Category Archives: Mars

In mid-March, NASA researchers announced that theyd found an unknown life-form hiding aboard the International Space Station. And they were cool with that.

In fact, for an organization known for a sophisticated public communications strategyMars rovers dont write their own tweets, is what Im sayingeveryone was pretty quiet about this discovery.

Almost too quiet.

Its true that the new life wasnt, say, a xenomorphic alien with acid for blood. It was a novel species of bacteria, unknown on Earth but whose genes identified it as coming from a familiar terrestrial genus called Methylobacterium. Typically its members like to hang out amid the roots of plants, not on the walls of space stations. Still, youd think a probably-not-but-maybe-evolved-in-space microbe would merit a little more freaking out. Yet here we are. Nobody was exactly surprisedand the reasons why could define the future of human space exploration.

As part of an ongoing research project into the microbial life of the ISS, astronauts onboard in 2015 and 2016 swabbed down various parts of the station and sent home the wipes they used. Over the next couple of years down here on Earth, a team of researchers headquartered at the Jet Propulsion Laboratorys Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group isolated the microbes and sequenced their genes. One species, found on a HEPA filter in the stations life-support system, was a garden-variety (literally!) Methylobacterium rhodesianum. But three samplesfrom a surface near the materials research rack, a wall near the cupola of windows, and the astronauts' dining tablewere something new. The researchers running the project named it M. ajmalii.

It wasnt even the first time these researchers found a new bacterium in space. Theyd already found a whole other unknown bacterium in that set of ISS samplesthey published a paper on that in 2017. Theres a chance that these bugs are in some sense aliens, that they evolved on the station. But its a thin one. Odds are they hitched a ride on cargo, or on astronauts, and the microbe hunters only noticed them because they went looking. There are chances of evolution in space, no doubt, but the space station is so young. Its only 20 years old. Bacteria might not have evolved in that span of time, says Kasthuri Venkateswaran, the JPL microbiologist running the project.

Whats more interesting, maybe, is figuring out which bacteria are zeroes on Earth but heroes in the rarified, closed-loop environment of a spaceship. Thats why studying the International Space Stations microbiomethe bacteria, fungi, and viruses that thrive on boardmight be critical to the safety of missions to Mars, or permanent bases on other worlds. As on Earth, human health in space will depend in part on a healthy microbiome and a good relationship with the microbiome of the vessel or shelter. Were able to say that novel species carried by the crew might have some characteristics to withstand the conditions there, Venkateswaran says. The rest might have died. These are the things that survive.

Space is really quite unpleasant. Outside a vessel or vacuum suit, itd be a race to see if you died first from suffocation or freeze-drying. (The high levels of hard radiation are more of a long-term deal breaker.)

So the insides of those vessels and suits have to be closed systems. The only things that come and go are cargo and astronauts. But wherever people go, they bring their ride-along microbes with themin their guts, on their skin, in their noses and mouths. Thats true in your house, and its true on the ISS. But the ISS is not like your house, and not just because it recycles air and water and you cant open the windows. The air on the ISS is drier, with higher levels of carbon dioxide. Radiation levels are higher. Theres no gravity to speak of. (Were used to certain kinds of microbes staying on the floor, but they dont stay on the floor if there is no floor, says John Rummel, a former NASA Planetary Protection Officer, responsible for keeping aliens off of Earth and Earth life off of other places.) It smells not-so-fresh inside the ISS, and because its full of nooks and crannies that water droplets can float into and then adhere to, thanks to surface tension, it has lots of places where microbes can hang out.

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Sneaky New Bacteria on the ISS Could Build a Future on Mars - WIRED

View of the slopes of Mount Sharp, showing the various types of terrain that have been and will be explored by the Curiosity rover.The sedimentary structures observed by ChemCams telescopic images (mosaics A and B) reveal clues about the ancient environments in which they formed. Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/CNES/CNRS/LANL/IRAP/IAS/LPGN.

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While attention has been focused on the Perseverance rover that landed on Mars last month, its predecessor Curiosity continues to explore the base of Mount Sharp on the red planet and is still making discoveries.Researchpublished today in the journalGeologyshows that Mars had drier and wetter eras before drying up completely about 3 billion years ago.

A primary goal of the Curiosity mission was to study the transition between the habitable environment of the past, to the dry and cold climate that Mars has now. These rock layers recorded that change in great detail, said Roger Wiens, a coauthor on the paper and scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he is on the ChemCam team. ChemCam is the rock-vaporizing laser that sits on the mast of the Curiosity rover and analyzes the chemical composition of martian rocks.

