Fall 2021
Table of Contents 2
4
10
Meet the Editors
Destroyed From Within Ben Levy
Living the High Life Eitan Lindauer
16
22
Astrobiology Willow Foxworth
Terraforming Violet Mann
MEET THE EDITORS A MESSAGE FROM OUR EDITORS We, the editors of Spaced Out, are thrilled to show you this compilation of our hard work and can’t wait for the publication of this, our first magazine. If you’re reading this magazine, chances are you’re a big fan of space, just like us! If not, hopefully, by the time you’ve read this, you will be able to relate to our fascination with all life in space, including Earth’s. We are very excited about the topic of space because it gave us all room to write about our own interests, whether that be worlds outside of our own, the life of astronauts just a few hundred miles up, or change in the climate of our planet. We are so proud of this magazine’s completion and are so glad we can show you this collection of our efforts. Though we had difficulty meeting our deadlines, and particularly struggled electronically signing our names, we had no problem showing how deeply we care about space. This was written to inform you but we feel that this deeply reflected our personal passions, and more realistically, obsessions. Through this magazine, the four of us have devoted a large portion of our life and energy to the presentation of what brings us all together, sharing this Earth and this life in our tiny piece of outer space. We hope that you leave our magazine with a sense of pride for being a piece of this great planet, the only one humans have ever inhabited- so far.
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Ben Levy hails from Austin Texas where he got his start writing magazines. When he’s not writing, he draws pictures and plays games. He believes that writing has the potential to change the world. He loves to give his readers the best arguments so they can be as informed as possible on all sides of an issue. Climate change has always been influential to Ben and was what led him to writing his article “Destroyed From Within.” Ben is an author and the editor whose job it is to nag his fellow editors about grammar, Ben’s favorite activity. He hopes you enjoy the magazine and that you are thoroughly convinced in ending climate change.
Eitan Lindauer is a freshman at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas. He is the graphics editor of Spaced Out magazine. In his small amount of free time he plays tennis and the piano. At times he finds himself mindlessly researching random topics. He is very interested in delving deep into familiar concepts, like space. This is why his article “Living the High Life” is the way it is.
Willow Foxworth is a high school student at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas. She plays mellophone and french horn in the LASA Raptor Band and is the layout editor for Spaced Out. In her limited free time she is often found reading or practicing her viola. Space has always fascinated her, and on clear nights she can often be found gazing up at the stars. If there are others with her, they might find themselves getting a brief astronomy lesson as she points out different constellations and galaxies in the night sky. Willow is pleased to be a part of the first issue of Spaced Out. Violet Mann is a freshman at LASA high school and primary features editor for the Spaced Out magazine. Her extracurricular activities are dance and piano (she is on the LASA dance team), and in her free time, she likes to read. Violet’s favorite part of making this magazine has been working with her teammates on layout designs and writing her feature article. Her interests include Math, and, well... space. She is interested in the potential for life on other planets, which is what motivated her to write her article “Terra”-what?”. Violet is excited about the publication of her first article and she hopes you enjoy!
