Tag Archives: Mars

NASA Three-year Mars journey presented in three minutes

by ForeverGeek
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NASA Three-year Mars journey presented in three minutes

It took the NASA Mars Rover Opportunity three years to cover 13 miles of otherworldly terrain, but now you can experience the journey condensed into a three minute span. NASA recently posted the “Rovers Eye View” video on its website gallery, explaining the Mars trek took the vehicle from Victoria crater to Endeavour crater between September, 2008, and August, 2011. In the course of the trip, 309 “horizon photographs” were captured and later edited together for the slide show. NASA adjusted audio data recorded by the rover so it could be heard and applied it to the video as a captivating soundtrack. Read more »

Moral Dilemma: The One-Way Ticket to Mars

by Dina Ely
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Moral Dilemma: The One-Way Ticket to Mars

Would it bother you to know that a colony’s worth of bold adventurers set off from Earth to Mars with zero hope of returning? Could you rally behind a suicide mission, even with so grand a purpose? Those are the questions, among many others, being asked about a privately-organized mission to colonize Mars which, if it goes ahead, could put man on the Red Planet as soon as 20 years from now. Doing much of the asking is Albert Harrison, a psychologist who’s dedicated himself to astronaut psychology (a specialty I wasn’t even aware existed, but one that makes perfect sense) since the 1970s. Read more »

Radiation Could Delay Human Mars Landing, Sun Cycles To Blame

by James Johnson
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Radiation Could Delay Human Mars Landing, Sun Cycles To Blame

The United States and China would really like to land human beings on Mars, unfortunately plans to begin that flight in 2025 and land in 2035 might be delayed due to an increased chance of radiation poisoning. The issue is that during space travel Astronauts in deep space are affected by varying levels of Sun radiation. That radiation is based on predictable levels which are expected to be higher than normal from 2020 through 2040. Long time exposure to those rays in effect could cause radiation poisoning leading to death. Unless NASA can develop better radiation shields, the flares could cause problems while in flight and during Mars exploration. Read more »

Mystery Object Circles Distant Star, Possibly Breaks The Laws Of Physics

by James Johnson
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Mystery Object Circles Distant Star, Possibly Breaks The Laws Of Physics

There’s nothing like waking up at NASA one day and realizing there’s an object orbiting Distance Star that shouldn’t be there, but that’s exactly what has happened this week. The object circling the star is 500 light years away and is said to be eight times larger than Jupiter and according to Discovery News it breaks the laws of physics, or at least the laws scientists on Earth have developed. If the object is a planet everything scientists known about planet formation could be taken into question, although at this time scientists are not sure that what they are seeing is in fact a planet and not another random object. Read more »