In the 1960s, with the help of science and technology, mankind finally walked out of the earth and began to explore the universe. For humans who have just stepped out of the earth, the area we can explore is very limited. The first planet that humans explored was the moon, and in 1969 the first human landing on the moon was achieved.
After humans first landed on the moon, in addition to conducting some exploration and research on the lunar surface, they also brought back some lunar soil and rocks when they returned to the earth. We all know that when scientists study the history of the earth, they often use rocks and so on.
Although time can destroy everything on the surface, the traces of history that have existed are often preserved in the rocks. By studying the rocks of the earth, we have some knowledge of the history of the earth. For the same reason, when we study and explore the situation of other planets, we also need to use the rocks and soil on the planet.
Scientists have discovered many secrets of the moon from some soil and rocks brought on the moon, giving mankind a preliminary understanding of the moon. It’s just that the moon is just a satellite of the earth, and there are no big secrets waiting for us to crack.
Scientists are most interested in the major planets in the solar system, and the two neighbors around the earth are undoubtedly the targets of great concern to scientists. After human beings walked out of the earth, the first planet to be detected was Venus, which was closer to the earth, but when the probe reached the orbit of Venus, it was discovered that it is very difficult to explore Venus with the existing technology of mankind.
The environment of Venus is very harsh, it can be called a purgatory planet, the surface temperature is as high as 460 degrees Celsius, and the atmospheric pressure is also very strong, and it also often rains acid rain. Venus cannot be detected, and scientists can only target another planet, which is Mars as we all know.
The distance between Mars and the Earth is between 55 million kilometers and 400 million kilometers. If our probe is launched within the time window, it will take about 6-10 months to arrive. In order to explore Mars, scientists have launched dozens of probes to Mars for nearly half a century. Through the continuous efforts of these probes, we have gained a lot of knowledge about Mars.
Nevertheless, if we want to truly understand Mars, especially the history of Mars, we still need to use advanced instruments to probe the Martian soil in detail. To carry out this kind of detection, it is obviously impossible to rely on the instruments carried on the Mars rover.
Therefore, some people suggested that we should bring the soil on Mars back to Earth for detailed research, but this proposal has not been recognized by many people. In the eyes of many people, bringing Martian soil back to Earth is a very dangerous thing. Scientists naturally agree with this view. So why don’t scientists dare to bring Martian soil back to Earth?
Some people may say that it is not that scientists do not want to bring back Martian soil, but that our current technology is still unable to do so. Is this really the case? From the current strength of human space technology, it is indeed difficult for us to achieve the mission of bringing Martian soil back to Earth.
Mars is different from the moon. It has an atmosphere and stronger gravitational force. Our rover can go to Mars, but it is not easy to do so if we want to lift off from Mars and return to Earth. Although it is a bit difficult to bring Martian soil back to Earth with the current human scientific and technological strength, it may not be completely impossible.
You know, scientists have planned to achieve manned landing on Mars in the near future and build a preliminary Mars base. This plan of scientists shows that mankind’s goal of going back and forth to Mars is not far away, and it is possible that in the next 10 years, mankind will have the hope of achieving manned landing on Mars.
So in the near future, when humans can enter and exit Mars, will scientists bring the Martian soil back to Earth for detailed research? I’m afraid it’s impossible. I believe that many friends can also think of it. It is possible that simple microorganisms still exist on Mars.
Our current exploration and understanding of Mars has basically determined that Mars was a beautiful ecological planet a long time ago. Even now, there is water at the poles of Mars, and organic matter such as methane has also been found on Mars.
Scientists speculate that Mars may have been a living planet, but after a huge change occurred, most of the liquid water on the surface of Mars was lost, and most of it was dissipated in space, while some of it may be stored under the surface of Mars. Complex life has very high requirements for the environment. Once the ecological environment changes drastically, it will become extinct and disappear.
But simple life like microorganisms has very powerful survivability and can survive in various harsh environments. If life existed on Mars long ago, it is possible that microorganisms still exist in the Martian soil.
Microorganisms are universally small lives on earth. Although they are very small and at the bottom of the biological chain, they pose a great threat to humans. Bacteria and viruses infect humans every year. They are invisible to the naked eye and can enter the human body if they are not careful, causing some diseases.
Although the bacteria and viruses of the earth can bring certain threats to human beings, because they were born and evolved on the basis of the ecological chain of the earth, human beings can more or less immune and resist them, so as not to have catastrophic doomsday consequences. .
But life such as microbes on Mars is different. The ecological environment of Mars is different from that of the earth. Life born under different ecological environments will also evolve different properties. Whether life on Mars will bring disasters to the ecology of the earth, or whether it will bring disasters to humans, we cannot predict.
Before we fully understand the life on Mars, bringing them back to Earth will undoubtedly have very serious consequences. Therefore, even if humans can return to Earth from Mars in the future, they dare not bring the soil and rocks on Mars back to Earth. To study the Martian soil, the soil brought back by the spacecraft may be placed on the space station for research.
Of course, it is still too early to discuss whether we can bring Martian soil back to Earth for research. So far, humans have not found any traces of life on Mars. To achieve this goal, it may be necessary to wait for the Perseverance Mars rover launched by NASA this year to land on Mars next year.
The Perseverance Mars rover has more advanced detection instruments, and its goal is to search for possible life in the Martian soil. In any case, if Mars exists, then the day when humans discover them is not far away, and whether there is life on Mars is of great significance to what kind of detection and transformation methods humans will adopt to Mars in the future.
If there is no life on Mars, then humans will have fewer obstacles to Mars exploration and transformation. But if there is life on Mars, even the simplest microorganisms, then the exploration and transformation of Mars by humans will be more complicated, and there will be more factors to consider.
The goal of Mars becoming the second habitable planet for mankind in the future will not change, and with the continuous advancement of human technology, it is not difficult to transform Mars. Perhaps in the next century, there will be human cities built on Mars. At that time, some people on Earth will go to Mars to settle and become Martians.