Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Use of Fluorine Compounds
Because long-term climate stability would be required for sustaining a human
population, the use of especially powerful fluorine-bearing greenhouse gases,
possibly including sulfur hexafluoride or halocarbons such as chlorofluorocarbons
(or CFCs) and perfluorocarbons (or PFCs), has been suggested. These gases are the
most cited candidates for artificial insertion into the Martian atmosphere because
they produce a strong effect as a greenhouse gas, thousands of times stronger than
CO
2
. This can conceivably be done relatively cheaply by sending rockets with
payloads of compressed CFCs on collision courses with Mars. When the rockets
crash onto the surface, they release their payloads into the atmosphere. A steady
barrage of these “CFC rockets” would need to be sustained for a little over a decade
while Mars changes chemically and becomes warmer.
In order to sublimate the south polar CO
2
glaciers, Mars would require the
introduction of approximately 0.3 microbars of CFCs into Mars' atmosphere. This
is equivalent to a mass of approximately 39 million metric tons. This is about three
times the amount of CFC manufactured on Earth from 1972 to 1992 (when CFC
production was banned by international treaty).
Mineralogical surveys of Mars estimate the elemental presence of fluorine in
bulk composition of Mars at 32 ppm by mass vs. 19.4 ppm for the Earth. A proposal
to mine fluorine-containing minerals as a source of CFCs and PFCs is supported
by the belief that because these minerals are expected to be at least as common on
Mars as on Earth, this process could sustain the production of sufficient quantities
of optimal greenhouse compounds (CF
3
SCF
3
,CF
3
OCF
2
OCF
3
,CF
3
SCF
2
SCF
3
,
CF
3
OCF
2
NFCF
3
,C
12
F
27
N) to maintain Mars at “comfortable” temperatures, as a
method of maintaining an Earth-like atmosphere produced previously by some other
means.
Use of Orbital Mirrors
Mirrors made of thin aluminized PET film could be placed in orbit around Mars
to increase the total insolation it receives. This would direct the sunlight onto the
surface and could increase Mars' surface temperature directly. The mirror could be
positioned as a statite, using its effectiveness as a solar sail to orbit in a stationary
position relative to Mars, near the poles, to sublimate the CO
2
ice sheet and
contribute to the warming greenhouse effect.
Albedo Reduction
Reducing the albedo of the Martian surface would also make more efficient use of
incoming sunlight. This could be done by spreading dark dust from Mars' moons,
Phobos and Deimos, which are among the blackest bodies in the solar system, or
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