It may be a dry and desolate world now, but Mars was once an active planet covered in oceans with a thick atmosphere. If we’re to colonise the Red Planet in the future we may have to recreate these conditions. Luckily, Nasa has a plan.
Speaking at the Planetary Science Vision 2050 Workshop conference in Washington, director of Nasa’s Planetary Science Division James Green said scientists from the space agency have proposed a plan to shield Mars from the Sun’s rays through an artificial magnetic field around the planet. Without a protective magnetic field, anyone living on the Red Planet would have to protect themselves from the harmful radiation from the Sun that we, on Earth, are shielded from.
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Abigail Beall 