“This is the first time that Ingenuity has been on its own on the surface of Mars,” said MiMi Aung, Ingenuity project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “But we now have confirmation that we have the right insulation, the right heaters, and enough energy in its battery to survive the cold night, which is a big win for the team. We’re excited to continue to prepare Ingenuity for its first flight test.”
If everything goes as planned, the Ingenuity helicopter will make its first flight soon within a 30-day window from the time it touched down Saturday. It will be the first flight of its kind on another world a Wright Brothers moment on Mars.
Mar 17, 2021
A FORMER St Clement’s School student who became an engineer for Nasa and worked on the Mars Perseverance Rover recently hosted an online assembly for his old school as part of British Science Week.
NASA engineer Daniel Arthur (left) alongside the Mars Perseverance Rover. Picture: Government of Jersey (30428984)
The event gave students the chance to ask Dr Daniel Arthur questions about his work – including his involvement in the construction of the Mars rover.
As well as hosting the assembly live from his home in Perth, in Western Australia, he also shared a video with Grouville School students and Jersey College for Girls.
By Press Association 2021
Helen Sharman with her astronaut suit. The pandemic has inspired children to get involved in science, data suggests (Steve Parsons/PA)
The coronavirus pandemic has inspired more than a third (35%) of children to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem), new data suggests.
According to the figures, children in the UK are most inspired to be doctors or nurses (29%) and astronauts (25%).
Youngsters have also been particularly engaged by scientific discoveries over the last 12 months.
A survey of more than 2,000 parents of children aged five to 16 across the UK found that 50% of youngsters cited NHS frontline staff, the scientists behind the Covid-19 vaccine rollout (31%) and the Mars rover landing (24%) as events that have most inspired.
New Material may Reduce Wear and Tear on Future Space Rovers
As the Mars
Perseverance Rover of NASA continues to investigate the surface of the planet Mars, researchers on Earth have designed a novel nanoscale metal carbide that could serve as a superlubricant to decrease wear and tear on upcoming
extraterrestrial rovers.
Photo illustration of a Mars rover designed by Missouri S&T students depicting the idea of MXene superlubric sheets applied to the machine’s moving parts to reduce friction and wear. Image Credit: Shuohan Huang/Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Scientists from the chemistry department at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) and the Center for Nanoscale Materials at the Argonne National Laboratory, exploring a group of 2D nanomaterials called MXenes, have found that the new materials work well to decrease friction.