Transforming the red planet to support life has long been a dream of science fiction.
Mars is now too cold to support life.
Its atmosphere is also too thin to protect any living organisms from harmful radiation.
But is this really the case?
And, if so, should we do it?
Some 3.8 billion years ago, when life was starting on Earth, conditions on Mars were habitable.
We know all this from space missions, which have spotted signs of dried upwater-crafted channelson the surface.
A magnetic field also protected Mars from harmful space radiation up to 3.8 billion years ago.
This was revealed byMars Global Surveyor, which found crustal magnetic fields in the older, southern highlands.
These are the only remains of an ancient global magnetic field, similar to Earths magnetic field now.
Cold and dry
These habitable conditions, however, changed 3.8 billion years ago.
The magnetic field disappeared.
Unprotected by a magnetic field for billions of years, Mars atmospherehas been scavenged awayto space.
The surface now is inhospitable for life as we know it.
The surface environment is also cold: 0-10C during the day but down to below -100C at night.
Using lab experiments, the researchers showed that this could increase the surface temperature by 50C.
The idea is certainly interesting, and according to the experiments potentially plausible.
But it ignores the other key issue affecting life on Mars cosmic radiation.
Silica aerogel, the proposed material, is sometimes called frozen smoke due to its low density.
Without magnetic protection, this radiation threatens any life on the Martian surface, just as it does today.
Aerogels are extremely light.
NASA
Mars is the planet nearest us where life could have started.
Large-scale experiments like this would affect the pristine environment so much that we should not do this yet.
