<p>Scientists have discovered a natural shelter on Mars that can protect it against the radiation on the Red planet.</p>

<p>Radiation from space has a nearly unimpeded path to the Martian surface without a protective magnetic shield.</p>

<p>The atmosphere of Mars is extremely thin in comparison to Earth and it lacks a global magnetic shield required for protection against harmful radiation.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasas-perseverance-rover-collects-first-rock-samples-on-mars-411283" hreflang="en">NASA's Perseverance rover collects first rock samples on Mars</a></strong></p>

<p>With the latest discovery by astronomers, not only machines but also human beings can roam the surface of Mars without the fear of radiation.</p>

<p>The findings, published in Geophysical Research Letters, is titled ''Directionality of the Martian Surface Radiation and Derivation of the Upward Albedo Radiation.''</p>

<p>The research was conducted by the University of Science and Technology in China and its lead author is Guo Jingnan.</p>

<p>It states the use of natural geological structures on Mars, including cave skylights and lava tubes as a mitigation strategy for space radiation.</p>

<p>The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) will be used by the Mars Science Laboratory in its future visits to the Red planet.</p>

<p>It is used to detect harmful radiation on Mars that originates from the Sun and other sources in the universe.</p>

<p>The study is significant because the energetic particles in the interplanetary space can adversely affect astronauts and cause cancer amid other hereditary diseases.</p>


Scientists have discovered a natural shelter on Mars that can protect it against the radiation on the Red planet. Radiation from space has a nearly unimpeded path to the Martian surface without a protective magnetic shield.

Scientists have discovered a natural shelter on Mars that can protect it against the radiation on the Red planet. Radiation from space has a nearly unimpeded path to the Martian surface without a protective magnetic shield. The atmosphere of Mars is extremely thin in comparison to Earth and it lacks a global magnetic shield required for protection against harmful radiation. Also read | NASA's Perseverance rover collects first rock samples on Mars With the latest discovery by astronomers, not only machines but also human beings can roam the surface of Mars without the fear of radiation. The findings, published in Geophysical Research Letters, is titled ''Directionality of the Martian Surface Radiation and Derivation of the Upward Albedo Radiation.'' The research was conducted by the University of Science and Technology in China and its lead author is Guo Jingnan. It states the use of natural geological structures on Mars, including cave skylights and lava tubes as a mitigation strategy for space radiation. The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) will be used by the Mars Science Laboratory in its future visits to the Red planet. It is used to detect harmful radiation on Mars that originates from the Sun and other sources in the universe. The study is significant because the energetic particles in the interplanetary space can adversely affect astronauts and cause cancer amid other hereditary diseases.

Astronomers discover natural shelter on Mars against radiation

<p>NASA's Perseverance rover has collected its first Mars rock samples, NASA confirmed on Monday. The samples will be brought back to Earth during future missions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"I've got it!" the space agency tweeted, alongside a photograph of a rock core slightly thicker than a pencil inside a sample tube.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The sample was collected on September 1 but NASA was initially unsure as to whether the rover had held on to the samples. Initial images taken in poor light were unclear.</p>

<p>The rover took fresh photo and then transeferred the tube to the rover's interior for further measurements and imaging. The container was then sealed.</p>

<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasa-extends-ingenuity-copters-mission-on-mars-indefinitely-411301">NASA extends Ingenuity copter's mission on Mars indefinitely</a></strong></p>

<p>"This is a momentous achievement and I can't wait to see the incredible discoveries produced by Perseverance and our team," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.</p>

<p>Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science, likened the achievement to the first samples of rock taken from the Moon, which are still invaluable to researchers today.</p>

<p>Sampling and caching systme on board Preseverance rover is the most complex mechanism ever sent to space. There are over 3000 parts.</p>

<p>A briefcase-sized rock nicknamed "Rochette" was its first target.</p>

<p>Perseverance uses a drill and a hollow coring bit at the end of its 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm to extract samples.</p>

<p>After coring the rock, the rover vibrated the drill bit and tube for one second, five separate times.&nbsp;<br />
This procedure is called "percuss to ingest" and is meant to clear the lip of the tube of residual material, and cause the sample to slide down the tube.</p>

<p>Perseverance landed on an ancient lake bed called the Jezero Crater in February, on a mission to search for signs of ancient microbial life using a suite of sophisticated instruments mounted on its turret.</p>

<p>It is also trying to better characterize the Red Planet's geology and past climate.</p>

<p><em><strong>(With inputs from agencies)</strong></em></p>


NASA's Perseverance rover has collected its first Mars rock samples, NASA confirmed on Monday. The samples will be brought back to Earth during future missions. "I've got it!

NASA's Perseverance rover has collected its first Mars rock samples, NASA confirmed on Monday. The samples will be brought back to Earth during future missions. "I've got it!" the space agency tweeted, alongside a photograph of a rock core slightly thicker than a pencil inside a sample tube. The sample was collected on September 1 but NASA was initially unsure as to whether the rover had held on to the samples. Initial images taken in poor light were unclear. The rover took fresh photo and then transeferred the tube to the rover's interior for further measurements and imaging. The container was then sealed. Also Read | NASA extends Ingenuity copter's mission on Mars indefinitely "This is a momentous achievement and I can't wait to see the incredible discoveries produced by Perseverance and our team," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science, likened the achievement to the first samples of rock taken from the Moon, which are still invaluable to researchers today. Sampling and caching systme on board Preseverance rover is the most complex mechanism ever sent to space. There are over 3000 parts. A briefcase-sized rock nicknamed "Rochette" was its first target. Perseverance uses a drill and a hollow coring bit at the end of its 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm to extract samples. After coring the rock, the rover vibrated the drill bit and tube for one second, five separate times. This procedure is called "percuss to ingest" and is meant to clear the lip of the tube of residual material, and cause the sample to slide down the tube. Perseverance landed on an ancient lake bed called the Jezero Crater in February, on a mission to search for signs of ancient microbial life using a suite of sophisticated instruments mounted on its turret. It is also trying to better characterize the Red Planet's geology and past climate. (With inputs from agencies)

NASA's Perseverance rover collects first rock samples on Mars

<p>NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Agency) has extended its Ingenuity helicopter's Mars mission indefinitely given its stunning and unexpected success. It was initially supposed to fly just five times. But till now, it has completed 12 flights. The helicopter is working in co-ordination with Perseverance rover on the surface of Mars. Perseverance's core mission is to seek signs of ancient life on Mars.</p>

<p>"Everything is working so well," said Josh Ravich, the head of Ingenuity's mechanical engineering team. "We're doing better on the surface than we had expected."&nbsp;</p>

<p>Ingenuity created history on April 19 when it flew on the surface of Mars, marking first motorised flight on the surface of a planet other than Earth.</p>

<p>It is very tough for a helicopter to fly in Martian atmosphere as its density is equivalent to just one per cent of that of Earth's atmosphere.</p>

<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasas-perseverance-rover-collects-first-rock-samples-on-mars-411283">NASA's Perseverance rover collects first rock samples on Mars</a></strong></p>

<p>The tiny (four pound, or 1.8 kilogram) copter has had to survive the glacial cold of Martian nights, drawing warmth from the solar panels that charge its batteries during the day. And its flights are guided using an array of sensors, since the 15-minute lag in communications from Earth makes real-time guidance impossible.&nbsp;</p>

<p>However, things have been great so far</p>

<p>"We've actually been able to handle winds greater than we had expected," Ravich told AFP.</p>

<p>"I think by flight three we had actually accomplished all of our engineering goals ... (and) got all the information we had hoped to get," said Ravich, who works for NASA's famed Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which developed the helicopter.</p>

<p>Since then, Ingenuity has flown as high as 39 feet (12 meters), and its last flight lasted two minutes and 49 seconds. In all, it has covered a distance of 1.6 miles.</p>

<p>In May, Ingenuity flew its first one-way mission, landing outside the relatively flat "airfield" that had been carefully selected as its initial home.&nbsp;</p>

<p>But not all has gone smoothly. Its sixth flight brought some excitement.</p>

<p>After being knocked dangerously off-balance by a malfunction affecting the photos taken in flight to help it stabilize, the tiny craft was able to recover. It landed, safe and sound, and the problem was resolved.</p>

<p>Ingenuity is now being sent out to scout the way for Perseverance, using its high-resolution color camera.</p>

<p>The purpose is twofold: to chart a path for the rover that is safe, but also which is of scientific interest, notably in geological terms.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>


NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Agency) has extended its Ingenuity helicopter's Mars mission indefinitely given its stunning and unexpected success. It was initially supposed to fly just five times.

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Agency) has extended its Ingenuity helicopter's Mars mission indefinitely given its stunning and unexpected success. It was initially supposed to fly just five times. But till now, it has completed 12 flights. The helicopter is working in co-ordination with Perseverance rover on the surface of Mars. Perseverance's core mission is to seek signs of ancient life on Mars. "Everything is working so well," said Josh Ravich, the head of Ingenuity's mechanical engineering team. "We're doing better on the surface than we had expected." Ingenuity created history on April 19 when it flew on the surface of Mars, marking first motorised flight on the surface of a planet other than Earth. It is very tough for a helicopter to fly in Martian atmosphere as its density is equivalent to just one per cent of that of Earth's atmosphere. Also Read | NASA's Perseverance rover collects first rock samples on Mars The tiny (four pound, or 1.8 kilogram) copter has had to survive the glacial cold of Martian nights, drawing warmth from the solar panels that charge its batteries during the day. And its flights are guided using an array of sensors, since the 15-minute lag in communications from Earth makes real-time guidance impossible. However, things have been great so far "We've actually been able to handle winds greater than we had expected," Ravich told AFP. "I think by flight three we had actually accomplished all of our engineering goals ... (and) got all the information we had hoped to get," said Ravich, who works for NASA's famed Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which developed the helicopter. Since then, Ingenuity has flown as high as 39 feet (12 meters), and its last flight lasted two minutes and 49 seconds. In all, it has covered a distance of 1.6 miles. In May, Ingenuity flew its first one-way mission, landing outside the relatively flat "airfield" that had been carefully selected as its initial home. But not all has gone smoothly. Its sixth flight brought some excitement. After being knocked dangerously off-balance by a malfunction affecting the photos taken in flight to help it stabilize, the tiny craft was able to recover. It landed, safe and sound, and the problem was resolved. Ingenuity is now being sent out to scout the way for Perseverance, using its high-resolution color camera. The purpose is twofold: to chart a path for the rover that is safe, but also which is of scientific interest, notably in geological terms. (With inputs from agencies)

NASA extends Ingenuity copter's mission on Mars indefinitely

<p>NASA's Perseverance rover has succeeded in drilling rocks from Mars after a perplexing failure last month.</p>

<p>The rover's chief engineer Adam Steltzner described it as “one beautifully perfect cored sample.”</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SamplingMars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SamplingMars</a> update: first images show a sample in the tube after coring. But pics I took after an arm move are inconclusive due to poor lighting. I’m taking more photos in better light to confirm that we still have an intact core in the tube.<br />
<br />
Read more: <a href="https://t.co/MqeD68KqYw">https://t.co/MqeD68KqYw</a> <a href="https://t.co/VYXErWrrEb">pic.twitter.com/VYXErWrrEb</a></p>
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1433565831649107971?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>Now, the US space agency can use these rocks for future analysis by scientists on Earth by&nbsp;using state-of-the-art instruments in their laboratories.</p>

<p>According to Jennifer Trosper, project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, "The team determined a location, and selected and cored a viable and scientifically valuable rock.''</p>

<p>"We will work through this small hiccup with the lighting conditions in the images and remain encouraged that there is sample in this tube."</p>

<p>Nicknamed "Rochette," the target was a briefcase-sized rock from a ridgeline that is half a mile (900 meters) long.</p>

<p>NASA had failed during its first attempt to scoop up a piece of Martian life because the rock was too crumbly.</p>

<p>It had landed on the Red Planet's Jezero crater in February with the aim of searching for signs of ancient microbial life.&nbsp;</p>

<p>NASA plans a mission to bring around 30 samples back to Earth in the 2030s, where scientists will be able to conduct more detailed analysis that might confirm there was microbial life.</p>


NASA's Perseverance rover has succeeded in drilling rocks from Mars after a perplexing failure last month. The rover's chief engineer Adam Steltzner described it as “one beautifully perfect cored sample.

NASA's Perseverance rover has succeeded in drilling rocks from Mars after a perplexing failure last month. The rover's chief engineer Adam Steltzner described it as “one beautifully perfect cored sample.” #SamplingMars update: first images show a sample in the tube after coring. But pics I took after an arm move are inconclusive due to poor lighting. I’m taking more photos in better light to confirm that we still have an intact core in the tube. Read more: https://t.co/MqeD68KqYw pic.twitter.com/VYXErWrrEb — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) September 2, 2021 × Now, the US space agency can use these rocks for future analysis by scientists on Earth by using state-of-the-art instruments in their laboratories. According to Jennifer Trosper, project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, "The team determined a location, and selected and cored a viable and scientifically valuable rock.'' "We will work through this small hiccup with the lighting conditions in the images and remain encouraged that there is sample in this tube." Nicknamed "Rochette," the target was a briefcase-sized rock from a ridgeline that is half a mile (900 meters) long. NASA had failed during its first attempt to scoop up a piece of Martian life because the rock was too crumbly. It had landed on the Red Planet's Jezero crater in February with the aim of searching for signs of ancient microbial life. NASA plans a mission to bring around 30 samples back to Earth in the 2030s, where scientists will be able to conduct more detailed analysis that might confirm there was microbial life.

