Why is it impossible to go to Mars? How much to fly from Earth to Mars - time and routes. How much to fly to Mars from Earth

MOSCOW, 12 Oct— RIA Novosti, Irina Khaletskaya. About 200 thousand people agreed to participate in the Mars colonization project, which was proposed by the commercial company Mars One. As planned by the organizers, the landing of the first people on the Red Planet will occur no earlier than in 10 years. In the meantime, the participants are preparing for the flight physically and mentally. For five years, only one hundred colonists from all over the world have passed the selection, from Russia only four girls have reached the semi-finals. But the selection continues.

They are waiting for a one-way flight and a responsible mission. The RIA Novosti correspondent found out why the girls want to fly to Mars and how developed the Mars One project is.

Space is forever

One of the semi-finalists, Anastasia Stepanova, was born in Uzbekistan. Despite the fact that the space industry was not developed in the republic, the girl wanted to become an astronaut. She later entered the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University, studying space journalism under Yuri Baturin.

“Together we wrote the book “I wish you a good flight,” these words were said by Academician Korolev to Yuri Gagarin before the start.”

Anastasia heard about the Mars One project in the news and decided: “Either now or never. I filled out the questionnaire, made a video message, passed a psychological test. I think many did not even understand where they sent their application, but no one forbade them to try themselves.”

© Photo: Mars Society Scientists disagree on which planet to explore is a priority. “There is no atmosphere on the Moon, and it cannot become autonomous. From the point of view of accessibility, the Moon looks more real, but as a frontier for expanding the habitat of mankind, the only real candidate accessible to modern technologies is Mars,” says Olga, head of the Mars-Tefo interactorium Cherkashin.

Another "Martian", Ekaterina Ilyinskaya, promised herself in childhood that if she had the opportunity to fly into space, she would definitely use it: "This is an exciting adventure that I myself will never be able to organize." Ekaterina is a master of sports in bench press, a champion of the Moscow region in wingsuit piloting, loves extreme sports, enjoys long-distance road trips, mountain climbing, skydiving, plus rides a motorcycle.

Mars we go

The Mars One commercial project is led by the Dutchman Bas Lansdorp, who has eight associates on his team. The company selects future "Martians" and prepares them for flight, but does not build spaceships itself. This, according to Lansdorp, will be done by contractors that Mars One is willing to pay. According to the company's forecasts, the implementation of the plan will require about six billion dollars, and another four billion will cost each further launch of the ship.

Funds are raised in various ways, including through crowdfunding platforms or through private investors. The organizers of the mission plan to make a similar documentary film about the life of people on the Red Planet, which will be broadcast on TV.

The organizers of the project are going to use ready-made prototypes of other companies. First, Mars One will launch a drone in flight to search for a place to build a colony. Next, a landing module and a communications satellite will be sent from Earth to Mars. The design of the module is planned to be based on the Phoenix module used by NASA in 2007. The landing of the first colonists of Mars One was scheduled for 2025, but the dates were repeatedly shifted - now we are talking about 2031. First, four colonists will go to Mars, two more years later, four more, and so on (in total, the first settlement will consist of 24 aliens from Earth).

What to do there and how not to go crazy

The participants do not yet know what exactly they will do on the Red Planet: duties will be distributed after the final selection. Basically, they will have to expand the residential complex and understand the question "is there life on Mars?"

"Imagine: you are on a planet where there is no one else. You must have skills that will help you survive. You need to know engineering, be a mechanic, doctor, biologist, geologist. If something happens to one crew member, he must be replaced by another ", says Anastasia.

Anastasia began to prepare for such a harsh life in advance: she took rescue courses, received a second education in the specialty "Mechatronics and Robotics". She had to change her diet to get used to the "Martian" food: excluded sugar, fat, milk and cheese. The girl does yoga, swimming and running to maintain her tone. Nastya says she doesn't like to run, but she has to.

The second semi-finalist Ekaterina often participates in bench press competitions, so she knows how to properly prepare her body for serious loads.

"I have two educations - psychology and fitness. Both will come in handy on Mars. There you will need to keep yourself in shape, and I know how to do it more efficiently. I have knowledge in the field of biology, anatomy, if you still learn, from me a good doctor will come out," the future colonist is convinced.

Egoists have no place here

According to the calculations of astrophysicists, the flight from Earth to Mars will take about seven months. The space of the ship is small, no shower, only wet wipes, constant fan noise and a three-hour warm-up. There is no doubt that the "journey" will be difficult.

