From the very beginning of his existence, a reasonable person gravitated towards understanding the world around him and its secrets. Moreover, he wanted to gain knowledge not only about those things with which he usually dealt and not only about the places where his life passed. He wanted to know much more.
Probably from the very moment when a person first raised his head to the sky, his interest in what exists outside the sphere of his immediate activity began. After all, turning his gaze upward, he saw a huge yellow sun, and the moon, and myriads of stars spread across the endless expanses of the sky, among which was a very unusual star with a bright orange, even fiery glow - the planet Mars.
Over time, people began to be interested in things on a universal scale. Do extraterrestrial intelligence, alien civilizations, other races of intelligent living beings exist? And today one of the most important and pressing questions has become: Why there? In this short article we will give a brief overview of the information available in this regard.
The inhabitants of Ancient Egypt and Babylon called it the Red Star. Pythagoras suggested giving it the name Piraeus, which meant “fiery.” The ancient Greeks called her Ares (Ares is the ancient Greek god of war). And since in Roman mythology the god of war was Mars, the planet eventually began to be called that. Although in Rus' until the 18th century, Greek names for planets were in use, and therefore Mars was called Ares or Arris.
To date, many space missions have been carried out (successful and not), which has made it possible to learn a lot about it. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun (after Earth) and our closest cosmic neighbor (along with Venus). Distance from the Sun - 228 million km. And from the Earth - 55.76 million km (when the position of the Earth is exactly between Mars and the Sun) and 401 million km (when the position of the Sun is exactly between Mars and the Earth). Its diameter is 6670 km, which is almost two times smaller
The atmosphere consists of 75% carbon dioxide, and the remaining 25% is carbon dioxide mixed with This makes life on Mars, to put it mildly, unlikely. But climatic conditions theoretically allow for the possibility of water existing on the surface in a liquid state. And water, as you know, is the source of life. Atmospheric pressure on the planet is 160 times lower than on Earth. The air temperature during the day is about +15 °C, and at night it drops to -80 °C (at the poles to -143 °C). The planet's surface is cold, deserted and dry. And sandstorms black out the sky for weeks and months.
Be that as it may, Mars is the only planet of all that is most similar to Earth and most suitable for life. More and more new photographs of the Martian surface indicate that there were times on Mars when water played a significant role - formations were discovered that resemble river beds and places where there could be lakes and even seas.
Some scientists hypothesize that there was life on Mars, but then a severe environmental disaster occurred (the fall of giant meteorites) or even a war that destroyed all life on the planet. Theoretically, huge craters extending far into its depths can serve as evidence of this.
Nowadays, Martian meteorites found in various parts of the Earth are subject to serious research. The first information about them dates back to 1984. And in 1996, a report was published about traces of the activity of biological organisms found on one of the meteorites. Methane was also found - a gas that cannot exist on its own in the atmosphere for a long time, which means it is being released by something. Its source, of course, could be the volcanoes of Mars, but it could also be bacteria.
Official data also states that many mysterious discoveries have been made on the red planet. For example, the face of the Martian Sphinx, facing the sky, as well as various holes of the correct shape and formations, which could be pyramids.
In addition, evidence that American authorities have data confirming that life has been found on Mars can be found in the fact that many photographs taken during Martian expeditions were carefully hidden or even destroyed by order “from above.” And in conversations with representatives of the authorities and various government agencies, there is obvious insincerity and a desire to hide something.
But the greatest excitement now is not even around this, but around the expedition to Mars. The Mars One company plans to send people to Mars in order to prepare the ground for the future colonization of the new planet. The news is amazing, but the fact that it will be a one-way flight is not encouraging. Modern technologies make it possible to create a device on which people can get to Mars and land on its surface. But they do not allow launching from the planet to return back to Earth. There is an official statement that the Mars One company has already found sponsors and received the first money for the project.
