Daily Archives: June 21, 2020

The original founders of World View Enterprises a company aimed at using giant balloons to send payloads into the stratosphere are launching a new venture together, one that will use those same massive balloons to send people leisurely above the Earth. Named Space Perspective, the now distinct company is focused on floating paying customers up to the edge of space, where they can get a rare view of the curvature of the Earth.

Such a relaxed space travel experience has long been the aim of Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum, the co-CEOs of Space Perspective who are announcing the launch of the company today. They originally started World View with tourist flights as the primary end game, but theyre now making a separate enterprise to focus on the goal full-time. The idea is to give people a spectacular view of Earth from above, without having to strap into a rocket and shoot up into the sky at thousands of miles an hour, as other companies plan to do. We came right back to the idea of using these high-altitude balloon systems to be able to take people really gently to the edge of space, Poynter tells The Verge.

Technically, Space Perspective doesnt plan to send people to actual space. The company wants to fly customers up to 100,000 feet, or close to 19 miles high. Its a much lower altitude than what many consider to be the edge of space at 50 miles up, so you wouldnt get the full space experience. Space Perspective crews wouldnt experience weightlessness, for instance (though theyll feel about three pounds lighter). Still, the team argues people will be located above 99 percent of the Earths atmosphere, and that their balloon vessel will be regulated like a spacecraft through the FAAs Office of Commercial Spaceflight.

Plus, the real point is the view. We say were going to the edge of space, but the experience is really what astronaut [and Space Perspective advisor] Jeff Hoffman calls the authentic experience, MacCallum tells The Verge. Because for him, seeing the Earth from space with time and quiet and being relaxed and really being able to contemplate what hes seeing thats what he calls the authentic experience, and so thats what were really concentrating on.

Space tourism that sends people to the edge of space and back has been slow to get into full swing, with companies like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic still a ways off from entering commercial operations. Those vehicles rely on rocket engines to get people off of Earth, and they go much higher between 50 and 62 miles up. Poynter contends that their system is very different from these rockets notably lacking a rocket engine so they dont expect to run into some of the same problems.

To get to the stratosphere, customers would ride inside a spherical white capsule called Neptune that looks a bit like a spinning top, with wide glass windows providing a clear view of the Earth below. The propellant would be a massive translucent balloon filled with hydrogen, which would ascend at the breakneck pace of 12 miles per hour. Eight passengers could fit inside the craft, along with one pilot to make sure everything runs smoothly, according to the company. The entire flight is meant to last about six hours, with two hours spent hovering above the Earth. A bar and a bathroom will be situated in the center, and there will absolutely be a Wi-Fi connection of some kind.

Some kind of satellite communication will be key for talking with ground control, but it will also allow riders to post photos from the sky. And then if people want to do some kind of special event on board such as a wedding or art show there will be other options. For special events where we really want to livestream something from the Neptune, we will have a swankier communication system that will be able to do really high resolution, broadband live streaming, says Poynter.

Its an ambitious idea, but the two CEOs have a history of working on fantastical projects together. Poynter and MacCallum both participated in the much hyped and controversial Biosphere 2 experiment back in the early 90s, where a small group of people attempted to live in a closed-loop ecosystem to simulate what it would be like to live on Mars. They also have experience working on a high-altitude balloon flight that carried a person to the stratosphere. While working together at their other space company, called Paragon, they created a life-support system for Alan Eustace, the former senior vice president of engineering at Google, who broke the record for the highest altitude jump from a balloon from above 135,000 feet.

Inspired by the idea of travel-by-balloon, they started World View together in 2012. But that company has started to focus less on tourism and more on science. World View has been developing a new product called the Stratollite a vehicle that acts akin to a satellite without actually orbiting the Earth. It consists of a metallic package filled with sensors, instruments, and more that travels to the stratosphere underneath a balloon. Up there, the Stratollite is meant to hover over one place on the Earth for an extended period of time, collecting data of the surface below. The company is currently planning to deploy fleets of Stratollites over North and Central America starting this summer.

With World View so focused on Stratollites, Poynter eventually stepped down as CEO in order to keep the dream of balloon-travel tourism alive. Poynter says theyve done market research on their idea and that theres plenty of interest from potential customers. To keep up the momentum, Space Perspective has set up shop at Cape Canaveral, Florida, leasing a building from NASA at Kennedys Space Center. They plan to launch their first uncrewed test flight from Space Floridas Launch and Landing Facility a runway where NASAs Space Shuttle used to land sometime early next year. That flight will take up some scientific payloads, which the company will announce in the coming months.

Theres still work to be done before regular flights are ready, though, especially when it comes to landing. While carrying passengers, Space Perspective plans for its Neptune capsule to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico following flights from the Cape. The company is reliant on the direction of the winds for where the vehicle ends up, as there wont be options for controlling the direction of the vehicle in flight. That means theyll need a recovery boat to come pick up the capsule from the seas. Space Perspective says it has been talking to the people who recover SpaceXs Crew Dragon capsule from the ocean to figure out that best way to do that. This splashdown method also means the company can launch from other areas, like Hawaii or Alaska.