Last year, Anastasia applied for another project to study the Red Planet - Mars-160. It was conducted by the American non-profit organization Mars Society with the participation of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences. For three months, the girl and other participants were in complete isolation at a research station in the Utah desert and a month in the Arctic. They worked in space suits and saw only each other. So they wanted to prove that it is possible to live in conditions similar to those on Mars.

"In the desert, I was convinced that this is mine. It is very difficult to work in isolation with the same people. Therefore, egoism should not go beyond the permissible level. Already now there is a set of rules that can help people not go crazy. Yes, and psychologists from the Earth will work remotely with the crew," says Anastasia.

Never see loved ones

Not everyone in reality is ready to live the rest of the days in isolation without the opportunity to see their loved ones. Anastasia believes that it is too early to prepare loved ones: if she passes the final, then another 10 years of training await her.

"Many of the colonists had children during the five years of selection, but did not quit participating in Mars One. I have not made such plans yet, I have other tasks. But maybe the mission will change, and we will spend a few years there and return?" - the girl thinks.

Catherine, on the contrary, warned her relatives in advance. He says they were philosophical: "I'd rather fly to Mars than hitchhike somewhere in Colombia."

About escape and destiny

No one knows how the flight and stay on Mars will affect the human body. Perhaps the experience of the colonists will be useful in medicine and will make new discoveries. “Of course, there are risks here. We may not fly at all. But at least after us it will be safer to fly to Mars,” Anastasia added.

© Photo: Mars Society The influence of private companies on the space industry, according to the scientist, is an absolutely normal development of the space industry. “At first, these are only state projects, then commercial companies are included, and then it becomes available to anyone. We will live to see the time when private and student research satellites will surf the expanses of the solar system,” says Cherkashina.

People who sign up for the flight are sacrificing everything for the sake of space exploration, the "Martian" believes. This is not entertainment, and certainly not an escape from problems on Earth.

"We understand what we are getting into. The beauty of space is that you can never outgrow it. No matter how much we develop, we will still open up new horizons that we will have to explore. And even if Mars One does not take place, I believe that I take part in it not in vain."

Ekaterina also does not worry that everything can end fatally: “I have such thoughts every day when I leave the Moscow Ring Road. Crashing in a car accident is much more likely than dying on Mars. I’m used to this thought.”

Criticism of Mars One

The technical and financial feasibility of the project, as well as the ethics of the actions of its founders, have been repeatedly called into question by scientists.
Astrophysicist Professor Joseph Roche was one of the 100 finalists who was dropped from the program after being interviewed by Medium magazine. Roche stated that the organizers took money from the participants and the testing was carried out carelessly. Anastasia explains this simply: the specialists physically could not come to each participant or send him money for a ticket. So we talked through Skype. And as a contribution, she paid 300 rubles.

Of course, the exam was not as serious as in Roscosmos or NASA. I think that in the last stages we will have a rigorous selection of the best of the best, those who really understand why they fly to Mars," the participant believes.

Total flaws

Researchers have found several serious technical miscalculations in the Mars One project. So, according to Alexander Ilyin, a member of the expedition to the station in Utah, it is not clear what the colonists are going to eat, what sizes of the greenhouse are needed and where to get lighting for it:

"In the end, all Martians will be vegetarians or someone will send them canned food for billions of dollars?"

Ilyin remarks that it is not clear how the colonists will get water. We need energy, huge masses of soil, time and, again, a lot of money. "If the bulldozer is powered by solar panels, where are the estimates of its mass? It looks like it's not a simple rover, which is drawn in the pictures. What about Martian dust? Will the colonists sweep it away from the batteries?" the scientist asks.

Also, representatives of Mars One do not explain how the colonists will land on the surface of Mars in a way that is safe for humans. Perhaps they do not have specific calculations.

“In general, technical problems can be solved if there are funds for this. Everything is possible, but not in the same way as the guys from Mars One. For them, this is not science fiction, but a fairy tale,” Ilyin is sure.

Anastasia and Ekaterina say that the organizers keep them informed of events and send letters with reports.

“It is difficult to start a project like this without capital. In 2013, no company had agreements to build equipment, now, as far as I know, two flight concepts have been provided. Mars One recently received six million dollars from an investment company, in November we they will announce the date of the last stage. Humanity has every chance to implement the project," Anastasia is sure.

