Mars, latest news, photos, videos. Mars, latest news, photos, videos Latest exploration of Mars
Since ancient times, man has been trying to see the unknown, to understand the meaning of life and to understand the secrets of the universe. But even now, in the era of technological breakthrough, it cannot be said that our possibilities are limitless. For example, to study a planet, it is necessary to attract fabulous sums, not to mention the duration of the flight to the cherished celestial body.
But astronauts do not miss the chance to get acquainted with other planets of our solar system, as well as come up with ways to space travel outside the galaxy. So the space program Exomars 2017 aims to study the mysterious planet Mars. Let's get acquainted with the main provisions of this program, and also learn about its main stages in this article.
Why was ExoMars invented?
In 2013, the Russian state corporation Roscosmos, together with the European space agency, launched a large-scale program to study the planet Mars called Exomars. Note that each of the founding parties has its own specific tasks:
- the European one takes care of the creation of the transit module and the rover;
- the Russian one is engaged in calculations, design and creation of a landing platform.
Delving into the features of this program, you can see that it consists of the most important stages, the first of which already started last year - a spacecraft was launched from the Boykonur Cosmodrome in order for it to study in detail all the features of the planet Mars.
Main objectives of the program
Without much difficulty, one can guess that the main goal this program will confirm or refute life on Mars. This question has been worrying the inhabitants of our planet for more than a decade, and the creators of ExoMars hope that they will soon be able to answer these and many other questions.
But in addition to this study, scientists intend to tell the world other secrets of the planet:
- Study of the surface and subsurface soil near the landing of the ship;
- Implementation of all kinds of geological samples of the earth;
- Determination of all physical, chemical and other characteristics of the planet's surface;
- Accurate description and analysis of how fit environment Mars to further spacecraft landings. Simply put, the study of the real danger to scientists and ships;
- The study of the bowels of the planet to confirm or refute life on it.
Only after all these questions have been answered by scientists will it be possible to state with certainty that the ExoMars program has been successfully completed.
Last news
As it has already become clear, the Exomars program is incredibly valuable and significant for all mankind. Currently, scientists working in this project, are going to provide the inhabitants of the Earth with a number of stunning facts regarding the planet Mars. All these discoveries were made thanks to innovative technologies and techniques developed in the ExoMars laboratories.
Researchers will try to find not only living creatures on Mars, but also deposits of methane. Why did they decide to focus on methane?
- Methane is the simplest hydrocarbon produced on our planet by living beings and plants.
- There is a lot of methane on this planet, and this may indicate the presence of life, active volcanoes or active processes in the depths of the planet.
Note that for scientists it does not matter which factor is discovered first - anyway, this news will be a real sensation!
Station for receiving information in 2017
As early as next year, work will begin with a Russian ground station to receive information within the framework of the ExoMars program. The ground radio system will start collecting data in September 2017 and will include two ground stations for receiving information with antennas of 64 meters located in Medvezhye Lakes (TNA-1500) and Kalyazin (TNA-1500K).
This ground station will be able to pick up signals from other spacecraft of the European Space Agency and NASA from open space. At present, a prototype ground station has already been erected and its testing will begin from the moment the Trace Gas Orbiter orbiter begins deceleration on the Martian atmosphere.
Future of ExoMars
Many who closely follow the progress of this program are worried that it will not last as long as planned. But scientists assure that ExoMars will exist for a long time, because research work have just begun and a huge amount of tasks have been set before the specialists, which should be solved. For example, this year the team will have to find methane deposits and plot them on a map of the surface of Mars.
Already in 2018, work will continue on a detailed study of the analyzes obtained, which were found in various places. In addition, a functional rover has already been sent to the planet, which is able to reveal all the secrets of this mysterious.
Mars rover and its features
Most of us may ask a logical question - "How is the current version of the rover different from the previous ones, as well as from those used earlier?". The designers of ExoMars happily shared its main advantages, namely:
- installed powerful panoramic and solar panels;
- offline navigation;
- the ability to connect black-and-white maps to the main computer, thereby scientists will receive a clearer and more detailed image of the area.
