Daily Archives: January 23, 2024

An illustration depicts the Mars helicopter Ingenuity on the Red Planet. On Thursday, communications ceased with the craft after it made an unplanned landing. Photo courtesy of NASA

Jan. 22 (UPI) -- NASA has restored contact with its little Perseverance Mars helicopter, which had gone silent after 72nd mission, the space agency said.

Communication ceased with the vehicle Thursday after its mission. But on Saturday, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said on social media that contact had been re-established, and that team members were reviewing fresh data to get a better understanding of what led to the communication blackout.

The $80 million helicopter craft first landed on Martian surface in April 2021 and was meant to test a powered, controlled mission on a different planet.

The Ingenuity demonstration was completed after three successful flights and then transitioned to a new operations demonstration phase "to explore how future rovers and aerial explorers can work together."

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Contact restored with NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter - UPI News

In a new episode AXS TV's Life In Six Strings With Kylie Olsson, former Mtley Cre guitarist, Mick Mars, gives Kylie a tour of his home and shows off his incredible guitar collection. Watch a clip below; the full episode is currently airing on AXS TV.

Mick Mars' debut solo album, The Other Side Of Mars, will be released on February 23 via Micks own label 1313, LLC, in partnership with MRI. Pre-orders can be placed now at this location. Available configurations include a 180G LP and CD, signed and unsigned.

No matter what direction hes going in on the album, what ties it all together is that people are going to hear my tone my sound, Mars says. I am what I am. Nobody else can do it. And like everyone, Ive got a limited number of years. So, I'm gonna do all I can to do a lot of stuff.

When Mick Mars stepped back from touring with Mtley Cre the band he co-founded more than 40 years ago following their massive summer 2022 Stadium Tour, it seemed like the end of an era.

Really, it was the beginning of a new one.

The legendary guitarist, whose riffs, solos and overall devastatingly heavy sound powered the L.A. icons through four decades of world-conquering, multi-platinum sonic mayhem is, as he demonstrates on his debut solo effort, still a serious force to be reckoned with. Only now, listeners are reckoning with more Mars than ever before. When it comes to my playing, theres the Mtley side and the Mars side, the guitarist says. Either way, I always have a very clear vision of what I want to do.

On the aptly-titled The Other Side Of Mars, fans get that vision in its full, multifarious glory. To be sure, there are plenty of characteristically riff-tastic, tough-as-nails hard-rock anthems. The album also presents the guitarist heading into new and uncharted territory, tearing through caustic, modern metal, conjuring gothic-tinged soundscapes, and digging into anguished, slow-burning power balladry alongside unspooling bluesy, cinematic instrumental workouts. The music throughout the collection is otherwise studded with slide guitars, violins, violas, keyboards, glitchy freak-outs and all manner of sonic surprises.

Theres a lot of ideas that I have that, I don't want to call them left, but they are, you know what I mean? Mars says. Regarding those stylistic turns, he continues, My feeling has always been, I might gain some fans, I might lose some fans. But what theyre hearing, its all me.

The guitarist enlisted a crack team of musicians to help him along the way. A key contributor to the project was Winger and former Alice Cooper keyboardist (and, like Mars, Nashville resident) Paul Taylor, who, in addition to performing on the record and assisting Mars in co-writing many of the tracks, introduced the guitarist to powerhouse vocalist Jacob Bunton. Jacob came into the studio and it was like, bam! Mars recalls. And I just said, Yeah, hes the guy. And most of his vocals were one take.

The supporting band was rounded out by Korn drummer Ray Luzier, bassist Chris Collier and singer Brion Gamboa, who contributed lead vocals to two songs. Mars reflects, Those required a little bit more of an angsty, desperation kind of thing. And Brion really came to the table with that. Alongside playing bass on all songs recorded, Collier mixed and mastered the debut solo album.

But while Mars surrounded himself with a new cast of players for the sessions, there was one figure who represented a significant link to his storied past: Michael Wagener. The much-lauded German producer and engineer worked behind the boards on Mtley Cres 1981 debut, Too Fast For Love, and his relationship with Mars stretches even further back. I had known him for a long time, and I actually brought him to Mtley, Mars says. Working with Wagener this time, the guitarist continues, He had such an understanding of where I wanted to go with the material. And he never said Hey, do this, or tried to change my mind or anything like that. He was just really adamant about recording what I wanted to record, and making sure we recorded it right.

The result is a record unlike anything Mars has offered up in his more than 40-year career.

