Both planes share a similar landscape, but Mars lacks the water, oxygen, and atmospheric pressure needed to sustain life on Earth. Compared to our planet, Mars has a smaller size and mass - it is 53 percent smaller than the Earth and twice the size of our Moon.

We need to be on Mars.

Despite the fact that Mars looks like a lifeless desert, its "Earth-like" features and characteristics make it similar to our Earth much more than it might seem at first glance. Thanks to these similarities, many scientists believe that one day we will be able to colonize the Red Planet, making it our second home.

Season on Mars.

Like Earth, Mars has four seasons. But unlike Earth, where each season is conditionally divided into three months, the duration of each season on Mars depends on the hemisphere of the planet.
The Martian year lasts 668.59 sols (sols are called Martian days), which is approximately equal to 687 Earth days and almost twice as long as the Earth year. In the northern hemisphere of the Red Planet, spring lasts seven Earth months, summer - six, autumn - 5.3 Earth months, and winter lasts a little more than four.

The Martian summer in the northern hemisphere is very cold. Very often the temperature here at this time of the year does not rise above -20 degrees Celsius. On the southern hemisphere Mars is slightly warmer - the temperature there can rise to +30 degrees Celsius in the same season. Such a temperature contrast often causes the strongest dust storms.

Mars has auroras

Fantastically beautiful, colorful auroras are not an exclusive terrestrial feature of our atmosphere. Auroras can appear on any planet if the right conditions favor it. Mars is also no exception. Although we can see perfectly well, on Mars we will not be able to see them. The fact is that the Martian auroras glow in the ultraviolet wavelength range, invisible to the human eye.

Scientists can observe the Martian auroras, for example, thanks to a special instrument on board the MAVEN (Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) space probe. Unlike Earth, Martian auroras are very rare and short-lived, lasting only a few seconds.

According to the generally accepted model of planet formation, they are formed from large clumps in the gas and dust disk left after the formation of a star. As a result of collision with other objects inside the gas and dust disk, these clumps begin to rotate. At the same time, the speed of their rotation can vary and change many times. Eventually, when the formation of the planet is nearly complete, the object doesn't collide with anything else. The resulting planet retains the moment of rotation that arose as a result of the last collision.

There is water on Mars

Mars can hide water on itself.

In 2008, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft detected signs of liquid water flows. This discovery meant that the water on the Red Plane becomes liquid in the summer season and freezes in the winter. As mentioned above, the Martian summer is much colder than the Earth. However, paths along which water could flow were found in a place where the temperature does not rise above -23 degrees Celsius. And if the presence water ice here it would still be possible to explain, the presence of liquid water at sub-zero temperatures, scientists still find it difficult to explain.

According to one of the assumptions, the water here does not freeze due to the high salt content (salt water has a lower freezing point). According to another hypothesis, liquid water could form on the surface due to the contact of salt and ice (the salt melted the ice). In any case, scientists plan to get a more convincing explanation for what they saw after determining the source of this water. At the moment, several assumptions are being put forward: the result of ice melting, an underground source, as well as water vapor from the atmosphere.

Ice caps at the poles and ice belts

There is ice on Mars.

Just like on Earth, the north and south poles of Mars are covered in ice caps. However, there are also ice belts in the northern and southern hemispheres of the Red Planet in the central latitudes. Previously, we did not notice them, because they were hidden by a thick layer of dust.

By the way, according to scientists, the dust just protects these belts from evaporation. Mars has very low atmospheric pressure, which leads to the instantaneous evaporation of water and ice from the surface. Ice sublimes immediately into vapor rather than first becoming water and then evaporating. Scientists estimate that Mars may contain more than 150 billion cubic meters of ice, which will be enough to cover the entire surface of the planet with a layer of ice 1 meter thick.

Mars has its own "waterfalls"

Are these waterfalls on Mars?

By examining images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), scientists have discovered the presence of a geological "Martian wonder of the world" similar to our terrestrial waterfalls. Truth in the case of Mars we are talking not about sheer flows of large volumes of water, but about flows of molten lava.

The researchers found that the lava erupted at four different points along the 30-kilometer Tarsis crater, located in the region of Mars, which is west of the Mariner valleys near the equator. Judging by the photographs, according to experts, we can say that the lava on Mars was liquid and in its behavior was similar to water: after the lava filled the crater, it poured onto the surface in four streams. Lava flows could not cover the old deposits at the same level with the crater, as evidenced by the different color shades in the photo. The freshest deposits are dark in color, while the oldest deposits are light.

Mars is the only (other than Earth) potentially habitable planet

Just imagine that people can live on both planets.

Our planet solar system It is customary to divide into two categories - terrestrial-type planets, as well as gas giants. Earth-like planets have a solid surface. We can land on them. These include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars (sorry, Pluto). The gas giants are actually composed of gases. They are impossible to land on because they do not have a solid surface. The gas giants include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

As far as we know, among all the known planets of the solar system, only Earth has life. Mars is not enough for this quite a bit. The environments of the rest of the planets will simply kill us. For example, the surface of Mercury is like a giant brazier because the planet is very close to the Sun. Despite its more distant location, the surface of Venus (the second planet from the Sun) is even hotter. This is explained by the presence of a very dense atmosphere of carbon monoxide, which acts as a heat trap.

Theoretically, Mars is capable of supporting life, although this planet is not as hospitable as the subtitle might suggest. To survive on Mars, we will need the use of special protective equipment and housing, since there is an increased radiation background on the planet, and there is also no atmosphere for breathing.

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Scientists considering plans to potentially colonize Mars have proposed the idea of ​​installing a generator magnetic field between Mars and the Sun. The presence of a magnetic field could protect Mars from the solar wind (radiation) that depletes the planet's atmosphere.