Landing a man on Mars today has ceased to be a fantasy. The guys from the American space agency NASA say with confidence that the colonization of the Red Planet will definitely begin in the middle of the 21st century. But as to who will be the first to send a man to Mars, they are not so sure. NASA is going to do this approximately in the 2030s, but some private companies promise to surpass them and arrange a manned flight to Mars much earlier, and most importantly, for astronauts this will not necessarily be a one-way trip. In this article, we will consider the most likely candidates for the first colonizers of Mars.

Why do we need to go to Mars at all?

Current research on the Red Planet is carried out through orbiting telescopes, interplanetary stations, spacecraft and rovers. All this made it possible to make many interesting discoveries, such as the Martian channels and the presence of water on the Red Planet, but many theories have also appeared, to confirm which it is advisable to send a person there.

Earth explorers will have to find on Mars signs of germs in the past, and perhaps even their present day. And this will confirm the existence of life on another planet in the solar system.

One of the priorities of the study of Mars is checking it for suitability for future resettlement there a person. After all, even Stephen Hawking was sure that sooner or later we will not be able to live on our Earth because of a world war or a global cataclysm.

Paradoxically, on Mars we will be able to learn a lot of new things not only about the Earth, but also about the distant corners of space.

USSR and Mars

For all known reasons, the USSR will no longer be able to send anything to Mars, but the Soviet plans for this planet deserve attention.

In those days, only science fiction writers talked about landing a man on Mars, but scientists seriously considered the possibility of creating a spacecraft for a manned flight.

One of the first major projects was martian manned complex(IPC). It was supposed to be assembled in near-Earth orbit from different blocks. The original weight of the ship would have left 1650 tons (!). Upon returning to Earth, only a part of the ship weighing 15 tons would remain. The total flight time was to be 2.5 years.

But soon Soviet engineers presented more progressive projects. heavy interplanetary ship. There were several variants of such ships that could fit up to 4 crew members.

It got to the point that in 1960 the Central Committee of the CPSU even scheduled the start of the flight of a ship not yet built for June 8, 1971. But the project had to be closed, because the so-called "lunar race" began.

Who knows, if the collapse of the USSR had not happened, it is possible that the first colonists would have planted a red flag on the Red Planet ...

Inspiration Mars Foundation

For a change, let's consider applicants for a regular flight to Mars without landing. Indeed, for the first time to see this planet with your own eyes, and not on the screen or through the lens of a telescope, is also worth a lot.

The non-profit organization Inspiration Mars Foundation has in its plans already in 2018 make the first manned flyby of Mars.

The entire journey will take 501 days. The flyby trajectory is calculated in such a way as to spend the least amount of fuel. The crew will consist of a man and a woman. This couple should safely fly to the Red Planet, circle it and return to Earth.

Such a flight is of considerable importance in terms of studying the physiological and psychological state of a person in interplanetary space. The data obtained will be very useful when we go to Mars for the purpose of landing.

Aurora Program

The European Space Agency also has its own plan for the Martian mission. These comrades want to land a man on Mars closer to 2033.

The agency's leadership says that due to low funding, they will be forced to resort to international cooperation. For example, Russia is involved in one of the stages of the program called ExoMars.

While within the framework of Aurora, launches of vehicles for the study of the Red Planet are being carried out, a manned flight to the Moon (2024) and an unmanned flight to Mars (2026) are planned. And if everything is in order with funding, a manned flight to Mars is quite possible. There is a possibility that Russia will be involved in this.

NASA

The guys from NASA constantly complain about the lack of funding. If you think about it, every organization in the world that lives at the expense of its state has such problems. But NASA is an American agency! This country without a twinge of conscience declares that it rules the world. So why can't you guys support something as important as conquering other planets by leaving it to private companies? And, well, yes, it is necessary to organize economic wars with the Bear ... The US government has already broken off its plans for Mars several times to its space agency.

Be that as it may, NASA is determined to land a man on Mars soon, which should happen within the next 20 years. Exact dates have not yet been announced. The flight will take place when all vehicles are ready, and provisions with water and oxygen supplies have been previously delivered to the Red Planet.

