Why NASA Disagrees With Elon Musk’s Plan To NUKE Mars

for the past few years it's almost been impossible to talk about mars without elon musk or spacex popping into the conversation limited resources on earth and constantly improving space technology means a move to the red planet is looking like a certain eventuality elon's plans to nuke and colonize mars in the next 20 years have been no secret with everyone across the world eagerly waiting to see how the billionaire investor will carry out this overly ambitious and downright brilliant goal but not everyone thinks it's a good idea no walk in the park getting to mars is hard enough hell just leaving the earth's atmosphere is a monumental achievement in the space industry so when spacex revealed their falcon heavy and spaceship heavy lift launch vehicles a crucial part of this complicated equation was partially solved once we get to mars though an avalanche of new challenges and dilemmas will arise so preparing the destination in advance is very necessary elon's answer terraforming or if you like to call it as it is plain old nuclear bomb drops if you're like us and the only point of reference you have for planet nuking is from star wars you know when alderaan was destroyed by the death star you're absolutely wrong in his own words musk simply refers to nuking mars as a continuous stream of very low fallout nuclear explosions above the atmosphere to create artificial suns like our sun this would not cause mars to be radioactive trickier than it seems when asked about the risk involved in the process by fans on twitter elon responded saying it's not too risky in my opinion and the process can be adjusted and improved in real time we essentially need to figure out the most effective way to convert mass into energy as mars is slightly too far away from this solar system's fusion reactor the sun it's worth noting however that nuking isn't necessarily the only option here interested academics and scholars have also involved themselves into the thought process on how to warm the freezing planet redirecting comets or using thousands of solar reflective satellites are also options that are currently being explored hold your horses from the title of this video you might have realized that elon musk and spacex have a very vocal party opposing the idea to nuke mars none other than nasa the goal behind terraforming is to release carbon dioxide gas trapped under the martian surface to thicken the atmosphere and act as a blanket to warm the planet but according to a new nasa-sponsored study mars's surface does not retain enough carbon dioxide that could practically be put back into the atmosphere to warm the inhospitable planet changing the desolate martian landscape into a place humans can explore without life support is simply impossible with the technology we have today according to nasa the current atmosphere on mars consists mostly of carbon dioxide which is too thin and cold to support liquid water the key component of life the gases that would be released from mars's surface will increase the temperature to a point where liquid water will be stable rather than instantly turning to ice the pressure of mars atmosphere is less than one percent of the pressure of earth's atmosphere this means that even if the planet's temperature was stable enough to support liquid water said water would quickly evaporate or freeze owing to the immense difference in atmospheric pressure this is why thickening the atmosphere is just as important as raising the temperature on mars both of which can be accomplished by successfully terraforming the planet but is there another way a less explosive alternative many studies have been done on terraforming over the years but recent scientific observations of mars by nasa has brought new game-changing information to the table new information has been provided on the abundance of easily vaporized materials or volatiles the history of volatiles like carbon dioxide on the planet and the loss of gas from mars atmosphere to space using data from nasa's mars odyssey and mars reconnaissance orbiter researchers analyzed the distribution of carbon-bearing minerals and the occurrence of carbon dioxide in the red planet's polar ice caps unfortunately the results aren't very optimistic it turns out that there's not enough carbon dioxide remaining on mars to provide substantial greenhouse warming and this is inclusive of the gases beneath the surface were they to be released into the atmosphere a carbon conundrum an interesting fact about mars is that there is a lot of water albeit in ice form which can be used to create water vapor but this is negated by studies showing that water cannot provide substantial warming on its own without having a significant warming by carbon dioxide which is scarce on mars to say the least the temperature will not allow enough water to exist as vapor let alone liquid some experts have proposed introduction of chlorofluorocarbons or other fluorine-based compounds in an effort to raise the atmospheric pressure but that theory is foiled since these gases are short-lived and would require an expansive manufacturing plant definitely not a short-term idea the intellectual race to terraform mars has quickly turned into a race for carbon what scientists now believe is the missing piece to the red planet's puzzle how and where we can find enough carbon on mars to raise that atmospheric pressure to a level we'd be comfortable with mars atmospheric pressure is staggeringly low at around 0.6 percent of earth's researchers at nasa estimate that mars needs a carbon dioxide pressure similar to earth's total atmospheric pressure in order to raise temperatures enough to support stable liquid water the pressure is on right now carbon dioxide is to mars what bitcoin is to earth of immense value and in high demand the most obtainable deposits of carbon dioxide on mars can be found in the polar ice caps and vaporized by solar radiation or using explosives this would straight up double mars atmospheric pressure but unfortunately 1.2 percent of earth's atmospheric pressure would still be a long way from habitable this means researchers will have to find and exploit multiple sources of carbon dioxide on the planet if we're to have the slightest chance at interplanetary survival the soil on mars has been identified as another source of carbon dioxide according to scientists heating the soil to release the gas will contribute up to four percent of the needed atmospheric pressure mineral deposits under the surface are another direct source of carbon dioxide but not a very reliable one on its own with the most conceivable deposit estimated to yield less than five percent of the required pressure getting to all of these deposits is going to be very labor-intensive though with even the shallowest deposits requiring extensive strip mining a matter of time as much as the brilliant minds at nasa may oppose elon musk's idea to nuke mars they share the same sentiment and overall goal to one day inhabit mars and start a new chapter in humanity's book the future has never looked brighter with interplanetary voyages and a human settlement on mars scheduled in the next few years boy we're getting giddy just thinking about it what are your thoughts on humanity's venture to mars are you in support of elon musk's idea to nuke the planet when do you think you or someone you know will be on the next flight to mars let us know all this and more down in the comments below if you haven't done so already don't forget to subscribe to our channel for all the latest tech news and updates until next time welcome to the future

Channel: Futurity

Views: 1,397,034

Keywords: futurity, nuke mars, nasa, spacex, space x, space, spacex mars, mars, elon musk spacex, elon musk, elon musk motivation, elon, musk, elon musk joe rogan, elon musk speech, elon musk mars, life on mars, elon musk space x, spacex starship, elon musk mars plan, terraforming mars, mars landing, mars colonization, occupy mars, mission to mars, nuking mars, what if nuke mars, elon musk wants to nuke mars, elon musk nuking mars, mars nuke, nuke mars elon musk

Id: XS0hxCHKFSU

Length: 7min 5sec (425 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 30 2021