Category Archives: Mars

The European Space Agency (ESA) has completed the first successful high-altitude drop test of the ExoMars mission parachute, which will be the largest parachute set to ever fly on Mars. Both the first and second-stage parachutes have now successfully flown this year, ensuring the ExoMars mission is on track for launch in 2022.

A pair of high-altitude drop tests took place in Oregon on 21 November and 3 December as part of the ongoing parachute testing to ensure the safe delivery of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover and Kazachok lander to the surface of Mars in June 2023. The 35-meter-wide subsonic parachute will be the second parachute to deploy during the ExoMars descent modules final moments before touchdown.

Both parachutes deployed and flew beautifully, says Thierry Blancquaert, ESA Exomars program team leader. We maximized the lessons learned from all previous tests, and with this double success following the impressive first stage parachute deployment earlier this year, were really on the road to launch. We have demonstrated we have two parachutes to fly to Mars.

The team will continue to test to verify the robustness of the final selection of parachutes, with more high altitude drop test opportunities possible in 2022 for both the first and second stage parachute.

The ExoMars mission is a collaboration between the ESA and Russias space agency, Roscosmos. The ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars mission is scheduled for launch in September 2022. After a nearly nine-month interplanetary cruise, a descent module containing the rover and platform will be released into the Martian atmosphere at a speed of 21,000 km per hour. The lander will be able to slow down thanks to a thermal shield and its two main parachutes. The 15-meter-wide first stage main parachute will deploy while the descent module is still traveling at supersonic speeds, and the 35-meter-wide second stage main parachute will deploy at subsonic speeds. A retro rocket propulsion system will then be triggered 30 seconds before touchdown.

Adjusting and testing the ExoMars parachutes has been a priority following a series of unsuccessful drop tests in 2019 and 2020.

The parachutes are just one element of this complex mission, which, after launch, will see a carrier module transport the rover and surface platform to Mars inside a descent module. Significant progress has been made across many areas of the mission in the last months, as the functional testing phase draws to a close and attention shifts to the launch campaign in Baikonur.

The ExoMars mission will launch on a Proton-M rocket with a Breeze-M upper stage from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, in the 20 September 1 October 2022 launch window. Once landed safely in the Oxia Planum region of Mars on 10 June 2023, the rover will drive off the surface platform, seeking out geologically interesting sites to drill below the surface to determine if life ever existed on our neighbor planet. The ExoMars program also includes the Trace Gas Orbiter, which has been orbiting Mars since 2016.

See more here:

ESA successfully drop tested the largest parachute set to fly on Mars - Inceptive Mind

Eventually, everyone has a chance to follow through on their promises.

Coincidentally, Elon Musk says his plans for Mars can coincide with the global push to lower the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. "SpaceX is starting a program to take CO2 out of [the] atmosphere & turn it into rocket fuel," tweeted the CEO and tech billionaire on Monday. "Please join if interested."

It's unclear exactly how Musk plans to do this, but it's also hard to deny the appeal of such a capability. Imagine a world where all excess CO2 generated by a nation or region is directly converted into rocket fuel and subsequently consumed during launches, leaving nothing harmful behind.

"Will also be important for Mars," added Musk in a tweeted reply to himself, encouraging high hopes. And, it turns out hope might not be totally unmerited, since there are already ideas in-play about how we might convert CO2 into rocket fuel on the surface of Mars.

While Musk's announcement may feel a little random, it's surprisingly appropriate, considering the abundance of CO2 emitted by the billionaire-to-Earth-orbit pipeline that's scaling up at unprecedented speeds. Even more shocking, this idea of Musk's isn't as outlandish as it may at first seem. A new technique, called "direct air capture," would enable SpaceX to absorb thousands of tons of CO2, and convert it into a kind of rocket fuel, according to Bloomberg. In fact, the country behind the best Zuckerberg satire ever has already begun operations of its DAC plant, which, sucking in 4,400 tons of CO2 annually, also happens to be the largest one in the world, according to a Futurism report. And another one in Scotland will begin operations in 2026, with aims to remove 1.1 million tons (1 million metric tons) per year.

This comes on the heels of Musk announcing a $100 million prize for whoever could bring a world-historic-level carbon removal technique to the global table, early in 2021. "I think this is one of those things that is going to take a while to figure out when the right solution is," said Musk in a Reuters report, at the time. "And especially to figure out what the best economics are for CO2 removal. Right now we've only got one planet. Even a 0.1 percent chance of disaster why run that risk? That's crazy!" During an April discussion with Chairman Peter Diamandis of the XPrize Competition, Musk hinted at his interest in finding a renewable means of lifting people and material into space.

Of course, Musk isn't the first person to consider the conversion of carbon into more marketable substances, or products of value to the economy. After all, it makes more sense to use everything involved than to simply bury waste products like CO2 underground. And many companies and scientists have taken strides down this line of thought. For example, we could embed solid forms of carbon in building materials, including steel and cement, an industry already deemed emissions-heavy, said Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science Harry Atwater, of the California Institute of Technology, in a Popular Science report. "What if we could actually take the carbon dioxide emitted through all the past synthesis of construction materials and then turn it back into materials that we could use like carbon fiber composites and other forms of more benignly stored carbon," asked Atwater, in the report.