There are few specific details about the irrevocable expedition yet. But it is known that 4 people will take part in it, and the selection of volunteers has already begun (despite the fact that the mission is irrevocable, there is an unimaginable number of them and new ones continue to appear). The start of the expedition is scheduled for 2023. If this happens, then people will land on the red planet in 2027. They will spend their entire future lives in a Martian settlement, built in advance for them by robots sent earlier.
In July 2015, it is already planned to complete the selection of applicants for the flight. There will be 24 of them. For the next 7 years, teams of 4 people will prepare for the mission.
At the same time, NASA plans to send the first interplanetary expedition even further than Mars - to the asteroid belt. There is virtually no information about this expedition at all. But it is known that the flight will last longer than the flight to Mars (more than four years). And the members of the expedition will be able to return to Earth.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that no one can now give an exact answer to the question of whether there is life on Mars. There are constant disputes. More and more new data is appearing. New theories and hypotheses are brought forward. But one thing is certain: Mars is a planet on which life is possible. Let's hope that further research into this question in the relatively near future will be able to give us a reliable answer. Who knows, perhaps our closest cosmic neighbors are Martians?!
In addition to protection from radiation, life also requires liquid water. Eigenbroad points to some encouraging signs that this vital molecule is indeed present on Mars, such as the formations in Gale Crater. Scientists have identified mudstones and sedimentary bands that only form when there is water that has been present for millennia.
Another good sign is that Curiosity found indications that water may be breaking through to the surface and freezing. Perhaps organisms also reach the surface along with this water. As for life on the surface, this is unlikely due to strong radiation.
And although Curiosity found carbon molecules, this does not mean that life exists or existed in the past. Such molecules can come from three sources. One is interplanetary and interstellar dust, which is rich in such molecules. The second is chemical reactions underground. The last one is actual living beings.
The search for Martian life could provide a number of benefits, Eigenbroad says. In addition to the scientific value of detecting alien organisms, scientists want to identify living creatures on Mars because they could be dangerous to humans. But we are.
And with this a question arises.
Is Elon Musk going to give up on life on Mars?
Last week in Guadalajara, the billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of SpaceX detailed his dream: to ensure that the light of consciousness does not go out. Namely: a daring plan to bring humanity to Mars and turn it into a multiplanetary species. Read more about what will happen according to Musk's plan.
One of the most important questions at the conference was asked by someone named Aldo. Will a lack of liquid water on Mars turn a colony into a “dusty, waterless camp”? How will SpaceX maintain the “sanitary standards” of the colonists on such a dead, dried-out world? Will human waste become a big problem? Musk matter-of-factly replied that since there is a lot of water on Mars, the real problem will be producing enough energy to melt it all.
Obviously, Musk is missing the point we raised above: if there is life on Mars - even if alien microbes simply take up residence on Mars - any biological pollution we import from Earth could cause an environmental and scientific disaster. We may well be the only spark of life in the solar system with technology and conscious experience, but inside each of us sits a kilo of bacteria. Without careful countermeasures, any leaky spacesuit, broken greenhouse, or sewer could release the hardiest members of our microbiome to spread out and colonize much of Mars faster than we do. Such an outbreak of persistent microbes could easily destroy any fragile local biosphere, and with it our hopes of discovering and exploring alien life. So, should our civilization sacrifice the possibility of finding alien life to satisfy its ambitions? Will colonizing Mars cost ecocide on a planetary scale?
Of course, this problem is not new - space agencies have been involved in "planetary defense" for many years, particularly developing missions to Mars and other destinations. NASA even has a full-time position as a planetary defense officer, currently occupied by Katarina Conley, who is responsible for maintaining planetary defense protocols. These protocols, in turn, stem from the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits “harmful pollution” of other planets. But the current rules apply only to lifeless machines that can be heated in an oven, washed with antimicrobial substances and irradiated with radiation harmful to bacteria.
