Terraforming the Red Planet

Colonization of other planets in our solar system has historically been a matter best left to science fiction, a seemingly impossible task, yet one evoking great interest from the general public.  Could such a thing be possible? 

These pages will investigate the possibility of turning Mars into a place fit for human habitation.  Herein, you will find information regarding the atmospheric evolution of Mars, an analysis of the present volatile inventory of the planet, and possible history of those volatiles.  As an alternative, the White Mars scenario will be presented, in which water plays little or no part in the erosive processes.  These pages were created as a final project for a graduate course in Planetary Atmospheres. However, I have attempted to make the content level accessible to the non-scientist as well, hoping to provide the information to the general public.

Mars is clearly not habitable now.  In order to make its surface environment fit for life, drastic changes need to be made.  You will find a page on exactly what those are and for methods by which they might be effected.  In addition, planetary protection issues will be addressed.

To find out more about this topic, click on either of the links below.  If you like framed pages, click on the Frames link.  In the unlikely event that your browser doesn't support them, or if (like me) you just don't like frames very much, click on the No Frames link.