"That would be an indefinite form of storage," he added. But for Musk to convert CO2 from the air into rocket fuel, he'll have to get crafty. Right now, SpaceX's Starship uses supercooled liquid methane and LOX to propel itself away from the Earth. Earlier models like the Falcon 9 also use LOX, but combined with refined kerosene. These fuels won't exist in abundance on Mars, which is why scientists have developed concepts that could capable of using Mars' CO2-rich atmosphere. In October of this year, a team of engineers suggested using a carbon catalyst inside of a reactor, to convert carbon dioxide into methane, which can then be employed in the next generation of rocket engines, perhaps like SpaceX's Raptor engines. This idea relies on what's called a "Sabatier reaction" something already in use by the crew of the International Space Station to filter CO2 from the internal atmosphere of the station. It even generates drinking water.

If Elon Musk's private aerospace firm can leverage this knowledge to convert CO2 in Earth's atmosphere into rocket fuel at scale, it could create a new and exciting incentive for space tourists effectively transforming an environmentally dubious activity (going to space because you're rich enough while polluting the Earth) into an inherently eco-friendly act that also generates a fresh source of drinkable water. Pretty neat, at least, in theory.

Obviously, this could radically transform the public face of SpaceX. But the pilgrims of the Red Planet will face the same hardships: At the time of his XPrize interview, Musk said his firm had a long-term plan to use as much renewable energy as possible to power rocket flights to space, which for Musk always means Mars. He also said stressed his classic argument about mass extinction events, and how humans won't surviveunless we become a multi-planet species. But when asked if his plans for Mars were "just some escape hatch for rich people," the billionaire and now-TIME Magazine "Person of the Year" answered that relocation to Mars won't exist exclusively for the rich. Likening missions to Mars to the first journeys to Antarctica, Musk emphasized that would-be Martians will confront an uncomfortable, dangerous, and exciting reality: that there's no guarantee of returning. "A bunch of people will probably die," he warned in the live stream. With this in mind, we can only hope that carbon capture technology can absorb enough pollution from rocket launches that the space adventures of tomorrow don't come at the expense of the Earth's habitability.

Excerpt from:

Elon Musk Wants SpaceX to Reach Mars Using Carbon Capture. Here's How It Could Work - Interesting Engineering

(RNS) One of the biggest religion stories of 2021 has been the saga of the now-shuttered Mars Hill Church in Seattle and the downfall of its controversial celebrity pastor Mark Driscoll, detailed in a popular podcast thats been downloaded more than 13 million times.

A lesser-known but noteworthy story has been playing out at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan. Once also led by a celebrity pastor, the church is charting a different course forward, moving from a leader-centric model and installing instead this past summer two co-pastors: Ashlee Eiland and Troy Hatfield.

Eiland, who is Black, and Hatfield, who is white, are the first co-pastors in the churchs history, while Eiland is also the first woman to serve at Mars Hill as a senior pastor.

The two had been serving as part of an interim leadership team at the church since the departure of AJ Sherrill, the former senior pastor, in August 2020. Hatfield is a longtime staffer at Mars Hill, having joined the church as a worship leader in 2004 when it was one of the fastest-growing churches in the country under founding pastor Rob Bell. Eiland was called to the church in 2019 to launch a new campus of the church in nearby Grand Rapids.

For both, the role of senior leader came as a surprise. Eiland said in the churches shed grown up in, women didnt serve in top leadership roles. Hatfield said hed never aspired to be a senior pastor. But after serving together on an interim basis, they embraced the invitation from the Mars Hill elder board to become co-pastors.

Co-pastors Ashlee Eiland, from left, and Troy Hatfield lead a service at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, in Sept. 2021. Courtesy photo

I was really inspired by the idea, said Eiland. It felt well-discerned and prayedthrough and we had the advantage of having done some co-leadership before.

Having co-pastors at a church or other congregation is rare. The 2012 National Congregations Study found 94.5% of congregations have one person serving as senior leader. The 2020 Faith Communities Today Study found that 5% of congregations have two or more clergy who share leadership equally. That study also found only 10% of congregations overall have a woman serving in a senior role. If a woman leader is referred to as a co-pastor, it is often because they are married to the senior pastor.

Eiland and Hatfield said they are still fine-tuning what it means to lead as co-pastors. For now, they split preaching duties, while each oversees one of the two locations where Mars Hill worships, with Eiland in Grand Rapids and Hatfield in Grandville. They also team up on bigger-picture planning for the church.

As co-pastors, the two have been charged with helping Mars Hill find its way forward a task made more complicated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The church was founded in the late 1990s, using whats known as an attractional model of ministry, centered on Bell, a charismatic communicator who could draw huge crowds. By the time Hatfield had arrived on staff, the church had more than 10,000 people for weekend services.

Since Bells departure in 2012, the church has had a series of fairly short-tenured senior leaders and has shrunk in size. Today, about 1,200 people attend in-person and online services, though it is hard to tell how many people are part of the church because of the pandemic.

Mars Hill Bible Church co-pastors Troy Hatfield, left, and Ashlee Eiland. Courtesy photo

Mars Hill has also been rethinking its identity in recent years.

In the past 18 months, the consideration for Mars Hill has been, how do we faithfully be a local church? said Hatfield.

Starting a new campus in Grand Rapids is helping with the transition. That location is essentially a church plant, said Eiland, and is in a residential neighborhood, which makes it different from the Grandville campus, located in a former mall. The new campus is in a place where people live, while the older location is a place people drive to, said Hatfield. That difference in geography, Eiland said, will reshape the church, helping make it more congregation-centered and less leader-centered.

I think were going to discover new ways of being this church, said Eiland.

RELATED: Like Beth Moore, many women preachers have had to break free to follow Gods call

For his part, Hatfield said he has always been drawn to a parish model of ministry, where the clergy have a close connection to their congregation and their community. He is also careful how he describes the church, trying to stay away from any sense of ownership on his part as a leader.

