How to make land from Mars

Peter Karamzin , the 34-year-old defendant in the case of “new greatness”, has long been fond of astrophysicism and astronautics. While in the "sailor silence", he asked in letters undergoing censorship to many curious questions to the leading scientists and popularizers of astronautics. Despite the difficult conditions of prison content in Presnya pre -trial detention center, he does not stop dreaming and think about the future of mankind. We publish a selection of the most interesting answers of the Cosmonautics popularizer Vitaly Egorov to Peter's questions. The publishing house "Alpina Non-Fix" recently published the book of Vitaly "People on the Moon."

- Not so long ago, Ilon Musk proposed to begin terraformation of Mars through explosions over his polar cap of hydrogen bombs. Will this bring a positive result?

- He will not bring for two reasons. Firstly, fortunately, on Earth there are no so many thermonuclear bombs. According to our calculations, in order to melt all the well-known reserves of carbon dioxide in the poles of Mars, you need 50,000 “tsar-bombs”-the most powerful in the history of mankind. We do not have so many of them, and there are no so many missiles to deliver bombs to Mars. Secondly, even if we create so many bombs, we will deliver and explode them at the poles of Mars, this will lead to an increase in the density of the atmosphere of Mars. Now there is 1/150 from the density of the earth's atmosphere, and it will become 1/75 - it is still deadly conditions for people, and there will be no noticeable difference for our body: that vacuum, that such an atmosphere.

- The other day, a project was proposed to collect “garbage” in the orbit of the Earth. Devices that are planned to be used could, in my opinion, be approached to capture the cluster of ice in the Oort cloud and their subsequent transportation or “directions” to Mars. A kind of bombardment for the sake of terraforming. The use of ice clusters for Martian terraforming is an old theme. How relevant is it now?

- Now developments are underway to capture very small pieces of cosmic garbage - up to half a meter. To grab and move huge pieces of ice in space, which move in their orbits at cosmic speeds is not a task for today's civilization. It is not necessary to fly into the Oort cloud: the same satellites of Jupiter and Saturn are largely consisted of water; Even periodically comets fly to us themselves, but at least to move their orbit - today the task is practically impossible, although the first attempts are going to take with small asteroids.

To understand the degree of complexity of the task, imagine a piece of ice with a diameter of the third transport ring, which rushes “about your business” 20 times faster from a rifle. What can we do with him? Just wave a handkerchief in the trail and take a few photos. Even if we find a way to move comets, there will be more than a hundred of them to fill Mars with a noticeable volume of the atmosphere. It seems to me that it is more promising to arouse Martian volcanism, but this task is also not for today's humanity; Maybe in a thousand years it will become more realistic.

- Why in many projects, including Martian, solar panels are used as the main power source? What is the bad reactor on the thorium?

- The use of the energy of nuclear division in astronautics always leads to unnecessary difficulties. For example, any reactor first needs to be launched into space - and not everyone on Earth will be welcomed by the flight of the nuclear power plant over their heads. As we know, missiles do not have 100 percent reliability, like nuclear power plants.

In Russia, a cosmic tug with a nuclear energy engine is being developed in Russia: it must move cargo through orbits and will also be able to carry out transportation to the moon and Mars. In the future, such installations can be used on the surface of other planets.

In the United States, a less powerful Kilopower reactor is being developed, which is supposed to be used on the moon and Mars. But, as practice shows, if there is an opportunity to do without a reactor, it is better to do without a reactor - this will simplify, reduce the cost and accelerate the development. The distance between Mars and the Sun allows you to use solar panels on Mars, although their effectiveness will be approximately half as much as on Earth. In their limit, sunny batteries are effective to Jupiter, but if you fly further, you can’t do without nuclear energy.

- Photo of a UFO on Mars is always a fake?

- Not always a fake, but it is always not aliens. Most often, the UFOs that the press and YouTube is talking about is the digital noise of the Mars -Trade camera or garbage on the lens. Bright traces in the form of dots or dashes in photographs leave heavy charged particles of cosmic radiation, which fall into the chamber matrix. Although once the Spirit Mark Road removed the real UFO. That is, an unidentified flying object is a satellite in the sky, which NASA could not identify. But there are now more than ten satellites around Mars, both acting, modern, and old, times of the 1970s-therefore, such observation should not surprise. Other “birds”, “statues”, “lemmings” and the rest that are found on Mars are just the fruits of a rich human imagination.

- Today, one of the problems of interplanetary and interstellar flights is radiation. Do scientists consider increasing the resistance of people to radioactive radiation by editing the human genome?

-After the study of some biological organisms that successfully counteract radiation, indeed, they also spoke about the possibility of breeding a “genetically modified” person. Usually in such conversations they forget that the ability of organisms to defend themselves from radiation are not unlimited. The second question is ethical: what to do if the bred genetically modified person who can colonize Mars will want to become YouTube blogger on Earth?