NASA's Perseverance rover succeeds in drilling rocks from Mars

<p>Nothing more needs to be said about how Mars occupies a place of fascination in human mind. It has been revered as a God, feared in horoscopes. But it surely makes for a unique view in the night sky with its red glory.</p>

<p>The planet is not as unfamiliar scientifically as decades ago. Orbitters and rovers are still collecting info about the planet. We often see pics of Martian hills, atmosphere and even storms. But Martian landslide? Well that's something different.</p>

<p>European Space Agency (ESA) has captured such a landslide on the surface of Mars. It has posted the image on Instagram.</p>

<p>"Captured by the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter on 13 April 2021, a 5 km-long landslide can be see in this scene at the rim of a 35 km wide crater in the Aeolis region of Mars (151.88°E/27.38°S).</p>

<p>Landslides are geomorphological processes occurring under specific environmental conditions. On Mars as on Earth, they come in various shapes and sizes, and Earth analogues are used to understand similar processes seen on planetary bodies..." said ESA in its post.</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CTKfsHjsjmK/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);">
<div style="padding:16px;">
<div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;">&nbsp;</div>
</div>
</div>

<div style="padding: 19% 0;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CTKfsHjsjmK/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"><svg height="50px" version="1.1" viewbox="0 0 60 60" width="50px" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd" stroke="none" stroke-width="1"><g fill="#000000" transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></a></div>

<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CTKfsHjsjmK/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank">View this post on Instagram</a></div>
</div>

<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);">&nbsp;</div>
</div>

<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)">&nbsp;</div>
</div>

<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);">&nbsp;</div>

<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);">&nbsp;</div>

<div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);">&nbsp;</div>
</div>
</div>

<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;">&nbsp;</div>
</div>

<p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CTKfsHjsjmK/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by ESA - European Space Agency (@europeanspaceagency)</a></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Netizens are awestruck, and the post has expectedly gone viral. At the time of publishing of this article, the images had got more than 20 thousand likes.</p>


Nothing more needs to be said about how Mars occupies a place of fascination in human mind. It has been revered as a God, feared in horoscopes. But it surely makes for a unique view in the night sky with its red glory.

Nothing more needs to be said about how Mars occupies a place of fascination in human mind. It has been revered as a God, feared in horoscopes. But it surely makes for a unique view in the night sky with its red glory. The planet is not as unfamiliar scientifically as decades ago. Orbitters and rovers are still collecting info about the planet. We often see pics of Martian hills, atmosphere and even storms. But Martian landslide? Well that's something different. European Space Agency (ESA) has captured such a landslide on the surface of Mars. It has posted the image on Instagram. "Captured by the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter on 13 April 2021, a 5 km-long landslide can be see in this scene at the rim of a 35 km wide crater in the Aeolis region of Mars (151.88°E/27.38°S). Landslides are geomorphological processes occurring under specific environmental conditions. On Mars as on Earth, they come in various shapes and sizes, and Earth analogues are used to understand similar processes seen on planetary bodies..." said ESA in its post. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ESA - European Space Agency (@europeanspaceagency) × Netizens are awestruck, and the post has expectedly gone viral. At the time of publishing of this article, the images had got more than 20 thousand likes.

ESA posts brilliant pics of landslide on Mars

<p>Space is a wonderful mystery!&nbsp;It has&nbsp;glamour that mesmerises our&nbsp;minds. Rockets lifting off, probes examining planets in our solar system, even going beyond the boundary of it is something that enthralls us.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For a layman, space travel is just about sitting in a spaceship and travelling through the void witnessing colourful wonders of the universe. But for a scientist involved in a mission, it is a result of precise work that involves many factors. Main impediment to human space travel is intense space radiation. Once we leave the protective shell of Earth we are exposed to these cosmic rays which are deadly. Human spaceflight therefore involves consideration of this major factor. Even a manned mission to Mars is tricky because it involves years of space travel for a roundtrip.</p>

<p>But now a study has said that an astronaut's journey to Mars is safe even when the spaceship is being bombarded with lethal cosmic rays during the journey.</p>

<p>However, certain conditions have to be fulfilled in order to make the journey safe for the astronaut.</p>

<p>An international team of space scientists including researchers from UCLA carried out the study.</p>

<p>The scientists have said that the protective shielding must be of sufficient thickness and a round trip to Mars must be shorter than approximately four years. Average flight to Mars takes about nine months. So the window advised by the scientists is sufficient.</p>

<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/isro-successfully-tests-a-system-that-will-propel-indias-human-carrying-spacecraft-409433">ISRO successfully tests a system that will propel India’s human-carrying spacecraft</a></strong></p>

<p>Moreover, the timing of the manned mission to Mars would be important as well. Scientists have suggested that the mission should be undertaken when the solar activity is at its peak. This is known as solar maximum.</p>

<p>Why?</p>

<p>Well, the heightened solar activity deflects the most lethal cosmic rays.</p>

<p>Move over Neil Armstrong, the race to be the first human on Mars is on!</p>


Space is a wonderful mystery! It has glamour that mesmerises our minds. Rockets lifting off, probes examining planets in our solar system, even going beyond the boundary of it is something that enthralls us.

Space is a wonderful mystery! It has glamour that mesmerises our minds. Rockets lifting off, probes examining planets in our solar system, even going beyond the boundary of it is something that enthralls us. For a layman, space travel is just about sitting in a spaceship and travelling through the void witnessing colourful wonders of the universe. But for a scientist involved in a mission, it is a result of precise work that involves many factors. Main impediment to human space travel is intense space radiation. Once we leave the protective shell of Earth we are exposed to these cosmic rays which are deadly. Human spaceflight therefore involves consideration of this major factor. Even a manned mission to Mars is tricky because it involves years of space travel for a roundtrip. But now a study has said that an astronaut's journey to Mars is safe even when the spaceship is being bombarded with lethal cosmic rays during the journey. However, certain conditions have to be fulfilled in order to make the journey safe for the astronaut. An international team of space scientists including researchers from UCLA carried out the study. The scientists have said that the protective shielding must be of sufficient thickness and a round trip to Mars must be shorter than approximately four years. Average flight to Mars takes about nine months. So the window advised by the scientists is sufficient. Also Read | ISRO successfully tests a system that will propel India’s human-carrying spacecraft Moreover, the timing of the manned mission to Mars would be important as well. Scientists have suggested that the mission should be undertaken when the solar activity is at its peak. This is known as solar maximum. Why? Well, the heightened solar activity deflects the most lethal cosmic rays. Move over Neil Armstrong, the race to be the first human on Mars is on!

Journey to Mars is full of danger, but here's the safe way

<p>The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said that&nbsp;unusually soft and&nbsp;powdery&nbsp;rock is responsible for last week’s sampling fiasco on Mars.</p>

<p>The space agency's Mars rover Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology lab ever sent to another world,&nbsp;drilled to the proper depth of nearly 3 inches (8 centimetres), and pictures of the borehole looked good.</p>

<p>However, it came up empty after attempting to collect its first core sample on the red planet for eventual return to Earth.</p>

<p>NASA's&nbsp;engineers have concluded that the rock was not strong enough to produce a core sample, and the small, powdery fragments remained in the hole or ended up in the cuttings pile,&nbsp;or both.</p>

<p>Therefore, the rover is moving on to the next sampling site in its quest for signs of ancient Martian life; it should arrive there by early next month.</p>

<p>Scientists hope to find biosignatures embedded in samples of ancient sediments that Perseverance is designed to extract from Martian rock for future analysis back on Earth,&nbsp;the first such specimens ever collected by humankind from another planet.</p>

<p>Two subsequent Mars missions are planned to retrieve the samples and return them to NASA in the next decade, in collaboration with the European Space Agency.</p>

<p><strong>Search for ancient life</strong></p>

<p>NASA scientists have described Perseverance as the most ambitious of nearly 20 US&nbsp;missions to Mars dating back to the Mariner spacecraft’s 1965 fly-by.</p>

<p>Larger and packed with more instruments than the four Mars rovers preceding it, Perseverance is set to build on previous findings that liquid water once flowed on the Martian surface and that carbon and other minerals altered by water and considered precursors to the evolution of life were present.</p>

<p>Perseverance’s payload also includes demonstration projects that could help pave the way for eventual human exploration of Mars, including a device to convert the carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere into pure oxygen.</p>

<p>The box-shaped tool, the first built to extract a natural resource of direct use to humans from an extraterrestrial environment, could prove invaluable for future human life support on Mars and for producing rocket propellant to fly astronauts home.</p>

<p>Perseverance’s immediate predecessor, the rover Curiosity, landed in 2012 and remains in operation, as does the stationary lander InSight, which arrived in 2018 to study the deep interior of Mars.</p>


The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said that unusually soft and powdery rock is responsible for last week’s sampling fiasco on Mars. The space agency's Mars rover Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology lab ever sent to another world, drilled to the proper depth of nearly 3 inches (8 centimetres), and pictures of the borehole looked good.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said that unusually soft and powdery rock is responsible for last week’s sampling fiasco on Mars. The space agency's Mars rover Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology lab ever sent to another world, drilled to the proper depth of nearly 3 inches (8 centimetres), and pictures of the borehole looked good. However, it came up empty after attempting to collect its first core sample on the red planet for eventual return to Earth. NASA's engineers have concluded that the rock was not strong enough to produce a core sample, and the small, powdery fragments remained in the hole or ended up in the cuttings pile, or both. Therefore, the rover is moving on to the next sampling site in its quest for signs of ancient Martian life; it should arrive there by early next month. Scientists hope to find biosignatures embedded in samples of ancient sediments that Perseverance is designed to extract from Martian rock for future analysis back on Earth, the first such specimens ever collected by humankind from another planet. Two subsequent Mars missions are planned to retrieve the samples and return them to NASA in the next decade, in collaboration with the European Space Agency. Search for ancient life NASA scientists have described Perseverance as the most ambitious of nearly 20 US missions to Mars dating back to the Mariner spacecraft’s 1965 fly-by. Larger and packed with more instruments than the four Mars rovers preceding it, Perseverance is set to build on previous findings that liquid water once flowed on the Martian surface and that carbon and other minerals altered by water and considered precursors to the evolution of life were present. Perseverance’s payload also includes demonstration projects that could help pave the way for eventual human exploration of Mars, including a device to convert the carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere into pure oxygen. The box-shaped tool, the first built to extract a natural resource of direct use to humans from an extraterrestrial environment, could prove invaluable for future human life support on Mars and for producing rocket propellant to fly astronauts home. Perseverance’s immediate predecessor, the rover Curiosity, landed in 2012 and remains in operation, as does the stationary lander InSight, which arrived in 2018 to study the deep interior of Mars.

Unusually soft, powdery rock responsible for sampling fiasco on Mars, says NASA

<p>NASA's Perseverance drilled into the surface of&nbsp;Mars&nbsp;but failed in its initial attempt to&nbsp;collect&nbsp;rock&nbsp;samples that would be picked up by future missions for analysis by scientists on Earth.</p>

<p>The US&nbsp;space&nbsp;agency published images Friday of a small mound with a hole in its center next to the&nbsp;rover&nbsp;-- the first ever dug into the Red Planet by a robot.</p>

<p>But data sent to Earth by the&nbsp;rover&nbsp;after its first attempt to&nbsp;collect&nbsp;a sample and seal it in a tube indicated no&nbsp;rock&nbsp;had been gathered.</p>

<p>"While this is not the 'hole-in-one' we hoped for, there is always risk with breaking new ground," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for&nbsp;NASA's science mission directorate, in a statement.</p>

<p>"I'm confident we have the right team working this, and we will persevere toward a solution to ensure future success."</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasa-model-this-is-how-the-sun-looked-like-in-its-youth-402732"><strong>Also read |&nbsp;NASA model: This is how the Sun looked like in its youth</strong></a></p>

<p>The drill hole is the first step of a&nbsp;sampling process&nbsp;that is expected to take about 11 days, with the aim of looking for signs of ancient microbial&nbsp;life&nbsp;that may have been preserved in ancient lakebed deposits.</p>

<p>Scientists also hope to better understand Martian geology.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The mission took off from Florida a little over a year ago and Perseverance, which is the size of a large family car, landed on February 18 in the Jezero Crater.</p>

<p>Scientists believe the crater contained a deep lake 3.5 billion years ago, where the conditions may have been able to support extraterrestrial&nbsp;life.&nbsp;</p>

<p>NASA&nbsp;plans a mission to bring around 30 samples back to Earth in the 2030s, to be analysed by instruments that are much more sophisticated than those that can be brought to&nbsp;Mars&nbsp;at present.&nbsp;</p>


NASA's Perseverance drilled into the surface of Mars but failed in its initial attempt to collect rock samples that would be picked up by future missions for analysis by scientists on Earth.

NASA's Perseverance drilled into the surface of Mars but failed in its initial attempt to collect rock samples that would be picked up by future missions for analysis by scientists on Earth. The US space agency published images Friday of a small mound with a hole in its center next to the rover -- the first ever dug into the Red Planet by a robot. But data sent to Earth by the rover after its first attempt to collect a sample and seal it in a tube indicated no rock had been gathered. "While this is not the 'hole-in-one' we hoped for, there is always risk with breaking new ground," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's science mission directorate, in a statement. "I'm confident we have the right team working this, and we will persevere toward a solution to ensure future success." Also read | NASA model: This is how the Sun looked like in its youth The drill hole is the first step of a sampling process that is expected to take about 11 days, with the aim of looking for signs of ancient microbial life that may have been preserved in ancient lakebed deposits. Scientists also hope to better understand Martian geology. The mission took off from Florida a little over a year ago and Perseverance, which is the size of a large family car, landed on February 18 in the Jezero Crater. Scientists believe the crater contained a deep lake 3.5 billion years ago, where the conditions may have been able to support extraterrestrial life. NASA plans a mission to bring around 30 samples back to Earth in the 2030s, to be analysed by instruments that are much more sophisticated than those that can be brought to Mars at present.

NASA Mars rover fails to collect rock in search of alien life

<p><em>You've got mail!</em></p>

<p>Yes. United State's space organisation NASA has a mail from us. Travelling light years, galloping over miles of the outer world, the space agency has delivered for us the perfect dose of beauty and intrigue.</p>

<p>The mail is from Mars, a planet that has long been a source of fascination for humankind, steeped in mystery and intrigue. From the ancient Egyptians to modern-day children, Mars has remained an enticing and enigmatically magical planet that we know little about.</p>

<p>However, today this is changing. One of the&nbsp;nearest neighbours of our sun, today the red planet has been the subject of extensive exploration, and our rovers roam the surface of the planet every night.</p>

<p>Every day we are learning something new about the planet, but today we are not going to learn anything. It's Sunday, so instead of putting anything heavy on our minds, we're gonna sit back and admire the beauty of the desolate planet that is Mars.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here's the post by NASA.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CR7M3B5J7hA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);">
<div style="padding:16px;">
<div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;">&nbsp;</div>
</div>
</div>

<div style="padding: 19% 0;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CR7M3B5J7hA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"><svg height="50px" version="1.1" viewbox="0 0 60 60" width="50px" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd" stroke="none" stroke-width="1"><g fill="#000000" transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></a></div>

<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CR7M3B5J7hA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank">View this post on Instagram</a></div>
</div>

<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);">&nbsp;</div>
</div>

<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)">&nbsp;</div>
</div>

<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);">&nbsp;</div>

<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);">&nbsp;</div>

<div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);">&nbsp;</div>
</div>
</div>

<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;">&nbsp;</div>

<div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;">&nbsp;</div>
</div>

<p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CR7M3B5J7hA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by NASA (@nasa)</a></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>The post is captioned "You’ve got mail 💌 from Mars. Our&nbsp;@NASAJPL&nbsp;Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recently released new images showing off the many different features of the Red Planet!".</p>

<p>Showcasing three stunning pictures, this post from NASA shows us geological formations on the planet that ancient Egyptians liked to call&nbsp;&nbsp;"Horus of the Horizon".</p>


You've got mail! Yes. United State's space organisation NASA has a mail from us. Travelling light years, galloping over miles of the outer world, the space agency has delivered for us the perfect dose of beauty and intrigue.

