Mars is located on the border of the so-called "zone of life" - climatic conditions on the planet are much harsher than terrestrial ones, but still acceptable for organic forms of life. In summer at the equator at noon the temperature reaches + 20 ° С, in the long winter it can drop below minus 140 ° С - twice as cold as the fiercest winter in Antarctica.
Mars is 9 times lighter than Earth. The atmosphere of the Red Planet is 95% carbon dioxide, and its density corresponds to the Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of 40 km - a walk without a spacesuit will end in instant death for a person.
On the surface of the Red Planet is the highest volcano in the Solar System * - the height of the Martian Olympus is 27 kilometers, the diameter of the base is 600 kilometers. The slopes of the long-extinct volcano are framed by sheer seven-kilometer abysses - there must be a breathtaking landscape! The mountain is so high that at its summit the atmospheric conditions correspond to open space.
The longest and deepest canyon in the solar system is also on Mars. The Mariner Valley stretches along the equator for 4,500 kilometers, and its depth reaches 11 kilometers …
As you probably already guessed, Mars is full of sights and mysterious places. Mars has long attracted the attention of terrestrial researchers - a planet close to us, with its own atmosphere and all the signs of favorable conditions for the emergence of extraterrestrial life. A real sensation was made by the opening of "channels" on the surface of Mars - then even the most stubborn skeptics believed in the existence of the Martian civilization.
Dozens of years passed and the "Martian channels" turned out to be an optical illusion. Sensitive spectrographs discovered the absence of oxygen and water vapor in the atmosphere of Mars - the key elements for the origin of life (at least in our, earthly understanding), the last hopes for the detection of brothers in mind melted away. But the dream of a distant beautiful world remained, where perhaps someday apple orchards will bloom …
Exactly 50 years ago, on November 1, 1962, Mankind took a step towards its dream: the Soviet spacecraft was first put on a flight path to the Red Planet. The automatic interplanetary station "Mars-1" was supposed to deliver half a ton of scientific instruments and equipment to the target. Soviet scientists planned a truly daring expedition: the device was supposed to test the possibility of long-distance space communication, conduct research on the properties of the interplanetary medium, collect data on cosmic radiation and flows of micrometeorites, photograph Mars at close range, study the magnetic field and characteristics of the atmosphere of the Red Planet, and, as far as possible, try to answer the question: "Is there life on Mars?"
The launch vehicle "Molniya" successfully put the station into near-earth orbit, the upper stage was turned on, and "Mars-1" set off on its long 7-month journey to the Red Planet.
The interplanetary probe flies soundlessly in the icy void, only occasionally "tossing and turning" from side to side. Most of the time, the panels of its solar panels are directed strictly towards the Sun, but at some point, light-sensitive sensors peer into the velvet blackness of space, trying to see the twinkling of the Canopus star - it is to this point that the orientation of the probe is "tied". Having received the necessary data, the on-board computer calculates the new position of the station in space - the antenna turns towards the Earth. It's time to transmit telemetry. During the flight, Mars-1 conducted 61 radio communication sessions, during which it transmitted to the Earth valuable information about the strength of the Earth's magnetic fields and the interplanetary medium, about the properties of the "solar wind" - the flow of charged particles from the Sun and meteorite streams.
But the dreams of scientists were not destined to come true - at a distance of 106 million kilometers from the Earth, the cylinders of the orientation system were depressurized. Together with compressed nitrogen, Mars-1 lost its orientation in space. In vain did the probe call its creators for help - the signals from the probe could no longer be heard on Earth.
On June 19, 1963, according to ballistic calculations, the Soviet interplanetary station passed in the vicinity of Mars, becoming the first man-made object to visit the Red Planet.
Why are battleships in space?
The sixties of the twentieth century became the time of the true triumph of Soviet cosmonautics: the first man in space, the first multi-seat spacecraft, the first step into the void - going outside the spacecraft in a spacesuit, the first maneuvering in orbit, the first photograph of the far side of the Moon, Soviet stations on the surface of Venus, and Mars … the USSR annually launched into orbit 100 spacecraft - in our time, all countries of the world do not launch this much together.
Expeditions to distant planets required the creation of an appropriate ground infrastructure, first of all, long-range space communication systems. It was required to hear the faint "squeak" of an interplanetary probe through hundreds of millions of kilometers of outer space, through interference and magnetic storms, through the solar wind and signals from terrestrial radio stations. 100 million kilometers … how to imagine such an incredible distance? It will take 114 years for a car continuously racing along the highway at a speed of 100 km / h to cover this distance!
A difficult task demanded an extraordinary solution. As a result, three strange objects appeared in the vicinity of Evpatoria - the ADU-1000 antennas of the Pluto long-range space communications system. There are three of them - two receiving and one transmitting. Each ADU-1000 antenna is a block of eight parabolic dishes with a diameter of 16 meters, mounted on a turntable. The total weight of the structure is 1500 tons!
At any time at the request of the operator, the antenna unit must direct its "gaze" to the desired point in the sky. But how to achieve ideal pointing accuracy - up to 1 arc minute, if the moving parts weigh more than a thousand tons?
Here shipbuilders came to the aid of radio astronomers. 8 antennas - "plates" are fixed on a huge span of a railway bridge, and this whole system is mounted on the turret of the main caliber tower from the unfinished battleship "Stalingrad". Know ours!
Mars awaits new heroes
Over the past 20 years, Russia has sent only two scientific expeditions to Mars: the failed Mars-96 and the infamous Phobos-Grunt. Despite the cheerful statements of representatives of Roscosmos: “Yes, everything is good! Right now, we'll fix it and it will work,”- it became clear even to ordinary people that the Russian space program was in a deep cesspool. Technology for space exploration is a great legacy of the USSR, for Russia it is like grandfather's old suitcase with tools: it’s hard to drag and throw away. How to fix the current situation? The base on the moon is unlikely to help here, it might be better to pay all attention to the quality of space launches preparation.
Are there any positive aspects of this story? Of course! Despite the absence of their own launches, Russian specialists regularly participate in NASA programs. For example - the joint Russian-American expedition Mars Polar Lander. Unfortunately, the mission was unsuccessful - the device crashed on landing. Do not whistle and shake your head so deafeningly - over the past 15 years, the Americans themselves have ruined three Martian expeditions. True, there is such a nuance: in addition to three failures, they had 8 successful missions.
Yes, space exploration is not an easy walk, but I believe that there are no limits to the human thirst for knowledge. The Phobos-Grunt expedition must be repeated - next time the device will successfully deliver soil from a Martian satellite to Earth. But you need to hurry - calculations show that Phobos has too low an orbit, in a few years it will burn up in the Martian atmosphere.