William Rapin, a researcher with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), led the studyUsing the long-range camera on ChemCam to make detailed observations of the steep terrain of Mount Sharp, a team including Wiens and other researchers at Los Alamos discovered that the Martian climate alternated between dry and wetter periods before it went completely dry. Spacecraft in orbit around Mars had previously provided clues about the mineral composition of the slopes of Mount Sharp. Now, ChemCam has successfully made detailed observations of the sedimentary beds from the planets surface, revealing the conditions under which they formed.

Moving up through the terrain, Curiosity observed that the types of bed change drastically. Lying above the lake deposited clays that form the base of Mount Sharp, sandstone layers show structures indicating their formation from wind-formed dunes, suggesting long, dry climate episodes. Higher up still, thin alternating brittle and resistant beds are typical of river floodplain deposits, marking the return of wetter conditions.These changes in terrain show that the climate of Mars underwent several large-scale fluctuations between wetter and dryer periods, until the generally arid conditions observed today took hold. During its extended mission, Curiosity is scheduled to climb the foothills of Mount Sharp and drill into its various beds for a closer look at these fascinating materials.

TheChemCamlaser instrument uses an infrared-colored laser beam, which heats rock fragments to around 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit (10,000 degrees Celsius), vaporizing them. The plasma produced by this process allows scientists to analyze the chemical and mineral composition of the rocks, which convey important information about the geological history of Mars. The instrument also has a high-resolution camera. ChemCam is commanded alternately from Los Alamos in New Mexico and the French Space Agency in Toulouse, as a partnership between Los Alamos National Laboratory and the IRAP research center. Every week, the operations change hands between the two places. Together, the ChemCam team has published over 100 scientific papers on its discoveries from more than 850,000 laser zaps.

The paper: Alternating Wet and Dry Depositional Environments Recorded in the Stratigraphy of Mt Sharp at Gale Crater, Mars, William Rapin, Gilles Dromart, David Rubin, Laetitia Le Deit, Nicolas Mangold, Lauren A. Edgar, Olivier Gasnault, Kenneth Herkenhoff, Stphane Le Moulic, Ryan B. Anderson, Sylvestre Maurice, Valerie K. Fox, Bethany L. Ehlmann, James L. Dickson, Roger C. Wiens.Geology, 8 April 2021. DOI:10.1130/G48519.1

About Los Alamos NationalLaboratoryLos Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is managed by Triad, a public service oriented, national security science organization equally owned by its three founding members: Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle), the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS), and the Regents of the University of California (UC) for the Department of Energys National Nuclear Security Administration.Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.

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LANL: New Research Shows Mars Did Not Dry Up All At Once, Had Dry And Wet Eras And Dried Up For Good 3 Billion Years Ago - Los Alamos Reporter

Perseverance's laser hasn't yet penetrated the mystery of a strange Martian rock near the rover's new digs.

NASA's rover is waiting for its companion, the Ingenuity helicopter, to make the first-ever powered flight on another planet. Meanwhile, its instruments targeted a greenish-looking rock on the Red Planet's surface that has the science team "trading lots of hypotheses," according to the rover's Twitter feed but please don't pick aliens as one of them.

"Is it something weathered out of the local bedrock?," a tweet the account posted on Wednesday (March 31) wondered. "Is it a piece of Mars plopped into the area from a far-flung impact event? Is it a meteorite? Or something else?"

Video: Perseverance lasers odd rock and new Mars panorama in latest picsRelated: Where to find the latest Mars photos from NASA's Perseverance rover

"It's about 6 inches (15 cm) long," added the tweet. "If you look closely, you might spot the row of laser marks where I zapped it to learn more."

The laser is part of the rock-zapping SuperCam instrument. Scientists hope that over time, the laser will give us more information about the strange rock's composition, which could tell scientists whether it formed in place or was transported there by some process. If it didn't form at its current location, water may have carried it to Jezero Crater or it could be a meteorite like the one that the Curiosity rover spotted in 2014.

Perseverance is the centerpiece of NASA's $2.7 billion Mars 2020 mission. The car-sized rover started its work on the Red Planet on Feb. 18, exploring Jezero Crater for signs of ancient life. The crater used to have a deep lake and a river delta, providing plenty of interesting environments for Perseverance to explore. The rover will then cache the most promising samples for a possible sample-return mission later in the decade.

Perseverance has seven science instruments on board. SuperCam sits on top of the mast of Perseverance and can send laser shots to target rocks as far as 23 feet (7 meters) from the rover. Each laser beam creates a cloud of vaporized rock, the composition of which can be analyzed by SuperCam's cameras and spectrometers.

