There is a "cave world" under Mars. According to speculation, the base is located. How far is it to immigrate to Mars?

At the same time, NASA also launched a new generation of rover "Perseverance", and all three countries launched Mars probes in the same year, which made many media think that the space race in peacetime began. At the same time, some people have doubts about exploring Mars. After decades of exploration, the Martian environment is obviously not suitable for living, and no traces of life have been found so far. Why continue to explore Mars?

In fact, most people see more about the limitations of Mars, while scientists see more about the possibility of Mars, which is why humans have always insisted on exploring Mars. So what are the limitations that most people see? What possibilities do scientists see?

Is there really no liquid water on Mars?

When it comes to Mars, everyone's first impression is "alien desert", that is, the surface of Mars is presented to human beings. There are many rocks, dust, craters and hills on its surface, and no place is green or blue. After detection, there is no pure liquid water in the atmosphere and soil of Mars, which makes many people begin to define Mars: there is no liquid water on Mars at all, and this is a planet unsuitable for immigrants.

But in a broad sense, there is water on Mars, but it exists in a non-liquid form at present. First, there are some craters on the surface of Mars, where there may be mixed ice, because it is not easy to be exposed to sunlight and is often in a low temperature state. Followed by the polar regions of Mars, Mars probes have photographed a large area of ice and snow at the two poles of Mars, and the reason why there are ice and snow areas there is largely due to the lack of sunlight.

Through the special imaging images of the detector, scientists found that there may be at least three liquid lakes underground in the Arctic region of Mars. Moreover, these lakes have high mineral content and are suitable for the survival of some autotrophic microorganisms. The above findings show that Mars is not completely without water. Ordinary people see Mars without liquid water that can be directly used like the earth, while scientists see mixed ice or underground brine lakes that can be converted and used.

In addition to liquid water, these environmental problems are also very difficult.

The environmental problems of Mars are not only liquid water, but also other problems are very difficult. The first is the magnetic field of Mars. After research, Mars once had a magnetic field, and its magnetic field mainly came from the magnetized crust. But about 3.9 billion years ago, the magnetization of the Martian crust disappeared. As for the cause of this disappearance, there is no clear conclusion yet. So what does a magnetic field do?

On the earth, the magnetic field mainly plays the role of protection and guidance. The protection function is embodied in promoting the formation and maintaining the stability of the atmosphere, which can block a lot of cosmic radiation. Guiding function can provide direction guidance for natural creatures, and also provide guidance for human communication and positioning. Without the magnetic field, the atmosphere of Mars began to collapse, resulting in a large amount of cosmic radiation being applied to the surface of Mars, which made it difficult for any life to survive in this environment.

The second is the temperature difference of Mars, which is also caused by the absence of the atmosphere. An important role of the earth's atmosphere is to limit oxygen, nitrogen and other greenhouse gases within a range. Among them, greenhouse gases absorb the heat of sunlight during the day and return to the ground at night, thus playing the role of heat preservation and ensuring that the temperature difference between day and night in various regions will not be too great. But after detection, the temperature difference between day and night on Mars can reach 93 degrees Celsius.

During the day, the temperature on Mars may be suitable at 2 1 degree Celsius, but at night, the temperature will drop to MINUS 70 degrees Celsius, and this is not a problem that only occurs in high latitudes of Mars, but the temperature difference between day and night of Mars is extremely large. Obviously, no macro life on earth can survive in such an environment, which is one of the reasons why most people are not optimistic about Mars.

Third, there are fierce sandstorms on the surface of Mars. Sandstorms on the earth usually occur in local areas, such as deserts, deserts or areas near these deserts, and usually last less than one month. But the sandstorm on Mars is really terrible. It is not only global, but also will last for more than a month. This means that as long as there is a sandstorm on the surface of Mars, the whole world will soon be shrouded in sandstorms, and it will last for a month or even longer.

How to transform Mars?

