Latest Martian Update

Targeting Monday, April 19 for the Ingenuity #MarsHelicopter first flight.

07:30 – approximate time of 1st flight
10:15 – livestream on NASA TV
18:00 – post-flight briefing
(All times in UTC)

Learn more | #Mars2020
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NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter became the first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet.

Ingenuity took this shot of its shadow while hovering over the Martian surface. It used its navigation camera, which autonomously tracks the ground during flight.

The Ingenuity team at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California confirmed the flight succeeded after receiving data from the helicopter via NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover at 10:46 a.m. UTC

“Ingenuity is the latest in a long and storied tradition of NASA projects achieving a space exploration goal once thought impossible,” said acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk. “The X-15 was a pathfinder for the space shuttle. Mars Pathfinder and its Sojourner rover did the same for three generations of Mars rovers. We don’t know exactly where Ingenuity will lead us, but today’s results indicate the sky – at least on Mars – may not be the limit.”

Early video of flight

Read more | #Mars2020
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First Video of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter in Flight

In this video captured by NASA’s Perseverance rover, the agency's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took the first powered, controlled flight on another planet

Stitched together from multiple images, the mosaic is not white balanced; instead, it is displayed in a preliminary calibrated version of a natural-color composite, approximately simulating the colors of the scene as it would appear on Mars

The solar-powered helicopter first became airborne at 7:34 a.m UTC – 12:33 Local Mean Solar Time (Mars time) – a time the Ingenuity team determined would have optimal energy and flight conditions. Altimeter data indicate Ingenuity climbed to its prescribed maximum altitude of 3 meters and maintained a stable hover for 30 seconds. It then descended, touching back down on the surface of Mars after logging a total of 39.1 seconds of flight.

Video updated at 21:20 19/04/21 UTC
Video | #Mars2020
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Brave Volunteers Are Being Deliberately Reinfected With COVID-19 For Science
Article | #Covid19
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Physicists Have Caught Electron Orbits in an Exciton Quasiparticle For The First Time

For the first time, scientists have managed to image the orbits of electrons within a quasiparticle known as an exciton - a result that has allowed them to finally measure the excitonic wave function describing the spatial distribution of electron momentum within the quasiparticle.

This achievement has been sought since the discovery of excitons in the 1930s, and while it may sound abstract at first, it could help in the development of various technologies, including quantum tech applications.

Article
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Ingenuity's 2nd flight will take place Thursday, April 22 at 09:30 UTC

The #MarsHelicopter will ascend to 5 meters, then move 2m sideways before coming to a stop, hovering in place, and making turns to point its color camera in different directions before heading back to its landing position. Images will arrive 4 hours later.

Image caption: Buzz Aldrin's iconic image of a bootprint on the Moon during the Apollo 11 moonwalk on July 20, 1969 next to Ingenuity's photo of its own shadow on its first flight.

Source | #Mars2020
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NASA's Perserverence Rover Generates Oxygen on Mars in Amazing First For Science

The six-wheeled robot has converted some carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere into oxygen, the first time this has happened on another planet, the space agency said Wednesday.

"This is a critical first step at converting carbon dioxide to oxygen on Mars," said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA's space technology mission directorate.

Not only can the process produce oxygen for future astronauts to breathe, but it could make hauling vast amounts of oxygen over from Earth to use as rocket propellant for the return journey unnecessary.

Article | #Mars2020
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The #MarsHelicopter successfully completed its 2nd flight

It captured this image with its black-and-white navigation camera. It also reached new milestones of a higher altitude, a longer hover and lateral flying.

Source | #Mars2020
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Astronomers Have Detected The Closest Black Hole to Earth. Thankfully, It's Tiny

Astronomers think they have discovered a tiny black hole, with a mass so small it places it in an exclusive category. Best of all, it's excitingly close by.

Roughly 1,500 light-years from our own planet, in a Milky Way constellation known as Monoceros, this is the closest black hole candidate to our planet scientists have yet had the fortune to find. 

The team at Ohio State University have named it the Unicorn - a hat tip to the black hole's home and its exceedingly rare nature.

Article
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Astronauts are about to launch on a used rocket, inside a used spacecraft

This Crew-2 mission is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center at 09:49 UTC on Friday. Weather conditions appear favourable, but if there is an issue SpaceX, has a backup opportunity on Monday at 08:48 UTC

Article | @SpaceX
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