In general, while in the astronautics they try to use simple engineering solutions: to increase the protective properties of modern ships by increasing the walls of inhabited compartments, placing water reserves against the walls of ships and stations, and increasing the speed of ships to reduce the duration of the flight. After a couple of years, two humanoid mannequins with radiation sensors will go to the Luna Ship to the moon; One of them will be in the plastic "body armor", which protects against irradiation. After the flight, scientists will equalize dosimeters inside mannequins and evaluate the effectiveness of such a vest. So far, it is not even supposed to create ships with a large magnetic field for additional protection against charged particles.

In general, within the heliosphere (gas bubble and plasma around the Sun, which spreads further than the orbit of Pluto), the level of cosmic radiation is not so high as to talk about the impossibility of interplanetary flights. You can fly to Mars and back on ships of the modern type. In the interplanetary space inside the ship, a person will receive on average an annual earthly dose per day - a lot, but modern standards for the irradiation of astronauts and astronauts at the International Space Station allow a total dose comparable to the fact that the crew that flown to Mars and returned back will receive.

On the ISS, the astronauts are irradiated about three times weaker than in the interplanetary space, but still ten times stronger than we are on Earth. One half -month flight to the ISS comparable (on average) with the work of the liquidator of the Chernobyl accident; And Mikhail Kornienko, who spent 340 days at the station, received irradiation comparable to the average dose received by the victims of the bombing in Hiroshima. Gennady Padalka, who flew into space five times and spent a total of 878 days at the station, practically flew to Mars in the degree of radiation.

But it is already more difficult to fly to Jupiter or Pluto: too long the flight duration, and the accumulated dose will be prohibitive. If we talk about interstellar flights, it is even worse there: the heliosphere does not protect, and the ship will have to make multi -meter walls.

-Are there any successes in creating spacesuits for long-term wearing on Mars, with good protection against radiation and the possibility of quick removal-dicking?

-In the spacesuits for Mars and the Moon, additional protection against radiation is not provided due to a slight danger. On Mars from charged particles, the atmosphere also protects - in terms of radiation, the surface of Mars is comparable to the ISS, where the astronauts work in training suits and t -shirts. Therefore, as for the lunar and Martian spacesuits, completely different considerations are determined: the simplicity of putting on and preparation for the exit, the convenience and ease of wearing with low gravity, protecting a person from temperature changes, etc.

For example, Apollo’s astronauts were inconveniently arranged by the arrangement of a satchel with a life support system: he greatly changed the center of gravity, which led to frequent falls. The designers took into account this problem, and the new NASA spacesuit is shifted higher and closer to the natural center of human gravity. There will be another problem on Mars - a cold atmosphere. If on the moon a vacuum, and a person in a spacesuit is there like in a thermos, then on Mars, due to the cold wind, additional layers of thermal insulation in the spacesuit will be required-and it will become even less convenient than the lunar.

The main problem, which inhibits the development of spacesuits and does not allow you to make beautiful costumes, as in the films Martian or Prometheus, is our body's need for atmospheric pressure. In modern spacesuits, it is reduced to 30–40% of the earth, but this is still not enough. In the United States, they developed a more beautiful model called Biosuit - a stylish tight -fitting costume; But so far this is only a design experiment and there are no appropriate materials that would ensure an adjustment to the body comparable to the atmosphere. Therefore, in the coming decades, the spacesuits will remain similar to snowmen, with the same mobility - “space ships in the form of a human body”, as the developers themselves call them.

Also, do not forget that there are two types of spacesuits: to reach the surface and in case of depressurization of the ship. The latter are called emergency rescue, and they are much easier than created for open cosmos. The emergency rescue spacesuits are more stylish-for example, new ones from Boeing and SpaceX look quite beautiful, but you won’t even go out into space even on Mars.

- By the way, the spacesuits from the movie "Martian" - just fly away! But is there not a similar light spacesuit in the line of our “eagles” with the possibility of working in space from one and a half to two hours?

- No, today the spacesuits are made light only for being inside the spaceship. To work in open space, they are difficult to get heavier and difficult, since the developers want, on the one hand, to provide the astronaut with more comfortable conditions, on the other hand, make his work more efficient and place more equipment in the spacesuit. The closest to the version you described was the Soviet Yastreb, but they used it only once - to go from one ship in another in 1969.

Also, a few years ago it was proposed to complicate the “internal” spacesuit used on Space Shuttle so that it could go into space for about 20 minutes, but they would refuse this idea. The problem is the same: our body needs atmospheric pressure, and we still do not do the option of the wetsuit. There is also the need to comply with the temperature regime: the human body works like a stove, and in a vacuum it needs to be effectively cooling - the action of “light” cooling systems short -term, and “heavy” require a large spacesuit.