This is not my church, he said. This is Christs church. And I have been invited to help lead Christs church.

Mark McCloskey, professor of ministry leadership at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, said collaborative ministry like co-pastoring has a number of benefits. Having more than one leader means power isnt all concentrated in one person. It also means all of the burden of running a church doesnt fall on one person.

More than that, he said, shared leadership was a common practice in the Bible.

In the New Testament, youd have to look long and hard to find a model where theres a sole senior pastor, he said. Basically, youd have a plurality of leaders.

That model can make space for different viewpoints and perspectives. But it is not easy, said McCloskey, who runs a program on transformational leadership. Pastors who think they need to have all the answers, for example, have difficultly sharing power.

I tell my classes, you have to have somebody who can be in charge without being in control, who can be present without casting a shadow, he said.

Worship at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, in April 2021. Photo via Facebook/Mars Hill

When she was first interviewed at Mars Hill, Eiland said, she was asked to describe a leader who had inspired her to walk with Jesus. The first person who came to mind was her grandmother, who taught her how to pray, how to love the Bible and how to have a faith that was not just in her head or her heart but was lived out in her day-to-day life.

Character matters, she said. People are watching you. Not just who you are at church or on a platform on Sunday morning, but who you are to your neighbor, who you are to the construction person working on your yard, who you are to the person at the grocery store. All of that matters.

Eiland was quick to admit she remains a work in progress and has much to learn. But the importance of striving to live out her faith remains at the top of her mind. What good will her ministry be, she said, if it doesnt shape her into the person God wants her to be?

The Church We Hope For co-pastors Bobby Harrison, left, and Ins Velsquez-McBryde in Pasadena, California. Courtesy photo

Two thousand miles away, in Pasadena, California, Ins Velsquez-McBryde and Bobby Harrison, co-pastors of The Church We Hope For, a multiethnic start-up congregation, are also charting a way forward as leaders during the pandemic.

The church began as a house church in January 2020, paused during the early months of the pandemic, then rebooted on as an online community when it became clear the pandemic would not end any time soon.

Velsquez-McBryde described the church as a healing place for people who have been hurt by the church in the past but who still hope to find the kind of beloved community found in the Bible. On a recent Sunday, she greeted worshipers by name as they joined the Sunday Zoom call, chatting with them while waiting for the service to begin and reminding folks not to spill coffee on their living room rugs at home.

Were going to miss this one day, you know, when we are in person again, she said.

Harrison also chimed in, recalling the potluck after a recent in-person gathering. The two pastors, who are longtime friends, lead the Zoom meetings together and take turns preaching week by week. They hope their shared leadership reinforces the message they preach.

We aim to be an embodied witness of the good news that men and women can serve side by side and worship side by side and lead side by side, he said.

The co-pastors said their ministry partnership has been a blessing during COVID, which has made the hard work of starting a new congregation even more challenging. Leading a new church during COVID as a solo pastor would have been daunting, they said.

Co-pastors Ins Velsquez-McBryde, center left, and Bobby Harrison lead a service at The Church We Hope For in Pasadena, California. Courtesy photo

Co-pastoring can be a healthy model for church leaders but also for the congregation, said Juliet Liu, co-lead pastor of Life on the Vine Church in Long Grove, Illinois, which has had co-pastors for most of its history. A shared leadership model shows that in the kingdom of God, power is meant to be used for the benefit of all, she said. When we are entrusted with power and authority, its not so one person can keep it for themselves, she said. Its actually shared so that it can be exercised on behalf of everyone.

Liu said it is also crucial for co-pastors to have a strong friendship and trust. Otherwise, their partnership can lead to conflict.

Velsquez-McBryde likes to use the term re-creating when talking about the mission of the church, pointing back to the story of the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis. In the garden, she said, there was harmony, not hierarchy, and the idea of a hierarchy comes after the fall. Addressing those power inequalities is important not just between men and women but also between people from different ethnic backgrounds.

Otherwise, she said, all you have is presence without power.

RELATED: Multiracial churches increase as Blacks, whites learn to worship together

View original post here:

At the other Mars Hill church, new co-pastors hope to build a faithful future - Religion News Service

For one reason or another, people decided long ago to name all the important places on Mars using Latin words. In fact, the whole planet wears the name of the Roman God of War, so the choice of keeping with tradition might have seemed like a natural one.

One such case is Noctis Labyrinthus, which would roughly translate as nights labyrinth. The moniker was slapped onto a region in the Tharsis area that is famous among people studying Mars for its intricate system of valleys.

Formed sometime in the planets past by means of faulting, these valleys are also very deep, and for geologists, thats godsent, as they can peer into the Martian past by studying the layers of soil, as theyre visible from up in orbit to the HiRISE camera.

The main image of this piece shows a portion of the Noctis Labyrinthus as seen back in 2007 from an altitude of 255 km (158 miles). According to the people at NASA and the University of Arizona who look at these images for a living, this is a trough that is 300 meters (984 feet) deep.

If youd allow, its like someone took a knife and sliced right through the Martian terrain, revealing layered beds that may help us, Earthlings, with better understanding both the spatial and temporal distribution of hydrated (water-bearing) minerals on Mars, thus deciphering the aqueous history of the planet.

In this particular place, scientists have found hydrated minerals, yet another sign that water was at some time in the past a constant presence on the neighboring piece of rock.

