Mars hides the secret of life, always urging people to explore. Photo: NASA Today’s Earthlings are perhaps the most curious generation about the possibility of alien life on Mars, and are always wondering how humans might one day colonize there. From theories about Martian canals to alien radio messages, over the past three centuries, mankind has been constantly thinking about life on Mars. approach to his Martian “brothers”. Mars often appears in ancient texts as a “fire star,” or represents the god of War. In the 17th century, new early telescopes allowed scientists to get a glimpse of the Red Planet. Skilled “channel engineers”? Scientists need more powerful telescopes to be able to see up close, thereby trying to better clarify the hypothesis of life on Mars. In 1877, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli noticed crisscrossing lines covering the “Red Planet”. He called these lines “canali”, which means “canal”. Schiaparelli himself does not believe that this is an alien product, but some others are sure of it. Giovanni Schiaparelli’s map of the “canal” system on Mars. Image: Wikimedia Commons As information spread, the word “canali” was translated into English as “canal”, meaning “canal”. And if there were canals, wouldn’t that suggest that aliens would have to dig them? With that argument, many people believe that the interlaced lines on the surface of Mars are a beautiful system of waterways spreading across the planet.. Such a system not only shows that Martians exist, but that they are also amazing engineers. On Earth, it took man 10 years to complete the Suez Canal in 1869. The achievements of the Martians therefore seem to be far superior to those achieved by man. Astronomer Percival Lowell certainly thought so. In 1894, this American scientist-businessman began to expand the concept of a “canal” on Mars. Lowell used his family’s large textile fortune to open the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. Professor Percival Lowell works with a telescope invested by his family. Image: Wikimedia Commons Percival Lowell mapped the “canals” on Mars with the help of the 24-inch Alvan Clark & ​​Sons refracting telescope he set up at the Lowell Observatory. He made meticulous maps of what was observed on the surface of Mars, wrote many books and regularly gave lectures on his shocking theory that Martians existed and that they were trying to irrigate the planet. their dying elf. Percival Lowell offers logical explanations to answer the question of how and why life exists on Mars. He used the example of life on Earth to illustrate his arguments: “As long as it was proved with certainty that no life could exist on the seabed, dredgers deep sea beds were invented, and before long, they ‘frustrated’ us. Behold, they see full of life. Fish, crustaceans, molluscs and echinoderms. In short, the life of all common floating fish, from protozoa to marine ‘monsters’ – have been found living in the depths of the seabed. What is impossible, turns out to be possible.” But mapping Mars is one thing, and soon scientists are looking for ways to make contact with any life that might exist on the planet. “Message” from the Red Planet In 1899, Lowell’s theory of life on Mars received a “kick” from a prominent scientist: Nikola Tesla. Tesla, then a successful electrical engineer, claimed that he had detected an “inexplicable, faint” signal originating from Mars. Portrait of Nikola Tesla circa 1890. Photo: Wikimedia Commons While conducting experiments with his magnifier at high latitudes atop Pike Peak, Colorado Springs, Tesla claimed that he received “a message from another world, unknown and far away. “. What does that message say? According to Nikola Tesla, it is simply: “ONE – TWO – THREE”. A few years later, on a February 1901 day, in an interview with Collier’s Weekly, inventor Tesla announced that he could communicate with Martians by sending wireless messages to any point. on the “Red Planet”. This is a strange statement, because the successful transmission of radio messages on Earth has only become a reality since December of that year. Tesla doesn’t know what the aliens might look like, but he believes they have adapted to living conditions on Mars. Like Lowell, he suggested that “it is possible that in a frozen planet, such as the presumed conditions on our Moon, intelligent beings could still reside, within it, if not within it. on the surface”. To many people, when humans can receive messages from Mars, we can also send messages, that seems reasonable. In 1909, there were attempts to find a contact with life on Mars. Harvard professor William Henry Pickering proposed sending planetary light signals through a series of reflections produced by a network of 50 giant mirrors. The flashes would continue to flash for several years, allowing the Martians time to develop the necessary means to respond. Professor Pickering’s giant mirror illustration for sending signals to Mars. Photo: Library of Congress “In the hope of receiving such signals again, we must of course assume that Martians, if they exist, have telescopes, eyes, etc., just like humans have on this Earth.” Mr. Pickering said. But the Harvard professor’s plan cost $10 million, and no one wanted to fund it.

