This article is from WeChat official account:Planet Office (ID: haibaraemily_planets), Produced: Popular Science China, Production: Haibaraemily, Supervisor: Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Head picture from: Vision China
Mars may be one of the first celestial bodies to be noticed by humans outside the sun and the moon. The overall appearance of the fiery red color makes this planet particularly attractive.
The ancient Egyptians directly called Mars “the red one“.
An imaginary picture of Mars by the ancient Egyptians. © NASA/Mars in a Minute
red glamour
In many cultures, the red Mars is associated with “war, ominous“.
The ancient Chinese called Mars “Yingzhu“. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a large number of “Linghuo” writings appeared in the works of Zhuzi Baijia.Record. The visual phenomenon of “overtaking in a curve” caused by the difference in angular velocity between the earth and Mars was regarded by the ancient Chinese as a big evil omen.
Yinghuo Shouxin means that Mars stayed for a while in the process of turning from prograde to retrograde/from retrograde to anterograde near the heart (Scorpio) The phenomenon of time. Source: Photocopy Edition of “Twenty-Four History of Wuying Palace·Records of the History·Songweizi Family”
The English Mars “Mars” is the name of the god of war “Mars” in Roman mythology, and even the two small satellites are named Phobos and Deimos, which are the names of the two sons of the god of war in Greek mythology, meaning “Fear” and “horror”.
Mars, Phobos, and Phobos. © NASA
Depicting Mars
In the 17th century, telescopes came out. But in the three hundred years since then, humans mainly rely on the Martian impact(sun and earth fire is approximately in a straight line) Only such a “natural window” can see the topography of the Martian surface more clearly. In the vicinity of the Martian collision every 26 months, Mars can reach the position closest to the Earth. Many maps of the Martian surface areUsed so far.
Giovanni Schiaparelli’s global map of Mars and the Martian place names (red circle) still used today in the map are compared with this map The longitude display range has been adjusted in the original image. Note that the latitude display is not uniform and the range is only between 50°N latitude and 80°S latitude. Modified from: Schiaparelli 1877 Mars Map
It seems that everything is developing in a better and better direction. Although humans had limited equipment at that time, they were still improving their understanding of Mars bit by bit. It’s just that no one knows why this road is going crooked.
The “Canal” Myth
Starting from the then authority Giovanni Schiaparelli, some astronomers believed that they had seen more and more “linear grooves” on the surface of Mars through their telescopes. In the next hundred years, people began to believe that the surface of Mars was indeed “traffic and ravines”. These “grooves” were “canals” built by Martian people for irrigation.
In the Mars map at the beginning of the 20th century, the Mars map has become like this. Note that the early Mars map and the current Mars map were mostly mirrored from north to south, and this one also needs to be flipped from north to south to get the same position as the above picture. Source: Map of Lowell 1896-97Mariner 3, launched on January 5, encountered a basket problem during the launch phase: the probe could not be completely ejected from the nose cone, the solar panel could not be deployed, the battery was exhausted… and finally the launch failed.
The appearance of Twin Sailor No. 3 and No. 4. © NASA
But it was the discovery of these problems that paved the way for the younger brother Mariner 4 to reach the pinnacle of life. Only 23 days later, on November 28, the Mailor 4, which fixed all known issues, was launched successfully, and 8 months later it became the first human to fly over Mars and transmit it. Probe back to Mars photos.
Mariner 4 took and sent back 22 photos of the southern hemisphere of Mars, allowing humans to see the surface of Mars up close for the first time. It also made preliminary surveys of the Martian atmosphere, magnetic field and space environment. The results of Mariner 4’s detection basically broke the human illusion of “Martians”: Compared with the earth, the atmosphere of Mars is thin, and the surface is full of impact craters like the moon. Desolate and silent here, no evidence has been found to support the existence of complex intelligent life like Martians.
July 15, 1965, a photo of the surface of Mars taken by Mariner 4 while flying over Mars. © NASA [4]
There is one thing to say that this unknowable Mars rover is still moving very smart: the rover (×) the dog (√). Source: SpaceLin [9]
The two orbiters of the Viking are also wonderful. During the mission, they took a large number of high-definition photos of the surface of Mars and the two Phobos. The quality was far better than the previous Mariner 9 mission, and the coverage rate was as high as 97% of the surface area of Mars, which once again refreshed people’s understanding of the surface of Mars. .