The company also needs to ensure that the ride will be safe for passengers, which Poynter and MacCallum insist it will be. The Neptune capsule will have a life support system and pressure control, and though the vehicle will mostly be flown by people on the ground, the designated pilot on board can assist customers if some kind of problem arises. And if the balloon suffers some kind of leak or failure, a reserve parachute will be on hand to bring the capsule down safely, according to MacCallum.

There may just be other kinks to work out on the way though. World Views Stratollite development, for example, has taken longer than expected, as the company has spent years trying to extend the amount of time the vehicle can last while in the air. Poynter and MacCallum say that those issues shouldnt impact the development of their new system, since they are less focused on navigating their capsule the same way World View handles its Stratollite. Altitude control and working that out for the Stratollite was a huge undertaking and very different than human flight, says MacCallum. These are really very, very different worlds, and while theyre both balloons going into the stratosphere, thats really where the similarities end.

With all these things in mind, Space Perspective still has very big plans for the future. Poynter and MacCallum say their Neptune capsule will be reusable, and they hope to get 1,000 flights out of each vehicle. Eventually they plan to fly up to 100 flights a year, and ticket prices, while still high, will be lower than other space tourism ventures, they claim. Poynter expects each ticket to be less than half of what Virgin Galactic charges, which is $250,000 a seat. She expects tickets with finalized prices to go on sale next year.

But really, Space Perspective says it wants everyone to be able to enjoy this method of travel. The company has also partnered with Space for Humanity, a non-profit that hopes to provide all-expenses-paid trips to space. Space Perspective also wants to fly artists, political leaders, spiritual leaders, and more, to help them see the world differently. The astronauts who talked about seeing the one human family and no borders and one small planet... really resonated with us, MacCallum says. Weve always thought that thats a really important set of ideas, to have that visceral experience to help move the needle.

The rest is here:

New company Space Perspective wants to take you to the stratosphere via high-altitude balloon - The Verge

priestmangoode is working on naptune, a high-performance balloon and pressurized capsule capable of flying passengers to the edge of space. the london-based design company, led by nigel goode and paul priestman, is working with US-based space perspective on the project, which will also transport research payloads. flown by a pilot, the vehicle will take up to eight passengers on a six-hour journey to the edge of space where only 20 people have been before and safely back to earth.

all images and video courtesy of priestmangoode

spaceship neptune will carry people and research payloads on a two-hour gentle ascent above 99% of the earths atmosphere to 100,000 feet (30,480 meters). here, it will cruise above the earth for up to two hours allowing passengers to share their experience via social media. the spaceship then makes a two-hour descent and splashes down into the sea, where a ship retrieves the passengers, the capsule, and the balloon.

neptune is a great project to work on, its the culmination of a long-term collaboration that has resulted in the only spaceship that is designed with the human experience at its core and will pave the way for the future of commercial space travel, says nigel goode, designer and co-founder of priestmangoode. our starting point was the passenger experience. we looked at all the different elements that would make the experience not just memorable, but truly comfortable as well and included essentials for a journey of six hours, like a lavatory.

space perspective is developing a uniquely accessible space travel experience, comments taber maccallum, founder and co-CEO of space perspective. the team at priestmangoode worked with us to create that experience with spaceship neptune, giving it an off-world yet classic design, while meeting a wide range of human factors, engineering, manufacturing and operating requirements.

the design of the capsule is a critical component of providing our explorers the inspirational experience that astronauts describe of seeing our earth in space, adds jane poynter, founder and co-CEO of space perspective. the first un-crewed test flight will include a suite of research payloads and is scheduled for early 2021 from the shuttle landing facility at NASAs kennedy space center in florida.

project info:

name: spaceship neptunedesign: priestmangoode / space perspectivestatus: first un-crewed test flight scheduled for early 2021

philip stevens I designboom

jun 18, 2020

Original post:

spaceship neptune is a balloon that will take you to the edge of space - Designboom

A revolutionary new taste synthesiser that can create any flavour without the user eating or drinking anything promises to do for your tongue what a 3D movie does for your eyes.

Homei Miyashita, who invented the extraordinary device, calls it the Norimaki Synthesizer.

In the same way that TV screens or printed magazines use a limited number of colours to create every possible shade, the device uses five gels that cover the five different basic tastes sweet, sour, salty, bitter and the mysterious umami when they make contact with the human tongue.

The Norimaki prototype is a fist-sized metal tube but, Homei tells Daily Star Online: The taste display can be miniaturised to the size of the tip of your pinky finger.

He added: "If a taste sensor could be miniaturised and mounted on a smartphone, you could send a taste SMS so people can share the taste of the food they find delicious."

One day we could be enjoying broadcast flavours in the same way we watch movies or listen to the radio today.

