This volatile combination could not be sustained through time. Even if atmospheric algae could thrive in the hostile environment of Venus's upper atmosphere, an even more insurmountable problem is that its atmosphere is simply far too thick-the high atmospheric pressure would result in an "atmosphere of nearly pure molecular oxygen" and cause the planet's surface to be thickly covered in fine graphite powder. One problem is that the clouds of Venus are composed of a highly concentrated sulfuric acid solution. However, later discoveries about the conditions on Venus made this particular approach impossible. The resulting carbon, Sagan supposed, would be incinerated by the high surface temperatures of Venus, and thus be sequestered in the form of "graphite or some involatile form of carbon" on the planet's surface. As this process removed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect would be reduced until surface temperatures dropped to "comfortable" levels. Sagan imagined seeding the atmosphere of Venus with algae, which would convert water, nitrogen and carbon dioxide into organic compounds. The renowned astronomer Carl Sagan proposed the planetary engineering of Venus in an article published in the journal Science in 1961. Other unanswered questions relate to the ethics, logistics, economics, politics, and methodology of altering the environment of an extraterrestrial world. The long timescales and practicality of terraforming are the subject of debate. Several potential methods of altering the climate of Mars may fall within humanity's technological capabilities, but at present the economic resources required to do so are far beyond that which any government or society is willing to allocate to it. Much study has been done concerning the possibility of heating the planet and altering its atmosphere, and NASA has even hosted debates on the subject. Mars is usually considered to be the most likely candidate for terraforming. The term was coined by Jack Williamson in a science-fiction short story (" Collision Orbit") published during 1942 in Astounding Science Fiction, but the concept may pre-date this work.Įven if the environment of a planet could be altered deliberately, the feasibility of creating an unconstrained planetary environment that mimics Earth on another planet has yet to be verified. The concept of terraforming developed from both science fiction and actual science. Terraforming or terraformation (literally, "Earth-shaping") of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to the environment of Earth to make it habitable by Earth-like life. Template:Wpspace File:MarsTransitionV.jpgĪn artist's conception shows a terraformed Mars in four stages of development. For the software, see Terraform (software). For the Knut album, see Terraformer (album). For the Shellac album, see Terraform (album). This article is about the hypothetical planetary engineering process.
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