Because to fly back to the earth, the spacecraft must first get rid of the gravity of Mars and then fly back to the gravity range of the earth, and the acceleration required to get rid of the gravity of Mars consumes huge fuel, which is no different from the amount of fuel used to fly from the earth to Mars, and it is a huge challenge to the carrying capacity.
Limited by rocket technology, rocket fuel propulsion can only ensure one-way consumption. Even if there is fuel left after landing on Mars, it is difficult to ensure that the rocket can fly back to Earth.
Therefore, since we want to send people to Mars, there is no doubt that there is no return.
The best way to solve the fuel problem is to find a fuel source on Mars. Most likely, they can use methane that already exists on Mars to make rocket fuel.
As early as a few years ago, scientists have discovered that there is a lot of methane on Mars, but they have never found the source of methane.
In addition to mining methane on Mars, according to the latest experiments, methane can also be made from other substances on Mars.
Elon Musk of Space Exploration Technology Company and his engineers proposed and designed a new scheme to make a portable system that can produce rocket fuel based on methane. They hope this will make the journey back from Mars more feasible.
They consider using the ice on Mars, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and groundwater to produce carbon and hydrogen for methane.
The marked area is where the NASA spacecraft found ice near the surface water, which is easy for astronauts to dig.
Because of previous research, there is a lot of ice on Mars, and NASA's Phoenix lander also found that in the past millions of years, the Arctic plain of this planet was covered with a layer of liquid water.
Therefore, in theory, future astronauts can use this technology to convert raw biomass (such as ice and carbon dioxide) on Mars into rocket fuel for returning to Earth. At present, this new method has only been tested in the laboratory.
Experimental process
The International Space Station has used a similar two-step process to convert water into breathable oxygen. The key to the research of University of California, Irvine is that it introduces a zinc catalyst, which bypasses the synthesis process of water, simplifies the chemical reaction into one step, and effectively converts carbon dioxide into methane with high selectivity.
According to the research published in the Journal of American Chemical Society, this will make any fully developed fuel power generation system more compact and easier to transport to Mars and other places.
The problem is that many launch vehicles today do not use rocket fuel based on methane, so this process must be compatible with future propulsion technology.
The good news is that methane-based fuel has many advantages over other types of fuel, such as liquid hydrogen fuel. Liquid hydrogen fuel will leave carbon residue in the rocket engine, which needs to be cleaned, but it is difficult to finish on Mars.
Now some companies have begun to develop and use rocket fuel based on methane. For example, space exploration technology company's starship Raptor engine, blue origin BE-4 engine and firefly Alpha all use methane fuel.
I still remember that in 20 years (65438+ 10), Musk's space exploration technology company plans to send 1 10,000 people to Mars by rocket before 2050, and establish the second human base on Mars.
Musk can only rely on the newly developed starship of Space Exploration Technology Company to achieve this grand goal within 30 years. Although a lot of experiments and research are needed before the technology is fully popularized, the results are still worth looking forward to.
The Phoenix rover found a compound called perchlorate in Martian soil, which is similar to antifreeze and can lower the freezing point of water below normal temperature.
Therefore, salt water containing water and perchlorate may remain liquid even at the cold temperature on the surface of Mars. Based on this characteristic, American researchers conducted a series of experiments to obtain hydrogen and oxygen from salt water.
They developed a material called lead ruthenate pyrochlore electrocatalyst, which can help electrolyze perchlorate and produce ultra-pure hydrogen and oxygen at the ultra-low temperature on the surface of Mars.
This electrocatalyst can also be used on the earth. For example, when the oxygen content in the submarine is limited and there is salt water all around, part of the salt water can be siphoned and decomposed to obtain fresh oxygen.
The progress of the world is inseparable from the madman, and elon musk's Rhapsody on Mars is gradually being realized. It has realized the technology of recycling rockets, which is a milestone in the history of space flight. With the strength of private enterprises, they have snatched the fat meat in the aerospace field from the mouths of all countries in the world. Once Musk successfully landed on Mars, history textbooks of various countries will be rewritten. Personally, I'm still looking forward to Musk starting the Mars version of "Mayflower", so that human beings can evolve from planetary civilization to galactic civilization.
# Scientific combustion plan #