Since the birth of human civilization, people have maintained great curiosity about the mysteries of extraterrestrial space. In particular, the relevant myths and stories that have appeared in the history of various countries are actually romantic fantasies of human beings without understanding the real reasons. Through this fantasy, human civilization is more colorful.
The origin of Mars exploration
The true beginning of mankind's extraterrestrial exploration is generally thought to have been calculated from the successful launch of Sputnik I by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. After that, due to the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in the field of space, this has made the human process of related research in the field of space remarkable.
Of course, there is a history of U.S.-Soviet competition in that era, and I believe many people have heard about it. After the successful launch of the world's first artificial satellite by the Soviet Union and the great achievements of the first manned spaceflight, the United States is not far behind in completing the first lunar landing in human history. But few people know that in fact, the United States and the Soviet Union have made different choices in space competition.
The first is the choice of the Soviet side, in the eyes of the Soviets, with the development and progress of scientific and technological civilization, there will be more and more countries with the ability to land on the moon. In this case, there is absolutely no need to monopolize lunar resources, or compete with the United States for lunar resources. To this end, the Soviet Union set its sights on Venus and tried to find a lot of information about Venus.
The second is the choice of the Americans, who, like the Soviet Union, with the help of science and technology, can also lead other countries in space exploration. Under such circumstances, the United States can completely "control" a certain planet in advance and occupy more resources. The only difference from the Soviet Union was that the other side chose Venus, while the Americans chose Mars. It is precisely because of this that the history of Mars exploration has officially begun.
Many people may wonder why the Soviets made such a choice in modern research, when Venus had no possibility of emigration at all. In fact, the answer is very simple, all the information we know today is explored by predecessors after repeated failures. But for the Soviet scientists of that era, although they thought of this possibility, they still hoped to find a solution.
The Mysteries of Mars
As far as the current development of space is concerned, the Soviet Union's Venus exploration program has obviously come to an end, while the United States' Exploration of Mars has achieved great success in space. More information about Mars is finally clearly visible to humanity.
According to the study, Mars is only about half the diameter of Earth, and the main atmosphere is dominated by carbon dioxide. In other words, if we humans are now facing the invasion of the greenhouse effect, then the interior of Mars can almost be said to live in the greenhouse effect.
As far as the surface of Mars is concerned, there are all kinds of craters, canyons, dunes and gravel scattered everywhere, and there is no end in sight. Scientists have speculated that there may be water resources on Mars, but to this day, this speculation has not been proven.
It is worth mentioning that although Mars is smaller than Earth, there is the largest mountain range in the solar system, Mount Olympus, and the largest canyon, Mariner Canyon, on the surface of Mars. In terms of geological landforms, it is definitely strange and strange.
Mars is full of mysteries, of course, from the exploration of Mars, human beings are most concerned about whether Mars is suitable for human survival. In order to prove this theory, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) even went so far as to make a lot of investment. In addition to the famous Mars rovers located on the surface of Mars - Curiosity, Opportunity and Courage, there are a total of four orbiting probes in the outer space of Mars alone. In contrast, the probes related to the moon appear to be somewhat monolithic.
After continuous observation by the probe, scientists found that the temperature difference on the surface of Mars is nearly 160 ° C at the maximum. Compared to most of the natural environment on Earth, Mars can be described in two words. What is even more frightening is that the temperature of Mars will be different in the same region.
To take a simple example, if a person stands on Mars and walks, the temperature difference between the person's head and feet will be around 15 ° C. Without adequate protection and protection, humanity simply does not have any chance of surviving here.
If so, why do humans continue to explore Mars? The answer is simple. First, compared to other planets in the solar system except Earth, the environment of Mars is already the best; secondly, in the harsh external environment of Mars, there are actually unlimited possibilities.
Take, for example, the trees that scientists have found in the photographs, and this is one of many possibilities. Unfortunately, after research, it was found that these trees were not real trees, but just a special phenomenon on Mars. Coupled with the problem of taking photos, it will make people have a reverie.
Rows of trees?
As mentioned earlier, the "desert" environment in Mars has no end in sight, and there is no possibility of any plant existence. Secondly, for humans, the temperature difference between the head and feet will be as high as 15 ° C, is it not for plants? Therefore, from these two points alone, we can judge that the photos observed by scientists are definitely not trees, but only an illusion.