More here:

Noctis Labyrinthus Is Where You Could Get Lost on Mars, Here's a Slice of It - autoevolution

NEWARK, N.J., Dec. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Mars Wrigley, the maker of some of the world's most beloved treats and snacks, takes the next step in its commitment to more sustainable packaging with M&M'S theater boxes in the U.S. M&M'S was recently named one of the top 5 brands in the US by YouGov, and M&M'S theater boxes will now be fully recyclable in U.S. with the removal of the traditional plastic overwrap. This sustainability step eliminates 98 metric tons of plastic waste a year, equal to the weight of aspace shuttle headed into orbit. The updated packaging has been rolling onto shelves since late September and is now available in theaters and major retailers nationwide.

"At Mars Wrigley, we're committed to creating better moments by improving our societal impact and helping protect the environment through more sustainable packaging," said Justin Comes, Vice President of R&D, Mars Wrigley North America. "Removing 98 tons of plastic equal to the weight of aspace shuttle headed into orbit from our M&M'S theater boxes in the U.S. is an important sustainability step for one of America's best and most famous brands to help build a circular economy where packaging never becomes waste."

This latest M&M'S announcement is one of many tangible actions Mars Wrigley is taking around the world to support a circular economy and to help people protect our planet while enjoying some of their favorite treats and snacks.

A few notable highlights of Mars' Climate Action:

Packaging Reduction and Redesign:

Collaborative Partnerships:

These initiatives underscore Mars Wrigley's purpose of Better Moments and More Smiles, which emphasizes a connected and caring world and supports the ambitions laid out in Mars Sustainable in a Generation plan. For further information on Mars' approach to sustainable packaging, visithttps://www.mars.com/sustainability-plan/healthy-planet/sustainable-packaging.

Media Contacts:

Mars Wrigley Caitlin KemperTel: +1 - 201-841-8350[emailprotected]

About Mars, IncorporatedFor more than a century, Mars, Incorporated has been driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. This idea is at the center of who we have always been as a global, family-owned business. Today, Mars is transforming, innovating, and evolving in ways that affirm our commitment to making a positive impact on the world around us.

Across our diverse and expanding portfolio of confectionery, food, and petcare products and services, we employ 133,000 dedicated Associates who are all moving in the same direction: forward. With $40 billion in annual sales, we produce some of the world's best-loved brands including DOVE, EXTRA, M&M's, MILKY WAY, SNICKERS, TWIX, ORBIT, PEDIGREE, ROYAL CANIN, SKITTLES, BEN'S ORIGINAL, WHISKAS, COCOAVIA, and 5; and take care of half of the world's pets through our pet health services AniCura, Banfield Pet Hospitals, BluePearl, Linnaeus, Pet Partners, and VCA.

We know we can only be truly successful if our partners and the communities in which we operate prosper as well. The Mars Five Principles Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom inspire our Associates to take action every day to help create a world tomorrow in which the planet, its people and pets can thrive.

For more information about Mars, please visitwww.mars.com. Join us on Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, LinkedInandYouTube.

SOURCE Mars Wrigley

Link:

Mars Wrigley US Removes 98 Metric Tons of Plastic - Equivalent to the Weight of a Space Shuttle Headed into Orbit - with "Launch" of M&M'S Theater...

BRUSSELS Mars Petcare announced Dec. 14 it will roll out new wet pet food packaging made with recycled plastic materials, in partnership with SABIC and Huhtamaki.

The companys SHEBA brand of wet cat food will be the first to make the transition across Europe, starting in 2022. The companys partnership with SABIC and Huhtamaki was established in late 2020.

We are pleased to share this progress in our sustainable petfood packaging journey, said Barry Parkin, chief procurement and sustainability officer at Mars, Inc. Over the past year, we have been closely working with SABIC and Huhtamaki, continually testing and learning and scaling up the recycled plastic content in our pet food packs. As part of our Sustainable in a Generation plan, we are committed to doing our part to help drive a circular economy, which includes redesigning our packages for circularity. The fact that we are now able to introduce recycled content into our SHEBA pouches helps accelerate our journey to achieve 30% average recycled content in our plastic packaging and to reduce by 25% our use of virgin plastic.

The process utilizes advanced recycling or chemical recycling technology to render food-safe recycled plastics for use in more sustainable flexible plastic packages. According to Mars Petcare, this technology is essential to help close the gap in the journey for more circular plastics.

As we get prepared to deploy food safe recycled content in wet pet food pouches, its only fitting that its with our iconic SHEBA brand, which through its work on ocean health strives to make a meaningful and measurable difference in the world, said Deri Watkins, regional president at Mars Pet Nutrition Europe. Our consumers want more than just quality food for their pets, and we are pleased that this innovation enables us to provide pet parents with more environmentally sustainable products.

The new wet pet food packaging formats will incorporate ISCC PLUS certified recycled material. SABIC lends expertise in advanced recycling technology through its TRUCIRCLE portfolio of plastic innovations, which showcases the companys ability to produce polypropylene from flexible plastic packaging waste that can be used for direct food contact packaging applications. Huhtamaki brings technical expertise in developing and manufacturing easy tear sterilizable polypropylene films, such as its Terolen solution. The combination of both companies areas of expertise has allowed Mars Petcare to begin incorporating TRUCIRCLE polymers in its wet pet food packages.

We are very pleased about the ongoing strategic efforts with Mars and Huhtamaki, said Lada Kurelec, general manager of PP, PET, PS, PVC, PU and elastomers for petrochemicals at SABIC. The transformation of the industry towards a circular economy requires unprecedented innovation and intensive collaboration across the value chain. Together, we have set another milestone on this exciting journey.