SuperCam's first activity on Mars was on March 2, when it fired on a target called Maz, the Navajo word for Mars. The Perseverance team informally dubbed its region of Jezero the Canyon de Chelly, after a national monument on Navajo land in northeastern Arizona, and the Navajo Nation is working in consultation with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to select appropriate names to use on Mars.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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What's up with this weird green rock on Mars? Perseverance rover is trying to find out. - Space.com

WASHINGTON - NASA's Ingenuity mini-helicopter has been dropped on the surface of Mars in preparation for its first flight, the U.S. space agency said.

The ultra-light aircraft had been fixed to the belly of the Perseverance rover, which touched down on the Red Planet on February 18.

"Mars Helicopter touchdown confirmed!" NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory tweeted Saturday.

"Its 293 million mile (471 million kilometer) journey aboard @NASAPersevere ended with the final drop of 4 inches (10 centimeter) from the rover's belly to the surface of Mars today. Next milestone? Survive the night."

A photograph accompanying the tweet showed Perseverance had driven clear of the helicopter and its "airfield" after dropping to the surface.

Ingenuity had been feeding off the Perseverance's power system but will now have to use its own battery to run a vital heater to protect its unshielded electrical components from freezing and cracking during the bitter Martian night.

"This heater keeps the interior at about 45 F (7 C) through the bitter cold of the Martian night, where temperatures can drop to as low as -130 F (-90 C)," Bob Balaram, Mars Helicopter Project chief engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, wrote in an update on Friday.

"That comfortably protects key components such as the battery and some of the sensitive electronics from harm at very cold temperatures."

Over the next couple of days, the Ingenuity team will check that the helicopter's solar panels are working properly and recharging its battery before testing its motors and sensors ahead of its first flight, Balaram said.

Ingenuity is expected to make its first flight attempt no earlier than April 11, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory tweeted.

Ingenuity will be attempting to fly in an atmosphere that is one percent the density of Earth's, which makes achieving lift harder -- but will be assisted by gravity that is one-third of our planet's.

The first flight will involve climbing at a rate of about three feet (one meter) per second to a height of 10 feet (three meters), hovering there for 30 seconds, then descending back to the surface.

Ingenuity will be taking high-resolution photography as it flies.

Up to five flights of gradual difficulty are planned over the month.

The four-pound (1.8-kilogram) rotorcraft cost NASA around $85 million to develop and is considered a proof of concept that could revolutionize space exploration.

Future aircraft could cover ground much quicker than rovers, and explore more rugged terrain.

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NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Dropped on Mars' Surface ahead of Flight - Voice of America

Last year, we wrote about a group of international researchers working on a self-sustaining system for a colony on Mars. According to the latest plans, the city will have room for 250 thousand inhabitants and will gradually grow to one million people. The intention is to be able to emigrate to Mars from 2100 onwards.

The system that the scientists are working on provides everything humans need to survive. Agricultural modules with plants and micro-algae not only provide food, but also recycle exhaled air back into oxygen. The city will also generate enough energy and have its own industry. For example, it would be able to produce building materials.

Before it even gets that far, Angelo Vermeulen believes science still has a lot of tough nuts to crack. Vermeulen is a biologist, artist and has been working on space travel for about ten years now. Among other things, he is actively involved in the European Space Agency (ESA) project Micro-Ecological Life Support Alternative (MELISSA), which studies how to make food, water and oxygen from organic waste and carbon dioxide in space. He is also researching bio-inspired systems at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), such as spaceships that can self-evolve and repair themselves millions of miles away from Earth. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who died in 1935 and had laid the foundation for rocket theory and is pretty much the father of space travel, also dreamed about extraterrestrial settlements. In his time, he was already writing about recovering oxygen by using plants.

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The layout of the city living areas, agriculture, industry and in-house energy generation is also nothing new. Scientists on Earth have been researching how this works in space for years. From simulated space travel to food supply, its all being done. Except, Vermeulen argues, this research really needs to be taken out into space. That we can grow food under very extreme conditions is shown by the European EDEN-ISS project. In two large maritime containers at the German Neumayer III station in Antarctica, fresh food was grown for months on end. Of course, I dont have to explain that the conditions there are far from ideal. For growing food in space, we dont need to invent anything new. We need to go out there and test it on the spot.

