Reply to post: Re: Musk's idea to explode nukes at the poles has a vital flaw

Re: Musk's idea to explode nukes at the poles has a vital flaw

Based on the little Martian exploration we've done, it appears that it took billions of years for the solar wind to create what we see today. Yes, the solar wind will eventually strip any Martian atmosphere, assuming we don't simply* develop an artificial planetary magnetic field. This will take millions of years. Unless your definition of long term human use is in time frames longer than humans have existed for, you have not stated a case against long term human use of Mars.

* Simple for a civilization with the technology to construct a colony on anther planet than is large enough to justify the effort in nuking the poles. We know how to build Dyson-Harrop satellites today. Dyson-Harrop satellites can harness solar energy to create large magnetic fields in space. The solar wind is made up of charged particles, principally protons and electrons. Charged particles can be influenced by magnetic fields. A constellation of Dyson-Harrop satellites in Martian orbit** therefore can deflect the solar wind. I expect, if a better method is not developed, this style of system can be refined to capture the solar wind. As protons plus electrons equals hydrogen, this is one potential way to import lost-cost hydrogen(We also end up with helium and traces of heavier elements) to Mars. The same system could also be used to give the Moon it's own magnetic field, allowing a Lunar atmosphere.

** You may have seen the proposal for a similar shield placed at the Sun Mars L1 point. This doesn't work because the solar wind hits from the side. The solar wind is influenced by the Sun's magnetic field, which is dragged by the Sun's rotation. The Sun's magnetic field, when viewed from above the orbital plane, looks like a pinwheel.