Current packaging for Mars Petcares SHEBA brand includes aluminum trays, cans and cardboard sleeves, all of which are readily recyclable in key markets. The company hopes the inclusion of recycled plastic materials will take it one step closer to its goal of achieving flexible bag and pouch recyclability. This new application is also expected to spur growth for the development and availability of food contact recycled packaging solutions moving forward.

We are fully committed to partnering with global leaders to develop solutions which drive the transition to a circular economy, said Marco Hilty, president of flexible packaging at Huhtamaki. We are proud to work with Mars and SABIC on a concrete solution which can be used globally. Successfully processing recycled polymers into high-quality, easy tear films for wet retort packaging at an industrial scale is a significant milestone in delivering on our ambition to have more than 80% of our raw materials renewable or recycled. This is important for consumers and in line with our ambitious 2030 strategy.

The initiative is one of several from Mars aiming to reduce its overall environmental impact. The company has invested $1 billion in its Sustainable in a Generation Plan. Additionally, Royal Canin, a science-based brand of Mars, announced in October a commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2025.

On the whole, pet food and treat industry players big and small are shifting to more environmentally friendly packaging as the feature becomes increasingly important to consumers.

Read more aboutpackaging solutions and trendsfor pet food and treats.

More:

Mars Petcare begins transition to recycled packaging for wet pet foods - Pet Food Processing

The Ingenuity Mars helicopter was never supposed to last this long. NASA engineers built and tested the first self-powered aircraft to fly on another planet to answer a simple question: Could the helicopter fly at all? The goal was to take five flights in 30 Martian days or break the aircraft trying.

But more than 120 Martian days past that experiment window, Ingenuity is still flying and doing things no one ever expected. The helicopter, which took its first flight on April 19, is breaking its own records for distance and speed (SN: 4/19/21). Its helping the Perseverance rover explore Jezero crater, near an ancient river delta that may hold signs of past Martian life (SN: 2/17/21). And Ingenuity is coping with changing seasons and navigating over rough terrain, two things that the flier wasnt designed to do.

Its gotten into a good groove, says Ingenuitys original chief engineer Bob Balaram NASAs Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif. Its in its element and having fun.

Heres what Ingenuity has been up to on Mars.

Headlines and summaries of the latest Science News articles, delivered to your inbox

Thank you for signing up!

There was a problem signing you up.

Ingenuity is flying farther, faster and higher than it did in its first few flights. The helicopter has lifted itself a maximum of 12 meters above the Martian surface, zipped along at up to five meters per second (about half as fast as record-setting sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner) and covered 625 meters (about a third the length of the Kentucky Derby) in a single flight. These extremes give engineers valuable information about the limits of flying on Mars.

We are still trying to learn lessons, says JPL robotics engineer Teddy Tzanetos, a team leader for the Ingenuity mission. Flight after flight, were learning the boundaries of performance.

Early on, Ingenuity tested its limits in a way that the flight team really didnt plan for. During its sixth flight on May 22, the helicopters navigation system suffered a glitch that made it roll and sway alarmingly.

The helicopters navigation software keeps track of the crafts position by taking an image, reading the time stamp on that image and predicting what the camera should see next based on landmarks from previous photos that Ingenuity took. If the next image doesnt match that prediction, the software corrects the helicopters position and velocity to match up better.

Less than a minute into the May 22 flight, a single image got lost on its way from Ingenuitys cameras to its onboard computer. That meant that the time stamps on all subsequent images were a little off. In trying to correct what it perceived as errors, Ingenuity went on a wild joyride, Balaram says.

Luckily, the helicopter touched down safely within five meters of its intended landing spot. The anomaly was a blessing in disguise, Balaram says. It put the helicopter through extremes of movement how aggressively you can move the joystick, if you will that the engineers would not have asked it to do on purpose, and did perfectly fine, he says.

Its a serendipitous thing that we got that flight experience under our belt, Balaram says. We have much more confidence in the vehicle.

Originally, the helicopter team wanted to push the vehicle until it broke. But now the researchers are flying more cautiously and less often. Thats because the helicopter is currently supporting the Perseverance rover in doing science (SN: 4/30/21).

Were no longer in the Month of Ingenuity, Tzanetos says. Were a small part of a much larger team.

The helicopter has already proven its worth by telling the rover where not to go. Ingenuitys ninth flight, on July 5, took the helicopter over a dune field called South Stah that would have been difficult for the rover to drive through safely. Then, Ingenuity photographed some rock outcrops and raised ridges in South Stah that had looked interesting in images taken from an orbiting spacecraft. Scientists thought those ridges could record some of the deepest water environments in the lake that filled the crater long ago.

In 3-D images from the helicopter, it turned out that those ridges did not show the layers that would have indicated that the rocks formed in deep water. The rover team decided to move on, saving Perseverance a long, arduous and potentially dangerous drive.

They didnt have to send the rover all the way to this particular target, and then realize, hey, this may not be the highest priority thing, Balaram says.

Scouting for the rover has also taken Ingenuity over terrain that the helicopter wasnt designed to understand. Ingenuitys navigation software was programmed to assume that the ground beneath it is always flat because that was the type of terrain selected for that experimental first month of flight demonstrations.

It was a perfectly reasonable simplification for a technology demonstration, Balaram says. But it was baked in. And now youre stuck with a system with a flat ground assumption.

When the helicopter is flying over a sloped surface, some features seem to move faster in its view than they would if the ground were flat, giving the helicopter a false sense of its motion. The onboard navigation has no way of explaining it, except for thinking maybe Im turning or spinning a bit, Balaram says. The helicopter ends up veering to the side.

