For decades, sending humans on the 140 million-mile journey from Earth to Mars has seemed like a distant pipedream. But as SpaceX successfully lands its Starship rocket booster, Elon Musk says that trips to the Red Planet could be common within 30 years. After five minutes the booster detaches and flies back down to Earth where it is caught by …
When I was in middle school, my biology teacher showed our class the sci-fi movie “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.” The plot drew me in, with its depiction of the “Genesis Project” – a new technology that transformed a dead alien world into one brimming with life. A partial checklist: Food, water, shelter, air After the Moon, the …
When the Perseverance rover hurtled down Mars's thin atmosphere towards the Jazero crater, a unique navigation technology helped guide it to a location that was most favourable for its survival during touchdown. Scientists will deploy Orpheus, a new class of submersible robot, that will use navigation technology to identify interesting scientific features on the Atlantic seabed. “This tech demo will …
Ever wondered what human voices would sound like on Mars? Some sounds that we’re used to on Earth, like whistles, bells or bird songs, would be almost inaudible on Mars.Learn more in the “Sounds of Mars” episode of our Curious Universe podcast. 🎧 Listen: https://t.co/KgSQExqgut pic.twitter.com/YXxjE55ytT — NASA March 10, 2021 These recordings have demonstrated that our microphone is not …
Scientists have further decoded the phenomenon that led Mars to lose the equivalent of a global ocean of water up to hundreds of feet deep over billions of years. Scientists, using an instrument aboard NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft, have discovered that water vapour near the surface of the Red Planet is lofted higher into the atmosphere than …