- Today, as far as I know, no one is engaged in solving problems related to the creation of gravity (at least a quarter of the earth) inside a spaceship or station. The only thing we suggested was - and we saw this in the films is the so -called twisting of the ship or station. However, the docking with such rotation is more dangerous and complex, and if traditional engines are used, then rotation is costly fuel. When, at least approximately, people will learn how to imitate gravity and what problems do you need to solve for this?

- Technically, the problem of creating a rotating station is quite solved. Previously, for example, many ships flew in the “Twisting” mode: “Unions” to space stations, Apollo to the Moon. True, there the periods of circulation were quite large (several minutes per turn) and the twist was not supported for the sake of creating gravity: the “unions” thus held solar orientation (so that the solar panels were always deployed to the sun), and the “Apollo” rotate in the “barbecue” so that the sides are not overheated.

The creation of gravity is inappropriate at the ships and stations of the modern type. People learned to live up to a year in zero gravity without a significant threat to health. This time is enough both for long -term expeditions in near -earth orbit, and for the flight to Mars or vice versa.

Moreover, without zero gravity, the scientific capabilities of space stations will be significantly reduced, since most of the biological, medical and many physical experiments in space are associated precisely with weightlessness. If we “turn it off” it, then the scientific benefit from the manned astronautics will be reduced, which, frankly, leaves much to be desired. After all, space can offer us only two “resources”, which are not on Earth: weightlessness and vacuum. You can still create a vacuum, but long -term weightlessness is no longer. If you remove weightlessness, then why fly?

If you think about the distant future, then, most likely, space cities will be built according to the principle of the O'Nele cylinder or Stanford Tor - cylindrical or restless stations rotating around its axis. That is, so far nothing but rotation has come up with. You can still move with constant acceleration, but this method will fit only during the flight to other stars - that is a very distant future.

-Recently I saw on TV a robot-rover tested for working on Mars. Do they develop and test the inhabited rover, and if so, how do they plan to deliver it?

- Both in the Soviet Union and in the United States, there were projects of mobile expeditionary modules for use on Mars. Ten years ago, NASA was developed by the Athlecte six -legged robot, which could transport residential modules on itself - you may have seen it. But he did not fly to Mars, and the project was practically closed. To deliver such a robot to Mars, you will need a super -hovered rocket and a landing system, designed for several tons - there are no such ones.

The record mass of cargo delivered to Mars is about a ton. Recently, Toyota, together with the Japanese Space Agency, showed a cartoon about a large mobile rover for the moon, but so far it is at a very early development stage - this is rather an advertisement than a real project.

- Radiation (I heard that there are surges), a high chance of getting a micrometeorite, dust storms, cold. Why, with such a set of minuses, is the creation of a colony, namely the construction of residential compartments, is planned nevertheless on the surface, and not under it?

- On the surface is easier. Of course, if we talk about a long -term settlement (where people will live, and not visit it with a rotational basis, as a station on Antarctica), then reliable protection will be needed. To protect against the cold, it is just better not to put the settlements on the surface: for example, in Siberia, in permafrost, at home they try to raise one or two meters above the ground-so it is easier to pour them. To begin with, you can build a ground (Namarsian) infrastructure and gradually “dig into the brush”. About two meters of soil will be reliably protected from radiation, but if we want to save a little load on the dome, it is better to cover the construction with blocks of ice or soil with a high content of water - this will reduce the danger of secondary radiation.

In some places on Mars, even far enough from the poles, there are ice deposits. It seems to me that the eastern part of the allad plain is an ideal place for the first human colony: this is the deepest place on Mars, which means that the atmosphere thickness is the largest that will help to protect yourself from radiation and micrometeorite and conveniently for lowering the apparatus on parachutes. There are also rich water deposits in the ground.

- The Dragon took off with astronauts on board, Chinese companies appeared. Roscosmos will “die” now?

- Roscosmos will live while the Russian government will see the need for its work. The main source of financing Roscosmos is not NASA and not the Chinese budget - Roscosmos works primarily in the interests of the Russian state: for the sake of its security, economics, science and prestige. The main customers of the state corporations - the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Communications, Roshydromet; In terms of science, the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The activities of Roscosmor are funded from the state budget; Accordingly, you need to look not at the achievements of the American, Chinese or Indian cosmonautics, but at the achievements of the Russian economy: the richer the country will be, the more large -scale activity in space it can afford. Учитывая специфику нынешней экономики, я рекомендую следить за курсом нефти: при 100 долл. за баррель у Роскосмоса всё будет хорошо, при 150 долл. за баррель появятся новые корабли и своя околоземная станция, а если цена дойдет до 200 долл. — полетим на Луну.