Daily Archives: May 27, 2022

The fourth planet from the Sun, Mars, is one of our solar system's most enigmatic celestial bodies. We've known about its existence for thousands of years, but it took until the "Space Age" for humans to figure out just how strange the "Red Planet" is.

It is a dusty, cold, desert world, and it also has its own seasons, polar ice caps, enormous canyons, and gigantic volcanoes.Mars is one of the most studied bodies in our solar system, and it's the only planet where we've sent rovers to roam the alien landscape.

But, even after all this attention, Mars still leaves us with more questions than we've managed to answer.

Mars is a very alien world compared to what we are used to here on Earth. The reasons for this are varied, but needless to say, it is not exactly the most inviting place for potential future human Martian colonists.

Roughly the same age as planet Earth, it has had a very different history over its 4.5 billion or so years of existence. We can't definitively say for sure who the first person to "discover" Mars was, as it is one of the few celestial bodies that can be seen in the night sky with the naked eye.

Mars is very bright and has a reddish color, so it stands out and is easily noticed - especially if you live somewhere with little light pollution.The planet Mars has been known since ancient times and was observed for thousands of years by the people of many different cultures.

Let's find out what we know, or we think we know, aboutour planet's little red sibling.

Believe it or not, Mars and Earth have similar amounts of landmass. This, despite the former being only about 15 percent as large as Earth in terms of volume and roughly only 10 percent of Earth's mass.

According to NASA, Earth has a volume of roughly108.321 1010km3, and Mars 16.318 1010km3. Mar's equatorial radius is 3,396.2 km (or approximately half that of Earth) and masses (very roughly) 0.64169 1024 kg. On the other hand, Earth is about ten times more massive, with a mass of5.97221024 kg.

So, you might ask, how do they have the same amount of land if Mars is so much smaller? Put simply, the vast majority of Earth's surface is covered with water.

Simple when you think about it.

Another amazing fact about Mars is that it has the tallest mountain yet discovered on another planet. Called Olympus Mons ("Mount Olympus" in Latin), this enormous mountain is roughly 16 miles (25 km) tall and 373 miles (600 km) in diameter.

That is astonishingly huge and dwarves any comparable mountain here on Earth. Our tallest (above sea level), Mount Everest, is a paltry29,032 feet (8,849 meters) by comparison.

Since Mars has no oceans like Earth, however, it might be fairer to compare it to another enormous mountain, such asMauna Kea in Hawaii, with a height of 32,696 feet (9,966 meters, or 6.2 miles) from the seafloor (but just 13,728 feet of that is above sea level). But Olympus Mons still dwarf Mauna Kea.

Olympus Mons is a presumed long-dead (extinct) shield volcano, which is thought to have been active over a billion years ago. That is so long ago that it predates most, if not all, complex life forms on Earth.

It is important to note that some Mars experts believe it may actually be partially active today, with some evidence of more recent lava flows. However, this is hotly debated.

If you ever wondered why our red neighbor is called Mars, it is because this was the name for the Roman god of war. This is thought to be, quite reasonably, related to Mars' striking blood-red color when seen from Earth.

In fact, the ancient Greeks named the planet "Ares" after their own god of war for the very same reason.

Even more interestingly, this practice is not unique to ancient Europe.Other ancient cultures were also inspired by Mars' color, such asChinas astronomers calling it "The Fire Star". The ancient Egyptians associated the planet with the god Horus and called it "Her Desher" (or "The Red One"). There is currently an ancient river valley on Mars named Her Desher Vallis.

The planet's color is due to the large amounts of iron-rich dust and rock that blankets the planet. This is derived from the large amounts of iron oxide minerals on the planet's surface, from minerals like hematite (Blood Stone), a common iron ore here on Earth.

However, much of the iron sank into the core when the planet was still molten on Earth, while Mars' smaller size and weaker gravity may have allowed more iron to remain near the surface. Scientists are still unsure exactly how the iron oxidized (which turns it red and requires the presence of some form of oxygen).

Saturn and Uranus are two of the more unique planets in our Solar System because of their characteristic orbiting rings. But, it turns out, Mars, not to be outdone, could get its own ring in a few tens of millions of years.

According to astronomers, Mars' largest and most enigmatic moon, Phobos, will eventually be torn apart by gravitational forces. This will lead to the formation of a debris field that will, eventually, settle down into a stable orbit and form a rocky ring around Mars.

