On July 25th, 20 18, good news came from Mars. Scientists found a liquid water lake with a diameter of about 20 kilometers under the Antarctic ice sheet of Mars 1.5 km. The discovery of water on Mars finally excited scientists. Maybe in the near future, we humans can go to Mars and taste the water on Mars.
Illustration: The ice sheet at the South Pole of Mars.
Wait, things don't seem that simple. The average temperature on Mars is as low as MINUS 63 degrees Celsius. Why doesn't water freeze at such a cold temperature? Scientists pointed out that the water is salty and can't be drunk directly. This underground lake on Mars contains a lot of calcium and magnesium in Martian rocks, which lowers the freezing point of water. Water will not freeze at such a cold temperature. It must be salty. Anyway, the seawater on the earth can't be drunk directly.
Then the water is hidden at a depth of 1.5 km below the surface of Mars. This depth is not shallow. If human beings want to drink this kind of water, they must drill a well with a depth of 1500m. On earth, we can easily drill a well1500m deep and drink this water. But if humans land on Mars for the first time, they can't bring drilling equipment. It was difficult for humans to use this water when they first arrived on Mars.
Illustration: Underground Lake of Mars.
As for the oxygen on Mars, don't take it seriously, it's no different from it. The Martian atmosphere is very thin, less than 1% of the atmospheric density, and the main component of the Martian atmosphere is carbon dioxide, which is the waste gas we usually breathe and exhale. Oxygen only accounts for 0. 15% of the Martian atmosphere. At an altitude of more than 5000 meters on the earth, the oxygen content is about 40% of the sea level, so it is very difficult for human beings to breathe. The oxygen content on Mars is only 0. 15%. What's the difference?
Illustration: Future Mars base
Coupled with the cold and strong harmful radiation on Mars, Mars is far from reaching the standard suitable for human habitation. Therefore, when humans landed on Mars for the first time, they still had to carry enough materials from the earth to achieve self-sufficiency.
However, NASA announced that it plans to land on Mars in 2034. There are still 15 years, and I hope to see this feat in human history at that time.
Although NASA has confirmed that there is water on Mars, the oxygen content has also changed slightly. But NASA absolutely dare not say: "This has created favorable conditions for human beings to land on Mars", such a conclusion!
The reason for saying this may be because all aspects are still "a little".
The magnetic field may be slightly worse. The average magnetic field strength of Mars is 1‰~ 2‰ of the earth's magnetic field. Recent exploration has confirmed that there is no global dipole magnetic field on Mars, but there are many local dipole magnetic fields. So Mars is a planet with multipolar magnetic field, which is composed of many local magnetic fields. This is beyond our comprehension. This means that even if you have a compass in your hand, you can't tell the difference between the east and the west on Mars. Because of the disappearance of Mars' magnetic field, it has brought great trouble to Mars. Simply put, the magnetic field of Mars determines whether Mars will become a vibrant earth or a death star now. Unfortunately, what we see is the latter.
The density of the atmosphere on Mars is only 1% of that of the earth, and there is only a very thin layer. This seems to be a little poor! Walking on the surface of Mars, we may be killed by cosmic rays from the depths of the universe anytime and anywhere. Or a small meteorite floating in space, or even space junk, hitting the head ... This is a strange thing that people on earth have never experienced, but it is very common on Mars. Of course, all this is because the atmosphere of Mars is too thin to protect any life on it (if there is life, I'm afraid it would have gone deep). Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mars accounts for 95.3%. In terms of the proportion on earth, the concentration of carbon dioxide is not much different from that on earth. If the temperature and light are right, we can directly use carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere to cultivate green plants in the greenhouse and then make oxygen.
Then there is the water on Mars, which is probably an extremely precious resource because it is so "a little". The temperature difference between day and night on Mars can reach 160 degrees Celsius. And storms with a speed of 400 kilometers per hour are often blown from the poles. If there are Martians on Mars, I am afraid they haven't seen the liquid state of water for a long time. Most of the water on Mars exists in the form of ice fog and solids, which can only be detected during the day. At night, it will sink back to the polar regions. And not only water, but also carbon dioxide will freeze into dry ice at midnight and fall to the polar surface.