Composed of 102 photos taken by the Pirate 1 orbiter, the clear Mariner Canyon can be seen in the middle, and the famous Martian landmark “three” can be seen on the left edge Button”-Tulsis shield volcanoes. Number: MG07S078-334SP
The success of the Viking marks the overwhelming victory of the United States in the space race on Mars. Since then, the United States and the Soviet Union have fallen into a long period of silence.
Prologue to the heyday
At the end of 1996, the NASA Mars Global Prospector (MGS) orbiter was successfully launched and entered the orbit around Mars the following year. During the nine years of Mars, this probe has made many amazing scientific achievements.
The artistic imagination of the work of the Mars Global Prospector. © NASA/JPL
It uses a laser altimeter to obtain the highest resolution global topographic data of Mars so far (MOLA), which is still important for various scientific exploration and research. reference.
The topographic map of Mars obtained by the Mars Global Prospector, the redder the higher, the bluer the lower. © NASA/MOLA [10]
Using these topographic data, scientists have allowed many buried ancient impact craters and basins in the lowlands of the northern hemisphere of Mars to “revisit the sky”. This means that the seemingly flat northern lowlands of Mars are actually not younger than the southern highlands full of impact craters, but older.
Mars Global ProspectorFor the first time, the Mars Pathfinder used airbags to complete the cushioning deceleration after the parachute, and then, similar to my country’s Chang’e 3/4, released the Mars Rover Sojourner after a successful landing.
The Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner, which were stuffed into the airbags, used the airbags to bounce repeatedly in the final stage of landing on Mars to achieve cushioning. Finally stayed safely on the surface of Mars. © NASA/JPL [13]
Although the two landing missions only worked for three months(but have exceeded the design life), the rover only moved about 100 meters in total, but Mars The Pathfinder and Sojourner, as the “pioneer forces” for exploring Mars, verified the technology and opened the way for the subsequent NASA Mars landing missions.
The little guy on the left of the stone is the Sojourner, weighing only 10.5 kg. © NASA/JPL [14]
Seeking water
The 21st century is coming quietly. In the 2001 launch window, NASA sent the orbiter Mars Odyssey to Mars.
The distribution of Martian hydrated minerals detected by OMEGA. © ESA/CNES/CNRS/IAS/Université Paris-Sud, Orsay; NASA/JPL/JHUAPL; Basemap: NASA MOLA [17]
It is the first time that Mars Express’s ground survey radar MARSIS has discovered a suspected liquid water lake[20]. (For details, please refer to: This time, did we find a subglacial lake on Mars?)
Suspected location of a lake under ice (corresponding to high reflection intensity, blue area in the figure). Source: ESA and references [18]
The frozen world in the eyes of Mars Express is like a fairyland▼
In 2018, NASA’s InSight lander went to Mars. InSight carries instruments such as a fire shaker and a heat flow detector. The goal is to explore the geophysical properties of Mars, such as the internal structure, thermal state, and rotation changes of Mars. Mars finally welcomed its first geophysicist.
A schematic diagram of the work of Insight. © NASA/JPL-Caltech
Although the installation of the heat flow detector has encountered some difficulties, the fire shaker has observed hundreds of Martian vibrations of different magnitudes. Insight will continue to listen to the heartbeat of Mars and feel the body temperature of Mars in the next time.
“Bring the Wind and Waves”
Standing at this point in 2020 and looking at the red planet, this may be the most glorious and prosperous period of Mars exploration in human history.
Although mankind is no longer eager for quick success in the number and frequency of launches, the detectors with better quality, clearer division of labor, and longer standby time make today Mars the most active celestial body outside the earth. There is no proper C position. one.
Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter(MRO), Mangalian, MAVEN, Trace Gas Orbiter(TGO), Curiosity, Insight, so many Mars probes are still working today, bringing us a steady stream of surprises.