In an interview on Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show," Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, proposed to drop several thermonuclear bombs on Mars. This came after the host ask him how he intends to establish a thriving human colony in the Red Planet (see part of his interview below).
The idea, according to the tech visionary, is to warm Mars so that it can be transformed into an Earthlike planet. Nuking its surface - specifically its poles - could trigger a greenhouse effect that is similar to what is currently being experienced here on Earth, according to Quartz. This could melt the planet's polar ice caps, producing water necessary in sustaining life.
Scientists immediately criticize Musk's proposition. "It seems possible to make it [Mars] earthlike, but there's a lot of barriers to overcome," and that "blowing up bombs is not a good one," said Brian Toon, an atmospheric and oceanic expert at the University of Colorado, said in the LA Times report. In addition, thermonuclear bombs could significantly change the planet's terrain, making it impossible to understand how the planet works, Joshua Bandfield, a professor of Earth and space sciences at the University of Washington, added in the report.
Skeptics also point out that there is no guarantee that the polar ice caps will thaw as Musk expected. Once the bomb goes off, the melted liquid could revert back to ice, leaving the initiative right where it started, Quartz reported. It is important to point out that the average temperature on Mars is the same as that of Antarctica during winter, LA Times noted.
Even NASA seems averse to Musk's idea. "We are also committed to promoting exploration of the solar system in a way that protects explored environments as they exist in their natural state," it stated in a Science Alert report.
