Artificial magnetic fields

Hi,

I was posting in this topic about the atmosphere on Mars.

I got a reply there about Mars not having a magnetic field due to the cooling down and stopping of moving of the core.

My question is, is it possible to make an artificial magnetic field. I understand for the whole planet it would be very difficult but I mean on a local scale. And would such a field be capable to hold atmospere if only applied localy.

Thank you!

Depends why you are asking the question. To make Mars liveable for humans to just walk around with just regular clothes on? No.

Three problems with Mars. First the atmosphere. It is not "thick" enough. If we can make it thicker and warmer, that fixes two problems. That could be fixed by adding CO2 and later water vapor. (Two wonderful greenhouse gases). That would allow plantlife to begin to grow, then in turn create O2. Not a fast process at all.

The third problem, solar radiation. Mars does have a magnetic field. It is weak and fragmented however. With a thicker atmosphere, that "might" help protect life, it might not. We do not 100% know how much radiation actually hits the surface of Mars. Our best bet is to have structures that are built to protect life, much like the ISS has now.

I would expect Mars to have enough gravity to keep a thicker atmopshere if we could deliver one through terraforming. But the core and magnetic field no not apply.

Hope that helped.

reply to post by ambushrocks

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While this would be a hefty technological feat, it might be viable for "sectioning" mars into habitable zones. However, this would likely be long after domed outposts were set up, perhaps in an effort to sustain agriculture.

And good for you OP. Thinking outside the box is what creates progress.

Thank you both for your answers.

Now lets hope nasa will try for a manned flight to Mars. I know there's a lot of trouble with that but I do hope to see people walk on Mars one day. Besides that they maybe able to do some testing there to see what's possible there and what is not.

A large scale magnetic field can be created by passing a huge current from a capacitor bank through parallel wire cables laid in the iron oxide martian soil.

The momentary huge high voltage high current will create a permanent magnet due to magnetization of the iron in the soil.


the process can be repeated many times.