To that end, he says that even as he unleashes The Other Side Of Mars on the world, hes already working on a follow-up. He offers, I'm trying to keep growing, Mars says. Because if you stop learning new things, if you stop playing new things, if you close your mind, youre done. You have to keep moving and creating. Next!

Tracklist:

"Loyal To The Lie" "Broken On The Inside" "Alone" "Killing Breed" "Memories" "Right Side Of Wrong" "Ready To Roll" "Undone" "Ain't Going Back" "LA Noir"

"Right Side Of Wrong" video:

"Loyal To The Lie" video:

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MICK MARS Shows Off His Guitar Collection - "I'm A Tone Guy, Even Though I'm Half Deaf Now"; Video - bravewords.com

The new 44,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility builds on Mars' 100-year pedigree of innovation and makes Chicago the largest innovation hub in Mars' global stable of Snacking R&D sites

CHICAGO, Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Mars announced the opening of its Global Research and Development Hub on its Goose Island campus, the global headquarters of the company's Snacking business. One of seven Mars global innovation sites around the world, the 44,000-square-foot, $42 million facility will be dedicated to chocolate and nut testing, research and innovation. As Mars looks to double its Snacking business in the next decade, the new facility will give Mars' 300 R&D Associates in Chicago runway to create and refine new products for the company's multi-billion-dollar snacking portfolio before they are scaled at large around the globe.

The new site will centralize crucial innovation components under one roof while also serving as a testing ground for future-focused, sustainable ingredients. Recipes will be perfected in small batches in the plant's contemporary test kitchen, while the flexible bar line, which mimics factory conditions, will allow Mars Snacking Scientists to hone the process of bringing new products to scale. A dedicated nut facility inside the plant will also enable next-generation testing, evaluation and application of peanuts and tree nuts within Mars products, key to brands such as SNICKERS, M&M'S and KIND.

"This state-of-the-art facility will serve as the epicenter for the kind of groundbreaking research and development that will shape the snacking category for generations to come," said Andrew Clarke, Global President, Mars Snacking. "Innovation has been at the heart of our success for over 100 years, and this significant investment reaffirms our unwavering commitment to staying ahead of the curve. With an assembly of trailblazing Associates, pioneering partnerships that ignite our creativity and unparalleled technology at our fingertips, we will continue to push boundaries in our relentless pursuit of delivering extraordinary experiences for our consumers around the world."

From the next-generation science behind critical ingredients such as peanuts, to the easily adaptable pilot product line, the Hub is designed to not just keep up, but stay ahead of an evolving snacking landscape and rapidly shifting consumer demands. The world-class facility has been designed with sustainability front of mind. It will be powered 100% with renewable energy which is fossil-fuel free and covered by renewable energy credits from Mars' wind farm in Ford Ridge, Illinois.

Chicago has been deeply embedded in Mars' history from the turn of the 20th century when the company opened its first large-scale factory in the Windy City in 1929. It was also the longtime home of the Wrigley Company, the Chicago-born stalwart known for its gum and fruity confections, which Mars acquired in 2008.

"I applaud the dedicated team behind the Mars Global Research & Development Hub," said Mayor Brandon Johnson. "With a commitment to sustainable innovation, this state-of-the-art facility not only doubles down on Mars' century-long legacy, but cements Chicago's status as an epicenter for food innovation and propels us to new heights on the global stage."

"As Mars marks the opening of a new chapter, I am thrilled to join the resounding applause of the Chicagoland region's business community in congratulating company leadership and team for the opening of the Mars Global Research & Development Hub," said Michael Fassnacht, President & CEO, World Business Chicago. "In a region already renowned as the epicenter of food-related production and innovation, the arrival of the Mars Research & Development Hub propels Chicagoland to even greater heights. We commend Mars for its unwavering commitment to our city and region, and we are eagerly poised to witness the profound impact this expansion will have, cementing Chicagoland's undisputed global standing as the ultimate crucible of food innovation."

The Global Innovation Hub will join Mars' network of existing global innovation sites in Chicago, Illinois; Guangzhou, China; Huariou, China; Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania; and Slough, United Kingdom.

About Mars, Incorporated

Mars, Incorporated is driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. As a global, family-owned business, Mars is transforming, innovating, and evolving to make a positive impact on the world. Across our diverse and expanding portfolio of quality snacking, food, and pet care products and services, we employ 140,000+ dedicated Associates. With more than $47 billion in annual sales, we produce some of the world's best-loved brands including Ben's Original, CESAR, Cocoavia, DOVE, EXTRA, KIND, M&M's, SNICKERS, PEDIGREE, ROYAL CANIN, and WHISKAS. We are creating A Better World for Pets through our global network of pet hospitals and diagnostic services including AniCura, BANFIELD, BLUEPEARL, Linnaeus and VCA using cutting edge technology to develop breakthrough programs in genetic health screening and DNA testing.

