Daily Archives: December 29, 2021

Elon Musk said today that its space exploration technology company SpaceX will send humans to Mars in about five years at the earliest.

Today, Musk accepted an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman. When asked When do you think SpaceX will land a human being on Mars?, Musk paused for 10 seconds, and then said: best case is about five years, worst case 10 years.

Musk told Friedman that the determinants included rocket engineering. He said: Its fundamentally engineering the vehicle. I mean, Starship is the most complex and advanced rocket thats ever been made. Its really next level.

The fundamental optimization of Starship is minimizing the cost per ton per orbit and ultimately cost per ton to the surface of Mars, he added.

The vehicle to which Musk was referring, the SpaceX Starship, is designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond, according to SpaceXs website. In the end, the spacecraft will be the worlds most powerful launch vehicle ever developed. It will have the ability to carry in excess of 100 metric tonnes to Earth orbit.

Regarding when SpaceX can reach and land on Mars, Musk has previously given different dates. In February of this year, Musk said in an interview on the audio social application Clubhouse that it will take about five and a half years for SpaceXs manned interplanetary spacecraft to land on Mars.

In March, Musk said on Twitter that SpaceX will land an interstellar spacecraft on Mars before 2030.

SpaceX will be landing Starships on Mars well before 2030. The really hard threshold is making Mars Base Alpha self-sustaining.

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 23, 2021

Earlier this month, Musk also said in an interview with Time magazine: Ill be surprised if were not landing on Mars within five years.

Some experts previously said that SpaceXs progress might not be smooth enough for the remaining three launch opportunities before 2026. So it may take longer to land on Mars.

Musks final plan is to build 1,000 interstellar spacecraft rockets. SpaceX should launch three each day and eventually send 1 million people to Mars.

Also Read: Elon Musk Wants To Build A Country On Mars Proposes A System Of Government

As for the current situation, in May, Starship implemented its fifth high-altitude test flight. Also, the fly-by mission to the moon in 2023 is set to be the first private lunar mission. But the flight to Mars is much more complicated. As Musk said, the biggest hindrance continues to be the sheer cost of a six-month journey to Mars, as well as establishing a permanent outpost on the planet.

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Elon Musk: SpaceX To Take Humans To Mars In 5 Years At The Earliest - Gizchina.com

Covering Mars by the Moon/Astrobin

Observing celestial bodies from Earth, you can see some pretty interesting combinations. Amateur astronomers are especially fond of them because they can take great pictures.

Astrophotographers love so-called coatings. In such events, one object located closer to us covers a more distant object. So, for example, one can observe how an asteroid or satellite of some planet covers a star with its body. But the covering of planets by the Moon is much more interesting.

The covering of Mars by the Moon/Screenshots from the online planetarium Stellarium

On January 1, 2021, the Moon will cover Mars. This event does not happen too often to be ignored. Unfortunately, it will be impossible to monitor the coverage from the territory of Ukraine. Moreover, from the northern hemisphere too.

The best conditions to see the event will be in the south of Australia. Therefore, if you can visit this southern continent, do not miss it, because at about 4:03 UTC, our satellite will cover Mars with its lower side for a while. The moon will be located quite low above the horizon, so the observation will be somewhat interfered with by the illumination from the sun.

Pay attention! In the northern hemisphere it will be possible to observe a kind of parade of planets: the dwarf planet Zirer, Uranus, the asteroid Pallas, Neptune, Jupiter and Saturn will line up. Before the sun sets, Mercury and Venus can be viewed below and to the right of Saturn.

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On New Years, Mars will disappear: how is this possible - The Times Hub

A UAE spacecraft that reached Mars's orbit this year has sent back thousands of images that show the stunning geographical features of the mysterious red planet.

From views of the elusive auroras that have puzzled scientists to enormous volcanoes visible from space, the Hope orbiter has recorded plenty of images since it arrived on February 9.

More than 100 gigabytes of scientific data captured by the spacecrafts three instruments has already been released to the public, including readings on the planets atmospheric conditions.

