Daily Archives: May 13, 2024

The international space community has its sights set on humans landing on Mars by the mid-2030s, but a big question remains once astronauts get there: what will they eat? Researchers in the Netherlands at Wageningen University & Research are working to solve that particular problem in the long-term, when humans theoretically colonize the planet and won't exactly be able to rely on Uber Eats. In a new study that mimicked Martian conditions in a controlled greenhouse, attempts to grow food were boosted by using a technique pioneered by Mayans called intercropping. Per Reuters, this agricultural method involves growing a combination of mutually beneficial crops together.

When the researchers tested intercropping different groups of tomatoes, peas, and carrotsgrown in the same pots or alonewith soil that chemically and physically matched what's found on Mars, tomato yields were boosted when grouped with peas. The peas and carrots preferred to grow alone, but seeing tomatoes thrive with thicker stems, more and bigger fruit per plant, and faster maturation was an exciting find. "The fact that it worked really well for one out of the three species was a big find, one that we can now build further research on," astrobiologist and lead author Rebeca Gonalves told Reuters. "Now it's just a matter of adjusting the experimental conditions until we find the most optimal system. It can be different species, more species, different ratio of species."

Per Phys.org, planting peas close to tomato plants has been known to benefit tomatoes because of the way green peas influence the soilnitrogen pulled in from the air by pea plants turns into ammonia, which is released into the dirt, fertilizing it in a way tomato plants like. To create a Mars-like atmosphere, the researchers not only replicated soil conditions, but controlled the greenhouse to replicate what one might look like 140 million miles away, including the gases, temperature, and humidity it would have. While they couldn't taste their crops until they underwent testing, they have tried out past samples. "I thought the Martian ones were sweeter than the Earth ones," says coauthor Wieger Wamelink. (Ideas for getting Martian rocks back to Earth on the cheap? NASA is all ears.)

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Mayan Intercropping Could Be Key to Food on Mars - Newser

Water-filled oceans, meandering river deltas, varying seasons, and an insulating atmosphere are usually descriptors for Earththe only known rock to support life in the solar system. But during the Noarchian, a period in Mars history some 4.1 to 3.5 billion years ago, these descriptions perfectly matched the fourth rock from the Sun. Back then, the not-so-red planet couldve even supported life. In fact, Mars boasts the oldest known prebiotic, life-supporting conditions.

Of course, the Mars of today isnt so hospitableits atmosphere is nearly non-existent, riverbeds are dried up, and any water is now locked under Mars iron oxide-rich soil or CO2-filled ice caps. In other words, it isnt a great place for humans, so luckily weve sent robots in our place to glimpse into our planetary neighbors geologic past.

This week a new study, published in the

The Gale lake environment, as revealed by these ancient rocks, gives us a window into a habitable environment that looks surprisingly similar to places on Earth today, ChemCams principal investigator Nina Lanza, said in a press statement. Manganese minerals are common in the shallow, oxic waters found on lake shores on Earth, and its remarkable to find such recognizable features on ancient Mars.

The piece of tech thats central to the ChemCam is a high-powered laser that can deliver a dizzying 1 million watts of power into the area the side of a pin-head. While only providing this burst of energy for five-billionths of a second, its enough to excite electrons in the soil sample and the spectrometer reads the light, detailing the atomic makeup of the sample.

The puzzling thing about manganese is that, at least on Earth the enrichment process is sped up by microbes and oxygennot exactly modern Mars has in spades.

On Mars, we dont have evidence for life, and the mechanism to produce oxygen in Marss ancient atmosphere is unclear, so how the manganese oxide was formed and concentrated here is really puzzling, Los Alamos National Laboratorys Patrick Gasda, lead author on the study, said in a press statement. These findings point to larger processes occurring in the Martian atmosphere or surface water and shows that more work needs to be done to understand oxidation on Mars.

Its possible that manganese became enriched in these deposits as water percolate through soil adjacent to some ancient river or lake. Because oxidation states of manganese can be used by terrestrial microbes for energy, its possible that Martian microbial life similarly fed on these deposits.