A photo of Mars in April 2021. Photo: NASA The word “telepathy” with Martians… Then, a John Hopkins University professor named Robert Wood suggested covering the white alkaline earth plains of Nevada (USA) with giant black spots made of square kilometers of black cloth. “It might be easier to ‘blink’ the signals with dark spots like a mirror of the same size,” explains Mr. Wood. But like Professor Pickering’s plan, Mr Wood’s solution soon fell through due to a lack of funding. Another professor, David Todd of Amherst University, thinks that by raising a balloon 15,000 meters, he can get any message from Mars. “If life really did exist on Mars, they would have tried for years to talk to us, and perhaps wonder how stupid our behavior was for not responding to them,” said Todd. spoke in May 1909, months before the proposed flight was in September. The Tacoma Times reported on Professor David Todd’s plan for a hot air balloon to capture Mars signals on June 14, 1909. Photo: Library of Congress But Professor Todd’s balloon test flight only reached an altitude of 1,500 meters. Soon after, the support that David Todd received from the US War Department abruptly ended, leaving the scientist with no means to continue with his plan. The use of sound waves, mirrors, hot air balloons, and even giant black spots to “make contact” with any possible life on Mars has at least the backing of science. But on October 27, 1926, a London lawyer named Hugh Mansfield Robinson claimed it was “absurd” that he had tried to send a telegram straight to Mars, which is 56 million miles away from us. km, where “Mars girlfriend” is waiting for him! Dr. Robinson is confident that his message will reach the recipient. Mars was then closest to Earth in its two-year orbit. In addition, Robinson said he had a “telepathic” conversation with a six-meter-tall Martian woman named Oomaruru. According to Dr. Robinson, Oomaruru and her Martians live like Earthlings, driving cars and smoking pipes! However, he asserts, they fly through the sky in electric balloons and eat fruit from electric trees. For months before transmitting the message, Robinson worked with the Central London Telegraph Office to send a physical message to his “Mars girlfriend”. Incredibly, the Telegraph Office agreed to send a telegram from Rugby Tower, the most powerful wireless station in the world at the time, at a standard long-distance rate: 18 British cents per word, or about zero. 35 USD. Although the telegraph staff heard no response, Robinson claimed to have heard telepathically from Oomaruru. She told him that the Martians had “sitted for hours to receive the signal”. “They laugh at our scientists because they themselves are completely out of the trouble in the atmosphere, but we are not,” Robinson said. A “selfie” taken by NASA’s Perseverance probe in April 2021. Photo: NASA … to land on the “Red Planet” The ideas of the scientists who came before them seemed far-fetched, but their curiosity and relentless pursuit inspired generations to come. By 1976, the US Space Agency (NASA) had brought the search for life on Mars to the actual surface of the planet via two Viking landers. One of the metabolic reactions conducted by the lander also revealed positive results, suggesting that there may be life on the “Red Planet”. However, those results remain controversial to this day. Subsequent explorations of the landers have provided evidence that Mars may have once been very friendly to life. For example, the Curiosity rover, which landed in 2012, discovered a mountain in the middle of Gale crater on the Red Planet called Mount Sharp. This 4,800-meter-high mountain is formed from layered sedimentary rock, composed of different minerals, and has been formed over time by wind and water, two elements that require an atmosphere to exist. . helicopter (The Ingenuity Helicopter, from the Perseverance probe, has made many flights to Mars). Scientists believe that if there ever was an atmosphere around Mars, then perhaps microorganisms existed billions of years ago while the layers of material were forming, and the “Red Planet” has could have harbored life for about 1 million