Today's NASA plan is well detailed and consists of three phases:

1. "Support to the Earth". At this stage, it is supposed to study the conditions of life on other planets. This is necessary to create life support systems for people on Mars. In addition, it is required to work out technologies that can save astronauts in interplanetary space.
2. "Testing Ground". The moon will be the testing ground. So far, NASA is not sure that they will necessarily land on the Earth’s satellite and equip a base there in order to “train” in front of Mars. Perhaps it will be enough to stay in the orbit of the moon. In any case, these events are planned to be held until 2020.
3. "Complete independence from the Earth". After careful preparation, people will have to go to near-Martian orbit. The following options are discussed below:
   • A temporary base is being set up on one of the satellites of Mars. And already from there people together with the equipment will go to the planet;
   • Astronauts will immediately land on Mars and organize a permanent colony.

NASA experts have high hopes for 3D printing technology in terms of creating a sustainable and self-contained habitat.

It is also interesting that at one of the press conferences, representatives of the agency noted that the flight to Mars must be international. No strife between Russia and the United States should be reflected in scientific research, and especially in the study of other planets.

In short, the guys from NASA are confident that if everything goes according to plan, then by the end of this century, all problems regarding the possibility of living on Mars will be solved.

Centenary spaceship

The project with the same name was developed by one of the scientific centers of NASA. It is much cheaper than the main plan of the space agency, since the colonists will be sent to Mars forever.

If the project succeeds, the selected volunteers will fly to the Red Planet as early as 2030. With them they will have a small nuclear reactor, the necessary equipment and means for the production of food, water and oxygen.

Roscosmos

Russia, as mentioned earlier, is taking part in a joint project with the European Space Agency. This project is called "Exomars". But its task is only to deliver research modules into orbit and the surface of the Red Planet. Of course, Rokosmos has plans to send a man to Mars by the middle of the century, but he obviously will not be the first there ...

By the way, in Russia in 2015 the Mars-500 program, within which an imitation of a manned flight to Mars was conducted. The results of the experiment contribute to the further preparation of the participants of the expedition to Mars.

Russia can also contribute to reducing the flight time to the Red Planet. Now Roscosmos, together with Rosatom, is working on a fundamentally new nuclear power engine and a transport module that will be compatible with it. With such an engine, it will be possible to get from earth to Mars in just a few months.

Mars One

Oriented by 2026, the Dutch company Mars One plans to send 4 colonists to the Red Planet without the possibility of returning them back to Earth, as is the case with the Centennial Spaceship project. It is noteworthy that volunteers from different countries should be among the colonists.

If the idea comes true, then in 2027 the colonists will land. However, before it is necessary to have time to send living quarters, life support systems and cargo containers to Mars. All this stuff should be waiting for the rover there, which will be engaged in preliminary unloading.

This project is periodically compromised by the fact that it is simply untenable. Even some candidates for the flight say that the organizers of this movement did not raise the necessary money, but continue to hope for sponsorship.

As of February 2019 it became known that the Mars One project went bankrupt, so we give all the laurels to our winner.

SpaceX

In September 2016, the head of SpaceX, Elon Musk, whom many identify with Tony Stark himself, presented a program for the accelerated exploration of Mars. The first landing man will be able to carry out in 2024, and over the next 30 years, the Martian colony should increase to 1 million people. Elon emphasizes that it is time for earthlings to take off and become an interplanetary civilization.

Learn more about the spacecraft that will take humans to Mars in a video provided by SpaceX:

The implementation of the project of the spacecraft "Interplanetary transport system" will reduce the cost of a flight of one person to 200 thousand dollars. With current technology, that figure is $10 billion. Significant savings can be made on the possibility of reusable system components, and on specially selected fuel, the production of which is planned to be carried out directly in the orbit of Mars.

To date, the leading space agencies recognize the SpaceX program as the most promising in terms of the exploration of Mars. This is largely due to their Falcon 9 shuttle rocket, which today delivers cargo to the ISS. Its feature is the ability to land the first stage for reuse. Such technology is perfectly suited for Martian missions.

Many call Elon Musk a dreamer, because he sees the end result of his undertaking as the resettlement (or even evacuation) of earthlings to Mars, when others see this planet either as an object of scientific research, or as an opportunity to make money on space tourism.

However, the Musk project has a lot of support from the public and famous people. So recently, Leonardo DiCaprio mentioned that he signed up for a flight to Mars. It was after SpaceX published their colonization plan.

Boeing

In early October 2016, Boeing made a big announcement that it would compete with SpaceX to land a man on Mars.

