Microbes | Image used for representational purpose (Photo Credits: Pixabay)
Washington, February 22: As NASA s Perseverance rover touched down on Mars last week, a new study by scientists at the US space agency and German Aerospace Centre has found that some microbes on Earth could temporarily survive on the surface of the Red Planet.
The researchers tested the endurance of micro-organisms to Martian conditions by launching them into the Earth s stratosphere, as it closely represents key conditions on Mars.
Published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, this work paves the way for understanding not only the threat of microbes to space missions, but also the opportunities for resource independence from Earth.
Viral Photo of Earth, Venus and Jupiter Seen From Mars Is a Computer Image
On 2/24/21 at 11:30 AM EST
Since NASA s Perseverance rover touched down on the surface of Mars last week, social media users have claimed the rover took a photo of Earth, Venus, and Jupiter lined up in Mars skyline. But these claims are false.
The image was probably computer-generated using planetarium software in order to recreate an event in which the three planets did indeed align from Mars perspective. But that happened eleven years ago, and no-one got a photo of it.
One tweet, posted on Tuesday, showed the photo with the caption: Earth, Venus and Jupiter as seen from Mars. At the time of writing it had received 35,000 likes and over 5,300 retweets.
The US space agency NASA has released the first audio from Mars, a faint crackling recording of wind captured by the Perseverance rover. A microphone did not work during the rover's descent to the surface, but it was able to capture audio once it landed on Mars. The first-of-its-kind audio has been released along with extraordinary new video footage of the rover as it descended and landed last Thursday. NDTV spoke to Dr Swati Mohan, the Indian-American scientist, who led the guidance and control operations of the Mars 2020 mission.
Here's the transcript of the interview:
NDTV: Joining us on NDTV is Dr Swati Mohan. Of course, we all saw her during that heart-wrenching, in a sense, thrilling moments of Perseverance. And Dr Mohan, you've described that as "Seven Minutes of Terror." NASA has also described that as "Seven Minutes of Terror." Tell us about that. And the Perseverance (project) that got you here, all of us in India are so proud watching
The US space agency NASA has released the first audio from Mars, a faint crackling recording of wind captured by the Perseverance rover. A microphone did not work during the rover's descent to the surface, but it was able to capture audio once it landed on Mars. The first-of-its-kind audio has been released along with extraordinary new video footage of the rover as it descended and landed last Thursday. NDTV spoke to Dr Swati Mohan, the Indian-American scientist, who led the guidance and control operations of the Mars 2020 mission.
Here's the transcript of the interview:
NDTV: Joining us on NDTV is Dr Swati Mohan. Of course, we all saw her during that heart-wrenching, in a sense, thrilling moments of Perseverance. And Dr Mohan, you've described that as "Seven Minutes of Terror." NASA has also described that as "Seven Minutes of Terror." Tell us about that. And the Perseverance (project) that got you here, all of us in India are so proud watching
Who Is Swati Mohan? NASA Scientist Who Commentated on Mars Rover Landing Gains New Fans
On 2/19/21 at 6:26 AM EST
An Indian American engineer who played a key role in the successful landing of NASA s Perseverance rover on Mars Thursday has been celebrated on social media.
Swati Mohan is the guidance, navigation, and controls (GN&C) operations lead for the Mars 2020 mission, based out of NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
During the dramatic descent and landing phase, Mohan provided updates on the mission, with her comments broadcast around the world as part of NASA s live stream of the historic event.