years. NASA’s Perseverance rover was launched on July 30, 2020 and landed on Mars on February 18, 2021. Most recently, on May 15, 2021, the Tianwen-1 probe and China’s first self-propelled Mars rover, Zhu Rong, successfully landed on the surface of the “Red Planet”. The mission of Thien Van-1 is to land a lander carrying autonomous robots to the surface of Mars to collect data on groundwater sources, looking for signs of ancient life on this planet. Any discoveries by landers from Earth could be microbial, but they will be no less remarkable than the “canal engineers” we had hoped to find on Earth. Mars from the 19th century. Watch part 1 : CHANNEL OF THE ALTERNATIVES

Photos taken on Mars show many features similar to the glaciers in Antarctica. If these covered glaciers do, in fact, exist, they could be a reason to direct future Mars rovers towards this region. This location is inherently attractive to SpaceX and NASA because it is a wide, flat plain that is ideal for landing spacecraft. If there was ice not too deep below the surface, astronauts could also easily have a source of water within reach. Lead researcher Shannon Hibbard, a doctoral student at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, said the newly discovered flow-like features are very strange because they appear on flat terrain. “There’s a lot of evidence that this is an ice-rich area, but we don’t have any confidence that there could be a glacier in places with tortuous features,” said Hibbard. this. They’re existing in a pretty flat plane, so that’s odd.” Mysterious terrain Arcadia Planitia is located in the northern lowlands of Mars. Over the past 3 billion years, lava flows have been active over this area, so it is much less prone to crater cracking than other areas of the planet. Data collected from orbit over many years shows that the ground in the region is rich in hydrogen. Because water is made of hydrogen and oxygen molecules, this hydrogen indicates the presence of ice just below the surface. For decades, scientists have noticed features on Mars that are associated with ice. Along the low hills, there are debris that looks like the flow of a glacier covered in a thin layer of rock. There are also veins in seagulls that look similar to glaciers flowing through valleys on Earth. Similar features also occur in Arcadia Planitia, says Hibbard. Lobate features occur near a set of mountains known as the Montes Erebus that rise from the plain. Images taken from orbit, thermal data showing the surface’s temperature during both day and night, albedo data showing the surface reflectance, dust cover information and altitude data, and topographic. glacial flow The tortuous features are a big mystery because they look like they were created by the flow of ice, but the terrain isn’t steep enough to explain why the ice moves, says Hibbard. “We had to try to figure out what they are, why do they have thermal symbols, why are they so bright all day and night, why do they have flow characteristics, why are they threaded?” she said. Analysis shows that these features are in fact ice-derived. The undulating shapes look similar to other features associated with slow-moving matter found on Mars, Hibbard said, and the data suggests that these spots are indeed rich in ice. The most similar-looking sinusoidal feature, says Hibbard, is the ice flows inside the Earth’s ice sheets, which are mainly found in Antarctica. These faster-moving ice flows are not well understood on Earth, much less Mars, Hibbard says, but they represent an example of ice flowing in fairly flat terrain. This is a controversial claim, says Hibbard, because most of Earth’s ice streams need at least a thin layer of liquid water at their bottoms to lubricate their flow. It’s not clear if water under the ice exists or ever existed on Mars, she said, and it’s not clear whether a wet background is needed to create ice flows on the Red Planet. One possibility could be that in the past, when Mars’ orbit was tilted differently than it is today and its climate was different, sub-glacial melting may have occurred. The study is published in the May issue of the journal Icarus.

