In what may be the most surprising news of this week, geneticist Christopher Mason, a professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, is now saying that despite NASA s rigorous measures, the agency may have contaminated Mars with life. The professor wrote an in-depth article about the subject matter published on the
In the feature, Mason asks if any bacteria on Earth could have survived on the crafts sent to Mars, landed on the planet, and thrived there. These substances may have then been picked up by Earthly aircraft and considered alien. NASA and its engineers in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have precise and thorough protocols to minimize the number of organisms that might inadvertently hitchhike on a space mission. Internationally agreed standards guide how rigorous these protocols should be and NASA meets, and in some cases, exceeds them, writes Mason.
NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover Provides Front-Row Seat to Landing, First Audio Recording of Red Planet
New video from NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover chronicles major milestones during the final minutes of its entry, descent, and landing (EDL) on the Red Planet on Feb. 18 as the spacecraft plummeted, parachuted, and rocketed toward the surface of Mars. A microphone on the rover also has provided the first audio recording of sounds from Mars.
From the moment of parachute inflation, the camera system covers the entirety of the descent process, showing some of the rover’s intense ride to Mars’ Jezero Crater. The footage from high-definition cameras aboard the spacecraft starts 7 miles (11 kilometers) above the surface, showing the supersonic deployment of the most massive parachute ever sent to another world, and ends with the rover’s touchdown in the crater.
Touchdown! NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover Safely Lands on Red Planet
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Lands Successfully on Mars: After a seven-month-long journey, NASA’s Perseverance Rover successfully touched down on the Red Planet on Feb. 18, 2021. Mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California celebrate landing NASA’s fifth and most ambitious rover on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Download video ›
The agency’s latest and most complex mission to the Red Planet has touched down at Jezero Crater. Now it’s time to begin testing the health of the rover.
The largest, most advanced rover NASA has sent to another world touched down on Mars Thursday, after a 203-day journey traversing 293 million miles (472 million kilometers). Confirmation of the successful touchdown was announced in mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California at 3:55 p.m. EST (12:55 p.m. PST).
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They also talk with former NASA Astronaut and retired US Air Force Colonel, Terry Virts (@astroterry) as he has just launched his foray into the new final frontier: podcasting. Terry shares some of the exciting topics and guests coming up in the his new podcast Down To Earth s launch episodes. and was also nice enough to share some amazing stories about the experience of living on the International Space Station and the challenges gravity imposes upon returning to Earth.
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Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to ANSYS First Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call. With us today are Ajei Gopal, President and Chief Executive Officer; Nicole Anasenes, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Finance; and Kelsey DeBriyn, Vice President, Investor and Government Relations. [Operator Instructions]
At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Ms. DeBriyn for opening remarks. Please go ahead.
Kelsey DeBriyn
Head of Investor Relations & Government Affairs
Good morning, everyone. Our earnings release, the related prepared remarks document and the link to our first quarter Form 10-Q, have all been posted on the homepage of our Investor Relations website. They contain the key financial information and supporting data relative to our first quarter financial results and business update as well as our Q2 and updated fiscal year 2021 outlook and the key underlying quantitative and qualitative assumptions.