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Terraforming Mars: A Review of Concepts

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Engineering Earth

Abstract

The concept of modifying the environment of another planet, so that it can support terrestrial life, is known as terraforming. As a speculative thought experiment in planetary engineering, it has been slowly gaining in respectability and, over the past 40 years, has amassed a considerable body of published work. In this paper, the progress of research into the terraforming of the planet Mars is briefly reviewed. While such an undertaking does not appear technologically impossible, whether it will actually happen is an unanswerable question. However, the control space for thought experimentation that terraforming provides is of use in planetological research, environmental ethics, and education. The subject is therefore relevant to the present day, as well as to a possible future.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Probability Research Group, London, UK, SE19 1UY

    Martyn J. Fogg

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  1. Martyn J. Fogg
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Correspondence to Martyn J. Fogg .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Geography, University of Kentucky, Lexington, 40506-0027, Kentucky, USA

    Stanley D. Brunn

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Fogg, M.J. (2011). Terraforming Mars: A Review of Concepts. In: Brunn, S. (eds) Engineering Earth. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9920-4_124

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