The science fiction author Olaf Stapledon is considered to be the inventor of the concept of terraforming. In his 1930 first published novel “The Last and the First People” it was still Venus that was redesigned to be there for people to create suitable living conditions. Today Mars is the main focus of interest. However, two Brazilian researchers recommend testing terraforming techniques on another planet first: Earth.

Man-made climate change In their presentation at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Giorgio Gaviraghi and Sergio De Paulo (Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso) point out that the fundamental ability of humans to change entire planets , first shown on their home planet. In fact, the thinning of the stratospheric ozone layer observed for the first time in the 1980 is the first evidence that human actions have global effects: Because the cause for the ozone hole, which occurs mainly over the south pole, was in the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are mainly produced in the northern hemisphere Associated climate change has been added as further, dramatic evidence of the possibility in principle of changing a planetary ecosystem.

Unplanned and undesirable However, according to Gaviraghi and De Paulo, these changes have so far been unplanned and to the detriment of the people. Given the possibility of designing an alien planet like Mars according to our wishes, “we would have to learn from our mistakes in order to avoid them, but also from our achievements in order to transfer them to our future second home”.

Necessary steps to to make Mars more humane

(Image: “Terraforming planet Earth as a necessary test for martian terraforming”)

The researchers expressly emphasize that this is not alone about physical conditions, but also about social ones. Mars is a “testing ground to overcome all the social inequalities with which we have been confronted on our planet for thousands of years”. They demand: “Mars society must be free from prejudice, be it ethnic, gender, religious or national, and it must guarantee free health care, education, housing, care and work for the entire population.”

Megaprojects like “Poseidon” To demonstrate the feasibility of such a venture, they propose the to meet global challenges on earth with “mega-projects”. Such megaprojects would have planetary dimensions, but could only be implemented in the form of thousands of local projects.

As an example, they cite the “Poseidon” project, which aims to remove the meltwater from the poles in to steer targeted paths. In this way, coastal regions are to be protected, land loss avoided and desert regions irrigated. Gaviraghi and De Paulo name the north-east of Brazil as a suitable location for a pilot project, other regions are the Arabian Peninsula as a “medium-sized project” and the irrigation of the Sahara as a real major project.

Habitable Titan Marco Campagnoli and Marco Capasso (Politecnico di Torino) report on a similarly ambitious project: As part of the SEEDS graduate program, they have a 25 – headed team is investigating the extent to which a manned station on Saturn’s moon Titan could rely on the resources available there .

Despite the low temperature of about 25 K, they classify Titan right after Earth as “one of the best habitable places in the solar system”: the pressure of the predominantly nitrogen (95%) and methane (4, 5%) existing atmosphere is comparable to the earthly and offers together with the magnetic field of Satur n good protection from cosmic and solar radiation; Methane goes through a cycle comparable to that of earthly water; and on the surface there is water ice.

1980 Secure supply One A crew of six, according to the researchers’ calculation, would have a daily requirement of 5 kg of water, 10 kg of hydrogen, 5 kg Oxygen u