The distance from Earth to Mars is not an obstacle to research

Mars is the closest planet to us. The distance from Earth to Mars varies: from 54.5 million km to 401.3 million km. As is understandable, the change in distance arises from the motion of these planets in their orbits. Every 26 years there is a minimum distance from the Earth to Mars (54.5 million km). At this moment, the red planet is opposite to the Sun. This phenomenon is called confrontation. Between Mars and the Sun, the average distance is 227.92 million km. This is 1.5 times the path between the Earth and the Sun. The radius of Mars is 3,390 km, which is half the radius of the Earth.

The climate on Mars is much colder than ours. The lowest recorded temperature on the surface reaches -125 ° C. This deadly frost was observed at the poles during the winter season. The highest temperature is + 25 ° C. It was recorded in the summer at the equator of the planet. The average temperature of Mars is -60 ° C.

Like all the planets of our system, Mars rotates around the Sun in its orbit, which has the shape of an ellipse. One year lasts on the red planet 687 earth days. One day on Mars lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds.

The axis of rotation of the planet is at an angle relative to the orbit of 25.19 °. This figure for the Earth is 23.45 °. The angle of the planet's inclination affects the amount of sunlight that hits the surface at any point in time. This phenomenon provokes the emergence and change of seasons.

The climate is quite aggressive (except for unimaginable cold, there are even more powerful volcanoes and wild winds on the planet) making expeditions difficult. However, this did not prevent scientists in the past to speculate that there is a reasonable life on Mars. Modern scientists, however, more enlightened, are supporters of the theory that life on Mars existed much earlier.

At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, automatic spacecraft visited the red planet. These expeditions were made when the distance from Earth to Mars was the minimum value to reduce the flight time. These artificial satellites conducted studies of the surface of the planet and its atmosphere. However, they could not prove or disprove the theory about the former life. There were only additional doubts.

An ideal study that could destroy all the controversies and myths about the red planet would be an expedition with a man. However, the main reason why this is impossible is not even a huge, by human standards, distance from the Earth to Mars, but an incredible risk. The matter is that outer space is filled with gamma rays and radioactive protons, whose irradiation will cause immense harm to the health of astronauts.

Particular danger to humans in space is represented by streams of ionized nuclei whose velocity reaches light. These rays can penetrate through the skin of the ship and the spacesuit. Getting into the human body, they destroy DNA strands, damage and destroy genes. For example, during the flight to the moon, astronauts managed to see a flash of such rays. Then most of the members of the expedition developed a cataract of the eye. Proceeding from the fact that the distance from the Earth to Mars is much greater than to the Moon (the expedition to our natural satellite lasted only a few days, and the red planet it will take at least a year), we can assume how much it will affect the health of the participants in the study.

And it does not matter what distance from the Earth to Mars, how aggressive the environment is on it, and the danger of such a journey, the interest to this planet will not be exhausted soon, since it will last for many generations.