Latest Terraforming Stories

Rayshell Clapper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Mars colonization has been a topic of discussion for decades. Especially since man landed on the moon in 1969, people from a variety of professional backgrounds – including astronauts, sci-fi writers, entrepreneurs, scientists, doctors, video gamers, academics and journalists – have pondered the possibility of colonizing Mars. But just how far in the future is the first Mars colony? One particularly promising example of a...

Scientists from the Australian National University have found that “large regions” of the Red Planet could actually sustain terrestrial life. The results are based on the scientists’ findings that extensive regions of the sub-surface of Mars could contain water and be at comfortable enough temperatures to support at least microbial life. In the study -- An Extensive Phase Space for the Potential Martian Biosphere -- published today in the Astrobiology Journal, researchers from...

British scientists say large bombardments of meteorites four billion years ago might have made early Earth and Mars more habitable for life. Imperial College London researchers said millions of meteor strikes during what's called the Late Heavy Bombardment approximately 3.9 billion years pelted Earth and Mars during a period of about 20 million years, possibly modifying the atmosphere on both planets. Researchers explained that when a meteor enters a planet's atmosphere, extreme heat causes...

SAN FRANCISCO—NASA scientists have discovered what might form some of the weirdest landscapes on Mars, winding channels carved into the Martian surface that scientists have dubbed "spiders," "lace" and "lizard skin." The unusual landscape features form in an area of Mars' south pole called cryptic terrain because it once defied explanation. But new observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, presented here today at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union,...

NASA -- Terraforming was once solely the province of science fiction. In the 1930s, Olaf Stapledon wrote of electrolyzing a global sea on Venus in order to prepare it for human habitation in "Last and First Men." Jack Williamson coined the term "terraforming" in the 1940s in a series of short stories. And in 1951, Arthur C. Clarke gave the concept wide exposure with his novel, "The Sands of Mars." Kim Stanley Robinson picked up the terraforming torch in the 1990s...

Bernard Foing, Project Scientist for the lunar satellite SMART-1, discusses the steps we need to take to develop bases on the Moon. Growing flowers is one step towards making the lunar desert an oasis for human life. Astrobiology Magazine -- Bernard Foing, Chief Scientist at the European Space Agency, is also Project Scientist for SMART-1, a spacecraft now orbiting the Moon. SMART-1 is currently mapping the lunar surface topography and mineralogy, and scientists hope this information will...

WASHINGTON -- Injecting synthetic "super" greenhouse gases into the Martian atmosphere could raise the planet's temperature enough to melt its polar ice caps and create conditions suitable for sustaining biological life. In fact, a team of researchers suggests that introducing global warming on the Red Planet may be the best approach for warming the planet's frozen landscape and turning it into a habitable world in the future. Margarita Marinova, then at the NASA Ames Research...

Meteorites and comets should have delivered vast amounts of organic chemicals to Mars, yet the Viking mission found no organics in the red soil. A new hypothesis by Sushil Atreya suggests how dust storms may zap away any chances for life on the martian surface. Astrobiology Magazine -- Mars is often enveloped by planet-wide dust storms - their biting winds choke the air and scour the arid surface. Tornado-like dust devils dance across the planet so frequently that their numerous tracks...

Like Earth and Venus, the night side of Mars emits a subtle glow. In this interview with Astrobiology Magazine, Jean-Loup Bertaux, Principal Investigator for the Mars Express SPICAM instrument, explains what lights up the martian evening sky, and why our understanding of that process could aid future missions to Mars. Astrobiology Magazine -- Jean-Loup Bertaux, of the Service d'Aeronomie du CNRS in France, is Principal Investigator for the spectrometer instrument onboard the European Space...

In this excerpt from the new Forward to the paperback edition of "Lonely Planets", planetary scientist David Grinspoon discusses the exciting discoveries unveiled by the twin rovers on Mars.Astrobiology Magazine -- "Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life," by David Grinspoon, is a humorous and balanced look at the history and science of astrobiology. Awarded the 2004 PEN Literary Award for Nonfiction, this book was described by Frank Drake as "Superb......