DESTROYED FROM WITHIN SOLVING CLIMATE CHANGE Ben Levy Climate change is what happens when too much greenhouse gas is released into the air, so when light hits the surface to be reflected away, these gases catch it and reflect it back down. The world warms when we put so much of these gases into the air that the atmosphere becomes an oven that cranks the temperature up to max. Climate change affects us in ways including the increase in temperatures and the increase in extreme weather. According to Heather Kul-
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hken, an expert in nature and conservation, “The things that we’re experiencing most in Texas are more drought, more freezes, deeper freezes, and hotter summers.” Climate change has lots of other results such as the acidification of the ocean, rise in sea levels, and stronger hurricanes such as Hurricane Katrina, which, according to Kuhlken, was likely caused or intensified by climate change. One way to slow climate change is to use fewer fossil fu-
Photo illustrating climate courtesy of Pete Linforth
change
els, and more renewable energy or nuclear energy. Nuclear energy has a low cost of operation, produces little to no pollution, and is much more efficient at producing power than fossil fuels. Energ y
Adrift polar bear near Svalbard starving because of climate change courtesy of Andrea Weith
expert Steve Meyers said, “[Renewables] are what’s referred to as intermittent, the sun doesn’t shine all the time and the wind doesn’t blow all the time, and so you need some form of energy to fill in the gaps when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun
isn’t shining, nuclear energy is a great source of base load power, it’s… there [almost] all the time.” What that means is that while other power sources work on and off again, nuclear power is almost always there to use. Ac-
cording to NPR, even though Texas has only 2 nuclear power facilities, they produce over 10% of the total power in the state. Meyers believes that we will phase out fossil fuels soon and replace them with renewables. Meyers compares fossil fuels to whale oil and said, “We didn’t stop using whale oil because we ran out of whales, we stopped using whale oil because we just found better, more convenient sources of energy.” The same applies to fossil fuels. There are vast amounts of fossil fuels in the earth, but people won’t use them all, they will stop using them when they can find more convenient, cleaner alternatives. Geoengineering may be
DID YOU KNOW
Over
1 MILLION
species are at risk of extinction because of climate change.
The 2010’s were the hottest in 125,000
YEARS.
Destroyed From Within 5
one way to minimize climate change in conjunction with cutting emissions. According to geoengineering expert Gernot Wagner, geoengineering is “a very large-scale attempt to, through technology… alter the global climate.” Wagner said, “[Geoengineering] includes two categories, one is what’s often called air capture… taking CO2 out of thin air, the other… solar geoengineering is basically an attempt to brighten the planet… in order to reflect more sunlight back into space and have more energy escape
the surface of the planet and go ten called this “moral hazard,” back into space.” which means there is a drive… to take… geoengineering as an excuse not to cut emissions.” No geoengineering is in progress yet, just research into it. The SCOPEX experiment, for example, is testing the use of aerosols in the atmosphere to reflect away sunlight. Without geoengineering, either solar or carbon capture, the planet will not cool Wagner said, “So one of down for many years because the most important aspects of all the CO2 in the atmosphere solar geoengineering, carbon will still be there, producing the removal included, is what’s of- greenhouse effect.
“If [Geoengineering] doesn’t sound nuts, then I did a bad job explaining what it is.”
- Climate Expert Gernot Wagner
Photo of a courtesy of Ralf Vetterie edited by Ben Levy
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Wagner said the need to geoengineer will stop and the planet will cool, “When CO2 emissions have come down to such an extent, basically to zero, that concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere start to decline as well, and the climate impacts are in fact decreasing.” People worry that geoengineering will distract people from cutting emissions and preventing climate change. To prevent this, the people performing geoengineering must simply have an honest conversation with the masses and explain how geoengineering must not be a replacement for cutting emissions. Realizing that someone can contribute to climate change and all of its effects might lead someone into thinking that
they don’t matter in the grand scheme of things, when considering climate change, but I think knowing that climate change is so far reaching, and is caused and affected by everyone, is all the more reason to try and prevent it. There are ways one can minimize the warming they produce. The easiest methods to emit less CO2 are to eat less meat, waste less food, walk rather than drive, use less electricity, and to spread awareness of the issue. If one has buying power they can choose to buy an electric car, or more a fuel efficient gas one, and/or buy products locally. Spending more time outside is proven to lead people to care about the environment, according to Kuhlken. “I think that if kids grow up
with more time outside,” Kuhlken said. “They’ll be physically healthier, mentally healthier, they’ll have more hope… they’ll want a nature-rich future, and we’ll have many more conservationists.” There is a case for optimism in the face of climate change, said Kuhlken. There is just so much more activism and advocacy now than there used to be. Meyers added, “We will come up with a lot of technologies that give us a lot of options.” Technological change will be a great aid in fighting climate change. Cooling the planet will take a lot of work from everyone on the planet. The sooner humans start cooling Earth and stop warming it, the better the lives of the future will be. So let’s start.
Electric vehicles are more common and better. Climate change is solvable.
Clean energy prices are falling.
People understand climate change more and more.
