Mars Ingenuity helicopter flew almost half a mile during one flight in December
The mission on Mars still going is amazing. What an incredible feat of engineering.
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter set a new Mars record last month, by the skin of its robotic teeth.
The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) Ingenuity covered 2,315 feet (705 meters) of Red Planet ground on Dec. 20, according to the mission's flight log. The old mark was 2,310 feet (704 m), which the little chopper set in April 2022.
Ingenuity reached 22.4 mph (36 kph) during the Dec. 20 hop, tying its Martian speed record.
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"UAE spacecraft takes close-up photos of Mars’ little moon"
The United Arab Emirates' Amal spacecraft flew within 62 miles (100 kilometers) of Deimos last month and the close-up shots were released Monday. Amal — Arabic for Hope — got a two-for-one when Mars photobombed some of the images. It was the closest a spacecraft has been to Deimos in almost a half-century.
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I ask any American, what happened in 1492. They will tell me, 'well Columbus sailed in 1492' and that is correct, he did, but that is not the only thing that happened in 1492. In 1492, England and France signed a peace treaty. In 1492 the Borgias took over the Papacy. In 1492 Lorenzo de Medici, the richest man in the world, died. Okay. A lot of things happened. If there had been newspapers in 1492, which there weren't, but if it had, those would have been the headlines. Not this Italian weaver's son taking a bunch of ships and sailing off to nowhere.
Okay, but, Columbus is what we remember. Not the Borgias taking over the papacy. Okay? Well, 500 years from now, people are not going to remember which faction came out on top in Iraq. Or Syria. Or whatever. And who was in and who was out. And, you know... but, they will remember what we do to make their civilization possible.Okay? So this is the most important thing we could do.
The entire clip from Dr. Zubrin's talk is worthwhile, but I especially love the above segment. I haven't fact checked him or anything he said, I don't know if those things did happen in 1492. I have no reason to not believe him, but it's the Internet so giving a bit of warning. But his answer on why going to Mars is so important is just excellent.
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Incredible
I watched the entire stream leading up to the landing, and grew increasingly nervous as everything went perfectly. I was afraid of some mysterious event and the loss of signal. With no clear way to know what happened. But instead it went smoothly and to plan. Simply incredible.
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I have turned on the Mars mission's stream on YouTube and will be watching to follow Perseverance's attempted landing. I am incredibly nervous, this would be an amazing engineering and science feat if it works.
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What to expect from the dramatic Mars Perseverance landing on Thursday
I am extremely excited, I checked yesterday and the landing is supposed to take place around 1pm my time and I am going to be riveted following it. Fingers crossed it goes as planned.
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UAE, China, and the US will arrive at Mars this month
A small fleet of spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates, China, and the United States will reach Mars this month after launching from Earth last year. The march to the Red Planet marks a marathon of firsts: it's the UAE's first foray into deep space, China's first independent attempt to land on Mars, and NASA's first shot at deploying a Martian helicopter.
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Mars Perseverance Rover lands in one month on Feb. 18
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I was reminded today by Bobak Ferdowsi that the next Mars Rover aka Perseverance, lands on February 18.
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