The team has come up with some work-arounds, such as choosing large enough landing zones that a precision landing isnt necessary and slowing down when flying over rough terrain.

The air on Mars is notoriously thin (SN: 7/14/20). But since mid-September, the atmosphere in Jezero crater has been getting even thinner. As that part of Mars shifts from spring to summer, the air density has gone from about 1.5 percent of Earths at sea level, to about 1 percent.

That doesnt sound like a big difference, but its enough that Ingenuity has had to spin its rotor blades faster to stay aloft. In October, the helicopter increased its rotor speed to 2,700 revolutions per minute, compared with a previous maximum of 2,537 rpm.

At that faster spin speed, the helicopter can fly for only 130 seconds at a time instead of the 170 seconds it managed before, without running the risk of the motors overheating.

That would be fine if the helicopter was just going to hang around the rover in one area, Tzanetos says. But the Mars duos next task is a race to the long-dry river delta at the mouth of Jezero crater. The Perseverance team hopes to cover hundreds of meters each Martian day. The farthest Ingenuity has covered in a day is 625 meters, and that was with the lower spin speed.

Itll be challenging to keep up, Tzanetos says.

Theres no technical reason why Ingenuity cant make it, though, Balaram says. Its certainly possible that one day it just wont wake up. Or a landing will be a failure and well never hear from it again because it tipped over, he admits. Those are rolls of the dice, theres nothing inevitable about those. Barring that, it should keep working for many months.

Meanwhile, engineers are already dreaming of the next Martian aircraft.

Ingenuity is very exciting, were breaking a lot of ground, Tzanetos says. The whole point of it is to be that foundation. The important thing is what comes next.

Current blueprints include a scaled-up version of Ingenuity that could carry more equipment and work alone or with a rover, and a large hexacopter, with six rotors arranged around a central ring. A craft like that could cover more ground more quickly than a rover, traveling distances that could take Perseverance multiple years in just a few months.

A white paper submitted to the 20232032 planetary science and astrobiology decadal survey a once-a-decade review of the fields goals and priorities suggests several possible missions for a Mars Science Helicopter. In one, the craft could take samples of clay minerals at a site like Mawrth Vallis, a channel thought to be carved by a long-ago flood.

Mawrth was a finalist for the last two Mars rover landing sites and is a contender for the European Space Agencys Rosalind Franklin rover, set to launch in 2022. Clays can preserve organic material on Earth, so a mission to Mawrth could search for signs of life.

A helicopter could also explore craters with water ice deposits with slopes too steep for rover wheels. And by taking measurements at several different altitudes, the helicopter could help figure out how the atmosphere exchanges gases with the ground, which could help solve the mystery of when and how Mars lost its liquid water (SN: 11/12/20). Or a helicopter could map the magnetic field of large swaths of the Martian surface, revealing when and how the Red Planet lost its molten core (SN: 2/24/20).

And whenever astronauts get around to visiting Mars, it might be useful to have fleets of drones zipping around the skies, carrying loads or scouting ahead, Tzanetos says. Thats the exciting future Im looking forward to.

Link:

Ingenuity is still flying on Mars. Heres what the helicopter is up to - Science News Magazine

This image was taken by Right Navigation Camera onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3319. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image

After a challenging day yesterday due to issues on Mars and Earth, today went far smoother as we planned 2 sols that will continue our activities in the visually stunning Maria Gordon notch. On the first sol we will have ChemCam activities with a LIBS target on a nearby bedrock slab and then a passive observation to study atmospheric dust, ice, and gases. Then well place the arm on Cladh Hallan for contact science with APXS and MAHLI.

On the second sol, Curiosity will wake up early to catch the morning sunlight on the west face of the cliff wall lining the notch and image it with Mastcam and Navcam. Then after additional science with Navcam, Mastcam, and ChemCam, the rover will drive just to the right of the corner of the cliff seen in the image above. From our current location, it cant help but remind me of the Old Man in the Mountain that used to be in New Hampshire. At this parking location, well conduct a focused science campaign with DAN over the weekend to study the makeup of the cliff wall itself.

More here:

Sols 3321-3322: Old Martian in the Mountain NASA's Mars Exploration Program - NASA Mars Exploration

Lets get fired up!

When it comes to understanding how we express our sexuality, energy and fight, we peer into the placement of mighty Mars in our birth charts.

Recognizing what turns someone on or makes them tick is important when looking at the full vision of who they are and how they go about living their lives. While we obviously reference someones Sun sign, Ascendant (rising sign) and Moon sign in a natal chart, its always helpful to pinpoint what zodiac sign Mars stands within, too. He is a powerful planet and is integral to how we take control of our lives.

Mars is the planet of sex, drive and action. While he isnt the top factor when it comes to relationship compatibility, its still important to understand how someone expresses their passion. Think: fight or flight. Active or passive. To jump or to wait.

Mars takes roughly two years to go around the Sun, so your Mars sign may not be the same as your Sun sign adding layers to your personality. When watching patterns you are creating within your life, check the zodiac sign and degree where your natal Mars is and then watch when transiting Mars returns to that same place once every two years. Youll have a snapshot of how youll be taking action, expressing your sex drive and getting motivated in the journey ahead.

Read about your Mars sign and find out what it means for you!

Mars in Aries is one of the strongest placements where our red planet can live! That is because it is the natural ruler of Aries, meaning it is at home or domicile in this zodiac sign. People with this energy are unafraid to take action and often tend to be quite courageous.

However, that can also make them quite brash and impulsive diving in first and thinking about it later. They will have a feisty temper and sex drive, easily ignited but then just as quickly dissipated once it has been released. When it comes to sex, these individuals like to jump into the action, as their libido is especially high.

