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According to this article, the Martian atmosphere can be saved from being dispersed into space through an artificial magnetic shield.

I'm interested in knowing the costs and mechanics that can make it happen today. My question is not limited to solar winds, it includes cosmic radiation as well. Will superconducting magnets be more efficient? Is it better to put magnets at the north and south poles?

harsh99
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    Well maybe, the discussion linked to by @GdD is about wrapping a wire around the planet Mars but the more recent article suggests placing the magnet at a Lagrange point between Mars and the Sun. This is orders of magnitude more feasible than wrapping the planet in a wire but still difficult. – Dragongeek Jan 18 '18 at 16:11
  • Mars is small, so it actually adds difficulty in that the escape speeds are lower and the Larmor radii are bigger (background magnetic fields are lower at Mars than at Earth, in general). In the case of escaping oxygen, their gyroradii can be comparable to the martian radius which poses serious problems for keeping them near the planet. So even if a giant magnet were placed at the L1 point, there would still be many other obstacles to overcome. – honeste_vivere Jan 19 '18 at 15:39
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    Possible duplicate of Place a satellite at Sun-Mars L1 to shield Mars from Sun radiation – user3201068 Jun 24 '18 at 06:02

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