Mars does not have a magnetosphere. Any discussion of humans ever settling the red planet can stop right there, but of course it never does. Do you have a low-cost plan for, uh, creating a gigantic active dynamo at Mars’s dead core? No? Well. It’s fine. I’m sure you have some other workable, sustainable plan […]

By Albert Burneko

9:00 AM EDT on September 11, 2024

Mars does not have a magnetosphere. Any discussion of humans ever settling the red planet can stop right there, but of course it never does. Do you have a low-cost plan for, uh, creating a gigantic active dynamo at Mars’s dead core? No? Well. It’s fine. I’m sure you have some other workable, sustainable plan for shielding live Mars inhabitants from deadly solar and cosmic radiation, forever. No? Huh. Well then let’s discuss something else equally realistic, like your plan to build a condo complex in Middle Earth.

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    • FrostyCaveman@lemm.ee
      9·
      3 months ago

      The linked article says the artificial magnetosphere would encompass the entire planet and points out this includes two critical places where the most atmosphere is lost.

      So yes by virtue of it encompassing the whole planet it does cover those two places… I suppose they wanted to specifically mention them

    • Midnitte@beehaw.orgEnglish
      81·
      3 months ago

      In the future it is quite possible that an inflatable structure(s) can generate a magnetic dipole field at a level of perhaps 1 or 2 Tesla (or 10,000 to 20,000 Gauss) as an active shield against the solar wind."

      Indeed, “in the future” seems to be doing quite a lot of heavy lifting. As noted, 1-2 Tesla is a pretty powerful magnet - so you’d need a pretty big and powerful magnet.

      It also doesn’t completely protect the entire planet just two critical points on the surface.

      That is certainly an important catch.

    • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      42·
      3 months ago

      as masterspace noted NASA has actually given it some thought.

      Just because people talk about something at one conference that doesn’t make it real, feasible, happening, etc. It’s literally just people talking. It doesn’t matter where they work.

      • masterspace@lemmy.caEnglish
        1·
        3 months ago

        You’re talking about the people who lowered a car from a rocket crane onto the surface of another planet, you can be thoughtfully critical, but their technical record has earned them a lot more than surface level dismissal.