The device could also be used in combination with existing food and drink, suggests Homei: By attaching electrodes to the back of the neck or under the chin and sending electrical stimulation, it is possible to intensify or prolong the aftertaste of a drink.

The device could also make dieting easier.

A lot of healthy low-calorie food tastes pretty bland and disappointing to anyone who has been gorging on treats for years. The Norimaki could easily give dieters the luxury taste sensations they crave while theyre limited to eating low-calorie options.

Space travellers, too, are limited to restricted diets.

One way to keep astronauts spirits up when theyre on extended missions to Mars and beyond would be to give them a Norimaki to create the illusion of a more varied diet.

As you point out, said Homei. "It could contribute to broadening the variation of space food, but I think there are broader applications in the world of 'taste content'."

And of course in the world of virtual reality, adding the sense of taste will only add to the depth of the illusion.

The porn industry has been always been on the forefront of technology from video reorders to Paypal to VR and figures from the world of adult entertainment are already excited about the possibilities of simulating the sense of taste.

Brian Sloan, who is behind the leading automatic male sex toy Autoblow A.I., told Daily Star Online: We are always looking at all angles to make men's experiences more erotic and more lifelike with our machine, and if we were ever able to integrate taste or smell into the experience, we would be first in line to do so!

Men can be very reluctant to try new sex toys, but I think a taste or smell component would tempt a lot of people."

He continued: Using the Autoblow with a VR headset to add the ability to taste the action would change our entire industry.

Even without the immersion of VR, a miniaturised Norimaki could be as popular as a vape pen is today, enabling users to binge on chocolate, pizza or kebabs without having to put on a single pound.

Link:

The end of food? 'Taste synthesizer' will transform space travel, dieting and sex - Daily Star

SpaceX is employing authorities for offshore operations in Brownsville, work announcements exposed Tuesday, and the objective is to enable the organization create and build floating spaceports that will supply launch web sites for the companys super hefty class launch automobiles. . SpaceX will use these bigger rockets to carry its subsequent payload rockets to the Moon, to Mars, and also for level-to-level journeys right here on Earth, in accordance to SpaceX. CEO Elon Musk.

Musk explained on Twitter that this was the objective behind the new work publish, which was initially identified by Dan Paasch. SpaceX has previously proven ideas of its approaching Super Hefty booster rocket, along with its spacecraft. spacecraft, launch for hypersonic journeys to Earth, which would minimize travel time for extended-haul flights to just a couple of hrs. Even so, people ideas so far have only consisted of renders, and we did not know what the prepare was in terms of how and from in which people spaceships would be launched till right now.

Starship and Super Hefty are mainly staying produced to enable SpaceX and Musk realize their purpose of bringing people to Mars, to colonize that and other interstellar locations, which include the Moon, to make humans an interstellar species. But although people ambitions may well seem to be out of attain for most men and women, the companys ambitions of utilizing the exact same completely reusable spacecraft to drastically lower the expense of level-to-level supersonic travel right here on Earth are probably substantially additional. pertinent.

Room-primarily based level-to-level transport is not a new idea, and some others past SpaceX are operating on establishing approaches to make this transpire. The notion is that by traveling to the edge or past Earths environment, you can drastically minimize the expense of fuel and the duration of the flight, by traveling the distance among New York and Paris, for instance, in significantly less than an hour. In truth, SpaceX claimed throughout a presentation in 2017 that level-to-level transport with its spacecraft could attain any city on Earth from any other city in significantly less than an hour.

SpaceX has been establishing Starship in Texas close to Brownsville, in which this new work posting is seeking for offshore operations engineers. The organization has been expanding its testing and improvement web-site in the location, and has also sought to boost the assets committed to its operations in the state.

Musk did not share substantially additional about the strategies, but explained in response to an additional tweet that he claimed this amounted to Referb[ushing] Oil rigs with a hyperloop for ground transportation was more or less component of the prepare, so he could be concerned in moving passengers to and from their departure and location spaceports.

Go here to see the original:

SpaceX to build floating space ports for rockets destined for the Moon and Mars, and for hypersonic travel to Earth - Up News Info

Every 18 to 24 months, Earth and Mars align in such a way as to make deep-space travel that little bit easier, or at least a bit faster. That reduces a trip or "trajectory" to the Red Planet from about nine months down to seven.

That means that July is shaping up to be a very busy time for missions to Mars.

There are three all launching within days of each other the Emirates Mars Mission, with its atmospheric probe, Hope or "Al-Amal," NASA's Mars 2020, carrying a lander called Perseverance, and China's "Tianwen-1", a collection of orbiters and landers. In fact, there would have been a fourth mission in Europe's ExoMars 2020.

Read more:A question about race in space

"If they don't go know, they will have a very long wait," says Malcolm Macdonald, a professor of space technology at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. "That's why the Americans, for instance, through the current pandemic, prioritized Demo-2, the SpaceX crewed mission to the International Space Station, and their Mars mission."

