The InSight lander will make contact on the Martian equator and dig deep down into the planet to examine its inner core
Nasa’s latest mission to another planet is set to blast off on Saturday on a seven month voyage across the frigid depths of space to Mars, with the aim of mapping the planet’s interior for the first time. The InSight mission aims to drop a lander the size of a garden table on to Elysium Planitia, a broad, flat and largely rockless lava plain on the Martian equator, from where it will become the first robotic probe to survey the centre of the red planet. The region, which is so featureless it would normally make scientists glaze over, was chosen by Nasa as the most suitable patch on the planet for the lander to set about revealing how Mars is arranged from surface to core. “Where we land is an intentionally dull place,” said Neil Bowles, a planetary scientist at Oxford University, and one of a number of UK researchers involved in the mission. “It’s flat, empty and hopefully not very windy. And that is precisely what we need.” The lander has a suite of instruments to deploy once it reaches Mars. One, a spear-like heat flow probe, will hammer itself into the soil to measure how fast heat rises from the interior of the planet. Another is a seismometer that will be placed on the surface by the lander’s robotic arm. The instrument is so sensitive that it can detect vibrations smaller than the width of an atom. Hence the need for a smooth and quiet landing spot. Bruce Banerdt, the principal investigator on the mission at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said he expects InSight to record at least a dozen, but perhaps 100, marsquakes of magnitude 3.5 or stronger over the two year mission. But scientists are hoping for more besides. From its landing spot near the equator, Insight should detect impacts from meteors that slam into Mars anywhere on its surface. Even the minuscule uplift of the ground caused by the gravitational pull of Mars’s moon, Phobos, should register on its instruments. More equipment on the lander will be used for a radio science experiment. Two antennas on the probe enable ground controllers to track the lander’s precise position on the Martian surface. With that information, scientists can monitor how much Mars wobbles on its axis, movement that sheds light on the size of the planet’s core and whether it is liquid or solid.
Read moreBy placing an ear to the ground on Mars, mission scientists hope to record tremors, or marsquakes, for the first time. Like other planets in the solar system, Mars is still cooling down from the heat of creation more than 4bn years ago. As heat radiates away from the surface, the crust contracts and buckles. With time, stresses build up and are suddenly released when vast stretches of rock slip past one another along geological fault lines, sending tremors through the planet. Bruce Banerdt, the principal investigator on the mission at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said he expects InSight to record at least a dozen, but perhaps 100, marsquakes of magnitude 3.5 or stronger over the two year mission. But scientists are hoping for more besides. From its landing spot near the equator, Insight should detect impacts from meteors that slam into Mars anywhere on its surface. Even the minuscule uplift of the ground caused by the gravitational pull of Mars’s moon, Phobos, should register on its instrumentsMore equipment on the lander will be used for a radio science experiment. Two antennas on the probe enable ground controllers to track the lander’s precise position on the Martian surface. With that information, scientists can monitor how much Mars wobbles on its axis, movement that sheds light on the size of the planet’s core and whether it is liquid or solid. With knowledge gleaned from the $814m (£600m) InSight mission - the name stands for “Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport” - scientists will gain a better understanding not only of how Mars formed, but how other rocky worlds assembled from primordial dust and debris. One mystery is why Mars, a planet less dense and half the width of Earth, did not grow any larger. “What we hope to do is make the first map of the inside of Mars, to map out its core, crust and mantle, and for the first time really understand the structure of the interior,” said Banerdt. “We can then extrapolate that to Earth, Venus and even planets beyond the solar system.” But before the mission can get to work, it has to get to Mars. The planet is never an easy destination and only about 40% of missions from any space agency have been successful. For the scientists and engineers on the InSight mission, the journey will begin on Saturday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Blast-off is scheduled for 4.05am local time (12.05pm UK). Riding on an Atlas V rocket, the InSight mission will swing around Earth before heading to Mars. Within two hours of launch, the spacecraft should make its first call home, the earliest confirmation scientists will have that the probe survived the rigours of launch. It will then be a long wait until InSight, flying with two briefcase-sized probes under test as communications links, arrives at the planet in November. Touchdown day is when things will get tense, said Banerdt. The spacecraft will tear into the Martian sky at 13,200 miles per hour, release a parachute, and then use 12 thrusters to slow its descent. “As soon as we’re down we’ll breathe more than a sigh of relief,” he said. “Once we’re on the ground and have communications set up, I’m confident we can get a lot of great science out of the mission, no matter what happens.