You've got mail! Yes. United State's space organisation NASA has a mail from us. Travelling light years, galloping over miles of the outer world, the space agency has delivered for us the perfect dose of beauty and intrigue. The mail is from Mars, a planet that has long been a source of fascination for humankind, steeped in mystery and intrigue. From the ancient Egyptians to modern-day children, Mars has remained an enticing and enigmatically magical planet that we know little about. However, today this is changing. One of the nearest neighbours of our sun, today the red planet has been the subject of extensive exploration, and our rovers roam the surface of the planet every night. Every day we are learning something new about the planet, but today we are not going to learn anything. It's Sunday, so instead of putting anything heavy on our minds, we're gonna sit back and admire the beauty of the desolate planet that is Mars. Here's the post by NASA. View this post on Instagram A post shared by NASA (@nasa) × The post is captioned "You’ve got mail 💌 from Mars. Our @NASAJPL Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recently released new images showing off the many different features of the Red Planet!". Showcasing three stunning pictures, this post from NASA shows us geological formations on the planet that ancient Egyptians liked to call "Horus of the Horizon".

You've got mail from Mars. Open for magic and wonder

<p>As per a trio of new studies, the evidence of ‘subsurface lakes’ deep below the ice cap at Mars’ south pole could be due to clay.</p>

<p>Citing evidence collected from a radar instrument aboard the European Space Agency Mars Express orbiter, a team of scientists from Italy suggested that the possibility of subsurface lakes below the ice caps at Mars’ south pole.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As per NASA, the radar signals change when they are reflected off different materials.</p>

<p>After researchers from Italy’s Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica published the paper on lake, about 80 Martian polar scientists met for an international conference in Ushuaia.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/china-completes-historic-mars-spacecraft-landing-385148"><strong>Also read |&nbsp;China completes historic Mars spacecraft landing&nbsp;</strong></a></p>

<p>There were lots of talks about the subsurface lakes. They also discussed the possibility of brine lowering the freezing point of the water enough to keep it liquid.</p>

<p>Jeffrey Plaut of Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Aditya Khuller, a doctoral student, analyzed 44,000 radar echoes across 15 years of MARSIS data.</p>

<p>They also turned up dozens more bright reflections similar to the 2018 study.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Many of those close signals in areas close to the surface were found, where it should be too cold for water to remain liquid.</p>


As per a trio of new studies, the evidence of ‘subsurface lakes’ deep below the ice cap at Mars’ south pole could be due to clay. Citing evidence collected from a radar instrument aboard the European Space Agency Mars Express orbiter, a team of scientists from Italy suggested that the possibility of subsurface lakes below the ice caps at Mars’ south pole.

As per a trio of new studies, the evidence of ‘subsurface lakes’ deep below the ice cap at Mars’ south pole could be due to clay. Citing evidence collected from a radar instrument aboard the European Space Agency Mars Express orbiter, a team of scientists from Italy suggested that the possibility of subsurface lakes below the ice caps at Mars’ south pole. As per NASA, the radar signals change when they are reflected off different materials. After researchers from Italy’s Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica published the paper on lake, about 80 Martian polar scientists met for an international conference in Ushuaia. Also read | China completes historic Mars spacecraft landing There were lots of talks about the subsurface lakes. They also discussed the possibility of brine lowering the freezing point of the water enough to keep it liquid. Jeffrey Plaut of Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Aditya Khuller, a doctoral student, analyzed 44,000 radar echoes across 15 years of MARSIS data. They also turned up dozens more bright reflections similar to the 2018 study. Many of those close signals in areas close to the surface were found, where it should be too cold for water to remain liquid.

Clays can be a source of Mars 'lakes', here is all you need to know

<p>Mars has intrigued humankind for centuries. The red dot in the night sky has captured the imagination of several cultures. To some, it appeared like a god of war for others it supposedly created problems by tinkering with their personal horoscope.</p>

<p>For good or bad, Mars has always remained in our conversations one way or the other.</p>

<p>Now for the first time, we have been able to peep into the interior of the planet and have been able to deduce that the planet has a liquid core, a solid mantle and crust just like Earth but slightly different.</p>

<p>InSight lander on Mars has analysed data it collected on the surface of the red planet. It recorded over 700 'Marsquakes', that is, Earthquakes but on Mars. 35 out of these were strong enough to analyse further. And by y studying travel of these waves through the interior of the planet, scientists were able to get an idea about interior of the red planet.</p>

<p>Scientists have inferred that Martian crust is between 24 and 72 kilometers thick and has at least two layers.</p>

<p>The mantle is made up of a single layer of rock and is between 400 and 600 kilometers thick.</p>

<p>Then comes the core, the core is a much larger layer and has a radius of about &nbsp;1,830 kilometers. The core is liquid.</p>

<p>It was previously thought that Mars did not have geologic activity. But rumblings recorded by InSight in 2019 prove this notion to be incorrect.</p>

<p>This is the first time we have been able to get an idea about interior of a planet other than Earth.</p>


Mars has intrigued humankind for centuries. The red dot in the night sky has captured the imagination of several cultures. To some, it appeared like a god of war for others it supposedly created problems by tinkering with their personal horoscope.

Mars has intrigued humankind for centuries. The red dot in the night sky has captured the imagination of several cultures. To some, it appeared like a god of war for others it supposedly created problems by tinkering with their personal horoscope. For good or bad, Mars has always remained in our conversations one way or the other. Now for the first time, we have been able to peep into the interior of the planet and have been able to deduce that the planet has a liquid core, a solid mantle and crust just like Earth but slightly different. InSight lander on Mars has analysed data it collected on the surface of the red planet. It recorded over 700 'Marsquakes', that is, Earthquakes but on Mars. 35 out of these were strong enough to analyse further. And by y studying travel of these waves through the interior of the planet, scientists were able to get an idea about interior of the red planet. Scientists have inferred that Martian crust is between 24 and 72 kilometers thick and has at least two layers. The mantle is made up of a single layer of rock and is between 400 and 600 kilometers thick. Then comes the core, the core is a much larger layer and has a radius of about 1,830 kilometers. The core is liquid. It was previously thought that Mars did not have geologic activity. But rumblings recorded by InSight in 2019 prove this notion to be incorrect. This is the first time we have been able to get an idea about interior of a planet other than Earth.

Marsquakes reveal secrets of Mars' interior

<p>The&nbsp;Perseverance&nbsp;Mars rover is preparing to collect its first rock sample from the site of an ancient lake bed, as its mission to search for signs of past life begins in earnest, NASA said Wednesday.</p>

<p>The milestone is expected to take place within two weeks in a scientifically interesting region of the Jezero Crater called the "Cratered Floor Fractured Rough."&nbsp;</p>

<p>"When Neil Armstrong took the first sample from the Sea of Tranquility 52 years ago, he began a process that would rewrite what humanity knew about the Moon," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"I have every expectation that&nbsp;Perseverance's first sample from Jezero Crater, and those that come after, will do the same for Mars."</p>

<p>Perseverance&nbsp;landed on the Red Planet on February 18, and over the summer moved about a kilometre to the south of its landing site, project scientist Ken Farley told reporters.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasas-hubble-space-telescope-captures-images-of-two-unusual-galaxies-399481"><strong>Also read |&nbsp;NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures images of two unusual galaxies</strong></a></p>

<p>"Now we're looking at environments that are much further in the past -- billions of years in the past," he said in a briefing.</p>

<p>The team believes the crater was once home to an ancient lake that filled and drew down multiple times, potentially creating the conditions necessary for life.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Analysing samples will reveal clues about the rocks' chemical and mineral composition -- revealing things like whether they were formed by volcanoes or are sedimentary in origin.</p>

<p>In addition to filling gaps in scientists' geologic understanding of the region, the rover will also scour for possible signs of ancient microbes.</p>

<p>First,&nbsp;Perseverance&nbsp;will deploy its 7-foot (two-meter) long robotic arm to determine precisely where to take its sample.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The rover will then use an abrasion tool to scrape off the rock's top layer, exposing unweathered surfaces.&nbsp;</p>

<p>These will be analysed by&nbsp;Perseverance's turret-mounted scientific instruments to determine chemical and mineral composition, and look for organic matter.</p>

<p>One of the instruments, called SuperCam, will fire a laser at the rock and then take readings of the resulting plume.</p>

<p>Farley said that a small cliff that harboured fine-layered rocks might have been formed from lake muds, and "those are very good places to look for biosignatures," though it will be a few more months before&nbsp;Perseverance&nbsp;reaches that outcrop.</p>

<p>Each rock&nbsp;Perseverance&nbsp;analyses will have an untouched geologic "twin" which the rover will scoop up, seal and store under its belly.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Eventually, NASA is planning a return mission with the European Space Agency to collect the stored samples and return them for lab analysis on Earth, sometime in the 2030s.</p>

<p>Only then will scientists be able to say with greater confidence whether they truly found signs of ancient life forms.</p>


The Perseverance Mars rover is preparing to collect its first rock sample from the site of an ancient lake bed, as its mission to search for signs of past life begins in earnest, NASA said Wednesday.

The Perseverance Mars rover is preparing to collect its first rock sample from the site of an ancient lake bed, as its mission to search for signs of past life begins in earnest, NASA said Wednesday. The milestone is expected to take place within two weeks in a scientifically interesting region of the Jezero Crater called the "Cratered Floor Fractured Rough." "When Neil Armstrong took the first sample from the Sea of Tranquility 52 years ago, he began a process that would rewrite what humanity knew about the Moon," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters. "I have every expectation that Perseverance's first sample from Jezero Crater, and those that come after, will do the same for Mars." Perseverance landed on the Red Planet on February 18, and over the summer moved about a kilometre to the south of its landing site, project scientist Ken Farley told reporters. Also read | NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures images of two unusual galaxies "Now we're looking at environments that are much further in the past -- billions of years in the past," he said in a briefing. The team believes the crater was once home to an ancient lake that filled and drew down multiple times, potentially creating the conditions necessary for life. Analysing samples will reveal clues about the rocks' chemical and mineral composition -- revealing things like whether they were formed by volcanoes or are sedimentary in origin. In addition to filling gaps in scientists' geologic understanding of the region, the rover will also scour for possible signs of ancient microbes. First, Perseverance will deploy its 7-foot (two-meter) long robotic arm to determine precisely where to take its sample. The rover will then use an abrasion tool to scrape off the rock's top layer, exposing unweathered surfaces. These will be analysed by Perseverance's turret-mounted scientific instruments to determine chemical and mineral composition, and look for organic matter. One of the instruments, called SuperCam, will fire a laser at the rock and then take readings of the resulting plume. Farley said that a small cliff that harboured fine-layered rocks might have been formed from lake muds, and "those are very good places to look for biosignatures," though it will be a few more months before Perseverance reaches that outcrop. Each rock Perseverance analyses will have an untouched geologic "twin" which the rover will scoop up, seal and store under its belly. Eventually, NASA is planning a return mission with the European Space Agency to collect the stored samples and return them for lab analysis on Earth, sometime in the 2030s. Only then will scientists be able to say with greater confidence whether they truly found signs of ancient life forms.

NASA rover Perseverance preparing to take first Mars rock samples

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{6086329c-9cc8-4fff-a6bc-34eff96dc59e}{31}" paraid="937673820" >In a&nbsp;recent&nbsp;tweet, Tech mogul Elon Musk supported&nbsp;colonisation&nbsp;of Mars, saying population collapse is a big problem on Earth and as the&nbsp;population of Mars is zero, it needs people.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{6086329c-9cc8-4fff-a6bc-34eff96dc59e}{31}" paraid="937673820" >Elon Musk tweeted, “I’m trying to set a good example!&nbsp;Population collapse is a much bigger problem than people realize and that’s just for Earth.&nbsp;Mars has a great need for people, seeing as population is currently zero.&nbsp;Humans are the custodians of other life on Earth. Let us bring life to Mars!”&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I’m trying to set a good example! Population collapse is a much bigger problem than people realize and that’s just for Earth.<br />
<br />
Mars has a great need for people, seeing as population is currently zero.<br />
<br />
Humans are the custodians of other life on Earth. Let us bring life to Mars!</p>
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1415348519381217281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>Musk has been advocating Mars’&nbsp;colonisation&nbsp;for a long time, even with a set deadline and plan of action.&nbsp;The Tesla CEO’s tweet&nbsp;was in response to a post shared by a Twitter handle titled ‘Tesla Owners of the East Bay’.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Bringing the problem of&nbsp;‘population collapse’&nbsp;on the fore,&nbsp;the fan club&nbsp;handle had&nbsp;tweeted how it is upon earth&nbsp;to solve it&nbsp;with&nbsp;reducing the birth rate&nbsp;in the world.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Population collapse could be upon us, but we appreciate that you good sir are still making tangible efforts to stave it off. <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@elonmusk</a> 👶🏻💚🌎 <a href="https://t.co/qlwz1JBUhj">pic.twitter.com/qlwz1JBUhj</a></p>
— Tesla Owners of the East Bay (@TeslaOwnersEBay) <a href="https://twitter.com/TeslaOwnersEBay/status/1415169164650565632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>On the microblogging site,&nbsp;the club wrote,&nbsp;“Population collapse could be upon us, but we appreciate that you good sir are still making tangible efforts to stave it off."&nbsp;Musk,&nbsp;who is&nbsp;father of seven&nbsp;children, said that he is trying to set a good example.&nbsp;</p>


In a recent tweet, Tech mogul Elon Musk supported colonisation of Mars, saying population collapse is a big problem on Earth and as the population of Mars is zero, it needs people.