Mars in Taurus is a unique place to have the red planet, as it is in a slightly weakened state known as detriment. That isnt a problem, though, because it means that these individuals take action, pursue their goals and express their sex drive in a more refined and practical way. People with this placement are slow and steady in tackling what theyre after but once they set their minds upon it, there is nothing stopping them!

Usually slow to anger, their patience is also quite strong. However, once frustrated, they will dig in their heels and likely become quite stubborn and adamant about what they want. As for sex, these individuals prioritize sensuality as their key form of pleasure, rather than just diving into bed. They take their time in sexual experiences, live in the moment and prefer consistency over casual dalliances.

Mars in Gemini is a highly intellectual and communicative placement for our red planet to be. Individuals with this often are extremely focused on logic, discussion and connection. When it comes to conflict, they will use their words and messages to punish or destroy. People with this energy are often highly social and prefer spontaneity and adventure when it comes to their lives. They tend to be fascinated by ideas and crave interaction or else they will become bored quite easily. These individuals have a high level of energy and enthusiasm for life and can communicate quite animatedly. When it comes to sex, these people love dirty talk, passionate foreplay and experimentation.

Mars in Cancer is a unique placement for our red planet to roam because it is in a weakened state known as its fall. That doesnt mean its a negative place for it to exist it just means that our red planet has to go about exhibiting its energy in a way it is not normally accustomed to.

People with this placement are often extremely emotional individuals and become very fired up about everything they feel. Emotional connection is a top priority and they often express the need to be a caretaker or nurture those around them.

However, when it comes to conflict, they will only use anger as a vehicle for their emotions if it is absolutely necessary, more likely to stew in their moods. They can also be quite passive-aggressive. As for sex, these individuals require an emotional connection to be intimate; otherwise, the interaction will feel unsatisfactory.

Mars in Leo gives someone the energy to be the star of the show eager to express themselves, entertain and achieve everything theyre passionate about. They are charismatic and driven and aim high both personally and professionally. Living a fulfilling life is a top priority for them, as they struggle with following a path that doesnt give them the freedom to follow their dreams.

In conflict, these people can be quite fierce, unleashing a fit of rage especially if their sense of ego has been offended. They can also hold onto a grudge stubbornly if they think the other person will never change. When it comes to sex, these people are playful, exhibitionist and passionate. Romance and decadence are important in life as well as in bed.

Mars in Virgo grants someone a strong work ethic and a goal-oriented nature. They tend to be highly analytical and able to manage many projects and people at once. These individuals are excellent planners and organizers and favor productivity above all else. They also are often highly communicative and practice restraint and practicality in life. This also applies to how they exhibit anger or their sexuality: with logic, balance and intellectualism.

However, when frustrated, they will become highly critical and can exhibit perfectionism. People with this placement can be very service-oriented, eager to aid others and please. When it comes to sex, they are often slower to interact and prefer sensuality and relaxation over intense or short fits of passion.

Mars in Libra is a unique area for our red planet to stand, as his fiery energy is out of its comfort zone and considered to be in a place called its detriment. This isnt a problem; it just means that Marss usual feisty and direct nature ends up being expressed more passively and with balance. People with this tend to favor harmony, peace, fairness and justice over personal victory. They may also be especially passionate about partnerships and always have a key person theyre working with or aligned with.

In conflict, these people are very passive-aggressive and will unleash their fury when they are pushed far past their comfort zones. When it comes to sex, they like it to be light-hearted, romantic and sweet and often prefer others to take the lead.

Mars in Scorpio is a powerful placement for our red planet because he is in one of his home zodiac signs and known to be domicile here. That will give someone a cunning and intense nature. Once they set their minds on something and desire it, they will stop at nothing to get it.

These individuals often are power-hungry with extremely high libidos. They have perseverance and strength that sets them apart personally and professionally, but when angered they will stop at nothing to crush their enemies. While initially passive-aggressive, they also have a deeply wicked temper. When it comes to sex, these individuals are all-or-nothing and crave intimacy and union of mind, soul and body.

Mars in Sagittarius people are born adventurers and sojourners. They hunger to experience everything that life has to offer and above all do not like being caged. They have a go big or go home mentality and hunger for change and spontaneity wherever they turn. They can often become quite bored if they are in the same physical or mental place for too long, so they need a constant supply of stimulation and interaction to keep them busy. That restless nature provokes them to seek new ideas, experiences and opportunities that will satiate their wanderlust and pursuit of knowledge.

When it comes to conflict, these individuals can be especially aggressive and impulsive especially if they are feeling constrained. As for sex, they are passionate and spontaneous and crave new kinds of stimulation to satiate their innate curiosity.

Mars in Capricorn is a very powerful place for the red planet to be, as he is known to exhibit some of his greatest strength here because he is called exalted in this zodiac sign. This means that the ambitious, strategic and driven energies of Mars can be focused in a harnessed and patient way. These individuals tend to be quite hardworking and are always after the long game, unafraid to put in the effort because of their innate desire for victory.

When it comes to conflict, these people are cunning and practical, understanding that drama is a waste of energy unless they are coming out on top. They will often refocus their passion and emotions back into their goals or career. When it comes to sex, these people crave consistency and practicality and can have high libidos.

Mars in Aquarius grants someone a quirky and eccentric air in regards to how they exhibit their energy. They often are highly idealistic and intellectual and put their passion into their goals and group interactions. They have a progressive nature and tend to be quite social and highly communicative.

