How difficult is it for humans to land on Mars?

As early as October 2015, NASA's scientific team discovered the existence of microorganisms on Mars. They concluded that there must be liquid water underground on Mars, and its composition is in the form of salt brine. Sure enough, Italian scientists who discovered underground water on Mars said that because the liquid water is under the extremely deep ice cap, its hydrological environment is extremely harsh and cold, and is not suitable for microorganisms to survive. Due to its high levels of magnesium, calcium and sodium, this water can remain liquid at temperatures well below the freezing point of pure water. Fred Watson, a researcher at the Australian Observatory, said: "The salt concentration that allows water to remain liquid below freezing point, or even minus 50 or 60 degrees Celsius, is fatal to any microorganism."

NASA has always been cautious about Mars exploration and kept a low profile, because they know very well that detecting Mars and landing on Mars are two completely different things. Even if the current high-thrust rocket is upgraded three times and uses thermonuclear With rockets and high-efficiency chemical engines, a one-way trip to Mars would take more than three months. Not to mention the difficulties on Earth, the key is how to transform the Martian environment so that it can accept human visitation and survival. Even if everything goes well, it will take at least a year after humans land on Mars to obtain the necessary fuel to return to Earth. It is also a problem for astronauts to survive on Mars without air, water and food. It is these countless difficulties that determine that landing humans on Mars will be a rather long process.

If you want to have a scientific and detailed understanding of Mars and the difficulty of landing on Mars, it is best to watch the science fiction blockbuster-"The Martian". This is a science fiction blockbuster with a strong sense of reality and a solid scientific foundation, which truly simulates the manned trip to Mars that NASA will implement. In other words, NASA was directly involved in the filming of this film as a consultant.

Many of the time when the entire story took place, as well as the technical means used to explore Mars, evolved based on NASA’s manned Mars landing plan. The film uses a large amount of high-tech equipment that is being developed by NASA or has been actually used in space exploration. It shows a lot of scientific knowledge about Mars and cutting-edge aerospace technology. It clearly lays out the many problems of landing on Mars. in front of you.

The number of astronauts and space flight time are important parameters in the design of manned spacecraft, which directly affect the technical performance and overall scale of manned deep space exploration missions. The distance between the moon and the earth is relatively close, and the number of crew members for a lunar landing spacecraft is generally designed to be 6. However, the distance between Mars and the earth is too far, and the material consumption of manned landing on Mars must be greater. In view of the limited carrying capacity of the rocket, the number of crew members is generally limited. For 4 people.

A rover or lander has to pass through the Martian atmosphere before it can "step" onto the surface of Mars. During this period, it needs to experience a thrilling, life-or-death scene. When the probe entered the Martian atmosphere from an altitude of 131 kilometers, its speed was as high as 21,000 kilometers per hour. In just 7 minutes, the speed of the probe must be reduced to zero to achieve a safe landing. This is also the key step with the most technical difficulty and the highest probability of failure among all Mars exploration missions. It is a veritable "black 7 minutes".

However, there are many difficulties in deep space exploration, and all difficulties are almost insignificant. For example, the design and manufacture of space suits required a scientific team of hundreds of people to rack their brains, and the development cost exceeded 3 in less than two years. billion dollars.

The nitrogen in our blood can not only cause decompression sickness, but also cause the human body to expand in a vacuum. If they do not wear pressurized sealed space suits, astronauts will be life-threatening due to the huge difference in air pressure between the inside and outside. In addition, the space suit can effectively deal with the impact of thin atmosphere, severe temperature differences, strong solar wind and cosmic rays, as well as extraterrestrial objects such as micrometeorites. In a word, a multi-functional sealed space suit is an important guarantee for astronauts to survive and work effectively in space. Extravehicular space suits for landing on the surface of the moon and Mars should also have facilities such as oxygen supply and temperature control to ensure astronauts' extravehicular activities and enable inspection of the surface of celestial bodies. However, although the more than 50 kilogram spacesuit uses a variety of high-tech materials, it is still stiff and bulky because of the criss-crossing pipes and the precious metals that have to be used. The astronauts must get help from ground crews to make it smooth. Put on and take off. In order to meet the needs of landing on Mars, NASA used the Martian environmental parameters obtained by the Mars probe to design a spacesuit that allows astronauts to detach from the back.

It is particularly worth mentioning that "The Martian" truly displays the Mars spacesuit newly developed by NASA for landing on Mars. It includes joints, gloves, helmets, oxygen systems, water circulation systems, Cooling systems, communication systems, electronic systems, etc. In order to prevent the dust from Mars from affecting the operation of the astronauts and the landing module, NASA designed this spacesuit that can be detached from the back. After the astronauts enter the landing module, the spacesuit will be left outside the cabin to avoid damaging the Mars. Dust is brought into the cabin, endangering the health of astronauts. This is a milestone advancement in human spacesuit design.

Traces of former rivers on Mars

Even so, when asked by the media when humans could immigrate to Mars, NASA Deputy Administrator John Grunsfield Still said: "The atmosphere of Mars is extremely thin, with almost zero oxygen content; the soil of Mars is dry and hardened, and contains no microorganisms. Even if a practical solution is found to bring the air and soil of Mars close to the Earth, it will take a century or two." If you have to ask me to answer when humans can immigrate to Mars, I can only say that it will take many, many years, and the premise is that our interest and investment in exploring Mars continue unabated.

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