In a recent tweet, Tech mogul Elon Musk supported colonisation of Mars, saying population collapse is a big problem on Earth and as the population of Mars is zero, it needs people. Elon Musk tweeted, “I’m trying to set a good example! Population collapse is a much bigger problem than people realize and that’s just for Earth. Mars has a great need for people, seeing as population is currently zero. Humans are the custodians of other life on Earth. Let us bring life to Mars!” I’m trying to set a good example! Population collapse is a much bigger problem than people realize and that’s just for Earth. Mars has a great need for people, seeing as population is currently zero. Humans are the custodians of other life on Earth. Let us bring life to Mars! — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2021 × Musk has been advocating Mars’ colonisation for a long time, even with a set deadline and plan of action. The Tesla CEO’s tweet was in response to a post shared by a Twitter handle titled ‘Tesla Owners of the East Bay’. Bringing the problem of ‘population collapse’ on the fore, the fan club handle had tweeted how it is upon earth to solve it with reducing the birth rate in the world. Population collapse could be upon us, but we appreciate that you good sir are still making tangible efforts to stave it off. @elonmusk 👶🏻💚🌎 pic.twitter.com/qlwz1JBUhj — Tesla Owners of the East Bay (@TeslaOwnersEBay) July 14, 2021 × On the microblogging site, the club wrote, “Population collapse could be upon us, but we appreciate that you good sir are still making tangible efforts to stave it off." Musk, who is father of seven children, said that he is trying to set a good example.

Warning of 'population collapse' on Earth, Elon Musk calls for colonisation of Mars  

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{471ec7de-06f9-4b91-9831-ddad278a8fe2}{80}" paraid="283614364" >If you love to spend time in gazing upon the&nbsp;sky,&nbsp;you seem to be in for luck as you can get&nbsp;the&nbsp;dazzling view of Venus, Mars and the moon&nbsp;getting together.&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{2db10a9f-fe8d-4204-bf30-b76ec8c7dddc}{100}" paraid="1563538387" >According to a CNN report, which quoted&nbsp;EarthSky,&nbsp;Venus and Mars have been moving towards one another all weekend. They will&nbsp;come to&nbsp;their closest meeting&nbsp;during the early hours of Tuesday.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{2886b5bc-c967-443f-b561-48b23ec7f235}{8}" paraid="227914600" >From&nbsp;the&nbsp;Earth, the planets will appear&nbsp;to be&nbsp;only half a degree apart, as&nbsp;per the&nbsp;NASA.&nbsp;This meeting of planets in the sky is&nbsp;called&nbsp;planetary conjunction.&nbsp;Although it is just an&nbsp;illusion as the two planets are extremely far away from each other in reality.&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{9712fe50-929f-4bad-b071-c7920c0690ca}{217}" paraid="1048574553" >In a video on NASA's website,&nbsp;NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s&nbsp;research space scientist&nbsp;Giada&nbsp;Arney said, "Even during this conjunction, they will still be many millions of miles apart.&nbsp;But from our point of view here on Earth, they will appear to be close together."&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{baa481c1-582d-459a-8952-7a3fc12cc0a3}{8}" paraid="2037522304" >As the&nbsp;timing of this meeting&nbsp;coincides with the young moon's return to the night sky,&nbsp;the&nbsp;conjunction of these planets&nbsp;will appear&nbsp;alongwith&nbsp;a slim crescent moon, which&nbsp;is only 10 per cent illuminated.&nbsp;</p>

<p lang="EN-US" paraeid="{91ce185e-b16a-4ada-807f-401b9749e6b0}{126}" paraid="2048049167" >According to the NASA,&nbsp;skywatchers&nbsp;will be able to see the three celestial bodies both&nbsp;on&nbsp;Monday and Tuesday evenings.&nbsp;</p>


If you love to spend time in gazing upon the sky, you seem to be in for luck as you can get the dazzling view of Venus, Mars and the moon getting together. According to a CNN report, which quoted EarthSky, Venus and Mars have been moving towards one another all weekend.

If you love to spend time in gazing upon the sky, you seem to be in for luck as you can get the dazzling view of Venus, Mars and the moon getting together. According to a CNN report, which quoted EarthSky, Venus and Mars have been moving towards one another all weekend. They will come to their closest meeting during the early hours of Tuesday. From the Earth, the planets will appear to be only half a degree apart, as per the NASA. This meeting of planets in the sky is called planetary conjunction. Although it is just an illusion as the two planets are extremely far away from each other in reality. In a video on NASA's website, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s research space scientist Giada Arney said, "Even during this conjunction, they will still be many millions of miles apart. But from our point of view here on Earth, they will appear to be close together." As the timing of this meeting coincides with the young moon's return to the night sky, the conjunction of these planets will appear alongwith a slim crescent moon, which is only 10 per cent illuminated. According to the NASA, skywatchers will be able to see the three celestial bodies both on Monday and Tuesday evenings.

Keep gazing as Mars, Venus, moon come close in the sky 

<p>United Arab Emirates’ Hope probe which arrived on Mars earlier this year recently captured striking images of auroras lighting up the Martian sky.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Scientists had&nbsp;been privy to the existence of Martian auroras for some time now, but the phenomena hadn’t been captured until now. Using its Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer instrument, Hope captured the auroras at a wavelength of 103.4 nanometres.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This region of the electromagnetic spectrum has wavelengths that fall short of visible light, but still longer than x-ray radiation. Martian auroras cannot be perceived by humans. Like auroras on Earth, the Martian ones are also created by electrically charged particles called ions sent by the Sun.</p>

<p><img alt="hehe" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="3efb7991-3d6a-417d-9f4c-b5024b81f967" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/oof%20%286%29_1.jpg" /></p>

<h6><em>Image by UAE's Hope Mission</em></h6>

<p>Once these ions reach the Martian atmosphere, they go deeper into the planet’s thin atmosphere, propelled by magnetic fields. These fields are created by deposits of magnetised minerals in Mars’ crust. The auroras are then created after the ions expel oxygen atoms into the sky.</p>

<p><strong>Also read:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/orphan-cloud-bigger-than-milky-way-found-in-no-galaxys-land-by-scientists-395982" hreflang="en">'Orphan cloud' bigger than Milky Way found in 'no-galaxy's land' by scientists</a></p>

<p>In a statement last week, the UAE said that this occurrence “provide(s) an unprecedented perspective on these uniquely Martian aurorae”.</p>

<p>Mars once had a rich and thick atmosphere which allowed liquid water to thrive on its surface. Then, the planet was kept in place by a global magnetic field, like the one on Earth.</p>

<p>The dynamo effect persisted on Mars, caused by molten liquid in the core of planet revolving around another solid core in the opposite direction of the planet’s rotation just like Earth.</p>

<p>But over time, Mars lost most of its atmosphere, which scientists believe was a result of the planet’s core cooling more quickly than Earth’s. It caused the planet to resemble the deserted wasteland of today.</p>

<p>The UAE is set to make its scientific data from the ongoing Mars probe public in September.</p>

<p><strong>Also read:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/explosion-on-sun-equivalent-to-millions-of-hydrogen-bombs-causes-biggest-solar-flare-in-4-years-396003" hreflang="en">Explosion on Sun equivalent to millions of hydrogen bombs causes biggest solar flare in 4 years</a></p>


United Arab Emirates’ Hope probe which arrived on Mars earlier this year recently captured striking images of auroras lighting up the Martian sky. Scientists had been privy to the existence of Martian auroras for some time now, but the phenomena hadn’t been captured until now.

United Arab Emirates’ Hope probe which arrived on Mars earlier this year recently captured striking images of auroras lighting up the Martian sky. Scientists had been privy to the existence of Martian auroras for some time now, but the phenomena hadn’t been captured until now. Using its Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer instrument, Hope captured the auroras at a wavelength of 103.4 nanometres. This region of the electromagnetic spectrum has wavelengths that fall short of visible light, but still longer than x-ray radiation. Martian auroras cannot be perceived by humans. Like auroras on Earth, the Martian ones are also created by electrically charged particles called ions sent by the Sun. Image by UAE's Hope Mission Once these ions reach the Martian atmosphere, they go deeper into the planet’s thin atmosphere, propelled by magnetic fields. These fields are created by deposits of magnetised minerals in Mars’ crust. The auroras are then created after the ions expel oxygen atoms into the sky. Also read: 'Orphan cloud' bigger than Milky Way found in 'no-galaxy's land' by scientists In a statement last week, the UAE said that this occurrence “provide(s) an unprecedented perspective on these uniquely Martian aurorae”. Mars once had a rich and thick atmosphere which allowed liquid water to thrive on its surface. Then, the planet was kept in place by a global magnetic field, like the one on Earth. The dynamo effect persisted on Mars, caused by molten liquid in the core of planet revolving around another solid core in the opposite direction of the planet’s rotation just like Earth. But over time, Mars lost most of its atmosphere, which scientists believe was a result of the planet’s core cooling more quickly than Earth’s. It caused the planet to resemble the deserted wasteland of today. The UAE is set to make its scientific data from the ongoing Mars probe public in September. Also read: Explosion on Sun equivalent to millions of hydrogen bombs causes biggest solar flare in 4 years

UAE's Hope captures first-ever images of auroras on Mars

<p>Methane in the Martian atmosphere and organic chemicals in its soil are the latest tantalising findings of NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover as it hunts for clues about the possibility of extraterrestrial life.</p>

<p>NASA scientists said Curiosity found periodic bursts of methane, a gas that is strongly tied to life on Earth, in the atmosphere around its landing site in the red planet’s Gale Crater.</p>

<p>The rover also has found organic chemicals in the Martian soil, the scientists said at a webcast press conference at the American Geophyscial Union conference in San Francisco.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/china-releases-videos-of-its-mass-rover-394338/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California issued a press release saying the rover measured “a tenfold spike” in methane in the atmosphere around it, and detected other organic molecules in a sample collected by a robotic drill.</p>

<p>“There are many possible sources, biological or non-biological, such as interaction of water and rock,” Sushil Atreya of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, a member of the Curiosity rover science team, said in the press release.</p>

<p>The latest findings combine more than two years of data collected by the rover since its sky-crane landing inside Gale Crater in August 2012.</p>

<p>Last week, scientists said they had determined that billions of years ago, a lake filled the 96-mile- (154-km) wide crater being explored by Curiosity. This finding was another hint that Mars, the planet most like Earth in the solar system, was once suitable for microbial life.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Shortly after landing, Curiosity found that Mars once had the chemical ingredients and the environmental conditions needed to support microbial life, fulfilling the primary goal of its mission.</p>

<p>The rover, which has traveled around 5 miles (8 km) since landing on Mars, has been exploring an area known as Mount Sharp where rocks have been found containing water-deposited sediments, to learn if the life-friendly environments actually existed long enough for life to evolve.</p>

<p>“We will keep working on the puzzles these findings present,” said John Grotzinger, Curiosity project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.</p>

<p>Curiosity participating scientist Roger Summons of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said: “The challenge now is to find other rocks on Mount Sharp that might have different and more extensive inventories of organic compounds.”</p>


Methane in the Martian atmosphere and organic chemicals in its soil are the latest tantalising findings of NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover as it hunts for clues about the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

Methane in the Martian atmosphere and organic chemicals in its soil are the latest tantalising findings of NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover as it hunts for clues about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. NASA scientists said Curiosity found periodic bursts of methane, a gas that is strongly tied to life on Earth, in the atmosphere around its landing site in the red planet’s Gale Crater. The rover also has found organic chemicals in the Martian soil, the scientists said at a webcast press conference at the American Geophyscial Union conference in San Francisco. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California issued a press release saying the rover measured “a tenfold spike” in methane in the atmosphere around it, and detected other organic molecules in a sample collected by a robotic drill. “There are many possible sources, biological or non-biological, such as interaction of water and rock,” Sushil Atreya of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, a member of the Curiosity rover science team, said in the press release. The latest findings combine more than two years of data collected by the rover since its sky-crane landing inside Gale Crater in August 2012. Last week, scientists said they had determined that billions of years ago, a lake filled the 96-mile- (154-km) wide crater being explored by Curiosity. This finding was another hint that Mars, the planet most like Earth in the solar system, was once suitable for microbial life. Shortly after landing, Curiosity found that Mars once had the chemical ingredients and the environmental conditions needed to support microbial life, fulfilling the primary goal of its mission. The rover, which has traveled around 5 miles (8 km) since landing on Mars, has been exploring an area known as Mount Sharp where rocks have been found containing water-deposited sediments, to learn if the life-friendly environments actually existed long enough for life to evolve. “We will keep working on the puzzles these findings present,” said John Grotzinger, Curiosity project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Curiosity participating scientist Roger Summons of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said: “The challenge now is to find other rocks on Mount Sharp that might have different and more extensive inventories of organic compounds.”

Mysterious methane detections on Mars baffle NASA scientists

<p>China's National Space Agency on Sunday released video of its Zhurong Mars rover. The rover is part of the Tianwen-1 mission on Mars. It is China's first mission, which arrived in orbit around Mars in February this year.</p>

<p>The space mission has come as Chinese Communist Party celebrates its 100 year anniversary on&nbsp;July 1.</p>

<p>The image of the rover was taken by a wireless camera the robot had placed on the ground. In the footage the Mars rover can be seen moving across the surface of the planet.</p>

<p>The video were sent to Earth by Tianwen-1 which is orbiting the red planet.</p>

<p>In the video, the rover can be seen moving across the surface of Mars. The video also shows landing of the rover. The parachute deployment can be seen and series of images apparently showing the actual placement of the rover on Martian surface can also be observed.</p>


China's National Space Agency on Sunday released video of its Zhurong Mars rover. The rover is part of the Tianwen-1 mission on Mars. It is China's first mission, which arrived in orbit around Mars in February this year.

China's National Space Agency on Sunday released video of its Zhurong Mars rover. The rover is part of the Tianwen-1 mission on Mars. It is China's first mission, which arrived in orbit around Mars in February this year. The space mission has come as Chinese Communist Party celebrates its 100 year anniversary on July 1. The image of the rover was taken by a wireless camera the robot had placed on the ground. In the footage the Mars rover can be seen moving across the surface of the planet. The video were sent to Earth by Tianwen-1 which is orbiting the red planet. In the video, the rover can be seen moving across the surface of Mars. The video also shows landing of the rover. The parachute deployment can be seen and series of images apparently showing the actual placement of the rover on Martian surface can also be observed.