How the coronavirus pandemic has affected the Chinese mission is hard to know. And Europe's ExoMars 2020 was already heading for delays.

As for the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), failing to leave now would set a 100-year plan for national and interplanetary transformation back by two years. So, after a round of ultra-fast thinking, which predicted the lockdown and those closed international borders, the team dispatched its spacecraft, Hope, and a team of Emirati engineers for the launch in Japan before it was too late.

A sense of urgency

There is a sense of urgency in the UAE that harks back to when the nation was established in 1971, starting from a point where infrastructure like transport and education were underdeveloped.

It was "evident then that you needed to do things rapidly to get on a par with the world," says Sarah Al-Amiri, the EMM's Science Lead, in an interview with DW.

Read more:SpaceX rocket ship blasts off on historic flight to International Space Station

And you can see that in the way the EMM has grown. The UAE has been developing Earth Observation spacecraft since 2006, which is a short time in itself. But the Mars mission has gone from a feasibility study in 2013 to its announcement a year later, and now a launch in 2020. Six short years.

Emirates Mars Mission - Al-Amal Probe in construction and testing

"We don't have a hundred years to sit around and grow organically. It's always been that way, developing in leaps and bounds," says Al-Amiri.

That culture of rapid growth has been hastened by a dwindling demand for oil.

"There is a drive to diversify," she says. "And the way to do that is use today's oil, which is knowledge and expertise that's routed in science and technology."

For Al-Amiri and mission manager, Omran Sharaf, seeing UAE's space sector blossom is a long-held passion. They were perhaps among the more fortunate, being able to study abroad. But they are back and among the country's pioneers.

Read more:Our first InSight into the interior of Mars

Al-Amir says she "never dared to dream of space, just for a lack of existing opportunities" at home, but she had started programming by the 5th Grade at school, studied computer engineering, and is now UAE's Minister of State for Advanced Sciences.

Meanwhile, Sharaf says he was always curious about satellites "I wished I could work on a space program." He studied electrical engineering in the US, came back to the UAE and joined a team of young Emiratis charged with setting up that space program. They started gathering experience in South Korea, working on Earth observation satellites, DubaiSat-1 and 2.

Why not the moon?

It's not only about getting to space. The mission is designed to establish the UAE's space capabilities to encourage homegrown innovation and inspire new generations of scientists, with job prospects and a sustainable future.

As such, it's reasonable to ask, "Why not go to the moon?" It is closer after all.

The answer lies in the science.

"We're not underestimating the moon it's difficult, too. Getting there is not easy," says Sharaf, in the same interview. "But Mars is the next level. When it comes to the scientific questions and the purpose of exploring Mars, we can build a better rationale behind it. It's a planet that scientists believe was once alive and became a dead planet. Understanding what happened there and why it lost its atmosphere will help us understand our own planet."

Mars is an active area of research that relies on data collected "at the planet," says Al-Amiri, rather than via telescopes and other forms of observation. So, she says, the EMM will deliver data that is actually needed by the global science community.

The team has collaborated with universities in the US and UK, and they have consulted the NASA-affiliated Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG).

Some roam, some drill The InSight lander collects seismic data by drilling into Martian ground

MEPAG is a gathering of experts that publishes scientific "vision papers," detailing scientific goals and questions that need to be answered about the planet.

Key scientific objectives for Hope

The Hope Probe aims to be the first to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere. It will try to explain why or how Mars loses hydrogen and oxygen gases into space over the span of a Martian year.

Significantly, Hope will explore Mars' "diurnal," or day-to-night cycle, which has never been done before.

Using three instruments an ultraviolet spectrometer, a digital camera and an infrared spectrometer, they will overlay images to create a picture from the lower to upper atmosphere. But Hope's orbit will be central to getting the data they want.

The EMIRS InfraRed Spectrometer one of three instruments onboard the Emirates Hope Probe that will orbit Mars

As Franois Forget, an astrophysicist at the Laboratoire de Mtorologie Dynamique in Paris, France, puts it: "The instruments are not revolutionary, but the orbit is completely new."

A new Martian orbit

"Mars rotates, like Earth, but in 24 hours and 38 minutes, and the spacecraft will have an elliptical orbit of about 20,000 kilometers at its lowest to 43,000 kilometers at the top," says Forget, who is also involved in the Emirates Mars Mission.

"When it's at 20,000 km, it will stay above the same [location on Mars], rotating with the planet for 8 hours and that will let us monitor what's going on throughout the day so, for instance, we'll see morning fog disappearing here, a storm start there," says Forget, " and then it will move up again, and when it's higher, the spacecraft moves slower, while the planet keeps rotating below it. When it returns to the lowest altitude, it will rotate with the planet again. So, we'll see what's happening over time."

