Red Planet: Last News

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All news where Red Planet is mentioned

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Mars rovers 'could be less than 7ft away from finding proof of aliens', say NASA
NASA boffins say that Mars rovers could unearth evidence of alien life if they dig seven feet down into the Red Planet.The hunt for extra-terrestrials involves discovering certain amino acids on Mars, which in turn are a component to build proteins.However, new research by the US space agency published in the journal Astrobiology suggests cosmic rays are destroying this evidence on Mars faster than we realised.READ MORE: NASA baffled after 'mystery spacecraft' smashes into the Moon leaving odd craterAlexander Pavlov, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said: "Current Mars rover missions drill down to about two inches."At those depths, it would take only 20million years to destroy amino acids completely."The addition of perchlorates and water increases the rate of amino acid destruction even further." Although it sounds like a long time, 20m years is just a blip when hunting for proof of ancient life from billions of years ago, when Mars was much more like Earth.NASA now reckons that the rovers will need to dig around 6.6ft deep to make a breakthrough and find amino acids that haven't been degraded by ionising radiation from space.Pavlov, who was the lead author of the study, continued: "Missions with shallow drill sampling have to seek recently exposed outcrops — e.g., recent microcraters with ages less than 10m years or the material ejected from such craters."There is evidence to suggest that, billions of years ago, Mars had a thick atmosphere and global magnetic field shields like Earth.This atmosphere would have allowed for liquid on the Red Planet. It also would have blocked cosmic rays from reaching the surface.
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NASA baffled as Voyager starts sending back 'impossible data' from edge of solar system
NASA are baffled by mystery activity taking place on the Voyager 1 spacecraft.The craft is currently the most distant man-made object in existence, operating on the very edge of our solar system.It launched 44 years ago, and was thought to have fulfilled its use a few years ago.But now, NASA has been receiving and carrying out commands from Earth once again, without issue, but that the results of the actions it takes do not tally with what is actually taking place on the ship.Suzanne Dodd, project manager for Voyager 1 and 2 at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California explained: “A mystery like this is sort of par for the course at this stage of the Voyager mission.“The spacecraft are both almost 45 years old, which is far beyond what the mission planners anticipated.“We’re also in interstellar space – a high-radiation environment that no spacecraft have flown in before.“So there are some big challenges for the engineering team.“But I think if there’s a way to solve this issue with the AACS, our team will find it.”The AACS is the craft's Attitude Articulation and Control System, which is pointing directly at Earth.Although NASA believes that there is no issue with it, the “telemetry data” appears to be as if it was being randomly generated.As well as those issues, NASA says it may finally be able to reveal whether Mars is home to alien life as they launch a new mission sending a rover onto the Red Planet.The Space Agency’s Perseverance rover is set to collect rocks and place them in the base of a crater so they can eventually be retrieved on future trips.Scientists reckon the Jezero crater could have held a river delta with water that may have sustained ancient microbial life.Research said water could have
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NASA's Perseverance rover may finally reveal alien life on Mars in new mission
NASA says it may finally be able to reveal whether Mars is home to alien life as they launch a new mission sending a rover onto the Red Planet.The Space Agency’s Perseverance rover is set to collect rocks and place them in the base of a crater so they can eventually be retrieved on future trips.Scientists reckon the Jezero crater could have held a river delta with water that may have sustained ancient microbial life.Research said water could have flowed on the planet 3.7 billion years ago and even found evidence of an ancient Martian lake.The boffins also found large boulders and finely-grained clay that could hold evidence of life forms visiting the planet.Perseverance is set to visit a part of Mars known as Devils Tanyard to find sampling sites, before moving onto Rocky Top and collecting rocks that will eventually be returned to Earth.On a previous mission, the rover – which first arrived on the Red Planet in February 2021 - helped to find organic molecules in rocks on the Jezero Crater.Leading scientist Dr Katie Stack Morgan told BBC News: “The delta in Jezero Crater is the main astrobiology target of Perseverance."These are the rocks that we think likely have the highest potential for containing signs of ancient life and can also tell us about the climate of Mars and how this has evolved over time.”Whilst NASA administrator Thomas Zurbuchen said it “promises to be a veritable geologic feast and one of the best locations on Mars to look for signs of past microscopic life”. Stay in the loop with all the latest news from the Daily Star by signing up to one of our free newsletters here. He added: “The answers are out there – and Team Perseverance is ready to find them.”It isn’t the only exciting mission NASA is
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Human communes on Mars could be made by 'space bricks' that mix urine and Martian soil
Mars are a step closer after scientists created “space bricks” by mixing astronauts’ urine and Martian soil.The blocks are made by mixing dust with urea, the main compound in urine, and bacteria as well as guar gum and nickel chloride.It produces a slurry that can be poured into moulds and over a few days the bacteria convert the urea into calcium carbonate crystals.These crystals, as well as biopolymers which are secreted by the bacteria, act as cement that holds the soil particles together.The bricks were developed by researchers from the Indian Institute of Science, who now plan to investigate how the low gravity and atmosphere on Mars will affect them.Dr Aloke Kumar said: “This biological approach towards manufacturing of bricks presents a promising and highly sustainable potential route for in-situ utilisation of structural elements on extra-terrestrial habitats.”It comes after eccentric billionaire Elon Musk vowed to try and launch a sustainable human settlement on the far away planet.The Tesla boss admitted that he would need to launch “a thousand ships” to make the colony a reality, and said the price of a ticket would be realistically priced at a whopping $100,000 [£76,000].He predicts he would need a whopping million colonists or his “self-sustaining Mars city” - although he admits that “only a small percentage of humanity would want to go” to the Red Planet.But he claims “almost anyone” could work and save up for a sum like that, with the aim to start a colony by 2050.Stay up to date with all the Daily Star's latest news by signing up to our free newsletter here.Musk added that before the idea could be put into practice, he needs to design a much heavier carrier that can travel to space at a much cheaper cost
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NASA scientists call for two major new missions in search of extra-terrestrial life
NASA’s next priorities should include the exploration of Saturn's ice moon Enceladus and the mysterious planet Uranus, a major scientific report has said.Every 10 years, the US National Academies of Sciences prepares a report identifying the next set of space exploration goals for NASA and the US National Science Foundation.For the 2022 report, the experts agreed that the number one priority should be collecting soil samples from the planet Mars and bringing them to Earth. That project – NASA’s Mars Sample Return initiative – began with the Mars Perseverance rover, which is already on the first leg of this ambitious scheme.Two more Mars Sample Return missions are planned to follow in Perseverance's wheel-tracks to Mars’s Jezero Crater and help solve the question of whether life ever existed – or can still exist – on the Red Planet.“Only by bringing the samples back,” says NASA, “can we truly answer the question by using the most sophisticated, state-of-the-art labs, at a time when future generations can study them using techniques yet to be invented”.But the two new missions mentioned in the report are the first dedicated Uranus probe and an ambitious landing on Saturn’s ice moon Enceladus.The Uranus orbiter recommended in the report would orbit distant gas giant Uranus for a number of years, while a separate probe would skim the planet’s frigid atmosphere to determine exactly what it’s made of.
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