# Mars Core Jumpstart Sketch (Planetary Dynamo Re-Ignition Concept) Target outcome (upper bound): Re-establish a self-sustaining or semi-sustaining global magnetic dynamo on Mars producing a surface-equivalent field on the order of ~0.01–0.3 G. Status: Purely conceptual Maturity: Whiteboard / physics-first sketch Intent: Identify whether any plausible intervention space exists — not to assert feasibility. --- 1. Why the Core Matters Mars lost its global magnetic field ~4 billion years ago. The consequences are well constrained: Direct solar wind interaction with the upper atmosphere Long-term atmospheric erosion Elevated surface radiation No stable, long-lived surface liquid water A renewed dynamo would primarily serve to: Deflect charged solar particles Slow atmospheric loss rates by orders of magnitude Reduce surface radiation exposure Enable long-horizon planetary-scale experiments Without magnetic protection, any planetary modification remains transient on geological timescales. --- 2. Current Best-Estimate Core State (circa 2025) Based on orbital, seismic, and geophysical inference (including InSight data): Core radius: ~1,700 km Composition: Iron–nickel–sulfur alloy Thermal state: Likely partially molten outer core, solid or semi-solid inner regions Temperature estimates: ~1,500–2,200 K (high uncertainty) Heat flux: ~0.03 W/m² (very low) Convection: Weak or absent → no active dynamo The core problem is not composition — it is insufficient energy flow and fluid motion. --- 3. Conditions Required for a Dynamo (Non-Negotiable) To reinitiate a planetary-scale dynamo, all of the following must occur: 1. Sufficiently conductive fluid volume 2. Sustained convection or bulk fluid motion 3. An initial seed magnetic field 4. Energy input exceeding conductive and radiative losses Fail any one of these and the system collapses back to zero field. --- 4. Proposed Jumpstart Pathways (Conceptual Only) These are intervention classes, not a single plan. 4.1 Deep Access & Material Redistribution Penetrate crust and upper mantle (order: 100–500 km) Extract dense and conductive materials (Fe-Ni rich) Create artificial thermal gradients by removing insulating layers Goal: Increase buoyancy contrasts and expose hotter material. Primary risk: Drilling energy, tool survivability, induced seismic failure. --- 4.2 Directed Thermal Injection Concentrate externally generated power (laser, particle, or EM) Deliver energy into deep boreholes or high-conductivity zones Intentionally create rising thermal plumes Goal: Force localized convection that can scale upward. Primary risk: Energy requirements exceed plausible delivery by many orders of magnitude. --- 4.3 Magnetic Pulse Seeding Deploy very large superconducting coils (subsurface or orbital) Discharge ultra-high-energy magnetic pulses (order 10²⁰–10²² J) Exploit Lorentz forces to induce motion in conductive fluid Goal: Provide an initial magnetic topology that convection can amplify. Primary risk: Pulse energy couples poorly to fluid motion; effect damps rapidly. --- 4.4 Sustainment (If Anything Works) Continuous or periodic low-level energy injection Active monitoring via dense seismic and magnetic sensor networks Accept non-Earth-like, unstable, or asymmetric fields Important: A weak, noisy, or intermittent dynamo still counts as success if it measurably reduces atmospheric loss. --- 5. Energy Reality Check Very rough, order-of-magnitude considerations: Partial core re-melting energy: ~10²⁵–10²⁷ J Continuous sustainment (if possible): multi-TW over centuries Coupling efficiency: unknown, likely very poor This places the concept firmly in civilization-scale physics, not engineering. --- 6. Failure Modes (Explicit) This effort fails if: The core is too solid to permit bulk motion Heat losses dominate any injected energy Induced motion fails to organize into global flow Any generated field decays faster than it can be reinforced These are expected outcomes, not edge cases. --- 7. Fallback Position If core reactivation proves impossible: Abandon planetary dynamo revival Shift to external or artificial magnetic shielding Treat Mars as a managed, not self-protecting, system This sketch does not assume success. --- 8. Why This Is Worth Writing Down Anyway Even a failed attempt to model this forces clarity on: Energy scales we are otherwise tempted to ignore Limits of planetary intervention Where artificial systems outperform natural ones What “too big to terraform” actually means in practice Understanding impossibility early is a form of progress. --- Last updated: January 2026 Confidence: Extremely low Architectural value: High Project map & raw links: https://github.com/ksarith/Lazarus-Forge- [Lazarus Forge Discovery.md](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ksarith/Lazarus-Forge-/main/Discovery.md) Project map & raw links: https://github.com/ksarith/Astroid-miner [Astroid-miner Discovery.md](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ksarith/Astroid-miner/refs/heads/main/Discovery.md)