Why do scientists insist on believing that Martians exist or have existed? There are six reasons.

 

River valleys and deltas: the incredible geography of Mars

The peculiar geographic landscape on Mars makes the planet "brother" unavoidably embarrassed. The highest mountain on Mars is Mount Olympus, with a height of 26,000 meters, which is about three times the height of Mount Everest on Earth. There are wide riverbeds on the surface of Mars, winding and winding, dividing the surface of Mars into magnificent delta landforms.

 

Life on mars

 These stunning landscapes are obviously left over from the history of Mars, because the end of the riverbed is often connected to a giant volcano, and the bottom of the volcano is often extremely flat, which shows that the ancient river formed a lot of precipitation there.

These magnificent landscapes indicate that there used to be a large number of rivers, moors and oceans on the surface of Mars. However, what scientists are very puzzled about is where these chickenpox go?

 

Different forms of water exist

The surface of Mars is extremely hot during the day and the pressure is very low, sometimes as high as 142 degrees Celsius. If you pour a bottle of mineral water on the surface of Mars, the water may not have time to flow down, and it will volatilize instantly. This is one of the reasons why many scientists believe that there is no life on Mars.

 

Forms of water in mars

 

Recently, the Mars rover discovered the existence of solid ice at the poles of Mars, and found a large number of clay molecules under the surface. These clay molecules are usually formed when there is water. Therefore, there may be liquid water under the surface of Mars.

In addition, there is a lot of evidence that the temperature below Mars is low, which may be suitable for life to survive.

 

Organic chemicals

Life on earth is organic matter composed of carbon and hydrogen molecules. As early as 1984, scientists discovered a Martian meteorite in the South Pole of the Earth. Organic matter was found in the meteorite. Scientists speculated: Did these organic matter come from living organisms?

At first, some scientists questioned that these organic matter may have penetrated into the earth after the impact. However, with the deepening of research, it was discovered that these organic substances are not only present on the surface of the meteorite, and the content is higher the closer to the center.

Organic chemicals on Mars

 

So, is there also organic matter on Mars? Scientists speculate that the thin atmosphere of Mars has caused the planet's surface to be too rough to block the damage of cosmic rays, so that it cannot maintain the organic chemical structure.

Interestingly, in 2012, Curiosity discovered a chemical similar to kerogen (a component of fossil fuel). Life is an important source of organic compounds, but not the only source. Volcanoes sometimes spray organic compounds into the atmosphere. Therefore, the existence of organic matter may be a sign of the existence or existence of life, but it is still uncertain whether it is conclusive.

 

Methane

The Curiosity Mars rover discovered that the extremely low content of methane on Mars (on the earth, methane is produced by microorganisms decomposing organic matter), only 20 parts per billion ppb, while the concentration on the earth is close to 1,860 ppb.

The concentration of methane on Mars may change with the seasons, and the rise in temperature at the intersection of the ice and rock layers below the surface causes methane to be released.

 

Livable temperature

Scientists have evidence that hundreds of thousands of years ago, Mars was much warmer than it is now. Just as the Earth has experienced ice ages and warming periods, the climate on Mars will change over time. The cause of Martian climate change is due to changes in its solar orbit.

 

Livable temperature in Mars

 The undiscovered underground world

At present, scientists are only staying on the very shallow surface of Mars in the exploration of Mars, so they have not been able to find signs of life and life.

However, it is not difficult to imagine that the existence of life and the deeper underground world may have formed a certain civilization.

 

shallow surface of Mars

 

Mars, like the earth, emits heat from its core. There may be an invisible temperate world below the surface, enough to warm liquid water and microbial life.

How did the water and atmosphere on Mars disappear?

　　With the continuous development of human society, we have gradually increased the exploitation of earth resources, and the development and utilization of extraterrestrial resources is indispensable. Mars is in the habitable zone of the solar system just like the earth. As one of the planets closest to the earth, due to its unique topography and some physical characteristics similar to the earth, it has aroused human interest in Mars exploration. Mars For many years, it has been regarded by scientists as the planet of choice for human immigrants. To understand whether humans can survive on Mars, it is necessary to understand the environment of Mars. Among them, water and atmosphere are the two most important elements.