Nail-biting descent achieved after spacecraft slams into Martian atmosphere at 12,300mph
After a seven-month, 300m-mile journey, Nasa’s Mars InSight probe has reached its destination and touched down near the red planet’s equator.
Nail-biting descent achieved after spacecraft slams into Martian atmosphere at 12,300mph and ended minutes later with the probe settled on the ground, its thrusters quiet. Mission scientists cheered, hugged and fist-bumped at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California when the lander beamed home signals of its arrival on the planet. “It was intense; you could feel the emotion,” said Jim Bridenstine, Nasa’s administrator. “What a day for Nasa.” InSight lander touches down on Mars – as it happened
InSight’s landing spot, Elysium Planitia, is one of the most boring places on the alien world: a vast, smooth lava plain that the US space agency calls “the biggest parking lot on Mars”. But a featureless, and hopefully quiet, landscape is precisely what InSight needs for its mission to map the interior of the planet. “This is our first opportunity to look deep inside another planet, to look at the structure and find out why it ended up the way it did,” said Rain Irshad, the autonomous systems group leader at RAL Space in Oxfordshire, and one of several UK scientists who worked on InSight’s instruments. InSight sent its first picture back within minutes of its new home. It was smudged and obscured by dust kicked up during the landing, but much clearer pictures are expected to be sent back soon. The $814m (£635m) lander will use a suite of instruments to study the makeup and dimensions of the planet’s core, mantle and crust. Armed with that data, scientists hope to learn how Mars – and other rocky worlds – formed at the dawn of the solar system 4.6bn years ago Sending a probe to Mars, whether to land, orbit or fly past, is a risky business: only 40% of missions have succeeded. Nasa is the only space agency to have pulled off a Mars landing, most recently in 2012 when the Curiosity rover was winched to the surface by a hovering “sky crane”. In 2016, the European Space Agency attempted to put its own lander on Mars, but the Schiaparelli probe shut down its retro-rockets too soon and smashed into the ground. The InSight lander had to perform flawlessly to touch down safely. Soon after it hit the thin Martian atmosphere, it released a parachute, then blasted off its heat shield and fired retro-thrusters to slow its descent. Confirmation that InSight had survived what Nasa called “the seven minutes of terror” was beamed back to Earth via satellites that trailed the probe to its destination. InSight, which is short for Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, will use three instruments to study Mars. A seismometer deployed by a robot arm will act as an ear to the ground and listen for tremors produced when subterranean rock faces slip past one another on geological fault lines. These pressure waves bounce around inside the planet, and can reveal crucial information about its structure. Mission scientists expect InSight to record anything from a dozen to 100 Marsquakes of magnitude 3.5 or greater over the lander’s two-year mission. The seismometer is so sensitive it can detect vibrations smaller than the width of an atom. “The most important question is whether Mars is seismically active,” said Neil Bowles, a planetary scientist at Oxford University, who worked on the spacecraft. “We have indirect evidence for shaking on the surface, for example by looking at boulders rolling down slopes in images from orbit, but InSight will be the first mission to place a seismometer directly on the surface of Mars. “Measuring Marsquakes will give information on Mars’ internal structure and hopefully reveal more about how the planet formed. Why is Mars smaller and with a lower density than Earth and Venus? It suggests that Mars’ formation and evolution was somehow different to Earth’s or some process in the early solar system prevented Mars from growing bigger.” Another instrument, a heat probe, will burrow 5 metres into the ground and measure the rate at which heat rises through the planet. In a third experiment, mission scientists will use antennas on the lander to track its position with such precision they can deduce how much Mars wobbles on its axis. The amount of wobble reflects the size of the planet’s core and whether it is molten or solid. Earth’s rotating molten iron core generates the magnetic field that shields life from harmful radiation, and helps prevent the atmosphere from being stripped away by high-energy particles in the solar wind. At some point in its history, Mars lost its magnetic field and much of its atmosphere, causing temperatures to drop and exposing the surface to intense radiation. InSight may help explain why, said Irshad. “Are there conditions under the surface that might have meant life went down there in order to survive?” she said. “If it retreated beneath the surface, future missions might find it there.”