If we solve the solar wind problem, we can raise atmospheric pressure on Mars, which in turn will lead to an increase in the average temperature on the surface of the planet and melt the ice caps at the poles. The release of CO2 into the atmosphere will trigger the greenhouse effect. Rivers of water will flow again on Mars, and the planet itself will turn into a good space resort. Dreams Dreams. Let's start with the fact that we do not have the technology that would allow us to create a magnetic field around the entire planet. On this, perhaps, for now, and finish.

How was the landscape on Mars formed?

The surfaces of Mars formed in a similar way to Earth.

Despite the rarity of the phenomenon, completely new land areas continue to appear on Earth. After the eruption of underwater volcanoes, small islands appear. Over the past 150 years, history has witnessed at least three such events. The last one happened very recently. In 2015, as a result of a volcanic eruption, the island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai appeared.

The event, of course, attracted the attention of scientists from NASA. At first, scientists feared that the island might crumble, but now they say that Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai could last at least 30 years.

NASA's interest in the island is because it provides a picture of how water may have shaped the landscape of ancient Mars. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai that appeared was initially unstable and constantly lost its parts, which fell back into the ocean. The destruction of the island stopped as soon as its base (volcanic ash) reacted with salt water and hardened.
According to scientists from NASA, some landscape features of Mars could have appeared in a similar way.

Mars is able to support life

Is it possible to live here..

No life has yet been found on Mars, but scientists are firmly convinced that the Red Planet is capable of supporting and once supported the existence of life. Curiosity, one of the rovers that surf the surface of Mars, has found traces of organic molecules in the rock of Gale Crater, which was a lake about 3.5 billion years ago.

Life requires a combination of four organic molecules: proteins, nucleic acids, fats, and carbohydrates. Without these components, the organism will not be able to exist as a living organism. The presence of these molecules on Mars would mean that there is life there. But not everything is so simple. The fact is that these molecules can be produced by some types of non-living substances, which makes such a conclusion inconclusive. Therefore, scientists have another indicator that could indicate the presence of life on Mars - methane.

Living things produce methane. In fact, the bulk of this substance on Earth is produced by living beings. Methane has also been found in the atmosphere of Mars. There he lingers for only a hundred years, after which he disappears, and then reappears. That is, it turns out that there is a certain source of methane on the planet, replenishing its concentration in the atmosphere. What kind of source this is is still unknown to scientists, but they continue to actively discuss this topic. Some say that methane is the result of what is happening on the planet, others are sure that methane is produced by microbes. Moreover, scientists have even detected methane emissions, finding out that they occur seasonally. As it turned out, most often they occur in the summer and stop in the winter. On Earth, this feature is not observed.

Can plants grow on Mars?

You can try to grow something on Mars.

Scientists from NASA are confident that in the future it will be possible on Mars Agriculture. We will be able to grow vegetables and fruits, trees and much more there. In an experiment conducted jointly with the International Potato Center in Peru, scientists from NASA were able to grow potatoes in a special box, inside which they simulated harsh conditions the climate of Mars.

There is something magical about the planet Mars, named after the ancient god of war. Many scientists have great interest in it because of its similarity with the Earth. Perhaps in the future we will even live there, it will become our second home. As early as 2023, a manned landing on Mars is planned.

Gravity on Mars is much less than on our planet. Martian gravity is 62% lower than what it is on our globe, that is, 2.5 times weaker. With such gravity, a person weighing 45 kg on Mars will feel like 17 kg.

Just imagine how interesting and fun it is to bounce there. After all, on Mars you can jump 3 times higher than on Earth, with the same effort expended.

Already today, hundreds of Martian meteorites are known, which are scattered over the surface of the entire Earth. And only quite recently, scientists managed to prove that the composition of the meteorites found on the earth's surface is identical to the atmosphere of Mars. That is, they are indeed of Martian origin. These meteorites can fly in the solar system for many years until they fall on some planet, including our Earth.

Scientists have identified only 120 Martian meteorites on Earth, which, for various reasons, once broke away from the red planet, spent millions of years in orbit between Mars and Earth, and landed in different places on our planet.

The oldest meteorite from Mars is the meteorite ALH 84001, found in 1984 in the Alan Hills (Antarctica). Scientists have proven that it is about 4.5 billion years old.

The largest meteorite from the red planet was found on Earth in 1865 in India, near the village of Shergotti. Its weight reaches 5 kg. Today it is kept at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.

One of the most expensive Martian meteorites is the Tissint meteorite, which got its name from a small village. It was there that in 2011 an almost kilogram “pebble” from Mars was found, the cost of which in 2012 amounted to 400 thousand euros. That's almost as much as Rembrandt's paintings are worth. Today, this second largest Martian meteorite is in the Natural History Museum in Vienna.

Change of seasons

Just like our Earth, the planet Mars has four seasons, which is due to the tilt of its rotation. But unlike our planet, the seasons on Mars are of different lengths. The southern summer is hot and short, while the northern summer is cool and long. This is due to the elongated orbit of the planet, due to which the distance to the Sun changes from 206.6 to 249.2 million km. But our planet remains at almost the same distance from the Sun all the time.

During the Martian winter, polar caps form on the planet, the thickness of which can range from 1 m to 3.7 km. Their change creates a general landscape on Mars. At this time, the temperature at the poles of the planet can drop to -150 ° C, then carbon dioxide, which is part of the planet's atmosphere, turns into dry ice. Scientists during this period on Mars observe various patterns.

In the spring, according to NASA experts, dry ice breaks up and evaporates, and the planet acquires its usual red color.

