Could smashing icy asteroids into Mars really help humans live there one day? Here's the truth

A Polish scientist has proposed a bold new plan to make Mars habitable for humans: smashing massive icy asteroids into it. Why? Because without a thicker atmosphere, future colonists’ skin could literally boil.

That’s not science fiction — it’s physics. Mars has an average surface pressure of only about 610 pascals, which is less than 1% of Earth’s. At those low pressures, water — including the water inside human bodies — boils at temperatures close to our own body heat. Without pressurized suits, colonists wouldn’t just struggle to breathe. They’d start to cook from the inside out.
This chilling warning comes from Dr. Leszek Czechowski of the Polish Academy of Sciences, who presented a radical solution to the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. In his study, Energy Problems of Terraforming Mars , he argues that instead of relying on slow and uncertain biological fixes like moss or lichen, we need to forcefully jump-start Mars' atmosphere by delivering more volatile compounds — like water and carbon dioxide — straight from space.


Czechowski’s idea involves redirecting asteroids from the Kuiper Belt — a distant region of icy objects beyond Neptune — and smashing them into Mars. These colossal impacts could dump huge amounts of water and greenhouse gases onto the Red Planet, gradually thickening its atmosphere and raising surface pressure to survivable levels. Over time, it might even be possible for humans to live there without space suits.
But there’s a catch. The most promising sources of these icy bodies lie far, far away. The Oort Cloud — thought to contain billions of suitable objects — is so distant it would take over 15,000 years to send one hurtling toward Mars. The Kuiper Belt is closer, and Czechowski estimates that asteroids from there could reach Mars in a matter of decades if their speed is correctly adjusted.


However, transporting such bodies is no easy task. Current chemical rocket technology would require enormous fuel loads. That’s why Czechowski suggests something far more futuristic: spacecraft with ion engines powered by fusion reactors . These theoretical vehicles could gently nudge a Kuiper Belt object out of orbit and guide it toward Mars over time, using far less fuel — though such engines don’t yet exist at scale.


The plan isn’t without risks. Kuiper Belt asteroids might become unstable as they approach the Sun, and the energy released by the impact could crack Mars' crust or trigger volcanic activity. But Czechowski believes the payoff — a breathable atmosphere and protection from deadly pressure loss — justifies the gamble.