For more information about Mars, please visit http://www.mars.com. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

SOURCE Mars Wrigley

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Mars Opens Transformative $42m Snacking Research and Development Hub in Chicago - PR Newswire

Over 15 years ago, ESAs Mars Express spacecraft studied the Medusae Fossae Formation, revealing enigmatic deposits up to 2.5 km deep. From those early observations, it was unclear what the deposits were made of, but the new research has an answer.

This image shows a height map of the Martian surface, with lowest land in blue and highest in white. Image credit: ESA.

The Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF) a massive, unusual deposit of soft rock near Mars equator is about one-fifth as large as the continental United States and 100 times more massive than the largest explosive volcanic deposit on Earth.

It consists of several wind-sculpted features measuring hundreds of km across and several km high.

Found at the boundary between the Martian highlands and lowlands, the features are possibly the biggest single source of dust on Mars.

Initial observations from ESAs Mars Express spacecraft showed the MFF to be relatively transparent to radar and low in density, both characteristics wed see from icy deposits.

However, planetary scientists couldnt rule out a drier possibility: that the features are actually giant accumulations of windblown dust, volcanic ash or sediment.

Weve explored the MFF again using newer data from Mars Express MARSIS radar, and found the deposits to be even thicker than we thought: up to 3.7 km thick, said Dr. Thomas Watters, a planetary researcher at Smithsonian Institution.

Excitingly, the radar signals match what wed expect to see from layered ice, and are similar to the signals we see from Mars polar caps, which we know to be very ice rich.

If melted, the ice locked up in the MFF would cover the entire planet in a layer of water 1.5 to 2.7 m deep: the most water ever found in this part of Mars, and enough to fill Earths Red Sea.

Heres where the new radar data comes in! Given how deep it is, if the MFF was simply a giant pile of dust, wed expect it to become compacted under its own weight, said Dr. Andrea Cicchetti, a researcher at the National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy.

This would create something far denser than what we actually see with MARSIS.

And when we modeled how different ice-free materials would behave, nothing reproduced the properties of the MFF we need ice.

The new results instead suggest layers of dust and ice, all topped by a protective layer of dry dust or ash several hundred meters thick.

In this image, the white line on Mars surface (top) shows a stretch of land that was scanned by Mars Express MARSIS radar. The graph below shows the shape of the land and the structure of the subsurface, with the layer of dry sediments (likely dust or volcanic ash) in brown and the layer of suspected ice-rich deposits in blue. The graph shows that the ice deposit is thousands of meters high and hundreds of km wide. If all the suspected water ice in the MFF melted, it would cover Mars in an ocean of water up to 2.7 m deep. Image credit: CReSIS / KU / Smithsonian Institution.

This latest analysis challenges our understanding of the MFF, and raises as many questions as answers, said Dr. Colin Wilson, ESA project scientist for Mars Express and the ESA ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.

How long ago did these ice deposits form, and what was Mars like at that time?

If confirmed to be water ice, these massive deposits would change our understanding of Mars climate history.

Any reservoir of ancient water would be a fascinating target for human or robotic exploration.

The results will be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

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Thomas Watters et al. 2024. Evidence of Ice-Rich Layered Deposits in the Medusae Fossae Formation of Mars. Geophysical Research Letters, in press;

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Mars Express Finds New Evidence for Ice-Rich Layered Deposits in Medusae Fossae - Sci.News

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Researchers have taken the first steps toward finding liquid solvents that may someday help extract critical building materials from lunar and Martian rock dust.

Extracting these materials is an important piece in making long-term space travel possible.

Using machine learning and computational modeling, the researchers found about half a dozen good candidates for solvents that can extract materials on the moon and Mars usable in 3D printing. The powerful solvents, called ionic liquids, are salts that are in a liquid state.

The machine learning work brought us down from the 20,000-foot to the 1,000-foot level, says Soumik Banerjee, associate professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University.

We were able to down select a lot of ionic liquids very quickly, and then we could also scientifically understand the most important factors that determine whether a solvent is able to dissolve the material or not.

