Esko Valtaoja does not believe that the Mars flight will take place on Trump’s schedule

of the United States president Donald Trump declared in his inauguration speech that the star flag will still be flown on the soil of Mars.

The idea comes from a billionaire From Elon Muskwho, with the power of his company SpaceX, has been working on a manned Mars flight for a couple of decades.

Could a research trip to the red planet be successful during the Trump era, i.e. in the next four years?

Emeritus Professor of Astronomy Esko Valtaoja has bet on the timing.

“Finland’s leading rocket expert Jari Mäkinen was of the opinion, like Musk, that Mars would be reached before 2030, but I don’t believe this myself.”

“My guess is still that Mars will be reached by 2040.”

Martian six have already rolled on the surface research ATVbut so far the human footprint has not been buried in the dust of Marsperä.

The reasons can be found in money and technology.

“The old rule is that if you want to send a kilo of stuff into space, it costs a kilo of gold.”

The technology of modern rockets has not changed since the hearings: they still use chemical fuel. Still, rockets have developed to be more efficient in other respects, says Valtaoja.

According to him, in the most optimistic estimates, the price of the flight has dropped from 200 billion to around 20 billion dollars.

“The price has dropped in such a way that it would be possible in principle.”

According to Valtaoja, going to Mars is not necessarily the craziest idea.

“Everyone probably thinks that 200 billion is better spent on a flight to Mars than, say, on a war.”

Mars is significantly further away than the moon.

The average distance to the red planet is 225 million kilometers, and it varies depending on where the Earth and Mars cool down in their orbits.

It would cost just the one way trip according to plans six to nine months. With nuclear-powered rockets, a trip to Mars would take weeks instead of months. Such have not yet been developed, but the technology is already being used in nuclear submarines.

Probably about three to six astronauts would go on the first flight, says Valtaoja.

After a difficult journey on the surface of Mars, there would be a delay of about a couple of months to a year and a half. Space travelers would have to endure inhumane conditions there.

The gravity of Mars is only one third of that of Earth. Travelers would have to wear a protective suit at all times, because you cannot breathe in the gas atmosphere of Mars, which consists mainly of carbon dioxide. In addition, the Sun’s UV radiation, which damages cells, is strong on the surface of Mars.

What Would it be done on Mars?

According to Valtaoja, there would be enough to explore on a deserted planet. The most interesting question is related to life, he says.

“I would like an answer to whether there is life anywhere else. Mars is the first place we could go to see. We don’t understand ourselves because we don’t know what is the share of man and life in the universe.”

Because of the deadly UV radiation, the scientific community does not believe in finding life on the surface of Mars. However, the world below the surface is a separate matter. Even at a depth of a few meters, organisms are protected from radiation, says Valtaoja.

Scientists could also search the planet for signs of lost life, such as fossils.

About four billion years ago, Mars was an Earth-like watery planet, but over time, water has sunk deep below the planet’s surface.

There can still be water deposits only a couple of meters deep. According to the geological signs, it seems that in some places water has gushed out from under the surface into the desert.

According to Valtaoja, the first landing site would be chosen close to such a body of water. Water is an essential condition for establishing a self-sufficient settlement, for example.

People other than Americans are aiming for Mars. For example, the United Arab Emirates envisions establishing a colony on the red planet until the year 2117 by.