Today, Earth stands alone in the Solar System for its remarkable ability to support life, but look back four billion years in the past, and Mars wouldve been the clear favorite for finding life.

Darren lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes/edits about sci-fi and how our world works. You can find his previous stuff at Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough.

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A Laser Zapped the Rocks on Mars and Revealed a Long-Lost Water World - Popular Mechanics

The future of space travel depends on our ability to reach celestial pit stops faster and more efficiently. As such, NASA is working with a technology development company on a new propulsion system that could drop off humans on Mars in a relatively speedy two months time rather than the current nine month journey required to reach the Red Planet.

Krispy Kreme's Q1 beat driven by heart donuts

NASAs Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program recently selected six promising projects for additional funding and development, allowing them to graduate to the second stage of development. The new science fiction-like concepts, as described by John Nelson, NIAC program executive at NASA, include a lunar railway system and fluid-based telescopes, as well as a pulsed plasma rocket.

The potentially groundbreaking propulsion system is being developed by Arizona-based Howe Industries. To reach high velocities within a shorter period of time, the pulsed plasma rocket would use nuclear fissionthe release of energy from atoms splitting apartto generate packets of plasma for thrust.

It would essentially produce a controlled jet of plasma to help propel the rocket through space. Using the new propulsion system, and in terms of thrust, the rocket could potentially generate up to 22,481 pounds of force (100,000 Newtons) with a specific impulse (Isp) of 5,000 seconds, for remarkably high fuel efficiency.

Its not an entirely new concept. NASA began developing its own version back in 2018 under the name Pulsed Fission-Fusion (PuFF). PuFF relied on a device commonly used to compress laboratory plasmas to high pressures for very short timescales, called z-Pinch, to produce thrust. The pulsed plasma rocket, however, is smaller, simpler, and more affordable, according to NASA.

The space agency claims that the propulsion systems high efficiency could allow for crewed missions to Mars to be completed within two months. As it stands today with commonly used propulsion systems, a trip to Mars takes around nine months. The less time humans can spend traveling through space, the better. Shorter periods of exposure to space radiation and microgravity could help mitigate its effects on the human body.

The pulsed plasma rocket would also be capable of carrying much heavier spacecraft, which can be then equipped with shielding against galactic cosmic rays for the crew on board.

Phase 2 of NIAC is focused on assessing the neutronics of the system (how the motion of the spacecraft interacts with the plasma), designing the spacecraft, power system, and necessary subsystems, analyzing the magnetic nozzle capabilities, and determining trajectories and benefits of the pulsed plasma rocket, according to NASA.

The new propulsion system has the potential to revolutionize crewed spaceflight, helping humans make it to Mars without the toil of the trip itself.

A version of this article originally appeared on Gizmoodo.

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NASA wants to build a new rocket that could get to Mars in just 2 months - Quartz

Solar flares are a common occurrence on the sun, which occur when the sun releases giant explosions of energy and light, according to NASA.

Solar flares have a cycle, reaching their peak every 11 years, and NASA explains that they are recorded on a classification system that divides solar flares according to their strength. The smallest ones are A-class (near background levels), followed by B, C, M and X.

This year marks the peak of solar flares, known as solar maximum, NPR reports, sharing how one such storm caused telegraph stations to catch on fire in 1859. NASA explains that powerful solar flares have broken modern sensors because of how strong they can be; but if such a flare hits Earth it can damage satellites, power grids and communication systems.

Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warns that strong solar flares will be hitting Earth the next several days, so some of our electrical communication could go down, NPR reports.

According to NASA, the Earths magnetic atmosphere protects us from solar flare damage. But what does that mean for future astronauts on Mars, where no such atmosphere exists?

Two of NASAs robots, the Curiosity Rover and the MAVEN Orbiter, will have the rare experience of going through a solar maximum, per NASA, and they will use this as a chance to study the solar flares affects on Mars.