The youth of the world cares about climate change. Destroyed From Within 7
DESTROYED FROM
WITHIN
Afforestation is a involves planting huge amounts of trees worldwide which will capture carbon and put it in the ground.
Pro: It could
comparatively cheap.
Geoengineering Con: It would is the large scale take lots of Land. change to the earth in order to solve a problem, in this case climate change.
Direct air capture is taking carbon directly from the air with huge machines and storing it underground as rock such as limestone
Pro: It could
completly erase all CO2 we put into the air.
Con: It would be 8 Spaced Out
very energitically and economically expensive.
Cloud seeding or whitening is putting sea water high into the air to make clouds more reflective and block sunlight.
Pro: It would take few resources and little money
Con: It would
cause unknown environmental effects
Space Mirrors are giant objects in space that reflect light away from earth.
Pro: We could
turn it and change earths Stratospheric aerosol injection temperature as if it were a is inserting chemicals high in thermostat. the atmosphere to Con: It would be reflect away light. VERY expensive This is made after and take a long the way the ash time. and sulfur ejected from a volcano cools the earth
Pro: It would be very fast.
Con: It could
make the air more toxic.
Destroyed From Within 9
bers
mem crew 6 5 n o editi by Exp esy of Nasa d e h p ra urt hotog | Photo co p n o i 8 t ce Sta ft, 201 al Spa z spacecra n o i t terna om a Soyu The In fr
LIVING LIVING THE THE HIGH HIGH LIFE LIFE ASTRONAUTS ON THE ISS
10 SPACED OUT
EITAN LINDAUER
Over twenty years ago the first International Space Station crew arrived on the station. Since then countless discoveries, hours of research and crews were at the International Space Station. Some of these discoveries include but are not limited
humanity’s greatest achievement. It is amazing that nations with a previous history of fighting were able to come together to create something so great. You may not know it, but many things like lasik eye surgery were made for the ISS. Scien-
ing used for space exploration worth it? One way to look at it is that history teaches us that ”exporation is in our nature”, according to Frank Buzzard, former lead engineer of the ISS. The role of the ISS is far more than just a floating piece of
“Control of movement, how our brain controls the movement, and how it processes movement all changes with gravity.” - Janna Kaplan
to, discovering the fifth state of matter, drug development using protein crystals, and fundamental disease research. Some may say that the International Space Station (ISS) is
tists have even created an organ 3-D printer which only works in space and has made a liver recently on the ISS. When looking at this we have to wonder if this is the find-
space junk. The ISS inspired this generation of astronauts and scientists. “We are curious, we should be curious,” Buzzard said. “Exploring has given us far more
NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore setting up Hardware in the Microgravity Science Glovebox aboard the International Space Station. | Image Courtesy of NASA 11 Living the High Life
cosmonaut Sergei K. Krikalev assited after sucessful landing in remote Kazakhstan on Oct. 11 2005 Photo courtesy of Nasa/Bill ingals
“Exploring has given us far more knowledge and commercial activity and inspired the youth of the next generation than any other activity.”
knowledge and commercial activity and inspired the youth of the next generation than any other activity.” Some may compare the cost of space research to the cost of education or even the military. This is far from the truth. The cost of the ISS is far less than what we may think. According to Buzzard, The U.S. spends around 26 pennies of every taxpayer dollar on health and human services. The U.S spends around 24 cents on the Military and spends around 20 cents of 12 Spaced Out
- Frank Buzzard
every dollar on education. Half of each penny from every tax dollar that America spends on space has returned an incredible value of advances that help our humanity. The U.S. spends far more on funding the military, the education system, and other endeavors right now than we spend on space research.1 The ISS, the technological marvel that it is, stil has many it’s flaws. One major flaw with staying in space is that our bodies start working against itself. After an extended amount of
time, which is usually a few months, our bodies start to lose muscle mass due to it not needing to be used. In 1991 the Soviet Cosmonaut, Sergei Krikalev was stranded on the soviet space station after the collapse of the Soviet Union, for over a year. “He was physically taken out of the capsule on a stretcher and had to have several months of rehabilitation to recover certain, you know, proper function of his body.” Said Janna Kaplan, Senior Research Associate at Brandeis University’s Graybiel
Lab. In addition to this there are also some other side effects.”It relay stations halfway or every third of the way where astronauts can camp there and rehabilitate and then continue the trip or it’s like it’s like a doughnut part around the spaceship that rotates around the spaceship and they will spend large amounts of awakened time functional time not sleep, but time when they’re moving.” said Kaplan “ technologically this is the only thing available to preserve the body integrity and not allow the body to deteriorate.” According to Buzzard, NASA is making an attempt to provide these accommodations to astronauts of the ISS “We will provide partial
gravity that will simulate, say 1/3 or one half of Earth’s gravity by spinning the spacecraft, the living quarters” But the fun and games are bound to have an end at some point. The ISS will have a crew to operate it until 2024 and is cleared to fly until 20481 As a landmark of human achievement is decommissioned in the near future we can only wonder: What is next?
