[Rockhounds] Terraforming Mars might be impossible… for now

[Alan Silverstein]

> Terraforming Mars might be impossible for now...

Methinks there's an easier way to do it, but no one seems to go there.
So I'll just toss out my own fantasy scenario for your amusement.

1.  Get to Mars as fast as we can now, but only to visit.  Science the
    hell out of the planet in its nearly pristine state, as quickly as
    we can, and then --

2.  Evacuate completely after a while.  Meanwhile, send robotic probes
    out beyond the solar system's "snow line" (where small icy bodies
    still reside).  Nudge well-chosen comets (based on size, contents,
    and orbits) as little as necessary to make them intersect Mars in
    the next few decades or centuries.  Stand back and watch!  (*)

3.  After bombarding the planet with lots of water/etc and it settles
    down again, return, this time to stay.  Infect the planet with
    biology and life do its thing.

(*) As a writer once observed, any species capable of interplanetary
flight, never mind interstellar, controls dangerous amounts of power.
My suggestion absolutely demands fail-safe control over the agencies
flinging around those comets so they can ONLY hit Mars, and in NO WAY
be subverted towards Earth.

Cheers,
Alan Silverstein