If so, how long would it take and what would the process be?
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answers:
David Bowman say: Not with today's "modern technology". By the time we have the technology to terraform an earth sized planet, we'll be beyond the need to terraform a planet.
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Sciencenut say: I think you would enjoy reading the excellent book, "Entering Space", by Dr. Robert Zubrin, PhD, available on amazon and other places.
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quantumclaustrophobe say: Nope... While we may understand what's needed to make Mars or Venus habitable - we don't have the technology (or the money) to accomplish it.
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spot a say: We cannot even survive inside a man-made environment for more than 1 year, right here on earth with 9.8 gravity.
Good luck with terraforming.
Our best hope will be to build gigantic rotating cylinders to simulate gravity, with sunlight shining down the centre and reflected sideways by mirrors.
Since our best effort so far is the tubular construction of the ISS with no gravity to speak of, and with very little self sufficiency except for reprocessed water, we have a very long way to go.
Mars is deadly and is not the answer. Venus is worse
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Athena say: Not now, no.
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Quadrillian say: Nope.
And since I predict that technology is going nowhere, I suggest that we can never terraform any planet/moon, ever.
Which is a very good reason to look after the biosphere right here on Earth. Not that we will.
Cheers!
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Donut Tim say: No, sorry.
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say: Nope. Still Sci-Fi. We need a planet that has a magnetic core to create a magnetic field to protect the planet from space radiation.
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Nyx say: Nope. We barely can keep our planet habitable from the actions of humanity.
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say: No.
That is pure "Science Fiction" at this time, give it a few more decades.
Biosphere 2 is a proven test bed that is failing to get anywhere near a satisfying result, regarding the notion of terraforming.
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Gary B say: No.
We DO NOT haev teh technology to handle such a HUGE task
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Bill say: No. Terraforming is pure science fiction. Not at all possible in real life. Now or ever.
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Alpha Beta say: Yes, and hundreds of years ... but the question is finding a suitable planet. Mars may not be big enough to hold the burgeoning atmosphere we need. We may have to do this at some point.
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