Mars terraforming, lite

In looking at all the problems that terraforming Mars would involve,
as well as the time scales until it could actually be inhabited are,
I think another scenario will occur.

Probably, Mars will be terraformed by having surface-based habitats
very similar to the Island Three orbiting ones and their artificially
maintained climates and ecosystems, inside of inflatable domes.

These will eventually cover a large percentage of the planet. These
could/would coalesce into larger and larger domes, some of them ending
up quite large, maybe several hundred kilometers in diameter. The
environment inside might not be world-spanning, but it would be so
big, one might find it difficult to notice the difference.

Some of you might be wondering about whether the above can be called
"terraforming". Take these ideas for whatever they're worth.

This would have several advantages over a classic terraforming of
Mars:

1. The terraforming could be accomplished piecemeal and gradually over
time, instead taking the centuries or millenia that it would
require for an entire world. A dome a mile across could be made
inhabitable perhaps within a year, and into an Earth-like natural
setting within a few decades.

2. The dome materials can be made to have a greenhouse effect, thus
allowing a more Earth-like climate inside the dome. The temperature
outside on Mars, whether it is terraformed or not, is probably
going to be quite cold.

3. The dome materials might be able to be opaque to ultraviolet
light, thus not requiring a fragile ozone layer to be formed around
Mars.

4. The climate/natural landscape/environment inside the large domes
can be controlled more easily overall.

5. The amount of atmosphere needed to fill all the domes, even when
they cover most of the planet, would be much less than that for an
entire Mars-sized world. Therefore the amount of atmospheric gases
needed to be imported from elsewhere or melted and extracted from
the Martian icecaps is that much less.

6. There could still be large areas of Mars outside the domes. These
could be used for rocket launchings/landings (or space elevator or
tether access locations).

Also, the parts of Mars outside the domes can be made wilderness/
scientific preserves and left in their pristine form.

7. The atmosphere wouldn't escape over a geologically short timespan.

-----
WLM
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What you describe is called paraterraforming:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrafo...raterraforming

Personally, I like it much better than trying to terraform an entire
planet, as it lets one terraform and colonize incrementally.

WLM kirjoitti 04.01.2005:

Probably, Mars will be terraformed by having surface-based habitats
very similar to the Island Three orbiting ones and their artificially
maintained climates and ecosystems, inside of inflatable domes.
[...]
7. The atmosphere wouldn't escape over a geologically short timespan.

Minor quibble: Unless actively maintained, the atmosphere *will*
escape over a geologically short timespan, unless you're postulating
dome materials and construction techniques way beyond anything we can
envision, let alone manufacture, today. Whether you need to replenish
the entire atmosphere every few millennia or just patch up the domes
every decade or so, the system still depends on active maintenance.

--
Ilmari Karonen
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