As long as the magnetic field of Mars is not restored, all the natural changes that have taken place on Mars now will not indicate that the Martian environment will develop in a direction conducive to human habitation.
In the whole solar system, Mars can be said to be the closest planet to the Earth, and its environment is relatively similar to that of the Earth.
Perhaps because of this, in recent years, people's exploration of Mars has intensified. The United States launched a Mars probe more than 40 years ago. In the next few years, the United States plans to send astronauts to Mars. The United States has publicly stated that it will send astronauts to Mars around 2030. Although I don't doubt the space strength of the United States, I think this time should be delayed. There are many difficulties to overcome when landing on Mars.
The distance between Mars and the Earth is constantly changing. The closest distance between them is 55 million kilometers, and even at this distance, it will take at least six months from the launch of the probe to the landing of the probe on Mars. In 20 18, the distance between Mars and the Earth is the closest. This period is about 15 years, the next time is 2033, and the next time is 2048. If the United States decides to send astronauts to Mars in 2033, then the time left for the United States is only about 10 years.
What are the difficulties to overcome when landing on Mars? The first point is technical. Although the United States sent astronauts to the moon, landing on Mars is not the same as landing on the moon. You know, the distance from the moon to the earth is only 380,000 kilometers, which is less than 1% of the nearest distance from Mars to the earth, so this means that the spacecraft should carry enough fuel to ensure the flight for at least one year, because it also needs fuel to return. In addition to carrying enough fuel, we must also ensure that we bring enough food to the astronauts.
Let me rephrase this question so that everyone can quickly understand the real meaning. The location of the bank is very clear, and the safe demolition technology has been mastered. So how many steps do banks have left to spend money at will? -That's how far we landed on Mars!
Man landed on the moon in 1969. The so-called "one small step for oneself, one big step for mankind" still rings in my ears.
Compared with the boundless desolation of the moon, there is not a hair; Under the human exploration of Mars in turn, there is great good news-a liquid water lake with a diameter of about 20 kilometers was found under the Antarctic ice sheet of Mars 1.5 kilometers-water is no longer a problem; The atmospheric density of Mars is about 1% of that of the Earth. Although the main component of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide, oxygen accounts for 0.15% of the Martian atmosphere-there is oxygen!
Attracted by such gratifying conditions, why are human beings still hesitating? Do you still need Martians to line up to pick you up?
No, the answer is two words-no money!
Let's take the rover Curiosity launched on 20 1 1 and landed on Mars on 20 12 as an example. The project cost $2.5 billion. Well, it looks average. You should tighten your belt. Money is enough.
The annual budget of NASA is about 194 billion dollars in 20 17, and it exceeds 20 billion dollars in 20 19. In recent years, the total amount has been hovering between $20 billion. It can be done at a glance. Is that really the case?
Manned landing on Mars is as difficult as sending express mail from Guangzhou to Beijing, killing 25 yuan. Then you go to Beijing on foot without supplies, and you calculate the difference. The purpose sounds similar, but the difficulty cost is definitely not an order of magnitude.
It takes about two years to go back and forth to Mars, and once it is manned, it will be completely different. According to the budget report of NASA, the cost of manned landing on Mars is between $654.38 billion and $450 billion, and the survival rate of astronauts is not guaranteed.
Manned landing on Mars, for the United States, is like the feeling of China on the large particle collider. You have to burn the money for the next few decades at once.
Don't look at Trump driving a train now. When the budget is approved, you can see his collapsed face.
After all, it is more appropriate for human beings to die. There is no urgent reason for man to land on Mars. This year, the US military budget has reached 71600 million US dollars! A proper trip to Mars can guarantee 2-3 times!
Unless there is a major crisis of human survival, everyone will put aside prejudice and stop the arms race, and the money for going to Mars will be enough to burn.
If we really save all the military expenses and let's go to Mars, how do you feel that this idea is really a bit too Mars!
I'm Mr. Cat. Thanks for reading.
This is the lines of Zhao Benshan and Song Dandan in the sketch "Lao Ke", which is Song Dandan's answer to Zhao Benshan's brain teaser. Q: How many steps does it take to put an elephant in the refrigerator? Song Dandan's answer is wonderful, and complicated questions are simply answered.
