Space / Aerospace / Aircraft

[Jaydee]

Our ‘First Contact’ With Aliens Will Be With A Superior Civilization, Say NASA Scientists As They Narrow The Hunt

Humans’ “first contact” with aliens is likely to be with a civilization much more technologically advanced than ours, according to a new NASA-funded study into the search for intelligent extraterrestrial life (SETI). 

 

According to the paper published in the specialized journal Acta Astronautica, the easiest way to detect extraterrestrial civilizations is by searching for “technosignatures”—evidence for the use of technology or industrial activity in other parts of the Universe

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2021/03/23/our-first-contact-with-aliens-will-be-with-a-superior-civilization-say-nasa-scientists-as-they-narrow-the-hunt/?sh=32b5766d5c31

 

[Guest1]

How John Glenn nearly died - MiG Mad Marine, the Real Story of Friendship 7 & NASA's Project Mercury - YouTube

[Guest1]

MARSDAILY Rover drops off Mars Helicopter Ingenuity for first flight on Mars by Bob Balaram | Chief Engineer Ingenuity Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 04, 2021 NASA's Ingenuity helicopter can be seen here with all four of its legs deployed and dropped from the belly of the Perseverance rover on March 30, 2021. Within a few days, Ingenuity will be on the surface of Mars. Until now it has been connected to the Perseverance rover, which allowed Ingenuity to charge its battery as well as use a thermostat-controlled heater powered by the rover. This heater keeps the interior at about 45 degrees F through the bitter cold of the Martian night, where temperatures can drop to as low as -130F. That comfortably protects key components such as the battery and some of the sensitive electronics from harm at very cold temperatures. Before Ingenuity drops the last few inches onto its airfield, Perseverance will charge up the little helicopter's battery to a 100 percent state-of-charge. That's a good thing, because Ingenuity has to run its own heater from its own battery after the drop. No more free power from the rover! But there is another free source of energy on Mars: the Sun! The Sun's energy is weaker at Mars-a little over half of what we would find here on Earth on a bright, sunny day. But it's enough for Ingenuity's high-tech solar panel to charge the battery. Of course, this means that the rover will drive away from Ingenuity after the drop so that we uncover the solar panel. This will occur as soon as possible after the drop. Ingenuity can't afford to keep the temperature of its interior at a "balmy" 45F -that takes too much precious energy from the battery. Instead, when it wakes up on the surface after being dropped, it sets its thermostat to about 5F or lower. Then it's off to survive the first night on its own! The Ingenuity team will be anxiously waiting to hear from the helicopter the next day. Did it make it through the night? Is the solar panel working as expected? The team will check the temperatures and the battery recharge performance over the next couple of days. If it all looks good, then it's onto the next steps: unlocking the rotor blades, and testing out all the motors and sensors.

[Guest1]

Mar 30, 2021

 

NASA Invites Public to Share Excitement of Agency’s SpaceX Crew-2 Mission

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station on Nov. 15, 2020, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission is targeted for no earlier than Thursday, April 22, at 6:11 a.m. EDT.

Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky

 

By Emily McLeod Sulkes
NASA's Kennedy Space Center

NASA invites the public to take part in virtual activities and events ahead of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission. Liftoff of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket with astronauts is targeted for no earlier than 6:11 a.m. EDT Thursday, April 22, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

 

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission will carry NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and  Megan McArthur – who will serve as the mission’s spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively – along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who will serve as mission specialists. 

 

The crew is scheduled to work aboard the International Space Station through the fall of 2021, conducting science research in areas such as medical technology, human health, and materials to benefit life on Earth.

 

Live coverage and countdown commentary will begin at 2 a.m. EDT on NASA Television and the agency’s website, as well as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitch, Daily Motion, and Theta.TV.

 

Members of the public can attend the launch virtually, receiving mission updates and opportunities normally reserved for on-site guests. NASA’s virtual guest experience for Crew-2 includes curated launch resources, a behind-the-scenes look at the mission, notifications about NASA social interactions, and the opportunity for a virtual launch passport stamp following a successful launch.

