Whenever space exploration is spoken of, a question always comes to mind: What does this mean for us? Aside from the excitement of exploring a new planet and studying an unknown world, what is worth the long time and enormous effort in terms of economic value? This can be harder to quantify than you think.
Since Earth is the only planet in the solar system that can talk about what the concept of value actually means, you may naturally assume that Earth is the most valuable. After all, it has been providing humanity with the resources to survive for thousands of years, even if many of them have been exhausted. In fact, because our resources are largely limited, we even measure the value of other planets from the development of cosmology.
Fossil fuels on Earth, including oil, coal, and natural gas, are limited, which means we have to resort to renewable energy sources or entirely new fossil fuel reserves, both of which can be found in the universe in which we live. Let's start with the closest place to Earth. Although the Moon is not a planet, it has many rich resources, such as silicon, iron, titanium, magnesium and aluminum, as well as a lot of water ice – all of which we can make full use of.
For many, however, the most important lunar resource is the rare helium-3, which has the potential to be used for nuclear fusion. From the heart of the heart, the mineral resources on the moon will not all bring us economic benefits, although it is profitable, but it may also bring us some consequences. Many people don't agree to dig up the resources we need on the moon, because isn't the same thing that we have already destroyed the Earth we live on?
The moon has such a cultural significance that we shouldn't aim to protect it, not to exhaust it? Helium-3 is also not an endless gold mine. It is also resource-limited and will one day be exhausted. We may use it to temporarily solve our energy problems, but before it is dubbed "lunar fever," perhaps we'd better spend our time and money developing renewable energy sources on Earth.
In the case of planets, the first thing that comes to mind is Mercury. It's one of the most mysterious planets in the solar system, and we really wouldn't know much about it without the Messenger probe (which orbited it for four years from 2011 to 2015).
What we all know is that Mercury's surface is black because there's a lot of carbon we can use on its surface—even though we probably never travel thousands of miles to Mercury to get it. We also know that Mercury also has magnetic fields, atmospheres, temperate zones, polar regions and ice sheets. This means that in addition to being very close to the Sun, Mercury could theoretically become a mineral land for humans. More specifically, we humans may be collecting large amounts of steel on Mercury that is thought to be present in large quantities.
Minerals may also exist on asteroids, but Mercury is a more stable and reliable mineral site. And, of course, another big financial incentive that Mercury brings is solar energy. Because Mercury is so close to the Sun, we can cover Mercury with a layer of solar panels to collect solar energy to supply the spacecraft with energy to return to Earth from Mercury. The next thing to talk about is Venus, a planet with many famous obstacles. Overall, the main obstacles are the extremely hot temperatures of about 880 degrees Fahrenheit on the surface of Venus, as well as the carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid that spread across its surface.
This news is not only bad news for humans, but also for any robot and machine that humans remotely control to collect resources. Almost everything close to the surface of Venus will be roasted, which means that measures to build any kind of mining equipment will be snuffed out in the cradle. However, for the resources available on Venus, let's solve the problem of how to collect them after considering the complexity of how to get to Venus. Venus has a similar size and structure to Earth, so we think there may be material similar to the resources we need.
In addition, it may also be a source of one of the dense isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium, which can be used as fuel after the deuterium atoms merge. Planets aside, Mars is the planet we are most likely to reach first. So what do we find when we reach the Red Planet? There is volcanic activity on Mars, so many sediments contain all those valuable elements such as titanium, calcium, and aluminum. This, combined with other deposits with a high steel content, gives Mars its unique color.
Mars' low gravity and extremely thin atmosphere make it difficult to become a human home is a controversial issue, but we humans have been sending robots to roam its landmarks for many years. In the future, we may see some remote resources that have been using AI technology for decades, and even some facilities that come together to prepare for settlement on Mars. This means that humanity will go through a long blank period before harvesting the results of any large project.
But no other planet in the solar system currently has the same prestige as Mars, and it doesn't just transform Mars into the "second Earth" of humanity's choice.