China releases video of Zhurong Mars rover

China has launched three astronauts to build its own space station. This is just the first step in Beijing's space domination plans. China has plans to mine the moon and build colonies on Mars. Palki Sharma tells you about China's plans to colonise space.

Gravitas: China's plans to conquer the Moon, Mars and beyond

<p>Several self-made billionaires became richer during this coronavirus pandemic, but it was the ones with family money who grew their wealth threefolds.</p>

<p>A recent study has revealed that the rich families of the US such as the Walmart family have seen a huge increase in their assets’ value as the combined net worth of the families grew manifolds.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/coca-cola-loses-4-billion-as-cristiano-ronaldo-removes-soft-drink-bottles-at-a-presser-391777" hreflang="en">Coca Cola loses $4 billion as Cristiano Ronaldo removes soft drink bottles at a presser</a></strong></p>

<p>The report, titled ‘Silver Spoon Oligarchs’ and carried out by the Institute for Policy Studies, claims the wealthy families of the US have not only worked to increase their current value but have also devised methods to make sure their future generations experience exponential growth.</p>

<p>"If the system is functioning as it should, we should not see wealth accelerating over generations, it should be dispersing,"&nbsp;said Chuck Collins, a co-author of the report and director at IPS.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/after-raining-rats-now-huge-spiders-gossamer-web-blankets-bushland-in-australia-391898" hreflang="en">After 'raining' rats, now huge spiders' gossamer web blankets bushland in Australia</a></strong></p>

<p>The Walmart family, founded by Sam Walton in 1983, was worth $2.15 billion during its founding years. However, by the end of the pandemic year, 2020, the family’s net worth had grown over $247 billion.</p>

<p>Interestingly, the family behind the famous candy bar, Mars, has increased their worth by $21 billion within a year — from March 2020 to May 2021.</p>

<p>The researchers have observed that these rich families practice limiting charitable donations and avoiding taxation in form of dynasty trusts and fighting tax increases, amongst many more.</p>

<p>"One reason we should be concerned about the ProPublica release, the amount of tax avoidance, is that maybe a sliver will end up in philanthropy, but most of it will be passed down the generational line,"&nbsp;Collins said. "So in a sense they are setting up the next generation of inherited wealth dynasties."</p>


Several self-made billionaires became richer during this coronavirus pandemic, but it was the ones with family money who grew their wealth threefolds. A recent study has revealed that the rich families of the US such as the Walmart family have seen a huge increase in their assets’ value as the combined net worth of the families grew manifolds.

Several self-made billionaires became richer during this coronavirus pandemic, but it was the ones with family money who grew their wealth threefolds. A recent study has revealed that the rich families of the US such as the Walmart family have seen a huge increase in their assets’ value as the combined net worth of the families grew manifolds. Also read | Coca Cola loses $4 billion as Cristiano Ronaldo removes soft drink bottles at a presser The report, titled ‘Silver Spoon Oligarchs’ and carried out by the Institute for Policy Studies, claims the wealthy families of the US have not only worked to increase their current value but have also devised methods to make sure their future generations experience exponential growth. "If the system is functioning as it should, we should not see wealth accelerating over generations, it should be dispersing," said Chuck Collins, a co-author of the report and director at IPS. Also read | After 'raining' rats, now huge spiders' gossamer web blankets bushland in Australia The Walmart family, founded by Sam Walton in 1983, was worth $2.15 billion during its founding years. However, by the end of the pandemic year, 2020, the family’s net worth had grown over $247 billion. Interestingly, the family behind the famous candy bar, Mars, has increased their worth by $21 billion within a year — from March 2020 to May 2021. The researchers have observed that these rich families practice limiting charitable donations and avoiding taxation in form of dynasty trusts and fighting tax increases, amongst many more. "One reason we should be concerned about the ProPublica release, the amount of tax avoidance, is that maybe a sliver will end up in philanthropy, but most of it will be passed down the generational line," Collins said. "So in a sense they are setting up the next generation of inherited wealth dynasties."

'Nothing better than being born in rich family': Study reveals wealthy families getting richer

<p>China on Friday, June 11, released pictures of Mars' landscape taken by its remote-controlled motorized rover Zhurong, declaring the country's first attempt at Mars exploration a success.</p>

<p>Three of the photographs, released by the China National Space Administration, showed an image of the Martian soil, one of the landing platforms, and another of the rover Zhurong and the landing platform together.</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Family photo! First batch of scientific images of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Zhurong?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Zhurong</a> rover landing on Mars unveiled. Fig 1 was taken by a wireless camera deployed by rover. Fig 3 shows traces of rover maneuver. Full scale HD pictures and Easter eggs are revealed by <a href="https://twitter.com/CNSAWatcher?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CNSAWatcher</a> in <a href="https://t.co/jCzeJVk5iD">https://t.co/jCzeJVk5iD</a> <a href="https://t.co/j7sFT39M45">pic.twitter.com/j7sFT39M45</a></p>
— Chinese Zhurong Mars Rover (@MarsZhurong) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarsZhurong/status/1403284585878888448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>According to Chinese state media, Zhurong traveled about 10 meters (33 ft.) to the south, 6 meters (20 ft.) to the southeast from the landing platform, planted a camera, and traveled back next to the platform for their photo together. The platform was also pictured with a banner showing Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, the two mascots of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and the Chinese national flag.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/space-explorers-uae-china-and-nasa-race-to-mars-in-2021-354680"><strong>Also Read |&nbsp;Space explorers: UAE, China and NASA race to Mars in 2021</strong></a></p>

<p>Zhurong, named after a mythical Chinese god of fire, drove down to the surface of Mars on May 22, according to the rover's official Chinese social media account.</p>

<p>The 240-kg (530-pound) Zhurong, which has six scientific instruments including a high-resolution topography camera, will study the planet's surface soil and atmosphere.</p>


China on Friday, June 11, released pictures of Mars' landscape taken by its remote-controlled motorized rover Zhurong, declaring the country's first attempt at Mars exploration a success.

China on Friday, June 11, released pictures of Mars' landscape taken by its remote-controlled motorized rover Zhurong, declaring the country's first attempt at Mars exploration a success. Three of the photographs, released by the China National Space Administration, showed an image of the Martian soil, one of the landing platforms, and another of the rover Zhurong and the landing platform together. Family photo! First batch of scientific images of #Zhurong rover landing on Mars unveiled. Fig 1 was taken by a wireless camera deployed by rover. Fig 3 shows traces of rover maneuver. Full scale HD pictures and Easter eggs are revealed by @CNSAWatcher in https://t.co/jCzeJVk5iD pic.twitter.com/j7sFT39M45 — Chinese Zhurong Mars Rover (@MarsZhurong) June 11, 2021 × According to Chinese state media, Zhurong traveled about 10 meters (33 ft.) to the south, 6 meters (20 ft.) to the southeast from the landing platform, planted a camera, and traveled back next to the platform for their photo together. The platform was also pictured with a banner showing Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, the two mascots of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and the Chinese national flag. Also Read | Space explorers: UAE, China and NASA race to Mars in 2021 Zhurong, named after a mythical Chinese god of fire, drove down to the surface of Mars on May 22, according to the rover's official Chinese social media account. The 240-kg (530-pound) Zhurong, which has six scientific instruments including a high-resolution topography camera, will study the planet's surface soil and atmosphere.

China unveils pictures by Martian rover on Red Planet

<p>Clouds are an everyday matter here on Earth. There are times we glance at the sky and imagine all sorts of shapes in those ever-changing patterns of vapour. But most of the time we are too busy in our daily lives to even take a second to look up and marvel the beauty of the sky.</p>

<p>We don't realise how lucky we are because our planet has clouds.&nbsp;</p>

<p>But now NASA's Curiosity rover has captured some brilliant images and videos of clouds in the Martian sky!</p>

<p>Mars has an atmosphere yes. But it is too thin and dry to enable cloud formation on regular basis. And that's why formation of clouds in Martian atmosphere is a rare thing itself.</p>

<p>"Sometimes you just need to stop and watch the clouds roll by... on Mars. Cloudy days are rare here because the atmosphere is so thin and dry, but I've been keeping my cameras peeled and wanted to share some recent pictures with you," tweeted the rover's official Twitter handle, thus starting an incredible thread. Check this out</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Sometimes you just need to stop and watch the clouds roll by... on Mars.<br />
<br />
Cloudy days are rare here because the atmosphere is so thin and dry, but I've been keeping my cameras peeled and wanted to share some recent pictures with you. <a href="https://t.co/Gtgz9Iu822">https://t.co/Gtgz9Iu822</a> (1/4) <a href="https://t.co/iJOLmnXMVo">pic.twitter.com/iJOLmnXMVo</a></p>
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity/status/1398336271106281472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>Thousands of likes on the post is enough to say that people have found the images and videos in the thread above absolutely mesmerising!</p>

<p>There are many many comments and Curiosity Rover's handle took time to answer some of the questions and reply to some of the comments.</p>

<p>"Sometimes I forget there's a little robot rolling around alone on Mars," tweeted a user.</p>

<p>The rover said, "I'm alone here in Gale Crater, but I'm not lonely. I get to talk to all my friends and teammates back on Earth through the Deep Space Network..."</p>

<p>Mars has long captivated human imagination. Across millennia, the red planet has gone from being a mythical God of War to a probable place to find life.</p>

<p>And from what Curiosity rover has captured, the planet still has some secrets up its sleeve.</p>


Clouds are an everyday matter here on Earth. There are times we glance at the sky and imagine all sorts of shapes in those ever-changing patterns of vapour. But most of the time we are too busy in our daily lives to even take a second to look up and marvel the beauty of the sky.

Clouds are an everyday matter here on Earth. There are times we glance at the sky and imagine all sorts of shapes in those ever-changing patterns of vapour. But most of the time we are too busy in our daily lives to even take a second to look up and marvel the beauty of the sky. We don't realise how lucky we are because our planet has clouds. But now NASA's Curiosity rover has captured some brilliant images and videos of clouds in the Martian sky! Mars has an atmosphere yes. But it is too thin and dry to enable cloud formation on regular basis. And that's why formation of clouds in Martian atmosphere is a rare thing itself. "Sometimes you just need to stop and watch the clouds roll by... on Mars. Cloudy days are rare here because the atmosphere is so thin and dry, but I've been keeping my cameras peeled and wanted to share some recent pictures with you," tweeted the rover's official Twitter handle, thus starting an incredible thread. Check this out Sometimes you just need to stop and watch the clouds roll by... on Mars. Cloudy days are rare here because the atmosphere is so thin and dry, but I've been keeping my cameras peeled and wanted to share some recent pictures with you. https://t.co/Gtgz9Iu822 (1/4) pic.twitter.com/iJOLmnXMVo — Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) May 28, 2021 × Thousands of likes on the post is enough to say that people have found the images and videos in the thread above absolutely mesmerising! There are many many comments and Curiosity Rover's handle took time to answer some of the questions and reply to some of the comments. "Sometimes I forget there's a little robot rolling around alone on Mars," tweeted a user. The rover said, "I'm alone here in Gale Crater, but I'm not lonely. I get to talk to all my friends and teammates back on Earth through the Deep Space Network..." Mars has long captivated human imagination. Across millennia, the red planet has gone from being a mythical God of War to a probable place to find life. And from what Curiosity rover has captured, the planet still has some secrets up its sleeve.

NASA's Curiosity Rover clicks rare shiny clouds on Mars

<p>The&nbsp;Ingenuity Mars helicopter survived a mishap during its sixth flight on NASA's Perseverance Mission.</p>

<p>For NASA, the challenge was powering an aircraft in the ultra-thin air of Mars, whose atmosphere is just 1 per cent&nbsp;as dense as Earth's, making it especially difficult to generate aerodynamic lift. To compensate engineers equipped Ingenuity with rotor blades that are larger and spin far more rapidly than would be needed on Earth.</p>

<p>Ingenuity was commanded to climb to an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) before translating 492 feet (150 meters) to the southwest at a ground speed of 9 mph (4 meters per second). At that point, it was to translate 49 feet (15 meters) to the south while taking images toward the west, then fly another 164 feet (50 meters) northeast and land.</p>

<p>Telemetry from Flight Six shows that the first 150-meter leg of the flight went off without a hitch. But toward the end of that leg, something happened: Ingenuity began adjusting its velocity and tilting back and forth in an oscillating pattern. This behavior persisted throughout the rest of the flight. Prior to landing safely, onboard sensors indicated the rotorcraft encountered roll and pitch excursions of more than 20 degrees, large control inputs, and spikes in power consumption.</p>

<p data-testid="paragraph-11">Except for a computer software glitch that has twice delayed Ingenuity flights, the rotorcraft&nbsp;operated flawlessly, meeting all technical objectives in its first three flights on Mars, said MiMi Aung, Ingenuity project manager at JPL.</p>

<p data-testid="paragraph-4">Data returned from Ingenuity&nbsp;showed that it covered a round-trip distance of 872 feet (266 meters) - roughly the length of three American football fields - at a speed of almost 8 miles per hour (3.5 meters per second).</p>

<p>The miniature helicopter hitched a ride to Mars strapped to the belly of the NASA science rover Perseverance, a six-wheeled astrobiology lab that landed on February&nbsp;18 in a vast basin called Jezero Crater after a nearly seven-month journey through space.</p>

<p data-testid="paragraph-13">On its latest jaunt, Ingenuity snapped 60 black-and-white images and several color photos of the Martian surface while buzzing over the planet's reddish-orange landscape.</p>

<p data-testid="paragraph-14">The pictures will be fashioned into three-dimensional digital elevation maps for use in selecting a suitable new takeoff and landing zone for later flights.</p>

<p data-testid="paragraph-15">Similar tracking operations could also be used to help mission managers conduct low-altitude science observations of sites not easily reached by a rover, and to scout for preferred rover routes to various surface destinations.</p>

<p data-testid="paragraph-17">Meanwhile, JPL will continue preparing Perseverance for its primary mission, a search for traces of fossilized microorganisms in Jezero Crater. Scientists expect to begin collecting Martian rock samples there in July.</p>


The Ingenuity Mars helicopter survived a mishap during its sixth flight on NASA's Perseverance Mission. For NASA, the challenge was powering an aircraft in the ultra-thin air of Mars, whose atmosphere is just 1 per cent as dense as Earth's, making it especially difficult to generate aerodynamic lift.