Shannon Curry, a principal investigator for the MAVEN orbiter, shared that for humans and assets on the Martian surface, we dont have a solid handle on what the effect is from radiation during solar activity. Id actually love to see the big one at Mars this year a large event that we can study to understand solar radiation better before astronauts go to Mars, per the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, at the California Institute of Technology.

During solar flares, the MAVEN orbiter and Curiosity rover would help scientists understand how many solar particles make it to Mars surface and the amount of energy they pertain, per JPL.

One specific instrument on the Curiosity rover has helped scientists learn how much radiation impacts Mars and it has let them know how much shielding from radiation astronauts could expect by using caves, lava tubes, or cliff faces for protection.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, solar flares are known to have ionized radiation, such as X-rays and gamma rays, which are known to damage satellites and interrupt radio communications.

If radiation levels get too high on Mars for humans, scientists are hoping that MAVEN and Curiosity can work together to create an early warning system that can warn other missions and decrease any radiation damage, per JPL.

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This is how NASA is preparing to protect its astronauts on Mars from solar flares - Deseret News

During a recent appearance on "The Rocker Morning Show", which airs on Kalamazoo's rock station 107.7 WRKR, MTLEY CRE guitarist Mick Mars was asked about the variety of sounds and musical styles covered on his debut solo album, "The Other Side Of Mars". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think that me being on my own really doesn't give me any boundaries or any restrictions or stuff. I can take it to wherever I would like to have it. My album is pretty diverse. It shows different sides of how I write or how I approach music just a lot of different things."

Regarding how long it took him to put together the material for "The Other Side Of Mars", Mick said: "Some of [the ideas] I had for a while, but it took me a good four years to get out what I really wanted to. 'Cause I listen back to some of my older stuff and I go, 'Ugh', and I get rid of it. 'Cause it sounds dated. I didn't wanna sound like, 'Here's an old rocker that's playing 1980s music still.' And not that that's a bad thing, but I couldn't stay there. I needed to get something different or something people wouldn't really expect from me."

Mars went on to say that he is able to have more freedom with his solo project than he would have been able to with MTLEY CRE. "I can play anything," he said. "I played everything, from country music to a lot of different things, a lot of different influences, a lot of people that I listen to, everything from classical, Mozart, Beethoven, and all those people, and country music, and all sorts of stuff. I fell in love with the blues."

"The Other Side Of Mars" was released on February 23. The effort was made available via Mars's own label 1313, LLC, in partnership with MRI.

Birmingham, Alabama rocker Jacob Bunton collaborated extensively with Mars on "The Other Side Of Mars".

Bunton had previously worked with former GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler and CINDERELLA frontman Tom Keifer, and has songwriting credits with Mariah Carey, Steven Tyler and Smokey Robinson, among others.

Bunton sings lead on all but two of the 12 songs on "The Other Side Of Mars".

Other guests on the LP include WINGER/ALICE COOPER keyboardist Paul Taylor, KORN drummer Ray Luzier, and Brion Gamboa, who handled lead vocals on the songs "Undone" and "Killing Breed".

Bunton previously fronted the Alabama bands MARS ELECTRIC and LYNAM.

This past February, Mick told Joe Rock of the WBAB radio station that he wanted to take the music on his second solo album in a slightly different direction from what he did on "The Other Side Of Mars". "Another level. It has to be that way," he explained. "I'm not a youngster. And I'm not a depressed dark guy or nothing like that. But when you start getting older, you start going, like, 'I don't wanna do that again. Let's try this or move up or go a different level,' instead of putting the same repetitious kind of thing, which is [what you sometimes do when you are stuck in an] album-tour,-album tour [cycle]. And a lot of times, when that does happen, you find yourself kind of repeating yourself, and it gets to be pretty much samey after a while. So I'm fortunate enough to be old I made it to here but to be able to change my music, my next step. I don't wanna stay on this level. I have to take it up a notch every time. And if I get to do a third

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Regarding which guest musicians he would like to possibly approach about appearing on his second solo album, Mick said: "I think of different things, I guess. I was, at one point, just kind of like fantasizing about it. I don't even know if it would work. But I was thinking, like, Slash [GUNS N' ROSES] is a bud, and calling Slash in and going, 'Hey, come on in there and goof around.' And Doug Pinnick [KING'S X], just to play bass not to sing, but for his bass playing. And I think that the fans would kind of dig that, but I don't know what would come out of it. But I'm willing to take the chance, of course.