InSight probe reveals desolate landscape as dust settles after its arrival on Martian surface
This is the view across Elysium Planitia, the vast lava plain near the equator of Mars, where Nasa’s InSight lander touched down after a hair-raising descent on Monday. The probe snapped the image of the desolate landscape as the dust thrown up by its arrival was still settling around it.
Over the coming days, InSight will take more photos of the landing site and send them back to Earth, where scientists will use them to decide where the probe should place its instruments.
The lander’s seismometer will be an ear to the ground that listens for “marsquakes”, which shudder through the planet when slabs of underground rock fracture and slip. Another instrument will burrow into the ground and take the temperature of the red planet.
Hours after InSight touched down, the probe called home to say its solar panels had opened and were collecting what feeble sunlight reaches the planet. On a clear day the panels will generate 700W, enough to power a kitchen blender, and all the lander needs to operate.
Taken with a clear dust cover still in place on the camera lens, the picture was beamed up from the Martian surface to Nasa’s orbiting Odyssey spacecraft, and from there sent the 91m miles (146m kilometres) to Earth.
On Monday, physicist Stephen Hawking encouraged a roomful of scholars gathered at the Oxford Union to continue efforts in space travel
The endeavor was characterized as being vital to humanity.
Said Hawking, "I don't think we will survive another one thousand years without escaping beyond our fragile planet."
He has, in the past, noted, I believe that life on Earth is at an ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as a sudden nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus, or other dangers."
Though, during his Oxford address, Hawking did offer a very dire view of our planet's fate, he also expressed hope for the future of space exploration and discovery.
He told those gathered, "Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up." Learn more »
The European Space Agency has decided that "ExoMars" is a bit bland, and are opening up suggestions to the public.
The European Space Agency is looking for a name for its new Mars rover which will land on the red planet in 2021.
Launching in 2020, the rover is currently named
ExoMars, but the team behind the mission are looking for a more suitable
name to engage the public.
Firing a starter pistol on the race to find an alternative,
British astronaut Tim Peake told the Farnborough Airshow: "Mars is a
fascinating destination.
"A place where humans will one day work alongside robots to gather new knowledge and search for life in our solar system. "The
ExoMars rover is a vital part of this journey of exploration and we're
asking you to become part of this exciting mission and name the rover
that will scout the Martian surface."
The UK is the second largest
European contributor to the ExoMars mission, behind Italy, having
invested £256m (€287m) in the mission and £14m (€15m) on the
instruments.
The competition has seemingly been designed to avoid a repeat of the
Boaty McBoatface incident which embarrassed the creators of the polar
research ship which was eventually called the RRS Sir David Attenborough
despite the public favourite a different moniker.
Instead of a
public poll allowing people to swarm behind Marsy McMarsface, the
competition requires people to write in their suggested names for the
new ExoMars Rover. As well as the honour of naming the rover,
whoever wins the competition will be toured around the Airbus facility
in Stevenage where the rover is being built.
Science minister Sam
Gyimah said: "Exploring the surface of another planet is what many
scientists and researchers dream of and now a British-built rover will
travel the surface of Mars to answer some fundamental questions, and the
public can be part of this exciting new chapter by naming the rover.
"We want creative and bold entries - I'll start the ball rolling with Rover McRoverface! "The
ExoMars mission showcases the very best of the UK's world-leading
robotics expertise and this mission will inspire the next generation of
engineers, scientists and space enthusiasts to be part of the journey as
the UK continues to reach for the stars."
The species of snake is believed to have inhabited the mega continent Gondwana roughly 105 million years ago.
The tiny snake's
well-preserved skeleton (reconstruction on right) was found in a
pebble-sized chunk of amber. Pic: Ming Bai, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Scientists have discovered the
first-ever fossilised snake embryo, preserved in a pebble-sized chunk of
amber from 105 million years ago.