Some problems are better to be simple. For the problem of tearing eggs, such as "putting elephants in the refrigerator and dividing them into several steps", it is logical to choke back at once. But for some complex scientific problems, we can try to explain them in a popular way, not simply.
Laomei has got more than a dozen unmanned detectors, and the success rate is very high. It also sent five or six rovers. Some of them have been fighting in the north and south of Mars for more than ten years, and they are still tirelessly exploring. In other countries and regions, only India succeeded 1 time, and the European Space Agency 1 time. The former Soviet Union and Russia failed to launch more than a dozen times, and other countries did not even touch the hair of Mars.
In this state, how many steps can we talk about landing on Mars? In addition to the United States, other space powers will also be able to launch unmanned probes to Mars within a few steps.
Mars is moving and the earth is moving, so the accuracy of this navigation is more accurate than focusing a bull's-eye hundreds of kilometers away with a rifle.
Last year, the Mars probe Insight launched by NASA flew in space for 6 months and 265,438+0 days, with a flight mileage of over 480 million kilometers. It took only seven minutes to reach Mars, and the speed of entering the atmosphere was reduced from 19800 km/h to 8 km/h, and it landed accurately at the preset position near the equator of Mars.
This requires very advanced navigation control technology and experience. At present, only NASA can achieve such skillful control.
It has been confirmed that there is water on Mars, but it is only solid frozen water, mainly distributed in the polar underground; The atmosphere of Mars is thin, only 1% of the density of the earth, mainly carbon dioxide, accounting for 95.7% of the total. In addition, there are 2.7% nitrogen, 1.6% argon and only 0. 15% oxygen, which is only114000 of the oxygen in the earth's atmosphere. The surface pressure is 7 mbar, which is only1142 of the earth's surface pressure; The temperature difference of Mars is 160 degrees (Celsius, the same below), with the highest equatorial temperature of 27 degrees in summer and the lowest temperature of-133 degrees in winter.
Judging from the above environment, human beings must have strict high-quality equipment to act on Mars, such as sealed oxygen supply base and spacesuit, just like acting on the moon. But one thing is that although the atmosphere is worse than the earth, it is better than nothing and much better than the moon.
In this way, when people carry out the Mars transformation plan, they can make air for human to breathe by extracting oxygen and nitrogen from the atmosphere, and melt the frozen water underground by making greenhouse gases or making asteroid impacts, which is much more cost-effective than bringing oxygen and water from the earth.
The first level is to send astronauts to explore Mars. This NASA has a plan, which is divided into two steps. The next step is to return to the moon around 2020, train on the moon, and establish a base to prepare for manned landing on Mars. The second step is to send people to Mars around 2033.
The second level is the Mars transformation plan, which was also formulated by NASA and is now being implemented. Sending a man to Mars around 2033 is the first step.
Then, after many investigations, a base was established on Mars, and then a large-scale chemical plant powered by nuclear energy was established to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere day and night (including asteroid impact, specular reflection of sunlight and other methods to heat Mars), so that Mars gradually reached a temperature that could melt underground frozen water and form an ocean on Mars; Then plant seeds that have been genetically modified to adapt to Mars planting are scattered on Mars. Most of the workload in this period will be done by artificial intelligence, that is, robots.
In this way, for thousands of years, the atmosphere of Mars has been transformed by ecological methods, and Mars has been managed to generate magnetic fields. Finally, Mars has been built into a livable planet with rippling blue waves and pleasant environment.
There are many steps in this. This is a project for mankind to go to their descendants, grandchildren, Gong Yu and move mountains. I won't introduce them here. Interested people can look at the related articles published before the time-space communication.
After the transformation of Mars is completed, human beings will flee the increasingly uninhabitable earth on a large scale and immigrate to Mars.
Although NASA has confirmed that there is water and oxygen on Mars, which is better than the moon, landing on Mars is not the same as landing on the moon, but it is more difficult than landing on the moon.