The same is true for the MELiSSA life-support system on which Vermeulen is conducting theoretical research. Separate components, such as bioreactors with algae, have already been into space. We know, for example, that these are much more resistant to cosmic radiation than humans. But a completely closed regenerative system has never been into space. Thats because its quite complex biologically speaking. Theres a lot more to it than just the exchange of CO2 and oxygen. Especially if you add several plants or other animal species. You have to have an ecosystem like that under control, Vermeulen says.

MELISSA has already taken the first steps towards this. All the organic waste from the astronauts is converted into food for algae and crops with the help of bacteria in three types of bioreactors. In turn, the algae and crops, combined with the exhaled carbon dioxide of astronauts, convert this into oxygen and food by means of photosynthesis. The ultimate goal is to grow a total of twenty crops and to significantly reduce the size of all the machinery before they go into space.

But Vermeulen doubts whether this system will ever be 100 percent regenerative. A completely closed regenerative system is quite a challenge, there will always be some form of loss. And biology is not a machine, everything affects each other and that makes it harder to control. If we manage to build a closed system like this, it will not be able to immediately supply all the food that is needed. It will be much more gradual. A system that provides 20 percent of the food for the astronauts, for instance, would already be a great step forward. But I dont think well ever be able to do it completely without any external supplies.

Vermeulen maps out all kinds of different scenarios that could affect the journey in his theoretical simulation research on long-distance space travel. Will the astronauts have enough food? Will the life-support system continue to work after a solar storm? A bit like a strategic computer game like SimCity, but only with numbers and graphs. Also here, you guessed it, biology is the main factor. So were looking not only at regenerative food growing and oxygen generation, but also at flexible construction that, just like nature, has an adaptive and restorative capacity.

The main lesson from his simulations so far are that he closer all the elements of such a closed system are to each other, the more dependent and vulnerable the complete system is. Everything depends on each other. So if there is a kink somewhere, it affects the whole system. Thats nothing new in itself, but this complexity does make some engineers say that we shouldnt use biology in space exploration in that case. But we are going to need nature to be able to keep humans alive in a sustainable way. Also, nature has restorative powers. A crop can do poorly and then flourish again, whereas machines do not.

According to Vermeulen, we see ecosystems too much in terms of a machine that we, as humans, want to control. The idea of a stable and perfectly predictable ecosystem is not accurate. The numerous components are constantly interacting with each other. Ecosystems are essentially permanently changing. Thats what makes controlling them so difficult; you have to take every possible reaction in the system into account. Even if it is not foreseen. We are now working towards a more robust system with buffers and self-organizing elements. In such a system, we can let go of control more and let the system do its own thing.

Like Vermeulen, Jeroen Rotteveel CEO of ISISpace, a start-up founded in 2006 and specializing in satellite technology, thinks a colony on Mars is still a long way off. Technically speaking, it is perfectly possible. But a permanent space station that was talked about after the moon landing is still not in place either.

In his view, this is mainly due to the high costs. Keeping 6 astronauts alive 400 kilometers from Earth in the ISS station costs 10 billion a year. For a settlement on Mars, these costs easily go up by a factor of 50. You have to send an awful lot of supplies, spare parts, food and, obviously, process technology to produce building materials, for example. These are gigantic sums of between 50 billion and 100 billion.

He does see that innovation is accelerating because of the commercialization of space. Governments with space programs sometimes tend to rely on their own boffins. For example, the EU developed a computer chip for space at a cost of 100 million, while parties like Intel have much more knowledge about this. They would spend the same amount per week on the development of such a chip, so to speak. You see that other companies have the ability to take these things up much more efficiently. Look at Elon Musk with SpaceX.

The time when technology from space was responsible for change on Earth is over, Rotteveel contends: The investments to purify the air in the aerospace sector are many times lower than in industry, for one thing. This is partly due to public awareness. Look how quickly battery technology has developed in recent years; that would not have happened without electric cars.

But on the other hand, space does provide other parameters that you have to take into account. You cannot send construction workers to Mars, building will be done robotically. You have to use different materials or invent something to put a settlement down very quickly. Given the current housing shortage, we could use that technology here too.

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Living on Mars? Not so fast according to space experts - Innovation Origins

Engineers work on the Hope probe in a cleanroom. (Credit: MBRSC)

On Feb. 14, 2021, the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), the first mission to Mars led by an Arab nation, released its inaugural image of the red planet in incredible detail. The photo, taken by the missions Hope (Al Amal in Arabic) probe, showed the red planet at dawn as sunlight moved across the surfacejust revealing the edges of Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the solar system.

