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The collaborative resource for exploring and settling the Red Planet.

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Terraforming Mars is a process by which scientists hope to convert Mars into an Earth-like planet, providing an atmosphere within tolerable limits for human survival. NASA and other science organizations have been discussing a process called terraforming for a very long time. Terraform means to make like Earth. Many proposals have been submitted on the best way to make Mars like Earth. The timelines proposed have varied from 100 years to 100,000 years. Logic dictates finding a balance between moving too fast and too slow. If we terrraform too fast, we may end up with a runaway greenhouse effect similar to what we see on Venus. If we move too slowly, we run the risk of other complications, such as the natural rhythms of the Red Planet changing during the process which could interfere and complicate any progress we may be making. Terraforming Mars is of utmost importance in order to learn to live on other worlds. Humanity must have the ability to be a multi-planet species in order to preserve Homo sapiens for millions or billions of years.

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Refine an Article Stub into something more complete.
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The Latest News from MarsNews.com

NASA films fascinating SpaceX Falcon 9 reentry, paving way for Mars missions (Mar 22)

The road to Mars includes a detour through Lakewood, Colorado (Mar 20)

Minitremors detected on Mars for first time (Mar 19)

Is the best way to communicate with future astronauts on Mars by texting? (Mar 18)

Amidst Cuts to NASA, Mars Sample Return May Finally Happen (Mar 14)

94-year old Lithium-Ion battery inventor unveils new ultra-efficient glass battery (Mar 13)

Researchers Report on Simulated Extravehicular Activity Science Operations for Mars Exploration (Mar 08)

Researchers Outline Goals for Collecting and Studying Samples from Mars (Mar 06)

Mars InSight’s Rock-Hammer is About Half a Meter Down and Has Already Run into Rocks (Mar 05)

New Moon/Mars mission in progress at HI-SEAS habitat (Mar 05)

First Evidence of Planet-Wide Groundwater System On Mars (Feb 28)

Elon Musk: This Is How We’ll Build a Base on Mars (Feb 25)

With the best air pressure sensor ever on Mars, scientists find a mystery (Feb 22)

Artificial intelligence — and a few jokes — will help keep future Mars crews sane (Feb 18)

Archaeology On Mars – From The Fantastical To The Real (Feb 15)

About Marspedia

Marspedia is an official project of The Mars Society and The Mars Foundation, with help from The Moon Society.

Marspedia policies
Software Capabilities
- Visual Editor (new!)
- Interwiki

Content Licenses
- Content on Marspedia is Public Domain unless otherwise noted.
- Articles that have specific content licenses will be tagged as such.
- Disclaimer: The content licenses used on Marspedia do not apply to other wikis in our Interwiki network.

News about Marspedia

Mar 5, 2019 - The New Category Hierarchy and our custom Category Selection Tool (part of the MediaWiki Visual Editor) have now been rolled out to Marspedia.

Dec 18, 2018 - James Burk presents the year's progress on the Marspedia 2018 End of Year Call

Sep 15, 2018 - James Burk and Frank Crossman present the last year's progress on Marspedia at the 21st Annual Mars Society Convention.

May 7, 2018 - Marspedia Editorial Subcommittee finishes work on a new Category hierarchy covering Human exploration & settlement topics.

Dec 31, 2017 - The Moon Society recounts the recent history of Marspedia in latest Moon Miners' Manifesto newsletter.

Dec 31, 2017 - Mars Foundation mentions Marspedia in its End of Year Newsletter.

Nov 17, 2017 - The Mars Society officially announces its involvement in Marspedia and calls for volunteers to help.

Oct 20, 2017 - Marspedia Governing Council is formed to manage & improve the wiki.

Marspedia is organized as a Specific Hierarchy of Categories

The Editorial Subcommittee examined the past ad hoc approach of categorization of Marspedia articles and found it to be lacking a structure of how information about Mars is displayed and searched. The Subcommittee wanted a logical and navigable hierarchy of categories. This would also form the core of a new Browse experience. The new Marspedia category tree is much more focused on the future and specifically expanded on aspects of the future human exploration and permanent settlement of the Red Planet. It also focuses on outreach (advocacy) and the arts and literature to encourage individuals and the public at large to support human exploration and settlement there. Finally Marspedia is focused on providing the best source of information about past, present, and future exploration and settlement of Mars.

View Category:Main

Category Hierarchy

All categories for Marspedia roll up into the following 6 top-level categories. Two lower tiers of categories and pages linked to them can be seen by clicking the link icon on each. Creators of new pages should only link one or more of the categories in the hierarchy shown below to their page.

I. Mars Planetary Science - physical description of the planet; all the science data that is collected

II. Mars Spacecraft/Robotic Missions - (non-human) - mission planning and execution history.

III. Mars Human Exploration - human exploration concepts and planning

IV. Mars Human Settlement - including plans & concepts, philosophical/ethical considerations, and mars analogue research

V. Mars Outreach - Advocacy for Mars Exploration/Settlement - people and organizations (Mars Society, Marspedia, etc), political action, and public outreach & education