Read more:NASA taps first woman to lead human spaceflight

With each swing of the orbit, Hope will track different locations from its lower and higher orbits. In the end, all the data will be stitched together to make a complete picture of those locations over a full 24-hour period, day and night. But it may take three orbits of a particular location to accumulate a full diurnal cycle, says Forget.

Weather patterns and dust storms

The data will be open to the scientific community, allowing it to be combined with other data, like seismic information collected by the InSight lander or other atmospheric data from the MAVEN probe.

Collaborators in space the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) probe is focused on the Martian upper atmosphere

There are so many questions to answer and no single mission can answer them all.

But, ultimately, scientists want to know how Mars became uninhabitable for humans, why its atmosphere wouldn't protect us like the atmosphere on Earth.

Mars' atmosphere is thin like Earth's, but it mostly consists of carbon dioxide (CO2), and there's only a small amount of oxygen and water vapor. So, finding out more about why that little oxygen which humans need to live and breathe escapes Mars is crucial to our understanding of the planet.

Read more:After Apollo: A new era for American human spaceflight

"MEPAG has set questions for the community, things we need to learn to understand Mars' evolution, and one of those things is historical atmospheric change," says Al-Amiri. "That's understanding the weather system, the day-to-night cycle, and the dynamics there what are the seasonal changes?"

Or why Mars gets global dust storms. "We get localized, regional dust storms. But Mars gets global dust storms. So, what factors allow a planet to be engulfed by a single dust storm," asks Al-Amiri.

What role does Mars play in its own atmospheric loss?

Then there's the specific question of why the planet is losing its atmosphere.

Scientists have looked at whether that's due to space itself for instance, that the atmosphere is being "stripped" by solar winds streams of charged particles that shoot out from the sun at speeds of up to 900 km per second.

The Emirates Mars Mission probe, Hope, spreads its solar panel wings

But some other theories suggest Mars may play its own role.

"There are dust storms, cloud formations, water vapor cycles, and we're asking how much impact that has on the loss of hydrogen and oxygen from Mars into its exosphere," says Al-Amiri.

The mission will do that by taking simultaneous measurements infrared technology in the lower atmosphere, where Hope will study temperatures and ice clouds, and ultraviolet technology for the Martian ozone in the lower atmosphere and hydrogen and oxygen loss in the upper atmosphere.

Finally, there's a simple camera that will enable Hope to take full "disc images" of the planet, which may reveal "interesting phenomena," says Forget.

"For example, a couple of years ago, we found these elongate clouds forming near the top of Olympus Mons [the largest volcano on Mars]. They went for 2,000 kilometers, and this had never been seen, because we were always looking at Mars in strips from the same local time," says Forget. "So, a full disc image can be spectacular, fun and scientific."

Mission to collaborate

Much has been made of the mission's launching from Japan. But the Japanese space agency, JAXA, points out that the mission is "UAE's independent program."

Japan has an overall good track-record for space launches a H-IIA rocket, similar to the one for the EMM, launched from Tanegashima Space Center

Even the launch on a Japanese H-IIArocketfrom JAXA's Tanegashima Space Center will be operated not by the agency but by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

But the Japanese connection is interesting to note because Japan has its own interests in Mars.

In an email to DW, JAXA's Nobuyoshi Fujimoto writes that Japan's MMX mission in 2024 will "survey Mars's two moons and collect a sample from one of them and bring it back."

There is also a good chance that data from the Emirates Mars Mission will flow into Japan's MMX moons mission.

"The Japanese have got fantastic capabilities, but they've never been to Mars," says Macdonald, "so, working as partners in the international community will give them more confidence for the next time they decide to go."

Read more:Why isn't Germany taking over the moon?

The EMM is all about international collaboration, which, Sharaf says, has been good with American teams at the University of Colorado Boulder, Arizona State University, and University of California, Berkeley.

"Getting some of the knowledge for our mission was not easy and we had to think about how it could be done in a way that serves everyone our national interests, that of our partners, and humanity," says Sharaf. "So, this is a case study from which other nations can learn. For instance, how we collaborated in 2006 with Korea a very different mindset and system and in 2014 with the US."

Hope's high-gain antenna dish for communicating with MBRSC Mission Control on Earth

That collaborative spirit will possibly also seep into other areas of research as the UAE moves towards a "post-oil" economy.

"Our space program is a tool for other goals," says Sharaf. "It's linked to national challenges like food and water, and clean energy is an issue, but also economic opportunities. Those are the pillars that dictate our program. It's not just about getting to space. So, if asteroid mining or rocket fuel addressed one of those pillars, we would look into it."

Read more:Of 'white guys on the Moon' and black America

All that's left

The only question that's left for now is whether the UAE and its first Mars mission will succeed.

"Going to Mars is difficult, not a lot of people have successfully gone to Mars," says Macdonald. "The Americans, Europe, Russia and India have orbited it. But Russia's had a lot of failures trying to land on Mars, and the Japanese have failed before."

So, what are the UAE's chances?

