Lead
"If you can bring samples from the Moon back to Earth, why can't you bring samples from Mars back to Earth as well?"
Previously, NASA announced that it would bring lunar soil samples back to Earth, but did not mention plans for Martian samples.
Why is it possible to bring soil samples from the Moon back to Earth, but not samples from Mars?
One scientist said: "The consequences of bringing back Martian samples are unbearable for humanity. ”
Why?
1. Lunar exploration.
Since the 60s of the 20th century, human beings have begun to explore the universe, and human exploration of the depths of the universe has also gone farther and farther with the continuous progress of technology.
However, in the process of human exploration of the universe, the Moon and Mars have been the main objects of attention.
Since 1966, the Soviet Union's "Luna 3" probe successfully carried out space exploration and took images of the front of the moon, human exploration of the moon has officially begun.
In 1969, NASA successfully sent the "Apollo 11" spacecraft into space, and after the end of the lunar mission, the United States successfully sent "astronauts" to the moon, completing the feat of "planting the flag on the moon".
Since then, the "Apollo Program" established by NASA has also collected a large number of lunar material samples in six round-trip lunar explorations, providing strong support for human research on the moon.
In the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States won the Lunar Lightning Cup, but the Soviet Union, which won the "first", did not stop exploring the moon, and they also extended the footsteps of space exploration to the moon.
Although the Soviet Union's "Lunar Exploration" program did not succeed in sending "astronauts" to the moon, the Soviet Union ushered in a major achievement in the history of "lunar exploration" in 1970, that is, the first human acquisition of soil samples from the moon.
Since then, the Soviet Union's "lunar exploration" program has also been carried out, and in the "Luna-24" and "Luna-25" probes, about 170 grams of soil samples were collected from the moon.
The successive "lunar explorations" have also given mankind a deeper understanding of the moon, and the soil samples collected from the moon not only store information on the moon physically, but also information such as the chemical composition of the moon.
In the space race between the United States, the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union, the technology of lunar exploration was also constantly improving, and the Soviet Union also successfully sent the "Luna-16" and "Luna-20" probes to the moon, and collected about 1,700 grams of soil samples from the moon.
Such a large amount of sample data not only gives mankind a more thorough understanding of the moon, but also provides strong support for more in-depth exploration and research in the future.
2. The study of lunar soil samples.
In 1976, NASA also successfully sent the "Viking" probe to Mars, and collected about 1.3 grams of soil samples on Mars, which became the first batch of soil samples collected from Mars in human history.
In the course of 60 years of Mars exploration, the United States has also carried out many Mars explorations, but the exploration of Mars has not been as smooth as the exploration of the Moon, and in the 60 years of exploration, the success rate of American probes is only one-third.
However, in human exploration, Mars has always been the object of human attention, because Mars is the closest terrestrial planet to Earth, and like Earth, there are a lot of water resources on Mars.
Therefore, at that time, people even imagined that there might be life on Mars, but as the exploration of Mars became more and more deep, people gradually gave up the imagination of possible life on Mars.
However, in the process of Mars exploration, people still have great interest in Mars, in order to further explore Mars, in 2003 the United States also began to carry out a "human landing" program on Mars, and in 2008 successfully sent the "Curiosity" probe to Mars.
The history and data of human exploration of the moon have been very abundant, and the material samples of the moon have also provided strong support for human research.
In subsequent studies, scientists studied the composition and age of lunar soil samples in detail, and this data is also very valuable for scientific research.
In the analysis of lunar soil samples, scientists found that soil samples of different ages contained different components, which also gave scientists a more detailed understanding of the timing of the moon's changes.
3. Why lunar samples can be brought back to Earth.
When analyzing the age and composition of lunar soil samples, scientists found that there were two ages in the soil samples left on the moon, and there were certain differences in the composition of the soil samples from these two ages.
The difference between the ages of soil samples brought back by Apollo 11 and 3.9 billion years old and 4.2 billion years old when analyzed by the Luna-16 and Luna-20 probes led scientists to believe that there were two different crusts on the moon.
In the process of exploring Mars, the United States has successively sent Mars probes to Mars during the 60 years of Mars exploration, and has collected many batches of soil samples on Mars, but the United States has not conducted large-scale research on Martian soil, which makes the composition and age of Martian soil still unknown.
During the lunar exploration, scientists found that hydrogen was still present on the moon, which led to speculation that water resources once existed on the moon, but in subsequent explorations, no signs of water resources were found on the moon.
