if plants breathe in carbon-di-oxide, and give off oxygen, why not seed mars with plants from earth ?

Question

in the 50's an American chemist Stanley Miller who subjected a mixture of the supposedly early atmospheric gases (CH4, NH3, H2 and H2O vapor) to an electric discharge. The products that he obtained included several amino acids, fatty acids, and simple sugars. Similar results, using ultraviolet radiation instead of electric discharges demonstrated that solar radiation may have been chiefly responsible for promoting reaction among the gases of the early atmosphere. (to cut to the chase)
As the primitive anaerobic organisms multiplied, the nutrients were depleted and waste products accumulated. Some cells, which then evolved a different means of obtaining food and energy, eventually emerged as the aerobic organism that first accomplished photosynthesis with the aid of chlorophyll. The carbon dioxide accumulated in the atmosphere and oceans by anaerobic and volcanic activity was converted photosynthetically to carbohydrates and gaseous oxygen:
http://www.chem.duke.edu/~bonk/Chem8304/enote1305.html

Answer 1

What an awesome idea!!!!
We should try it!!!
But who is going to water them till it does naturally rain there?

Answer 2

This is a very good thought and it is one that many of us have had. There are several problems with doing this. But first let me say that research has shown that higher plants such as wheat and pine trees can be grown in a Mars-like environment, within an inflatable greenhouse at Mars ambient atmospheric pressure. What is needed is a)some Oxygen in the air, not much but a little, b) protection from the extreme cold of the Martian night, c) protection from ultraviolet light, and d) liquid water, (which is just barely stable at low-lying areas of Mars.)
The problem is that these conditions do not currently exist in the open on Mars. Also, we would really like to know if there is any indigenous life on Mars before we go polluting the place with Earthlife!
However, with a little terraforming, Mars could be made easily habitable to Earth plants, and then Ponderosa pine forests could spread across the planet!!
I highly recommend the book "The Case for Mars" by Dr Robert Zubrin, PhD, for a nuts and bolts serious engineering discussion of these issues. Look for it at amazon.com or in local bookstores.

Answer 3

Aside from the reasons stated by others,

Even if one were to create an Earth like atmosphere on Mars, it would eventually dissipate because Mars cannot hold on to it. The gravitational field of a planet decides which gases remain it's atmosphere and which don't. Jupiter, for example, has a lot of hydrogen in it's atmosphere. On Earth, however, hydrogen is quickly pushed to the upper levels and escapes. If Earth were massive enough, it would still rise above the nitrogen and oxygen but would remain as an atmospheric layer (should it not react with anything).

Answer 4

I don't think it would work: While photosynthetic life reduced the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere of early Earth, it also started to produce oxygen. For a long time, the oxygen produced did not build up in the atmosphere, since it was taken up by rocks, as recorded in Banded Iron Formations and continental red beds. To this day, the majority of oxygen produced over time is locked up in the ancient "banded rock" and "red bed" formations. It was not until probably only 1 billion years ago that the reservoirs of oxidizable rock became saturated and the free oxygen stayed in the air.

Answer 5

You could very well be a genius if there was a temperature control room and perhaps irrigation. A greenhouse type of building with hydroponics could be an idea. If there was a tunneling system there wouldn't be necessary to have an atmosphere. Or hallways connecting all buildings. One could take construction workers willing to risk their lives to make history, space train them, and ship them to mars to build a "base" so to speak. from there you begin cultivating and experimenting with mars' natural ecosystem, and possibly making it capable of being compatible with human life, if only through the specialized buildings built. Hypothetically, if enough plants are created from what I'm getting from it, an atmosphere could be created and the planet eventually made inhabitable. There could be underlying factors that should be kept in mind, perhaps some form of radiation or radical temperature but in the end, Science will prevail.

Answer 6

The atmosphere on Mars is very thin. In spite of the fact that Mars has 40% of the gravity of Earth, it has an atmospheric pressure of just 8 millibars. By definition, "normal" atmospheric pressure on Earth is 1.0 bars. By comparison, then, Mars has only .08 percent of the atmospheric pressure of Earth. It is difficult to imagine any Earth plant that could live in that environment.

However, there might be a possibility: lichens. Lichens grow in a wide variety of conditions on Earth and can be found in the hottest and coldest climes. Additionally, the European Space Agency (ESA) conducted an experiment in which liches were exposed to the vacuuum of space while in orbit. The lichens survived with no ill effects.

Thus, it might be possible to terraform Mars by seeding it with lichens and letting them produce oxygen. Is this a good idea? Perhaps one day.

In the meantime, we should study Mars carefully and see if it has life of its own. (I suspect strongly that we will find microbial and/or plant life on Mars.) And, we also need to study it to learn why it lost its atmosphere. Once we understand it as well as we can, we'll have a better chance of terraforming it.

Don't expect Mars to be a safety valve for Earth. Any terraforming project on Mars will take hundreds if not a thousand or more years. I believe very strongly in the unmanned and manned exploration of space. And, I believe we need to take care of the planet we have.

Answer 7

You would need a watering system but that be controlled by computers from earth with the technology we have these days. Gravity is slightly heavier on Mars, so most of the plants wouldn't grow that tall if they did grow but I dont see why it isn't possible, the only problems may be the severe heat and radiation the planet encounters at various times but then you just find hardier plants that are used to hot climates, in theory its possible, but then, in theory, so are a lot of things!

Answer 8

It may be possible using hydroponics in a Buckminster Fuller Dome warmed by solar panels, situated near a plentiful water-ice source but I doubt that it is feasible for the planet as a whole, given its gravitational inability to retain more than a thin atmosphere,

Answer 9

During the process of photosynthesis, plants require carbon dioxide and water in the presence of light to give glucose and as a by product oxygen. this is a continuous process in all plant cells containing chlorophyll and exposed to light. thereofore plants take in carbondioxide during the day releasing oxygen as a by product only as far as light is available. but like all cells (plant cells and animal cells) plant cells also repire ie they need energy. to do this they break down some of the glucose (glycolysis) to give energy (ATP) and the by products are carbondioxide and water consuming oxygen in the process. this process takes place continuously day and night till the cell dies. but the net effect during the day time is that plants produce more oxygen than they consume while at night they only consume oxygen and give out CO2.

Answer 10

Apparently the poles are frozen. So why not plant them there to start with. Using the inflatable bag technology why cant we send the seeds out in these?. Once they hit there target, inflate the bags, disperse the seeds inside and you have a ready made greenhouse. If the bag material was made from a substance that could keep out ultra-violet light, then I cant see why it shouldn't work.

Answer 11

Because they would freeze, except perhaps lichens and/or bacteria.

They would also contaminate the planet, obliterating any traces of ancient life forms (if any) on Mars.

There is also the valid argument that we should not dare touching another planet until we can correct the environmental damage on Earth. Terraform Earth first!