Due to the presence of minerals and other resources on the Red Planet, in the future, Mars could be an abundant source. All in all, the initiatives in this direction are impressive, but as always, there are nuances attached to them. Traveling to Mars on 1,000 rockets and creating land for 1 million earthlings as Elon Musk suggests is an extremely expensive and technologically difficult task. It is not necessary to list all the problems that arise when massive scientific works are devoted to this, just to mention the main “knots”. First, There is no technology that allows the creation of spacecraft with the ability to send people into distant space without having to receive a lethal dose of cosmic radiation. This problem could be solved by wrapping lead plates, but would lead to a proportional increase in the mass of the ship and a decrease in its carrying capacity. New engines were needed, but they are now beyond production. Monday, Solar radiation will remain a problem on the Martian surface. The Red Planet, unlike Earth, does not have a magnetic field that protects us from ionizing radiation. Astronauts will not have to walk on red sand dunes like in the movie “Total Recall”, but have to hide in bases hidden deep below the surface. Tuesday, Mars on Mars is cold and has practically no atmosphere, but the radiation background is 2.5 times higher than what astronauts on the ISS can tolerate. It is impossible to live in such conditions without a special space suit. There are also many other problems, but it is clear that expanding living space is an extremely important task for all of humanity, requiring accumulation and huge investments in technology. For this reason, scientists are seriously skeptical of Elon Musk’s initiative, especially when he proposes to carry out thermonuclear bombardments at both poles of the Red Planet. This will lead to higher temperatures, melting glaciers, the formation of liquid water and the release of greenhouse gases, which will create the atmosphere on Mars. After that, the settlers could walk on the surface without the spacesuit. But there is another way of looking at this “terrain” approach. Mathematician Robert Walker calculates that in order to carry out the first part of the plan, which would require at least 1 million nuclear bombs with a capacity of 100 megatons, they would have to be sent to Mars 3,500 a day for seven weeks to achieve. desired results. There are no such large numbers of nuclear weapons on Earth and the lack of means to deliver them to another planet. This is the first thing. Carbon dioxide reserves on Mars would not be enough to create a suitable atmosphere, even if the first problem were solved. Since the Red Planet has no magnetic field, solar radiation will gradually “suck” in the already formed magnetic field. This is the second thing. And finally, for some reason, Elon Musk doesn’t take into account that after so many nuclear explosions, the surface of the planet will be radioactive for a long time, you can’t walk there with a mask oxygen and plant trees. “Nuke Mars” is just a cover for the US to send nuclear weapons into space? In general, Elon Musk’s initiative is a nonsense and he himself cannot help but understand this. But why is this smart man promoting it? The head of Roscosmos – Mr. Dmitry Rogozin tried to answer the question: Anyone who calls for the “terrain” of Mars or other planets is well aware that this is just an excuse for launching nuclear weapons into space, which, if useful, is just to “terrain”. our “Earth. But it’s true, you can’t just send nuclear warheads to Mars. First, they will need to be put into orbit and accumulate somewhere along with the means to send them in large batches. Where is that? Suppose that a circular orbit station, which the United States and its allies are building, will be adapted for this case, with China and Russia as targets. But will the nuclear bomb then make its way to the Red Planet? It’s long been no secret that Elon Musk is working closely with the Pentagon on the space program and satellites. So why not try with the best cause, Mars exploration, to advocate for the idea of ​​​​putting a US nuclear arsenal in space, Mr. Rogozin concluded.

The idea of ​​​​conquering Mars has been a dream of mankind for many years, this could be the first step towards realizing the dream of many science fiction scientists that is to explore outer space. Sending humans to another planet, even within the solar system, has the effect of reducing the risk of a global catastrophe that could destroy life, such as a large asteroid impact or nuclear war. Even in the future, the Red Planet could be an abundant source of resources. Obviously the ambition to travel to Mars is impressive, but there are many doubts and obstacles attached. Tech billionaire Elon Musk put forward the idea of ​​humans traveling to Mars on 1,000 rockets and creating land for 1 million inhabitants, this is clearly an extremely expensive and technologically difficult task. major barriers have been listed. First, Earth science has not yet been able to create spacecraft with the ability to send humans into distant space that is “immune” to deadly cosmic radiation. The solution to this problem could be to wrap lead plates, but that would increase the weight of the ship and reduce its carrying capacity. Engines for spaceships are now well beyond construction. Second, solar radiation is a big problem, the Red Planet is different from Earth in that it doesn’t have a magnetic field protecting it from ionizing radiation. Astronauts will have to hide in bases hidden deep below the surface, not be able to walk freely on the surface. Third, Mars is cold and has no atmosphere, but the radiation background is 2.5 times higher than that of astronauts on the International Space Station ISS. It is impossible to live in such