Boeing management assured the public that they have everything for these purposes. They are sure that it is their rocket that will take the first person to the Red Planet, although detailed arguments have not yet been provided. Unless they mention new hypersonic engines that will exceed the speed of sound three times.

By the way, Boeing rockets have repeatedly delivered people to the moon.

Apparently, today these guys are primarily betting on space tourism, and not on the exploration of Mars scientifically.

Conclusion

The clear superiority in the Martian race today is held by private companies. The biggest promise comes from SpaceX with their rather ambitious plans. This company owns advanced technologies in terms of space travel and is not as limited in funds as NASA, Roscosmos or the European Space Agency. Of course, if all the departments had joined forces, surely the earthlings would have begun to conquer Mars much earlier, but the situation in the world fell in such a way that political strife was more important than progress.

Mars is a planet that has long attracted the attention of earthlings. The great minds of mankind have been dreaming about its settlement for a long time. The great science fiction writer Ray Bradbury wrote about this most plausibly. How close it was to reality can be predicted today, because the first flight to the planet Mars is expected in the coming years.

The first flight to the red planet has become the goal of the XXI century for many space organizations. NASA, the European Space Agency and the Russian organization Roskosmos - give approximate dates that fluctuate between 2020 and 2030.

Stephen Hawking believes that for the colonization of Mars, we lack only some of the conditions that it is quite possible to create. This, according to the famous American astrophysicist, will take about 100 years. After a given period of time, we will be able to populate a new planet.

Russia's plans

Russia took its first steps to explore Mars in 2011, when it launched the Phobos-Grunt AMS, designed for an unmanned flight to the red planet's moon, Phobos. The launch of the interplanetary station failed due to an unusual situation. A restart is planned for 2021.

In April 2012, Roscosmos agreed with the European Space Agency on the joint Exomars project. In August of the same year, the Russian Energia Corporation announced that it was going to create a super-heavy rocket in the next 6 years together with Kazakhstan and Ukraine, which would be called the Commonwealth. Her missions will be flights to Mars and the Moon.

The estimated carrying capacity of the Commonwealth will be about 65 tons, and the rocket itself will operate from a nuclear reactor and a solar battery.

Today, Russia is developing a nuclear electric motor for rocket technology, thanks to which it will be possible to fly to Mars in a month. Developments are carried out by Roscosmos and Rosatom. It is known that the entire project will require at least 15 billion rubles, of which more than 600 million have been allocated to date. The first flight is planned as soon as the engine is completed and tested - this is approximately 2023.

America's plans

The first plan for a manned flight to Mars was presented by US President George W. Bush in 1992. The project was not approved due to too large financial costs (400 billion dollars were required), as was the new plan, which was given 30 years to develop, presented in 2004.

In 2014-2015, NASA nevertheless decided to send astronauts to Mars, naming the approximate departure date of 2031. Serious work on the project has even begun. However, in the summer of 2016, Representatives of the US Parliament advised to abandon the idea for the same reason - the lack of sufficient funds. At the moment, flights to Mars have been replaced by manned flights to the Moon. When America will again announce space missions is still unclear.

Plans for the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency compiled the Aurora program, which includes flights to the Moon and Mars. According to her, the landing of astronauts on Mars should take place in 2033. The problem for the agency is only insufficient funding, but it can be solved with international cooperation.

Other countries

Among other countries, India stands out, which is actively taking steps towards space exploration. Recently, she has been closely cooperating with America, the presidents of both states even discussed the flight to Mars of the American-Indian crew. During the negotiations, a date was set - approximately 2050.

Private Organization Initiatives

Some private organizations have taken the initiative in their own hands, starting their own preparations for the flight to the red planet. An American non-profit foundation founded by Dennis Tito says it will make a manned return mission to the blue planet in early 2018.

Aerospace firm SpaceX (America) suggests that it will take astronauts to Mars in 2024. While intermediate work is underway, including the launch of an unmanned device, which should check the safety of the flight.

The most notorious private project is Mars One, led by Bas Lansdorp and supported by Nobel Prize winner Gerard Hooft. The flight, which involves colonization and broadcasting what is happening on terrestrial TV channels, is planned for 2023.

The goals of the future flight to the Martian planet

• The main goal of the future flight to Mars is to land people on its surface.
• It is equally important that the volunteers return to Earth and transmit the received data.
• The mission should bring great benefits to humanity, up to the possibility of leaving our planet in case of danger.

