Exploration of Mars: what astrobiologists plan to find on the Red Planet

Exploration of Mars: what astrobiologists plan to find on the Red Planet

For the first time, the American rover Perseverance managed to obtain oxygen from carbon dioxide, which is rich in the atmosphere of the Red Planet. A six-wheeled robot rover converted it with a tool called MOXIE. Whether the planet is fit for life, MIR 24 correspondent Vladimir Seroukhov found out.

The endless resource for oxygen production is carbon dioxide. It is 96% in the atmosphere of Mars. And it turns out that it is vitally necessary for the aliens-earthlings. The Perseverance rover was able to receive the first batch of gas. True, according to NASA, it came out “very modest” – five grams. It is enough for a person to breathe for 10 minutes.

“This technology is needed in order if we want to fly to Mars, do we want to come back as well? Therefore, it is assumed that devices will be sent there in advance, which will produce oxygen for 17 months. Then a group of people is sent on an expedition to Mars, which will be able to refuel the rocket with ready-made oxygen in order to fly home. Accordingly, there will be a large number of electrolysers that will receive oxygen, ”explained Aleksandr Ivanov, junior researcher at the UrFU FTI, popularizer of science. Recently, there was another debut on Mars: for the first time on another planet, an aircraft from Earth took off into the air. The Ingenuity helicopter weighing a little less than two kilograms reached a height of three meters, and then landed. It took 40 seconds, three times longer than the Wright brothers' first flight.

Exploration of Mars: what astrobiologists plan to find on the Red Planet

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  FOLLOWING

  “Our team has been working for six years to make this dream come true. It looks easy. I would like to remind you how difficult it is to fly a helicopter on Mars. After all, there is a very delicate atmosphere, right? The air is very thin and the structure must be light and small, ”said Mimi Aung, Project Manager for Mars Helicopter Ingenuity.

  For a long time, Mars was absolutely inaccessible to humans. The first artificial satellite was launched there by the Americans in 1971. The Soviet spacecraft Mars-3 reached the surface in the same year. But the first man will not go to Mars soon. The issue of protection from radiation both on the planet and in flight has not yet been resolved. The supplies that the expedition will take with them will sooner or later run out. And besides oxygen, you will need, of course, water.

  “It's cold there, so the water doesn't flow there, but lies in the form of ice, in the form of permafrost. It takes a little effort to melt the ice, we also know how to filter. So water is not a big problem on Mars. Although the planet is arid, it is more likely a drought due to frost rather than lack of water, ”said Vladimir Surdin, associate professor of Moscow State University, astronomer.

  There are now eight artificial satellites in Mars orbit. In addition to applied tasks for possible future colonization, scientists have a global goal – to find traces of the existence of life. Astrobiologists believe that it originated there much earlier than the earth. It is possible that microorganisms from Mars could have been our ancestors.