Mars base program
The first thing to consider is the distance to Mars. Everyone knows that the distance between us and the moon is 380,000 kilometers. Fifty years ago, Apollo successfully sent 12 American astronauts to the moon six times, and each mission was completed in two or three days. The distance from Mars to the earth is 150 times that of the moon, and its speed around the sun is different from that of the earth. Mars can only have the best launch time window if it runs into a specific orbit. This launch window will open every few years, so the timing is crucial. Moreover, it will take months or even a year to reach Mars safely. It is estimated that the total time for NASA's manned exploration of Mars is estimated to be about three years.
Followed by the necessities of spacecraft and astronauts. The atmospheric environment and geographical environment of Mars are also very important for spacecraft requirements. The probability of a human probe successfully landing on Mars is lower than that of landing on the moon. How to land on Mars safely and stably needs to analyze the data obtained from continuous research on Mars in recent years, so as to improve spacecraft technology.
Besides, it takes a long time to go back and forth to Mars. How to solve the necessities of life for astronauts-water, food and oxygen? If the water and oxygen on Mars can be used, how to solve the astronauts' food on Mars is a condition for human survival on Mars. There are also space radiation and space junk that threaten astronauts' lives at all times, and the durability of spacesuits must be solved.
The last and most important thing is the health of astronauts. Russia and the United States have gradually fixed the working hours of astronauts on the International Space Station to six months, and some astronauts have been working on the space station for one year. With the extension of astronauts' space flight time, physiological tests also increase.
Studies on the effects of weightlessness, isolation, closed environment, space radiation and distance from the earth on human health show that these factors will seriously affect people's heart, internal circulation, body fluids, bones, muscles and psychology. Once the astronauts reach Mars, it will be two or three years. According to some news from NASA, some astronauts have received Mars simulation training and are ready to participate in the mission to mars.
Landing on Mars
In short, before sending humans to Mars, we must ensure that all aspects of human planning can cope with unknown dangers, so as to ensure that we can safely return to our blue earth after our trip to Mars.
launch
I think it's still quite far.
In fact, recently, NASA made a very good discovery on Mars, for example, there is liquid water under the ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic.
Secondly, it is found that there are opportunities on the surface of Mars, and there is a little oxygen in the atmosphere of Mars.
It seems that everything is ready, except for human immigration. But in fact, it is far from where human beings live. Then why do you say that?
First of all, although there is oxygen on Mars, this oxygen is actually equivalent to nothing for human beings. This is because the oxygen content must reach a more suitable range to suit our human respiratory system. If there is too little oxygen, or too much oxygen, it will pose a great threat to human survival.
Secondly, the atmosphere of Mars is extremely thin, and there is no way to retain heat. Near the equator of Mars, the temperature can reach 20℃ during the day, and suddenly drops to about -80℃ at night, with a temperature difference of about 100℃. Therefore, the temperature difference between day and night is particularly large and insurmountable.
And because there is no ozone layer, it can't resist ultraviolet rays, which is also very harmful to human body.
Then, liquid water was discovered, but this kind of water was not enough to plug the teeth and support life activities.
Finally, the terrible thing is that Mars is basically cold and has no geomagnetism, which means that when the sun blows the solar wind, all life on Mars will suffer. The reason why the earth is suitable for human habitation lies in its strong geomagnetism and its ability to resist the solar wind.
NASA has confirmed that there is water on Mars, and now there is even oxygen. How many steps before human beings land on Mars?
Is there water on Mars? It's no secret that there has always been water on Mars. It's just frozen water in solid state. A lot of water has been frozen in the polar ice sheets and impact craters at middle and high latitudes! Of course, the liquid saltwater lake under Mars is indeed news. After all, liquid water has never been found on the surface of Mars!
The polar cap of Mars, can you see whether this is the polar cap of the South Pole or the North Pole of Mars?
Schematic diagram of the location and stratum of underground liquid saltwater lake near the South Pole of Mars!
So where is the oxygen on Mars? Mars has only a carbon dioxide atmosphere of 1% of the earth's atmospheric pressure. Where does the oxygen come from?
In fact, as long as there is water, oxygen on Mars is not a problem. Although the solar energy obtained in the equatorial region of Mars is only about half that of the Earth, about 700W/ m2, it is very easy to obtain oxygen by electrolyzing water as long as there are enough solar cells, so whether there is oxygen in the atmosphere is not the key for human beings to move to Mars! So what are the conditions?