conditions without a special space suit. There are many other problems as well, but it is clear that expanding space into outer space requires accumulation and huge investments in technology. Before this fact, scientists expressed doubts about Elon Musk’s initiative, when he proposed to carry out bombardments with thermonuclear warheads at both poles of the Red Planet. A “fusion attack” would cause glaciers to melt, forming liquid water and releasing greenhouse gases, which help create the atmosphere on Mars. Then the “reclaimers” could walk around without a spacesuit. But mathematician Robert Walker calculates that to carry out the first part of the plan requires at least 1 million nuclear bombs with an explosive yield of 100 Megatons, must be assembled on Mars 3,500 a day for 7 weeks to achieve desired results. There are no such large numbers of nuclear weapons on Earth, and the lack of means to deliver them to another planet, is the first hurdle. CO2 reserves on Mars would not be enough to create a suitable atmosphere, even if the first problem were solved. Since the Red Planet does not have a magnetic field, solar radiation will gradually “suck” the gas that has already formed, which is the second barrier. Finally, Elon Musk does not take into account that after many nuclear explosions, the surface of the planet will be radioactive for a long time, people cannot walk with oxygen masks and plant trees. Elon Musk’s initiative is clearly impractical and perhaps the billionaire himself understands this, but what is his meaning. The head of Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos – Mr. Dmitry Rogozin made a remarkable remark. “Anyone calling for the reclamation of Mars or other planets is well aware that this is just an excuse for launching nuclear weapons into space for military purposes on Earth.” “It’s true, you can’t just put nuclear warheads on Mars. They need to first be put into orbit and assembled somewhere with the means to send them in large batches.” “Assuming an orbital station being built by the US and its allies will be tailored to target China and Russia. Will nuclear warheads reach the Red Planet then? “It is no secret that Elon Musk is working closely with the Pentagon on the space and satellite program. So why not experiment with the best cause of Mars exploration, to advocate for the idea of ​​​​putting US nuclear weapons in space,” concluded Mr. Rogozin.

Photographs taken on Mars show many glaciers-like features in Antarctica, If these covered glaciers do, in fact, exist, they could be a reason to direct future crews to Mars towards this area. The location was inherently attractive to SpaceX and NASA because it was a wide, flat plain, ideal for landing spacecraft. If there is ice that is not too deep below the surface, the astronauts can also easily have water within reach. Lead researcher Shannon Hibbard, a graduate student at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, said the newly discovered flow-like characteristics are very strange because they appear on flat terrain. “There is a lot of evidence that this is an area with a lot of ice, but we don’t have any confidence that there could be a glacier in places with winding features,” Hibbard said. this. They exist in a fairly flat plane, so that’s weird. ” Mysterious terrain Arcadia Planitia is located in the lowlands north of Mars. In the past 3 billion years, lava flows have been active in this area, so it is much less prone to cracking with craters than in other areas on the planet. Data collected from orbit over many years show that the ground in the area is rich in hydrogen. Because water is made up of molecules of hydrogen and oxygen, this hydrogen shows the presence of ice just below the surface. For decades, scientists have found features on Mars to be related to ice. Along the low hills, there are debris that look like a glacier flow covered in a thin layer of rock. There are also patterns in gulls that look similar to glaciers that flow through valleys on Earth. Similar features occur in Arcadia Planitia, Hibbard said. Lobate features occur near a set of mountains called Montes Erebus that rise up from the plain. Orbital images, thermal data showing surface temperature during day and night, albedo data showing surface reflectivity, dust cover information and altitude data, and topographic. Glacial flow The winding features are a big mystery, Hibbard says, because they look like they were created by the flow of ice, but the topography is not steep enough to explain why the meteor was moving. “We had to try to figure out what they are, why they have thermal symbols, why they are so bright day and night, why they have flow characteristics, why Are they threaded again? ”she said. The analysis showed that these traits were in fact derived from ice. The curled shapes look similar to other features related to slow-flowing matter seen on Mars, Hibbard said, and the data shows these points actually contain a lot of ice. The most similar sinusoidal feature, Hibbard says, is the currents inside the Earth’s ice sheets, which mainly occur in Antarctica. These faster moving ice currents are not well understood on Earth, much less than Mars, but they do show an example of ice flowing in fairly flat terrain, Hibbard says. This is a controversial claim, Hibbard says, because most ice currents on Earth need at least a thin layer of liquid water at their bottom to lubricate their flow. It is unclear whether sub-ice water existed or existed on Mars, she said, and it is not clear if a wet background is needed to create ice currents on the Red Planet. One possibility might be that in the past, when Mars’ orbit was tilted differently than it is today and its climate was different, melting under ice may have occurred. This research was published in the May issue of the journal Icarus.