Phobos' orbit puts it a mere 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) above the surface of Mars, and it is closer to its planet than any other moon in the solar system. Mars gravity is slowly but surely, drawing in Phobosby about 6.6 feet (2 meters) every hundred years. According to NASA,the moon will be pulled apart in 30 to 50 million years.

The ring won't last forever, however. It has been estimated that it should last roughly 100 million years or so before disintegrating and falling to Mar's surface.

You can see the early telltale signs of this moon's impending doom today in a series of large cracks on its surface.

Mars is also home to an enormous canyon called Valles Marineris ("Mariner Valley" in Latin), apart from having the Solar System's tallest mountain. The canyon, or rather canyon system, runs along the planet's equator and is an awe-inspiring feature to behold.

It runs for around 2,610 miles (4,200 km) and is, in places, roughly 4.4 miles (7 km) deep. That is so big that it would almost span the entire continental United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

To put that into perspective,the Grand Canyon in Arizona is about 446 km (277 mi) long and 1.8 km (1.1 mi) deep.

Valles Marineris is actually an enormous plate boundary that moves so slowly that little happens over millions of years. Mars has a very primitive form of plate tectonics, and the action of the two plates sliding past each other began splitting the surface some 3.5 billion years ago.

Another interesting fact about Mars is its uncanny ability to defeat the best engineering humans have to offer. Since around 1960, more than 50 missions have been launched by various nations to the Red Planet, but only about half have successfully landed.

The first mission designed to reach Mars was the Soviet Union's 1M, dubbedMarsnik 1by the western press, which suffered a launch failure in 1960.

The first successful flyby of Mars was NASA's Mariner 4, which flew by the planet on July 14-15, 1965, sending back photos. Since then, around 55 probes have been sent to Mars or attempted to be sent. Of these, many of the early attempts by the Soviet Union suffered from launch failures, while several other attempts had some kind of technical failure en route, in orbit, or on the surface of the planet. This may have been partly down to the nature of the missions and the push to get there with equipment that wasn't ready.

The more recent attempts have been more successful. NASAhad a series of successes with thePhoenix Lander in 2008, theMAVEN orbiter, launched in 2013, the plucky and long-livedOpportunity roverfrom 2014 to 2018, and theCuriosity rover (launched in 2011). A number of missions had also arrived on Mars more recently NASA'sPerseverance roverandIngenuity helicopter, the United Arab Emirates'Hope orbiter(a first interplanetary mission for that country), and the China National Space Administration'sTianwen-1orbiter and lander-rover mission, which was China's first successful mission to the Red Planet.

It seems that any "curse" hanging over the planet was more likely an artifact of the immensely difficult task of getting to another world. Nevertheless,Elon Musk and SpaceXmay find some competition in the plans to get a colony up and running by 2050.

Believe it or not, scientists believe they have found proof that little bits of Mars have actually landed on Earth in the past. Called "Martian Meteorites", these are little pieces of rock that have miraculously managed to make it to Earth.

This might sound impossible, but bits of planets are blasted off their surfaces over time as things like large asteroids hit them. These impacts release a massive amount of ejecta that actually throw stuff off into space if the impact is significant enough.

This ejecta can have enough energy to escape the planet's gravity well and travel around the Solar System before being influenced by another planet's center of gravity.

What's more, these kinds of events appear to be quite common. As of 2020, something like 277 meteorites found on Earth is thought to have been derived from Mars. That might sound like a lot, but that is a fraction of 1 percent of all confirmed meteorites found on Earth.

Of the ones thought to be Martian in origin, the largest complete and uncut example is Taoudenni 002. Discovered inMali in early 2021, it weighs 32 pounds (14.5 kg) and is currently on display at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum.

Scientists use the study of rocks like this to determine the composition of Mars' surface and perhaps even its old atmosphere.

If Mars' barren landscape isn't enough reason not to visit it anytime soon, another hazard on the planet is its power.

The cause for these enormous storms is due to Mars' elliptical orbit around the Sun. This can lead to variations in temperaturebetween the hemispheres that dramatically increase atmospheric circulation the air currents pick up dust and circulate it around the planet.

These fierce dust storms can cover the whole planet and last up to six months.