The Millennium plan to transform Mars, but at least for now, we dare not expect such a plan. After all, human beings still have self-knowledge!
But the small-scale residential area in the above picture can be realized, and only some efforts are needed! Can humans reach such a technical level now? It may be a little difficult! After all, there are not many local building materials on the surface of Mars, and most of them need to be transported from the earth to Mars, so there are several hurdles that cannot be bypassed:
1, high thrust rocket
2. Spacecraft suitable for transporting large building materials
3. An engine suitable for Mars to go back and forth quickly.
Why are high-thrust rockets and engines that travel quickly to and from Mars described separately? Because the rocket is only responsible for transporting the spacecraft to low-earth orbit, the rest can only be relayed by space engines, so an engine with high efficiency and high thrust is very important, otherwise it will take several years to travel to and from Mars, and the construction cost and cycle will be too long! Of course, this is only transportation technology, and the latter technology needs to be guaranteed!
1. The ecological technology in the closed loop, such as the experience of biosphere 1 2, is not a success, but it is also an experience.
2. Psychological and physiological state control of human body during the long space voyage.
3. The improvement of telemedicine technology can only be supported by team doctors in the future.
4, Mars soil improvement, it is said that the Martian surface soil contains harmful substances, not suitable for planting, so we must improve the soil quality, otherwise plants may be difficult to survive!
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From a technical point of view, landing on Mars is not an impossible thing. Even if the rocket above fails once, it can be assembled twice in orbit, and it can definitely complete the plan of manned landing on Mars! But if you want to build a permanent base on Mars, it will not be so easy. It can be predicted that manned landing on Mars will be realized within 50 years in the future, but the base may not be established within 100 years!
Mars was once thought to have aliens, but after several rounds of exploration, scientists found that there was no life on it. Although scientists' exploration of Mars is still full of hope, and even water and a small amount of oxygen have been discovered, this does not mean that there is life on Mars, or that humans can survive on Mars.
Although Mars is a neighbor of the earth, the distance between fire and fire is still a little far, at least for us humans, it is astronomical. The fire was more than 55 million kilometers recently. It takes more than 3 minutes to run such a long distance. If it is a human spaceship, it is normal to fly for half a year. At present, the only planet that humans have landed on is the moon. Landing on Mars at such a long distance is a great challenge for human beings. Even Pelant dare not say that the United States can send people to the moon again unscathed, let alone land on Mars, which is far from knowing how many times larger than the moon. At least for the current human beings, the technology of landing on Mars is still immature.
In addition, another reason why Mars is difficult to land is that it has an atmosphere. The moon has almost no atmosphere, so the lunar rover will not get hot when it goes to the moon. But landing on Mars is different. When the lander flies at high speed, it will collide violently with the atmosphere of Mars. If you are not careful, you may destroy people. Many countries, including China, have never tried to own an unmanned Mars lander. Furthermore, even if we land on Mars, how to build a Mars base is a big problem. Because the Martian environment is simply not enough to support the survival of creatures like humans.
So humans are still far from landing on Mars.
To be sure, there are still many things to do, many!
There is indeed water on Mars, and it is liquid water, which is under the two-level ice cover of Mars. However, it is somewhat imprecise to say that there is almost no atmosphere on Mars and the air is very, very thin. Of course, it is impossible without oxygen molecules, but can you say that such an environment means aerobic? We usually say that there is no oxygen on Mars, just like space is a vacuum environment, but it is not really a vacuum!
Moreover, even with water and oxygen, it is far from landing on Mars. For today's mankind, having water and oxygen is not the most important thing. Even if we land on Mars, it is impossible to use water on Mars, not to mention that there is very little oxygen on Mars!
To put it bluntly, human beings must prepare their own water and oxygen!
After more in-depth exploration of Mars, such as preparing to live on Mars for a long time, or even settling on Mars, the water and oxygen resources on Mars are particularly important, especially water! Because oxygen is relatively easy to produce, and water is a more precious resource!
Therefore, the existence of water on Mars is good news for human beings, but at present it does not have much influence and help for human beings to explore Mars, because human beings are far from reaching the technology of using water on Mars, and the existence of water is the driving force for human beings to explore Mars at most!