 

Organizations hosting launch-focused events are also encouraged to register and let NASA know that you’re doing so. This would include school groups, museums, or even colleagues watching together! If you plan to gather in person with others to watch the launch, NASA recommends following all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and local rules regarding COVID-19.

 

Members of the public and organizations can share in the journey through a variety of activities, including:

 

Virtual Launch Passport

 

Print, fold, and get ready to fill your virtual passport. Stamps will be emailed following launches to those who register via email through Eventbrite.

 

Watch and Engage on Social Media

 

Stay connected with the mission on social media, and let people know you’re following Crew-2 on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using the hashtag #LaunchAmerica. Follow and tag these accounts:

• Twitter: @NASA, @Commercial_Crew, @Space_Station, @NASAKennedy
• Facebook: NASA, NASACommercialCrew, ISS Facebook, Kennedy Space Center
• Instagram: NASA, ISS Instagram, NASAKennedy

 

Click here to find out more about the Crew-2 mission.

Last Updated: Mar 30, 2021

Editor: James Cawley

[Guest1]

A Drone for Kip?  

NASA’s Mars Helicopter Survives First Cold Martian Night on Its Own

 

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter can be seen on Mars as viewed by the Perseverance rover’s rear Hazard Camera on April 4, 2021, the 44th Martian day, or sol of the mission.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

Making it through the frigid Martian temperatures after being deployed by NASA’s Perseverance rover is a major milestone for the small rotorcraft.  

 

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has emerged from its first night on the surface of Mars.

 

Evening temperatures at Jezero Crater can plunge as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius), which can freeze and crack unprotected electrical components and damage the onboard batteries required for flight. Surviving that first night after being deployed from where it was attached to the belly of NASA’s Perseverance rover on April 3 is a major milestone for the 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) rotorcraft. In the days to come, Ingenuity will be the first aircraft to attempt powered, controlled flight on another planet.

 

“This is the first time that Ingenuity has been on its own on the surface of Mars,” said MiMi Aung, Ingenuity project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “But we now have confirmation that we have the right insulation, the right heaters, and enough energy in its battery to survive the cold night, which is a big win for the team. We’re excited to continue to prepare Ingenuity for its first flight test.”

 

Devising a craft small enough to fit onto the rover, light enough to fly in Mars’ thin atmosphere, yet hardy enough to withstand the Martian cold presented significant challenges. To ensure the solar array atop the helicopter’s rotors could begin getting sunlight as soon as possible, Perseverance was instructed to move away from Ingenuity shortly after deploying it.

 

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this image with its color camera from beneath the Perseverance rover after the rover had deployed the rotorcraft to the surface of Mars. Image was taken on April 3, 2021.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

 

Until the helicopter put its four legs onto the Martian surface, Ingenuity remained attached to the belly of the rover, receiving power from Perseverance, which touched down at Jezero Crater on Feb. 18. The rover serves as a communications relay between Ingenuity and Earth, and it will use its suite of cameras to observe the flight characteristics of the solar-powered helicopter from “Van Zyl Overlook.”

 

The sole mission of Ingenuity, a technology demonstration, is to conduct flight tests in the thin atmosphere of Mars; the helicopter carries no science instruments. Within 30 Martian days, or sols (a Martian day is 24.6 hours), on the surface, Ingenuity will complete its testing, and Perseverance’s scientific exploration of Jezero Crater will kick into high gear.

 

“Our 30-sol test schedule is frontloaded with exciting milestones,” said Teddy Tzanetos, deputy operations lead for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at JPL. “Whatever the future holds, we will acquire all the flight data we can within that timeframe.”

 

The Month of Ingenuity

 

On April 4, Perseverance downlinked the first of the images of the helicopter on the surface of Mars. Taken by the rover’s rear left Hazard Avoidance camera, the image shows the helicopter’s rotor blades still stacked in alignment on top of each other (a configuration used to save room during the trip to Mars) and its four footpads firmly planted into the surface of Mars.

 

For the next two days, Ingenuity will collect information about how well the thermal-control and power systems perform now that the small helicopter is standing on its own in the Mars environment. That information will be used to fine tune Ingenuity’s thermal-control system to help it survive the harsh Mars nights through the entire flight experiment period.