"As far as other things go, let's take it back a bit and go, a lot of people were expecting more of a blues album [from me this time around]," he continued. "Maybe I could throw a blues song on there, but the 'cry in your beer' kind of blues, but the kind that you just wanna get up and fight. After having a couple beers, I'm gonna beat up this [guy]. But, yeah, I can do that kind of stuff. I'm so open, and I have so much freedom to take my project anywhere, of course, and any direction. It's all open. It's a great feeling, really a great feeling just to express myself any way I want. I could go out and get, let's say, an unknown female singer and just totally have something that's so different than what you would expect from me. I don't know if people do know what they expect, 'cause I don't what I'm doing next. I do know what I'm doing next, but I don't know."

When Mars announced his retirement from touring with MTLEY CRE in October 2022 as a result of worsening health issues, he maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 taking his place on the road. However, he has since filed a lawsuit against MTLEY CRE in Los Angeles County's Superior Court, claiming that, after his announcement, the rest of CRE tried to remove him as a significant stakeholder in the group's corporation and business holdings via a shareholders' meeting.

Mars whose real name is Robert Alan Deal served as MTLEY CRE's lead guitarist since the band's inception in 1981.

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MICK MARS Wanted To Do Something 'Different' With His Debut Solo Album: I Didn't Want It To Sound Like '1980s Music' - BLABBERMOUTH.NET

CHICAGO Mars, Inc. revealed it is investing $47 million in a sustainable dairy plan as part of its broader climate strategy, which totals $1 billion over a span of three years.

Mars shared it is working to reduce the carbon footprint of its dairy line with its climate-first approach to dairy sourcing, which it is calling Mooving Dairy Forward. The commitment, highlighted by partnerships with FrieslandCampina and other companies, aligns with the companys goal to cut emissions by 50% by 2030, as measured against a 2015 baseline.

The company said it will work with industry leaders to implement a host of meaningful on-farm interventions focused on critical areas such as enteric methane reduction, efficient manure management and sustainable feed production.

Per Mars, more than 200,000 dairy cows and 1,000 farms supply the manufacturers billion-dollar confectionery business, which includes M&M's and Snickers. The company identified dairy as the second largest contributor to the carbon footprint of its snacking business and said raw ingredients account for more than 70% of its total GHG emissions.

The dairy sustainability plan involves Mars collaborating with dairy cooperative FrieslandCampina. Mars said through the partnership a group of farms will be dedicated to Mars dairy supply. With an emphasis on more sustainable dairy, Mars said the program will involve innovative practices and technologies that can be refined and scaled up in a focused and accelerated environment. The goal is to identify practices that can be adopted throughout the cooperative.

Amanda Davies, chief R&D, procurement and sustainability officer for Mars Snacking, said the company views doing its part to keep the planet healthy as an absolute non-negotiable. Davies added that Mars vision for sustainable dairy will only become a reality with the support of farmers and suppliers.

Which is why, as part of our Moo'ving Dairy Forward sustainable dairy plan, we're putting millions of dollars directly back into the pockets of farmers through our contracts to help them make climate smart changes to the way they farm, Davies said. Together, I know that we can forge a path that helps address climate change head on and contributes to reshaping our wider industry for a more sustainable future."

Mars shared that its investment also includes launching three pilot net zero dairy farms with the DMK Group in Germany. The company said those pilots, which are part of a five-year project, will key in on implementing new science and technology, and the goal is to achieve scalable and economically viable practices that lead to net zero dairy.

