Elon Musk is known for his ideas and projects that promise to change the world . But when we talk about the world, it is not just Earth, since the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla wants to transform Mars into a new habitable planet. And the proposed method has not left anyone indifferent (again).
Apparently bombing Mars is still on the visionary Elon Musk’s wish list.
Elon Musk first suggested bombing Mars in 2015 , when he argued that using atomic bombs to destroy the planet’s poles would release enough carbon dioxide and water vapor – both powerful greenhouse gases – to raise the planet’s atmospheric temperature to Earth’s, although scientists warned that the plan would not work.
Apparently this terraforming concept is still going around in Musk’s head, because a few days ago he tweeted “Nuke Mars!” and a few hours later: “T-shirt soon” ($ 25).
If we take Musk seriously
There is significant skepticism about this idea. To begin with, many scientists and advocates of exploration ask questions such as: Do we have the right to completely transform another world, especially one that could host its own life, just for our own purposes?
Also, the strategy might not even work. A 2018 study published in the journal Nature Astronomy concluded that Mars does not harbor enough CO2 today to achieve significant warming, even if it were all released into the atmosphere. “As a result, we conclude that terraforming Mars is not possible using current technology,” the researchers wrote.
(The study team also explained why they did not regard water as a warming agent. “Previous models of global warming have shown that water cannot provide significant warming on its own; temperatures do not allow enough water to persist as steam without first having significant CO2 warming, “wrote the team members).
But the nuclear concept could be far worse than ineffective, some scientists have said. That is, it could be counterproductive, giving way to a phenomenon known as ‘nuclear winter’, since nuclear weapons would produce massive clouds that would block sunlight and cause the planet to cool even more. Which would go against the initial objective.
The transformation of Mars, so barren and hostile, clearly aligns with Musk’s long-term goals as he wants to help humanity colonize the Red Planet. SpaceX hopes to one day transport humans to Mars, and Musk has previously stated that colonizing the red planet is imperative for the survival of the human species.
At the moment, he’s building a space flight system to help make this happen: a 100-passenger spaceship called the Starship and a massive rocket known as the Super Heavy. This reusable duo could start launching satellites already in 2021 and 20 23.
The prototype of this ship, called the Starhopper , has just had its first successful test after a previous launch went wrong. NASA hopes to use SpaceX rockets for future visits to the moon and Mars.