Jupiter, as the first gas giant planet, can be explored with more possibilities. If we take a method to extract some material from the outer four-atmosphere planet, we can solve the problem of continuous supply of hydrogen. Jupiter's own atmosphere contains 90% hydrogen, which we use today from food to electronics production.
Jupiter's rocky core may also be made up of valuable ice and minerals, but the question is how to get here. As you get closer and closer to it, all the gas weight will crush you before you see the rock core – let's build a mining station on top of it. What makes Jupiter the most interesting (full of desire for economic development), it turns out, comes from the thousands of moons around it.
Ganymede is actually the largest moon in the entire solar system (in fact, larger than Mercury), and Ganymede and Europa are more eye-catching than Ganymede. The volcanic activity on Ganymede is very frequent, and it can be said that it is fascinating (in terms of the elements it can carry) and dangerous (in terms of proximity to them). At the same time, Europa has long been considered to have abundant marine resources, and it would undoubtedly be a priceless discovery if alien creatures were found in the unexplored field of Europa.
In addition, Saturn's outer atmosphere is made up of 96% hydrogen, which also makes it valuable as a potential fuel source. Saturn is also famous for Saturn's rings II, and all four atmospheric giant planets have ring systems, and Saturn's rings are the largest and brightest. Saturn's rings are almost made up of ice and can also be used as a source of water.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about Saturn is Titan, inextricably linked to its resources and potential value. For example, Saturn's Europa and Titan (Saturn's largest moons) have subsurface marine resources, so much so that researchers believe that there may be extraterrestrial life on the moons. But Titan also has its own atmosphere, capable of producing large amounts of hydrocarbons anywhere in the solar system. Since hydrocarbons are the organic compounds of most combustible fuel cores, making Titan thousands of times more organic compounds than Earth, it's no wonder we've set our sights on Titan for the implementation of ambitious space exploration programs.
Finally, ice giants such as Uranus and Neptune, like their class name "ice", are mainly made up of ice composed of different substances such as water, ammonia, and methane. They all offer unlimited potential fuel, and both have plenty of satellites to explore.
But interest in Uranus and Neptune is less attractive than other stars in the solar system, especially Titan.
Perhaps from an economics perspective, the biggest impetus for visiting the two planets was to investigate Neptune's strange colors. Although it and Uranus are both blue, it has a distinct and distinctive blue hue, so much so that some scientists believe that there may be a hidden "unknown" element that has caused this mysterious color. But now, no one knows what it is, whether it exists, and whether it will bring economic benefits!
Obviously, wanting to travel thoroughly in the solar system is still just a dream. If we could really travel, it would have to be an unusually expensive price.
But theoretically, we can give a planet a price. In terms of renewable energy, Mercury is the unsurpassable peak of the concentration of solar energy resources. In other respects, there is also a resource-rich Mars, and it is very close to Earth, with much shorter round-trip times and distances.
But the most valuable part of the solar system may not be a planet at all... It's satellites, and they're very exciting right now, especially Europa and Titan.
Related knowledge
Titan is Saturn's largest moon and the second largest natural moon in the solar system. It is the only known satellite with a large-density atmosphere and the only object other than Earth to have been found in space with clear evidence of a stable presence of liquid on its surface.
Titan is one of seven moons orbited by Saturn in a circular orbit due to gravitational action, and the second farthest of these seven moons to Saturn. Titan is often described as a planetary moon, which is 50 percent larger in diameter than Earth's moon and 80 percent more massive than the moon. It is the second largest moon in the solar system, after Jupiter's moon, Europa. Titan is larger than Mercury, but has only 40% mass.
Discovered in 1655 by Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens, Titan Titus was the first moon to be discovered on Saturn and the sixth to be discovered as a planetary moon (second only to Earth's moons, the moon and Jupiter's four moons, Galileo). Titan orbits saturn at a distance of 20 Saturn radii. From Titan's surface, Saturn is facing an arc of 5.09 degrees, and if it can be seen through the moon's thick atmosphere, its volume in the sky will be 11.4 times the volume of the moon seen from Earth.
fy: Xiao Bei, gentle., Yin Moxuan, Shu Rui