Earth probes flocked to the red Mars… Will the migration to Mars become reality?

At this point, it is a’Mars invasion’. Since November 1964, the Mariner 4 of the United States flew to the vicinity of Mars and successfully took pictures, so far, nearly 50 rovers have flew toward Mars. However, the land and sky of Mars have never been crowded with the’things’ of the Earth people.

On the 19th at 5:55 am (KST), the Mars exploration rover’Perseverance’ of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Research Center (JPL) lands at the crater as an example north of Mars’ equator. Was successful. Perseverance plans to search for traces of life on Mars for at least two years and collect soil samples. JPL Director Mike Watkins said on the day that “the success of this landing will pave the way for manned Mars exploration in the future.”

Perseverance is not a solitary exploration rover on Mars’Red Planet’. Another NASA rover, Curiosity, is on the Iolis Plains inside the Gale Crash, south of the equator, and Insight, a stationary rover, is active on the northern side. Mars is even more cramped if’Life’ includes a stationary probe. In July 1997, humanity’s first Rover Sojourner landed on Mars, and the first twin Rover Spirit and Opportunity, who arrived in January 2004, are active near the Mars equator, covered with red dust and are sleeping. All five rovers in the past are the work of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab.

On the 19th, at the time of the first footsteps of Perseverance, in addition to the US orbiter, tens of thousands of European probes, Indian mangalians, China’s Tianyuan 1, and UAE’s Amal, etc. It was orbiting at an altitude of ㎞. This is the first time that China and UAE have been exploring Mars.

Why is Mars now? China’s Tenwon 1 and UAE’s Amal, which left Earth in July last year along with Perseverance, arrived over Mars on the 10th. First of all, the reason why Earth spacecrafts flock to Mars’ sky in February 2021. The shortcut from Earth to Mars is not always open. Mars’ orbital period (one year) outside the Earth centered on the Sun is 687 days, close to the Earth’s ship. The closest meeting point between Earth and Mars in their respective orbits is’Golden Time’, which opens the shortcut between Earth and Mars. This is the only way to reach Mars within 6 to 7 months. This is why Mars’ sky is so busy right now.

Why Mars Exploration? Even unmanned exploration on Mars costs at least several trillion won. Nevertheless, why are the world’s major space powers competing for Mars exploration?
In-soo Jeon, head of the JPL Space Environment Group, told the JoongAng Ilbo on the 20th, “The moon has already been explored, and the next planet that is evaluated as the most realistic among the planets that mankind is promoting is Mars, right next to the Earth.” In addition to scientific curiosity about the existence of life, major countries around the world are jumping into Mars exploration for various reasons, such as showing off their national power.” In an interview in July last year, Omran Sharif, the head of the UAE’s Mars rover project, said, “The UAE aims to create a knowledge-based economy that prepares for the future after the petroleum era.” We also needed an opportunity to plant dreams and futures so that we can have them.”

Even so, how about manned exploration? The US NASA is officially targeting manned exploration in the 2030s. Elon Musk, CEO of space company SpaceX, is taking another drink. Prior to 2026, it has been said that it plans to send manned spacecraft to Mars, and that it plans to send 1 million people to Mars by 2050.

Manned exploration on Mars requires a different level of cost and technology than unmanned exploration. The cost of the Mars manned exploration research alone, calculated by NASA in 1989, 30 years ago, amounts to 500 billion dollars (about 600 trillion won). Like Perseverance, unmanned exploration succeeds once it arrives on Mars, but manned exploration must go and return to Earth. The problem is that manned exploration takes at least two years. It takes more than 13 months to simply go to the space shortcut. However, it is impossible to come back so quickly. As the spacecraft travels 6 to 7 months to arrive on Mars, the distance between Earth and Mars will increase further. Therefore, we have to wait a year or so until the Earth and Mars get closer again before we start. Unmanned spaceships and robots only need fuel energy, but humans need water, food, and oxygen while heading for Mars. When you stay on Mars and when you return, you need that much water, food, and oxygen. It has no choice but to carry that amount of cargo from Earth, or to procure resources from Mars.

Moon Hong-gyu, a senior researcher at the Korea Astronomy Institute’s Space Science Division, said, “NASA is planning a manned exploration to Mars on the premise of procuring a large portion of energy, etc. locally.” “One of the main reasons scientists have persistently searched for water on Mars. It is also one.”

Let’s go one more step. What else does Elon Musk and others refer to’Mars migration’? British space physicist Stephen Hawking (1942~2018) said, “If humans cannot colonize another planet within the next 100 years, they will be extinct from Earth.” You have to send someone.” He cited climate catastrophe, nuclear terrorism, and asteroid impact as the reasons for human extinction.

But Mars is not a paradise. If humans are exposed to Mars, they cannot live for even 5 minutes. Mars’ atmosphere is mostly made up of carbon dioxide. Oxygen is only 0.1%. The temperature is only near the equator during the day, 20 degrees Celsius, and at night it drops to -85 degrees below zero. Unlike Earth, it does not have a magnetic field, so it is exposed to cosmic radiation from the sun. The only hope is that there is ice in the form of water, which is not enough to be used continuously by global settlers. People who talk about migration to Mars sometimes talk of’Terraforming’, which turns Mars’ environment like Earth, but space scientists believe that it will take tens of thousands of years, even if possible.

Not a few say that saving the Earth with the cost and effort of manned Mars at an astronomical cost is a priority. Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg is a representative example. In a video released on the 19th, he argued that “the migration to Mars is for only 1% of humanity,” and that “we must stop climate change for 99% of humanity.”

Moon Hong-gyu, a senior researcher at the Astronomical Research Institute, said, “In the blood of mankind, curiosity for new things and an endless desire for challenge are hidden. I will.”

Joonho Choi, Journalist of Science and Future, Reporter Heechul Moon [email protected]