Noora Alsaeed is a scholar at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the United Arab Emirates and PhD student at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder. For Alsaeed, who doesnt directly work on the mission, the photo is a promise of things to come. Once the probe launches its full science operations later this year, it will collect data on Martian weather at all points on the planet and at all times of day and seasons of the year.

The Emirates Mars Mission's first image of the red planet. Olympus Mons is the circular structure just above the shadow. (Credit:MBRSC/UAE Space Agency/CU-LASP/EMM-EXI)

It was the best Valentines Day gift ever, said Alsaeed, who grew up in Dubai in the UAE. The photo captured everything that EMM is going to study. You could see the dust lifting off the surface. You could see the clouds around the North and South poles.

It was also a gift that was only possible because of international collaboration.

Beginning in 2015, Alsaeed joined dozens of other young researchers and engineers from the MBRSC who traveled to the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Boulder. Over five years, many of them developed, built, and tested the Hope probe and laid out its scientific goals working in collaboration with engineers and scientists at LASP. There was plenty of cultural exchange: Alsaeed has loved hiking in the mountains (but didnt enjoy this years cold and snowy weather). She and her compatriots from the UAE, in turn, have taught their American friends about the central role that hospitality plays in Arabic-speaking countries.

In the process, these researchers learned the ins and outs of planetary science and aerospace engineeringfrom how carbon dioxide falls as snow over the Martian poles to how to design a propellant tank that can carry enough fuel to put a spacecraft into orbit around Mars.

The mission is being led by the MBRSC and includes a group of knowledge partners and experts from around the worldincluding at LASP, Arizona State University, the University of California, Berkeley and Japans Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

This sort of mission is like a primordial soup for innovation where you have all these diverse minds working together, Alsaeed said.

As David Brain, a professor at LASP who leads the U.S. science team for EMM put it, science doesnt like international boundaries.

Mohsen Mohammed Al Awadhi had a close eye on the product of that collaboration on Feb. 9. He was sitting at a computer screen in the Mission Operations Center at the MBRSC in Dubai when Hope began what engineers call a Mars orbit insertion maneuver.

The feat wasnt easyto swing itself into orbit around Mars, the spacecraft had to burn its thrusters for nearly 30 minutes, slowing its speed down from about 75,000 to 11,000 miles per hour. When the maneuver was successful and the control room burst into cheers, Al Awadhi remembers feeling confused.

I wasnt sure if we were done because it was so easy, said Al Awadhi, whos the mission systems engineer for EMM. That showed the hard work of the teamthat they made this critical event feel so easy.

Al Awadhi had a long road to get to this point. When he graduated from college in 2010, he didnt think hed ever be able to use his skills to explore outer space. Instead, he worked on airplanes. But several years later, he jumped at the opportunity to get involved in EMMin large part because he knew that the UAE was seeking to build a sustainable space program that would inspire Arab youth and engage in the worldwide space science community.

Were not just doing this to say were doing this, Al Awadhi said. We want to lead a mission that is unique and that is actually contributing to the scientific community.

To make that happen, Al Awadhi and his wife, among others, moved to Boulder in 2015 and stayed until 2020. He worked side-by-side with engineers at LASP to learn about the unique challenges that come from sending equipment made on Earth millions of miles into space. All interplanetary space missions, for example, need to abide by planetary protection protocolsguidelines that prevent space probes and landers from contaminating bodies like Mars with living organisms from Earth.

Top: The Hope probe in a cleanroom; bottom: Artist's rendering of the Hope probe in orbit around Mars. (Credits: MBRSC)

Along the way, Al Awadhi earned his masters degree in aerospace engineering from CU Boulder and saw the birth of his first son.

Boulder will always be my second home, Al Awadhi said.

His colleagues at LASP feel the same way. Nicolas Ferrington is the systems engineering manager at the institute and worked closely with Al Awadhi on EMM. He said that he wanted to be a part of a mission that bridged national and cultural divides.

Before EMM, I had never interacted on a close level with someone from the Middle East, Ferrington said.

It wasnt always easy. Ferrington noted that he had to adapt his own leadership style for his new colleagues. In the past, when he saw a problem that needed fixing, the engineer jumped in and took care of it on his own. The team from the UAE, however, didnt have that same go-it-alone attitude, so Ferrington learned how to let other people step up.

He hopes that more space projects will follow the MBRSC and LASPs lead in the coming yearsespecially as nations like the UAE look to start their own space programs.

If youre just purchasing a spacecraft from somebody, youre not building the capacity in-house. Youre not allowing your own population to grow, Ferrington said. You need to find a model to transfer that knowledge.