In summer, at the equator, the temperature rises to +20°C. In mid-latitudes, these figures range from 0°C to –50°C.

dust storms

It has been proven that the most violent dust storms in the solar system occur on the Red Planet. This phenomenon was first noticed by NASA scientists thanks to photographs of Mars sent in 1971 by Mariner 9. When this spacecraft sent pictures of the Red Planet, scientists were horrified to see a giant dust storm raging on the planet in the photo.

This storm did not stop for a whole month, after which Mariner 9 was able to take clear photographs. The reason for the appearance of storms on Mars is still not clear. Because of them, human colonization of this planet will be significantly hampered.

In fact, sandstorms on the red planet are not so harmless. Small particles of Martian dust are quite electrostatic and tend to attach to other surfaces.

NASA experts say that after each dust storm, the Curiosity rover becomes very dirty, as these particles penetrate into all mechanisms. And this is a big problem for the future settlement of Mars by people.

These dust storms are formed as a result of intense heating from sunlight on the surface of Mars. The heated ground warms the air close to the planet's surface, while the upper atmosphere continues to be cool.

Changes in air temperature, as on Earth, form large hurricanes. But when everything around is covered with sand, the storm exhausts itself and disappears.

Most often, dust storms on Mars occur in the summer in the southern hemisphere of the planet.

Where is the red color from?

Even in ancient times, people called Mars the fiery planet because of its characteristic red hue. Modern research allows you to take a large number of photos directly on the surface of Mars.

And in these pictures we also see that the soil of the neighboring planet has a terracotta color. Researchers have always been interested in the reason for this phenomenon, and now scientists from Oxford University have tried to explain it.

They argue that in ancient times the entire planet was covered by a huge ocean, which subsequently disappeared, leaving Mars as an arid desert planet. But that's not all. It turns out that not all of the liquid evaporated from the surface of Mars into space, some of it remains today in the bowels of the planet, which is why it is colored purple.

But NASA planetary scientists have found that there are a lot of iron oxides in the soil of the planet. This is what caused the disappearance of liquid from Mars. Due to frequent dust storms, the planet's atmosphere contains a large amount of dust with iron oxide, which gives the planet's sky a pinkish tint.

Martian sunset as seen by Spirit rover

In fact, Mars is not all covered in rusty dust. In some places on the planet there is even a lot of blue. Sunsets and sunrises are also painted blue on Mars. This is due to the dust scattered in the atmosphere of the planet, which is the exact opposite of the earthly illustrations of this daily phenomenon.

There are many theories that explain the dissimilarity between the hemispheres of Mars. One very plausible version recently put forward by scientists comes from the fact that a huge asteroid fell on the surface of Mars, changing it appearance, making it two-faced.

Based on information provided by NASA, scientists were able to identify a huge funnel in the northern hemisphere of the planet. This giant crater is as big as Europe, Australia and Asia combined.

The scientists ran a series of computer simulations to find out the size and speed of an asteroid capable of creating such a massive crater. They suggest that the asteroid could be the same size as Pluto, and the speed at which it flew was about 32 thousand kilometers per hour.

As a result of a collision with such a hulk, Mars had two faces. On the northern hemisphere, you can see smooth and flat valleys, and on the southern surface, craters and mountains.

Did you know that on the surface of Mars there is the largest volcano in the solar system? We all know that Everest is the highest mountain on earth. Now, imagine a mountain that is a whopping 3 times its height. The Martian volcano Olympus, which has been formed over many years, has a height of 27 km, and the depression at the top of the volcano reaches 90 km in diameter. Its structure is similar to the terrestrial volcano Mauna Kea (Hawaii).

He appeared on the planet at a time when Mars became a dry cold planet after being attacked by a large number of meteorites.

The largest volcano on Mars is located in Tharsis (Tarsis). Olympus, together with the volcanoes Askerius and Pavonis and other mountains and small ranges, form a mountain system called the Halo of Olympus.

The diameter of this system is more than 1000 km, and scientists still argue about its origin. Some are inclined to the version of evidence of the existence of glaciers on Mars, others argue that these are parts of Olympus itself, which used to be much larger, but is subject to destruction over time. In this area very often there are strong winds, to which the whole Aureole is subjected.

The Martian Olympus can be seen even from Earth. But until the space satellites got to the surface of Mars and explored it, earthlings called this place "Snows of Olympus".

Due to the fact that the volcano reflects sunlight very well, from a long distance it was visible as a white spot.

The largest canyon in the solar system is also located on the planet Mars. This is the Mariner Valley.

It is much larger than the Earth's Grand Canyon in North America. Its width reaches 60 km, length - 4,500 km, and depth - up to 10 km. This valley runs along the equator of Mars.

Scientists suggest that the Mariner Valley was formed in the process of cooling the planet. The surface of Mars just cracked.

But further research made it possible to discover that some geological processes are continuing in the canyon.

The length of the canyon is so great that in one part of it it may already be day, and at the other end it is still night.

Because of this, there are sharp temperature drops that form constant storms along the entire canyon.

Sky on Mars

If there were inhabitants on Mars, then for them the sky would not be as blue as for us. And they would not be able to admire the bloody sunsets either. The thing is that the sky on the red planet looks exactly the opposite to how it looks on Earth. It's like you're looking at the negative.

Dawn on Mars

The Martian sky is perceived by the human eye as pinkish, or reddish, as if rusty. And sunsets and sunrises appear blue, because the area near the Sun is perceived by the human eye as blue or blue.

Sunset on Mars

This is due to the large amount of dust in the atmosphere of Mars, which breaks the rays of the Sun and reflects the opposite shade.

The red planet contains two satellites Deimos and Phobos. It's hard to believe, but it's a fact: Mars is about to destroy one of its satellites. Compared to Deimos, Phobos is much larger. Its dimensions are 27 X 22 X 18 kilometers.