In another partnership, Mars is teaming up with Fonterra and Sea Forest on a seaweed food supplement trial that aims to show how their Seafeed supplement helps reduce how much methane dairy cows generate while digesting their food.

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Mars invests $47 million in sustainable dairy initiative - Food Business News

By Tilly Berendt on May 10, 2024 7:37 am -

Want to get a feel for this years 70-strong MARS Badminton Horse Trials field of entrants, but dont quite have the time for a big, juicy form guide? Weve got your back heres the essential info you need to know!

MARS Badminton Horse Trials [Website] [Entries] [Timetable] [Tickets] [Radio Badminton] [Livestream] [Cross Country Course] [Form Guide] [Ultimate Guide] [ENs Coverage]

ENs coverage of MARS Badminton Horse Trials is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products, your go-to source for science-backed nutritional support across all types of horses, disciplines, and needs. Click here to learn more about what KPP can do for your horse thank you for supporting our wonderful sponsors!

MARS Badminton Horse Trials [Website] [Entries] [Timetable] [Tickets] [Radio Badminton] [Livestream] [Cross Country Course] [Form Guide] [Ultimate Guide] [ENs Coverage]

ENs coverage of MARS Badminton Horse Trials is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products, your go-to source for science-backed nutritional support across all types of horses, disciplines, and needs. Click here to learn more about what KPP can do for your horse thank you for supporting our wonderful sponsors!

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The 2024 MARS Badminton Field: At A Glance - Eventing Nation

This illustration shows a concept for multiple robots that would team up to ferry to Earth samples collected from the Mars surface by NASAs Mars Perseverance rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASAs Mars Sample Return mission is grappling with escalating costs and a postponed timeline, prompting a search for more efficient methods from the private sector to ensure its execution.

A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this decade to 2040.

The mission would be the first to try to return rock samples from Mars to Earth so scientists can analyze them for signs of past life.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a press conference on April 15, 2024, that the mission as currently conceived is too expensive and too slow. NASA gave private companies a month to submit proposals for bringing the samples back in a quicker and more affordable way.

As an astronomer who studies cosmology and has written a book about early missions to Mars, Ive been watching the sample return saga play out. Mars is the nearest and best place to search for life beyond Earth, and if this ambitious NASA mission unraveled, scientists would lose their chance to learn much more about the red planet.

The first NASA missions to reach the surface of Mars in 1976 revealed the planet as a frigid desert, uninhabitable without a thick atmosphere to shield life from the Suns ultraviolet radiation. But studies conducted over the past decade suggest that the planet may have been much warmer and wetter several billion years ago.

The Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have each shown that the planets early environment was suitable for microbial life.

They found the chemical building blocks of life and signs of surface water in the distant past. Curiosity, which landed on Mars in 2012, is still active; its twin, Perseverance, which landed on Mars in 2021, will play a crucial role in the sample return mission.

The first time NASA looked for life in a Mars rock was in 1996. Scientists claimed they had discovered microscopic fossils of bacteria in the Martian meteorite ALH84001. This meteorite is a piece of Mars that landed in Antarctica 13,000 years ago and was recovered in 1984. Scientists disagreed over whether the meteorite really had ever harbored biology, and today most scientists agree that theres not enough evidence to say that the rock contains fossils.

Several hundred Martian meteorites have been found on Earth in the past 40 years. Theyre free samples that fell to Earth, so while it might seem intuitive to study them, scientists cant tell where on Mars these meteorites originated. Also, they were blasted off the planets surface by impacts, and those violent events could have easily destroyed or altered subtle evidence of life in the rock.

Theres no substitute for bringing back samples from a region known to have been hospitable to life in the past. As a result, the agency is facing a price tag of $700 million per ounce, making these samples the most expensive material ever gathered.

Bringing Mars rocks back to Earth is the most challenging mission NASA has ever attempted, and the first stage has already started.

Perseverance has collected over two dozen rock and soil samples, depositing them on the floor of the Jezero Crater, a region that was probably once flooded with water and could have harbored life. The rover inserts the samples in containers the size of test tubes. Once the rover fills all the sample tubes, it will gather them and bring them to the spot where NASAs Sample Retrieval Lander will land. The Sample Retrieval Lander includes a rocket to get the samples into orbit around Mars.

