What is the purpose of my country's launch of "Tianwen-1"? Is Mars exploration really for immigration to Mars? The reporter interviewed Jiao Weixin, a professor at the School of Earth and Space Sciences of Peking University, on the above issues.
Scientific understanding of the significance of exploring Mars
"Guangming Daily" (April 12, 2021 04 Edition)
A few days ago, an American architectural design studio announced the design plan for the first Martian city and plans to name the new city "Nuwa".
As soon as the news came out, netizens had a lot of fantasies about "migrating to Mars."
American entrepreneur Musk once preached a plan to emigrate 1 million people to Mars.
Recently, an American Mars research engineer also stated to the public that humans will live permanently on Mars before 2030, and a large city with a population of one million will appear on Mars before 2100.
And when my country launched the Mars rover "Tianwen No. 1" in July 2020, a domestic TV station also put out such subtitles-"Tianwen No. 1" was launched. Will Martian immigrants still be far away from us?
What is the purpose of my country's launch of "Tianwen-1"?
Is Mars exploration really for immigration to Mars?
Is Mars suitable for humans to transform and live in the future?
The reporter interviewed Jiao Weixin, a professor at the School of Earth and Space Sciences of Peking University, on the above issues.
Deep space exploration at home and abroad has never intended to migrate to extraterrestrial celestial bodies
"In recent years, due to the warming of Mars exploration, especially the launch of my country's first Mars exploration mission'Tianwen-1', people have paid attention to deep space exploration, especially the exploration of Mars. These so-called'immigrants to Mars' The plan is also particularly eye-catching." Jiao Weixin said.
However, the purpose of Mars exploration is fully discussed by important functional departments at home and abroad.
For my country’s scientific goal of launching the "Tianwen-1", the National Space Administration and other relevant units also have clear instructions, that is, to detect Martian topography, Martian magnetic field, groundwater, soil composition and distribution, Martian atmosphere, and climate change.
According to Jiao Weixin, from an international perspective, in the past 20 years, the scientific goals of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (hereinafter referred to as NASA) for Mars exploration have the following four aspects: determine whether there is life on Mars; understand the process of Martian climate and History; understand the origin and evolution of Mars as a geological system; prepare for manned exploration.
From the perspective of a larger deep space exploration range, NASA has organized authoritative experts to discuss and write two important documents: "Solar System Exploration Roadmap" and "Astrobiology Strategy 2015".
These two documents comprehensively discussed the purpose and methods of exploring the solar system and exploring extraterrestrial life.
Five scientific goals are clearly stated in the "Solar System Exploration Roadmap": How did the planets and small celestial bodies of the solar system originate?
How did the solar system evolve to such a different state?
Being born in the same solar system, why are the current states of Earth, Mars, Venus and Mercury so different?
What are the characteristics of the solar system that led to the origin of life?
How did life originate and evolve on earth?
Is there life in other parts of the solar system?
What are the disasters and sources in the solar system environment that will affect human survival in space?
In the process of drafting the document "Astrobiology Strategy 2015", nearly 200 members of the Astrobiology Association worked together to determine the goals and objectives of astrobiology research in the next 10 years.
The six main research topics for the detection of celestial bodies identified by the association are: identification of non-biological sources of organic compounds; synthesis and function of macromolecules in the origin of life; early life and increasing complexity; co-evolution of life and the physical environment; identification, Exploring and characterizing the environment suitable for living and biological characteristics; constructing a livable world.
"From the above series of detection targets, it can be seen that in the official documents of the deep space exploration authorities at home and abroad, there is no mention of the intention of emigrating to extraterrestrial celestial bodies." Jiao Weixin said.
Then, does the "building a livable world" in Article 6 of the "Astrobiology Strategy 2015" mean that humans are planning to find other livable celestial bodies?
Jiao Weixin denied this.
He pointed out that when humans are currently looking for habitable areas outside the solar system, they are often based on our limited habitable experience on the earth, which may distort our understanding of the basic requirements of habitable areas.
Therefore, it is necessary to give a new definition to the habitable area based on the latest scientific discoveries and achievements, and to find a world that may contain life in accordance with new standards.
And all of this is still too far away from the immigrant Mars or other extraterrestrial objects.
The more scientific value of Mars is the main reason why countries scramble to explore
After the rise of modern astronomy, mankind has been marching on the road to Mars.
Since the launch of the Mariner 4 Mars rover in 1964 and the return of the first picture of the surface of Mars in 1965, humans have successively carried out more than 50 Mars explorations in more than 50 years.
In July last year, the "Tianwen-1" Mars probe ignited and set off at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan, becoming the starting point for more planetary exploration in my country.
Since exploring Mars is not for the purpose of finding a second home for human beings, then why can Mars attract various countries to scramble for exploration?
There is even a view that is this a competition for resources on celestial bodies such as Mars?
In this regard, Jiao Weixin said that it is definitely not the case.
He pointed out that even though mankind has spent more than half a century to explore Mars and study the universe, the current level of detection is far from clear and clear, let alone a study on Mars. Competition for resources.
The reason why all countries are scrambling to explore Mars is because compared to other planets in the solar system, Mars has more scientific exploration value and conditions.
"Mars is relatively close to the earth, and our probes can reach it. In addition, the conditions on other planets, such as Venus, are too bad, and life is basically impossible. It is relatively difficult to clarify some major scientific issues by detecting it. The scientific goal we hoped for cannot be achieved for the time being. After comprehensive consideration, it is better to explore Mars first, not because we want to'migrate to Mars'."
Jiao Weixin introduced that from the point of view of scientific value, Mars can reflect many problems, which will be helpful for humans to understand the earth.
For example, why are the results of the evolution of each planet in the same solar system different?
If we can find out what causes the differences in the evolution of the planets, then we can better understand the evolution of the Earth in the past.
"We can find more answers related to the earth through the exploration of other celestial bodies," he said.
According to the results of human exploration of Mars, the atmosphere of Mars is very thin, with an average surface pressure of about 0.75% of that of the earth, 95% carbon dioxide, very little oxygen, and full of dust.
The surface temperature can reach 28°C during the day and as low as -132°C at night, with an average of -57°C.
Therefore, Jiao Weixin believes that compared to the earth, Mars does not have the conditions for human survival: “Even if the earth’s environment is harsh or the population explodes, it is easier to transform the deserts on the earth than to transform Mars from the point of view of necessity. Many. So what about'migrating to Mars'?" As for the fight for Mars, he believes that in the future humans will not go to Mars on a large scale as shown in sci-fi movies, so it is impossible to truly compete for Mars in the future. The phenomenon.
Regarding ordinary people’s reveries about "migrating to Mars" and the plans of some commercial companies, Jiao Weixin expressed his understanding, but he emphasized to reporters that based on the seriousness and importance of science, major aerospace projects such as the exploration of Mars need to be extensively invested. The mass media bear an important responsibility for the correct understanding and support of the people.
In particular, the mainstream media must accurately grasp the popularization of science, improve everyone's scientific literacy, and look and listen squarely. They must not give the public a wrong direction for the sake of "eyeball" and "gimmick" and cause misunderstanding.
"In the future, we will have to go to farther celestial bodies to make people understand why we have to work hard to do this. These all depend on the media's in-depth, detailed, scientific and powerful dissemination and interpretation."
(Our newspaper, Beijing, April 11, by our reporter Yang Shu)