The Martian Moon, named Phobos, is unique in that it is near Mars at a very low altitude, and is constantly approaching its planet, according to scientists, by 1.8 m every hundred years.

NASA scientists have proven that this satellite has no more than 50 million years to live.

Then a ring is formed from the fragments of Phobos, which will last for many thousands of years, and after that they will fall on the planet in a meteor shower.

Phobos has a large impact crater called Stickney. The crater is 9.5 km wide, which suggests that a huge fallen body simply split the satellite apart.

There is a lot of dust on Phobos. Research by the Mars Global Surveyor has established that the surface of the Martian satellite consists of a layer of meter-long dust, which is a consequence of the large erosion of impact craters over a long period. Some of these craters can even be seen on photographs.

It has already been proven that there was water on the planet Mars, which has disappeared. Numerous minerals, the beds of ancient rivers testify to the watery past of the planet.

They could only form in the presence of water. If the planet had a large Martian ocean, then what happened to its water? The NASA spacecraft was able to detect a huge amount of water in the form of ice under the Martian surface.

In addition, thanks to the Curiosity rover, NASA scientists proved that this water was suitable for life on the planet about 3 billion years ago.

Explorers of the surface of Mars have found a large number of hints that the red planet once had rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. The amount of their water was the same as in our Arctic Ocean.

Planetologists say that many years ago the climate of Mars was quite changeable, and all the trace elements that are necessary for the origin of life were found in the remains of ice found on the planet.

Only the origin of water on Mars remains unknown.

Face on Mars

One of the regions of Mars, Cydonia, has an unusual relief, the structure of which resembles a human face from a great distance. Scientists first discovered it in 1975, when the first Viking-1 spacecraft successfully landed on the surface of the planet, which took several pictures of this unusual phenomenon.

At first, astronomers suggested that the image of the face is direct evidence of the existence of life on the planet and the Martians. But more detailed studies have shown that this is just a consequence of the play of light and shadow on the surface of the hill, which gave rise to such an optical illusion. Pictures taken again after a period of time and without a shadow showed that no face exists.

The relief of the province of Kydonia is so unusual that for some time scientists there could see another optical illusion. She belonged to the pyramids.

In pictures taken from afar, pyramids are indeed visible in this area, but the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft made it clear that this is just a bizarre natural topography of the planet's surface.

Bermuda Triangle on Mars

Research on Mars has been carried out by scientists for a long time. To this end, space stations have repeatedly launched various aircraft to this planet, but only a third of them were able to successfully complete their task.

From time to time, these spacecraft fall into an anomalous zone in orbit and go out of control, and people receive a large dose of radiation.

Scientists have suggested that Mars has its own " Bermuda Triangle", which was given the name YAA. The South Atlantic anomaly is a powerful silent flash of light, and is of great danger.

Once in the anomalous zone, the satellites either break or disappear altogether.

Due to the fact that Mars does not have ozone protection, like the Earth, there is a lot of radiation around it, which prevents scientific research of the planet.

Scientists suggest that life can be wherever there is water. And according to one of the theories, life existed on Mars. After all, the NASA Mars Odyssey spacecraft discovered huge deposits of ice on this planet.

Channels and coastlines have been found on Mars, which indicate that there were oceans here. Thanks to the numerous finds of the rover, we can conclude that the Red Planet was still inhabited.

After extensive research, planetary scientists have discovered organic materials on the surface of Mars. They were at a depth of only 5 cm. It is assumed that in the Gale crater, where traces of the existence of water were found, there was once a lake. And organic elements say that someone lived there.

Research also provides information that biological processes are taking place in the depths of the planet. Although direct evidence of the existence of life on Mars has not yet been found, scientists still hope for a number of exciting discoveries.

In addition, some images taken on the surface of Mars have recently revealed some objects that hint at a lost civilization.

Mars is the origin of life on Earth

This statement is hard to believe. Such a sensational statement was made by the American scientist Stephen Benner. He claims that once upon a time, about 3.5 billion years ago, the conditions on the Red Planet were much better than on Earth, there was much more oxygen.

According to Benner, the first microorganisms came to our planet through a meteorite. After all, boron and molybdenum were found in Martian meteorites, which are simply necessary for the emergence of life, which confirms Banner's theory.

Who was the first person to see Mars?

Due to its close location to the Earth, Mars attracted astronomers even during the existence of the Ancient Civilization. For the first time, the scientists of Ancient Egypt became interested in the red planet, as evidenced by their scientific works. Astronomers of Babylon Ancient Greece, ancient rome, as well as the ancient eastern countries, knew about the existence of Mars and were able to calculate its size and distance from it to Earth.

The first person to see Mars through a telescope was the Italian Galileo Galilei. The famous scientist managed to do this back in 1609. Later, astronomers more accurately recalculated the trajectory of Mars, mapped it and carried out a number of very important for modern science research.

Mars aroused great interest again in the 60s of the last century, during cold war between the West and Soviet Union. Then the scientists of the competing countries (USA and the USSR) conducted huge research and achieved incredible results in conquering space, including the red planet.

Several satellites were launched from the spaceports of the USSR, which were supposed to land on Mars, but none of them managed to do it. But NASA did it much better to get close to the red planet. The first space probe flew past the planet and took the first pictures of it, while the second managed to land.

In the last decade, exploration of Mars has intensified significantly. What is worth only the project of the American businessman Elon Musk, who promised that everyone who has a lot of money and no less desire can now fly to Mars.

How long is the flight to Mars?

Today, the topic of human colonization of Mars is often discussed. But in order for humanity to be able to build at least some kind of settlement on the red planet, you first need to get there.