The European Space Agency has designed an Earth Return Orbiter, which will rendezvous with the rocket in orbit and capture the basketball-sized sample container. The samples will then be automatically sealed into a biocontainment system and transferred to an Earth entry capsule, which is part of the Earth Return Orbiter. After the long trip home, the entry capsule will parachute to the Earths surface.

The complex choreography of this mission, which involves a rover, a lander, a rocket, an orbiter and the coordination of two space agencies, is unprecedented. Its the culprit behind the ballooning budget and the lengthy timeline.

Mars Sample Return has blown a hole in NASAs budget, which threatens other missions that need funding.

The NASA center behind the mission, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, just laid off over 500 employees. Its likely that Mars Sample Returns budget partly caused the layoffs, but they also came down to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory having an overfull plate of planetary missions and suffering budget cuts.

Within the past year, an independent review board report and a report from the NASA Office of Inspector General raised deep concerns about the viability of the sample return mission. These reports described the missions design as overly complex and noted issues such as inflation, supply chain problems and unrealistic costs and schedule estimates.

NASA is also feeling the heat from Congress. For fiscal year 2024, the Senate Appropriations Committee cut NASAs planetary science budget by over half a billion dollars. If NASA cant keep a lid on the costs, the mission might even get canceled.

Faced with these challenges, NASA has put out a call for innovative designs from private industry, with a goal of shrinking the missions cost and complexity. Proposals are due by May 17, which is an extremely tight timeline for such a challenging design effort. And itll be hard for private companies to improve on the plan that experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory had over a decade to put together.

An important potential player in this situation is the commercial space company SpaceX. NASA is already partnering with SpaceX on Americas return to the Moon. For the Artemis III mission, SpaceX will attempt to land humans on the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years.

However, the massive Starship rocket that SpaceX will use for Artemis has had only three test flights and needs a lot more development before NASA will trust it with a human cargo.

In principle, a Starship rocket could bring back a large payload of Mars rocks in a single two-year mission and at far lower cost. But Starship comes with great risks and uncertainties. Its not clear whether that rocket could return the samples that Perseverance has already gathered.

Starship uses a launchpad, and it would need to be refueled for a return journey. But theres no launchpad or fueling station at the Jezero Crater. Starship is designed to carry people, but if astronauts go to Mars to collect the samples, SpaceX will need a Starship rocket thats even bigger than the one it has tested so far.

Sending astronauts also carries extra risk and cost, and a strategy of using people might end up more complicated than NASAs current plan.

With all these pressures and constraints, NASA has chosen to see whether the private sector can come up with a winning solution. Well know the answer next month.

Written by Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona.

Adapted from an article originally published in The Conversation.

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Will SpaceX's Innovation Save NASA's Mars Mission? - SciTechDaily

Abigail Allwood (second from left), principal investigator of the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) aboard NASAs Perseverance Mars rover, is seen here examining rocks at a site in Greenland. Allwood is a scientist based at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. (2021) NASA

A key objective for Perseverances mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planets geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASAs Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

Date Created:2021-06-14 NASA ID: PIA24668 Larger image

Astrobiology

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, NaVi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him)

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Abigail Allwood Doing Mars Rover Astrobiology Fieldwork in Greenland - Astrobiology - Astrobiology News

ENs coverage of MARS Badminton Horse Trials is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products, your go-to source for science-backed nutritional support across all types of horses, disciplines, and needs. Click here to learn more about what KPP can do for your horse thank you for supporting our wonderful sponsors!

