MARS RESEARCH
A number of recent scientific discoveries have been made about Mars. Until 2005, it is planned to carry out 10 flights to this planet, but so far only the American space probe "Pasfinder" touched the Martian surface. "Pasfinder sank to the surface of Mars in July 1997 and delivered the mini-rover Sojener to it. The parachute slowed his descent, and the airbags provided a soft landing. Then the air was blown down, and an all-terrain vehicle running on solar panels left the probe. He inspected part of the surface near the Pasfinder, near the former channel called the Ares Valley, slightly north of the Martian canals.
Scientists have found evidence of possible life on this planet. Although Mars is a bit like an earthly desert, the natural conditions on it are much more severe. Mars is the planet that follows the Earth, but it is much colder. Mars is smaller, and its atmosphere, consisting mainly of carbon dioxide, is too thin and therefore unsuitable for breathing. Despite the thin layer of clouds above the surface, there is no water on Mars. However, this planet was not always like this. In the distant past, it was much warmer there, with more air and rivers full of water flowing through the dried up valleys.
In 1996, scientists discovered a meteorite in Antarctica that had the same chemical composition as the Martian rocks. It probably fell to Earth after Mars collided with a comet. Inside the meteorite, strange prints were found, apparently, traces of simple bacteria.
In order to make a detailed map of Mars, the Global Sirvayeur space probe was launched into orbit in late 1997, which is expected to study the surface of the planet for several years. The probe is equipped with such powerful equipment that it will provide information even about objects as small as 3 meters in diameter. In any case, the Martian maps produced by this probe will be as detailed as those of the Earth.
Meanwhile, quite respectable programs for further development and even colonization of Mars are being developed. In America, Mars Andeground, an informal club of scientists and engineers, has been developing such programs for 15 years. Its head is a famous specialist Robert Zubrin. For example, even the date of flight to Mars of a spacecraft with people on board is determined. Scientists name 2008 as the most optimal year, when the Earth will come closer to its space brother again.
The Johnson Space Center in the United States plans to launch 12 expeditions to Mars starting in 2007, expecting to establish a colony of humans on the "red planet" in 2016. First, there will be three cargo launches. Then, in 2009, a reserve "return" ship and a reserve takeoff stage for the evacuation of astronauts will be delivered to the near-Martian orbit. If all the preliminary preparations are successful, a crew of 6 people will go to Mars and stay there for more than a year - up to 20 months. In 2012 it will be replaced by a second expedition. This is how the real settlement of the near-Earth space will begin.
JUPITER STUDIES
Jupiter is not like the Earth, the Moon or Mars, but consists mainly of gases: hydrogen and helium. Therefore, it is impossible to send a spacecraft to Jupiter: there is nowhere to land, it will fall through gas clouds until it is completely destroyed by pressure and high temperatures. This is exactly what happened to the small probe launched to Jupiter in 1995 by the Galileo spacecraft.
In order to save energy, Galileo did not go straight to Jupiter. After the launch in 1989, he followed Venus, then returned to Earth and, at great speed, flew like a sling stone into the depths of the solar system. In 1991, Galileo entered the asteroid belt and photographed the asteroids Gaspra and Ida at close range. In 1994 he reached Jupiter and launched the probe into its atmosphere, and at the end of 1997 Galileo completed its work.
The probe launched from Galileo, as it plunged into the atmosphere of Jupiter, managed to transmit some data. For example, the wind speed was 650 km/h in the lower atmosphere and 160 km/h in the upper atmosphere. But because of pressure and high temperature (140 degrees Celsius) the probe was destroyed.
With the help of the Galileo spacecraft, scientists received valuable information about Jupiter and unique images, although the work of Galileo did not go smoothly: its umbrella-like antenna could not take the desired position, so the signals he gave were weaker than expected. Nevertheless, he passed on some important information. For example, he recorded a collision with Jupiter of comet Schumacher-Levy 9. This dramatic event took place in space in 1994. When the comet collided, it split into 21 parts, and these fragments, the largest of which reached 4 km in diameter, stretched for a million kilometers. The impact during the catastrophe was so strong that it exceeded the explosion of trillions of megatons. Traces of collision with a comet on the surface of Jupiter remained for many months until they were smoothed out by the raging winds.
Orbits of comets and asteroids are very strange, and so they often fly very close to other planets, and sometimes crash into them. The consequences of such collisions can be tragic! Many planets have traces of such disasters. This has happened to the Earth several times. Craters of cosmic origin are also found on our planet. One of them, 180 km in diameter, was recently discovered on the Yucatan Peninsula in Central America. Perhaps it is a trace of the same catastrophe that once killed the dinosaurs.