Easy to 'race' up space

The failed launch in early July caused China's upcoming moon missions to be delayed.

The process of preparing for China's ambition to conquer Mars in 2020 is "going smoothly" , while the US and Russia also promote exploration of "red planet".

Moon hot spot, Mars

Scientist Zhang Rongqiao - head of Beijing's project to bring exploration and human beings to Mars by 2020 - recently said his country is trying to become the first country to explore both surface and surface. Mars orbit in a single mission. Specifically, the probe will separate from Mars's orbiting spacecraft and land on an area in the northern hemisphere of the red planet to gather data on temperature, atmospheric conditions and landscapes. up there.

Beijing will then conduct further missions to collect soil and rock samples on Mars. Mr. Zhang revealed the journey to Mars is expected to last about 7 months.

To support the mission, Beijing is building a Mars simulation facility worth 400 million yuan (about $ 60 million) in a remote area in the northwest, aiming to promote planetary research. Red and local travel. In addition, a "cosmic cabin" was born in Beijing, where scientists studied the effects of a group of volunteers who spent 200 days living in a closed environment.

The ambition of the Chinese space program does not stop at Mars. Beijing is planning to take the probe to Jupiter in 2036 and Uranus in 2046.

Pictures of Lockheed Martin's Mars probe and humanity on Mars.(Photo: LOCKHEED MARTIN).

Not only China aims to conquer the red planet. The Soviet Union, the United States, the European Space Agency (ESA) and India all sent exploration ships to Mars, but only the US Space and Aeronautics Agency (NASA) successfully deployed a probe into the surface. This mysterious planet.

In an effort to help NASA conquer the goal of bringing people to Mars as early as 2030, Lockheed Martin Group (USA) has just unveiled a manufacturing plan, capable of re-use.

In addition, the group added that it is "" building a science laboratory on the orbit of the red planet to serve its mission. From this base, the probes will be taken to the surface of Mars in repetitive missions. Rob Chambers, Lockheed Martin's human resources strategy director, revealed four astronauts could join a mission to land on Mars for two weeks.

Mr. Chambers called the mission to bring people to Mars the beginning of a new era "to discover ourselves and the solar system, as well as the position of the earth in it".

Not easy to "eat"

Lockheed Martin is among the few companies that are shaking hands with NASA in these deep space projects. NASA is currently preparing for missions to bring people to space between the earth and the moon in the next decade to prepare for trips to Mars. In March 2016, NASA first revealed plans to build a new space station called Deep Space Gateway (DSG) in the moon's orbit.

The DSG is expected to be the site of missions with participants on the lunar surface or even the future Mars. The US is working with many partners, such as the European Space Agency, Canada and Japan within the framework of the DSG program. By September, the Russian Space Agency announced its participation in this project.

The fact that the race to conquer space has never been "easy to eat" . On September 25, General Secretary of the Chinese Space Agency (CNSA), Mr. Tian Yulong, announced that the failure of the Truong Chinh 5 rocket launcher in early July caused its upcoming moon missions to be delay. "Long March 5 is a bigger challenge for CNSA. Perhaps later this year, we will understand the problem (about the failed launch)," Tian said.

The cause of the failure of the above-mentioned Truong Chinh 5 case is related to the rocket's engine or propulsion. As a result, the Shijian-18 communication satellite that the rocket carries cannot enter orbit. According to the original plan, the next launch of Truong Chinh 5 took place in November. The missile will bring Hang Nga 5 probe to the moon to take samples and return to Earth. However, Mr. Tian said the mission was now postponed, while China's construction of the first space station was also affected.

Besides technical factors, another challenge comes from the threat to human health when participating in deep space exploration missions or to Mars. A new study by the University of Las Vegas (USA) Frank Cucinotta and Eliedonna Cacaoat found that the harmful effects of cosmic rays are twice as high as what people previously thought. This ray can cause cancer, cataracts, blood circulation problems, nerve damage .

Cosmic rays include low-molecular and high-energy atoms, produced from star explosions and cosmic black holes. Astronauts are much more affected by cosmic rays than people on earth because the green planet's atmosphere acts as a "shield" to protect us from harmful sources of energy.