The Ingenuity Mars helicopter survived a mishap during its sixth flight on NASA's Perseverance Mission. For NASA, the challenge was powering an aircraft in the ultra-thin air of Mars, whose atmosphere is just 1 per cent as dense as Earth's, making it especially difficult to generate aerodynamic lift. To compensate engineers equipped Ingenuity with rotor blades that are larger and spin far more rapidly than would be needed on Earth. Ingenuity was commanded to climb to an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) before translating 492 feet (150 meters) to the southwest at a ground speed of 9 mph (4 meters per second). At that point, it was to translate 49 feet (15 meters) to the south while taking images toward the west, then fly another 164 feet (50 meters) northeast and land. Telemetry from Flight Six shows that the first 150-meter leg of the flight went off without a hitch. But toward the end of that leg, something happened: Ingenuity began adjusting its velocity and tilting back and forth in an oscillating pattern. This behavior persisted throughout the rest of the flight. Prior to landing safely, onboard sensors indicated the rotorcraft encountered roll and pitch excursions of more than 20 degrees, large control inputs, and spikes in power consumption. Except for a computer software glitch that has twice delayed Ingenuity flights, the rotorcraft operated flawlessly, meeting all technical objectives in its first three flights on Mars, said MiMi Aung, Ingenuity project manager at JPL. Data returned from Ingenuity showed that it covered a round-trip distance of 872 feet (266 meters) - roughly the length of three American football fields - at a speed of almost 8 miles per hour (3.5 meters per second). The miniature helicopter hitched a ride to Mars strapped to the belly of the NASA science rover Perseverance, a six-wheeled astrobiology lab that landed on February 18 in a vast basin called Jezero Crater after a nearly seven-month journey through space. On its latest jaunt, Ingenuity snapped 60 black-and-white images and several color photos of the Martian surface while buzzing over the planet's reddish-orange landscape. The pictures will be fashioned into three-dimensional digital elevation maps for use in selecting a suitable new takeoff and landing zone for later flights. Similar tracking operations could also be used to help mission managers conduct low-altitude science observations of sites not easily reached by a rover, and to scout for preferred rover routes to various surface destinations. Meanwhile, JPL will continue preparing Perseverance for its primary mission, a search for traces of fossilized microorganisms in Jezero Crater. Scientists expect to begin collecting Martian rock samples there in July.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter survives unexpected flight anomaly on Mars

<p>Mars is the future of humanity, or so the route of space explorations currently being undertaken by agencies around the world would have you believe. As private players like SpaceX join the big leagues of space exploration, competition could trigger quick developments in the industry.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A scientist from Cornell University recently wrote for BBC on how humans may have accidentally taken life to Mars. The scientist wondered how humans may have&nbsp;carried microbes into space, which may have survived the trip to make their new home on the Red Planet.</p>

<p>According to Christopher Mason, any life consequentially discovered on Mars may have originated in NASA labs. Even then, the author noted how NASA follows on-site cleaning procedures and assembles spacecraft in specialised rooms.</p>

<p>NASA’s spacecraft including the Perseverance Rover are built in sterilised rooms and each component is cleaned before assembly. Mason says that this should theoretically ensure that no bacteria or organisms are able to survive the assembly process.</p>

<p><strong>Also read:&nbsp;</strong><a href="http://13.235.153.162/science/mars-sucks-people-troll-elon-musks-idea-of-space-colonisation-379864" hreflang="en">'Mars sucks!' People troll Elon Musk's idea of space colonisation</a></p>

<p>The filtration process, in addition provides an extra layer of protection so that only a “few hundred particles” may be able to contaminate each square foot. But, even that may not enough. Microbes, as Mason puts, have a tendency to survive in the least expected places. They are found inside our bodies and may sneak through the most sophisticated of cleaning processes in the world.</p>

<p>In the BBC piece, Mason referred to his theoretical research to show that microbes may become a problem during space missions, as they contain genes that may be able to resist radiation and cold environments. In fact, Mason offers an argument for natural selection, saying that the microbes that are able to survive the strictest cleaning processes may have a greater chance to survive the journey to Mars.</p>

<p><strong>Also read:&nbsp;</strong><a href="http://13.235.153.162/technology/eyeing-mars-elon-musk-wants-humans-to-be-multi-planet-species-379777" hreflang="en">Eyeing Mars, Elon Musk wants humans to be 'multi-planet species'</a></p>

<p>“Forward contamination” may be inadvertent, Mason notes. This happens when travellers intentionally or unintentionally take something from one planet to another. He adds that a scientific point of view, this is undesirable and new organisms may wreak havoc if introduced in alien ecosystems.</p>

<p>Even then, not all of lost! If current signs of life did in fact originate on Earth and not Mars, scientists will be able to ascertain the same.</p>


Mars is the future of humanity, or so the route of space explorations currently being undertaken by agencies around the world would have you believe. As private players like SpaceX join the big leagues of space exploration, competition could trigger quick developments in the industry.

Mars is the future of humanity, or so the route of space explorations currently being undertaken by agencies around the world would have you believe. As private players like SpaceX join the big leagues of space exploration, competition could trigger quick developments in the industry. A scientist from Cornell University recently wrote for BBC on how humans may have accidentally taken life to Mars. The scientist wondered how humans may have carried microbes into space, which may have survived the trip to make their new home on the Red Planet. According to Christopher Mason, any life consequentially discovered on Mars may have originated in NASA labs. Even then, the author noted how NASA follows on-site cleaning procedures and assembles spacecraft in specialised rooms. NASA’s spacecraft including the Perseverance Rover are built in sterilised rooms and each component is cleaned before assembly. Mason says that this should theoretically ensure that no bacteria or organisms are able to survive the assembly process. Also read: 'Mars sucks!' People troll Elon Musk's idea of space colonisation The filtration process, in addition provides an extra layer of protection so that only a “few hundred particles” may be able to contaminate each square foot. But, even that may not enough. Microbes, as Mason puts, have a tendency to survive in the least expected places. They are found inside our bodies and may sneak through the most sophisticated of cleaning processes in the world. In the BBC piece, Mason referred to his theoretical research to show that microbes may become a problem during space missions, as they contain genes that may be able to resist radiation and cold environments. In fact, Mason offers an argument for natural selection, saying that the microbes that are able to survive the strictest cleaning processes may have a greater chance to survive the journey to Mars. Also read: Eyeing Mars, Elon Musk wants humans to be 'multi-planet species' “Forward contamination” may be inadvertent, Mason notes. This happens when travellers intentionally or unintentionally take something from one planet to another. He adds that a scientific point of view, this is undesirable and new organisms may wreak havoc if introduced in alien ecosystems. Even then, not all of lost! If current signs of life did in fact originate on Earth and not Mars, scientists will be able to ascertain the same.

Did NASA accidentally create life on Mars? Here's how it may have happened

<p>An uncrewed Chinese spacecraft successfully landed on the surface of Mars on Saturday, state news agency Xinhua reported, making China the second space-faring nation after the United States to land on the Red Planet.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Tianwen-1 spacecraft landed on a site on a vast plain known as Utopia Planitia, "leaving a Chinese footprint on Mars for the first time," Xinhua said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The craft left its parked orbit at about 1700 GMT Friday (0100 Beijing time Saturday). The landing module separated from the orbiter three hours later and entered the Martian atmosphere, the official China Space News said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It said the landing process consisted of 'nine minutes of terror' as the module decelerates and then slowly descends.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A solar-powered rover, named Zhurong, will now survey the landing site before departing from its platform to conduct inspections. Named after a mythical Chinese god of fire, Zhurong has six scientific instruments including a high-resolution topography camera.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The rover will study the planet's surface soil and atmosphere. Zhurong will also look for signs of ancient life, including any sub-surface water and ice, using a ground-penetrating radar.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tianwen-1, or 'Questions to Heaven', after a Chinese poem written two millennia ago, is China’s first independent mission to Mars. A probe co-launched with Russia in 2011 failed to leave the Earth's orbit.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The five-tonne spacecraft blasted off from the southern Chinese island of Hainan in July last year, launched by the powerful Long March 5 rocket.&nbsp;</p>

<p>After more than six months in transit, Tianwen-1 reached the Red Planet in February where it had been in orbit since.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If Zhurong is successfully deployed, China would be the first country to orbit, land and release a rover in its maiden mission to Mars.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tianwen-1 was one of three that reached Mars in February, with US rover Perseverance successfully touching down on February 18 in a huge depression called Jezero Crater, more than 2,000 km away from Utopia Planitia.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Hope - the third spacecraft that arrived at Mars in February this year - is not designed to make a landing. Launched by the United Arab Emirates, it is currently orbiting above Mars gathering data on its weather and atmosphere.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The first successful landing ever was made by NASA's Viking 1 in July 1976 and then by Viking 2 in September that year. A Mars probe launched by the former Soviet Union landed in December 1971, but communication was lost seconds after landing.&nbsp;</p>

<p>China is pursuing an ambitious space programme. It is testing reusable spacecraft and is also planning to establish manned lunar research station.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In a commentary published on Saturday, Xinhua said China was 'not looking to compete for leadership in space' but was committed to 'unveiling the secrets of the universe and contributing to humanity's peaceful use of space’.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies) &nbsp;</em></p>


An uncrewed Chinese spacecraft successfully landed on the surface of Mars on Saturday, state news agency Xinhua reported, making China the second space-faring nation after the United States to land on the Red Planet.

An uncrewed Chinese spacecraft successfully landed on the surface of Mars on Saturday, state news agency Xinhua reported, making China the second space-faring nation after the United States to land on the Red Planet. The Tianwen-1 spacecraft landed on a site on a vast plain known as Utopia Planitia, "leaving a Chinese footprint on Mars for the first time," Xinhua said. The craft left its parked orbit at about 1700 GMT Friday (0100 Beijing time Saturday). The landing module separated from the orbiter three hours later and entered the Martian atmosphere, the official China Space News said. It said the landing process consisted of 'nine minutes of terror' as the module decelerates and then slowly descends. A solar-powered rover, named Zhurong, will now survey the landing site before departing from its platform to conduct inspections. Named after a mythical Chinese god of fire, Zhurong has six scientific instruments including a high-resolution topography camera. The rover will study the planet's surface soil and atmosphere. Zhurong will also look for signs of ancient life, including any sub-surface water and ice, using a ground-penetrating radar. Tianwen-1, or 'Questions to Heaven', after a Chinese poem written two millennia ago, is China’s first independent mission to Mars. A probe co-launched with Russia in 2011 failed to leave the Earth's orbit. The five-tonne spacecraft blasted off from the southern Chinese island of Hainan in July last year, launched by the powerful Long March 5 rocket. After more than six months in transit, Tianwen-1 reached the Red Planet in February where it had been in orbit since. If Zhurong is successfully deployed, China would be the first country to orbit, land and release a rover in its maiden mission to Mars. Tianwen-1 was one of three that reached Mars in February, with US rover Perseverance successfully touching down on February 18 in a huge depression called Jezero Crater, more than 2,000 km away from Utopia Planitia. Hope - the third spacecraft that arrived at Mars in February this year - is not designed to make a landing. Launched by the United Arab Emirates, it is currently orbiting above Mars gathering data on its weather and atmosphere. The first successful landing ever was made by NASA's Viking 1 in July 1976 and then by Viking 2 in September that year. A Mars probe launched by the former Soviet Union landed in December 1971, but communication was lost seconds after landing. China is pursuing an ambitious space programme. It is testing reusable spacecraft and is also planning to establish manned lunar research station. In a commentary published on Saturday, Xinhua said China was 'not looking to compete for leadership in space' but was committed to 'unveiling the secrets of the universe and contributing to humanity's peaceful use of space’. (With inputs from agencies)

China completes historic Mars spacecraft landing 

<p>NASA's&nbsp;Perseverance&nbsp;rover&nbsp;has for the first time captured the low-pitched whirring of the&nbsp;Ingenuity&nbsp;helicopter's blades as it flies through the rarefied Martian atmosphere.</p>

<p>The space agency&nbsp;on&nbsp;Friday released new footage shot by the six-wheeled robot of its rotorcraft companion making its fourth flight&nbsp;on&nbsp;April 30 -- this time accompanied by an audio track.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |<a href="NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter flies faster, farther on third flight">&nbsp;NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter flies faster, farther on third flight</a></strong></p>

<p>The nearly three-minute-long video begins with the low rumble of wind blowing across the Jezero Crater, where&nbsp;Perseverance&nbsp;landed in February&nbsp;on&nbsp;a mission to search for signs of ancient microbes.</p>

<p>Ingenuity&nbsp;takes off, and its blades can be heard humming softly as they spin at nearly 2,400 rpm&nbsp;on&nbsp;the 872-foot (262-meter) roundtrip.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="NASA's Mars helicopter makes second flight">NASA's Mars helicopter makes second flight</a></strong></p>

<p>The mission's engineers weren't sure they would pick up the flight&nbsp;sound&nbsp;at all, given that&nbsp;Perseverance&nbsp;was parked 262 feet (80 meters) away from the takeoff and landing spot.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Martian atmosphere is about one percent the density of our planet's, making everything much quieter than&nbsp;on&nbsp;Earth.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="In a first, Perseverance Mars rover makes oxygen on another planet">In a first, Perseverance Mars rover makes oxygen on another planet</a></strong></p>

<p>"This is a very good surprise," said David Mimoun, a professor of planetary science at Institut Superieur de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO) in Toulouse, France, and science lead for the SuperCam&nbsp;Mars&nbsp;microphone.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"We had carried out tests and simulations that told us the microphone would barely pick up the sounds of the helicopter, as the&nbsp;Mars&nbsp;atmosphere damps the&nbsp;sound&nbsp;propagation strongly," he added.</p>

<p>The SuperCam is an instrument&nbsp;on&nbsp;board&nbsp;Perseverance&nbsp;that laser-zaps rocks from a distance, in order to study their vapor with a device called a spectrometer that reveals their chemical composition.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It also comes with a microphone to record the sounds, which yields additional insights into the physical properties of the targets, like how hard they are.</p>

