Perseverance rover takes real pictures: strange "cat bread stones" appear on desolate Mars
What is the real Mars like? Since Mars is in the same habitable zone of the solar system as Earth, and these two planets are both rocky planets and terrestrial planets, Mars and Earth have many similarities, so humans once believed that the closest distance is more than 55 million kilometers, the most There may also be some unknown Martian life on Mars, which is 400 million kilometers away, and even Martian civilization. But when the human probe went to Mars, we saw that the real Mars was not as beautiful as we imagined. There was no Martian life or Martian civilization as we imagined on the surface of Mars. On the contrary, what appeared in front of us was a Extremely desolate, arid Mars. Perseverance returns photos of Mars
The Perseverance rover is a new generation of American Mars rover. It will be launched at the end of July 2020. Kong, successfully landed in the Jezero crater on the surface of Mars in February 2021, and the rover has been running on the surface of Mars for more than a year. Like the Curiosity rover before it, the Perseverance rover has many important missions, one of which is to search the surface of Mars for signs of life on Mars. Of course, the process of searching for signs of life on the surface of Mars is very long, because we do not know whether there is life on Mars, nor what form of potential life on Mars is. Therefore, humans have explored Mars for decades, but it is still unclear whether there is life on Mars. Although life on Mars has not yet been found, these rovers have not disappointed us, because they take pictures of Mars from time to time, showing some scenes of Mars in front of our eyes. NASA has released photos of Mars returned by the Perseverance rover, and there is a quirky "cat bread stone" not far from the rover. This rock looks very special, like a cat curled up and sitting on the surface of Mars. Looking closely at this photo, we also see what appears to be 2 pointed "ears" at the front of the stone and a long, loaf-like "body" at the back, like a chubby cat Lie there quietly. Of course, this is just a rock that looks like a cat, not to say that the Perseverance rover has photographed cats on Mars. Perseverance produces oxygen
Perseverance, as a new generation rover, is more advanced and functional than previous rover. more powerful. For example, the Perseverance rover also carries a Mars helicopter called "Wisdom", which is the first rotorcraft to take off on the surface of Mars in human history, and has completed more than ten missions on the surface of Mars so far. For another example, the Perseverance rover also completed the preparation of oxygen on the surface of Mars for the first time in human history. Humans have lived on the earth for millions of years and have already adapted to the earth's environment. If we humans want to immigrate to Mars in the future, there are still many problems to be solved, one of which is the problem of oxygen. We can stop eating and drinking for a period of time, but we cannot stop breathing for a long time. Oxygen is a very important substance for us. If we transport oxygen from Earth to Mars, it is obviously unrealistic. If water is split on the surface of Mars, you can get both oxygen and hydrogen, which can be used as fuel for the spacecraft. However, this involves developing water on the surface of Mars and electrolyzing water, and the whole process may be relatively complicated. The Perseverance rover is now taking a different approach to producing oxygen. Mars also has an atmosphere, but the atmosphere of Mars is relatively thin, and the main component is carbon dioxide. The "Mars Oxygen In Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE)" carried by the Perseverance rover can convert carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere into oxygen. In April last year, the Perseverance rover completed its first mission to produce oxygen. At that time, the output of oxygen was only 5.4 grams, which was enough for an astronaut to breathe for 10 minutes. MOXIE on the Perseverance rover has been producing oxygen for more than a year. Research data shows that by the end of 2021, MOXIE can reach 6 grams of oxygen per hour, and the oxygen output rate is comparable to that of an ordinary earth tree. This efficiency does not seem very high, but this research has far-reaching implications, which means that we can really produce oxygen on Mars and provide oxygen-rich air for future astronauts on Mars. After all, MOXIE is actually very small, about the size of a toaster. If we want to produce oxygen on Mars on a large scale in the future, and make some larger oxygen converters and send them to Mars, a large amount of oxygen can theoretically be produced. . At that time, it may be more realistic for humans to land on Mars.