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13 Living the High Life
A Brief Timeline of the Formation of the ISS
SALYUT 1 LAUNCHES -1971 The first space station ever launched was made by Russia. Designed to only exist in orbit for 6 months Salyut 1
1971
FIRST ISS MODULE -1998 The very first part of the ISS named Zarya is sent up by Russia. The name meaning “Sunrise”.
1998 INTERNATIONAL SPACE AGREEMENT -1998 Agreement singed by 15 countries that are invloved the is construction of the ISS.
All images courtesy of ESA
SECOND MODULE SENT TO THE ISS -1998 The Unity module is the first of the three connecting nodes (Harmony and Tranquility are the other two) and contains over 50,000 mechanical items.
ROSCOSMOS
NASA
2000 AND ONWARD
FIRST CREW ARRIVES ON ISS -2000
From this point everything was smooth sailing woth the crews switching about every few months and new modules coming in at a steady rate. There has been some talk of the ISS possibly being docmissioned in late 2024. As an era comes to a close we can only hope for the best in the future.
Expedition was the first ISS Mission to utilize the Russion Soyuz rockets. this was overseen by the ESA.
2000
INTERNATIONAL
2001 U.S. LAB MODULE ADDED -2001 The U.S lab named Destiny is added to the space station.
SALYUT 1 DECOMISSIONED -2001 The first space sapce station in finaly decomissined after years of inactivity.
ASTROBIOLOGY AND THE SEARCH FOR LIFE
Willow Foxworth
16 Spaced Out
Are there aliens in space? We might never know, but scientists are trying to find out. Those scientists, more specifically known as astrobiologists, are on the hunt for life, and making new discoveries all the time. Astrobiology is defined as “the branch of biology concerned with the study of life on Earth and in Space”. It can, however, moons. be thought of as the study of They are life in the universe. Astro- either lookbiologists’ end goal is to ing for planets understand life on Earth that already host life or planets that meet and beyond. Contrary to what the the requirements to host life, name suggests, scien- while astrobiology refers to tists that choose to study in the the study of all life, even life on field of astrobiology aren’t just Earth. A large portion of astrobiologists. People in many oth- biology is research about how er professions like chemists, life started on Earth. The reason astronomers, oceanographers, being that if scientists understand aeroenautical engineers, and how life originated on Earth they geologists all work together will know what signs of future life to understand the vast uni- to look for on other planets. There are plenty of planets and moons verse and life in it. Sometimes exobiology out there that don’t currently have and astrobiology are used life on them, but have the right coninterchangeably. They ar- ditions to create and/or support life. en’t quite the same, exo- The requirements for life are not set biology is a subunit of as- in stone. If we were to find life on trobiology. Exobiologists other planets it could be extremely are the scientists that fo- different from what we know here cus on life not on Earth. on Earth. For all we know, the They use all the infor- requirements for life might mation they get from be the exact opposite of our scientists who study own. This brings up a new life on Earth and apply question though. What it to other planets and is considered life?