The distance between Earth and Mars is constantly changing. The largest distance between these planets is 400,000,000 km, and the closest Mars comes to Earth at a distance of 55,000,000 km. Scientists call this phenomenon “the opposition of Mars”, and it happens once every 16-17 years. In the near future, this will happen on July 27, 2018. This discrepancy is the reason why these planets move in different orbits.

Today, scientists have found that it will take a person from 5 to 10 months to fly to Mars, which is 150 to 300 days. But for accurate calculations, it is necessary to know the flight speed, the distance between the planets during this period and the amount of fuel on the spacecraft. The more fuel there is, the faster the aircraft will take people to Mars.

The speed of the spacecraft is 20,000 km/h. If we take into account the minimum distance between Earth and Mars, then a person will need only 115 days to get to their destination, which is a little less than 4 months. But since the planets are in constant motion, the flight path of the aircraft will be different from the one that many people imagine. From here, you need to make calculations focused on the lead.

Mars through the eyes of the film industry - films about Mars

The mysteries of Mars attract not only planetologists, astrologers, astronomers and other scientists. Artists are also fascinated by the mysteries of the red planet, resulting in a new work. This is especially true of cinema, in which the director's fantasy is where to roam. To date, many such films have been shot, but we will focus only on the five most famous.

Even after the launch of the first space satellite, in 1959, a fantastic film was released in the Soviet Union on blue screens. "The sky is calling" directors Alexander Kozyr and Mikhail Karyukov.

The picture demonstrates the current competition between Soviet and American astronauts in the process of exploring Mars. It seemed to Soviet authors at that time that there was absolutely nothing complicated about this.

In the 1980s, a mini-series based on the novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury appeared in the United States. "Martian Chronicles" filmed by NBC. The modern viewer will be a little amused by the simplicity of the special effects and the naive play of the actors. But that's not the point of the film at all.

The essence of the project lies in the fact that the filmmakers tried to compare the conquest of space to colonialism, in which earthlings behave like the first Europeans who set foot on the land of America and brought a lot of trouble there.

One of the most popular films of the 90s, which raises the theme of traveling to Mars, is the film by Paul Verhoeven "Remember everything".

The main role in this action was played by everyone's favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger. Moreover, this role is one of the best for the actor.

In 2000, a film directed by Anthony Hoffman was released. "Red Planet" starring Val Kimler and Carrie-Anne Moss.

The plot of this film about Mars tells about the near future of mankind, when resources for survival have run out on Earth, and people need to find a planet that can provide life for people. Such a planet, according to the scenario, is Mars.

The main idea of ​​the film is the call of the inhabitants of our planet to protect the natural resources that the Earth has given us.

In 2015, American director Ridley Scott filmed the legendary novel by Andy Weir "Martian".

Due to the resulting sandstorm, the Martian mission was forced to leave the planet.

At the same time, the team left one of their crew members, Mark Watney, there, considering him dead.

The main character stays all alone on the red planet, without contact with Earth, and trying to survive with the remaining resources until the next mission arrives in 4 years.

Mars is one of the first planets in the solar system discovered by mankind. To date, of all eight planets, it is Mars that has been studied in the most detail. But this does not stop researchers, but on the contrary, it is causing more and more interest in the "Red Planet" and its study.

Why is it called so?

The planet got its name from Mars - one of the most revered gods of the ancient Roman pantheon, which, in turn, is a reference to the Greek god Ares, the patron saint of cruel and treacherous war. This name was not chosen at all by chance - the reddish surface of Mars resembles the color of blood and involuntarily makes you remember the lord of bloody battles.

The names of the two satellites of the planet also carry a deep meaning. The words "Phobos" and "Deimos" in Greek mean "Fear" and "Horror", that is the name of the two sons of Ares, who, according to legend, always accompanied their father in battle.

Brief history of learning

For the first time, mankind began to observe Mars by no means through telescopes. Even the ancient Egyptians noticed the Red Planet as a wandering object, which is confirmed by ancient written sources. The Egyptians were the first to calculate the trajectory of Mars relative to the earth.

Then the baton was taken over by the astronomers of the Babylonian kingdom. Scientists from Babylon were able to more accurately determine the location of the planet and measure the time of its movement. The Greeks were next. They managed to create an accurate geocentric model and use it to understand the movement of the planets. Then the scientists of Persia and India were able to estimate the size of the Red Planet and its distance from the Earth.

A huge breakthrough was made by European astronomers. Johannes Kepler, based on the model of Nikolai Kaepernik, was able to calculate the elliptical orbit of Mars, and Christian Huygens created the first map of its surface and noticed an ice cap at the planet's north pole.

The advent of telescopes was the heyday in the study of Mars. Slipher, Barnard, Vaucouleur, and many other astronomers became the greatest explorers of Mars before man went into space.

Man's spacewalk made it possible to study the Red Planet more accurately and in detail. In the middle of the 20th century, with the help of interplanetary stations, accurate pictures of the surface were taken, and super-powerful infrared and ultraviolet telescopes made it possible to measure the composition of the planet's atmosphere and the speed of the winds on it.

In the future, more and more accurate studies of Mars by the USSR, the USA, and then other states followed.

The study of Mars continues to this day, and the data obtained only fuel interest in its study.

Characteristics of Mars

• Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, adjacent to the Earth on one side, and Jupiter on the other. In size, it is one of the smallest and surpasses only Mercury.
• Mars' equator is slightly more than half the length of Earth's equator, and its surface area is approximately the same as Earth's land area.
• There is a change of seasons on the planet, but their duration varies greatly. For example, summer in the northern part is long and cold, while in the southern part it is short and warmer.
• The duration of a day is quite comparable with the earthly ones - 24 hours and 39 minutes, that is, a little more.

planet surface

No wonder the second name of Mars is the “Red Planet”. Indeed, from afar, its surface looks reddish-reddish. This shade of the surface of the planet gives red dust, which is contained in the atmosphere.

