NASA scientists considers launching giant magnetic shield for protecting Mar's atmosphere to make the red planet habitable

NASA scientists have come up with an amazing solution to make Mars habitable for future generations of human colonists. They propose to introduce Giant magnetosphere or artificial magnetic fields between the sun and the Mars which in due course lead to the rise in temperature of Mars allowing the flow of rivers and oceans on the surface.

Mars seems to be cold, arid wasteland these days but scientists believe that Mars once had a thick atmosphere similar to the earth and has deep oceans and rivers and also habitable climate. According to scientists, the current situation is due to the loss of protective magnetic field on Mars that collapsed billions of years ago.

The main culprit seems to be the solar winds coming from the sun that stripped Mars of its thick atmosphere. If they launch giant magnetic shield into the space between mars and the sun scientists hope this gives a chance to the planet to naturally restore its own atmosphere.

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Although the concept seems to be theoretical and fanciful, scientists point to the existing research where they are concerned with developing super magnetic fields that offer protection to space crafts and occupants from cosmic radiations during deep space missions. So they are hopeful of adopting the same technology on a large scale to shield mars.

The team believes that this introduced magnetic field will counteract the losses of the martian atmosphere caused by solar winds. So this in a way facilitates the restoration of thick atmosphere of the Mars within a matter of years. If this happens, then the climate of Mars becomes warmer by as much as 4-degree celsius. This temperature is sufficient to melt the carbon dioxide ice over the Mars northern polar cap.

Then carbon in the atmosphere traps the heat similar to earth and triggers a greenhouse effect that melts the mars water ice. This, in turn, leads to restoration of liquid water on mars in the form of rivers and oceans. NASA's Planetary Science Division director, Jim Green presented the findings at the planetary science vision workshop.

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The team plans to keep studying the possibilities to get more accurate estimates of how long climate changing effects will take place. If the concept works well, then one-day colonization of mars would be a reality.

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