Images Courtesy NASA
Many p e opl e would say viruses aren’t living creatures, but others would argue that they fit under some definitions of what life is. That makes the question of what the parameters that define what life are even more important to figure out. It is these questions that provide a base for astrobiology. If we don’t have a solid base of what makes something a living organism, then we don’t know what we are looking for on other planets and we won’t
Astrobiology and the Search for Life 17
know when we found life. Currently, living organisms and nonliving matter is differentiated by several factors including the ability to transfer electrical currents. Once we have a solid idea of what we believe life is/needs then we know exactly what to look for in space. We can find planets in the right range away from their star to have the right climate for organisms to sur-
18 Spaced Out
alkaline solution from the vents interacts with the acidic solution of the early ocean. Billions of years ago in the early Earth oceans as water percolated into the rocky Earth mantle, hydrothermal vents caused mineral precipitates to start growing. Scientists believe these precipitates would have had the ability to transfer electrical currents, and the flow of protons that can be used by a mineral called green rust in the same way ATP synChemical gardens thase would is good evidence of like this one that this theory being correct, but still are grown in the not enough to officially declare this lab help scientists theory as true. simulate different What makes hydrothermal vents such environments and a promising place for life to have started experiment with different ways vive. is the chemical imbalances they create. life could have T h i s Chemical balances that could power a evolved. range is metabolism. called the gold- Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion ilocks zone. After find- Laboratory, under the lead of Russel, ing planets in the redefined have conducted research on these forgoldilocks zone and eliminat- mations and have simulated the same ing ones outside we can focus conditions the early chemical gardens our efforts on finding out more would have formed under. about the specific planets. is Knowing how life started on There Earth will help us figure out ex- good evactly what we need to look for i d e n c e on other planets and moons. As t h a t The Lost City scientists try to figure out how o n e life started on Earth, one theory, started by Michael Russel, has gained some traction. That theory involves mineral precipitates, a naturally occurring type of chemical garden, formed near hydrothermal vents when the
formations in the Atlantic Ocean occur at hydrothermal vents, many beleive that these structures were a part of life on Earth as we know it.
of Saturn’s many moons, Ence- evidence for the possibility of ical gardens are a good starting ladus, has hydrothermal vents. life. point, and even if life on Earth This makes astrobiologists exDue to the spray from En- didn’t actually evolve from them cited because they can say for celadus’s hydrothermal vents they provide good information certain that there are multiple shooting miles out into space, about life, and have allowed asfactors that provide a potential astrobiologists can collect trobiologists to experiment with habitat for life to other ways life exist, including could have oceans of liquid originated. water. Enceladus Astrobiolocan provide a gists are able specimen for to send probes astrobiologists through the to study and sprays of liquid analyze, withshot out into out guessing space from the about what hyd rot h e r m a l conditions vents and colshould or lect data on the should not be composition of present for life them. to evolve. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft first detect- samples without disturb- Every time they make a new ed intriguing signs of a magnetic field ing any part of the moon. discovery, astrobiologists are when passing by Enceladus, promptWhile astrobiology getting closer to figuring out life ing scientists to investigate the planet still has a long way to and all its secrets, even if a theofurther. They then discovered a liquid go before it can claim ry that everyone had believed is saltwater ocean underneath the moon’s to know what life is, or right is proven wrong, making it crust, and hydrothermal vents located on how it started, many seem like they were getting furthe south pole. When Cassini sampled the good leads have been ther away from the answer, the spray it found the spray contained water, found. The hydrother- field of search is getting smaller, tiny bits of rock, and simple organic chem- mal vents and chem- and there are fewer wrong placicals, all of which can be found Enceladeus, es to look for the answer. one of Saturn’s many moons, is on Earth and are considered a good location for life by astrobiologists due to good
“I think the [astrobiology] community has really come a long way in understanding the processes that are necessary for life’s origin and the types of environments that may have been involved.” - Laurie Barge, Research Scientist
samples collected from it’s hydrothermal vents that release particles into space.
Images Courtesy NASA
Astrobiology and the Search for Life 19
The Goldilocks Z e fro m th e Ea r th
to t
he Su n.