The most stringent sterilization procedures are reserved for spacecraft visiting “special regions” of Mars, where satellite observations have confirmed the presence of liquid water and other possible indicators of habitability. A Mars rover or lander that heads to the "special region" will carry with it 300,000 hitchhiking bacteria, less than would be found in a square millimeter of colony in a petri dish. Special regions will also be prime places of interest for future settlers of Mars. But landing even one person in such a place - let alone millions of them - would completely break the paradigm of planetary defense.
At the moment there are no solutions to this problem. Unless you can simply ignore or rewrite the rules. Musk, in turn, does not see problems in planetary protection. But in 2015, he stated that he believes that Mars is completely sterile, and any microbes can only live deep in the bowels of the planet. 
Unlike Musk, ardent supporters of planetary protection recommend not rushing headlong to Mars, but first going to the planet’s small satellites - Phobos and Deimos.
“If we leave our dirty meatbags in space and telecontrol sterile robots on the surface, we can avoid irreversibly polluting Mars and confusing the question of whether we are alone in the solar system,” writes Emily Lucdowella, a well-known blogger. “Perhaps robots will be sufficient to take samples of Martian water or detect Martian life.”
But not all scientists adhere to such restrictive approaches. Many argue that "special regions" aside, Mars is too inhospitable to life and will not allow microbes from Earth to spread widely. This is despite the fact that laboratory tests have shown that some bacteria found in humans can thrive in Martian conditions. Some believe that there is no point in worrying about planetary protection, since the Earth's biosphere has been consistently polluting Mars for a long time, starting with the first spacecraft and ancient rock fragments that went on interplanetary travel after giant asteroid impacts. But Steve Squires, a planetary scientist at Cornell University, believes that if life exists on Mars, we won't find it until we go there in the flesh. He argues that it would take a person a minute to do everything that Spirit and Opportunity did in a year.
All this debate remains strictly in academic circles, as NASA and other space agencies have periodically considered - and subsequently abandoned - sending people to Mars. Now NASA plans to officially send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s and build its own giant rocket with a crew capsule (SLS and Orion). True, experts doubt that NASA's politics and limited budget will allow the agency to implement its plans so soon.
Musk, by contrast, argues that SpaceX can develop key technology needed to implement the plan for $10 billion and send people to Mars as early as the mid-2020s. Obviously, no one will have time to solve the issues of planetary protection in these ten years. The question arises.
Will Musk go against the scientific community and spit on Martian life? After all, when we find ourselves on Mars, all these disputes will become meaningless.
Mars is the fourth planet in the solar system, counting by distance from the star, and probably the most popular among us earthlings. This is where the legendary “Martians” come from. Those who are now commonly called “alien civilizations”, or, simply, “aliens”. Hence, science fiction writers expected the appearance of the most evil conquerors from other worlds. However, most likely in vain. Because there is no life on Mars. And it cannot be. At least for now. But why is there no life on Mars ?
The main reason is the lack of water on the planet. Atmospheric pressure on Mars, 160 times less than on Earth, does not allow the presence of free water. Water is present in the atmosphere in the form of steam, its content is approximately 5000 times lower than in the earth's atmosphere, which practically excludes the existence of life.
The content of oxygen necessary for breathing in the atmosphere of Mars is so insignificant (about 0.13%) that it is not able to ensure the functioning of living organisms. In addition, oxygen is a shield that protects the planet from life-killing solar radiation (the ozone layer). There is too little oxygen on Mars, so the surface of the planet is constantly subjected to deadly bombardment by the radiation of our blessed star. For the Earth, the Sun is life. For Mars - death.
The thinness of the Martian atmosphere also explains the huge temperature differences on the planet's surface. During the day, the temperature of Martian air fluctuates from +50 to – 80 degrees C (at the poles – up to -170). The very origin of life in such conditions is impossible.
So, there is no life on Mars, which is confirmed by the data of the American Viking and Phoenix programs, long-term observations of terrestrial observatories, and experiments of research centers that placed the most unpretentious terrestrial organisms in reproduced Martian conditions.
