow lots of liquid water. Much of it would have been locked up in ice, they suggest.
Bit contradictory here.
Sept. 28, 2015 - We found water!
> These downhill flows, known as recurring slope lineae (RSL), often have been described as possibly related to liquid water. The new findings of hydrated salts on the slopes point to what that relationship may be to these dark features. The hydrated salts would lower the freezing point of a liquid brine, just as salt on roads here on Earth causes ice and snow to melt more rapidly. Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow, with enough water wicking to the surface to explain the darkening. [1]
Aug. 23, 2016 - Maybe not...
> "Some type of water-related activity at the uphill end still might be a factor in triggering RSL, but the darkness of the ground is not associated with large amounts of water, either liquid or frozen," Edwards said. "Totally dry mechanisms for explaining RSL should not be ruled out." [2]
[1] https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-confirms-evidence-th...
[2] https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/news/test-for-damp-ground-at-mars-...
The section you are quoting is titled 'climate conundrum'.
The writer is saying that it is visually obvious that there was running water at some point, but climate models do not support this.
That is why it is a .....conundrum.
One great idea I heard to make mars more habitable in general is creating a large magnetic field at a Lagrange point between mars and the sun. A sort of "radiation sunshade"
Most terraforming research tends to be more realistic, and therefore looks at scales of thousands of years for change to take effect, often driven by engineered single-celled organisms in stages.
I discovered his channel a few weeks ago, and was blown away. He has tons of videos that cover all aspects of humanity's potential future in the stars in great detail, and does a very good job of staying grounded in hard science. It seems like he really knows his stuff. The episodes can be quite long (15 - 60 mins), but definitely worth checking out. I've been slowing making my way through them.
So far, I've really liked the video on "Black hole farming at the end of civilization", some of his Fermi paradox episodes, as well as the one on terraforming.
That sounds like it would be massive, or actually maybe not, like a shadow getting bigger the farther it is away from light.
What about the Mars-based idea, that massive wire that wraps around Mars I think.
Seems to me, a process capable of refreshing a livable atmosphere could just be used as needed, given a sufficiently long depletion time line.
Anyone have ideas or info on what that looks like? My mind moves to things like diverting ice from space. Big scale.
I don't know, we'd have to get the atmosphere from somewhere, maybe after the magnetosphere is re-established whether artificially or inside Mars, grab asteroids with ice and use that for the atmosphere.
That series never got renewed. It's a pity; the first season was nice. I'm glad they didn't, though, because an ending like that would have made me scream.