Mars will be transformed into a shirt-sleeve, habitable world for humanity before century's end, made livable by thawing out the coldish climes of the red planet and altering its now carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere, according to one researcher.
Mirrors in orbit around Mars could create Earth-like conditions on a small patch of the planet's surface, according to a NASA-funded study. The extra sunlight would provide warmth and solar power for human explorers, but some experts say the mirrors may be hard to deploy.
Finding life on Mars has proved an elusive dream for decades. But scientists now believe they may be able to do it for themselves - by turning the Red Planet into a blue world with streams, green fields and fresh breezes and filling it with Earthly creatures.
The author argues that plans to terraform Mars should be "should be postponed for the time being, if not indefinitely."
NASA scientists have successfully tested a machine capable of extracting oxygen from the dusty atmosphere of Mars. Such a device will be needed if astronauts are to spend the year or more on the Martian surface that would be part of any manned mission to the Red Planet.