What does life on Mars need?

With more and more understanding of Mars, many scientists, even NASA, have started the scientific exploration of moving to Mars. Among these "Mars lovers", the most enthusiastic is the famous "Mars Association" in the United States. The Mars Society, headquartered in Colorado, USA, is a non-profit scientific research institution with 5,000 paid members from 29 countries around the world, including top scientists from Lockheed Martin and NASA, as well as "lovers" of Mars exploration from all over the world. Their goal is only to realize the migration of human beings to Mars.

If you want to move to Mars, you must first understand a concept-(alien) environmental globalization, which means "changing the alien environment, such as the gas in the atmosphere, to make it close to the natural environment of the earth". For Mars, the most important thing is to make oxygen on Mars. For this goal, many scientists believe that it will take 20,000 to 65,438+10,000 years, so it is out of reach. But Robert Zuberlin, the founder and scientist of the Mars Society, believes that this process will take about 1000 years to complete. Step one:

Reach the critical point of "environmental globalization"

The first step to complete the concrete plan of self-sufficient settlement and immigration to Mars is to make Mars reach the critical point of "environmental globalization"-warming this cold planet. At present, the temperature near the equator of Mars can sometimes reach above 0℃. In order to completely melt the frozen material of Mars, it is necessary to make the outer atmosphere of Mars reach at least 40℃. Unlike the earth's efforts to curb the greenhouse effect, Zuberlin said that humans will create a "huge greenhouse effect" on Mars. In Zuberlin's plan, the time to complete this step is about 2 150 years. Zuberlin put forward three plans to make Mars warm, and the third plan was approved by many scientists.

The first plan: space mirror

Zuberlin's first plan to heat Mars is a large mirror, whose diameter will exceed 120km and its orbit on the surface of Mars will exceed 2 1km. This kind of mirror will reflect sunlight to the designated area of Mars to release the atmosphere and water below the frozen surface.

However, this space mirror is too big, and it is impossible to build such a space mirror at the current scientific level of mankind.

Option 2: Asteroid Impact

Many asteroids in space are made of frozen ammonia, which is an important greenhouse gas. Zuberlin's plan is to let an asteroid with a diameter of about 2.5 kilometers hit Mars. The huge energy generated by the impact will melt 1 trillion tons of ice on Mars into water, and the ammonia gas released after the asteroid impact can also greatly heat Mars. He estimated that 40 such impacts would make Mars habitable. However, it is also very difficult to realize this plan scientifically.

The third scheme: making greenhouse gases.

Zuberlin's third plan is to artificially produce greenhouse gases on Mars, which is considered to be the most feasible plan. Like many scientists, Zuberlin thinks that carbon tetrafluoride is the most effective greenhouse gas, and he plans to build several chemical plants on Mars to continuously produce carbon tetrafluoride. According to calculation, if 1000 tons of this gas is discharged every hour, the average temperature of Mars will rise by 27.8℃ within 30 years. This process is expected to consume 5,000 MW, and five nuclear power plants can meet these energy needs.

Step two:

Release the atmosphere in Martian soil

Today, there is only a thin atmosphere on Mars, but 3 billion years ago, the surface of Mars was surrounded by a thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide. As Mars gets cold, most carbon dioxide is absorbed by soil and frozen by ice. When man completes the first step of transforming Mars, the warm climate will release these carbon dioxide. Zuberlin said, "The carbon dioxide released by the soil can raise the temperature of Mars by another 5.6℃ within 20 years. At this time, some ice began to melt into water, and water began to evaporate, forming weather phenomena such as rain and snow. " According to his calculation, by 2200, there will be 0. 1 atmosphere carbon dioxide on the surface of Mars.

Step 3:

plant

With the continuous release of carbon dioxide in the soil, by 2250, the atmospheric content on Mars will reach 0.2 1 atm, equivalent to one-fifth of the earth, and most of it will be carbon dioxide. At this time, Martian residents can go outdoors without wearing spacesuits, and of course they need oxygen bags; Ordinary planes can take off and land on Mars; People will also build a closed city with a dome.

Once the temperature near the equator of Mars remains above 0℃ for many years, there will be a stable supply of liquid water on Mars. By 2250, plants can grow on Mars, but Zuberlin said, "The first thing to consider is fungi and mosses that can promote photosynthesis."

Step 4:

Get oxygen

The growth of plants means the production of oxygen, and photosynthesis gradually turns carbon dioxide into oxygen.

In order to speed up the production of oxygen, Martian residents will plant various plants on a large scale and treat all kinds of garbage carefully, because garbage corruption will produce a lot of carbon dioxide. In addition, genetic engineering will also be of great help. Zuberlin predicts that scientists will cultivate "super plants" that can release more oxygen.

Step five:

Wait 1000 years.

The previous plan seemed to go well. In another 50 years, the atmosphere can be created, and in another 50 years, you can walk on Mars. But then it is a long process, because it will take about 65,438+0,000 years for Martian plants to release enough oxygen for human beings to breathe freely. In 1000 years, Martian residents will keep sowing and harvesting, and strive to "produce" more oxygen.