The above are some major thorny issues in the natural environment of Mars at present. If human beings want to immigrate to Mars in the future, the premise is to solve the impact of these problems. In fact, as early as the end of last century, some scientists put forward the idea of "transforming Mars" and carried out targeted transformation according to various problems existing on Mars. On the issue of liquid water, scientists focus on the underground space and polar regions of Mars.

Musk, the founder of SPACE X, is an admirer of Mars immigrants. He once threatened to build the first Mars city in 2030. In order to solve the problem of liquid water on Mars, Musk proposed a shocking solution, that is, detonating a nuclear bomb in the polar regions of Mars, and using the energy generated by the nuclear bomb explosion to melt the polar ice and snow, thus artificially creating rivers and lakes. Some people think this idea is crazy and unrealistic, but others think it is a way.

In addition to solving the problem of liquid water, humans also need to solve the problem of magnetic field on Mars. Obviously, with the current and future development level of mankind, it is impossible for Mars to recover its magnetic field, so we should find a place similar to a shelter to avoid the negative impact of insufficient magnetic field. Some scientists propose to build a dome base to simulate the atmosphere. Solar panels can be placed on the dome, as well as plates that absorb cosmic radiation. The base also has the function of automatically adjusting the temperature.

This Mars base sounds really ideal, but if there is a global sandstorm, the power supply of the base is likely to be interrupted, or even the base may be uprooted, because the speed of sandstorms on Mars reaches more than 180 meters per second, while the artificially defined 12 typhoon is only 33 meters per second. Typhoon 12 is enough to blow away any non-buildings, and a sandstorm 6 times that of typhoon 12 is likely to directly destroy buildings.

On the other hand, Mars is still a planet that may be hit by small celestial bodies, which can be seen from the distribution of craters on its surface. If the asteroid really hits Mars, it is impossible for the artificial dome base to withstand the impact force caused by the impact. This shows that the ground building is not the most suitable choice, so some scientists have proposed to build a base underground on Mars.

In contrast, what are the advantages of underground lava pipes?

In 20 14, NASA's Mars orbiter mission found some sky-high "windows" around Mount Parmenis on Mars, which were dark. Later, after detection, there is a deep passage under the window, the depth may reach 1 15 meters, and the diameter is about 35 meters. Confirm that this passage is a naturally formed lava passage. The so-called lava channel means that the lava ejected by the volcano forms a circulating pipeline underground, and then the magma outside the lava cools and solidifies first, so that the molten slurry inside keeps flowing.

When the volcanic eruption stopped, the underground lava gradually disappeared, but the passage had been formed. There are also underground lava channels on the earth, and the formation principle is similar to that of Martian lava channels, but the diameter of lava channels on the earth is usually only one or two meters, while the diameter of lava channels on Mars can actually reach more than 30 meters. More importantly, the cave wall of the lava channel is made of basalt, which is very solid and reliable.

If the lava channel has been formed for tens of millions of years, or even longer, then its firmness has stood the test. Such a natural place is a suitable place for human beings to build immigration bases in the future. Therefore, after discovering the underground lava pipeline of Mars, some scientists suggested that the rover should enter the lava pipeline for in-depth exploration, which may become the underground space for human survival in the future.

Which creatures may be the first "pioneers" to transform the Martian environment?

The premise of transforming the Martian environment is to find a suitable and stable residence. At present, underground lava pipeline is a good choice. After the residence is determined, the reconstruction work must also rely on human beings and some natural creatures. Scientists believe that the cost of using mechanical devices to produce oxygen and change soil is relatively high. We can consider using terrestrial organisms to transform the Martian environment, such as algae plants in microorganisms and earthworms in mollusks.

The role of algae plants is to create an oxygen environment, and the role of earthworms is to dredge the soil structure and create an organic environment for Martian soil. These creatures can only survive in the bases built by humans at first, but after gaining a foothold in the bases, we can consider expanding their living space and letting them live in places without human protection. If these plans are finally successful, then human migration to Mars is just around the corner.