My entire life I've been obsessed with space travel, for the passed few years I've liked the idea of terraforming. I've learned a lot lately and i think I'm ready to begin research for some simulations. My question is, would a system of geosynchronous satellites, all generating an incredibly strong magnetic field, be able to stop atmosphere stripping on Mars? Asking because I'm only a teenager and may be missing something, and if this is possible, does anyone know how powerful the satellites would have to be? And how would it be powered?
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Fred
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1I have a long list of questions about Mars terraforming and magnetic fields in this answer to Is Mars' gravity strong enough to hold a human-breathable atmosphere? Basically the timescale for atmosphere loss due to the solar wind is really really long, maybe you would have to add a new atmosphere every million or hundred million years. So the magnetic field is not necessary. – uhoh Jan 07 '22 at 05:36
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There are several Q & A about this in Astronomy SE: ...but where did Mars' atmosphere actually GO? (lively discussion in comments) and Why is Mars' atmosphere so thin? and Loss of atmosphere on Mars and now go back and see the long string of comments under ...but where did Mars' atmosphere actually GO? which calls the whole solar wind idea into question! – uhoh Jan 07 '22 at 05:44
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2The problem with an orbiting satellite that generates a strong magnetic field, it that it very soon becomes a non-orbiting satellite. The magnetic field would apply sustained thrust to the device. That's ignoring the several-orders-of-magnitude difference between available power sources (solar, even nuclear) and a device capable of outputting a planetary-scale magnetic field of sufficient strength. – CuteKItty_pleaseStopBArking Jan 07 '22 at 06:09
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A recent publication from (among others) the Jim Green might be of interest: "How to create an artificial magnetosphere for Mars" – BrendanLuke15 Jan 07 '22 at 12:32
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A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). Are you asking for satellites in orbit around Mars or Earth? May be you should delete the word geosynchronous in the headline. – Uwe Jan 08 '22 at 17:47
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Don't you think that would be better suited to SE Worldbuilding? – Robbie Goodwin Jan 09 '22 at 01:01