 

Click (or touch) and drag to interact with this 3D model of the Mars 2020 Ingenuity Helicopter. NASA’s Mars Helicopter Survives First Cold Martian Night on Its Own | NASA

Learn more about Ingenuity at https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

On April 7, the restraints that have been holding the rotor blades together since before launch are scheduled to be released. If the mission team meets that milestone, the next several sols will involve more testing of the rotor blades as well as the motors that drive them. There are also checkouts of the inertial measurement unit (an electronic device that measures a body’s orientation and angular rate) and onboard computers tasked with autonomously flying the helicopter. Additionally, the team will continue to monitor the helicopter’s energy performance, including assessment of solar-array power and state of charge of the craft’s six lithium ion batteries.

 

If all goes well with each of the myriad preflight checks, Ingenuity’s first attempt to lift off from the middle of its 33-by-33-foot (10-by-10-meter) “airfield” – chosen for its flatness and lack of obstructions – will be no sooner than the evening of April 11.

 

Subsequent flight tests will be scheduled throughout the Month of Ingenuity, with Perseverance’s cameras providing plenty of high-definition images of the historic mission.

 

More About Ingenuity

 

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages this technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center and Langley Research Center provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance.

 

At NASA Headquarters, Dave Lavery is the program executive for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. At JPL, MiMi Aung is the project manager and J. (Bob) Balaram is chief engineer.

 

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.

 

For more information about Ingenuity:

 

https://go.nasa.gov/ingenuity-press-kit

 

and

 

https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter

 

More About Perseverance

 

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

 

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

 

JPL built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

[Kip Powick]

For the next two days, Ingenuity will collect information about how well the thermal-control and power systems perform now that the small helicopter is standing on its own in the Mars environment. That information will be used to fine tune Ingenuity’s thermal-control system to help it survive the harsh Mars nights through the entire flight experiment period.

Well that is certainly good news...There is no point in me taking a couple of my drones up there if they won't be able to cope with the weather,  unless we can stick a parka or something on them.

[Guest1]

1 hour ago, Kip Powick said:

For the next two days, Ingenuity will collect information about how well the thermal-control and power systems perform now that the small helicopter is standing on its own in the Mars environment. That information will be used to fine tune Ingenuity’s thermal-control system to help it survive the harsh Mars nights through the entire flight experiment period.

Well that is certainly good news...There is no point in me taking a couple of my drones up there if they won't be able to cope with the weather,  unless we can stick a parka or something on them.

But can they survive the typical Ontario Winters or do they have to be stored in a heated hangar?  

[Kip Powick]

1 hour ago, Kargokings said:

But can they survive the typical Ontario Winters or do they have to be stored in a heated hangar?  

Ideally , not used below -5C....battery life is exceedingly shortened in cold weather.

[Guest1]

NASA is working on a better battery.

 

NASA seeks to create a better battery with SABERS
by John Gould for NASA News
Cleveland OH (SPX) Apr 08, 2021

Dealing with battery issues on our phones, tablets, or laptops can be frustrating. Although batteries are everywhere in everyday life, many still suffer breakdowns and failures. The minor inconvenience of needing to charge them more often could even turn into costly repairs or buying a new device altogether. Batteries in larger electronics, like hoverboards or cars, can even catch fire.

Now, with increasing emphasis on aviation sustainability, interest in using batteries to partially or fully power electric propulsion systems on aircraft of all sizes is growing each day.

So, the question is could there be a better way to build batteries that are completely safe and don't fail or even catch fire?

A NASA activity called SABERS, or "Solid-state Architecture Batteries for Enhanced Rechargeability and Safety," is researching how to create a safer battery by using brand-new materials and novel construction methods.

The goal is to create a battery that has significantly higher energy than the lithium-ion batteries we currently use. This battery also would not lose capacity over time, catch fire, or endanger passengers if something goes wrong.

"Instead of taking a battery off the shelf, we determined we needed to develop a battery from scratch that would be tailored to the unique performance requirements of an electric aircraft," said Rocco Viggiano, lead SABERS researcher at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

Turns out, solid-state batteries fit the bill.

