Mars is one of the eight planets in the solar system, a planet in the habitable zone, and a neighbor of the earth. Since ancient times, Mars has been recorded in many astronomical observation history records. After human beings came out of the earth, Mars was also regarded as a key planet for research. Therefore, scientists launched many probes to Mars, including orbital probes and landing probes.
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is one of the highest resolution probes on Mars at present. Its high resolution imaging science equipment (HiRISE) can reach 0.3 meters at an altitude of 300 km. This precision is amazing. You know, the resolution of Google maps is only 1 meter
With such a powerful Mars orbiter to carry out a series of explorations on the surface of Mars, scientists naturally have more and more understanding of the surface of Mars. NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has also lived up to the expectations of the public. It has made many contributions to the Mars probe and found many important situations. For example, the probe has found evidence of the existence of liquid water on the surface of Mars, and it has also let us know Scientists have learned more about the vast amount of subtle geological features on the surface of the red planet.
Recently, HiRISE team released an interesting image of Mars duck. This picture was also discovered and photographed by NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It looks like a “duck” with a closed mouth. So what is it? It turns out that this is a strange landscape formed by the exposure of Martian sand.
Scientists say that it is winter on Mars at present. The low angle of incidence of sunlight leads to the formation of carbon dioxide frost on the surface of sand dunes, and the early thawed sand is exposed, forming this spectacular “duck” image. This is also the first image in a series of observations of Mars seasonal changes.
In the past people’s cognition, Mars was a dead and desolate planet with sand everywhere. However, with the continuous major discoveries made by the Explorer on Mars, especially the existence of some geomorphic features washed by water on the surface of Mars, scientists speculated that Mars was also a planet full of liquid water long ago, and had a thick atmosphere just like the earth There may be some form of life.
Only later, Mars may have been hit by an asteroid, which destroyed the internal system of Mars and made Mars lose its magnetic field. Slowly, the atmosphere became thinner and thinner, and the liquid water on the surface gradually dissipated. Although the surface of Mars is dry and barren, there is ice in the polar regions. The observation results of Mars Express orbiter also show that there is a large lake below the south pole of Mars.
In 2012, curiosity Rover also found a small amount of methane gas inside Gail crater. For the methane in the earth’s atmosphere, it is mainly produced by microorganisms and other organisms. Therefore, scientists doubt whether the methane on Mars is also released by hidden underground organisms? Through various signs, Mars may have been a beautiful blue planet full of liquid water 4 billion years ago.
If Mars had the same ecological environment as the earth 4 billion years ago, does it mean that Mars at that time may have given birth to life, which may be longer than that of the earth, or it may be the first planet in the solar system to give birth to life. It’s just a pity that Mars is in such a bad position in the solar system that it was destroyed before the birth of intelligent life.
Maybe many people don’t understand. What Does Mars have to do with its position? In fact, it matters a lot. I believe many friends know that there is an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, where there are no less than 100000 asteroids of different sizes. The threat of asteroids to a planet can be said to be huge. The earth was hit by an asteroid 65 million years ago, causing the extinction of more than 80% of creatures, including dinosaurs.
Because the earth has Jupiter in the distance and the moon in the near distance, the probability of it being hit by an asteroid is much smaller. Mars is different. Its home is the asteroid belt, so the probability of it being hit by an asteroid is much higher. Although Mars has formed an excellent ecosystem long ago, it also gave birth to the first life. But its environment is too bad, one day a huge asteroid hit Mars, directly destroyed the operation of the earth’s center, so that Mars lost its magnetic field.
As we all know, a strong magnetic field is very important for a living planet. The earth has a very strong magnetic field, so it can firmly control the escape of the atmosphere into outer space, effectively block the invasion of solar wind to the earth, and protect a large amount of liquid water on the earth’s surface. Without a magnetic field, Mars would not be able to protect the atmosphere and the invasion of the solar wind. Eventually, the Martian atmosphere ran out, and the liquid water on the surface was also carried away by the solar wind.
However, scientists speculate that the surface of Mars is now very desolate, but it once had a good ecosystem, and there may have been life. At present, life is unlikely to exist on the surface of Mars, but the possibility of life beyond the surface of Mars is not ruled out. Insight Mars probe has started work on Mars, and its main task is to explore the situation under the surface of Mars. I believe there will be good news in the future.
The ultimate goal of human exploration of Mars is to transform Mars into a second earth suitable for survival. The good news from Mars makes scientists increasingly look forward to the livable environment of Mars. It is possible that in the near future, scientists will complete the transformation of Mars and human migration to Mars will begin.
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