Photo of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter taken by NASA’s Preseverance spacecraft. Photo: NASA. Open a new door Ingenuity attached to the belly of the Perseverance probe landed together inside Mars’ 45 km wide Jezero crater on February 18. On April 3, a solar-powered helicopter was dropped from Perseverance’s belly. NASA is expected to make history on the Red Planet with its first self-powered flight powered by energy. “That is extremely important. Technological inventions will open a door to completely different tools. And for me, that’s very interesting. We still haven’t envisioned all the benefits of this new technology, ”said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s Deputy Administrator. Ingenuity is considered a “technology show”. Because, the expected flight of this helicopter on Mars is designed simply to demonstrate the efficiency of the technology. Although there is an onboard camera to take pictures during the mission, it’s the only feature on the plane that is not directly related to Ingenuity’s take-off. “The speed of light is too slow for us to actually control it in real time,” said Mr. Zurbuchen. In addition, the team must find a way for the helicopter to fly over Mars in a challenging environment, with a very thin atmosphere. Obviously, flying on another planet is not easy for helicopters. This is an exciting moment in the history of spacecraft and technology. Many people questioned whether Ingenuity was equipped with any technology application to achieve such a feat. Scientists hope to use Ingenuity to explore in the future, according to Zurbuchen. Because, a small helicopter can “probe many places that we can not go to by plane”. The expert also explains that Mars has some interesting things. The crater walls and other destinations will be interesting to study up close, while astronauts won’t be able to explore. In the future, helicopters could be an important asset for both robot and human exploration on the Red Planet, Mr. Zurbuchen said. However, as mentioned before, Mr. Zurbuchen said, there are many applications to this technology that are yet to be developed. Science breakthrough The deployment of the Ingenuity helicopter flight plan on Mars aims to demonstrate that humans can fly in the extremely low density, reduced gravity and extreme temperatures of the red planet. In addition, the amount of sunlight the planet receives is only half that of Earth; At night temperatures down to -90 degrees C cause electronic components to crack and freeze if left unprotected. While a mission on Mars is not an easy task, NASA is confident that this small helicopter can overcome the challenge. However, the first flight will be at low altitude and take place shortly. Members of the mission group said, Ingenuity (weighing 1.8 kg) is expected to fly no more than 3 meters above the floor of the Jezero crater on Mars. The helicopter will stay high for 40 seconds or so. However, even such a modest flight time would be an achievement. Because, Mars’ atmosphere is only 1% thicker of Earth. Aircraft generate lift by pushing air. However, according to Project Director Ingenuity – MiMi Aung, of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, on Mars, there are fewer molecules to propel. That disadvantage outweighs the benefit that helicopters get from Mars’ weaker gravity. So Ingenuity has to behave a little differently from its predecessors on Earth. Specifically, Ingenuity propellers are made of carbon fiber, made for Mars. They are particularly large compared to the overall 48 cm high helicopter. Each wing extends 1.2 m. Those propellers will spin at about 2,500 rpm to bring Ingenuity off the ground. This is much faster than that required by a 4lb motor. Besides, Mars is also a place where the cold is “piercing”. Perseverance measured the Red Planet’s nighttime temperature to minus 117.4 degrees F (minus 83 degrees C) on the surface of Jezero. So Ingenuity has a fireplace so it won’t freeze. Currently, it takes more than 15 minutes for an order to be sent from the control agency on Earth to Mars. Real-time operation with the joystick is therefore not an option. Flight orders must be sent in advance. However, that doesn’t mean Ingenuity is going to be in trouble. This helicopter will be able to do many tasks on its own. For example, Ingenuity can analyze photos captured by the downward-facing camera. From there, locate it. The images will be in black and white. Ingenuity is also capable of 13-megapixel color photography. There are a series of complicated devices that are inserted into the “small body” of Ingenuity, although the helicopter does not carry any scientific tools. Cameras, electrical systems, avionics systems, and communications equipment for data transfer to Perseverance were all introduced into Ingenuity. In fact, the size of devices like objects has made it impossible for many helicopter missions on Mars. Ms. Aung and her colleagues tested Ingenity extensively on Earth before launching. Ingenuity used to have to fly in a special chamber at the JPL – which simulates the conditions of the Red Planet. Thanks to that, Ingenuity has been doing well on the Jezero crater since its separation from Perseverance. Therefore, the scientists expressed confidence in Ingenuity’s mission. If successful, Ingenuity will fly again – up to 5 times in about a month. Ingenuity helicopters pave the way for future space exploration.

