Terraforming Mars, Ctd

All the key ingredients seem to be coming together to successfully launch my plan (and by "my plan" I mean the plan I believe would work; I am not the original source of the idea) to seed Mars with custom-made bacteria that would create an atmosphere.

1. Scientists have announced artificially made organisms. Obviously the plan hinges on the ability to produce anaerobic bacteria (or heavily modified algae) that can convert surface elements into other elements and release oxygen and ozone. It would potentially also work if the microbes converted the CO2 in the Martian atmosphere into oxygen and ozone. For years I have wondered just what the problem is (I really don't know the answer) that prevents scientists from making bacteria with new functions. For years we've had "Bt corn" which is corn that produces the bacillus thuringensis toxin, which is toxic to European corn borer. Specifically, genetic engineers have added a new trait to an existing organism. If a set of genes exists in a creature here on earth that allows it to live by mining its own oxygen from the rust in surrounding rocks, why can't we isolate those genes and add them to an algae?

2. Bacteria have been found in Canada that could possibly survive on Mars. As our exploration of our own planet continues, we are learning that bacteria can survive and thrive in harsher and harsher places. It is no surprise to me that scientists have found a bacteria that survives in a place here on Earth that has conditions potentially worse than conditions on Mars. Understanding the methods that bacteria uses to survive could be key to building a terraforming microbe to ship to Mars...

3. Falcon 9 successfully launched. Honestly, if a private corporation announced today that they had developed the above terraforming microbe, and wanted to terraform Mars and claim it for their own real estate/mining/emerging markets efforts, what currently is there to stop them? The simplest answer is that their access to space would be halted by governments, who currently regulate all flights into Earth orbit. But with the speech from President Obama that commercialization of space is a priority, and with the first successful launch of a privately owned spacecraft, one has to wonder: how far are we from a legal battle for space rights? If SpaceX landed a colony ship on the Moon...there is no existing entity on Earth that could stop them from claiming the Moon their property...other than the courts...
I am retreading old wheels, I know, but the point I want to make is this: a corporation with foresight and long-term planning strategies (and a butt-load of capital) might find the idea of terraforming Mars very prodigious. What better way to secure the future of their business than to create an entire planet of future customers? Especially if this planet reaches some sort of population cap, or worse, an ecological disaster or war eliminates much of this planet's population. This century might be the century of globalization, but perhaps smart corporations, armed with terraforming tools, might make the next century the one of solar systemization.


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