Are you handling coronavirus lockdown like a champ and think you could take 8 additional moths of isolation? If so, NASA is willing to pay volunteers to eight months locked up in a simulated spacecraft on its way to Mars. One caveat: since it takes place in Moscow, Russia, you are required to speak both English and Russian to even be considered
Photo credit: Elon Musk
Elon Musk announced that Starship prototype SN4 successfully passed a cryogenics test on Sunday at a SpaceX site in Texas. This is a milestone for the project as it will eventually send payload to the Red Planet. It also marks the first full-scale Starship prototype to pass this critical test involving filling the ship with liquid nitrogen to ensure it’s capable of surviving in-flight pressure conditions.
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took a new selfie on Oct. 11, 2019 at “Glen Etive”, which is part of the “clay-bearing unit,” and this mosaic was stitched together from 57 individual images taken by a camera on the end of its robotic arm. If you look in the left foreground you’ll see the two holes that Curiosity drilled – named “Glen Etive 1” (right) and “Glen Etive 2” (left) – that were used to analyze the chemical composition of rock samples by using the drill to turn them into powder before dropping the samples into a portable lab in its belly called Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM).
Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Want your name sent to Mars? It’s the last call to do so. That’s right, NASA will send your name aboard the Mars 2020 if you manage to get it in by the end of today, Sept. 30. Once this campaign ends, all of the names will be sent as early as July 2020 and expected to touch down on Mars in February 2021. The rover weighs in at 2,300 pounds and will search for signs of past microbial life, characterize the planet’s climate as well as geology, collect samples for Earth, and pave the way for human colonization.
Photo credit: SpaceX
Elon Musk held a press event yesterday at SpaceX’s South Texas test site to provide an update on Starship. The CEO stood beneath a towering Starship Mk1 prototype currently being used to develop a massive reusable launch system. This new version, along with its Super Heavy booster, is capable of transporting up to 100 people to the moon, Mars, and beyond. The rocket stands 387-feet-tall and is completely reusable, with quick turnaround times.