In fact, the photo was first taken in 2008 and was not released until 2020. Knowing this information, we can first rule out the problem of photo fraud. As for why the United States delayed a photo for 12 years before it was released? The answer is equally simple.
In the field of space development, countries can cooperate in the general direction; but some details, I believe that each country is not willing to share with other countries. This is the case with the United States, which is desperate to find out in advance what kind of "trees" will be before other countries know the truth.
Assuming that these trees really exist and are above Mars, it means that life exists on Mars, which is a reality. In the future development research, NASA will naturally increase the investment application to the government.
However, what americans did not expect was that after a lot of time research, the Americans finally came to the conclusion that the so-called Martian forest in the original photo was actually just a special phenomenon on Mars.
In fact, these things, which look particularly like Martian trees, are nothing more than the solid form of carbon dioxide, that is, dry ice. After the long winter on Mars, when the Sun melts some of the carbon dioxide permafrosts on the surface of Mars, the sand inside those permafrosts will also be affected. It is precisely because of this that we can see that in the desert of Mars, there will be many black lines that continue to expand forward.
The main reason for the photos taken by the space probe is that the gravel is carried into the air by carbon dioxide. Because the color of this substance is incompatible with the color of the martian desert, people will think of these substances as trees.
Our country's Mars exploration program
In fact, as far as the problem of trees on Mars and the current understanding of human cognition of Mars are concerned, mars actually has no possibility of life. So why do people continue to explore Mars? The main reason is that although the planetary body itself has no possibility, human beings have the possibility of actively adapting to the planet with the help of the power of science and technology.
To take a simple example, the extraterrestrial space station is believed to be known to everyone. Before the invention of the space station, who could have imagined that humans could live at altitudes above 10,000 meters or conduct related research? The same is true of Mars. Compared with the harsh environment of other planets, humans are more likely to adapt to Mars. To this end, our country has also carried out related research on Mars.
In April 2016, China's first Mars exploration mission was officially approved, and it is planned to achieve a series of scientific research goals such as Mars Orbiter Orbital Exploration and Mars Rover Soft Landing Patrol Exploration in 2020. Although this series of goals was not finally achieved until May 15 last year, it also marked the official opening of our country's exploration of Mars.
Unlike the United States, the United States is now trying to use the existence of the Mars rover to move laboratories with various high-precision instruments to Mars, while our country is still in the stage of collaborative research of mars orbiters and rovers.
Regarding the gap between them, it is actually easy to understand, after all, our country in the development of aerospace, just started much later than the United States. But even so, people don't need to worry too much, and they don't need to be eager to catch up with the United States. After all, any scientific research project needs to be steady and steady step by step, and it will never achieve much success in scientific research.
Perhaps in the near future, when a special phenomenon occurs on Mars again, our country will be able to grasp the relevant data at the first time and analyze the real reasons behind the event. Like the delay in the release of American photos of Mars, we don't have to worry at all.
The future of humanity
In fact, as far as the entire history of human exploration of extraterrestrial space is concerned, many people have not understood why we have to spend a lot of time, money and energy to explore extraterrestrial space. If these investments were all invested on Earth, would human life be better?
From a certain point of view, this kind of thinking is actually beyond reproach, and after increasing investment in human society, people's material life will inevitably have the opportunity to be improved. But what we need to pay attention to is that after improving the biological conditions of matter, where is the future of mankind? Where is the hope for humanity?
Scientific research is not only to satisfy human curiosity, but more importantly, to find the future direction of human development. If we take the initiative to enclose ourselves on this blue planet, how much does the vastness of the universe have to do with us? More importantly, when the future cosmic crisis comes, we will not become fish on the chopping board.
Just like scientists studying "trees" on Mars, no matter what these trees are, they don't really have much to do with us humans. After all, it is simply unrealistic to want to influence the earth from Mars.
But why do scientists still have to do research? That's to learn more about Mars. Only in this way can we be more relaxed when we choose to move to Mars in the future. The road to science is endless, so isn't it a frog at the bottom of the well?