                        
　　About 4 billion years ago, the Earth’s close neighbor, the red planet Mars, experienced a warm and humid period. At that time, Mars had a thicker atmosphere and rivers flowing on the ground. Some scientists believe that this environment made early Mars Become a very special planet-it used to be a planet that had a chance to give birth to life.

Earth and Mars (Source: NASA)

　　But today, the Mars we observe is very dry. We have no longer seen the wet scene before. Only volcanoes, endless deserts and deep and dry rift valleys are left. Liquid water cannot stably exist on the surface of Mars, mainly because of Mars. The atmosphere is too cold and too thin to hold moisture. However, evidences such as the dry river bed on the surface of Mars and the minerals that can only be formed by the presence of liquid water indicate that the climate of ancient Mars was completely different from the present. At that time, it should be warm enough and the atmosphere thick enough to retain moisture. There are rivers flowing on the surface for a period of time. So, where did the water and atmosphere on Mars go, let us find out today.

 

　　The disappearance of water: buried deep on the surface or escaped from Mars?

　　In order to detect information related to water and life on Mars, humans have so far launched about 50 Mars probes. From the pictures sent back by these probes, we can see that the current surface of Mars retains riverbeds, deltas, canyons, and lake basins that may be formed by surface water activities, indicating that Mars had a large amount of surface water in ancient history, and It played an important role in shaping the topography of Mars.

　　Where did the water of Mars go?

　　Regarding the disappearance of water on the surface of Mars, the scientific community has two opinions. One is that the water on the surface of Mars exists below the surface of Mars in the form of sedimentary rocks; the other is that due to the lack of protection by the global dipole magnetic field, the strong The solar wind and radiation gradually deprived the atmosphere of Mars, and the water evaporates and ionizes into charged particles, which escape the Martian atmosphere along the Martian magnetic field.

　　The “Mars Advanced Underground and Ionospheric Detection Radar System” (MARSIS) carried on the “Mars Express” carried out detailed surveys below the surface of Mars and found that there is a diameter of 1.5km under the ice sheet of the Antarctic Plateau on Mars. A 20km lake, this discovery indicates that there may be more stable liquid water deep in the surface layer of Mars, that is, Mars has conditions suitable for the survival of microorganisms and other life entities.

MAVEN Mars Probe (Source: NASA)

　　At present, the atmosphere of Mars is divided into lower atmosphere and upper atmosphere. It is composed of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, argon, oxygen, carbon monoxide, etc. The main component is carbon dioxide, which accounts for 95.32% by volume, while oxygen only accounts for 0.13%. Martian atmospheric escape mainly occurs in three regions: one is the solar wind blowing to the back of Mars, accounting for 75% of the total atmospheric escape; the second is over the polar regions, accounting for about 25% of the total atmospheric escape; the third is the extended cloud layer around Mars , Which accounts for only a small part of the total atmospheric escape.

Dust devil (Source: NASA)

　　The disappearance of the Martian magnetic field caused the solar wind to not only blow away some of the Martian atmosphere, but also "lost" part of the water. Mars is now very dry. Martian winds and dust storms are frequent. The average wind speed of Mars wind reaches 4.3m/s, and the wind speed at the junction of terrain can be as high as 50m/s. It is often accompanied by strong dust storms, which also accelerates the violent movement of the Martian atmosphere. And escape.

 Conclusion

Searching for life on Mars is very important for mankind. It is not only for understanding the origin of life on Earth, but also for understanding whether life exists in other forms, what the past, present and future of Mars are like, and whether it can provide a powerful contribution to the development of the earth. Recommendations and evidence.

It is estimated that in the near future, humans on Earth will migrate to Mars, just as depicted in the American drama "The Expanse" (English name: The Expanse), develop space resources, emigrate Mars and the asteroid belt, and take the first step in the interstellar journey. .