4 ms·

I wonder if it's the solar wind or just the escape velocity vs. the termal escape. I'm sure in a couple of centuries humans would be able to build superconduct

by raducu 8y ago

I wonder if it's the solar wind or just the escape velocity vs. the termal escape. I'm sure in a couple of centuries humans would be able to build superconducting magnets powerful enough to shield Mars from the solar wind (those would double as energy storage as well), but we can't do anything about the fundamental properties of gases and escape velocity.

cbkeller 8y ago
There's a bit of comparison of the two (thermal vs. non-thermal escape) here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_escape#Thermal_escape_mechanisms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_escape#Thermal_esc... but I don't know the relative proportions on Mars. There have been some recent studies of the xenon isotopic composition of the paleo-Martian atmosphere that might provide a bit more insight, and in particular suggest most of the loss happened early: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X17305368 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X1...