Could we have a second home on Mars

As we blow through the resources on Earth, it's clear we're going to need a new planet soon. And since there isn't another Earth out there, is it possible we could make one through terraforming? Terraforming is the process of turning a hostile environment into one that can support human. And a possible place where this could happen is Mars. There are several other likely candidates for terraforming such as Venus, Europa, and Titan. But since Mars is our closest neighbor its currently the most feasible. After all, it's literally right there, and might be a good replacement for Earth.

So, what do we have to work with? Well, Mars' atmosphere is really thin, only about 1% of what we have on Earth. And what little atmosphere Mars has is predominantly made up of carbon dioxide which would prove fatal for humans. Mars is also further from the Sun and that coupled with its thin atmosphere means about -63 degree Celsius. So, sorry folks, your winter coats won't quite cut it. On top of that, Mars also has no magnetosphere, so no protection against radiation. And it also has about one-third of the gravity we feel on Earth.

So, there's a lot we need to change. Let's start with the atmosphere. We'd have to make it thicker and change its composition. One way to do this would be to trigger a greenhouse effect, making it so any heat from the Sun is trapped, heating the planet all over. We can do this a bunch of different ways, like using methane mined from the rocks on Mars, carbon dioxide or even with ammonia. We could release ammonia by smashing ice-rich comets from the outer Solar System. And since ammonia is mostly nitrogen by weight, once we add oxygen through plant life, we could have an atmosphere pretty similar to Earth. And with a thicker atmosphere, the atmospheric pressure would be high enough for humans to possibly live. From here, the atmosphere will warm the planet and the rest of the terraforming job will be a relatively easy. We can melt Mars' polar ice caps and have water, and with water, we can have the environment for life. Now, make some changes to the Martian soil, and set up shop on the formerly red planet. But wait, there's more!

Remember the whole " Mars has no magnetosphere" thing? That's a big part why Mars lost its atmosphere in the first place. Mars' global magnetic field shut down around 4.2 billion years ago. And from there the solar wind and powerful sun explosions stripped away most the atmosphere, sending it off into space. So, any atmosphere we do add to Mars won't last. Eventually, it'll be stripped away by radiation and solar wind too. And whatever wasn't would be hard to hold onto Mars' weaker gravity. So, Mars isn't the best option. What do you think?