As opposed to many batteries today, the batteries SABERS wishes to create don't have any liquid in their design. A fully solid battery has less complicated packaging, lowers safety risks, and can withstand more damage than a battery with liquids inside it.

The project has examined using a unique combination of the elements sulfur and selenium to hold electric charge.

"A solid-state sulfur-selenium battery is cool to the touch and doesn't catch fire. It has a slimmer profile than lithium-ion batteries and has better energy storage. It can take a beating and still operate, often in less than ideal conditions," Viggiano said.

An additional benefit is sulfur being a byproduct of oil refining. There are stockpiles of the element worldwide that are accessible and just waiting to be used. With some imagination, this waste product can be turned into something that powers environmentally friendly vehicles.

Imagination is another aspect of SABERS.

The project seeks to use elements that have never been combined before to form a battery. For instance, a NASA-developed component called "holey graphene" (named for the holes in its surface to allow air to pass through), has a very high level of electrical conductivity. It is ultra-lightweight and environmentally friendly.

"This material has never been used in battery systems, and we are combining it with other materials that have never been used," Viggiano said.

SABERS Makes Strides
Solid-state batteries are known to have a low discharge rate. In other words, the amount of power that flows out of the battery at once is too low. But SABERS researchers have almost doubled this discharge rate, meaning that solid-state batteries could feasibly power larger electronics.

"We exceeded our goal. With more development, we can improve that rate even further," Viggiano said. The project's goals and successes have attracted the attention of companies such as Uber and several other companies interested in manufacturing vehicles for future Advanced Air Mobility environments.

The next step for SABERS is to run the battery design through its paces. This will include testing how it works in practical situations, making sure it's safe, and gathering data on its performance. If successful, the design could be optimized even further.

Meanwhile, safety remains the number one consideration.

Current battery research is mostly oriented toward the auto industry, whose safety standards are generally less restrictive than those required for aviation applications where the batteries encounter more stressful environments.

SABERS wants to help set that new, higher standard for use in aviation by proving that making safer batteries is both technically feasible and economically lucrative.

What requirements should these solid-state batteries meet? Based on an analysis of what might be needed to operate a practical electric aircraft, the five considerations SABERS focused on were safety, energy density, discharge rate, package design, and scalability.

Essentially, these batteries need to be safe above all else. They also need to hold an enormous amount of power and emit that power efficiently. They should also have a slim and compact shape and be developed with the most detailed and thorough approach possible.

Ultimately, SABERS is determining the feasibility of safe batteries for electrically propelled airplanes. If successful, these innovations could help enable a new era of power storage for future air travel.

SABERS is part of the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions project, which is designed to give NASA researchers the resources they need to determine if their ideas to solve some of aviation's biggest technical challenges are feasible, and perhaps worthy of additional pursuit within NASA or by industry.

Selected to be a two-year activity that began on Oct. 1, 2019, interruptions in the pursuit prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to an extension, although nothing has yet been decided.

[Kip Powick]

I see the boys in NASA got their mini chopper up and it's  doing a low level scan of Mars surface..

 

[deicer]

Looks like things are going to get real on Mars....

 

[J.O.]

Lol!

That UAV also carried a small piece of fabric from the original Wright flyer -  a pretty cool gesture on someone's part.

[Guest1]

Technology & Science

NASA makes breathable oxygen from thin air on Mars

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MOXIE device aboard Perseverance rover uses electrolysis to produce oxygen from CO2

Thomson Reuters · Posted: Apr 22, 2021 8:29 AM ET | Last Updated: 1 hour ago

 

For the first time, an experimental device aboard the Perseverance rover has made oxygen on Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Reuters)

25

comments

NASA has logged another extraterrestrial first on its latest mission to Mars: converting carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere into pure, breathable oxygen, the U.S. space agency said on Wednesday.

The unprecedented extraction of oxygen, literally out of thin air on Mars, was achieved Tuesday by an experimental device aboard Perseverance, a six-wheeled science rover that landed on the Red Planet on Feb. 18 after a seven-month journey from Earth.

 

In its first activation, the toaster-sized instrument dubbed MOXIE — short for Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment — produced about five grams of oxygen, equivalent to roughly 10 minutes' worth of breathing for an astronaut, NASA said.

