Despite Musk’s enthusiasm, it’s worth noting that scientists have pointed out the difficulty and maybe even sheer impossibility of sustained terraforming efforts-with or without nuclear weapons. In August 2019, he wrote a tweet reiterating an explosively simple plan: “ Nuke Mars!” As others have explained, the point of such a plan rests in the hope that detonating nuclear weapons on the frozen poles of Mars could release enough carbon dioxide and water vapor to create an atmosphere capable of heating the planet to livable temperatures. The idea of terraforming Mars-that is, initiating geochemical shifts to produce an Earth-like, livable atmosphere-has been a prominent component of Musk’s business agenda since at least 2015. Well before pandemics and viral infection were mainstream topics, the infamously outspoken Elon Musk urged his followers to prepare for a different kind of biological transmission: human life on Mars.