As part of its Artemis mission, NASA, which funded Banerjees work, wants to send humans back to the moon and then to deeper space to Mars and beyond. But to make such long-term missions possible, astronauts will have to use the materials and resources in those extraterrestrial environments, using 3D printing to make structures, tools, or parts from essential elements extracted from lunar or Martian soil.

In situ resource utilization is a big deal over the next couple of decades for NASA, says Banerjee. Otherwise, we would need a terribly high payload of materials to carry from Earth.

Acquiring those building materials must be done in an environmentally friendly and energy efficient way. The method to mine the elements also cant use water, which isnt available on the moon.

Ionic liquids, which Banerjees group has been studying for more than a decade for use in batteries, could be the answer.

Testing each ionic liquid candidate in a lab is expensive and time consuming, however, so the researchers used machine learning and modeling at the level of atoms to narrow down from hundreds of thousands of candidates. They looked for those that might digest lunar and Martian materials, extract important elements such as aluminum, magnesium, and iron, regenerate themselves, and perhaps produce oxygen or water as a byproduct to help provide life-support.

Identifying superior qualities that the solvents will need, the researchers were able to find about half a dozen very strong candidates. Important factors for success included the size of the molecular ions that make up the salts, its surface charge density, which is the charge per unit area of the ions, and the mobility of the ions in the liquids.

Working with researchers at the University of Colorado in a separate study, the researchers tested a few ionic liquids in the lab for their ability to dissolve compounds. They hope to eventually build a lab-scale or pilot-scale reactor and test good candidate solvents with lunar regolith-type materials.

The new study appears in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B.

Source: Washington State

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Solvents may pave way for building on Mars and the moon - Futurity: Research News

The surface of Mars may appear barren and lifeless, but it seems the red planet is keeping quite a few secrets hidden from prying human eyes.

Luckily, we have technology and a new radar survey of the Medusae Fossae Formation region on the Martian equator has revealed what appears to be giant layered slabs of buried water ice, several kilometers thick.

It's the most water ever found around Mars' middle, and suggests the dry old dustball isn't quite as devoid of the stuff as we thought.

There's as much water buried there, scientists say, as can be found in Earth's Red Sea; if it were brought to the surface and melted, it would cover Mars in a shallow ocean between 1.5 to 2.7 meters (4.9 to 8.9 feet) deep.

Hints of the buried deposits were first detected in 2007, up to a depth of 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles), but scientists didn't know what they were. New data, and new tools for analyzing that data, have revealed much more about the deposits than expected.

"We've explored the Medusae Fossae Formation again using newer data from Mars Express's MARSIS radar, and found the deposits to be even thicker than we thought: up to 3.7 kilometers (2.3 miles) thick," says geologist Thomas Watters of the Smithsonian Institution.

"Excitingly, the radar signals match what we'd expect to see from layered ice, and are similar to the signals we see from Mars's polar caps, which we know to be very ice rich."

The Medusae Fossae Formation is a collection of huge deposits that extends for some 5,000 kilometers (3,107 miles) along the equator of Mars, marking the boundary between the lowlands in the northern hemisphere, and the cratered highlands in the south.

It's not known what created the deposits, but they're huge, standing several kilometers high, sculpted by the wild winds that scour the surface of Mars.

Because the region is so poorly understood, scientists are naturally keen to learn more about it. In 2007, Watters and his team collected radar data that showed the clear presence of something, buried beneath the ground.

What wasn't clear was the nature of that something. Given how dusty the Medusae Fossae Formation is, the deposits could have consisted of buried dust. They could also have been volcanic material, sediment from wetter eons past, or intriguingly water ice.

So the researchers collected new radar observations of the region, analyzed the results, and performed modeling to try to figure out what is buried under the windswept dust and stone. And the only thing that fit the data well was water ice.

"Given how deep it is, if the MFF was simply a giant pile of dust, we'd expect it to become compacted under its own weight," says physicist Andrea Cicchetti of the National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy.

"This would create something far denser than what we actually see with MARSIS. And when we modeled how different ice-free materials would behave, nothing reproduced the properties of the MFF we need ice."

In the last few decades, as Mars exploration has grown, our previous understanding of the dead dust-ball has changed dramatically. Everywhere we look, Mars shows evidence of water long ago, running over the surface in rivers, or pooling in lakes or oceans.

There's no liquid water on Mars now, that we know of. Where all that water went remains a mystery: did it disappear into space as vapor, or is it sequestered inside the planet, locked away where we can't see it? The Medusae Fossae Formation may hold some answers to this question.