Dating back to the Mesozoic period of the Cretaceous
era, the fossil in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, provides revelatory
new information about how modern snakes evolved. Paleontologists from the University of Alberta have established
that the snake species is linked to other ancient snakes from
Argentina, Africa, India and Australia. Professor Michael Caldwell
of Albert's department of biological sciences said: "It is an important
- and until now, missing - component of understanding snake evolution
from southern continents, that is Gondwana, in the mid-Mesozoic." Alongside
his international team in Australia, China and the US, Professor
Caldwell has tracked the migration of these Gondwanan snakes, from the
megacontinent Gondwana. Their analysis of the amber fragment which
preserved the fossil has given them important clues about the
environment of the time. "It is clear that this little snake was
living in a forested environment with numerous insects and plants, as
these are preserved in the clast," explained Professor Caldwell. "Not only do we have the first baby snake, we also have the first definitive evidence of a fossil snake living in a forest." Using CT scans, the scientific team studied the amber fossil and compared it with modern snakes' embryos. What
they found helped "refine our understanding of early snake evolution,
as 100-million-year-old snakes are known from only 20 or so relatively
complete fossil snake species," said Prof Caldwell.Learn more »
Tired of treating your chronic condition with tons of pills? Give yoga a try. Here's how it will reduce your symptoms and improve your quality of life.
Yogis, hippies and holistic medicine specialists have been exploring the health benefits of yoga for years. The meditative practice has been said to improve your fitness level, fight cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart disease and a variety of other disorders. Here are four conditions that yoga has been scientifically proven to improve: 1. Back pain Struggling to find a cure for your chronic back pain? Yoga could be the solution for you. A 2011 study found that both yoga and stretching helped people with chronic pain – they were considered “safe options” for a condition that is normally treated with a regimen of painkillers. As long as you don’t exert yourself trying to perfect the complex poses, yoga is a gentle way of relieving your pain. Poses such as cat-cow, triangle pose and child’s pose are particularly beneficial. 2. Arthritis In 2015, researchers at Johns Hopkins University conducted a study to determine whether yoga would be a safe and feasible activity for people with arthritis. Participants practised yoga twice a week for eight weeks under the supervision of a yoga therapist. At the end of the study, the participants symptoms had been greatly reduced. The physical and mental health benefits the yoga provided were still evident nine months later. Poses such as gentle forward bends, backbends, twists, balances, sitting and lying poses were included in the study and modified for each participant’s benefit. 3. Heart disease A study in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that yoga was beneficial for cardiovascular health. While yoga naturally works on flexibility and strength, it’s not considered a workout for your heart or rather an aerobic exercise. But, co-author of the study, Dr Gloria Yeh explains that the trifecta of slow movement, meditative breathing, and a calm and soothing approach can reduce stress and lower blood pressure, all of which improve heart health. As the muscles are stretched they become more sensitive to insulin, which plays an important role in controlling blood sugar levels. 4. Sleep disorders Our over-worked brain can often keep us lying awake at night. Learning to breathe more slowly and deeply in yoga classes can ultimately improve our sleep. Like most exercise, yoga can improve your sleeping patterns and fight insomnia, stress and the constant threat of external anxieties. A 2012 study by Harvard Medical School found that yoga treated chronic insomnia in patients. Both patients whose chronic insomnia developed by itself, and those whose insomnia was related to a medical condition (such as depression, fibromyalgia and arthritis) were included in the study. Overall they reported an improvement in the quality and quantity of their sleep.Learn more »
Apple cider vinegar is the store for many disease fighting properties. One of them is dryness of the scalp and dandruff. Apple cider vinegar is highly acidic and hence influences the pH of your scalp, making it very effective natural home remedy for dandruff. If you have the dandruff growing on scalp due to the growth of yeast, then it is dead sure that apple cider vinegar would leave no chance for these bacteria to survive. Once yeast is dead, your dandruff will also vanish within a few days. Mix a quarterp ap cuple cider vinegar ith a quarter cup water in a spray bottle and spray it on your wscalp. Wrap your head in a towel and let sit for 15 minutes to an hour, and then wash your hair as usual. You can also massage your scalp with this mixture as if you are oiling your hair if spraying in inconvenient.Learn more »
It is possible that you may or may not be familiar with its benefits, but, most of you must be aware of at least the name of this natural ingredient. Lavender oil comes from the lavender plant, an evergreen shrub that is known to carry the beautiful scented flowers. This is not a new face in the market; instead it has been used for various purposes since last 2,500 years. In ancient times, this oil was used by the Egyptians to perform the process of “mummification” and as a perfume. It was used by Romans in bathing, cooking and for scenting the air. This actually was considered to be a holy natural ingredient (The use of lavender oil in soaps, perfumes, cosmetics etc. is still continued).
Later on the lavender oil started to be used in various other purposes like reducing anxiety and emotional stress, improving sleep, restoring skin complexion and reducing acne and its scars, improving eczema and psoriasis, improving digestion, keeping your hair in a maintained structure etc.
