The best -selling storyMars“By 2035, NASA is expected to have fallen from humans on Mars three times, and the perfection flight systems are installed and cooperated with the Chinese National Space Administration. We have now exceeded 10 years Hollywood release for 2015 And 10 years of shyness from the imaginary timeline. At this midfield, exploration of Mars seems a bit different from how it was photographed in “The Martian”, with more discoveries and more controversy.
your Planetary geology Who works with NASA’s missions to study Mars, I follow the science of exploration and politics closely. In 2010, and US national space policy Set targets for human missions to Mars in 2030s. But in 2017, Directing the White House space policy 1 NASA’s concentration turned towards Return first to the moon Under what will be Artemis program.
Although Concepts To get the specified missions to Mars have gained popularity, NASA’s actual plans Human landing on Mars is still fragile. It is worth noting that over the past ten years, the mechanical missions, not the crew, have pushed the discovery and human imagination forward.
Mechanical discoveries
Since 2015, the satellites and the Rover have reshaped scientists’ understanding of Mars. They have revealed endless visions on how to change its climate over time.
Like Earth’s neighbors, climatic transformations on Mars also reflect the operations of the solar system that affects the Earth at a time when life was falling for the first time. Thus, Mars became a pivotal point for investigating old questions “from” “”Where did we come from?And “and”Are we alone?“
The opportunity, curiosity, and perseverance Rovers pushed dozens of miles studying rock formations with layers that work as a record for Mars. By studying sedimentary layers – stacked rock formations such as layers of cake – planetary geologists collected a living story of environmental change that dwarfs what the Earth is currently witnessing.
Mars was one day a world of volcanoes, ice rivers, lakes and flowing rivers – an environment that is not different from the early earth. Then his heart cools, his magnetic field stumbled and the atmosphere wasted. The surface of the open planet has retained the signs of these operations since then in the form of landscape patterns, sedimentary sequences and metal mixtures.
Arabic Terra
One of the concentration of scientific investigation over the past ten years is in particular on the position of “Mars”, but it has failed to obtain a male in the story. To reach the best opportunity to survive, the protagonist, Mark Watteni, who is played by Matt Damon, must cross a wide and dusty area of Mars known as Mars known as the name Arabic Terra.
in 2022 and 2023I, along with colleagues at the Northern Arizona University and Jones Hopkins University, published detailed analyzes of layers there using pictures of Mars survey orbit and Mars Odessi Satellite.
Using infrared images and measuring the dimensions of the surface features, we have tied multi -layer deposits with the same configuration rings and learned more about the widely dominant nature of the terrain that was seen there today. Since the water tends to consolidate the rocks tightly together, this loose substance indicates that about 3.5 billion years ago, this region had a drying climate.
To make discussions on this field easier, we have worked even with International Astronomical Union For example, but not limited to the excavation whose name is not mentioned in the story. For example, one of the one who will move it is now named Cosova holeAfter a town in Ukraine.
More to explore
Despite rapid progress in Mars science, many unknown remains. Scientists are still not sure of fine ages, weather conditions and possible signatures of life associated with all different types of rocks that have been observed on the surface.
For example, recently persevered Rover It was dug and analyzed A unique group of rocks that host organic compounds-any carbon-based compounds. Organic compounds act as a building building for life, but a more detailed analysis is needed to determine whether these specific rocks host microbial life.
In development Mars sample Odeh Mission aims to address these basic outstanding questions by providing the first unchanging fragments ever in another world to Earth. Rover is already persevered Store soil and soil rocksIncluding those that host organic compounds, in sealed tubes. A future drop will need to capture and launch cache Return to Earth.
Once home, researchers can examine these materials with more sensitive tool orders than anything that can be transferred on a spacecraft. Scientists stand to learn more about the ability to housing, Geological History And the presence of any signs of life on Mars through a campaign to return the sample from sending humans to the surface.
This perspective is the reason that NASA, the European Space Agency and others have invested some of 30 billion US dollars in exploring Mars since the 1960s. The reward was amazing: This work has performed Rapid technology progress In robots, wireless contacts, and material science. For example, MARS MSSION technology led to the best Package for heart surgery and Cars that can drive themselves.
She also has Boost From NASA and the United States as a reason Modern exploration and technology; And his son Millions of inspiring It is students to pay attention to the scientific fields.
Call the red planet’s house?
Mars colonization He has an attractive call. It is difficult not to get rid of the invincible human spirit while watching storms, and I want the battle of dust, a lack of oxygen and the scarcity of food more than 140 million miles from the rescue.
A lot of momentum towards colonization of Mars is now linked to Spacex CEO Elon MuskAnd its declared mission to make humanity.Multiple types of lines“It has become a kind of crying. But while the colonization of Mars is romantic on paper, it is extremely difficult to implement, and many critics have Skept the feasibility From Mars is a residence as a shelter away from the ground.
Now, with NASA is likely to face approximately 50 % reduction For its scientific budget, the United States risks the perfectly of planetary science and automated processes, including the return of the sample.
However, President Donald Trump and Musk pushed To explore the human space to continue to advance in one way or another, despite those proposed cuts-freely freeze the science-based programs that have supported all Mars so far.
However, it is these programs that resulted in the richest visions of humanity on the red planet, and given each of the scientists and storytelling narrators such as Andy Wrier the basis to imagine what should be to stand on the surface of Mars at all.
Ari CobleThe post -PhD world in Earth and Planets, Dartman College
This article has been republished from Conversation Under the creative public license. Read The original article.
