One oft-discussed possibility for the planet Mars is the large-scale transformation of its planetary environment to become more Earth-like \u2013 a process known as terraforming.<\/p>

Extensive geological evidence indicates that Mars once had a much thicker atmosphere and a warmer climate that allowed liquid water to flow across its surface.<\/p>

More on Mars<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>

How will humans get to Mars?<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li>
How did Mars lose its water?<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li>
Water ice found at Mars equator<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li> <\/ul> <\/div>

Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, John T. Clarke (Boston University). Image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) <\/figcaption> <\/figure> <\/div> <\/div>
In this sense, terraforming Mars<\/a> would represent an effort to wind back the clock of planetary time to return Mars to a warmer, wetter world.<\/p>
So how likely is this, and what does the process of terraforming a planet actually involve?<\/p>
$\"Ancient$
Ancient Martian riverbeds on Mars, as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 1 February 2024. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/University of Arizona <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
How to terraform a planet<\/strong><\/h2>
The first step in the terraforming process would be to pump up a more substantial atmosphere for the planet and so warm the surface by trapping heat through the greenhouse effect.<\/p>
Mars today is so cold that a significant amount of its carbon dioxide air has frozen out onto the surface.<\/p>
The planet\u2019s poles contain deposits of \u2018dry ice\u2019 on top of thicker layers of water ice.<\/p>
Some proposals have argued nuclear detonations over the poles could vaporise this carbon dioxide (and water) into the atmosphere to kick-start a more powerful process \u2013 the warmer Mars gets, the more greenhouse gases return to the atmosphere, causing further warming.<\/p>
$\"How$
Mars’s north polar ice cap, as seen by ESA’s Mars Express orbiter. Credit: ESA\/DLR\/FU Berlin; NASA MGS MOLA Science Team <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
The problem with this nuclear option is that the latest studies estimate there isn\u2019t enough carbon dioxide ice present to provide a significant greenhouse effect.<\/p>
Another proposal is to build facilities on the surface that mine fluorine-containing minerals to manufacture powerful greenhouse gases like sulphur hexafluoride, which are thousands of times more effective than carbon dioxide.<\/p>
But fluorine is pretty sparse in Mars rocks.<\/p>
$\"Terraforming$
Terraforming \u2013 changing the climate so it\u2019s human-friendly \u2013 is key to any Mars colonisation plans. Credit: Victor Habbick Visions\/Science Photo Library\/iStock\/Getty Images <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
Creating an artificial greenhouse<\/strong><\/h2>
So might there be another approach? Samaneh Ansari is a graduate student at Northwestern University in Illinois, and with her team has been exploring the use of artificial aerosols made of very small particles.<\/p>
If these are manufactured to be about 9\u00b5m long (not much smaller than flakes of fine glitter) and very thin, the team say they would allow incoming sunlight to scatter down to the surface, but would then effectively block outgoing infrared wavelengths.<\/p>
That is to say, such \u2018nanorods\u2019 would function very well as greenhouse insulation for the planet.<\/p>
In fact, the team calculated that such nanorods would be more than 5,000 times more effective than the most powerful greenhouse gases.<\/p>
These nanorods could be produced from common elements in Martian rocks \u2013 iron or aluminium \u2013 and avoid the problems encountered by other proposals.<\/p>
And because they are so small and light, like Martian dust particles they would be lofted high in the atmosphere and remain for a long period.<\/p>
$\"An$
An artist\u2019s impression of the first astronauts and human habitats on Mars. Credit: NASA <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
Achieving a steady temperature<\/strong><\/h2>
The team also ran models of the Martian climate to show that if their nanorods were released at a rate of 30 litres (8 gallons) per second \u2013 pumped out of a chimney a few tens of metres tall \u2013 they could sustain a global warming of Mars of around 30\u00b0C (54\u00b0F).<\/p>
This would be enough to drive carbon dioxide ice back into the atmosphere and melt near-surface ice into liquid water across large regions of the planet during summer.\u00a0<\/p>
This approach would still require the mining and processing of a lot of Martian rock and so would be a major undertaking.<\/p>
The authors also stress that this is only a preliminary study and several uncertainties remain.<\/p>
But what\u2019s exciting is that it represents a novel strategy \u2013 and is seemingly more feasible than others \u2013 for terraforming Mars in the future.<\/p>
Lewis Dartnell was reading <\/em>Feasibility of Keeping Mars Warm with Nanoparticles by Samaneh Ansari et al. Read it online at: arxiv.org\/abs\/2409.03925<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>
This article appeared in the December 2025 issue of BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/em><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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