But now let's look at the problem from a different point of view. All the arguments that scientists give to prove the absence of life on Mars relate only to the possibility of its occurrence. Yes, life cannot arise in such an atmosphere on Mars. However, it is believed that the Martian atmosphere was different before. It is believed that it was more dense, there was more oxygen in it, many scientists believe that there was free water on Mars. If the conditions necessary for the emergence of life on Mars existed, then it could well have arisen.
Therefore, the question - why there is no life on Mars - seems to be resolved. But in space everything may be completely different from on Earth. Even our “native” bacteria can exist in permafrost or in the boiling water of ocean trenches near underwater volcanoes. So what can we say about the alien organisms that have passed through the crucible of cosmic catastrophes? In addition, many scientists believe that it is possible for life to exist not based on carbon, like us, but on silicon.
Therefore, it is perhaps premature to discount the possibility of a Martian invasion simply because they do not exist.
Photographs taken on Mars by the self-propelled robot "Spirit", in combination with numerous photographs of the surface of the Red Planet, allow us to conclude that complex forms of life developed in the solar system not only on Earth. The redness of Mars is not accidental. It arose due to the oxidation and hydration of deep-seated ferruginous rocks - basalts and andesites. At the same time, like rust on nails, red-brown iron hydroxide - the mineral limonite - appears. In geology, this process is called red weathering.
On Earth, red flowers arise in a hot equatorial climate with an abundance of water and oxygen in the atmosphere. If all the forests on Earth are cut down, the wind will scatter iron oxides across the deserts, and our planet will also become red like Mars. The red color in Space is unusual because it is the color of life, the color of blood, the color of ferric iron. In order for black basalts with divalent iron to become covered with a red crust of ferric hydroxide, water and free atmospheric oxygen are required, in other words, photosynthesis is needed, life is necessary.
I estimate that it would take 4,000 trillion tons of free oxygen to rust the surface of Mars to a depth of one kilometer. For comparison, I note that the Earth’s atmosphere contains “only” 1200 trillion tons of oxygen, although the Earth is 9 times more massive than Mars.
It is possible that oxidation processes on Mars extended to a much greater depth in its lithosphere. This conclusion can be made since the thickness of the red sands that make up the cliffs of the grandiose Mariner Gorge exceeds 10 km. This means that a dense oxygen atmosphere created by life has existed on Mars for billions of years. Obviously, this time was quite enough for the evolution of bacteria and the emergence of complex organisms.
Perhaps evolution went faster on Mars. After all, life on Earth remained for a long time at an extremely primitive level, and over 2.5 billion years it “grew up” only to jellyfish and worms. Only in the Paleozoic, 570 million years ago, did the formation of complex organisms begin.
According to geological concepts, the Earth became a planet of primitive mammals quite recently, only 65 million years ago. Then a global environmental disaster occurred, associated with the fall of two large asteroids with a diameter of about 8 km, one in the Gulf of Mexico, the other on the coast of the Kara Sea. Part of the Earth's atmosphere was torn off during the explosions and carried into space with streams of hot plasma. The climate became noticeably colder, and the bones of the planet's owners, dinosaurs, witnesses of that time, remained in Mesozoic sediments.
Remains of cities?
The modern atmosphere of Mars is very rare, corresponding to the Earth's stratosphere at an altitude of more than 30 km. However, hurricanes rage here, raising dense clouds of red sand and piling up giant dunes up to a kilometer high in depressions (frozen oceans). The atmosphere contains 95% CO2, 5% nitrogen and argon, and 0.1% O2. This oxygen is either residual from a past life, or it is evidence of lichens and algae that survived in the warm microclimate at the bottom of the Gorge Marineris. But the oxygen content is negligible; Mars could not rust from such an atmosphere. Why did the dense oxygen atmosphere disappear there?
A real sensation in its time was the discovery of a well-developed Martian system of river valleys, which the Americans stubbornly called “canals.” These were real dry river beds with clearly defined terraces, flowing into depressions (oceans). They were not covered with sand and are perfectly preserved. This means that until recently, on a cosmic scale, Mars was warm and rivers flowed. Why did they dry out, why did the oceans freeze to the bottom, and why did permafrost many kilometers deep appear on Mars?