<p>Similarly, explained Mimoun, the new recording of&nbsp;Ingenuity's flight "will be a gold mine for our understanding of the Martian atmosphere."</p>

<p>Apart from having a lower volume, sounds emitted&nbsp;on&nbsp;Mars&nbsp;travel slower than they do&nbsp;on&nbsp;Earth, because of cold temperatures, which average -81 degrees Fahrenheit (-63 degrees Celsius)&nbsp;on&nbsp;the surface.</p>

<p>The speed of&nbsp;sound&nbsp;on&nbsp;the planet is therefore around 540 mph (roughly 240 meters per second), compared to about 760 mph (roughly 340 meters per second) here.</p>

<p>The atmosphere of&nbsp;Mars, made up of 96 percent carbon dioxide, tends to absorb higher-pitched sounds, so only lower-pitched sounds can travel long distances.</p>

<p>NASA enhanced the audio, which was recorded in mono, by isolating the pitch of the helicopter blades at 84 hertz, and reducing audio at frequencies below 80 and above 90 hertz. They then increased the volume of the remaining signal.</p>

<p>Soren Madsen,&nbsp;Perseverance&nbsp;payload development manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said the recording was an example of how the mission's instruments are able to work in tandem to enhance our understanding of the Red Planet.</p>

<p>As&nbsp;Ingenuity&nbsp;moves away from&nbsp;Perseverance&nbsp;and out of shot, the pitch decreases and as it returns the pitch increases.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This is known as the Doppler effect, and it provides an additional layer of confirmation of the helicopter's flight path when it is out of visual range.</p>

<p>Ingenuity&nbsp;made the first powered, controlled flight&nbsp;on&nbsp;another planet&nbsp;on&nbsp;April 19, and flew a fifth time&nbsp;on&nbsp;Friday at 3:26 pm Eastern Time (1926 GMT).&nbsp;</p>

<p>After receiving telemetry data several hours later, NASA confirmed the flight's success&nbsp;on&nbsp;Twitter, posting a new picture of the chopper taken from&nbsp;Perseverance.</p>

<p>Friday's sortie was&nbsp;Ingenuity's first one-way trip, setting the stage for it to begin a new job as&nbsp;Perseverance's scout.</p>

<p>The next phase extends the rotocraft's mission beyond the original month-long technology demonstration. Now, the goal is to assess how well flyers can help future exploration of&nbsp;Mars&nbsp;and other worlds.</p>

<p>The four pound (1.8 kilogram) mini-chopper was given this assignment after proving itself more robust than its engineers had anticipated.</p>

<p>Perseverance's science team also decided they wanted to stay in the immediate surroundings longer than they first thought, making it possible for the two robots to work together.</p>

<p>The type of reconnaissance&nbsp;Ingenuity&nbsp;performs could one day also prove useful to human missions, by scoping out the best paths for explorers to traverse, and reaching locations that aren't otherwise possible.</p>


NASA's Perseverance rover has for the first time captured the low-pitched whirring of the Ingenuity helicopter's blades as it flies through the rarefied Martian atmosphere.

NASA's Perseverance rover has for the first time captured the low-pitched whirring of the Ingenuity helicopter's blades as it flies through the rarefied Martian atmosphere. The space agency on Friday released new footage shot by the six-wheeled robot of its rotorcraft companion making its fourth flight on April 30 -- this time accompanied by an audio track. Also read | NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter flies faster, farther on third flight The nearly three-minute-long video begins with the low rumble of wind blowing across the Jezero Crater, where Perseverance landed in February on a mission to search for signs of ancient microbes. Ingenuity takes off, and its blades can be heard humming softly as they spin at nearly 2,400 rpm on the 872-foot (262-meter) roundtrip. Also read | NASA's Mars helicopter makes second flight The mission's engineers weren't sure they would pick up the flight sound at all, given that Perseverance was parked 262 feet (80 meters) away from the takeoff and landing spot. The Martian atmosphere is about one percent the density of our planet's, making everything much quieter than on Earth. Also read | In a first, Perseverance Mars rover makes oxygen on another planet "This is a very good surprise," said David Mimoun, a professor of planetary science at Institut Superieur de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO) in Toulouse, France, and science lead for the SuperCam Mars microphone. "We had carried out tests and simulations that told us the microphone would barely pick up the sounds of the helicopter, as the Mars atmosphere damps the sound propagation strongly," he added. The SuperCam is an instrument on board Perseverance that laser-zaps rocks from a distance, in order to study their vapor with a device called a spectrometer that reveals their chemical composition. It also comes with a microphone to record the sounds, which yields additional insights into the physical properties of the targets, like how hard they are. Similarly, explained Mimoun, the new recording of Ingenuity's flight "will be a gold mine for our understanding of the Martian atmosphere." Apart from having a lower volume, sounds emitted on Mars travel slower than they do on Earth, because of cold temperatures, which average -81 degrees Fahrenheit (-63 degrees Celsius) on the surface. The speed of sound on the planet is therefore around 540 mph (roughly 240 meters per second), compared to about 760 mph (roughly 340 meters per second) here. The atmosphere of Mars, made up of 96 percent carbon dioxide, tends to absorb higher-pitched sounds, so only lower-pitched sounds can travel long distances. NASA enhanced the audio, which was recorded in mono, by isolating the pitch of the helicopter blades at 84 hertz, and reducing audio at frequencies below 80 and above 90 hertz. They then increased the volume of the remaining signal. Soren Madsen, Perseverance payload development manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said the recording was an example of how the mission's instruments are able to work in tandem to enhance our understanding of the Red Planet. As Ingenuity moves away from Perseverance and out of shot, the pitch decreases and as it returns the pitch increases. This is known as the Doppler effect, and it provides an additional layer of confirmation of the helicopter's flight path when it is out of visual range. Ingenuity made the first powered, controlled flight on another planet on April 19, and flew a fifth time on Friday at 3:26 pm Eastern Time (1926 GMT). After receiving telemetry data several hours later, NASA confirmed the flight's success on Twitter, posting a new picture of the chopper taken from Perseverance. Friday's sortie was Ingenuity's first one-way trip, setting the stage for it to begin a new job as Perseverance's scout. The next phase extends the rotocraft's mission beyond the original month-long technology demonstration. Now, the goal is to assess how well flyers can help future exploration of Mars and other worlds. The four pound (1.8 kilogram) mini-chopper was given this assignment after proving itself more robust than its engineers had anticipated. Perseverance's science team also decided they wanted to stay in the immediate surroundings longer than they first thought, making it possible for the two robots to work together. The type of reconnaissance Ingenuity performs could one day also prove useful to human missions, by scoping out the best paths for explorers to traverse, and reaching locations that aren't otherwise possible.

Perseverance rover captures sound of Ingenuity flying on Mars

<p>SpaceX managed to land its prototype Starship rocket at its Texas base without blowing it up on Wednesday, the first time it has succeeded in doing so in five attempts.</p>

<p>The test flight represents a major win for the hard-charging company, which eventually wants to carry crew inside Starship for missions to Mars.</p>

<p>"Starship landing nominal!" tweeted founder Elon Musk triumphantly, after the last four tries ended in big explosions.</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Starship landing nominal!</p>
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1390073153347592192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>"Nominal" means normal in the context of spaceflight.</p>

<p>The execution wasn't quite perfect, with a small fire engulfing the base of the 50 meter- (160 feet-) high rocket, dubbed SN15, shortly after landing.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/international-space-station-astronauts-splashdown-off-florida-on-spacex-craft-382170">International Space Station astronauts splashdown off Florida on SpaceX craft</a></strong></p>

<p>SpaceX webcaster John Insprucker explained this was "not unusual with the methane fuel we're using," adding engineers were still working out design issues.</p>

<p>The flames were quickly put out with water cannons, footage showed.</p>

<p>Earlier, the rocket took off at around 5:25 pm local time (2225 GMT) from the Starbase in Boca Chica in southern Texas, reached an altitude of 10 kilometers (6 miles) and performed a series of maneuvers, including a horizontal descent called a "belly flop."</p>

<p>SpaceX was facing added pressure to succeed with Wednesday's flight after NASA last month announced a version of Starship will be used as a lunar lander when the space agency returns humans to the Moon.&nbsp;</p>

<p>But the $2.9 billion contract is currently suspended after two rival companies, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Dynetics, lodged a protest.</p>

<p>Nevertheless, if the award is eventually confirmed, it will transform Starship from Musk's pet project to a major tax payer-funded venture, with all the scrutiny that entails.</p>

<p>The first two flight tests of Starship, SN8 and SN9, both crash landed and exploded when they launched in December and February, respectively.</p>

<p>The next, SN10, successfully landed then blew up a few minutes later on March 3.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The video feed cut out during the test flight of the fourth, SN11, with Musk later confirming it too had exploded, this time in mid-flight.</p>

<p>Eventually, SpaceX plans to combine the Starship spaceship with a Super Heavy rocket, creating a fully reusable system to explore deep into our solar system.</p>

<p>This final version will stand 394 feet (120 meters) tall and will be able to carry 100 metric tonnes into Earth orbit -- the most powerful launch vehicle ever developed.</p>

<p>Musk wants to use this to help realize his goal of transforming humanity into a multiplanetary species with a colony on Mars.</p>

<p>The planned lunar version of Starship would however serve a more modest goal -- docking with a future lunar orbital station, collecting astronauts, then setting them down on the Moon.</p>

<p>To get the astronauts to the lunar station in the first place, NASA has a more traditional plan in mind: using its own giant SLS rocket with a crew capsule called Orion affixed on top.</p>

<p>But the SLS rocket has suffered severe delays and cost overruns, and observers have mused if Starship succeeds, it could one day make SLS obsolete.</p>


SpaceX managed to land its prototype Starship rocket at its Texas base without blowing it up on Wednesday, the first time it has succeeded in doing so in five attempts.

SpaceX managed to land its prototype Starship rocket at its Texas base without blowing it up on Wednesday, the first time it has succeeded in doing so in five attempts. The test flight represents a major win for the hard-charging company, which eventually wants to carry crew inside Starship for missions to Mars. "Starship landing nominal!" tweeted founder Elon Musk triumphantly, after the last four tries ended in big explosions. Starship landing nominal! — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 5, 2021 × "Nominal" means normal in the context of spaceflight. The execution wasn't quite perfect, with a small fire engulfing the base of the 50 meter- (160 feet-) high rocket, dubbed SN15, shortly after landing. Also read | International Space Station astronauts splashdown off Florida on SpaceX craft SpaceX webcaster John Insprucker explained this was "not unusual with the methane fuel we're using," adding engineers were still working out design issues. The flames were quickly put out with water cannons, footage showed. Earlier, the rocket took off at around 5:25 pm local time (2225 GMT) from the Starbase in Boca Chica in southern Texas, reached an altitude of 10 kilometers (6 miles) and performed a series of maneuvers, including a horizontal descent called a "belly flop." SpaceX was facing added pressure to succeed with Wednesday's flight after NASA last month announced a version of Starship will be used as a lunar lander when the space agency returns humans to the Moon. But the $2.9 billion contract is currently suspended after two rival companies, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Dynetics, lodged a protest. Nevertheless, if the award is eventually confirmed, it will transform Starship from Musk's pet project to a major tax payer-funded venture, with all the scrutiny that entails. The first two flight tests of Starship, SN8 and SN9, both crash landed and exploded when they launched in December and February, respectively. The next, SN10, successfully landed then blew up a few minutes later on March 3. The video feed cut out during the test flight of the fourth, SN11, with Musk later confirming it too had exploded, this time in mid-flight. Eventually, SpaceX plans to combine the Starship spaceship with a Super Heavy rocket, creating a fully reusable system to explore deep into our solar system. This final version will stand 394 feet (120 meters) tall and will be able to carry 100 metric tonnes into Earth orbit -- the most powerful launch vehicle ever developed. Musk wants to use this to help realize his goal of transforming humanity into a multiplanetary species with a colony on Mars. The planned lunar version of Starship would however serve a more modest goal -- docking with a future lunar orbital station, collecting astronauts, then setting them down on the Moon. To get the astronauts to the lunar station in the first place, NASA has a more traditional plan in mind: using its own giant SLS rocket with a crew capsule called Orion affixed on top. But the SLS rocket has suffered severe delays and cost overruns, and observers have mused if Starship succeeds, it could one day make SLS obsolete.

Touchdown! SpaceX successfully lands Starship rocket

<p>NASA's mini helicopter Ingenuity on Sunday successfully completed its third flight on Mars, moving farther and faster than ever before, with a peak speed of 6.6 feet (two meteres) per second.</p>

<p>After two initial flights during which the craft hovered above the Red Planet's surface, the helicopter on this third flight covered 64 feet (50 metres) of distance, reaching the speed of 6.6 feet per second (two metres per second), or four miles per hour in this latest flight.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/what-is-the-significance-of-nasa-ingenuity-helicopters-successful-flight-over-mars-378800/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>"Today's flight was what we planned for, and yet it was nothing short of amazing," said Dave Lavery, the Ingenuity project's program executive.</p>

<p>The Perseverance rover, which carried the four-pound (1.8 kg) rotorcraft to Mars, filmed the 80-second third flight. NASA said Sunday that video clips would be sent to Earth in the coming days.</p>

<p>The lateral flight was a test for the helicopter's autonomous navigation system, which completes the route according to information received beforehand.</p>

<p>"If Ingenuity flies too fast, the flight algorithm can't track surface features," NASA explained in a statement about the flight.</p>

<p>Ingenuity's flights are challenging because of conditions vastly different from Earth's, foremost among them a rarefied atmosphere that has less than one percent the density of our own.</p>

<p>This means that Ingenuity's rotors, which span four feet, have to spin at 2,400 revolutions per minute to achieve lift, about five times more than a helicopter on Earth.</p>

<p>NASA announced it is now preparing for a fourth flight. Each flight is planned to be of increasing difficulty in order to push Ingenuity to its limits.</p>

<p>The Ingenuity experiment will end in one month in order to let Perseverance return to its main task: searching for signs of past microbial life on Mars.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>


NASA's mini helicopter Ingenuity on Sunday successfully completed its third flight on Mars, moving farther and faster than ever before, with a peak speed of 6.6 feet (two meteres) per second.