One of the latest ones caught on camera occurred in February of 2022. It was so huge that it covered twice the size of the United States and effectively blanketed the entire Southern Hemisphere of Mars. The storm also causedNASAs Insight landerput itself in a "safe mode" to conserve battery power after dust prevented sunlight from reaching the solar panels.NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopteralso had to postpone flights until conditions improved.

One of the essential prerequisites for life is thought to be the presence ofwater on a planet. While it is best for life as we know it for the water to be in liquid form, the fact that water exists at all is a good sign that life may be present on a planet(or has been present in the past).

In the case of Mars, we know for a fact that the planet has large quantities of ice at its poles. As far as we know, there is little to no possibility that liquid water exists on the planet, as its very thin atmosphere prevents this from physically occurring.

Any water that is present outside of the polar regions of Mars is probably also frozen. Still, NASA probes like the Curiosity Rover are searching the planet for potential locations on the planet that might be suitable for life to exist.

If there is no life on Mars, the large quantities of frozen water will be an excellent resource for any future human colonies and expeditions to the planet in any case.

But, could this frozen ice have been liquid in the past? Scientific opinion is divided and discussions have been raging about this for over a century on this very topic.From early misinterpretations of structures that resemble intelligently-made water canals, several spacecraft have spotted signs of what appear to be ancient river channels, fluvial plains, and other hydrological features that may be evidence of liquid water in the past.

Another interesting fact about Mars is the presence of gaseous methane in its atmosphere. Like water, the presence of methane has also been used as an indicator of the potential presence that there was once, or still is, life on a planet.

First detected in the atmosphere by the Mariner 9 probe in 1971, further telescopic observations have since recorded wildly different methane levels over the years. To date, few spacecraft have also been designed to probe for the element in detail.

That being said, the Curiosity Rover has detectedspikes in methane in its area, and the source is still very much a mystery.

On Earth, methane tends to be produced primarily as a byproduct of microbial activity and human agriculture.

However, methane can also be produced by geological processes like volcanism. Given the large quantities of volcanoes on the surface of Mars (including the enormous Olympus Mons), this is thought to be a more likely source for the gas.

If we discover that methane is not biologically generated, it is still good news for humans, as methane will be a useful resource for future Mars colonies. In fact, the likes of SpaceX, plan to use it and Mar's abundant water supply to help make resources like fuel.

One of the most memorable scenes from the film "Total Recall" is when Arnold Schwarzenegger's character briefly suffers from a severe case of "popping eyes" while exposed to a partial vacuum on the Martian surface. While this scenario is obviously heavily dramatized, the reality is even worse.

The main reason for this is the fact that Mars' atmosphere is pretty thin. So thin, in fact, that if you were ever to find yourself standing on the planet without a spacesuit, your trip would be a concise one.

But, having your insides forcing their way out of your body is only part of the problem. One of the following significant issues is the planet's icy surface. For reference, the planet has an average temperature of-50 degrees Fahrenheit (-45 degrees Celsius)in the mid-latitudes.

This would be a severe problem in and of itself, but things get worse. Mars' atmosphere is famously very thin, with an air pressure of roughly 1 percent of that on Earth.

This would mean it would be next to impossible to breathe. Presume you're not already dead"Total Recall" style.

But, even if you could breathe, you'd likely quickly be asphyxiated, as the composition of Mar's practically non-existent atmosphere would be toxic to you.Mars' atmosphere, for the most part, comprises about 95 percent carbon dioxide, 3 percent nitrogen, 1.6 percent argon, and other trace elements like the aforementioned methane.

The planet Mars has fascinated our species for thousands of years and might just be the first extraterrestrial planet that humans may colonize in the future. But, as you can see, there are quite a few differences from our home planet that will need to be overcome before we could ever call Mars a second home.

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Interesting facts about Mars that will blow your mind - Interesting Engineering

The plans to build a civilisation or at least a colony on the Mars or Moon has been a long-time idea for both scientists and entrepreneurs. While the idea has always existed, the logistics have been the main problem, but it seems that we may have a major solution. A new set of experiences have revealed that a combination of dust from moon or Mars and saltwater can be create the perfect material to create buildings in space. In order to produce the desired product, the mixture needs to be heated at a high temperature so that they create a solid structure mimicking a brick.

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The observation was made by Ranajay Ghosh and his team at the University of Central Florida. They conducted an experiment to see if regolith dust from moon rocks can be used to create a sturdy structure. However, the problem will be finding the heat source in order to bake them properly.

