NASA plans to protect Martian atmosphere with magnetic field

Scientists from the American space agency NASA, among others, have made a proposal to develop a magnetic field that can protect the atmosphere of Mars. To make this possible, an artificial magnetic shield must be used.

The magnetic shield should be placed at the L1 Lagrange Point in front of the planet. This would create an artificial magnetosphere capable of protecting the partially existing atmosphere of Mars from solar wind and radiation from the sun. That’s according to a presentation document from a group of American scientists who set out their plan during a multi-day NASA workshop event last week.

Simulations would show that this artificial protection would make the Martian atmosphere thick enough to melt the ice layer containing carbon dioxide at the north pole of Mars. This would cause a greenhouse effect, making water available to humans and possibly even re-establishing one or more oceans. This could help space missions and possibly human life on Mars from 2040.

NASA’s Jim Green admitted the idea sounds a bit imaginary, but he says new research into creating miniature versions of magnetospheres to protect astronauts in spacecraft shows it’s a feasible concept. “In the future, it is certainly possible that an inflatable structure can generate a bipolar magnetic field of 1 or 2 tesla that can provide protection from the solar wind,” Green said.

According to scientists, there has been a large ocean on Mars in the past, the water of which was eventually lost to space through evaporation. The existence of water on Mars was possible because the planet had an atmosphere and a magnetic field until 4.2 billion years ago. From that moment on, the magnetic field has disappeared, causing the solar wind to affect the atmosphere of Mars by blowing away the carbon dioxide and nitrogen present. Over some 500 million years, Mars transformed from a warm, wet planet to its current uninhabitable state with temperatures well below zero.