Greening the Red Planet – scientists test plausibility of Martian trees
If we were to colonise Mars, we’d need to give it an atmosphere. The best way to do that would be to duplicate the creation of atmosphere here on Earth – by letting plant life do the work for us. With this in mind, scientists are investigating
the trees that grow on a lofty extinct volcano in Mexico, to see if their ability to survive in the thin atmosphere could be transferred to the Martian surface. [Colony Worlds] [Image by Redvers]
July 20th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Low gravity? What’s the problem with erecting large plastic tent domes, a fewhundred meters in size, one inside another? We could layer them like onions, humans inside, in the snugly warm pressurized inner domes, plants growing in outer domes. We don’t need miles and miles of conifer jungles. We only need really strong plastic sheeting, a few air factories and a few acres of well-composted earth. The humans would live in canyon walls snug inside those domed paradises, safely protected from martian sky radiation.
Plus I am willing to bet martian soil will prove toxic and caustic as russian chemical-industry landfill ashes. Chemically neutralizing that will take a shitload of megascale engineering. Dome cities are the way to go.