The antimicrobial, antioxidant, and healing properties allow it to perform all these functions. Lavender oil can also be used as an anti-aging agent. It slows down the aging process due to its powerful antioxidant properties. Apart from this, some of the health problems like diabetes, headaches etc. can also be easily treated using lavender oil. Although, it is not that famous like aloe vera and honey, it is still a very effective and beneficial remedy for many health conditions.
If you say about the abrasions, the antibacterial and antiseptic properties of lavender oil place it in the list of best home remedies for abrasions. What you require doing is to apply some lavender oil directly on the abraded skin and leave it as it is allowing it to set over there. Repeat the process twice daily until you get rid of your trouble. Lavender oil even helps in regeneration of cells and enhances blood clotting.
Apple cider vinegar is not a name you are unfamiliar with. This natural healer is no less than the other home remedies like tea tree oil or aloe vera etc. Many purposes for which you can use this home remedy include dealing with diabetes, cancer, heart problems, high cholesterol, weight issues, cough and cold, hiccups, sore throat, upset tummy, dandruff, acne etc.
You can yourself see that it covers almost all the mild to chronic zones of our health problems. This is possible completely due to the powerful healing compounds present in apple cider vinegar, i.e. acetic acid, magnesium, potassium, probiotics and enzymes.
Not only that, apple cider vinegar is a perfect energy booster also. You can use apple cider vinegar as a hair conditioner, teeth whitener and a household cleaner too. Further you can use this kitchen ingredient for salad dressing too. A morning smoothie made up of apple cider vinegar can make your day and application of it diluted in water on your face can give you your desired skin tone. It approaches all the fields and scopes available. Isn’t it?
Further if we talk about apple cider vinegar for abrasions, believe me it is not going to disappoint you in any way. It acts as an amazing astringent and works to cleanse the wound so as to keep it free from germs. What you require doing is to add 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to 3-4 tablespoons of water and apply it directly on the affected area.
Repeat the process several times a day. Consistent practice for a few days will help healing the wound faster and help you get rid of your abrasion and associated pain soon. It is the healing efficiency of apple cider vinegar that insists you to choose this out of all the home remedies for abrasions.
The strong smell and delicious taste of garlic make it a perfect kitchen ingredient to be added in almost all the dishes of the Asian cuisine. Although, it doesn’t give you that favorable taste if eaten raw, but after getting cooked in dishes, it plays a major role in giving them a tempting smell and taste. Garlic has been used since the times of our ancestors and forefathers, but not only for the kitchen purpose; instead for many other benefits this ordinary ingredient gives us. The major benefit out of all is the health benefit it provides us.
Everything garlic provides us is due to the presence of a sulfur compound, named allicin, which is known to provide all the health benefits whenever we consume even a small amount of garlic. Apart from that, garlic is also known to contain several vital nutrients like magnesium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, copper, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B1, selenium, fiber etc. You can see yourself that garlic contains almost all the necessary nutrients that our body requires for proper growth and maintenance. There different zones where garlic can help you include treating common cold, high blood pressure, psoriasis, athlete’s pain, acne, cold sores etc.
Considering garlic for abrasions will not seem to be a wrong decision. Allicin due to the presence of antiviral and antibacterial properties makes garlic a perfect soother for the abrasions. Although, this remedy may not be in your favorite list due to the reason of stinking, but on the other side, it prevents the affected are from getting infected and provides faster healing. If you are ready to do some compromise over the stinking problem, this is one of the best home remedies for abrasions. You don’t need to do much effort for applying it. Grind some garlic cloves to make a paste out of it. Apply the paste on the affected area and leave it as it is. Repeat the process 2-3 times a day. Performing the same for a few more days can help you get rid of the abrasion soon. But, one important thing you need to take care is to sterilize the wound before applying garlic on it.
Riccione is sun-soaked and stylish, an ancient Italian settlement with modern, global flair. Located in the heart of the Eastern Riviera, this coastal destination is the perfect place to sip a cocktail while lounging on golden sands. At night, party people spill from the open-air discos onto the beach, creating a surreal sort of everlasting outdoor party. Zip down a slide at a water park, spin it up on a guided cycling tour, or visit the nearby Misano World Circuit racetrack for an unforgettable getaway.
