Mars is an Earth-like planet with a thin atmosphere, in the same habitable zone of the solar system as our home planet Earth, and many people believe that Mars may become a “second home” for humans in the solar system in the future.
Before we can land a man on Mars and migrate to Mars, we need to have a more comprehensive understanding of Mars, so scientists have launched many Mars probes, some orbiting Mars, and some landing on the surface of Mars. The most common Mars rover we have talked about before is probably the Curiosity rover, or the Opportunity rover, but in 2021, there are new Mars rovers reaching Mars, such as the UAE’s Hope rover, our nation’s SkyQuest 1 rover, and the U.S.’s Perseverance rover. This year, in addition to new Mars orbiters and rovers arriving on Mars, the first human helicopter has appeared on Mars, NASA’s “Jiji” Mars helicopter.
“Mars Helicopter
The “Ingenuity” Mars Helicopter, or Ingenuity Helicopter, cost $85 million, and was not flown to Mars alone, but was mounted on the belly of the Mars rover Trailblazer, which was launched together with the rover, and flew more than 400 million kilometers to Mars. As the rover successfully landed on the surface of Mars, the Ingenuity helicopter, weighing about 1.8 kg, was also able to reach the surface of Mars. The Ingenuity helicopter had previously been attached to the bottom of the rover, but now it has been released and successfully parked on the “tarmac” on the surface of Mars.
We have already shared several images of the Ingenuity helicopter taken by the rover, and now NASA has shared a new image, the first color photo of the Ingenuity helicopter taken on April 3, 2021, when it was separated from the rover. In the image, we can see the Ingenuity helicopter taking color photos of Mars while the helicopter is still on the bottom of the Trail rover, and the shadow of the rover is clearly visible. In addition to this, we can also see the surface of Mars at a very close distance, a world full of gravel and debris.
Although Mars is also in the habitable zone of the solar system, the temperature of the Martian surface is very low, the temperature in the landing area of the Trail rover, Jezero Crater, reached a minimum of -130 degrees Fahrenheit (i.e. -90°C), in such an extremely cold environment, scientists are also worried whether the Ingenuity helicopter will be able to survive such a cold night. However, on April 5, 2021 local time NASA announced that the Ingenuity helicopter has successfully survived its first cold night with heaters and battery power to keep itself warm. For scientists, the Ingenuity helicopter can survive the cold night, can already be said to be a milestone, the next helicopter will also take off from the surface of Mars for the first time. Because the Martian atmosphere is very thin, so Ingenuity helicopter rotor speed is very fast, reaching 2537 revolutions per minute, when it takes off on the surface of Mars, will climb at a speed of 1 meter per second, and then in the air from the surface of Mars 3 meters hovering 30 seconds after landing on the surface of Mars.
Where does the water of Mars go?
But whether it’s the orbital rover, or the Mars rover, or now the Ingenuity helicopter footage of Mars, Mars is extremely arid. Previous studies have shown that Mars was once a humid water world billions of years ago, such as the landing area of the Trail Rover, Jezero Crater, which was once a lake, and scientists landed the Trail Rover in this area to look for signs of Martian life and to collect Martian samples in this area, and to seal these samples so that future Mars rovers can bring them back to Earth for study. Since Mars once had plenty of liquid water as well, where did it go?
A scientific report published in the journal Science states that Mars lost most of its water about 3.7 to 4.1 billion years ago, and scientists have found that in addition to some escaping into outer space, a large amount of water may have been buried under the surface of Mars. This buried water interacts with various minerals on Mars, which lock the water in place as they absorb it. At temperatures below 212 degrees Fahrenheit (i.e., 100 degrees Celsius), these hydrates can continue to retain moisture. Because the temperature of Mars is so low, the water absorbed by the minerals cannot escape. Based on the data returned by the rover, scientists believe that the amount of water locked up on Mars may be comparable to half the water in the Atlantic Ocean, which is still quite impressive.
If there is still a lot of water on Mars, it is actually good news for us. Because we can develop these water resources on Mars to meet the needs of future Martian immigrants, including water that can be used for drinking and living, and also decompose water to get hydrogen and oxygen for spacecraft.
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