The main mission is the colonization of the planet

The main mission that all research space organizations strive for is the colonization of the red planet.

Thanks to its settlement, we will expand our borders and be able to move in the event of a global catastrophe.

Colonization will allow you not to worry about the future of the Earth and build a new civilization on Mars, with its foundations and capabilities. Utopians speculate that it will be an extraordinary society, much smarter and stronger than the current one.

Secondary Tasks

Secondary tasks include obtaining new knowledge, searching for resources outside our planet, answering questions about ancient and modern geology, as well as meteorology of Mars. Finally, the question of the existence of life on an alien planet, which has been worrying mankind for many years, will be solved.

Psychological factors

The flight to Mars will take almost 6 months + at least 2 years will need to be spent there to wait for Mars to approach Earth. It will be difficult for the astronauts, and psychological factors will become the main threat.

Being far from home and locked in the same room, volunteers will experience aggression towards each other, which will lead to conflicts and stress. Depression may also appear, against the background of which there is a lack of appetite, overwork and psychological sleep disorders.

To reduce the risk of psychological problems, it was decided to send into outer space only stress-resistant, calm, mentally and physically healthy people.

Programs are also being developed that will be able to create illusions of a change of day and seasons, as well as sounds and smells familiar to earthlings. This will help to endure parting with the native planet, longing for home and relatives.

Flight related threats

In addition to psychological factors, there are many threats associated with flying, the absence of other people and living in a confined space.

The main ones include:

• imperfection of control systems;
• technical breakdowns;
• violations associated with the composition of the air;
• the effect of pressure drops;
• lack of various medical aid equipment;
• radiation;
• cosmic dust.

The last two threats are dangerous both for the human body and for technology. It will be important for astronauts to always use spacesuits and carefully inspect them before returning to the ship, so as not to carry dangerous substances and space dust with them.

Planned one-way manned flight to Mars

The Dutch firm Mars One is currently the only one that has not changed plans and is still preparing to send volunteers to Mars by 2023. She expects to spend six billion dollars on the mission. The project management focuses on the fact that it is not planned to return to Earth, but will have to live on the red planet, building a new civilization.

flight candidates

The organizers of Mars One have not yet selected candidates for the Mars mission, but have already announced that there will be four of them - 2 men and 2 women. This is the best option, as it allows you to supply volunteers with everything necessary to a sufficient extent and continue the human race. Initially, more than 52,000 people from all over the world applied for the project, and the selection of the best of them continues to this day.

The United States is so imbued with the idea of ​​flying to Mars that eight of the discoverers have already been selected, despite the fact that the mission has been temporarily canceled.

Of the 6100 applications, the selection, which lasted 18 months, passed:

1. Josh Kassada, 40, former aviator and educated physicist;
2. Kristina Hamok, 35, oceanographer;
3. African American Victor Glover, 38, serving in the US Navy;
4. Nicole Mann, 36, Marine Corps;
5. Nick Haig, 38, Pentagon test pilot, IED researcher;
6. Ann McClain, 35, test pilot;
7. Andrew Morgan, 38, military, MD;
8. Jessica Meir, 36, is a lecturer in the Harvard School of Medicine with a wealth of clinical experience.

Experts believe that this is exactly what an effective composition of astronauts conquering Mars should look like.

They will be able to teach each other useful skills and will not be at a loss in emergency situations. In addition, they are psychologically stable, not subject to stress and depression, as testing has shown.

How is the selection of future Martians?

Volunteers are initially selected through questionnaires. Competent people study the data from the questionnaires and sort into positive and negative, in their opinion, subjects. Even those who often get the flu, but are generally absolutely healthy, can fall into the second group.

Further, positive subjects are called for an interview, during which they get to know them personally, evaluate their character and behavior. At this stage, another half of those wishing to fly into space are weeded out. Then the future Martians undergo pre-flight training. It allows you to select only worthy candidates who will be able to survive even on an alien planet.

The goals of the discoverers of Mars

There are many goals before the discoverers of Mars. They need to find answers to all the questions that humanity has been asking since it began to study other planets. One of the main ones is the existence of life on Mars, the presence of minerals and resources that people need. It is important to study the structure and weather conditions of the red planet, to understand whether it is suitable for colonization, even to create a new civilization if all the guesses turn out to be correct.