In the UAE, the mission has already become a symbol of national pride. To celebrate Hopes arrival at Mars, Dubais Burj Khalifa, the worlds tallest skyscraper, was lit in red lightas were landmarks across the Middle East.

Brain said that people in the UAE today are as excited about space as Americans were during the Apollo era. During one of his trips to Dubai, the scientist spoke to a class of middle school girls about their nations mission to Mars.

I couldnt get out of the room they were so excited, he said. That engagement was astounding. I remember my own middle school experience of how uncool it was to show interest in things like that.

Alsaeed added that the best part of the mission for her has been all of the messages shes received from young people who want to know how they, too, can become a Mars explorer. When she was an undergraduate student at the American University of Sharjah in the UAE, her college didnt offer a physics degree, let alone a major in planetary science.

Today, she said, young girls in the UAE wont have to leave their home to reach the stars, and that might be the real legacy of EMM.

They already have the passion, Alsaeed said. Now they feel like they can act on it.

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How years of international collaboration led to Hope circling Mars - CU Boulder Today

April 2, 2021, 1:06 PM HST

Parker School alumnus and member of NASAs Perseverance Rover team on Mars gave a virtual presentation to students at his alma mater about the recent successful landing on the red planet.

On March 26, Parker Schools middle and upper students watched Jesse Tarnas in a 40-minute virtual presentation titled The Search for Alien Life and a Home on Mars. He discussed the Mars 2020 mission including details of the rover landing, the ongoing exploration of the red planet, and how this mission will change the future of science and humanity forever.

Tarnas, a 2012 Parker graduate, earned his Ph.D. in planetary science from Brown University and now works at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a member of the science team for the Perseverance Mars rover mission. As a member of the NASA rover science team, Tarnas explained to students his role in collecting and interpreting the new surface data from the rover to help determine the best traverse it can take to learn the most it can about Mars and potentially find evidence of fossilized life.

Tarnas also described how his time at Parker influenced his journey to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and offered students the following advice, work hard, dont listen to people who doubt you, seek out mentors, find what inspires you and pursue that full throttle.

You are in a really exciting position based on when you were born to really contribute to this attempt by humans to become interplanetary, Tarnas told students. I look forward to working with all of you as we expand into and inhabit the solar system to create an exciting future for all of humanity.

The presentation is part of Parkers new ongoing Big Island Science series aimed to make science exciting and accessible by exploring the natural world on Hawaii Island. Weekly presentations are led by leading local experts through the lens of western science, culture, and Hawaiian wisdom. Recent topics include the Kilauea eruption, sharks, Hawaiian voyaging, and coral bleaching.

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Mars Rover Member and Parker Alum Speaks With Students - Big Island Now

When David Bednar made his pitch to make the Pittsburgh Pirates, it usually came down to a decision of whether to throw his four-seam fastball by hitters or make them chase his curveball.

By recording 18 strikeouts, giving up three hits and one walk without allowing a run in 10 Grapefruit League appearances, the Mars graduate made a dream come true by earning a spot on the 26-man Opening Day roster of his hometown team.

What went into the decision? He was really good in spring training, Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Bednar. He came in, and he performed. I think thats the most important thing. He did a really nice job, so excited to watch him in regular games.

Less than 24 hours before the opener against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Shelton wasnt ready to reveal who won the final spot in a bullpen that was overhauled in the offseason.

The Pirates parted ways with Nick Burdi, Miguel Del Pozo, Keone Kela, Dovydas Neverauskas, Nick Tropeano, Nik Turley and Brandon Waddell. They returned right-handed relievers Richard Rodriguez, Chris Stratton, Kyle Crick, Michael Feliz and Clay Holmes and lefty Sam Howard, and traded for righties Wil Crowe, Luis Oviedo and Duane Underwood Jr. The Pirates plan to start the season with 14 pitchers, which would leave nine in the bullpen.

I think they did a really nice job in spring training, Shelton said. There were different options in terms of usage, different options in terms of what their pitches do and I really think that they did a good job in spring training. Im looking forward to getting them out there in a regular-season situation.

What the Pirates dont have is a closer. Keone Kela was expected to handle that role last season before testing positive for covid-19 and then being sidelined by an arm injury. Shelton has suggested a closer-by-committee as a possible solution but mostly has dodged the issue.

I think everybody in our bullpen could possibly pitch in a leverage role in some situations, Shelton said. We have not decided how were going to do it.