(A G2V Spectral Type Star)
Fr om
Sun
E ~1 arth AU
M e ~0 rcu .4 ry AU fro m
The
Su n
su n
1 AU is the distanc
As ~2 tro .2- id B 3.2 el A t
A Guide to the Habit
~0 Ve .7 nu AU s fro m
su n
s
ar t eS
p y -T ay) G aw r
fo AU e n -1.5 o Z .8
e ~0 l b ita Sun
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ab e our H The (lik
~ 1 Mar .5 s Au fro m
Su n
Zone
Graphics by Willow Foxworth Information from Britannica
table Region in our Solar System
Spectral Type classifies stars according to their surface temperature and luminosity. The warmer the star, the further away the goldilocks, or habitable, zone is. Of the 7 categories for temperature our sun falls in G, the 3rd coolest. Spectral Categories in order from Warmest to Coolest (really hot stars are blue, while cooler stars are redder):
O -> B -> A -> F -> G -> K -> M
su n fro m
Ne p ~3 tun 0A e U
Ur an ~1 us 9.8 Au
fro m
su n
fro m Sa tu ~9 rn .5 AU
Ju p ~ iter 5.2 AU
fro m
Su n
su n
Su n
fo rm
Au
The Goldilocks Zone is an area predicted by scientists to be habitable to humans. It does not mean that life can’t be found outside of the estimated reigon.
It is beleived that there are habitable zones for f and k type stars as well. The theoretical zone for an f-type star (a star that is warmer than our sun) is about 1-3.7 AU away from the star. and for a k-type star (a star that is cooler than our sun) it is about 0.1-0.95 AU away. *The spectral categories were originally in alphabetical order by the strength of their hydrogen spectral lines, but several categoies were lumped together and rearranged as knowledge about stars increased. The letters are not an abbreviation for a larger word.
Astrobiology and the Search for Life 21
Image courtesey of ESA/ Hubble
Terraforming CREATING A SECOND EARTH
Violet Mann
22 Spaced out
se
What if hum a n s could create a second Earth? Terraforming is the process of using technology on a universal scale to alter the environment of planets and make them more habitable for humans. Terraforming is an idea that originated in the world of science fiction. Authors started generating ideas about moving to other planets and having to escape Earth, or just creating a backup planet. These ideas were researched by scientists who discovered that with new technology advancement these ideas might just be feasible. Mars was thought to be the main planet to start such a project, but scientists discovered that terraforming Mars would be nearly impossible. Because it does not have a magnetic field, Mars’ atmosphere is only about half of a percent as dense as the Earth’s. A magnetic field deflects serves the purpose of deflect-
te ur co
A AS N f yo
$ bill i o n years ago, the sun was much more active than it is now, so its solar wind was much stronger and was able to strip Mars’ atmosphere much quicker. ing Even with the magnetic field, s o some gasses are able to escape the lar wind atmosphere through the process around the of atmospheric escape, which is planet to prevent how the Earth loses greenhouse the solar wind from gasses into space slowly. Humans stripping the planet’s atmoare producing gasses at a much sphere. qu i ck Mars’ lack of er rate magnetic field t han ergo lack of alt h e y most any atmoare besphere causes it -Bruce Jackosky, Proffessor of ing reto be unable to trap heat. SciGeological Sciences leased, which entists believe is what is causing climate change. that Mars used to have a magThe most outspoken advocate netic field but slowly disappeared for the plan to terraform Mars around 4 billion years ago, allowing is Elon Musk. Musk Mars’ atmosphere to be stripped would like to have away by strong solar wind. At presMars as a ent, there is no real answer to what back happened to Mars’ magnetic field.