Technician places the MOXIE device inside the Perseverance vessel in the laboratory in Pasadena, California, USA, March 2019. (Photo: AFP / VNA) After the Ingenuity mini helicopter made history by successfully making its first flight on another planet (Mars) a few days ago, the US Aviation and Space Agency’s Perseverance expedition ship ( NASA) continues to make a spectacular new mark when it first created oxygen on the “Red Planet.” NASA’s announcement on April 21 states that the Perseverance explorer has made history by successfully converting carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere into oxygen. This is the first time creating oxygen is done on another planet. “This is the first important step in converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into oxygen on Mars,” said Jim Reuter, NASA’s space technology mission executive vice president. The Mars experiment using local oxygen resources, called MOXIE, is a device the size of an automobile battery and is located inside, in front of the right side of the Perseverance. The device uses electrochemical methods to split carbon dioxide molecules, made up of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms, and produces a carbon monoxide by-product. Manufactured by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MOXIE is made of a heat-resistant material like a nickel alloy and is designed to withstand extreme temperatures up to 800 degrees Celsius. The device is coated with a thin layer of gold. so as not to radiate heat and harm the Perseverance vessel. On the first test run, MOXIE generated 5.4 grams of oxygen – enough for an astronaut to breathe easily for 10 minutes while still performing normal activities. Engineers will conduct more tests and find ways to increase oxygen production. By design, MOXIE can generate 10 grams of oxygen per hour. “MOXIE has a lot to do, but the results from this technology demonstration are promising as we move towards our goal of one day seeing humans on Mars,” said Jim Reuter. Tests for MOXIE will be divided into three phases. The first stage is to test and characterize the equipment. Stage two will evaluate the performance of MOXIE under a variety of atmospheric conditions. In the final phase, researchers will step up the operation of the equipment, which includes testing new operating modes or adding functionality. NASA expects the development of experimental instruments not only to help generate oxygen for astronauts in the future, but also to help generate large amounts of oxygen to be used as rocket launchers for the return journey. Not transported from Earth. According to MIT engineer Michael Hecht, a one-ton version of MOXIE can generate about 25 tons of oxygen needed for a rocket to take off from Mars. Production of oxygen from the atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide’s Mars It may be a more viable option than extracting subsurface magnetic ice and electrolysis to produce oxygen. Ms. Trudy Kortes – Technology Demonstration Director NASA “MOXIE is not only the first instrument of oxygen production in another world, but the first technology of its kind that helps future missions use elements of another world environment, also known as on-premises resource use. ” Expedition ship Perseverance landed on Mars on February 18, on a mission to search for signs of microbial life on the “Red Planet.” In the coming years, the Perseverance ship aims to collect 30 soil and rock samples to send back to Earth (estimated around 2030) for analysis.