Although the initial output was modest, the feat marked the first experimental extraction of a natural resource from the environment of another planet for direct use by humans.

"MOXIE isn't just the first instrument to produce oxygen on another world," said Trudy Kortes, director of technology demonstrations within NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, in a statement. She called it the first technology of its kind to help future missions "live off the land" of another planet.

 

Technicians at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory lower the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) instrument into the belly of the Perseverance rover in an undated photograph in Pasadena, Calif. ( NASA/JPL-Caltech/Reuters)

The instrument works through electrolysis, which uses extreme heat to separate oxygen atoms from molecules of carbon dioxide, which accounts for about 95 per cent of the atmosphere on Mars.

The remaining five per cent of Mars's atmosphere, which is only about one per cent as dense Earth's, consists primarily of molecular nitrogen and argon. Oxygen exists on Mars in negligible trace amounts.

An abundant supply is considered critical to eventual human exploration of the Red Planet, both as a sustainable source of breathable air for astronauts and as a necessary ingredient for rocket fuel to fly them home.

What astronauts would need

The volumes required for launching rockets into space from Mars are particularly daunting.

According to NASA, getting four astronauts off the Martian surface would take about seven tonnes of rocket fuel, combined with 25 tonnes of oxygen.

Transporting a one-tonne oxygen-conversion machine to Mars is more practical than trying to haul 25 tonnes of oxygen in tanks from Earth, said MOXIE principal investigator Michael Hecht, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in NASA's news release.

Astronauts living and working on Mars would require perhaps one tonne of oxygen between them to last an entire year, Hecht said.

• We're in a new space race, but what toll is it taking on our environment?

• This Montreal-born engineer helped fly a helicopter on Mars. She says it's a win for diversity here on Earth

MOXIE is designed to generate up to 10 grams per hour as a proof of concept, and scientists plan to run the machine at least another nine times over the next two years under different conditions and speeds, NASA said.

The first oxygen conversion run came a day after NASA achieved the historic first controlled powered flight of an aircraft on another planet with a successful takeoff and landing of a miniature robot helicopter on Mars.

Like MOXIE, the twin-rotor chopper dubbed Ingenuity hitched a ride to Mars with Perseverance, whose primary mission is to search for fossilized traces of ancient microbes that may have flourished on Mars billions of years ago.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News

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[Guest1]

it's getting crowded ........  time for a garbage pickup above the earth.

https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/China_Orbiting_400_Satellites_Heading_for_1000_by_2030_US_Space_Command_Chief_Says_999.html

The End of Space Access
by Staff Writers
Bethesda, MD (SPX) Apr 21, 2021

ESA file illustration

Many recent articles have expressed concern about the growing amount of junk floating around Earth in low orbits. Ultimately, the mass and distribution of junk and active satellites will exceed the capacity of space to safely contain the debris generated by the addition of more than an estimated 50,000 new satellites planned for deployment in the next few years. If and when this limit is reached our ability to travel in space may be greatly diminished.

When will this happen? No one knows the answer, but It could be soon. Just last week one of SpaceX's satellites came within 60 meters of a OneWeb satellite. As more and more satellites are launched, the frequency of these events will dramatically increase. After that, low-Earth orbits will begin to experience collisions among the many old and new satellite constellations.

The next step will be a chain reaction that results in freshly created debris being exponentially multiplied until major segments of near-Earth space are gridlocked with junk of all sizes. Such an event could take only days or weeks to entirely end access to space.

Can remedial action wait until this gridlocking event starts? Spacefaring nations have two options: continue business as usual that could result in the total loss of space activities for decades, if not longer; or, initiate space sustainability programs that lead to control of the space-based debris population. Such a program would offer three essential operations:

+ Precisely tracks and projects the trajectories of all large resident space objects (RSO) such that active satellites can avoid close conjunctions.

+ Controls the population of small-but-dangerous debris objects through active removal operations.

+ Manages space traffic of active satellites to maintain safe flight paths.