During the exploration of Mars, people also found the presence of hydrogen on Mars, and also found traces of water resources on Mars, which makes people suspect that life also existed on Mars.
In an in-depth discussion of this hypothesis, in order to further understand the life information on Mars, the researchers also carefully analyzed the soil samples on Mars, and they found that there were not only minerals but also traces of organic matter in the soil samples.
This has led to a stronger imagination of the possible existence of life on Mars, but in the exploration of Mars, soil samples taken by American probes on Mars have not been brought back to Earth, which has led to more speculation about the exploration of Mars.
In its exploration of Mars, NASA has been pursuing a way for Mars rovers to bring back soil samples from Earth, but this is not a simple matter.
Fourth, the difficulty of bringing Martian samples back to Earth.
First, let's analyze the reasons for bringing lunar samples back to Earth.
At the beginning, NASA was able to bring back the soil samples brought back by the "Apollo 11" to the earth because the "Apollo 11" probe's capsule shell design was very tight, and this design was specially designed for the lunar exploration mission, which can ensure that the lunar probe can return to the earth in the process of returning to the earth, without being affected by the external environment, and bring the collected soil samples back to the earth safely.
However, the capsule shell of the Mars rover is not designed to be as tight as that of the lunar rover, so the tightness of the capsule shell is not considered in the design of the Mars rover, so it is impossible to bring the collected soil samples back to Earth.
If you want to collect soil samples from Mars and bring them back to Earth, you first need to improve the tightness of the capsule shell, but the cost of this improvement is very huge.
The second is the uncertainty of Mars exploration, although people know about the environment on Mars, but the Martian atmosphere and solar radiation and other factors are also a huge threat to the Mars rover.
Therefore, sending a probe to Mars for exploration is also a very complex task, although the United States has carried out many explorations in the 60-year Mars exploration program, but in 60 years, the success rate of American probes is only one-third.
In addition, even if the United States were to send a Mars rover to Mars again for exploration, the soil samples collected on the rover would be limited, so the cost of bringing Mars samples back to Earth would be very high, and the risks would be enormous.
And judging from the current level of technology, mankind has not been able to find a better way to bring Martian samples back to Earth, so all bringing Martian samples back to Earth is empty talk.
5. Martian samples that cannot be brought back.
After the United States announced that it would bring back lunar samples, people began to discuss the topic of bringing Mars samples back to Earth, but the return of Mars samples can only be an imagination, because the return of Mars samples is not feasible under the current level of technology.
Human exploration of Mars also has a history of 60 years, but the exploration of Mars has not been smooth, and the probes of the United States and the Soviet Union have lost contact many times in the process of Mars exploration, which also makes it more difficult to explore Mars.
In the process of detection, both the United States and the Soviet Union carried out many explorations, but in the 60-year history of detection, the success rate of American detectors was only one-third.
Although people have learned more about Mars in the 60 years of Mars exploration, the exploration of Mars has also encountered more problems.
Therefore, the topic of bringing Martian samples back to Earth is only a conjecture, but it is also possible to conduct research on Martian samples on Earth.
During the exploration of Mars, it was found that there was almost no sign of life on the surface of Mars, and the surface of Mars was also a barren scene, but there was indeed a large amount of water resources on Mars.
During the exploration of Mars, it was also discovered that water resources once existed on Mars, which is considered evidence that life once existed on Mars.
However, in the exploration of Mars, no evidence of life on Mars has been found, so people can only speculate about life on Mars.
However, as the closest planet to the earth, human exploration of Mars will continue, although in the process of exploring Mars, people have also encountered many difficulties and problems, but human exploration of Mars will continue.
This also makes people look forward to the future exploration of Mars, although it is difficult to bring Mars samples back to Earth, but consider setting up a laboratory on Mars for more in-depth research and exploration of Mars.
epilogue
Whether it is the moon or Mars, it is an important object for human exploration of the universe, which can not only bring scientific knowledge, but also provide an important reference for future human exploration of space and space colonization.
Human exploration of the Moon and Mars will also continue, and although it is difficult to bring Mars samples back to Earth, through cooperation and technological innovation, it may be possible to find more effective ways to solve the problem of bringing Mars samples back to Earth.
It will also be a new starting point for human exploration of space.
While exploring the universe, human beings should also carefully consider the possible ecological risks to avoid irreversible impacts on the earth's ecosystem.
The exploration of the Moon and Mars can not only provide enlightenment for mankind to understand the universe, but also for the development of resources and environmental protection on the earth.