Is there a planet where humans can live? (except the earth)

Mars is one of human considerations, but it is too small.

Find a habitable planet to prepare for human migration. Why are countries competing to go to Mars?

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Photo: NASA director O'Keefe was ecstatic when he learned that Spirit had successfully landed. (AP photo)

At 8: 00 Mars time (12), that is, at 8: 42 US time 10/7: 42, and at 6: 42 Beijing time on the 5th, the ground controllers "woke up" the Mars probe "Courage" far away from Mars with the song "Good Morning" by the British rock band Beatles. The probe that landed successfully more than ten hours ago ushered in the first morning after arriving at the "Red Planet". Then Spirit made a second round of direct contact with the Earth, sending back more wonderful color photos and more scientific data. Due to the preciousness of photos and other reasons, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said that scientists need to study carefully before deciding which photos can be made public.

The successful landing of Spirit on Mars once again aroused the enthusiasm of mankind to explore this "red planet" hundreds of millions of kilometers away. Prior to this, Japan's "Hope" probe on1July 3, 1998 ended its mission ahead of schedule, and the whereabouts of the European "Beagle 2" lander were still unknown after landing on Mars. Man's exploration of Mars is struggling in such constant success and failure.

A difficult trip to Mars

2003 is the year of Mars "big rush" (when the sun, the earth and Mars are in a straight line, and the earth and Mars are on the same side of the sun, this is when Mars rushes to the sun; If the collision between Mars and the sun occurs at the perihelion of Mars orbit, it is called a "big collision"), and the world's space powers have used this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to launch Mars exploration activities. On June 2, 2003, the Mars Express of the European Space Agency began its Mars exploration in 2003 with the lander Beagle 2, followed by the Mars probes Spirit and Opportunity of the United States, and started their seven-month journey to Mars on June 10 and July 7, respectively.

Mars is the closest exoplanet to the earth, and its natural environment is also the closest to the earth in the solar system, so it is considered to be the most suitable planet for human migration. But in fact, the environment on Mars is very bad. Sandstorms on Mars, in particular, have no rules to follow. Sometimes there is no wind in a year, and sometimes it lasts for several months. Sandstorms can even reach a height of 8 kilometers, covering the sky. After the Mars-3 probe launched by the former Soviet Union 197 1 made a soft landing on Mars, the instruments on the lander only worked for 20 seconds because of a sandstorm. In addition, meteors are flying in space near Mars. American Mariner 4 recorded 83 micro-meteor collisions in two days, which changed the attitude of the probe and led to the failure of the mission. The cosmic radiation intensity on the surface of Mars is several hundred times that of the earth, which is a severe test for many instruments and equipment, and the trip to Mars is very difficult.

As early as 1960, human beings began to explore Mars. By the end of February 2003, more than 30 Mars probes had been launched, of which less than half were successful. Landing on Mars is even more difficult. There are only a handful of successful Mars landing probes.

The Mars-3 probe launched by the former Soviet Union on May 28th, 197 1 achieved the first soft landing of Mars. The United States launched two detectors in 1975, Viking- 1 and Viking-2. After the soft landing of Mars, they did two famous experiments in life science and found no signs of life. This has greatly reduced people's interest in exploring Mars. Coupled with the high cost of exploration, the Mars probe

The bank was put on hold. On April 7th, 200 1 year, the American Mars probe Odyssey was launched. This launch marks the restart of the US Mars exploration program.

Why do humans persist in exploring Mars?