NASA's mini helicopter Ingenuity on Sunday successfully completed its third flight on Mars, moving farther and faster than ever before, with a peak speed of 6.6 feet (two meteres) per second. After two initial flights during which the craft hovered above the Red Planet's surface, the helicopter on this third flight covered 64 feet (50 metres) of distance, reaching the speed of 6.6 feet per second (two metres per second), or four miles per hour in this latest flight. "Today's flight was what we planned for, and yet it was nothing short of amazing," said Dave Lavery, the Ingenuity project's program executive. The Perseverance rover, which carried the four-pound (1.8 kg) rotorcraft to Mars, filmed the 80-second third flight. NASA said Sunday that video clips would be sent to Earth in the coming days. The lateral flight was a test for the helicopter's autonomous navigation system, which completes the route according to information received beforehand. "If Ingenuity flies too fast, the flight algorithm can't track surface features," NASA explained in a statement about the flight. Ingenuity's flights are challenging because of conditions vastly different from Earth's, foremost among them a rarefied atmosphere that has less than one percent the density of our own. This means that Ingenuity's rotors, which span four feet, have to spin at 2,400 revolutions per minute to achieve lift, about five times more than a helicopter on Earth. NASA announced it is now preparing for a fourth flight. Each flight is planned to be of increasing difficulty in order to push Ingenuity to its limits. The Ingenuity experiment will end in one month in order to let Perseverance return to its main task: searching for signs of past microbial life on Mars. (With inputs from agencies)

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter flies faster, farther on third flight

On Sunday, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter flew for the third time, making records in terms of speed and the distance it covered.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter flew on Mars for the third time

<p>Tech entrepreneur <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> is usually celebrated for his ideas, but as the popular saying claims, you cannot please everyone. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Musk recently stressed the importance of space colonisation and talked about establishing a permanent presence of human beings on Mars as soon as possible.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/elon-musk-announces-100-million-prize-money-to-fight-global-warming-379568" hreflang="en">Elon Musk announces $100 million prize money to fight global warming</a></strong></p>

<p>While the idea was appreciated by a few, some have used this opportunity to express their views against the SpaceX owner and troll him, especially due to the timing as the world celebrated Earth Day on April 22.</p>

<p>To voice their opinion against Musk’s ideas, some activists put up a large billboard outside SpaceX’s Hawthorne campus with the message "Mars sucks".</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/nasa-and-spacex-launch-a-new-four-astronaut-team-to-international-space-station-379500" hreflang="en">NASA and SpaceX launch a new four-astronaut team to International Space Station</a></strong></p>

<p>The billboard was reportedly set up by a creative agency known as Activista, which also tweeted out the same message.</p>

<p>"What doesn't suck? #earth But the way we treat it frankly, sucks. And then, you dream of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mars?src=hashtag_click">#mars</a>. A hellhole. A barren, desolate, wasteland you can’t set foot on fast enough. Great, we got to Mars.," the tweet read.</p>

<p>While some were amused by the trolling message, others criticised the ‘careless’ message and pointed out the importance of space exploration.</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">What doesn't suck? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/earth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#earth</a> But the way we treat it frankly, sucks. And then, you dream of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#mars</a>. A hellhole. A barren, desolate, wasteland you can’t set foot on fast enough. Great, we got to Mars. Now let's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/prioritizeearth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#prioritizeearth</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/marssucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#marssucks</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/earthday?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#earthday</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ElonMusk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ElonMusk</a> <a href="https://t.co/7bkybArErU">pic.twitter.com/7bkybArErU</a></p>
— Activista (@ActivistaLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ActivistaLA/status/1384894578189291527?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">My head: The limited resources of Mars might be the fastest driver to create the sustainable living tech needed to save Earth though.<br />
My heart: Epic Troll 😂</p>
— Jonathan Davies (@jonjo) <a href="https://twitter.com/jonjo/status/1385272172244082688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Smart move troll a bloke who has pioneered the integration of electric cars ... Activista thick as 💩</p>
— Chris Blackburn (@BlackyCB) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlackyCB/status/1385178909654884355?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Every penny spent on space exploration is worth it. If you want more money to be spent on solving Earth problems, ask governments to cut their military budgets.</p>
— H.H. (@Hrach90) <a href="https://twitter.com/Hrach90/status/1385143651878252544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk is usually celebrated for his ideas, but as the popular saying claims, you cannot please everyone. Musk recently stressed the importance of space colonisation and talked about establishing a permanent presence of human beings on Mars as soon as possible.

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk is usually celebrated for his ideas, but as the popular saying claims, you cannot please everyone. Musk recently stressed the importance of space colonisation and talked about establishing a permanent presence of human beings on Mars as soon as possible. Also read | Elon Musk announces $100 million prize money to fight global warming While the idea was appreciated by a few, some have used this opportunity to express their views against the SpaceX owner and troll him, especially due to the timing as the world celebrated Earth Day on April 22. To voice their opinion against Musk’s ideas, some activists put up a large billboard outside SpaceX’s Hawthorne campus with the message "Mars sucks". Also read | NASA and SpaceX launch a new four-astronaut team to International Space Station The billboard was reportedly set up by a creative agency known as Activista, which also tweeted out the same message. "What doesn't suck? #earth But the way we treat it frankly, sucks. And then, you dream of #mars. A hellhole. A barren, desolate, wasteland you can’t set foot on fast enough. Great, we got to Mars.," the tweet read. While some were amused by the trolling message, others criticised the ‘careless’ message and pointed out the importance of space exploration. What doesn't suck? #earth But the way we treat it frankly, sucks. And then, you dream of #mars. A hellhole. A barren, desolate, wasteland you can’t set foot on fast enough. Great, we got to Mars. Now let's #prioritizeearth #marssucks #earthday #ElonMusk pic.twitter.com/7bkybArErU — Activista (@ActivistaLA) April 21, 2021 × My head: The limited resources of Mars might be the fastest driver to create the sustainable living tech needed to save Earth though. My heart: Epic Troll 😂 — Jonathan Davies (@jonjo) April 22, 2021 × Smart move troll a bloke who has pioneered the integration of electric cars ... Activista thick as 💩 — Chris Blackburn (@BlackyCB) April 22, 2021 × Every penny spent on space exploration is worth it. If you want more money to be spent on solving Earth problems, ask governments to cut their military budgets. — H.H. (@Hrach90) April 22, 2021 ×

'Mars sucks!' People troll Elon Musk's idea of space colonisation

<p>NASA successfully carried out a second flight on Mars on Thursday of its mini helicopter Ingenuity, a 52-second sortie that saw it climb to a height of 16 feet (five metres).</p>

<p>"So far, the engineering telemetry we have received and analyzed tell us that the flight met expectations," said Bob Balaram, Ingenuity's chief engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California.</p>

<p>"We have two flights of Mars under our belts, which means that there is still a lot to learn during this month of Ingenuity," Balaram said in a statement.</p>

<p>The US space agency conducted the first flight of the four-pound (1.8 kilogramme) rotorcraft on Monday, the first powered flight ever on another planet.</p>

<p>That time Ingenuity rose to a height of 10 feet and then touched down after 39.1 seconds.</p>

<p>For the second flight, which lasted 51.9 seconds, Ingenuity climbed to 16 feet, hovered briefly, tilted and then accelerated sideways for seven feet.</p>

<p>"The helicopter came to a stop, hovered in place, and made turns to point its camera in different directions," said Havard Grip, Ingenuity's chief pilot. "Then it headed back to the center of the airfield to land.</p>

<p>"It sounds simple, but there are many unknowns regarding how to fly a helicopter on Mars."</p>

<p>Data and images from the flights are transmitted 173 million miles (278 million kilometres) back to Earth where they are received by NASA's array of ground antennas and processed.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Ingenuity traveled to Mars tucked under the belly of the Perseverance rover, which landed on the Red Planet on February 18 on a mission to search for signs of past microbial life.</p>

<p>Ingenuity's goal, by contrast, is to prove its technology works.</p>

<p>Ingenuity's flights are challenging because of conditions vastly different from Earth's -- foremost among them a rarefied atmosphere that has less than one percent the density of our own.</p>

<p>This means that Ingenuity's rotors, which span four feet, have to spin at 2,400 revolutions per minute to achieve lift -- about five times more than a helicopter on Earth.</p>

<p>Because of the distance from Earth, it can't be piloted by a human. While its main maneuvers are pre-programmed, Ingenuity needs to make some real time decisions using data from its sensors and camera.</p>

<p>It also needs to run a heater to survive nighttime temperatures that plunge to minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius).</p>

<p>NASA is already preparing to send Dragonfly, a much larger rotorcraft-lander, to Saturn's icy moon Titan where it will fly multiple sorties in search of extraterrestrial life when it reaches there in 2034.</p>


NASA successfully carried out a second flight on Mars on Thursday of its mini helicopter Ingenuity, a 52-second sortie that saw it climb to a height of 16 feet (five metres).

NASA successfully carried out a second flight on Mars on Thursday of its mini helicopter Ingenuity, a 52-second sortie that saw it climb to a height of 16 feet (five metres). "So far, the engineering telemetry we have received and analyzed tell us that the flight met expectations," said Bob Balaram, Ingenuity's chief engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California. "We have two flights of Mars under our belts, which means that there is still a lot to learn during this month of Ingenuity," Balaram said in a statement. The US space agency conducted the first flight of the four-pound (1.8 kilogramme) rotorcraft on Monday, the first powered flight ever on another planet. That time Ingenuity rose to a height of 10 feet and then touched down after 39.1 seconds. For the second flight, which lasted 51.9 seconds, Ingenuity climbed to 16 feet, hovered briefly, tilted and then accelerated sideways for seven feet. "The helicopter came to a stop, hovered in place, and made turns to point its camera in different directions," said Havard Grip, Ingenuity's chief pilot. "Then it headed back to the center of the airfield to land. "It sounds simple, but there are many unknowns regarding how to fly a helicopter on Mars." Data and images from the flights are transmitted 173 million miles (278 million kilometres) back to Earth where they are received by NASA's array of ground antennas and processed. Ingenuity traveled to Mars tucked under the belly of the Perseverance rover, which landed on the Red Planet on February 18 on a mission to search for signs of past microbial life. Ingenuity's goal, by contrast, is to prove its technology works. Ingenuity's flights are challenging because of conditions vastly different from Earth's -- foremost among them a rarefied atmosphere that has less than one percent the density of our own. This means that Ingenuity's rotors, which span four feet, have to spin at 2,400 revolutions per minute to achieve lift -- about five times more than a helicopter on Earth. Because of the distance from Earth, it can't be piloted by a human. While its main maneuvers are pre-programmed, Ingenuity needs to make some real time decisions using data from its sensors and camera. It also needs to run a heater to survive nighttime temperatures that plunge to minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius). NASA is already preparing to send Dragonfly, a much larger rotorcraft-lander, to Saturn's icy moon Titan where it will fly multiple sorties in search of extraterrestrial life when it reaches there in 2034.

NASA's Mars helicopter makes second flight

<p>NASA was successful in flying Ingenuity helicopter on the surface of Mars on Monday, as per images sent back to Earth. It is a historic moment as this is a first powered flight on the Martian surface.</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Wow!"<br />
<br />
The <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAJPL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASAJPL</a> team is all cheers as they receive video data from the <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASAPersevere</a> rover of the Ingenuity <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarsHelicopter?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarsHelicopter</a> flight: <a href="https://t.co/8eH4H6jGKs">pic.twitter.com/8eH4H6jGKs</a></p>
— NASA (@NASA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1384099167832735748?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>"Altimeter data confirms that Ingenuity has performed its first flight -- the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet," announced an engineer in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the control room cheered.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-nasa-flies-a-helicopter-on-mars-378698/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>A short clip sent back by Perseverance rover showed the helicopter grounded at first, howering three meters above the surface and then touching back down.</p>

<p>Ingenuity itself sent back a still black-and-white image from its downward pointing camera, showing its own shadow cast on the surface.</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">It happened. Today our <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarsHelicopter?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarsHelicopter</a> proved that powered, controlled flight from the surface of another planet is possible. It takes a little ingenuity, perseverance, and spirit to make that opportunity a reality: <a href="https://t.co/oT3rrBm6wj">https://t.co/oT3rrBm6wj</a> <a href="https://t.co/u63GKshp0G">pic.twitter.com/u63GKshp0G</a></p>
— NASA (@NASA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1384108519390027779?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>"We can now say that human beings have flown a rotorcraft on another planet!" said lead engineer MiMi Aung to her team.</p>

<p>"We've been talking so long about our Wright brothers' moment on Mars, and here it is," she added.<br />
The first powered flight on Earth was achieved by Orville and Wilbur Wright in 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A piece of fabric from that plane has been tucked inside Ingenuity in honor of that feat.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>


NASA was successful in flying Ingenuity helicopter on the surface of Mars on Monday, as per images sent back to Earth. It is a historic moment as this is a first powered flight on the Martian surface.

NASA was successful in flying Ingenuity helicopter on the surface of Mars on Monday, as per images sent back to Earth. It is a historic moment as this is a first powered flight on the Martian surface. "Wow!" The @NASAJPL team is all cheers as they receive video data from the @NASAPersevere rover of the Ingenuity #MarsHelicopter flight: pic.twitter.com/8eH4H6jGKs — NASA (@NASA) April 19, 2021 × "Altimeter data confirms that Ingenuity has performed its first flight -- the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet," announced an engineer in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the control room cheered. A short clip sent back by Perseverance rover showed the helicopter grounded at first, howering three meters above the surface and then touching back down. Ingenuity itself sent back a still black-and-white image from its downward pointing camera, showing its own shadow cast on the surface. It happened. Today our #MarsHelicopter proved that powered, controlled flight from the surface of another planet is possible. It takes a little ingenuity, perseverance, and spirit to make that opportunity a reality: https://t.co/oT3rrBm6wj pic.twitter.com/u63GKshp0G — NASA (@NASA) April 19, 2021 × "We can now say that human beings have flown a rotorcraft on another planet!" said lead engineer MiMi Aung to her team. "We've been talking so long about our Wright brothers' moment on Mars, and here it is," she added. The first powered flight on Earth was achieved by Orville and Wilbur Wright in 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. A piece of fabric from that plane has been tucked inside Ingenuity in honor of that feat. (With inputs from agencies)

Giant flight for mankind: NASA's Ingenuity helicopter flies successfully over Mars

mars

Mars, News on Mars, stories on Mars, articles on Mars, Mars stories at Wion, Mars news, Mars latest news