It is clear that quite recently a global catastrophe occurred on the Red Planet, destroying the warm climate, forests, rivers, numerous animals and, as the Spirit photographs show... anthropoids, very similar to the people of Earth. I think that the cause of the disaster was the collapse of the now defunct third satellite of Mars in Martian orbit. The Red Planet now has two abnormally close satellites. These are typical asteroids, the closest one - Phobos flies at a distance of only 5920 km from the surface of Mars, its length is 25, width is 21 km. It is close to the “Roche limit” - the distance at which the satellite is torn apart by internal tidal forces and, in the presence of an atmosphere, falls onto the planet.
Apparently, the third satellite, which should be called Thanatos (Death), passed the Roche limit quite recently. The fall of the giant's debris, weighing hundreds of trillions of tons, completely destroyed all life and the atmosphere, thrown into space with streams of plasma. The falling debris left hundreds of huge fresh craters with a diameter of tens and hundreds of kilometers, and limonite was calcined to 800 0C and turned into the mineral maghemite, magnetic red iron oxide - gamma-Fe2O3.
Maghemite was found in large quantities in the limonite sands of Mars, this is clear evidence of the powerful calcination of the red weathering crust. We also found maghemite in Yakutia, where it arose during the calcination of ferruginous weathering crusts of basalts during the explosion of the huge Popigai asteroid 35 million years ago.
Scull?
The hypothesis about the recent death of life on Mars, expressed by me back in 1992, was actually confirmed by the sensational discoveries of the self-propelled robot “Spirit” in the Gusev crater. Amazing objects were discovered here, practically indistinguishable from... ordinary human skulls - with eye sockets and a hole where the nose should have been. Three skulls have already been photographed. The skulls are externally white, shiny, and have nothing in common with rock fragments. Gray stones very similar to human busts were also found here. These may be the heads of people with a small mouth and a large nose, like the Mayans. And an absolutely amazing find - a figurine of a seated woman about half a meter high, with a gracefully outstretched hand.
Of course, this is not a “game of nature.” I myself am a field geologist, I spent my whole life in mountains and deserts, but I have never seen “stones” of this shape. It appears as if the rover is crawling through an ancient cemetery where statues stood and skulls emerged from the soil due to wind erosion. To distinguish skulls from stones, it is enough to do a simple chemical analysis of these objects for phosphorus and calcium: there is a lot of them in bones, but little in rocks.
The rover also photographed a mysterious object that bears a striking resemblance to the skull of a large bird such as an ostrich or lizard. The eye sockets, large beak or long jaws are clearly visible. If a geologist encounters such “miracles” on Earth, he has no doubt that he is dealing with the fossil remains of ancient people or animals. Why should an exception be made for Mars?
Images from space also revealed rectangular objects, very similar to the sand-filled foundations of destroyed buildings. Another amazing discovery is the image of a flat triangular UFO about 100 m in size that crashed onto Mars. This object was missing from the 1965 photo and appeared in the 1976 photo. The UFO is split in half and lies 15 miles from the Viking 1 landing site in 1976. The photo clearly shows the grooves dug in the sand when the UFO fell...
One cannot ignore NASA photographs in which several types of UFOs are clearly visible in the sky of Mars. We must not forget that some of the Soviet and American probes mysteriously disappeared in preparation for a soft landing on Mars, and in space pilot centers the impression arose that the spacecraft were... captured by a UFO: in the last photographs transmitted to Earth, some - a huge object approaching them.
These facts taken together are too serious to ignore. They indicate that, in addition to forests, various animals and anthropoids lived on Mars. It is still unknown which of us was more developed - earthlings or the disappeared Martians. It is possible that we are brothers, genetic descendants of Martians, whose technical development allowed them to escape from the doomed ecosystem of Mars several tens of thousands of years ago. Perhaps there was an intervention by a highly developed civilization - aliens with UFOs.