However, their individual opinions are extremely important to them and they may even deliberately oppose the narrative of mainstream philosophy in favor of going against the grain. Their ideas are paramount and, once they form them, they will not change their minds and be can quite stubborn.

In conflict, these people are passionate for debate and will rally others to their cause to support them. When it comes to sex, they favor experimental interactions and can be open to more unique connections and relationships.

Mars in Pisces brings an individual an emotional and sensitive nature. They tend to be more fluid individuals who become passionate about their feelings and lead with their hearts. Their ideals and dreams are of great importance to them, and they trust their intuition and empathy over their minds when pursuing goals or sex. They also will tend to be quite creative and romantic people, eager to express themselves and connect.

They can be deeply receptive and know how to innately heal others. However, in conflict, these individuals often do not face anger head-on and can suppress pain because it is so difficult to process. That energy may transform into sorrow or anxiety instead. In sex, these people are especially sensitive and crave emotional experiences that border on the spiritual in order to be satiated.

Kyle Thomas is a globally recognized pop culture astrologer who has been featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine, ABC Television, Hulu, Bustle, Elite Daily, House Beautiful, Marie Claire, YahooNews, MSN and more. He is known for his cosmic guidance for celebrities, business executives and prominent influencers. His work harnesses the power of the stars in regards to entertainment lifestyle and trends affecting people worldwide. For more information, visit KyleThomasAstrology.com.

Read more here:

Understanding the Mars sign: What it means in astrology and your sex life - New York Post

REVIEW: In a televisual and cinematic year that has celebrated and pastiched island and wellness retreats, perhaps this was inevitable.

Yes, after the past winters escapism of Nine Perfect Strangers, The White Lotus and Old, heres comes the exhuming of perhaps the grand-daddy of the conceit Fantasy Island (now streaming on TVNZ OnDemand).

Allegedly pitched as a joke by an exasperated legendary producer Aaron Spelling after all his other ideas were rejected by network executives, the original series (kicked off by two made-for-TV movies a year earlier) ran for more than 150 episodes between 1977 and 1984.

Making stars out of Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villechaize (as the islands mysterious guardian Mr Roarke and his assistant Tattoo), like its Saturday night ABC stablemate The Love Boat, each episode focused on two to three different storylines, regularly attracted guest stars and offered life and morality lessons in amongst the sometimes lurid plotlines. A kind of The Twilight Zone-meets-Quantum Leap by way of Lost.

The original Fantasy Island attracted plenty of guest stars.

READ MORE:* Nine Perfect Strangers: Amazon's starry cast can't recreate Little Lies' magic* Eat the rich: The White Lotus and what we want out of TV wealth* Charlie's Angels: More grit, less glamour in Kristen Stewart-led reboot

An attempt to revive it in 1998, with Malcolm McDowell as the puppeteer Roarke, lasted only one season, while a cinematic version last year cleverly attempted to reinvent the conceit as a horror film, but executed the idea appallingly.

Angel and The Shield writing team Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fains 10-part reimagining is far more coherent, but blander and rather ploddingly predictable.

The Island is now run by Roarkes grandniece Elena (Devious Maids Roselyn Sanchez). Although following the family trait of wearing all-white, she wears her heart far more on her sleeve, admitting at one point she has trouble maintaining an emotional distance from clients.

Supplied

Roselyn Sanchez plays Fantasy Islands Elena Roarke.

The person who has caused this crisis of confidence is Ruby Akuda (Stephanie Berry), an elderly woman with terminal pancreatic cancer, whose husband Mel (David Moses) has brought her here in the hope of making her feel healthy again even if it is just for a few days.

After explaining to Elena that shes looking for a fantasy, not a miracle, Ruby is bizarrely warned not to expect a cure (proving two things that Elena isnt listening, and the writing is a bit lazy), before the island works its magic and she and Mel are temporarily transformed into younger versions of themselves. Cue lots of cathartic and obvious discussions about roads not taken, choices not made and discussions not had.

While fairly forgettable, that strand at least doesnt throw in a kitchen sink of cliches and tropes the way the other opening tale does. Christine Collins (Bellamy Young) is a morning TV show host desperate to advance her career. But when her latest job application is rejected, she has an on-air meltdown, prompted by years of having to be perceived as thin, perky and perpetually quaffed.

I struggle to get through the day on protein powder and spinach, without being taunted by the smell of a chocolate eclair, she rages at the stations new weatherman, while television viewers in Phoenix watch on in slack-jawed silence.

Supplied

By the time the easily anticipated, character catharsis comes along, youll either be fully onboard with this Fantasy, or have long since switched off and started rewatching The White Lotus.

So, when Christine pitches up on the island, she tells Elena that she simply wants to be able to eat whatever she wants, but leave the island without having gained a pound.

When her host politely suggests that she may also want to talk to someone about why she needs to eat her feelings, thats rapidly rebuffed.

I have a therapist I want cheeseburgers.

Clearly, whoever shes paying is ripping her off, because it isnt long before Christines buffet-binging inspires memories of who and what caused her feelings of insecurity and self-loathing.

While the imagery is somewhat powerful, the subtexts are less than subtle and the dialogue frankly risible. I am a successful, powerful, happy woman, she wails.

No, you just play one on TV, Elena cooly responds.

By the time the easily anticipated, cathartic pig roast comes along, youll either be fully onboard with this sometimes flaccid Fantasy, or have long since switched off and started rewatching The White Lotus.

Fantasy Island is now available to stream on TVNZ OnDemand.

Here is the original post:

Fantasy Island: In reality, plodding predictibility mars this reboot, now on TVNZ - Stuff.co.nz