This is the not the first paper to suggest this phenomenon as research published in Materials Today Bio said that blood can actually be used as a binding agent to create structures with space dust.

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"Scientists have been trying to develop viable technologies to produce concrete-like materials on the surface of Mars, but we never stopped to think that the answer might be inside us all along," said materials engineer Aled Roberts of the University of Manchester in the UK according to NewScience.

In the future, if there is a possibility of creating structures in the space, it will be near impossible to carry the bricks and these new findings can hold the key to building the new civilisation in space.

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How to make buildings in space? Dust from the Moon and Mars can help - WION

The speed of nearly every vehicle in our atmosphere is limited first and foremost by the resistance of the air into which it plows. Reduce the air pressure and boom it can now travel at a greater speed. Put a bullet train in a vacuum tube and it can travel at nearly the speed of sound.

The idea isnt new; indeed, something similar was proposed centuries ago. Physicists will tell you that the idea works, but pesky engineers will point out the many tough problems that exist in actually building it. But thankfully, we can solve hard engineering problems. (Example: The Seattle area is putting the finishing touches on the worlds first light rail on a floating bridge.) Lets look at the major challenges facing Elon Musks Hyperloop.

Human beings have limited tolerance for acceleration, so-called g-forces. Acceleration isnt just pushing the gas pedal; it also involves staying at the same speed but turning. Can this be achieved without making people vomit or pass out?

Absolutely. Commercial jets travel at more than 500 mph. They climb and descend. They turn and are jostled by air turbulence. They decelerate from flying speed to taxiing in a matter of seconds. Yet, most of the time, people arent nauseated or terrified. And the entire system is incredibly efficient planes are constantly landing and taking off, one after another. The Hyperloop could be modeled after this.

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But theres one big difference: Airplanes are in the sky, while the Hyperloop would be on the ground. Clearing a smooth, straight, easy path for the tube would require a significant amount of work. But weve done this before: the Eisenhower interstate system. If a mountain gets in the way, we tunnel through. If a rock wall cuts across, we blast it. If a bay exists, we bridge or tunnel under it. If the terrain is rough, we smooth it. This engineering challenge is doable.

The Hyperloop essentially is a long, vacuum-sealed tube. There is very little air inside to cause resistance, which is why the train can travel so fast (perhaps 760 mph). Maintaining this vacuum, about one-thousandth the pressure of Earths atmosphere, through millions of cubic feet of volume will be a big challenge.

Whenever passengers enter or exit the system, the Hyperloop has to be temporarily unsealed. Thus, stations would require interlocks. Once passengers are on board, the train moves into the interlock, and the surrounding air is pumped out. When a vacuum is achieved in the interlock, it opens on the other side to allow the train to join the main track.

For structural integrity, the giant tube likely would be steel rather than the beautiful clear fantasy material seen in promotional materials. If the steel is welded together, it will be extremely resistant to air leaks, but it will thermally expand and contract as one giant mass, which would require a lot of engineering to allow the structure to move freely. If the system instead is made of a great number of small steel tubes connected by joints, those joints must be able to maintain the integrity of the vacuum. And the engineering must be perfect: If one joint fails, the result is catastrophic.

There are at least two ways in which a trip on the Hyperloop could end in catastrophe. In one scenario, the train stops moving, for whatever reason. Passengers would be marooned, possibly in the middle of nowhere, with a dwindling air supply. Perhaps the Hyperloop could include a mechanism to break the vacuum in certain sections, allowing passengers to disembark and escape. But, this isnt easy because of the second possible disaster scenario.

If a seal breaks, the opening instantly sucks in air at an incredible rate, filling the vacuum inside. (Remember, nature hates a vacuum.) This would create an air shock blast wave traveling down the tube at roughly the speed of sound. If the tube bursts behind a train, the passengers will be subjected to a giant, likely lethal, acceleration, and then propelled forward at 700 mph with no brakes. If the tube fails in front of the train, passengers will be blasted with an air shock that would instantly annihilate the train and everyone inside. Worse, any accident doesnt just affect one train. A shock wave would obliterate anyone unlucky enough to be anywhere inside the Hyperloop.

Engineering might be able to solve the problem, but the question involves cost and practicality. Could the tube contain many special sections that are capable of rapidly deploying a giant valve to maintain the vacuum? Could these special sections hold against the oncoming shock wave? Or would these special sections act as sacrifices to ward off an even greater catastrophe?