The entire NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the state of California burst out loud, clapping. After more than 10 days of delay, the Ingenuity helicopter weighing only 1.8 kg, worth $ 85 million of NASA, took off successfully on Mars. This victory is likened to NASA as the living moment of the Wright brothers (USA) who successfully made the first flight on Earth in 1903. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) tweeted immediately after Ingenuity’s success: “Perseverance has brought us to Mars. And Ingenuity takes us higher.” “. NASA’s Mission Control Room at (JPL) received a 14-minute delay in success signal because of a distance of 289 million kilometers from Mars. Photo: NASA The moment in which the Mission Control room was delighted to hear that Ingenuity had successfully flown on Mars. Photo: Reuters “Now, 118 years after the Wright brothers successfully made the first flight on our planet in the 20th century, the Ingenuity helicopter has succeeded in performing this amazing feat in the world. another – the Red Planet – in the 21st century “- NASA Deputy Science Director Thomas Zurbuchen said. At a distance of 289 million km (from Earth to Mars), the Ingenuity Mars helicopter has done a miracle, unprecedented in history: Automatically refuel from the Sun, automatically fly to a maximum prescribed height of 3 meters and maintain that altitude stable for 30 seconds, then a gentle landing on the surface of the Red Planet. The whole process took 39.1 seconds. 39.1 seconds is only two-thirds of the time of a minute. The time is extremely short but is a wonderful fruit for the efforts of thousands of minds to contribute to Mars Mission 2020 of NASA. It took NASA nearly a decade to prepare for this feat. SURVIVAL WITH SUCKS Dr. Daniel Brown, an astronomy expert at Nottingham Trent University (UK), described sending something flying to Mars as a ‘staggering feat’. The biggest challenge of the Ingenuity engineering team is the flying environment on Mars: – First money. So far, no one (human) has set foot on Mars. All scientists know is simulate that environment through data and images transmitted by NASA’s self-propelled explorer ship back to Earth. – Second, the Mars environment is known for its harshness: The difference in temperature between day and night can “kill” human machines, in particular, Ingenuity helicopters are too small, too light (this is required technical conditions for test flight). Not to mention, the Red Planet does not have a magnetic field, the gravity one third that of Earth; and the atmosphere is extremely thin, only 1% of the pressure on the surface of our planet. Basic construction of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter. Photo of Vietnameseization: Trang Ly / Trang Dinh [Đọc thêm về cấu tạo của trực thăng Ingenuity: ‘Mổ xẻ’ trực thăng 85 triệu USD đang ‘sống tốt’ trên sao Hỏa: Sáng tạo khoa học táo bạo bậc nhất của Mỹ!] This means that in order to fly, the helicopter must be super light and turn its wings extremely fast to gain lift. Therefore, the blades of Ingenuity reach 2,500 rpm. Each propeller on the Ingenuity is made of a 57-gram composite material that powers a chopper body the size of a tissue box! OPEN THE WAY TO DISCOVER THE NEW SKY To further mark the link between the Martian Ingenuity helicopter and the Wright brothers ‘maiden flight, NASA confirmed it had named the first Mars airport (where the Ingenuity helicopter took off) as’ Wright Brothers. Field ‘. “We don’t know exactly where Ingenuity will lead us, but today’s results show that the sky – at least on Mars – may not be the limit,” said NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk. . Just as the Wright Brothers’ flight ushered in human exploration of the sky on Earth, Ingenuity’s mission has sparked a new wave of exciting projects, poised to take the discovery of distant world to a new level. In 2027, NASA plans to launch Dragonfly mission his highly anticipated, in which a helicopter will fly over the sky of Saturn’s moon Titan. Other missions to explore distant atmospheres – such as Venus’s cloud survey mission – may soon emerge. THE MISSION OF INGENUITY NOT STOP HERE … The NASA team plans to have Ingenuity more test flights in the next few days, with up to five bolder flights over the next 30 days assuming each is successful. NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter captured this scene as it hovered over the Martian surface on April 19, 2021, during its first controlled, powered flight. another planet. It uses the navigation camera, which automatically tracks the ground during flight. Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech After its first flight, the Ingenuity helicopter sent the Mars Perseverance self-propelled explorer technical data on what it had done, including a single black-and-white photo from a ground-facing camera and information. that was transmitted back to Earth. The Ingenuity helicopter that was traveling to Mars, attached to the underside of Perseverance, touched down on February 18, 2021 as part of a mission to look for signs of extraterrestrial life. Refer: NASA, Popularmechanics, DM