After tens of thousands of years of human reproduction, today's earth is overwhelmed, and the expanding population and increasingly scarce resources force humans to explore other habitats. Finding a planet suitable for human habitation outside the earth is one of the possible solutions. As the American Space Frontier Foundation interviewed by the reporter said, in space, we can also explore whether there is life on other planets in the universe and see if there are any planets suitable for human habitation, so as to migrate people on earth to other planets. As the closest exoplanet to the Earth, Mars has naturally become the priority target of human exploration. Mars is different from the moon. The moon is a satellite and Mars is a planet. If the moon is the daughter of the earth, Mars should be the brother of the earth. Scientists believe that so far, among all the planets explored and studied, Mars is the most likely place for human migration, because there are many similarities between Mars and the Earth. Like the earth, Mars has atmospheric and seasonal changes. Some scientists believe that there are signs of water on the surface of Mars, which is an important factor leading to the origin of life. Although there is no oxygen on Mars, scientists envision using cutting-edge technology to transform the Martian environment to make it suitable for human habitation. Some optimistic experts believe that green Mars may take hundreds of years, after which humans can live with special breathing devices.

Exploring Mars will also help to deepen our understanding of the Earth and its ecological environment. By studying the evolution of Martian atmosphere and the disappearance of water, we can correctly understand and grasp the changing trend of the earth's environment, which is of practical and far-reaching significance for human beings to protect the earth's environment and survive forever in the universe. The mission of "Courage" and "Opportunity" to Mars this time is to detect whether there is life on Mars.

Mars exploration shows national strength

In today's highly developed science and technology, any major achievements can not be achieved without strong economic support. In the high-cost aerospace field, the competition between countries is actually the competition of economic strength. It is reported that in the implementation of the exploration plan of Spirit and its twin brother Opportunity, the funds invested by NASA and the strictness of evaluation and testing are more than before. The total cost of these two Mars probes is about $820 million.

Mars exploration, like manned space flight, fully demonstrates a country's comprehensive national strength. In more than 30 Mars exploration activities initiated by human beings, the United States accounts for about half, and only the former Soviet Union and Russia can compete with it. Although Russia has been trying to explore Mars recently, its pace has obviously slowed down. Russia last launched a Mars probe in 1996.

Compared with the United States and Russia, Europe and Japan are weak in Mars exploration. On October 5th, 65438/KLOC-0, the research team responsible for searching for the missing Mars probe "Beagle 2" told the world with regret that "Beagle 2" may bid farewell to mankind forever! The news is not surprising. In the past, the European space industry has been focusing on satellite manufacturing and commercial rocket launch to avoid competition between the United States and Russia in manned space flight and space exploration projects. In recent years, Europe has made some progress in the exploration of the moon and Mars, but there is a considerable gap between Europe and the United States and Russia in terms of technology and experience. At the same time, the "Hope" Mars probe launched by Japan failed to land on Mars, which also exposed the gap between Japan and the United States and Russia in technology.

Mars exploration has also promoted the improvement of economic and scientific and technological strength of various countries. Although most Mars exploration activities ended in failure, scientists have accumulated valuable experience in the aspects of probe launch, probe energy supply, probe landing mode and technology, and Mars environmental exploration, and developed cutting-edge technology, which has made preparations for the successful landing of mankind on Mars.

Of course, whether Mars exploration is successful or not, it can't stop mankind from going to the universe. At present, the United States, Russia and the European Union are actively preparing new Mars exploration plans. According to media reports here, the United States and Russia are discussing cooperation with the European Space Agency, hoping to advance the time of manned landing on Mars to 20 14-20 15.

Landing on Mars is different from landing on the moon. Because Mars is far away from the Earth, it takes 18 months to go back and forth to Mars only once. During this period, astronauts need food, water, air and facilities needed to live and work on Mars weigh hundreds of tons. Spacecraft returning to Earth from Mars orbit also need to be sent to orbit around Mars in advance, so many technical problems need to be solved. The trip to Mars is not only longer, but what is more worrying is that the psychological pressure of astronauts during the trip is much greater than that of short-term space travel. A Russian astronaut once said, "If two people are locked in the same cabin for two months, all the necessary conditions for murder can be met." Even after two months, imagine who can endure the suffering for a longer time-the whole trip to Mars may be as long as three years (round trip 18 months, staying on the surface of Mars 18 months). Although there are still many problems to be solved in landing on Mars, if the plan is implemented, it will be a new milestone in the history of human space.