The MARS Badminton Horse Trials:Website| Box Office | Entries | Timetable | Course Preview | Live Stream | ENs Coverage

THE COMPETITION:Welcome to the third CCI5* of the 2024 season, following on from a great week at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event two weeks ago and Australias Adelaide the week prior to that. This years a special year for Badminton: its the 75th anniversary of the event, a fact thatll be commemorated with a special pop-up museum featuring souvenirs of some of the greatest moments of the past eight decades. You can find it by the main scoreboard. This year, we also welcome a new title sponsor in MARS Equestrian so expect lots of chocolate for everyone, and also a bright and bold new fence in thearena in the MARS colour way. Oh, and for the more technically-minded among you, our competitors will be riding CCI5* Test B. Therell be 32 fences on the cross-country course, spanning 43-45 jumping efforts.

WHATS AT STAKE:The Badminton title,obviously, but also consider this:a major chance for some riders to prove to their team selectors that they really areall that. Oh, and the prize pots gone up this year too, to a juicy 425,000 making it the biggest prize fund in eventing. Theres no longer a Rolex Grand Slam on the line, though: we start again, following the eleventh-hour withdrawal of two-part leaderOliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class.

THE OFFICIALS:Sandy Phillips (GBR) will be President of the ground jury, and is joined this week by Jane Hamlin (USA) and Christian Steiner (AUT). Joanna Gillespie (GBR) will take on the role of jumping judge. The course is designed, once again, by Britains Eric Winter, advised by Mike Etherington-Smith, and Phillip Kelvin Bywater returns in his role as showjumping course designer. The events Technical Delegate is Andrew Temkin (USA), assisted by Stuart Buntine (GBR). Nicky Salmon is chief steward, and course building has once again been undertaken by the Willis Brothers.

THE ENTRIES:We head into Badminton week with a packed field of 71 entries spanning seven nations Great Britain, New Zealand, Ireland, France, the USA, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland are all represented here. Because its an Olympic year, theres a couple of notable absences: 2023 champion Lordships Graffalo wont line up for Ros Canter, though she does have an entry with last years Pau champion, Izilot DHI, and 2022 winner London 52 is staying home for Laura Collett, who instead rides debutant Hester. But dont rue their absence too much, because it opens the door for a seriously wide-open competition. As mentioned above,Oliver Townendand his five-star champion, warhorse, and perennial Badminton bridesmaid Ballaghmor Class will be fighting to try to win the Rolex Grand Slam, and they present a formidable threat to their opposition: Ballaghmor Class has won Burghley (twice) and Kentucky and has never been out of the top five in his nine five-star starts.

But theyre far from the only contenders for the win.Emily King makes her return to Gloucestershire on super form with her two-time Grantham Cup winnerValmy Biats, with whom shes owed some horsemanship good karma after pulling up in tough conditions while looking very competitive last year. The worlds most successful five-star rider,WilliamFox-Pitt, is also on very good form with the smart mare Grafennacht, who had a podium finish at Maryland last year, and, of course, theres Ros on a five-star winner to think about.Tim Price and Vitali might have been cursed by three fences down in each of their five-star starts so far, but theyve been hard at work jumping in Spain over the winter, and if we see them begin the week on a sub-20 as they did at Burghley last year, theyll put themselves in a serious position to try to shake off those demons. Weve also got a returning five-star winner in Chilli Knight, who took Bictons pop-up CCI5* in 2021 withGemma Stevens and has looked super since returning to the sport. Could this be the year for 2011 Burghley championCaroline Powellto return to the top of the podium, this time with her excellentGreenacres Special Cavalier? Or couldDavid Doel second at Burghley last year and extraordinarily consistent at this level become one of Badmintons most popular winners with Galileo Nieuwmoed? Or have we failed to name the winner at all in this entire section? Its a beautiful sort of Badminton, because truly, it could come from anywhere. Expect some great stories to unfold this week.

For the thirdyear running, the BBC wont be broadcasting Badminton well, not in its entirety, anyway. Youll be able to watch all the action, including trot-ups, by subscribing to Badminton TVfor a one-off price of 19.99. This gives you access to the livestream, wherever you are in the world, as well as nearly 100 hours of archive footage from prior events, peaks behind the scenes, course previews, and profiles. If youre in Britain, youll need to turn to BBC2 to watch the final competitors show jump live on Monday afternoon from 2.00 p.m.