Summarizing all of the above, it becomes clear that ExoMars is a great opportunity to get a few steps closer to unraveling the mysteries of the Universe, as well as a good experience in using innovative technologies.
Videos news
Mars becomes a testing ground for all kinds of fabrications
This is the conclusion that many Internet users came to, having become acquainted with the next “discovery” of the Taiwanese ufologist Scott Waring. Look at the photos, get acquainted with the videos that this tireless detective of everything paranormal posted on his website, and draw your own conclusions.
The existence of extraterrestrial life has worried mankind since ancient times. The solar system was the first place where scientists hoped to find living organisms. With the development of science, it was possible to find out what is the most likely life on mars. The tales of antiquity, backed up scientific facts and photos of Mars, indicate that the existence of life outside the Earth is possible.
Red Planet Mystery
Today, the planet Mars is being actively explored. The news refers to strange finds, inexplicable images. A trip to Mars is planned soon, which will either finally debunk the myth of extraterrestrial life, or confirm its existence in solar system. The significant distance to Mars makes the expedition long and difficult, you can read about the preparation for it on our website. The available videos of Mars are food for thought about the structure of the World.
News about Mars are not only NASA reports, but also mysterious, inexplicable riddles. The most famous images of Mars contain an incredible picture: the geolandscape on one side clearly resembles a human face, nearby are pyramids, similar in structure to the pyramids in Egypt. The monolith on Phobos, the Angara, the mysterious finds of the rover, the amazing forms of the landscape are some of the facts that have not been fully explored and cause heated debate.
Researchers of the unidentified claim that there was life on Mars. Assumptions about the connection between culture and technology ancient egypt with the race that previously inhabited Mars, has impressive evidence. The current interest of official astronomy in Mars presents new mysteries, the answers to which you will find in this section.
Most last news about Mars are published in this section. The section includes unique photos, videos, hypotheses of scientists and other researchers.
Meanwhile, Waring continues to find mysterious artifacts in the "photographs of Mars" ...
While conspiracy theorists assure Internet users that NASA did not launch any rovers anywhere, and that all Martian pictures were taken on the deserted Canadian island of Devon, tireless Taiwanese ufologist Scott Waring continues to find evidence of intelligent Martian life in these photos.
Mars at all times aroused curiosity among scientists and ordinary people, so a lot of research and discoveries are associated with it. The message of scientists that there was water on Mars became a real sensation. Two rovers and three orbiters are currently exploring Mars, with two more to join soon. In our review, the most interesting ideas that arise in the course of these scientific research.
10 Comet Passage Disrupts Mars' Magnetosphere
In September 2014 spacecraft Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) entered Mars orbit. Just a few weeks later, the probe witnessed a rare occasion when a comet flew very close to the Red Planet. Comet C/2013 A1, also known as Siding Spring, was discovered in 2013.
Initially, scientists thought the comet would crash into Mars, but the two objects passed within 140,000 km of each other. Since Mars has a rather weak magnetosphere, the planet was literally flooded with a layer of ions from a powerful magnetic field comets. NASA compared this effect to a powerful but short-lived solar storm. As a result, for some time the magnetic field of Mars plunged into complete chaos.
In 2013, the MAVEN spacecraft was launched to study the atmosphere of Mars. Based on the observations made by the probe, and computer simulation it turned out that the planet has a rather fashionable "mohawk". The unusual "hair" of Mars actually consists of electrically charged particles torn out of the planet's upper atmosphere by the solar wind. The electric field created by the solar wind, as well as other significant events on the Sun, such as coronal mass ejections and solar flares, pluck ions from the planet's polar zones, creating a cloud of charged particles that looks like a mohawk.
8 Mars Has Impact Glass That Could Save Life
Impactite is a type of rock created as a result of a meteorite impact, i.e. shock-explosive (impact) impact. This is actually a mixture of various rocks, minerals, glass and crystals, formed due to colossal pressure and temperature. Known sources of impactite on Earth are the Alamo bolide crater in Nevada and the Darwin crater in Tasmania. Last year, NASA found new sources of this substance on Mars.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered impact glass deposits preserved in several craters on the Red Planet. In 2014, scientist Peter Schultz proved that similar glass found in Argentina retained plant matter and organic molecules, so it is possible that impact glass on Mars could also contain traces of ancient life.