However, close up, the planet changes its color dramatically and no longer looks red, but yellow-brown. Sometimes other shades can be mixed with these colors: golden, reddish, greenish. The source of these shades are colored minerals, which are also present on Mars.

The main part of the planet's surface is made up of "continents" - clearly visible light areas, and a very small part - "seas", dark and poorly visible areas. Most of the "seas" are located in the southern hemisphere of Mars. The nature of the "seas" is still being disputed by researchers. But now scientists are most inclined to the following explanation: the dark areas are just bumps on the surface of the planet, namely craters, mountains and hills.

The following fact is extremely curious: the surface of the two hemispheres of Mars is very different.

The northern hemisphere is largely composed of smooth plains, its surface is below average.

The southern hemisphere is mostly cratered and its surface is above average.

Structure and geological data

The study of the magnetic field of Mars and the volcanoes that are located on its surface led scientists to an interesting conclusion: once on Mars, as on Earth, there was a movement of the lithosphere plates, which, however, is not observed now.

Modern researchers tend to think that internal structure Mars is made up of the following components:

1. Bark (approximate thickness - 50 kilometers)
2. silicate mantle
3. Core (approximate radius - 1500 kilometers)
4. The core of the planet is partially liquid and contains twice as many light elements as the core of the Earth.

All about atmosphere

The atmosphere of Mars is very rarefied, and mainly consists of carbon dioxide. In addition, it includes: nitrogen, water vapor, oxygen, argon, carbon monoxide, xenon and many other elements.

The thickness of the atmosphere is approximately 110 kilometers. Atmospheric pressure at the surface of the planet is less than the earth's by more than 150 times (6.1 millibars).

The temperature on the planet fluctuates in a very wide range: from -153 to +20 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperatures occur at the pole in winter, the highest at the equator at noon. Average temperatures are around -50 degrees Celsius.

Interestingly, a careful analysis of the Martian meteorite "ALH 84001" led scientists to the idea that a very long time ago (billions of years ago) the atmosphere of Mars was denser and more humid, and the climate was warmer.

Is there life on Mars?

There is still no single answer to this question. Currently, there are scientific data that become arguments in favor of both theories.

• The presence of a sufficient amount of nutrients in the soil of the planet.
• A large amount of methane on Mars, the source of which is unknown.
• The presence of water vapor in the soil layer.

• Instantaneous evaporation of water from the surface of the planet.
• Vulnerable to solar wind bombardment.
• The water on Mars is too salty and alkaline and unsuitable for life.
• Intense ultraviolet radiation.

Thus, scientists cannot give an exact answer, since the amount of data required is too small.

• The mass of Mars is less than the mass of the Earth by 10 times.
• The first person to see Mars through a telescope was Galileo Galilei.
• Mars was originally the Roman god of the harvest, not of war.
• The inhabitants of Babylon called the planet "Nergal" (after their evil deity).
• V ancient india Mars was called "Mangala" (Indian god of war).
• In culture, Mars has become the most popular planet in the solar system.
• The daily dose of radiation on Mars is equal to the annual dose on Earth.

If alien civilizations exist, then where are they located? Perhaps an approximate answer to this question will help find answers to many other questions.

Since we do not know other forms of life than those that have adapted to Earth conditions, all searches for other inhabited places by scientists were based precisely on conditions typical of the Earth. This is probably not only logical, but also the most true. If some civilizations are able to communicate with us, then in any case they must have at least partly similar nature to us, based at least on the same water.

It's worth a little bit of history. Since humanity has always turned its gaze to the sky in search of brothers in mind, we can recall several curious cases.

For example, quite recently, about 100-200 years ago, people ardently believed that the planet Mars closest to us was inhabited. The first such question was raised not by anyone, but by professional astronomers. The observation instruments of that time were powerful enough to see the channels on the red planet, but not strong enough to understand that they were orphaned. If you look at the newspapers of those times, then few other things had a more persistent mention for decades. Quite seriously, many scientists and ordinary people believed and proved it in every possible way that Martians exist and are our closest neighbors. It was said that on Mars one could see not only the channels of the rivers, but also the smoke from the chimneys of blast furnaces, the lights of cities, the movement of trains, and even individual clusters of hard-working Martians. Even envy appears by those times. If now we are sure that there is no conscious life nearby and we feel isolated, then our ancestors lived in an exciting expectation of the moment of communication with the Martians, whose existence seemed obvious. It must have been great to live with those thoughts.

However, what about Mars? When optical instruments became more powerful and the first spacecraft flew to it, it turned out that it was a completely lifeless planet, on which, perhaps, there had never been anything. Armed with advanced science, people thought this was the ultimate statement. But no. Everything is turned upside down again. The latest discoveries, made literally in the first years of the third millennium, break all ideas about this mysterious planet again. And we are not talking about the notorious "faces" that have already fallen asleep, but about completely different facts.

The first shock was the information about the ice caps on the mysterious planet.

This event happened in 2002, when the planet was explored by the Russian HEND device installed on the American Mars-Odyssey station. Global maps of the neutron flux from Mars showed the presence of huge polar caps on it, the proportion of ice in which exceeds half the mass. Everyone knows that water is the main source of life, and that is why this news caused extreme surprise throughout the scientific community.

It became clear that once there was not just a lot of water on the planet, but a lot. American Jeffrey Plot and his colleagues from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory calculated that if all the ice is melted, it will cover the entire planet with an 11-meter layer, while other scientists say as much as 500 meters ...