It all seems incredible at the moment, but once we make a technological leap, we can easily afford the luxury of flying to Mars. Judging by history, humanity has already experienced several such leaps, and, therefore, the next one is not quite far off.

What drives volunteers?

Based on the fact that there is a risk of not returning to their home planet, and the number of volunteers is over 55,000, a reasonable question arises - what drives them? Why are they so eager to leave Earth?

The answer for each of the candidates is individual, but you can assess the situation as a whole and understand at least some of the reasons.

These include:

• the desire to be a hero for humanity, to gain fame and recognition;
• banal curiosity;
• the desire to become the first person to conquer Mars;
• poor living conditions on Earth;
• salary, which is about 100,000 dollars / year.

The latter will be passed on to the families of future Martians, so one reason may be to provide families with good living conditions.

Whatever motivates the discoverers of Mars, they will in any case become heroes, and not only national, but also worldwide. Fame and success await them, even if they cannot experience all the delights without returning home. They will have to be content with the role of legends, but even this outcome is positive. We can only hope that the first flight of people to Mars in the 21st century will take place at least in 5-10 years.

Do not miss. . .

Very important question -

In view of the recent presidential elections in the Russian Federation, attention to Russian leader Vladimir Putin has increased even more. News about the ruler of Russia does not leave the TV screens, and on the Internet, Andrey Kondrashov's new documentary "Putin" breaks records in terms of the number of views. Among the mass of interesting topics that were touched upon in the film, it was also about space. In particular, he spoke about the grandiose intentions of our country to conquer the galaxy. With the help of unmanned and manned vehicles, a deeper study of the Earth's satellite is planned under the "lunar program", and a little later - the study of Mars.

When Putin plans to conquer Mars

“Deep space exploration” will begin next year, Putin announced. The flight to Mars in 2019 will be carried out by unmanned spacecraft, but "manned launches" are also planned in the future. In the near future, Russian scientists are planning to “launch a mission towards Mars,” said Vladimir Putin. According to the head of state, Russia now has every chance to make a big leap in the field of deep space exploration. He explained that now many countries have a fairly high level of technological development, including our country. Therefore, Russia "has a chance to become leaders." At present, there is an excellent base for the next step forward, which should be used as a springboard for a sharp move up. Thus, Vladimir Putin made it clear to all Russian viewers that space exploration is one of the most important strategic tasks in terms of the development of our state.

How the flight will be carried out

The flight to Mars in 2019 will be carried out by an unmanned interplanetary spacecraft, which Elon Musk is working on. The scientist assured that by the beginning of next year the spacecraft will be able to fly to the Red Planet, although it will not be able to stay there for a long time. Recall that in 2016, a similar group of drones failed and failed to successfully dock with the surface of Mars. Then the TGO orbiter and the landing module Schiaparelli participated in it, which crashed at the moment of contact with the planet.

Further, Roskosmos will join the work. In 2020, he plans to launch the second phase of the exploration mission to Mars. It will be called "ExoMars" and will be the result of joint work with the European Space Agency. The mission will consist of two vehicles: a European rover and a landing platform developed by Russian engineers. The aim of the launch will be:

• landing on the surface of Mars landing module;
• climate measurements over a long period of time;
• verification of existing atmospheric models.

If the second mission is successful, Elon Musk plans to create a permanent colony on the Red Planet by 2022. Its goal will be to deliver the necessary cargo for people, the first of which will be able to set foot on the surface of Mars in 2024. While it is difficult to imagine that in six years the first space tourists will land on the Red Planet, however, the rapid development of the technical base makes it possible to think so.

In the meantime, a flight to Mars is only in development, Putin is already talking about the “lunar program” of 2019 in action. Its main task will be to explore the poles of the moon. Russian cosmonauts are planned to land there to test the hypothesis of the presence of water in its bowels.

In contrast to the peaceful study of deep space by Russian scientists, US President Donald Trump made a shocking statement. During a visit to an air force base in California, he announced the need to create a national space force. He explained his decision by the fact that “space is also a battlefield”, the same as territories on water, land and in the air. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin immediately reacted to Trump's speech. He commented on the American leader's speech as follows: "The United States is opening Pandora's box." It turns out that for some countries space is a huge field for general scientific work and studies, while for others it is a place for wars and appropriation of territories.

Vladimir Putin on flights to Mars and other planets: video