Scientists want to know where to find water on Mars for another, practical reason. When humans are eventually sent to the red planet, they're going to need water for survival. If there's water there already, that will minimize the amount they need to take with them.

Unfortunately, the Medusae Fossae Formation water is off-limits: It's buried beneath several hundred meters of Martian dust, beyond our ability to access.

Still, the discovery raises hopes that there's water hiding elsewhere on Mars. It also gives scientists new information in the hunt to uncover Mars' enigmatic history, and transformation to its present state.

"This latest analysis challenges our understanding of the Medusae Fossae Formation, and raises as many questions as answers," says planetary scientist Colin Wilson of the European Space Agency.

"How long ago did these ice deposits form, and what was Mars like at that time? If confirmed to be water ice, these massive deposits would change our understanding of Mars climate history. Any reservoir of ancient water would be a fascinating target for human or robotic exploration."

The research has been published in Geophysical Research Letters.

Excerpt from:

A Massive Amount of Water Ice Has Been Found on Mars, Lurking Beneath The Equator - ScienceAlert

After a short period of worrying silence, NASA said on Saturday night that it was able to regain contact with the Ingenuity helicopter. The autonomous aircraft unexpectedly ceased communications with the Perseverance rover, which relays all transmissions between Ingenuity and Earth, on Thursday during its 72nd flight on Mars. It had already been acting up prior to this, having cut its previous flight short for an unknown reason, and NASA intended to do a systems check during the latest ascent.

The space agency said in an update posted on X that its now reviewing the data from Ingenuity to understand what happened. Perseverance picked up its signal after the team instructed it to perform long-duration listening sessions. Ingenuity has experienced blackouts before, as recently as last year, and was able to return to flight. But its too early to say if that will be the case this time. The mini helicopter is already running well past the original timeline of its mission.

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NASA says it's reestablished contact with the Ingenuity Mars helicopter - Engadget

The potential discovery suggests that Mars once looked very different from how it appears today and could once have sustained life.

Scientists operating Europe's Mars Express orbiter say it may have spotted huge ice water deposits below the surface of Mars.

Its estimated that the deposits are around 3.7 kilometres thick, meaning that they could fill Earth's Red Sea if melted or cover the entirety of Mars in a layer of water about two metres deep.

The new findings suggest that Mars once looked very different to how it appears today, with glaciers, lakes, and river channels, according to scientists.

"We've seen evidence of glaciers, extinct glaciers which are no longer there, but also some glaciers covered with dust. Most of the water ice we've seen on Mars today is at higher latitudes, where the temperatures are colder and so the ice can be stable," said Colin Wilson, a project scientist at ESA.

"It's a testament to how much water there would have been on Mars in the past to amass piles of water ice several kilometres thick. That's a vast amount of water. So, we've seen the evidence of lots of water on the Martian surface in other places," Wilson added.

ESAs Mars Express orbiter first confirmed the presence of ice on the Red Planet in 2004.

It discovered the deposits in 2007, but it wasnt clear what they were made of -- perhaps giant accumulations of dust, volcanic ash or sediment.

In 2015, NASA also said Mars appears to have flowing streams of salty water.

"Today, we're revolutionising our understanding of this planet. Our rovers are finding that there's a lot more humidity in the air than we ever imagined," said Jim Green, NASAs Director of Planetary Science, at a press conference.

Now, 15 years later, Mars Express new data suggests the deposits are actually layers of dust and ice.

The ice water is located at its equator, not at its poles, which surprised scientists.

"We don't expect to see a polar ice cap at the equator," said Wilson.

"It's as ludicrous on Mars as it would be on Earth, but that's what the data are telling us, saying it does look like that".

This excited scientists about the potential of human exploration missions.

Given that Mars is a cold planet, between 20C and -153C, according to NASA, finding water ice in low latitudes instead of polar regions would have made human exploration missions easier.

"One of the reasons we were excited about finding water ice at low latitudes is that that is where future exploration missions, in particular human exploration missions, are going to have to land for reasons of orbital mechanics and also power availability," said Wilson.

The layers of dust and ice are topped with a protective layer of dust or ash several hundred metres thick.

"However, if it's 300 metres down, that's not very helpful for exploration goals. Unfortunately, this probably won't be the answer to our human exploration needs," Wilson added.

Europe's Mars Express probe departed Earth in June 2003 and arrived at Mars in December 2003. It recently marked two decades studying the Red Planet.

For more on this story, watch the video in the media player above.

Video editor Roselyne Min

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ESA's Mars Express orbiter discovers ice water deposits at the Red Planet's equator - Euronews