The News Caravan

Tag: NASAs

  • NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter captures Martian sunset

    NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter captures Martian sunset

    [ad_1]

    Washington: NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter captured a shot of a sunset on the Red Planet, during its 45th flight.

    The little chopper’s high-resolution colour camera captured the Sun on February 22, Space.com reported.

    The image shows the sun hanging slightly above the horizon of hilltops in the distance, caught in the process of setting on Ingenuity’s 714th Martian day, or sol.

    The rays shining across the photograph help illuminate the rolling alien landscape of sand and rocks inside Jezero Crater.

    Ingenuity helicopter landed with NASA’s Perseverance rover on the floor of Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021. It became the first rotorcraft ever to make powered flight beyond Earth.

    Weighing just 1.8 kilograms, it has proved that aerial exploration is possible on Mars despite the planet’s thin atmosphere.

    It was originally tasked with only a few test flights to prove its pioneering technology, but it has exceeded NASA’s expectations.

    Ingenuity has now flown a total of 46 times, with an accumulated distance of 10.1 km, Space.com reported. Flights 45 and 46 occurred just three days apart, on February 22 and 25.

    Ingenuity’s high-resolution colour camera is angled 22 degrees below the horizon. As a result, images relayed back to NASA are primarily focused at the ground, searching for interesting geological features and potential obstacles ahead.

    Occasionally, however, it captures a sliver of Martian sky, giving a whole new perspective on the Red Planet.

    Recently, NASA’s Curiosity rover captured first-ever “sun rays” on Mars.

    The rays were imaged as the Sun descended over the horizon on February 2, with “rays of light illuminated a bank of clouds”.

    These are also known as crepuscular rays, from the Latin word for “twilight.”

    “It was the first time sun rays have been so clearly viewed on Mars,” according to NASA.

    [ad_2]
    #NASAs #Ingenuity #helicopter #captures #Martian #sunset

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • NASA’s mega Moon rocket now ready for crewed mission

    NASA’s mega Moon rocket now ready for crewed mission

    [ad_1]

    Washington: NASA’s mega moon rocket has cleared all performance tests and engineers are now taking a closer look at the Space Launch System (SLS) performance to prepare for the first crewed Artemis missions.

    NASA continues to evaluate data and learn more about the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s debut performance during the agency’s Artemis I launch on November 16 this year.

    “NASA’s Space Launch System rocket has laid the foundation for the Artemis Generation and the future of spaceflight in deep space,” said John Honeycutt, SLS Programme manager.

    “There is engineering and an art to successfully building and launching a rocket, and the analysis on the SLS rocket’s inaugural flight puts NASA and its partners in a good position to power missions for Artemis II and beyond,” he said.

    The preliminary post-flight data indicated that all SLS systems performed exceptionally and that the designs are ready to support a crewed flight on Artemis II.

    The core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket has more than 1,000 sensors and 45 miles of cabling.

    The Artemis I flight test was the only way to gather real data on how the rocket performed during events like booster separation.

    “The data we got back from Artemis I is critical in building confidence in this rocket to send humanity back to the Moon,” said John Blevins, SLS chief engineer.

    The SLS team will use what we learn from this flight test to improve future flights of the rocket, and we are already taking what we’ve learned about operations and assembly and applying it to streamline future missions, he added.

    Cameras and sensors also allowed teams to monitor how the rocket performed during its in-space manoeuvres.

    Engineers also monitored the extreme temperatures and sounds the rocket experienced just after liftoff.

    Througha-Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of colour on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a stepping stone for astronauts on the way to Mars.

    [ad_2]
    #NASAs #mega #Moon #rocket #ready #crewed #mission

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )