Should We Make Mars Ours?

Have you ever wondered if aliens do in fact exist? Scientists have worked very hard over the years in various attempts to identify life forms from somewhere besides Earth. We have visited the Moon, sent rovers to Mars, and explored the depths of space, yet we still have NO solid evidence of a human-like species existing anywhere other than our planet (1).



Figure 1: Earth's outermost layer, known as its
atmosphere serves as our planet's protective immune
system. It does its best to keep Earth healthy.

So our beloved planet Earth is growing older and older, 4.5 billion years to be exact! And as it grows older just like our grandparents, Earth's immune system weakens and the planet is more vulnerable to disease and illness. Earth's immune system actually has a pretty cool name. It's called the atmosphere (see Fig. 1 on right), and it helps to control temperature and pressure so we don't feel like we have a fever or headaches. The atmosphere has been hurt more and more over the years. All of the nasty, polluted smoke given off by factories, cars, trucks, and other machines has caused a lot of damage. Our planet is starting to experience different weather patterns and animals around the world are dying off and becoming extinct.

Since humans are just a different breed of animals, the damage to Earth's immune system has scientists worried. They fear that the climate change could have similar effects and that humans too could face extinction if the problem is not corrected. In response to this fear, scientists have proposed the idea of terraforming. What this big word means is that scientists believe we could travel to another planet, like Mars, and change the environment there (2). If we can change the environment to make it just like Earth's, then we could pack up a space shuttle with humans, like Noah did the Ark with all of the animals. Then we could travel through space to our next door neighbor Mars and start from scratch.

Figure 2: This picture reveals a glacier pool in a crater on Mars.
Mars contains water, but it is currently frozen and therefore would
not be available as a drink.

Right now Mars is currently frozen solid (3) like an ice cube and lacks a safe atmosphere (see Fig. 2 on right). Scientists believe that they could start the process of giving Mars a healthy immune system by warming up the planet from the top and bottom. One of the most popular ideas for completing this task is exploding nuclear bombs at the North and South poles of Mars (3).



Figure 3: This is Marvin, the Martian who we could risk
seriously hurting or even killing if we bomb Mars in order
to terraform it. Would you be in support of this?

Before we go ahead and carry out his plan though, I would like to introduce you to my Martian friend Marvin (see Fig. 3 on left). Marvin is a good man. He is caring and even finds time to care for his dog while hiding away from the sights of our telescopes. Marvin was born on Mars and has spent his entire life carrying out his right to live there, just as we are granted rights as an American citizen when we are born in the United States. Scientists haven't discovered Marvin yet, and that could end up causing a very big problem.

If scientists decide to move forward with the experiment, they will be intruding upon Marvin's natural rights as a citizen of Mars. Think about it like this, how would we like it if the Chinese decided to sail across the Pacific Ocean and kick us out of America because there wasn't enough room in China? If the process of terraforming Mars were to be completed using the nuclear bombs, we can kiss Marvin and his puppy goodbye.

We humans contain abilities and smarts like no other animal on Earth. Over time we have caused damage to Earth's atmosphere by using machines, factories, and vehicles. Although we have the chance to right our wrongs and start fresh, we cannot act on this chance without first considering the rights of Martians like my friend Marvin. It would not be right to kill off another species just because we have damaged Earth's immune system and think we can turn Mars into Earth 2.0.

References:

1) Bailey, R. (2011, November 8). Does Mars have rights?  Retrieved from Reason Foundation website:                 http://reason.com/archives/2011/11/08/does-mars-have-rights

2) NASA Quest Archives Glossary website (http://quest.nasa.gov/mars/background/glossary.html)

3) O’Callaghan, J. (2015, September 10). Elon Musk says we could terraform Mars by dropping thermonuclear bombs on it. IFL Science Newsletter. Retrieved from http://www.iflscience.com/space/elon-musk-says-we-could-terraform-mars-dropping-thermonuclear-bombs-it