How long is a person interested in the possible existence of life on Mars? From the end of the XIX century, when an astronomer's telescopes first saw straight lines resembling channels on its red planet surface. In the natural origin of these channels in the scientific world not everyone believed. Many representatives of science, among whom Astronomer Persival Lowell were especially distinguished, mistakenly believed that Mars was cut by irrigation systems that were constructed by reasonable creatures. Lowell promoted his ideas and infected with a large number of people.
Thoughts that reasonable beings can live on Mars, captured the mass imagination worldwide. By-product of such an imagination were:
- fantastic stories, because now the writers have a new plot;
- Attempts to enter into negotiations with Martians. For contact, people developed entire systems, for example, light alarms from huge mirrors, offered stokilometer geometric shapes on the fields of Siberia (people believed that Mrsian golden fields would notice well in their optical devices);
- There appeared even more visual illusions. Now the telescopes on the surface of the Red Planet "saw" not only "irrigation systems", but also almost Martian houses and even entire cities.
Only in the 20th century, when scientists began to send apparatuses to the Red Planet, the specialists finally understood that the "irrigation systems", which Lowell spoke - is just an optical illusion. But still remained open another, more important question: Is there any life on the red planet, or was she there at all?
In the XXI century Mars - so far the most studied planet of the solar system (the land in the calculation takes). Scientists sent more robots to him than any other body. Red Planet still remains the main goal in search of life. Why is that? First, because this is the world closest to us, which in the past possessed almost earthly conditions. Secondly, it is easier to study it from a technical point of view than, say the same Venus where it is very hot.
What is Mars now?
Mars is a non-shit world. The average temperature there -63 ° C, although in the summer on the day side it can reach + 30 ° C. The atmosphere of the red planet is sparse, its density is only 0.7% -2% of the density of the earth, by 95.3% it consists of carbon dioxide. The Martian atmosphere is not capable of holding heat for a long time. In addition, the planet is a weak, unstable magnetic field, so the surface of Mars is almost defenseless before solar radiation.
Due to low atmospheric pressure, it is 1/170 from earth, and low temperatures water on the surface of the planet cannot be in liquid form. When the subsurface Martian ice is on the surface, due to low pressure, it immediately evaporates, goes into a gaseous state, bypassing the liquid state.
In other words, the protein form of life that liquid water is needed is unlikely to exist on Martian solid.
What Mars was in the past?
Mars was not always such a "unfriendly" place. Scientists believe that in the distant past, the Red Planet possessed the melted core, which, rotating, created a strong magnetic field. This field protected the surface from radiation, thanks to it, the atmosphere of the planet was more dense, because of which the climate of Mars was wet and warm, it was rained on the surface and rivers flowed on the surface.Traces of surface water flows Specialists find on Mars constantly. Orbital probes and rover are photographed dried river beds, river pebbles, canyons with thousands of dark lines, sandy landslides, valleys with yams and faults in the rocks.
Is there any life on Mars - the question for which scientists have already found the answer?The researchers believe that Mars lost its "paradise beauty" about 3 billion years ago. Then a certain event occurred on the red planet, because of which the magnetic field was disappeared, most of the atmosphere was taken by the sun, the water evaporated and the neighbor of the Earth turned into a cold, dry world, which we see today.
Was there before Mars inhabit?
"Chemical Laboratory on Wheels" - Curiosity - During my work on Mars, I took a lot of important discoveries. For example, a rover discovered the clay deposits on the slopes of Mountain, in which organic compounds found. The test tests showed that the place that the robot explored was once filled with a large amount of water, and perhaps living organisms flourished there. However, in order to say for sure, whether life was here, scientists should receive direct evidence.
Perhaps the point in this matter will put a new Marshod NASA PERSEVERANCE, on February 18, he arrived at the Red Planet. The robot sank in the area of Crater Ezero - a dried Martian lake to search here Traces of ancient microbial life, which, as scientists think, can be perpetuated in microscopic fossils.
Article on the topic: As a new NASA rover will look for life on a red planet
Or maybe life there and now flourishes?
If on Mars and there is a microbial life, then, most likely, it is hiding under the polar caps of the planet either under the thick layer of ice, in the treated lakes, which in 2018 found the European Space Agency Probe (ESA) Mars Express. Microorganisms are gone here to escape from the destructive conditions on the surface of the planet.Cameras probes, of course, cannot take pictures of bacteria and them like organisms with orbits. Therefore, scientists are looking for a microbial life on "indirect evidence", with the help of biosignatures - traces of the chemical or physical process of the body's vital activity.
One of these biologists is methane. Specialists are known two ways to produce this gas: biological and geological. On Earth, the biological source of this gas is mainly methanogenic archaems that produce methane in the human intestine, in the stomachs of cows, on a wetlastain. It also appears geological way: under conditions of high temperatures and pressures, for example, during volcanic eruptions.
In 2019, CURIOSITY discovered a large concentration of methane molecules in Martian air. However, the European-Russian orbital apparatus Trace Gas Express, which was measured almost at the same time as the rover, did not find traces of this chemical in the atmosphere. In any case, if methane is really on Mars, it probably produces something alive, because on the red planet at the moment signs of volcanic activity, scientists have not revealed, and therefore this gas could hardly appear in the course of some near-surface geological processes.
Can people bring life to Mars?
Sure. For example, some earth bacteria can get to the red planet along with the marshodes. Before Mars, spacecraft get several months, there are microorganisms that can easily survive in such a journey. A recent study showed that blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria capable of surviving in Martian conditions.
Colonists will be a huge threat to the "infection of Mars". If there are careful sterilization before shipping, then with the human body, which is chicted by bacteria, turn it extremely difficult. In front of the colonization of Mars, you must come up with any methods of "disinfecting" people.
If nevertheless, a rover or person will bring terrestrial microorganisms with him to the Red Planet, there is a small, the likelihood that the microbic guests can intervene in the Martian ecosystem and destroy it.
Or maybe life to earth came from Mars?
Scientists do not exactly know how life originated on Earth. The Hypothesis of Panspermia suggests that it could appear in some part of the universe, and then comets, meteorites, asteroids were brought to our planet.
If life originated on Mars, she could get to the ground with the help of microorganisms enhanced in the Martian breed. This breed could get off from the surface of Mars as a result of the fall of some large body, after which another blow to the large object would throw the breed into space, then the gravitational field of the Earth would attract this material to the planet, and over time it would fall on the surface. What is the likelihood of such an event? Judge for yourself.
In 1996, scientists who studied the Martian meteorite ALH 84001, who fell to the ground, discovered petrified microscopic structures in it, very similar to earthly petrified bacteria. However, to agree that there are "guests from Mars" in the meteorite, the researchers could not. Opinions were divided. Some experts counted that living organisms fell on a piece of "space pebble" after his fall to our planet, so it is impossible to say that there was life on Mars, it is impossible, others - on the contrary, they said that the ALH 84001 must be considered as evidence of extraterrestrial life . By the way, the first were most, a little later, it was their opinion that was adopted by the international scientific community.
Nevertheless, the discovery of scientists would still benefit from science: it was aiming public interest in Mars and attracted a large number of investments in the Red Planet Research Programs, which were quite successful and still bring results.
Material is reprinted from our channel in Zen
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