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Does Mars have an atmosphere to insert the gas into? How much mass does a planet need to support an atmosphere? A quick check on Wolfram suggests that Earth h
by mathattack 13y ago
Does Mars have an atmosphere to insert the gas into? How much mass does a planet need to support an atmosphere? A quick check on Wolfram suggests that Earth has 10 times the mass of Mars. Does a planet need to be Earth or Venus sized to hold onto the air?
- mikeash 13y agoMars does have an atmosphere, but it's thin. As for holding onto the air, it all depends on what kind of timeframe you're talking about. The Moon, for example, has no atmosphere because it's too small. But if you magicked into an existence an Earth-like atmosphere on the Moon, it would persist for something like a million years before it all drifted away. Mars would do even better. That kind of timescale is probably plenty for human purposes.
- logfromblammo 13y agoEarth's retention of its atmosphere also owes a significant amount to its planetary magnetic field, which deflects solar radiation that would otherwise energize molecules in the upper atmosphere enough to escape the gravity well.