We also recommend tuning in toBadminton Radio, which is broadcast live from the event all day, every day from 8.30 a.m. Helmed by a team of experts and riders alike, it features live commentary, interviews, insights into the competition, and much more. You can pick up a headset to tune in on site at the event, or tune into 87.7 FM locally or listen online here.Or, if you want to dive into previews, reviews, and reaction shows, head to the Eventing Podcast to get your fix.

Hashtags:

#badmintonhorsetrials, #badmintonbound, #rolexgrandslam

Accounts: Badminton Horse Trials,CrossCountry App, Horse&Hound, FEI Eventing, andEquestrian Team GBR. Dont forget to follow EN, too well be bringing you all the insanity in the middle you could possibly need! (And if youd like to see the real behind-the-scenes life of an EN journo on tour, you certainly can. #shamelessplug) Want to know the juiciest stats throughout the competition? Make sure you follow EquiRatings.

Tuesday,7 May:

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Sunday, 12May:

FORM GUIDE Check out and bookmark ENs exclusive Form Guide detailing the stories and stats of each horse and rider in this years field.

Meet the Horses and Riders of the 2024 Badminton Field

BADMINTON WEEK STORIES AND REPORTS

SUNDAY

I Never Thought It Was a Possibility: Caroline Powell Wins MARS Badminton 2024

It All Comes Down to This Let the Clenching Commence! Live Blog from the Finale of MARS Badminton Horse Trials

One Horse Spun and Three Withdrawals at MARS Badminton Final Horse Inspection

SATURDAY

An Emboldening Day for the Sport: Tim Price Takes the Lead on Vintage Badminton Cross-Country Day

Its Satur-yay! Butts On Seats and Buckle Up Live Blog from Cross Country Day at MARS Badminton Horse Trials

FRIDAY

A 5* With a 4*-S in the Middle Riders React to Cross Country at MARS Badminton Horse Trials

Friday Afternoon: Ros Retains Lead Amid Bum-Cam Reign of Terror

Reigning Champ Ros Canter Takes Friday Morning Badminton Lead

The 2024 MARS Badminton Field: At A Glance

Diamonds on the Soles of their Shoes Live Blog from Dressage Day Two at MARS Badminton Horse Trials

THURSDAY

Video Break: Badminton Goals and Memories with Laura Collett

Thursday Afternoon at Badminton: Tiana Coudray is Best of the Bunch; Bubby Retains Lead Overnight

Being Here is a Dream Come True: Comeback Queen Bubby Upton Takes Thursday Morning Lead at Badminton

Shine Bright Between the White Boards Live Blog from Dressage Day One at MARS Badminton Horse Trials

WEDNESDAY

Movers, Shakers, and Heart Horses: Team EN Makes Their Picks for Badminton

One Hold and an Eleventh-Hour Withdrawal, But All Accepted at MARS Badminton First Horse Inspection

Continental Influence, A Relocated Finish, and a Soggy Spring: Walk the 2024 Badminton Course with Eric Winter

PRE-EVENT COVERAGE: Back to Badminton: Bubby Upton Defies the Odds, Again

Rolex Grand Slam Contender Oliver Townend Withdraws from Badminton

Drawn Order for MARS Badminton Horse Trials: Tom Jackson to Lead Off

Top Contender Among Latest Badminton Withdrawals

MARS Badminton Entries Revealed: 87 Pairs Accepted for 2024 Event

A Happy Anniversary Indeed: Badminton Prize Money Increased to 425,000 for 2024

Badminton Box Office Opens for 2024 Priority Tickets

ENs coverage of MARS Badminton Horse Trials is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products, your go-to source for science-backed nutritional support across all types of horses, disciplines, and needs. Click here to learn more about what KPP can do for your horse thank you for supporting our wonderful sponsors!

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ENs Ultimate Guide to the 2024 MARS Badminton Horse Trials - Eventing Nation