The 6-foot-1, 245-pound Bednar fits the profile, collecting 39 saves in the minors before being dealt by the San Diego Padres in the Joe Musgrove trade. Bednar welcomes a chance to return home to play in front of his family and friends his father Andy is the baseball coach at Mars and was thrilled to share the news when he learned he made the team. Their reaction eclipsed his own.

It was cool, man, Bednar said. Everybody was super excited and still hasnt really hit. Its unbelievable.

Bednar still is seeking his first major league save and wants to first prove himself in whatever opportunities are presented.

Im just going to prepare and be ready to go at any time, be available every day, Bednar said. Im just going to go and get outs whenever Im called upon. Ultimately, it comes down to pitching, getting outs and earning the trust of the coaching staff. It does not matter what the situation is. I want to go out and compete whenever Im called upon.

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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Making the Pirates 'unbelievable' for Mars alum David Bednar, who hopes to boost bullpen - TribLIVE

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The global confectionery sector was valued at US$193.2 billion in 2019 and is forecast to record a CAGR of 2.6% during 2019-2024 to reach US$219.5 billion by 2024.

A total of 109 countries were analyzed based on risk-reward analysis to identify 10 high-potential countries by region. The high-potential countries identified include Indonesia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Canada, The US, Mexico, The Netherlands, Spain, Poland and Russia.

Of the top 10 high-potential countries, the US was the leading confectionery market in 2019. Confectionery with health & wellness claims accounted for 16.3% of the overall global sector sales in 2019. The top five companies in the global confectionery sector accounted for 44.9% value share in 2019. The sector is led by Mars Incorporated, which held a share of 13.8%, followed by Mondelez International, Inc, Nestle SA, Ferrero and The Hershey Co, which accounted for shares of 12.6%, 6.8%, 6.2%, and 5.5%, respectively.

Artisanal producers and private labels held shares of 0.5% and 3.9%, respectively, in the same year Hypermarkets & supermarkets was the leading channel for the distribution of confectionery, with 42.1% value share globally in 2019, followed by convenience stores with 29.6% share. Flexible packaging was the most used pack material in the confectionery sector, accounting for 79.3% of the volume share in 2019, followed by rigid plastics with 15.4% share.

Scope

Reasons to Buy

Key Topics Covered:

Executive Summary

Part 1: Sector Overview

Part 2: Shift In Food Consumption Patterns

Part 3: Identifying High-Potential Countries

Part 4: Country Deep Analysis

Part 5: Health & Wellness Analysis - Global and Regional Level

Part 6: Competitive Landscape

Part 7: Competitive Landscape - Market Analysis

Part 8: Market Share of Private Label

Part 9: Key Distribution Channels

Part 10: Key Packaging Formats

Appendix

Companies Mentioned

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/i52nne

Excerpt from:

$219.5 Billion Opportunities in the Global Confectionery Sector to 2024: Mars, Mondelez International, Nestle SA, Ferrero and The Hershey Co Lead the...

Earlier this week, The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) unveiled an open-source guide for marketers that strives to improve diversity and representation throughout the creative process.

The guide proposes 12 questions that can be used as a litmus test at every stage of the creative journey, pulling together key resources that can be used to address gaps and areas of concern.

It comes amid a push from the wider industry to banish stereotypes in ads and to ensure diversity both on-screen and behind the camera reflecting the various nuances of race, gender, age, and sexuality among other factors.

Brands like Unilever and P&G have already begun their efforts in the space. This week P&G launched its own 'Widen the Screen' initiative, dedicated to dismantling harmful stereotypes of Black people on-screen.

Meanwhile, the new WFA document has been co-developed by members of the federation's Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, which launched in 2020.

Today, The Drum catches up with members of the board from Mars, P&G and Diageo who reveal how they've been tailoring their own creative procedures to avoid the bias pitfalls marketers too often fall into.

From baking inclusive marketing into the core of your business, analyzing the characters in your ads, and tracking your efforts against solid KPIs, they offer some lessons to other marketers in getting started in making the creative process produce outcomes that are more representative of the audiences they serve.

The commitment to fair representation doesnt end once the creative is complete

At Mars we believe the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. As a leading global advertiser, we have a responsibility to make sure our brands speak to and celebrate the diversity of the audiences who enjoy them.

In fact, inclusive marketing practices is one of the core pillars of our gender equity platform called 'Full Potential'.

As the new WFA bias guide stresses, this commitment to fair representation doesnt end once the creative is complete. Its important to measure and track progress.

We analyze who is working on our productions and audit the composition and portrayal of characters in our work. We have partnered with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media to assess our advertising using a proprietary GD-IQ tool, which evaluates the characters in our video assets across our brands. For example, when looking at diversity in an ad, we check who is in a position of leadership, or who is in the kitchen?