I repeat that the catastrophe on Mars happened recently - only a few tens of thousands of years ago. This is evidenced by the excellent preservation of relief forms - river valleys and meteorite craters, as well as bone remains, despite powerful dust storms.
Fantastic?.. Almost fantastic. We must not forget that Cro-Magnons, people of the modern type, appeared on Earth 40 thousand years ago mysteriously, without transitional forms, replacing the beast-like Neanderthal. Maybe advanced settlers from Mars changed the genes of Neanderthals?.. Maybe the collapse of Thanatos and the asteroid attack of its debris, which destroyed life on Mars, were timed precisely at this time? We have to admit that modern scientific discoveries are increasingly, despite their reality, of a fantastic nature.
Alexander Portnov,
Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences,
Professor
http://www.promved.ru
Claimastronauts And dreamers,
What on Mars will apple trees blossom..
Song of Soviet times by V. Muradeli - V. Dolmatovsky
Interest in Mars as a planet close to Earth has always been high among all generations of people. Scientists have been unraveling the mysteries of the planet for hundreds of years, but their number is only growing and sometimes surpasses the size of Mars itself. After all, few people remember that the Red Planet is 2 times smaller in size than the Earth, and its mass is only 1/10 of the Earth’s mass. And it is called Red because of the presence of a large amount of iron oxide in its soil. The planet's dust gives it a pink tint.
Basic information about Mars
Physical characteristics of the planet Mars
Mars - fourth by distance from the Sun and the seventh largest planet in the solar system.
The planet rotates around its axis in 24 hours 37 minutes 22.7 seconds, and completes a full revolution around the star in 668.6 Martian solar days, called solami, which is 687 Earth days.
The change of seasons and time of day on Mars is almost similar to those on Earth.
Atmospheric pressure according to NASA at the average radius is 636 Pa (6.36 mbar). The density of the atmosphere at the surface is about 0.020 kg/m³, the total mass of the atmosphere of Mars is about 2.5 × 10 16 kg.
The gravity of the planet is much less than that of Earth; a person, even jumping slightly, can rise 3 times higher than on Earth.
And on July 26, 2018, it was reported that quite significant reserves of water in the form of ice were found under the surface of the Moon by Italian scientists using the Marsis radar in the form of an underground lake with a diameter of about 20 kilometers at a depth of about 1.5 kilometers under the ice layer.
Traces of water have been found in the lunar atmosphere at the south pole.
Liquid water has been found on Mars. The long-awaited discovery was made by Italian scientists
And more recently, American scientists discovered streams visible on the surface of Mars; dark stripes up to 5 meters wide are visible in the images, which appear only during the Martian summer. Most likely, these traces are left by water of very high salinity, which thaws at the equator of Mars. The previous hypothesis about some hidden source of water located at great depths inside Mars is still just a hypothesis.
Mars has the highest mountains in the solar system, so Olympus- not only the highest peak of Mars, but also the entire solar system, reaching about 27 kilometers.
By analogy with mountains, the planet is also famous for its gorges. The deepest gorge in the Marineris Valley is a 7-kilometer gorge with a length of about 4,000 km.
The thin atmosphere of Mars consists of only 0.1% oxygen, 95% carbon dioxide, nitrogen 2.7% and argon 1.6%.
Is there life on Mars
The famous question of the famous comedy “Is there life on Mars, is there life on Mars...” is still open. However, everything that is known to science today allows us to conclude that perhaps there was life once, perhaps there is now, but only at the initial stage of development, at the level of single-celled or simple organisms. But this is life!
Sharp fluctuations in night and day temperatures from - 80 ºC (at the poles -143 ºC) at night until +30 ºC at noon on the equator of Mars, strong hot winds, high rarefaction of the atmosphere - all this suggests the impossibility of survival of living organisms (similar to those on Earth) on the planet. However, one should not deny the fact-assumption that there may be other forms of life that can do without oxygen, water and live at low temperatures.