If humans ever settle Mars, they will have to develop methods to feed the colonists on the Red Planet. According to scientists from Wageningen University, there are already four vegetables and grains that can be grown in Martian soil and are suitable for consumption after that.
These four crops are tomatoes, radishes, rye and peas. The Dutch scientists grew them in soil, the composition of which was as close as possible to that of Mars, based on NASA data. Although this soil contains a large amount heavy metals, such as cadmium and copper, food grown in it did not absorb these metals in sufficient quantities to pose a hazard to humans.
Mars rovers and probes have been studying the Martian dunes for quite some time, but recent images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have puzzled scientists somewhat. In February 2016, the spacecraft transmitted images of complex dunes that closely resembled the dots and dashes used in Morse code. Scientists believe that most likely the old meteorite crater limited the amount of sand from which the dunes formed, which led to their similar unusual shape.
The "dash" dunes were allegedly shaped by winds that blew at right angles from two directions, which created their linear shape. But how the dunes-"points" were formed, scientists cannot yet explain.
5. Martian mineral mystery
The region of Mars explored by the Curiosity rover in 2015 raised many questions for NASA scientists. This area, known as "Maraias", is a geologically unusual area where a layer of sandstone sits on a "cushion" of mudstone. Marias has an exceptionally high concentration of silica - up to 90 percent in some rocks. Silicon dioxide is chemical compound, contained in rocks and minerals on Earth, primarily in quartz.
According to Curiosity project scientist Albert Yen, standard processes for increasing the concentration of silica involve either dissolving other ingredients or introducing silica from another source. Either way, you need water. Scientists were even more surprised when they took samples rock. For the first time on Mars, they stumbled upon a mineral called tridymite. Although tridymite is incredibly rare on Earth, there are huge amounts of tridymite in Marias and no one has the slightest idea where it came from.
4. White planet
There was a time when the famous Red Planet was actually more white than red. According to astronomers from the South research institute in Boulder, this is because Mars has relatively recently gone through an ice age much more extreme than those that have happened on Earth. The team reached this conclusion by observing layers of ice at the north pole of Mars. Using ground-penetrating radar, astronomers have seen a cross section in the ice structure 2 km below Mars' ice crust, ostensibly evidence that the planet experienced an intense ice age 370,000 years ago, with another expected 150,000 years ago.
3. Martian underground volcanoes
Recently discovered deposits of tridymite testify to the violent volcanic activity of Mars in the past. New data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter also suggests that Mars once had volcanoes that erupted under the ice. The probe studied the region of the Red Planet known as "Sisyphi Montes".
It has a large number of flat-topped mountains, which are similar in shape to the volcanoes of the Earth that erupted under the ice. When such an eruption occurs, it is usually powerful enough to break through a layer of ice and "shoot" a large amount of ash into the air. This also leaves a distinct trace of minerals and other compounds, similar to that found at Sisyphi Montes.
2 Ancient Martian Mega Tsunamis
Scientists are still arguing about whether there was once a northern ocean on the Red Planet. However, a new study indicates that the ocean did indeed exist and that huge tsunamis raged on it, compared to which terrestrial counterparts simply pale. Until now, evidence pointing to the existence of an ancient ocean was considered to be the remnants of the coastline, but tsunamis up to 120 meters high, which hit the coast every three million years, simply erased the coastline.
Scientists are especially interested in studying craters near the coastline. After all, water must have accumulated in them for millions of years, which makes such craters ideal places to search for signs of ancient life.
1 Mars Had More Water Than The Arctic Ocean
Although the location of Mars' ocean is still debated, scientists agree that the Red Planet used to have a lot of water. NASA suggests that Mars once had enough water to completely cover the planet's surface in one giant ocean 140 meters deep.
At the same time, the water was probably concentrated in an ocean larger than the Arctic Ocean on Earth, which occupied about 19 percent of the surface of Mars. It is also assumed that Mars lost 87 percent of its water, which evaporated into space.