"Well, the launch vehicle tends to be a fairly big stumbling block, but the Japanese have a good heritage there, so you'd expect the launch to work and for the spacecraft to get to Mars," Macdonald says. "And as long as it wakes up and gets onto its correct trajectory But you can't expect success, because space is difficult."

The new NASA Mars rover has arrived. It will support the currently operating Curiosity rover in its work on the red planet. The new rover weighs just over 1 tonne (2,000 lbs) and is therefore 100 kg heavier than its predecessor. And, at 3 meters in size, it is also 10 centimeters longer. It can load more research equipment and sensors, and its gripper arm with cameras and tools is also stronger.

This is what the rover looks like when it travels. On board a C-17 Globemaster, it traveled from California to Florida in the US. From there, it will set off to Mars on July 17. The new rover is able to collect samples from Mars. It is equipped with 23 cameras and many other instruments. Among other things, it aims to find out whether oxygen can be extracted from the Martian rocks.

Curiosity is the largest and most modern of all Mars rovers currently deployed. It landed on August 6, 2012 and has since traveled more than 21 kilometers. It is much more than just a rover. Its official name is "Mars Science Laboratory," and it really is a complete lab on wheels.

For example, it contains special spectrometer, which can analyze chemical compounds from a distance with the help of a laser; a complete meteorological station that can measure temperature, atmospheric pressure, radiation, humidity and wind speed; and most importantly, a chemistry lab that can run detailed analyses of organic compounds and is always on the hunt for traces of alien life.

Curiosity has shown that life would theoretically be possible on Mars. But it hasn't discovered any life, yet. The robot's arm is equipped with a full power drill. Here, it's taking a sample in "Yellowknife Bay" inside the Gale Crater.

The Mars dust is processed by a large number of instruments. First, it's filtered and separated into different-sized particles. Then, those get sorted and sent off to different analytical laboratory machines.

Curiosity's predecessors were much smaller. On July 4, 1997, the small Mars rover Sojourner left its first tire tracks behind in the dust of the red planet. It was the first time a mobile robot had been left to its own devices there, equipped with an X-ray spectrometer to conduct chemical analyses and with optical cameras.

Three rover generations. (The tiny one up front is Sojourner.) At 10.6 kilograms (23 pounds), it's not much bigger than a toy car. Its top speed: 1 centimeter per second. Opportunity weighs 185 kilograms roughly the equivalent of an electric wheelchair. Curiosity is as big as a small car, at 900 kilograms. The big ones travel up to 4 or 5 centimeters per second.

Sojourner travelled about 100 meters during its lifetime and delivered data and pictures until September 27, 1997. This is one of the last pictures of it, taken nine days before the radio connection broke down. Sojourner probably died because the battery did not survive the cold nights.

Without the experience of Sojourner, newer rovers could have hardly been envisaged. In 2004, NASA landed two robots of the same model on Mars: Spirit and Opportunity. Spirit survived for six years, travelling a distance of 7.7 kilometers. The robot climbed mountains, took soil samples and withstood winter and sandstorms. Its sibling, Opportunity, lost contact on February 13, 2019.

Opportunity passed the marathon distance of 42 kilometers back in 2015, and to this day, it has covered much more ground than Curiosity. It can take ground probes with its arm. It has three different spectrometers and even a 3D camera. It was last operating in "Perseverance Valley," an appropriate workplace for the sturdy robot, before being incapacitated by a sand storm.

This panorama was taken by Curiosity's mast camera. The most modern of the rovers will stay in service as long as possible hopefully at least another five years and much longer. The Martian landscape looks familiar somehow, not unlike some deserts here on Earth. Should we give in to our wanderlust, then or would it be better leave Mars to the robots?

Author: Fabian Schmidt

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What's the science on the Emirates Mars Mission? - DW (English)

Theres this great moment I often think of when I need a laugh.

Its Donald Trump standing in front of a podium, announcing a new branch of the military astutely called Space Force, which will operate, you guessed it, in space.

The president of the United States asks rhetorically where would we be without space?

Meanwhile, Buzz Aldrin, one of the first people to ever walk on the moon, standing beside POTUS grimaces and rolls his eyes.

It is perfect comedy. Its also entirely real.

Unfortunately, Netflixs new big-budget comedy starring Steve Carell and John Malkovich never reaches this level of hilarity, despite some solid effort.

Space Force, which satirizes the concept of the whole enterprise, never comes close to the absurdity of the real thing, which is its biggest failing.

From the outset, I thought Space Force was basically a sure thing, which is probably what makes the final product such a letdown.

With Steve Carell at the helm and an incredible ensemble cast around him, including: Lisa Kudrow, John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz, Jimmy O. Yang, Jane Lynch and more, it seemed like it had everything going for it.

But it mostly just falls flat.

General Mark Naird (Steve Carell), who is initially hoping to head up the Air Force is tasked with establishing Space Force, just announced by POTUS.

