HIGHLIGHTS

In 1980, Jim Green joined NASA.

He has participated in a number of NASA missions and projects.

He aided NASA in completing difficult tasks such as the quest for life on Mars.

WHY IN NEWS

One of the major concerns of explorers and scientists has been finding traces of extraterrestrial life on distant worlds. Despite this, not much has been accomplished thus far. Scientists, on the other hand, appear to be undeterred in their quest to uncover the mysteries that surround our solar system. Promisingly attempting to address one of the most perplexing problems of all: whether we are alone in the universe and whether there are or have been additional extraterrestrial species. Is it possible that other planets are or have been capable of hosting life? Jim Green discussed his CoLD scale and how we may terraform Mars to make it suitable for humans in a recent interview.

Green joined NASA in 1980 and has since played crucial roles in a number of missions and tests conducted by the space agency. He has assisted NASA with a number of complicated tasks, including the study of the Earth's magnetic field and the hunt for life on Mars. Green resigned from NASA in the new year after a four-decade career with the agency, including 12 years as chief of its planetary science division. One of his outstanding recommendations is the 'Confidence of Life Detection' (CoLD) scale. Green proposes that people might one day survive on Mars if we build a massive magnetic field around it to prevent the Sun from removing the planet's atmosphere and raise the temperature on the surface.

Mars' thin atmosphere, which is 95 percent carbon dioxide, is harsh and chilly. On average, the desolate planet's temperature is around - 60 degrees Celsius. The temperature at the poles can drop to minus 125 degrees Celsius during the winter. Green claims that the probability that life exists is assessed on a scale of one to seven, with seven indicating life. He explained its significance by stating that some scientists claimed to have discovered phosphine on Venus a few years ago. It was big for them, but on the CoLD scale, it was 'one.' Later, they discovered that their signal had been contaminated, and that what they had seen might not even be phosphine. There has been a lot of methane discovered on Mars. 'However, we're just at Level 3 of the CoLD.'

Is he shocked that we haven't discovered life on Mars despite NASA's efforts dating back to 1976? Green replied, 'Yes and No.' He said that science had come a long way from the beginning. For example, we now know that Venus used to be a blue planet with a large ocean. He went on to say, 'It could have genuinely had life.' Mars, like Earth, was originally a blue planet. 'It's conceivable,' he said of his concept to build a massive magnetic barrier between Mars and the Sun, allowing the Red Planet to store more heat and become warmer. With the rise in pressure and temperature, Mars will terraform itself, he added. We'll be able to start growing plants in the soils because of the increasing warmth and pressure.

He stated that he is attempting to publish 'a paper' that he has been working on for the past two years. It would, however, not be warmly greeted by the planetary community, which 'does not appreciate the notion of terraforming,' he noted. Green, on the other hand, believes that with a physical barrier, we can transform Venus as well.