Elon Musk’s ambition: will Mars exploration really discover alien life?

Editor’s note

Today, the universe is not an object of awe, but an object of appreciation that can be enjoyed together. The universe is full of celestial bodies that are more beautiful and amazing than the works of art created by humans and the amazing sights shown by nature. We plan to take you to various universes.

A view of the red planet Mars. It was taken on May 12, 2016 by the Hubble Space Telescope. Several small white dots on the left represent the Martian moon Phobos in a multiple exposure. The area that appears dark is a mountainous area with many meteorite craters. The area that appears bluish at the edge is where there is ice. It is very likely that extraterrestrial life exists on Mars. Elon Musk’s dream is to send people to live on Mars. ⓒNASA/ESA

Mars, a planet in the solar system that resembles Earth
Musk’s efforts toward the red star
Human landing on Mars is getting closer.

If you really want to make a lot of money, use space.

It may sound absurd, but American businessman Elon Musk is demonstrating this in practice. Musk is one of the world’s richest men and he is making money from space. His dream is to send many people to live on Mars.

To make his dream come true, Musk founded a space exploration technology company called SpaceX in 2002. This company has succeeded in dramatically reducing the development and operation costs of space launch vehicles and spacecraft with amazing ideas. It also operates Starlink, an Internet network using thousands of satellites. Today, it is responsible for launching satellites for many countries around the world, including the United States. We have developed a spacecraft to transport supplies to the space station, and we are also developing a spacecraft for people to ride. We are trying to send people to Mars by 2040 using the spacecraft we are developing here. The company’s current value is estimated at $180 billion (about 243 trillion won).

Graphics = Reporter Lee Ji-won

Mars is the brightest planet in the sky after Venus and Jupiter. Because Mars appears red, it can be easily distinguished from other stars and planets. The Earth appears blue when seen from space. The photo shows Mars taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on May 12, 2016. Mars is about half the size of Earth. The reason Mars appears red is because the iron on its surface reacts with oxygen in the atmosphere and turns into rusty iron. The slightly dark area in the photo is a mountainous area with many meteorite craters. The bluish part at the edge is where there is ice. Several white dots on the left show the path of Mars’ moon Phobos (the god of fear). The images taken at 2-minute intervals over 24 minutes appear as a single line. Mars has two moons.

The distance between Mars and the Sun is 1.5 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. However, Mars has an environment most similar to Earth among the planets in the solar system, making it a planet where extraterrestrial life is highly likely to exist. The environment on Mars is much worse than that on Earth, so if life exists on Mars, it is expected to be very different from life on Earth. There are traces of a lot of water flowing on Mars in the past, but currently no water is visible on the surface, only ice. If there is water, there is a possibility that life exists. Research to find evidence of extraterrestrial life on Mars has been ongoing for a long time, but has not yet been found. If there is life, it is likely underground.

It takes approximately 7 months for an unmanned probe departing from Earth to reach Mars, and a round-trip manned probe is expected to take 2 to 3 years. Since the 1960s, the Soviet Union (today Russia) and the United States have sent dozens of Mars probes. Among these, America’s Viking 1 and 2 were the first to land on Mars and successfully send photos taken on Mars to Earth. Viking 1 and 2 operated for several years after landing on Mars in 1976.

A crater area on Mars created by water flowing in the past. The white line is the path that the Perseverance rover, which arrived on Mars in 2020, explored for 1,000 days until December 12, 2023, to find evidence of the existence of microorganisms. ⓒNASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

In 2020, the Mars 2020 rover is exploring the surface of Mars by landing the ‘Perseverance’ rover and the ‘Ingenuity’ helicopter on Mars. The photo above shows the route the Perseverance rover explored over 1,000 days. The rover’s goal is to find evidence of the existence of Martian microorganisms and later send them to Earth. However, no manned spacecraft has yet been sent to Mars.

In 2015, the movie ‘The Martian’ showed the process of Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon), an Earthling who arrived on Mars, lived alone growing potatoes, and then escaped from Mars. 4.9 million people in Korea watched this film, raising curiosity about how Earthlings could survive on the desolate Mars. The movie is set in the late 2030s, which is similar to Musk’s target period.

Sending a manned spacecraft to Mars requires a variety of technologies, including not only space navigation technology but also technology that allows people to stay in a harsh environment such as Mars. Musk is carrying out various businesses, including SpaceX, to achieve his dream. It is very likely that he will be the first person to send a manned spacecraft to Mars. The day is approaching when his dream, which sounded absurd, will come true. The year is 2024.