It is the first successful interplanetary mission by an Arab country, paving the way for the Emirates to take on even more ambitious projects.

The National highlights some of the most remarkable images captured by the spacecraft.

An image of Mars taken from the Hope probe. Photo: Emirates Mars Mission / EXI 2021

Less than a week after Hope reached Mars, it beamed back its first image of the planet.

It showed the Tharsis Montes region, an area that has three large shield volcanoes, in sharp detail.

The Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system, at sunrise was also visible.

Captured 24,700 kilometres above the surface of Mars, the North Pole of the planet can be seen in the upper left of the image.

Ice clouds are visible over the southern highlands and the Alba Mona Volcano.

On March 15, the spacecraft captured an image of Cerberus Fossae, a series of fissures that formed when the crust was pulled apart in the region.

The fracture system stretches more than 1,000 kilometres across the Martian surface.

It is a tectonically and volcanically active region that experiences Marsquakes.

Hope probe sent back an image of theCerberus Fossae, an area on the planet known for 'Marsquakes'. Photo: Hope Mars Mission

It is believed the fractures could be related to the nearby volcanic systems, such as Elysium and Tharsis.

Some experts have said these fractures may have been the source for catastrophic releases of groundwater, triggered by volcanic activity.

Hope captured the image when it was closest to Marss planetary surface.

The spacecraft offered a detailed look at Olympus Mons a few weeks after reaching Mars.

Taken from 13,007km above the planet, the image shows the largest volcano in the solar system in stunning detail.

An image of the solar system's largest volcano, Olympus Mons, captured by the UAE Hope probe.Photo: Emirates Mars Mission

It was first shared by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, on his social media accounts.

Olympus Mons highest peak in our solar system. Almost three times the height of Mount Everest. Taken by Hope Probe at 13,000km above Mars surface, he wrote.

The volcano is located in the Tharsis region of Mars and measures 642 kilometres in diameter.

In April, Hope captured the discrete aurora on Mars similar to the Northern Lights on Earth.

It was the first time such clear observations had been made. Scientific images were released at the time, along with an artists impression of what the aurora could look like on Mars.

Discrete aurora on Mars captured by UAE's Hope probe. Photo: Hope Mars Mission

The rare phenomenon occurs around Marss irregular crustal magnetic field and is created when energetic electrons in the upper atmosphere collide with gas molecules in the atmosphere.

This causes ionisation, dissociation of molecules and emission of photons causing the 'dancing lights.

There are two other types of aurora that have been documented before, the diffuse and the proton.

Hope took photos of a fully illuminated hemisphere of Mars.

These were similar to observations carried out regularly by weather satellites around Earth.

Captured 20,260km above the planetary surface, the image was taken when it was late spring in its northern hemisphere.

A fully illuminated hemisphere of Mars. Photo: Hope Mars Mission

Mars northern and southern hemisphere are different from each other. The northern part has non-volcanic and flat lowlands, while the south hosts volcanoes that are scattered throughout on high land.

The operations control room at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, where Emirati personnel track and communicate with UAE's Mars Hope probe. Antonie Robertson / The National

Updated: December 24th 2021, 8:04 AM

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Five remarkable Mars images captured by UAE's Hope probe - The National

A modest flat on the Isle of Cumbrae is being used as a base for a mission to find life on Mars.

The seafront flat in Millport, Isle of Cumbrae, North Ayrshire, is being used as a command hub for a mock-up operation to help prepare for the ExoMars mission being run by the European Space Agency which will launch next year and land in 2023.

Professor John Parnell, 64, a geologist at the University of Aberdeen, turned his living room in the flat into a base using just a laptop.

He logs on to video-link with a quarry in Leicester being used to simulate the surface of Mars, and will analyse rocks and minerals to look for evidence when the mission starts.

Scientists need to practice interpreting data that will be sent back 400 million kilometres by a rover, to be analysed in Millport.

Although he doubts they will find any life on Mars now, he believes it may have existed in the past.