The "do nothing" option could result in the complete loss of the half-trillion-dollar annual space commerce revenue. The reopening of space would cost at least several hundred billion dollars and likely take decades to achieve. The second option would assure continued safe commerce but require a very complex program involving several new space systems and a multi-billion-dollar annual budget.

Unfortunately, the world economy cannot afford to do nothing. The real choice is to either pay for space sustainability now or pay much more later.

[Kip Powick]

Man is man's worst pro environmentalist

First we pollute the Earth

Then we pollute the Earth's oceans

And now we pollute Space

So sad what all previous and existing generations are leaving the next generations

and those that believe otherwise repeatably say..............

[boestar]

The USAF has a department that specifically tracks all objects in orbit.  from small to large it is all tracked in order to avoid collisions.   Perhaps they need to send some of that crashing back to earth to burn up in the atmosphere.

 

[Don Hudson]

SpaceX crew re-donning suits in preparation for possible "potential conjunction (with an object) & possible avoidance manoeuvre" @ 1743Z

https://www.nasa.gov/crew-2

update  - No "TCAS"...

Edited April 23, 2021 by Don Hudson

[Kip Powick]

Elon Musk...a  father for the 6th time...

Should be fun / frustrating  for the child as he grows up and  someone asks him his name...

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/06/entertainment/grimes-elon-musk-baby-name-intl-scli/index.html

 

[deicer]

https://robbreport.com/motors/aviation/bye-aerospace-eflyer-800-electric-airplane-1234609755/

This New 8-Seat Electric Airplane Costs 80% Less to Fly Than Conventional Aircraft

Bye Aerospace’s eFlyer 800 has two motors, powered by a grid of electric cells, for a 368-mph top speed, 575-mile range and zero emissions.

[Guest1]

35 minutes ago, deicer said:

https://robbreport.com/motors/aviation/bye-aerospace-eflyer-800-electric-airplane-1234609755/

This New 8-Seat Electric Airplane Costs 80% Less to Fly Than Conventional Aircraft

Bye Aerospace’s eFlyer 800 has two motors, powered by a grid of electric cells, for a 368-mph top speed, 575-mile range and zero emissions.

zero emissions once built but I do wonder how many emissions to build it? (materials etc).

Of course though this is only a concept so it will be interesting to see if it actually is built and performs as suggested.

Bye Aerospace Develops 8-Seat eFlyer 800 Electric Aircraft (insideevs.com)

[deicer]

Probably the same as building any other aircraft/car/truck, etc.

It's the operation of the vehicle that makes the difference.

[Airband]

Quote

On July 20, 1969, eight years after President John F. Kennedy pledged to land a man on the lunar surface and return him safely to Earth, astronaut Michael Collins sat alone in the command module Columbia. He was floating 60 miles above what he later called the “withered, sun-seared peach pit” of the moon.

'Forgotten Astronaut' Michael Collins Dies

[Guest1]

China launches key module of new space station

Tianhe forms the main living quarters for 3 crew members, will last at least 10 years

Thomson Reuters · Posted: Apr 29, 2021 8:46 AM ET | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

 

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a Long March 5B rocket carrying the core module for a Chinese space station lifts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, in southern China's Hainan province, on Thursday. (Jin Liwang/Xinhua/The Associated Press)

China launched an unmanned module on Thursday containing what will become living quarters for three crew on a permanent space station that it plans to complete by the end of 2022, state media reported.

The module, named "Tianhe," or "Harmony of the Heavens," was launched on the Long March 5B, China's largest carrier rocket, at 11:23 a.m. local time (0323 GMT) from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre on the southern island of Hainan.

 

Minutes after the launch, the fairing opened to expose the Tianhe atop the core stage of the rocket, with the characters for "China Manned Space" emblazoned on its exterior. Soon after, it separated from the rocket, which will orbit for about a week before falling to Earth, and minutes after that, opened its solar arrays to provide a steady energy source.

Tianhe is one of three main components of what would be China's first self-developed space station, rivalling the only other station in service — the International Space Station (ISS).

The ISS is backed by the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada. China was barred from participating by the United States.