We also compare this data to see how representative we are in various parts of the world, which allows us to diagnose potential areas of unconscious bias, something which, again, the new guide recommends doing.

At Mars, we also focus on the environment in which our advertising is placed. We consider the type of programming we wish to be present in and whether it represents our values. This also extends to digital advertising.

We are proud to be a founding member of the WFAs Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) a global collaboration with agencies, media platforms and industry associations aimed at rapidly improving digital brand safety, avoiding harmful or inappropriate content and protecting vulnerable audiences, such as children.

Its a journey and we still have a long way to go, but hopefully we can use our marketing to make a difference. We hope by being more representative and challenging stereotypes, our adverts can help shape a better world.

Learn from from other organization's experiences and provocations

There is now a groundswell of evidence that shows a more progressive industry is not just good for society but is also good for business and good for brands.

A Deloitte study from 2017-2019 which measured the ROI of diversity and demonstrated the stock price of diverse brands performed 69% better than their counterparts, and consumer preference scores were also 83% higher.

However, the most recent data from the Geena Davis institute (among others) shows there is still so much work to do both on gender, ethnicity and across all aspects of diversity.

Which poses the question. Why as an industry full of ambition, positive intent and with a business imperative to deliver growth and stronger ROIs, are we not making the scale and pace of progress that is needed?

I believe it is down to two things: firstly, there is an imperative to collaborate across the industry with partners, and communities to share learning both where we got it right, and where we have still work to do - so as to ensure that all boats rise together.

In contributing to the WFA's guide, we were delighted to share Diageos experience and practical examples of how to support a range of voices, celebrate diversity and achieve more progressive marketing. We also benefited and learned from the other organisations experiences and provocations that will help us make our work and practices better.

Secondly, we know that decades of hardwired biased practice and thinking can still get in the way of creating more representative and inclusive work and we need nudges, tools, frameworks and provocation to help us create more open and unbiased discussion and decisions in the development process.

The careful and considered thought at every stage of the development process in order to prevent bias as outlined in the new WFA guide will be a key enabler of unlocking the answer and creating both the ambition and the action we need to create industry wide change.

So, what are the key elements of the new WFA guide?

Firstly, the taskforce identified that in order to really deliver on the ambition for more progressive work, it needs to be embedded in brand and organizational strategy from the very outset, backed by senior commitment and action.

And of course, we also know that this makes good business sense. In the upfront strategic thinking consider whether your brand or organization is accessing all of the diverse opportunities for growth - does your audience reflects the emerging consumer base for your category and most importantly ask yourself who are you excluding.

Ensure that through research and engagement with experts that you have a thorough deep understanding of these diverse audiences so that you can also understand the credible and authentic role your brand can play. Bring inspiration and fresh stimulus to the brief and throughout the whole creative process consider the diversity of those you have at the table or in the room, behind the camera, and in the edit suite and ensure those diverse voices are heard, amplified and listened to.

There is an urgent need to make our industry more representative and this can also be enabled through the role clients play in championing a more diverse supply chain from agencies through production and also through working with WFA partners such as Creative Equals and Free the Work, amongst others.

The UN women convened body, the Unstereotype Alliance, has also created a valuable tool in its content playbook which ensures that as you move through creative development you are fully considering the 3 Ps of presence, perspective and personality so as to avoid stereotyping and making truly progressive work that matches the strategic ambition and intent.

"Finally, when pulling this guide together, the marketers involved felt was particularly important to nurture a safe space for frank and honest critique of the creative and interpretation, recognizing that this can be complex, nuanced and subject to individual bias.

Many organisations also have diversity and inclusion employee groups that can be a valuable source of input and advice - creating the right conditions for truly progressive conversations, leading to progressive work that is good for brands, good for business and good for society.

Change can only happen through clear KPIs

At P&G we are committed to leveraging our brands voices around globe to shape a more equal world through advertising.

Our efforts are on track to deliver 100% positive and accurate representation on screen and hire 50% female directors behind the camera to shoot our commercials.

Since our chief brand officer, Marc Pritchard, initiated this journey at Cannes Lions in 2017, we have learned that equity and inclusion change happens through organizations accountability, capability building, and clear KPIs.

The new guide does an amazing job in the last two areas, driving awareness of the opportunities and pitfalls in representation, as well as calling out highly relevant resources and partners for talent or measurement at every stage of the creative and production process.

Read more:

Lessons in avoiding creative bias from Mars, Diageo and P&G - The Drum