Professor Parnell, who got involved through his job, said: "The mission ExoMars is primarily organised by the European Space Agency and is due to fly to Mars next year and its intention is to look for evidence of life.

"That probably means life on Mars in the distant past - the surface of Mars is not at all conducive to life now.

"I would be very surprised if there was any living right now.

"As to the past, I think it's probably 50/50.

"Even if it had been there, we're going to have to try very hard.

"If you landed a spacecraft on many parts of the Earth, you might find it difficult to prove there was life there - the evidence is there but actually finding it is not easy."

He was teaching students remotely from the flat he bought in 2014 when he realised he could run the base from there.

Professor Parnell said: "The mission involves a number of different scientific instruments, most of which will be on a rover which will trundle slowly over the planet's surface.

"These include a camera, a drill, several different instruments which can undertake chemical analyses of the rocks there to work out what the rocks are made of in terms of their chemical and mineral elements.

"At the site of the field trip, the people who at the site have multiple screens - ones showing the rocks, a simulation of getting a signal back from Mars.

"They also have a screen that has me on the other end and I am giving them guidance as to what they are looking at.

"There is also a close up camera, allowing them to focus on specific rocks.

"We're trying to avoid them actually walking up and touching rocks, they're looking at a screen to simulate them seeing the rocks from another planet and then getting real-time guidance from me.

"Part of this is training young people, whose experience is not as great as mine."

Last month scientists trialled a Raman spectrometer - which helps identify minerals - in preparation for the mission but more people need to be trained to use it.

He added: "We need to make sure that is thoroughly calibrated and tested on the kinds of minerals we're expecting to look for.

"If you imagine how this will work on Mars, they are in a mission control room somewhere in Europe and they need to make decisions about how to deploy the instrument and interpret the data in a completely remote manner."

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Flat in tiny Scots town used as a base for mission to find life on Mars - Daily Record

PowerWash Simulator lets players run a power washing business and earn money by completing various cleaning tasks. The gameplay focuses on cleaning dirt off items and structures with a power washer. As the game progresses and the business expands, players will get more difficult jobs with better rewards. Players will even venture into space and specifically Mars, to clean the Mars Rover, which requires cleaning a special hatch.

You will travel to space during the Clean the Mars Rover mission, and it is the only mission available in the special missions section during the games early stages. As the name suggests, you need to clean the Mars Rover entirely using your power washer; however, the hatch of Mars Rover is missing, and you need to find it.

Since the hatch isnt attached to the rover, it is not visible upon landing; however, it isnt far away from the Mars Rover. Simply walk a few steps on the opposite side of Mars Rover, and youll come across the hatch. It has a rusty brown color and pyramid-like shape. There is also a garden gnome on top of it, which is not significant to the mission. Upon reaching the hatch, use your power washer to clean it off.

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Where to find the Mars Rover Hatch in PowerWash Simulator - Gamepur

Former MTLEY CRE singer John Corabi says that he doesn't know if the songs he recorded with Mick Mars five years ago will make it to the MTLEY CRE guitarist Mick Mars's highly anticipated debut solo album.

Back in 2016, Mars released snippets of two solo songs, apparently called "Gimme Blood" and "Shake The Cage". The tracks, which were recorded at Blackbird Studio in Nashville, where Mars has lived for about eight years, featured Corabi, who appeared on CRE's 1994 self-titled album. Corabi later said that he didn't contribute to the writing process for the two songs, but that he was open to collaborating with Mars on some brand new material.

During a December 22 Facebook Live session, Corabi was asked about the fate of the material he recorded with Mars. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "A couple of years ago, Mick asked me to sing a couple of songs, and I did it. He put snippets of them out, but he's gone on to do a full record. And as of right now, I have no idea whether or not Mick is using those songs. It's Mick's solo record. He just asked me to sing two tunes. Unfortunately I wanted to do more, and Mick wanted me to do more, but I wasn't able to, because of my schedule and because of Mick's schedule. So we'll all just have to wait and see. I'm as excited to hear Mick's record as you are. And we'll see. Hopefully he used those songs. Maybe he didn't. I don't know."

