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NASA says they can terraform Mars by hypothetically giving Mars back its Magnetosphere. What would this process involve? I want to explore it in sci-fi stories. Would the magnetic field be created as a ball of energy from a giant gun and then expand all over the planet? That's the only way I can imagine doing it, but it seems so crude and silly. It also makes me think: This technology is also probably pretty advanced and wouldn't be possible for hundreds of years. Would it take technology above Star Trek and Star Wars. Maybe Doctor Who?

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    $\begingroup$ Googling "nasa mars magnetic shield" gave me the answer. $\endgroup$
    – RonJohn
    May 9, 2017 at 3:24
  • $\begingroup$ @RonJohn Give us the details of your Google search and you can post it as an answer. $\endgroup$
    – a4android
    May 9, 2017 at 3:47
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    $\begingroup$ @a4android what I want to know is why The Asker had to ask the question in the first place instead of doing the Goggle search himself. This was not rocket science. (Pun vaguely intended...) I took keywords "nasa", "mars" and "magnetosphere" directly from his question; Firefox suggested "magnetic shield" instead of "Magnetosphere". After he did his own research is when he should have asked others for help. (You can get off my lawn, now...) $\endgroup$
    – RonJohn
    May 9, 2017 at 3:57
  • $\begingroup$ There are tons of questions about Mars' Magnetosphere. Are any of these close to what you're asking? worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/… $\endgroup$
    – Green
    May 9, 2017 at 4:12
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    $\begingroup$ First, you need a large rare-earth magnet. Yeah, that'll do. ;p $\endgroup$ May 9, 2017 at 13:46

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I want to explore it in sci-fi stories.

In Star Trek, they would have a constellation of satelites that generate a force shield to protect the planet. How casual or difficult this is depends on the plot — if the shield is the solution then Scottie’s team will design it in a matter of hours, adapting a class one probe or something, and they’ll deploy it after the commercial. If the vulnerability is the plot point; e.g. these are failing or being attacked, then some specific number damaged will cause everyone to die and nobody can quickly repair them or deploy spares because they use mcguffinite or somesuch.

This is not science-based, but story driven. Any science will be buzzwords or tecnobabble.

For Doctor Who the technology is indistinguishable from magic, and if any explaination is given it won’t make any sense. Again, not science-based at all but trope based if anything.

Would the magnetic field be created as a ball of energy from a giant gun and then expand all over the planet?

Possibly in the Doctor’s case. In ST it would be a shield delimited by objects generating it.

So…

I suggest first defining its role in the plot. Then, survey the way technology is handled in your story. Only then can we suggest a specific solution.

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A planets magnetic field is produced by convection which is basically the movement of it's molten core as it rises and sinks.

Mars core is probably solid, so if you worked on the angle of getting it molten again you could possibly have it self sustaining a magnetic field as it probably did in the past.

Means of doing this would depend on what tech you have, current tech isn't sufficient, but near future may be.

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