It represents a surprising new prong of a growing, bureaucratic U.S. military, with each of the joint chiefs acting essentially like high school bullies jockeying for position.

Now at the bottom of an elite pecking order, Naird is trying to prove this new branch is worthy of the billions of dollars being spent on it and also posturing to prove his worth as well.

Naird also has the unenviable mission of trying to satisfy POTUS (whos never really named as Trump, but its heavily implied) and his goals of domination in space.

Things go wrong often. Gotta test that new rocket. And if it blows up? well, whats a few hundred million? Government waste while millions go hungry is so funny.

On top of the sheer stress of his drop, Naird deals with a fidgety and sarcastic head scientist (Malkovich) constantly demanding Space Force changes its priorities to focus on science, a wife (Kudrow) in jail for decades for some unknown reasons and a daughter (Diana Silvers) who is frustrated she had to move away from Washington to the badlands of Colorado.

Carell is unfortunately employing a gruff, raspy tone to his voice as Naird, which is perhaps appropriate for the setting, but ultimately distracting. His character has occasional moments of hilarity, singing classic pop songs to calm down and other quirks, but hes mostly just a jerk cleaning up his own mess as he defends asinine decision making.

Naird is just not that likeable, which is kind of surprising because Carells most well-known comedy character, Michael Scott from The Office (still on Netflix in Canada for now), is one of the most beloved TV characters of all time.

There are a few tender moments between the cast, but theyre too few and far between. Everyone just feels like theyre bouncing around and occasionally interacting with each other. Theres chemistry, but its haphazard.

The show also leans on some problematic stand-in characters, such as representative Anabela Ysidro-Campos (Ginger Gonzaga), an obvious AOC doppelgnger who goes after Space Force funding.

Another episode features Edison Jaymes (Kaitlin Olson), a stand-in for Elon Musk, whos going to revolutionize space travel with a sexy new rocket fuel. Its a joke that may have sounded good on paper, but just comes off as contrived.

What hurts Space Force is its off-putting tone. Its played essentially like a scripted drama, with comedy bits thrown in for flavour.

The show really could have benefited a lot from the documentary style that allowed The Office, Parks And Recreation and other modern comedies to feel so tangible and relatable. Again, Space Force is based on a real thing thats actually sort of happening, but the plot seems so far impossible. A lot of wouldnt it be funny ifs - only the real thing remains even funnier.

The 10-episode run, which I had to push myself to finish, ends on a cliffhanger and based on Netflixs cryptic rating system it seems to be doing relatively well, so we can expect more to come out at some point. Hopefully the show finds its space legs by then.

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STREAMING WARS: Netflixs big-budget comedy Space Force has all the right ingredients, but fails to deliver the laughs - SaltWire Network

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak on Sunday. We'll have another update for you on Monday.

UK tourists can visit Spain without having to quarantine on arrival, Spanish officials have told the BBC, giving fresh hope to those wishing to have a summer holiday abroad this year. British citizens will be allowed to enter the country freely, without the need to self-isolate, said Spain's foreign affairs minister. Meanwhile, do you really know Britain's lockdown rules? Test your knowledge.

Countries around the world are easing their lockdown restrictions, but coronavirus is far from over and even those controlling the outbreak fear "the second wave". The second phase of Spanish flu a century ago was deadlier than the first. So, is a second wave inevitable, and just how bad could it be?

More staff at a chicken factory that produces a third of all poultry products consumed in the UK have tested positive for coronavirus. All staff at the 2 Sisters meat processing plant in Llangefni, Anglesey, northern Wales, are self-isolating after a number of workers were confirmed to have the virus on Thursday. Public Health Wales said that the number of staff affected had risen to 75, with cases expected to increase.

A Scottish architect has filled six A4-size sketchbooks documenting his family's life under lockdown. Prof Alan Dunlop has drawn about 120 pictures - one or two for each day of the 10 weeks since restrictions came into place.

Lockdown has led many to explore new hobbies - and inspired a new generation of backyard vegetable growers. But what do you do if your only outside space is tiny? Here's how to grow lockdown veg in a tiny space, from window ledges to patio pots.

Get a longer coronavirus briefing from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning, by signing up here.

You can find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page and get all the latest via our live page.

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Coronavirus: Travel to Spain, and the 'second wave' - BBC News

(CNN) A design that reconfigures airplane cabins with double-decker lie-flat seats in premium economy is being touted as a possible solution for fliers looking for more protection from the spread of Covid-19.

Zephyr Seat is the vision of designer Jeffrey O'Neill, who reckons the isolation from fellow passengers that his creation will offer could be a game changer in the wake of the pandemic.

With Zephyr Seat, airlines could provide double-decker seating in a 2-4-2 configuration which, O'Neill says, would allow the majority of global airlines to maintain the same seating density as offered by their existing premium economy cabins.

Seated in premium economy,O'Neill realized halfway through the super long-haul journey that he wasn't going to get any shut eye.

