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Rhondajeep t1_j22zjqs wrote

Reply to comment by Chichachachi in Earth was brought to life by ancient water-rich asteroids from the outer Solar System by marketrent

What would happen if we transplanted those organisms to Mars, could we ADD oxygen to another planet?

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Austiniuliano t1_j24mik1 wrote

There is a cool animated explanation and that is one of the steps. https://youtu.be/HpcTJW4ur54

Short answer is we would need to to Teriform mars but one downside is that a disease could wipe out a whole species and throw off the balance. So it would be doable but difficult

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Frankeman t1_j283l5m wrote

To my understanding: yes, but there are two major problems:

  • You'll need a huge number of bacteria to make a difference. Even doing that on Earth will be tricky. What helps of course us that they multiply themselves, but it will take a while nevertheless
  • The atmosphere of Mars is very thin due to the absence of a magnetic field. Even if you are able to produce much oxygen, most of it will get ionised by radiation and will be lost eventually

However, the bacteria themselves should be able to survive out there on Mars, if not thrive. They are crazily resilient

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