The search for life on other planets could spur scientific progress. At the same time, extraterrestrial life is not at all obliged to represent galactic civilizations.
The history of mankind is the history of his discoveries. Having overcome the path from the wheel, agriculture and gunpowder to cloning and nuclear energy, in the second half of the 20th century, man first went into space and was able to look into its depths using orbital telescopes. But one of the most exciting and important questions about whether we are alone in the Universe still remains unanswered. More and more people are looking for an answer to it, who do not just “want to believe”, but know for sure.
The truth is somewhere near
Extraterrestrial life is not at all obliged to represent galactic civilizations, the presence of which in relative proximity to the Earth would be noticeable to the naked eye. Scientists often talk about microscopic organisms, which, on the contrary, can be found even in our solar system, for example, on the moons of Saturn, Titan and Enceladus, as well as on Mars.
Titan is the largest satellite of the sixth planet from the Sun. Due to its unique characteristics, it is recognized as one of the most suitable places to find life. First, it has an atmosphere that is 95% nitrogen. Secondly, the presence of methane rains has been confirmed on Titan and, accordingly, methane lakes and seas, which can be a source of life, just like water spaces on Earth. And, thirdly, the satellite has confirmed the presence of acrylonitrile - a "brick of life", a compound necessary for the formation of cell membranes of microorganisms that can inhabit the methane oceans on the surface of the satellite.
Most of the available data came from the Cassini research probe and the Huygens spacecraft that it brought to the surface of the satellite, which was even able to record what Titan "sounds" like. The Cassini mission to Saturn and its moons, on which about $ 3.2 billion was spent, was completed on September 15, 2017.
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But Titan research is one of the main tasks of modern science, so the list of missions to the satellite is only growing. For example, one of them could be the Dragonfly project on a nuclear battery, developed in the laboratory of applied physics at Johns Hopkins University. It is the concept of a flying drone that can begin the search for life on Titan to a new level with a wide range of tools, from a drill and a soil analyzer to a gamma spectrometer and seismometer. The project will cost approximately $ 1 billion.
In addition, Titan's methane oceans will also be studied - NASA plans to send an autonomous submarine to the satellite that can dive into the depths of reservoirs and find out their secrets.
Enceladus is another satellite of Saturn, which is an object in the solar system, most suitable for the role of the "cradle of life", despite the fact that the satellite is a kind of "ice world" - the temperature on its surface does not exceed -180 degrees Celsius. Despite this, under the surface of the satellite there is most likely an underground ocean made of water, which at a depth of several tens of kilometers can be in liquid form. It is the presence of liquid water that is considered one of the main requirements for the origin of life, which makes Enceladus so attractive for researchers.
Moreover, the water in the underground ocean can be warm - the core of the satellite contains a large number of pores that regularly contract and expand under the influence of Saturn and release heat from the core of Enceladus into the ocean.
As recently confirmed by scientists from Austria, bacteria can survive on Enceladus without problems. A team of scientists modeled the conditions at the bottom of the underground ocean and placed three types of thermophilic, or thermophilic, microorganisms existing at high temperatures in it, which tolerated being in a new environment without any problems.
Enceladus is also unique in that a private person, the Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, intends to study it. His satellite research project, unlike many private players in space activities, focuses exclusively on science and focuses specifically on the search for life. Milner shared his plans for a future mission at the New Space Age conference in Seattle. The billionaire did not name the exact date and cost of the expedition, but noted that it will happen "fairly soon" if it is possible to attract private capital.
A future mission to Enceladus seems very, very likely, given that Milner already has experience in organizing projects to search for life in the Universe and collaborated with the famous, recently deceased astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.
Mars, despite the entire history of its study, still holds many secrets, and researchers do not refuse to continue the search for life on the Red Planet.
The question "Is there life on Mars?" asked not only H. G. Wells or David Bowie, under whose song of the same name Elon Musk launched a Falcon Heavy rocket to the Red Planet, but also scientists from NASA and other leading space agencies.
Mars remains one of the most attractive places in the solar system for seekers of extraterrestrial life. This is evidenced, among other things, by the number of full-scale scientific missions focused on the study of the Red Planet.
Previously, the most suitable place to search for life was considered to be natural depressions in the planet's surface, such as Gale Crater, where moisture could accumulate. But according to the latest findings of researchers, dried hydrothermal springs, where living organisms could still exist, should be named as the most suitable places to search for life on Mars. According to scientists, certain types of bacteria could live on the bottom of water bodies of Mars near hydrothermal springs.
An example of interest in Mars on the part of scientists can be the twin Martian rovers Opportunity and Spirit, whose missions to the fourth planet from the Sun began in 2004 - a total cost of $ 800 million. The next-generation Mars rover, the Curiosity autonomous laboratory, has taken planet exploration to a higher level. The device, equipped with instruments to detect the elements necessary for the origin of life, primarily liquid water, landed on Mars in August 2012. The cost of this mission was $ 2.5 billion.
The next rover, Mars 2020, will also aim to find life or its traces on the surface of Mars in the floodplains of once rivers and lakes. The cost of this mission is estimated at $ 2.1 billion with the subsequent allocation of $ 300,000 for each Martian year equal to 687 Earth days.
Another device, InSight, may be launched towards the Red Planet in late spring - summer 2018. It "costs" $ 830 million and, unlike its predecessors, will be able to literally delve into the study of Mars with the help of a drill, the immersion depth of which is 6 meters. The robot will conduct a chemical analysis of the planet's soils at different depths, as well as determine seismic activity and the average temperature of the soil.
Even if it is more modest in terms of capabilities, it is perhaps even more important for us that in 2020 a rocket with a Russian-European installation - a landing platform-laboratory and a rover - will go to the Red Planet. This will be the second phase of the ExoMars 2020 mission. The planetary portion of the first phase failed, but the TGO probe is already collecting information about the atmosphere and surface of Mars.
In addition, even if Mars is finally recognized as sterile, sooner or later the chances of discovering life on it remain for mankind: if the rocket launched by Mask nevertheless collides with the Red Planet, it may appear on its surface and begin evolve terrestrial bacteria. In addition, some scientists believe that the first Soviet devices that landed on Mars could not be sterilized well enough and also became a hotbed of life.
Roman Bosikov