"I'm on probably the best rated airline in the world, and I'm getting wonderful service and the food is edible, but I can't sleep," he recalls. "This is really uncomfortable. Why is it so difficult to find an affordable way to lie flat on a flight that's 19 hours?"

Real estate on an airplane is expensive -- and airlines usually don't want to sacrifice space.

But O'Neill found himself remembering a long-distance bus journey he'd made on a trip through Argentina. The bus utilized bunk beds, and he'd slept far better than on his ostensibly more luxurious air journey to Singapore. It occurred to him that maybe that was the solution.

This was two years ago, and O'Neill says his idea's since graduated from a back of a napkin drawing he dreamed up with his design partner, to a life-size mockup, which he says proves its feasibility.

Double decker seating

The Zephyr Seat offers a double decker airplane interior concept.

Courtesy Zephyr Aerospace

Zephyr's double-decker concept utilizes the space that exists between a standard seat and an overhead bin.

"We basically retrofitted a whole other seat on top of another," explains O'Neill. "So it's essentially two levels, it's not as tall off the ground as people might imagine, it's only four and a half feet off the ground from the entry point to the lower seat to the upper seat."

The result, O'Neill says, is more passenger leg room without the airline being forced to sacrifice space or reduce passenger headcount.

The idea's still in its infancy, although O'Neill says he's identified an engineering partner -- and he's been in conversation with four major airlines, including US carrier Delta, although there are no firm commitments right now.

He presented the idea to airline executives at the 2019 Airline Interiors Expo at Hamburg, Germany -- and said got some valuable feedback on how to make the seat a feasible option for the mid-range aviation market.

The next stage would be passing the product through the required safety tests, which could be a three-year process.

New aviation opportunities

Of course, a question mark currently hangs over aviation's future, with no one quite knowing what air travel is going to look like over the next few months, let alone years.

O'Neill reckons that the new aviation landscape fits with his vision for Zephyr Seat.

Designer Jeff O'Neill thinks the seat will allow travelers in Premium Economy to sleep better.

Courtesy Zephyr Aerospace

The increased privacy the seat would offer, he says, could reassure travelers demanding on board social distancing. That said, the concept, like other ideas in the pipeline, doesn't totally solve the issue of being in close proximity on aircraft and the potential Covid risk.

O'Neill also points towards a future where there could likely be fewer scheduled flights and those that are operating could be busier and more expensive -- something we're already seeing happen.

"The price for a business class or first class seat is going to be out of range for probably about 85% of all travelers, which means a more affordable option might become a reality or a consideration for a lot of those people," he says.

Excerpt from:

Is this double-decker seat the future of airplane travel? - CNN

As summer revs up, many families who've planned vacations and long-anticipated reunions are left wondering whether it's safe to travel during the coronavirus outbreak. Most states have reopened, giving residents a semblance of normalcy, but COVID-19 cases are still rising in some areas.

The good news is you can travel this summer, especially if you stay within U.S. borders, as there are still many restrictions on international travel and if you follow basic precautions.

"Its OK to have fun, (but) do it safely," Saad Omer, director of Yale Institute for Global Health in New Haven, Connecticut, told TODAY. "You just need to strike a balance."

Here are some ways to take a safe vacation during the COVID-19 outbreak, from the best modes of transportation to tips to plan safe gatherings.

Naturally, how safe your vacation will be depends on where you're going. Omer and NBC investigative and consumer correspondent Vicky Nguyen offered these tips.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, flying can be safer than going to a restaurant or public pool, Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told TODAY. That's in part because airlines and airports have measures in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19. It's also now believed that high-touch surfaces aren't as common a method of transmission as previously thought.

Still, flying doesn't come without risk. Here are some ways to lower your risk and your family's if you travel by plane.

Trending stories,celebrity news and all the best of TODAY.

Dr. Allison Agwu, an infectious disease physician at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told TODAY that driving will be safer than flying because "you have more control in your own personal space." Here are some recommendations for staying safe on the road.

Experts believe hotels and vacation rental homes pose a similar risk of coronavirus transmission. But they're safer than staying with family or friends, Omer said. Some strategies to consider:

Staying with people without quarantining separately for two weeks after your travel period increases risk of coronavirus transmission, Omer said. But if you can't stay in a separate space, he recommended:

Because they're outdoors, beaches, Omer said, are a safe summer activity, provided they're not too crowded. Still, you should take these precautions:

Outdoor pools come with a similar risk level as beaches, but they have the added benefit of chlorine, which kills the coronavirus. Skip indoor pools. Outdoors, follow the same guidelines for beaches, and these:

Restaurants around the country have started reopening with new safety measures, like reduced capacity and disposable dinnerware. Call ahead to make sure the restaurant has space to seat you, and consider these tips:

Another beloved summer pastime is barbecuing in the great outdoors. Having people over can be a safe activity, with these precautions:

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Safe vacations and traveling during coronavirus: Advice to follow - TODAY