age m I
“If we dont take care of the Earth we might end up with no planet to live on”
Image courtesey of Ittiz
Terrafroming 23
A NAS f o y se urte o c e Imag up planet. One of the many objections that scientists have with this plan is that if we think that we have a backup planet, there is no longer as much motivation to save the Earth. According to Dr. Bruce Jackosky, professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Earth should always be our top priority. “No matter what we do to the Earth, it’s always going to be closer to a habitable environment than Mars,” said Jackosky. In comparison, saving
Earth from global warming is insanely easy next to completely altering another planet’s atmosphere at the scale of terraforming. Environmental journalist An-
“My first idea about terraforming is to always be very cautious about any further chnages or transformations we are to undertake because we are already living in an area we have changed so much.” - Angelina Davydova, Environmental Journalist Venus vs. Earth Size Comparison
Image courtesey of NASA
24 Spaced Out
gelina Davydova, provided a more environmental approach to terraforming. She explained that altering our own ecosystems here on Earth could also be considered terraforming. “If anything, we should first do recovery or restoration which can also be called terraforming,” said Davydova. Nature based solutions are one
es e ur t e co Imag
f yo
example of terraforming on Earth. Nature based solutions are long term solutions to slow warming on a global scale and sustainably manage ecosystems we have already modified. A nature based solution could be protecting areas of land from erosion or restoring degraded lands. Another example of something on a planetary scale that could be considered terraforming is urban nature. Urban nature is how we can make nature in cities flourish, and provide its ecosystem with services needed by the human beings living
systems and get back to one-third. This is important because there is a limit to how much we can change the Earth before it gets to a point of no return. Scientists predict that by 2028 climate change will be irreversible. If humans were Tu looking for a planet m isu to terraform, the first thing they would look for are the basic things considered necessary for life. Our life on Earth is carbon based, so we
“We are getting very close to being able to identify what’s in the atmosphere of planets around other stars and scientists have identified a few things but not enough.” - Bruce Jackosky, Professor of Geological Sciences there. says “Some significant areas of the Earth should be left untouched with no terraforming,” said Ms. Davydova. Currently, scientists and environmentalists are recommending that one-third of the Earth’s ecosystems, marine, land, and terrestrial, should be left untouched by humans. Only around one-fifth have been left this way, and we could use terraforming to restore some of these eco-
would look for a planet that has carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and to a lesser extent, sulfur, phosphorus, calcium, and iron. Life also needs a source of energy and liquid water. Of all of these things, the hardest to find is water. Liquid
wat e r has the benefit that it can chemically react with a lot of things and it is abundant not just in our solar system but in the galaxy as well. “We can detect its presence elsewhere spectroscopically by looking at the different wavelengths of light,” said Dr. Jackosky. It is also a great possibility that life elsewhere could have completely different requirements for life than Earth. The characteristics of life on Earth can’t be representative of all life everywhere. “We don’t know what the characteristics of life really are, we are taking a guess,” said Dr. Jackosky.
rtes
ou ge c a m I
SA NA f o ey
Terraforming 25
How We Could T Currently Venus’ temperature is 460 degrees celcius and Earths is about 15 degrees celcius. Earths pressure is at .221 while Venus’s is at aproximately 92 pounds per sqaure imch. Making venus habitable for humans would be a lot of work but it may be possible.
Soon the co2 in the atmosphere will tun to liquid at the pressure and fall down as rain, forming puddles and oceans.
Co2 oceans begin to freeze The first step to terraforming Venus will and venus’ surface turns to need to be cooling it down. We could do ice. this by putting Venus in the shade. Using mirrors to block direct sunlight, we could reflect the light away from venus, cooling it down. 26 Spaced Out
Terraform Venus We could neverlive on Venus if we left it frozen like this, but if we heat up the planet, the c02 oceans that would release too much carbon dioxide so instead we could transport a lot of the ice off of Venus and put it back in space.
The next thing we would need is water. One thing we could do is bring some of the frozen oceans off of Europa, a moon of Jupiter that has twice as much water as Earth. We could cut chunks of ice off of Europa and put it into Venus’ amosphere where it would fall as snow.
Graphics by Violet Mann Reference credits Kurzgesagt
To melt our water oceans and allow any room for life, Venus needs sunlight. We could add two more mirrors circling the planet to reflect light onto the planet creating seasons and days.
The last step to having life on Venus would be to bring lots of cyanobacteria into the atmoshere to start photosynthesizing and make the atmosphere breatheable. Slowly, after hundreds of years, Venus would be able to sustain more advanced life and begin to look a lot like Earth. Terraforming 27