Terraforming Exoplanets

Abstract:

With the world undergoing constant population growth and the exploitation of natural resources, the presence of global warming, climate change, lack of fossil fuels, and overpopulation creates reasoning as to why exploring other terrestrial planets must be considered for the future generations. Our research group was given a scenario composed of randomized hypothetical characteristics of a planet in which its purpose is to logistically create a habitable planet for human terraforming for further space exploration through means of scientific research and hypothetical problem-solving. Our planet—Pandora—had the following sublime characteristics: eco-friendly sandstone, rich geological and mineral composition, a suitable climate, an electromagnetic field, and a magnetosphere, CO2, N2, and ancient water pathways. Some challenges were needed to be addressed: no surface water, no oxygen, and little energy sources. Our goal was to combat these problems and use the resources to create a habitable ecosystem. We looked into ways NASA and SpaceX are now creating technologies to explore Mars’ surface, and we applied some of those methods into Pandora, as well as original technological innovations. Through research, we have explored new technologies such as converting CO2 into fuel, vortex bladeless turbines, as well as solar glass in which it could prepare scientists for the new space age. Our results show that we can apply our knowledge of geologic processes on Earth to other various terrestrial planets. While such possibilities to terraforming may seem far off, with new technologies, we discovered that it is possible to create sustainable colonies in such hypothetical planets, and overall colonizing the galaxy. With this hypothetical planet, our research group was able to combat all unforeseen challenges and still create a habitable planet, reasoning that terraforming even the most complex planets is possible, and giving hope to future generations.