Mars has been working on his solo disc on and off for at least the past five years. Some of the early sessions for the LP were helmed by recently retired producer Michael Wagener (OZZY OSBOURNE, ACCEPT, WARRANT, SKID ROW) at the aforementioned Blackbird Studio.

Almost two years ago, Alabama musician Jacob Bunton revealed that he was the lead singer on Mars's solo album. Speaking to AL.com, Bunton, who has previously played with LYNAM and former GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler, said about his collaboration with Mars: "I can tell you that I'm involved and the past several months we wrote and recorded a record and Michael Wagener produced it. The great Michael Wagener from [mixing 1986 METALLICA album] 'Master Of Puppets' and all that kind of stuff. He worked with MTLEY CRE on their very first record 'Too Fast For Love', when they did it themselves they recorded the record and then Michael Wagener mixed, and then when they got the record deal with Elektra, [QUEEN producer] Roy Thomas Baker ended up going back and remixing it. But on all of their self-released copies, it's Michael. But to make a long story short, Michael's producing the record because that was the first producer Mick worked with in MTLEY CRE, so he wanted to do his solo album, so it's been really cool. We've been recording it in Nashville and we're almost done."

Regarding what fans can expect from Mars's solo CD, Bunton said: "The songs are really cool, the record is really cool. He's such an inventive player and his riffs are insane and it's definitely going to be what people are expecting. When they hear it It's really cool."

In September 2019, Mick told Billboard about the musical direction of his solo material: "[It's] not like today's music, which to me is pretty much pop metal and more growly guys. It's all cool and it's all good, and I'm just searching for something that's just a little different than that. I [also] don't want to be living in '85. It's hard to reinvent yourself, but that's what I'm doing now. I'm trying to reinvent the way that I approach music writing. I've got a lot of crap, and I've got a lot of good stuff too."

At the time of the Billboard interview, Mars said that he had been working with a vocalist named Jacob, leading some fans to speculate that he was referring to Bunton. "[He] can be a lot of different voices, and it's pretty amazing," Mick said. "I go, 'I want this kind of voice here,' and he'll pull it straight off."

In a separate interview with "Talking Metal", Mars said that his debut solo record will not sound like anybody else. "Well, I guess it's my own style," he said. "It isn't really blues. My playing has a blues element to it, of course, but it isn't what you would call a blues record. It's more of a heavier rock thing, but I don't wanna even try to 'outheavy' the heavies, you know what I mean? It's just something hopefully just a little different than what's going on now. You're not gonna hear a MTLEY-flavored song, except for the guitar, [because] that's me. They're gonna be a bit harder than that, but not as hard as the heavies, like MINISTRY and some of those guys."

This past August, KORN drummer Ray Luzier confirmed that he is a featured guest on Mars's solo album.

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JOHN CORABI Doesn't Know If Songs He Recorded With MICK MARS Will Make It To MTLEY CRE Guitarist's Solo Album - BLABBERMOUTH.NET

For the first small Martian colonies, & # 171; natural government & # 187; would be ideal.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk believes that the first colonies on Mars can be managed in the same way as the first colonies on the American continent direct democracy. The initiator of the & # 171; Martian & # 187; SpaceX program on Tuesday, December 28, said in an interview with scientist and blogger Lex Friedman.

According to Musk, representative democracy, when laws are passed by representatives elected by the people, the first small colonies are not needed, and he himself would have proposed & # 171; natural government & # 187 ;.

& # 171; People themselves will be able to vote for the adoption of laws & # 187; Musk said, adding that the laws should be simple and easy to understand.

Earlier it was reported that huge reserves of ice were discovered on Mars. It is in a stable condition, which indicates the unique climatic and geological conditions in the Mariner valleys.

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Direct democracy: Musk told what the political system of Mars should be - The Times Hub