 

In this image taken from undated video footage run by China's CCTV via AP Video, a rendering of a module of a Chinese space station is shown. China launched the core module on Thursday for its first permanent space station that will host astronauts over the long term. (CCTV/AP Video)

"(Tianhe) is an important pilot project in the building of a powerful nation in both technology and in space," state media quoted President Xi Jinping as saying in a congratulatory speech.

Tianhe forms the main living quarters for three crew members in the Chinese space station, which will have a lifespan of at least 10 years.

10 more modules, 4 manned spacecraft

The Tianhe launch was the first of 11 missions needed to complete the space station, which will orbit Earth at an altitude of 340 to 450 kilometres.

In the later missions, China will launch the two other core modules, four manned spacecraft and four cargo spacecraft.

Work on the space station program began a decade ago with the launch of a space lab Tiangong-1 in 2011, and later, Tiangong-2 in 2016.

Both helped China test the program's space rendezvous and docking capabilities.

China aims to become a major space power by 2030. It has ramped up its space program with visits to the moon, the launch of an uncrewed probe to Mars and the construction of its own space station.

• Rocket launches could be affecting our ozone layer, say experts

• Here's what to look forward to in space for 2021

In contrast, the fate of the aging ISS — in orbit for more than two decades — remains uncertain.

The project is set to expire in 2024, barring funding from its partners. Russia said this month that it would quit the project from 2025.

Russia is deepening ties with China in space as tensions with Washington rise.

Moscow has slammed the U.S.-led Artemis moon exploration program and instead chosen to join Beijing in setting up a lunar research outpost in the coming years.

[Guest1]

 

Mars Ingenuity helicopter given new scouting mission
by AFP Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) April 30, 2021

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (above center to the right) is viewed by one of the hazard cameras aboard the Perseverance rover during the helicopter�s fourth flight on April 30, 2021.

After proving powered, controlled flight is possible on the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Ingenuity helicopter has new orders: scout ahead of the Perseverance rover to assist in its search for past signs of microbial life.

The next phase extends the rotocraft's mission beyond the original month-long technology demonstration. Now, the goal is to assess how well flyers can help future exploration of Mars and other worlds.

"We're going to gather information on the operational support capability of the helicopter while Perseverance focuses on its science mission," Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, told reporters Friday.

The type of reconnaissance that Ingenuity performs could one day also prove useful to human missions, by scoping out the best paths for explorers to traverse, and reaching locations that aren't otherwise possible.

The four pound (1.8 kilogram) mini chopper successfully performed the fourth of its five originally planned flights on Friday, "going farther & faster than ever before," NASA tweeted.

The fifth is planned in the coming days, then its mission will be extended, initially by one Martian month.

Whether it continues beyond that will depend on if it's still in good shape and if it's helping, rather than hindering, the rover's goals of collecting soil and rock samples for future lab analysis on Earth.

Chief engineer Bob Balaram predicted a limiting factor will be its ability to withstand the frigid Mars nights, where temperatures plunge to -130 degrees Fahrenheit (-90 degrees Celsius).

Ingenuity keeps warm with a solar-powered heater, but it was only designed to last for a month and engineers aren't sure "how many freeze and thaw cycles (it) can go through before something breaks," he said.

NASA initially thought Perseverance would be driving away from the site where it landed at the Jezero Crater on February 18, just north of the planet's equator.

That would have meant the rover leaving Ingenuity behind and moving beyond communications range.

Now though, the agency wants to keep Perseverance in the area for some time after finding a rocky outcrop that they believe contains some of the oldest material on the crater floor.

They hope to collect their first sample in July.

Ingenuity's exploits have captured the public's imagination since it made its first flight on April 19, but NASA said this wasn't a factor in its decision to allow the two robots to keep exploring Mars together.

"We really wish to spend a considerable amount of time where we are and so it's sort of a fortuitous alignment," said Perseverance project scientist Ken Farley.

[Kip Powick]

MARS....

.

Reddish in color, lack of a free breathing  atmosphere, complete desolation

extreme temperature variations, absolutely no life

SAHARA...

 

Sandy color, rocks are smaller, breathable atmosphere

Tolerable temperature variations, life in certain areas is certainly livable

 

Lets say you only have two choices...take your pick and live the rest of your life there...