Wouldn't it be easier to terraform the moon than mars?

Question

Science over the years has been considering visiting mars and terraforming it.

Wouldn't it be easier to terraform the moon. With it basically being in the same orbit as we are it could be like us. Doesn't take as long to get to it. If there was a problem possible to send help, couldn't do this at mars.

I know water plays a big part in terraforming. There is some evidence that there could be some already on the moon. If not is there asteroids in the asteroid belt that are mostly ice, robotic spaceships could possibly bring large chunks of this back to the moon.

We'd have to get the ice to melt and vaporise in order to get an atmosphere started, then the process would do its own thing without our help.

The moon would be a good test before going to mars also.

Answer 1

You say the moon has basically the same orbit as the earth. Well not quite - you see the earth has an orbit around the sun and spins approx once a day. The moon on the other hand has an orbit around the earth and spins approx once every 28 days.

Therefore the moon ends up with a "day" that equivalent to 14 earth days followed by a "night" of approx 14 earth days.

The resulting fluctuations in temperature alone would mean it would be difficult to keep the water from freezing for a fortnight and then boiling for a fortnight.

Oh and by the way, if I was going to send a colony off the planet I'd want them a long way off. We wouldn't want them coming back now would we?

Answer 2

Maybe since the moon is already spinning away from the earth we could just give it a boost on it's way, once it is far enough away we build a giant shell around it like a Dyson's sphere and slowly put an atmosphere in the shell, then add water and plant life but keep the dome where it is for a couple of decades until we drill deep holes in the moon to tap into it's semi-molten core and harvest Geo-Thermal energy to power the entire moon, once that is done we would then have to create an artificial electromagnetic field around the moon so when the shell is removed the solar winds would be deflected away from the new atmosphere.

Answer 3

Even tho the moon is closer, Mars would be a more idead place to live (even tho both will be a big challange to live on).

The moon has no atmosphere, no water, very little gravity and is constantly bombarded by meteors.

On the the other hand mars has a bigger atmosphere even than earths (even tho it's not breathable), doesn't get bombarded wiuth meteorites as constantly as the moon and mars has liquid and ice water.

Plus the moon is a...moon whilst Mars is a planet with seasonal changes and climates. But i'd prefare staying on mother earth ;)

Answer 4

You couldn't terraform the moon beacuse it doesn't have enough gravity to hold an atmosphere. Any atmosphere that would be held (not very much) would be stripped away by the solar wind because the moon has no magnetic field to shield it from the solar wind.

BTW, terraforming IS possible but would take a few hundred years to accomplish. Terraforming Mars would be great, but we won't ever see it.

Answer 5

the problem with terraforming is the atmosphere. the moon's gravity doesn't seem to be enough to hold an atmosphere. are you looking to put a bubble around it to hold the air in? (that's not that crazy, I'm not being sacrastic)
Mining comets or asteroids for water would be workable.
Mars HAD a thicker atmosphere at one time, for there to be running water. I saw a dramatization once that showed Mar's smaller size made it's magnetic fields weaker, and unable to withstand solar winds ripping away the air.
(I also saw that Earth once had a much denser atmosphere, much like Venus, but that something had knock a lot of it off, making life possible)
I'm all for getting Moonbase Alpha started, but I'm not smart enough to make air stick so we could walk outside.

Answer 6

It might be possible to excavate deep caverns on the moon and provide an atmosphere in a cave like pocket of the moon but terraform the whole moon is not possible yet. the moon has been known to have moon quakes so there might be old lava tubes that could be used like aqua ducts of ancient Greece or Rome to transport water from colony to colony. The moon wouldn't make a good terraforming opportunity for anyone.

Answer 7

Good idea but you forgot a few things. One is that the moon'sgravity is not strong enough to hold in an atmosphere. Two, the cost to bring comets and ice to the moon would cost more than just directly going to the moon. The last thing is the temperature and radiation. The temperature would have sudden drops and peaks and the radiation would kill off any living things without the proper protection.

Answer 8

if you put it that way than why don't we all just terraform neptune or pluto .actually the thing is that the ice in the moon, neptune and pluto is methane ice so even if you do melt it it won't come out as oxygen so we'll simply die in the methane atmosphere but when it comes to mars the water source there and the ice are actually made out of H2O so we can survive . and even if we manage to make an oxygen atmosphere it will get it's own protection and it's own magnetic field which may cause mayhem for the earth arisk scientists are not willing to take,otherwise i think you've really got something going ,

Answer 9

I admit that terraforming moon would be a good test,but moon has no atmosphere,Mars has.Moon has no water.Mars has
Finally Mars being another planet can be the solution to an overheated earth

Answer 10

The moon has no air which means the temepratures can reach extremes .they'll be equal to the tempearature fluctuations of space!!!

This is a great disadvantage

while mars has more saner temperatures comparable to some regions on earth . It also has air so there is no fear of reaching extreme temparatures


also the moon cannot hold an atmosphere because of it's weak gravitational pull while mars can do so .

so mars is better in many aspects