But the presence on the planet of a huge amount of that same iron oxide gives us the right to assume that previously there was no less oxygen on Mars than on Earth, and the vegetation there was simply raging. Which once again confirms the former population of Mars.
The surface of the planet, dotted with canyons and dry riverbeds, testifies to the existence of once huge reserves of water. Now these channels are covered with ice and covered with red sand.
The planet is experiencing a period of great glaciation similar to the last terrestrial glaciation, which ended here 12-15 thousand years ago and is still ongoing on Mars. According to photographs taken from Mars and further computer modeling of images performed by Russian scientists, traces of a large Martian city are visible on the surface of the planet. However, it is not possible to prove that these are actually buildings made by intelligent beings.
There are opinions, not scientifically confirmed and having the status of a hypothesis, that the Martians moved from their planet to the one closest to them and which had conditions close to those of Mars, that is, to Earth and gave impetus to the development of earthlings. And this happened only some 12-15 thousand years ago. What could destroy Martian life? After all, as a rule, glaciation itself only changes the forms of life, but is not the reason for its complete disappearance. Perhaps life on the planet was destroyed by the impacts of giant asteroids that hit Mars.
Another version: life on Mars was destroyed by an invasion. Be that as it may, it has not yet been possible to prove the existence, at least in the past, of intelligent life on Mars. I repeat, this opinion is just someone’s fantasy.
Scientific exploration of Mars
Today, Mars is the most studied planet in the solar system and space in general, thanks to the large number of satellites and self-propelled vehicles launched from Earth, which are still roaming the expanses of the Red Planet. Our country is involved in research and has launched a whole series of satellites to Mars, including Phobos-1 and Phobos-2; the experiments, unfortunately, were unsuccessful.
On March 14, 2016, the Proton-M rocket with the interplanetary module of the Russian-European mission ExoMars-2016 was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The ship is heading to Mars to look for traces of life on the Red Planet. Around October 2016, the system will reach the planet and split up - one module will remain in orbit of the planet, the second will begin its descent to its surface. According to experts, the braking on the atmosphere of Mars alone will take about a year. Scientific data will arrive on the ground in early 2017.
Another launch to Mars is planned for 2018 with a Russian landing platform and a European rover. We will monitor the research results.
The future of Mars
Alas, despite all the planned research, which is important in general as a scientific understanding of space, human dreams of traveling to the Red Planet, as well as dreams of the possibilities of planting gardens there, are not destined to come true.
Mars is predicted to die soon from its satellite Phobos, whose orbit is gradually decreasing and this fact will lead to its fall onto the surface of Mars. But you and I are not destined to be witnesses of this event, as may be the case for all of humanity, because the process will happen far away, not tomorrow, but after 7-10 million years.
In the meantime, we will continue to peer into the starry sky, looking for this mysterious Red Planet Mars with our eyes. And make every possible attempt to understand and comprehend the deep processes that have occurred and continue on the amazingly mysterious planet Mars, so distant and close to us.
P.S. And this is what the media reported on Today, October 20, 1916: “The device landed on the planet, but it is not yet possible to diagnose its condition.” The European Space Agency (ESA) later wrote on Twitter that a signal was being received from the module, but there was no telemetry data.
ESA clarified that the emergency situation with Schiaparelli occurred after the deployment of the brake parachutes, the landing of the device was abnormal, and there is no data yet that it crashed. But Alexander Zheleznyakov, academician of the Tsiolkovsky Russian Academy of Cosmonautics, believes that nothing good is worth expecting.
Although within 10 days there is still little hope of establishing communication with the module, this is precisely the time the module’s batteries are designed for. The cost of the ExoMars-2016 project amounted to several hundred million dollars.
And now it became clear that the money was “crying.” There are no traces left of the module delivered to Mars.
It's so difficult to make a way to Mars...
What do you think about Mars? Is there life on Mars?