But even more fantastic statements were made by scientists in March 2007, when they managed to process images of the red planet with a completely new method. Dr. Joshua Bundfield of the University of Arizona compared the changes in the infrared thermal radiation of Mars in different times of the year. And it turned out that the reserves of ice are so huge that it may well cover half of the entire planet.

On the southern polar cap, the thickness of the ice reaches almost 4 km, but the ice makes up only about half of the entire thickness. Due to the huge pressure at the bottom, the water cannot freeze, just like on Earth's Antarctica. And on the vast plain of Vastitas Borealis, an icy lake 35 km wide was discovered. and a depth of 2 km.

The second surprising discovery was the discovery of evidence that even on the surface there can be places not only with ice, but also with liquid water. Almost everyone knows that the entire red planet is literally dotted with channels, in which, probably, river streams once flowed. There were even entire seas and possibly oceans. This was not believed until the discovery of ice. It became clear that once water in liquid form could wash Mars in huge volumes.

It seemed like it was a very long time ago. Although it caused a lot of embarrassment, the obvious remark that, for some unknown reason, the river forms have survived to this day, since they were not covered with stones and dust, which could not have taken so much time.

And so, the specialists of the American company Malin Space Science Systems studied thousands of images of the Mars Global Surveyor satellite taken during the period 1999-2005 and it turned out that the surface of the red planet is much more active than expected. They studied photographs of the ravines and found places where changes were observed over time, expressed in the appearance of new deposits of bright light.

Almost the only acceptable explanation for such landslides is the liquefaction of sand with salt water, which, by the way, just may not freeze during cold Martian nights, when the temperature reaches -90 degrees Celsius (during the day there is a velvet season on the Cote d'Azur: up to +23 degrees) .

The fact that there is water on Mars is already a familiar fact, but is there more on it? This is where an interesting story begins. Many experts are almost sure that there are simple organisms on this planet, which probably live under the thickness of the Martian rock, where there is liquid water and a constant temperature. This is proved by the discovery made in 2004 with the help of the Mars Express apparatus of ammonia in the atmosphere of the planet. The fact is that it could be formed only by the activity of microbes. And it is constantly being formed, because it cannot remain in the atmosphere for a long time. As you know, evolution moves from simple to complex. Could there be something more than simple organisms on the planet?

Back in 1894, a bright light was seen on the illuminated half of Mars. This phenomenon was observed by observatories in Lycca, Nice and some others around the world. It was this phenomenon that inspired G. Wells to create one of the most popular books in the history of mankind - The War of the Worlds. Let us also remember that when this book was read on the radio, many people seriously thought about the alien invasion, which clearly shows the atmosphere prevailing in those days regarding the red planet. There is evidence that the same outbreaks were observed before 1894, as evidenced by astronomers W. Herschel, G. A. Tikhonov and some others.

Until now, mysterious outbreaks are recorded on Mars. Over the past decades, several dozen have been recorded. Sometimes even clouds are observed in the atmosphere of Mars.

But what space explorers observed in the photographs of the Spirit apparatus in 2004 struck everyone with its inexplicability. Once, quite by accident, when the robot's camera was partially directed upwards, it fixed a bright strip in the sky - a trace from something unknown. Either it was a meteorite, or one of the old research vehicles, scientists believe. However, if we calculate the probability of such a combination of circumstances, then it looks a little plausible.

The most surprising statement about life on Mars was allegedly made by an unknown high-ranking official from Washington. According to him, in 1976, Viking 1 photographed two-thirds of the remains of a huge spaceship that had crashed some 10 years earlier, since there was nothing in the same area before. However, the case, nevertheless, is doubtful and we will not dwell on it in detail. In addition, many are sure that it was just a rock of an unusual shape.

). One of the brightest elements of the Martian surface are the already mentioned giant meteorite craters Argyre and Hellas, located in the southern hemisphere on the continent of Tsarsis, as well as the crater of Isis, located slightly north of the equator. It was once a gulf of the Great Northern Ocean, reminiscent of the Gulf of Mexico on Earth. The diameters of these craters are colossal and are respectively 700 km, 2000 km and 1000 km. All these craters were previously filled with seas, the depth of which reached six kilometers in the craters of Argyre and Isis and eight or nine in the Hellas crater.
Of greatest interest is the crater of Hellas. It has the largest dimensions and depths on Mars - a diameter of about 2000 km, and a depth of up to 9 km - and is characterized by a regular cup-shaped shape with steep sides. It seems that it was in this place that Mars took the impact of the largest of all asteroids, the size of which could reach several tens of kilometers. Such an asteroid could well even break through the Martian crust. Two other craters are also traces of a collision with the planet of huge boulders, although slightly smaller.

Phobos and Deimos - asteroids that did not fall on Mars?

Traces of a powerful meteorite bombardment of Mars by asteroids ranging in size from several meters to several tens of kilometers allow us to pay close attention to its two satellites - Phobos and Deimos, whose names literally mean Fear and Horror in Greek. They are asteroids captured by Mars' gravity, not moons that once formed near the planet.
Phobos and Deimos are shapeless and quite small. Their dark, like most other asteroids, the surface is covered with numerous craters and furrowed. According to astronomers, both moons of Mars belong to the carbon-rich so-called C-type asteroids. Their density is 1.9 g / sq. cm, which suggests that Phobos and Deimos are a mixture rocks and ice.
More major satellite Mars Phobos rotates at a distance of only 5920 km from the surface of this planet. Its orbit is very close to the so-called Roche limit - that critical distance at which gravitational forces tear the satellite apart. Astronomers believe that it is doomed and will crash to Mars in a few million years.
The most striking feature of the relief of Phobos is the Stickney crater with a diameter of about 10 km. The impact during which this crater was formed was so strong that it almost split Phobos apart. As a result of such a strong impact, numerous trenches with a width of 100 to 700 m and a depth of 10 to 90 m and stripes on the surface of Phobos were formed.