Finally, consider that a vehicle crashing into the tube could be enough to blow it open. Even a single 50-caliber bullet could potentially destroy an entire Hyperloop and kill everyone aboard. The Hyperloop, therefore, will require a lot of monitoring and security both inside and outside the tube.

There are several things in favor of the Hyperloop. It will be a much faster way to travel, will greatly reduce the emissions associated with transportation, and undeniably has an intangible coolness factor. But the cons are considerable, with safety and cost being the most pressing.

Engineering the Hyperloop is possible. But, like building a colony on Mars, the biggest question might be one of willpower: How badly do we want it?

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Elon Musk's Hyperloop is possible. How badly do we want it? - Big Think

Today in 1637,the first battle of Pequot at Mystic, Connecticut took place with Colonial forceskilling 500 Indian men, women and children.

Today in 1647, Alse Youngbecame the first recorded person to be executedfor being a witch in the colonies.

Today in 1647,a new lawbanned Catholic priests from the colony of Massachusetts. The penalty was banishment or death for a second offense. The English Puritans, who settled the colony, feared the Jesuits for a number of reasons. First, simply because they were Catholic. To Puritans, Catholicism was nothing less than idolatrous blasphemy, and Catholics were destined for eternal damnation. Secondly, because the Jesuits were French, and France and England were engaged in a bitter struggle for control of North America.

Today in 1836,the U.S. House of Representativesadopted what has been called the Gag Rule.

Today in 1896,the Dow Jones Industrial Averageappeared for the first time in the "Wall Street Journal."

Today in 1908,the first oil strike was made in the Middle East in Persia (what is now known as Iran).

Today in 1927,Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Companyproduced the last Model T Ford (aka Tin Lizzie).

Today in 1938,the House Committee on Un-American Activitiesbegan its work of searching for subversives in the United States.

Today in 1940,theevacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, beganduring World War II.

Today in 1948,Congresspassed Public Law 557, which permanently established the Civil Air Patrol as the Auxiliary of the new U.S. Air Force.

Today in 1956,aseries of explosions on board the aircraft carrier USS Benningtonkilled 103 crewmembers off Narragansett Bay, in Rhode Island.

Today in 1961,the civil rights activist groupFreedom Ride Coordinating Committeewas established in Atlanta, Georgia.

Today in 1961,a U.S. Air Force bomber flewacross the Atlantic from New York to Paris in a record time of just over three hours.

Today in 1969,the Apollo 10 astronautsreturned to Earth after a successful rehearsalfor the first manned moon landing.

Today in 1994,President Clintonrenewed trade privileges for China, and announced that his administration would no longer link China's trade status with its human rights record.

Today in 1998,SCOTUSruled that police officers in high-speed chases are liable for bystander injuries onlyif their "actions shock the conscience." The case - County of Sacramento v. Lewis - concerned a high-speed chase between Sacramento County sheriffs deputies and two men on a motorcycle. The chase reached speeds up to 100-miles per hour and ended when the driver lost control and the bike spilled. The passenger was killed when one of the deputies couldnt stop in time and hit him.

Today in 1998,the United States Supreme Courtruled that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.

Today in 2002,theMars Odyssey found signsof large ice deposits on the planet Mars.

Today in 2004,the New York Timespublished an admission of journalistic failings, claiming that its flawed reporting and lack of skepticism towards sources during the buildup to the 2003 war in Iraq helped promote the belief that Iraq possessed large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

Today in 2004,United States Army veteran Terry Nicholswas found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing. The jury spent just five hours deliberating before announcing the verdict. He remains incarcerated at ADX Florence, a SuperMax security prison near Florence, Colorado. He shares a cellblock that is commonly referred to as "Bombers Row" with Ramzi Yousef (one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing) and Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber).

Today in 2012,Pope Benedict XVI's butlerPaolo Gabriele was charged with allegedly leaking confidential Church documents. He wastried and convicted later that year sentenced to 18 months, to be served inside the Vatican (as opposed to an Italian Prison). Why the arrangement? Concerns about him leaking more information. Still, it didnt last long - Gabriele was pardoned by Benedict XVI that December.

Today in 2014,the World Health Organization (WHO)confirmed that Ebola had reached Sierra Leone. By the following month, the disease was considered out of control and by July had been declared an international emergency.

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Ford Rolls Out Last 'Model T' This Date in 1927 - iHeart