The presence of the Stickney crater on the surface of Phobos led to the emergence of numerous hypotheses that it was formed during ... a nuclear strike that was inflicted ... by Martians with particular precision and in such a way as not to destroy Phobos, but to make it rotate around the surface of Mars at a distance slightly greater than the Roche limit.

According to the hypothesis of the Russian geologist Professor A. Portnov, there used to be at least one more satellite of Mars - Thanatos (Death). Thanatos passed through the Roche limit several million years ago, and its fragments destroyed all life on Mars.
Perhaps Thanatos was an asteroid that crashed into this planet near the Hellas crater. In this case, in addition to it, there should have been two more large asteroids and many small ones.
It is possible that the blocks of rocks that crashed into Mars were formed as a result of the split of some larger celestial body, destroyed by the atmosphere, gravitational interaction with Mars or ... Martians. But nothing could save Mars from the terrible fate that awaited it.

Readmy work "How did Phaeton die?"

The study of high-resolution images of large areas of the surface of Mars makes it possible to identify many relief elements on it - single and grouped into zones up to several hundred kilometers wide abysses, gorges, trenches, ravines, uplifts associated with fault zones and cracks that have a length from several hundred to several thousand kilometers. Such formations are especially widely developed in the northern hemisphere of Mars. The largest of these are the Tractus, Tantalus, and Tempe fault zones, located east of Alba Volcano and on Tempe Land. These zones practically do not differ in anything, except for large sizes, from the newly formed rift zones, splits, cracks and other linear structures discovered at the end of 2004-2007. by the American interplanetary station "Cassini" on Saturn's satellites Dion, Rhea, Iapetus and Enceladus, as well as from the troughs and bands on Phobos.
As mentioned above, the formation of all these structures is associated with the collision of the listed celestial bodies with asteroids. Apparently, the extended zones of faults and cracks on Mars have the same origin.
This conclusion is very great importance for understanding driving force deep, endogenous processes on Earth. He puts an end to the eternal dispute between supporters of continental drift (the so-called "mobilists"), vertical movements of the earth's crust (the so-called "fixists") and the ring structure of the Earth.
Apparently, the root cause of most endogenous processes on Earth was the restructuring of convective currents in the mantle (transfer of molten matter in the interior), which occurred as a result of the collision of our planet with large asteroids. Each such collision in previous geological epochs was accompanied by a restructuring of the system of rift zones, the breakup of continents, the formation of new oceans and mountain-fold belts, and areal trap (basalt) volcanism.
Thus, knowing the geometry of rift zones and other deep faults in the past, it is possible to determine the places where the Earth collided with asteroids.

Read my work "Great catastrophes in the history of the Earth"

Arabic numerals and pyramids in Cydonia?

Perhaps the main evidence in favor of the existence of a Martian civilization today is Cydonia. This most interesting and most mysterious region of Mars, located on the border of the plains of Acidalia and Arabia - on the coast of the Great Northern Ocean that I have highlighted - has long attracted the attention of many researchers.
Back in 1976, the Viking Orbiter 1 orbiter took images of a hill with a human face, which was soon dubbed the "Martian Sphinx",as well as severaldozens of other "artificial" formations - "Martian pyramids". These "pyramids" form the so-called "city" and "city" square. Interest in them was so great that in
During 1997-2000, the American Global Surveyor Orbiter made a series of unplanned maneuvers for the sole purpose of taking detailed photographs of the area.
After repeated flybys of Cydonia, more than a dozen high-quality images of the Martian surface have been obtained.
All images clearly show the ancient coastlines of the Great Northern Ocean, land areas with highlands and mesas, which have flat tops, alluvial fans, as well as areas of the continental shelf. In some photographs, river valleys cut into the rocks stand out, in others - numerous islands, bays and straits. It seems that this area had a changing coastline.
Perhaps, The most interesting elements of the relief of Cydonia are numerous formations of round and triangular shape, surprisingly reminiscent of pyramids.- both simple, similar to Egyptian ones, and with a truncated cone, similar to Mexican ones.
The size of such formations is from ten to one hundred meters in diameter. There are "pyramids" and more - 200-300 m. Many of them are grouped into lines, triangles and other geometric shapes. Most of the "pyramids" are located on ancient land.
The opinions of researchers regarding the origin of the "pyramids" are divided. Some consider them natural formations, formed as a result of the weathering of volcanic or sedimentary rocks. Others see in their education the will of reason. The controversy continues to this day. Probably, they will stop only after manned expeditions to Mars and a detailed study of this region.
However, an analysis of the images presented on the NASA website allows us to conclude that the "pyramids" and the mesas are two completely different forms relief. "Pyramids" are much smaller than mesas.
On a number of images it is clearly seen that they have the correct faces of an equilateral triangle, and the truncated "pyramids" are, moreover, completely flat surfaces. But even more interesting is thatin the lower part of some pyramids, round holes are clearly visible, which can be entrances to them. So, after all, the Martians ...?
In addition to the "pyramids", in photographs of the surface of Mars there are numerous round and oval "wells" with walls rising above the surface ranging in size from several tens to a hundred meters or more. They are markedly different from the craters found in the same region and may also be artificial formations.
The hypothesis of an ancient Martian city received an unexpected development in January 2004, when several draft images of the Martian surface transmitted by the Spirit rover were able to discern the Arabic numerals 194 on one of the stones.
Of course, the image quality leaves much to be desired. Perhaps this is just a game of nature. But still ... After all, on Earth, too, one can often see inscriptions and numbers drawn on a rock or building. And if this rock or building collapsed ... An accidental find, of course, is unlikely, but, nevertheless, it is quite possible ....