More than a century after the first powered flight on Earth, NASA intends to prove it’s possible to replicate the feat on another world. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-nasa-helicopter-mars.html…
Tag: fly
Best Story Wins
Morgan Housel, on the art and power of storytelling: C. R. Hallpike is a respected anthropologist who once wrote a review of a young author’s recent book on the history of humans. It states: “It would be fair to say that whenever his facts are broadly correct they are not new, and whenever he tries to strike out on his own…
Sunlight could power micro-aircraft flying above the stratosphere
The mesosphere – the atmospheric layer 50 to 80km above the ground – is out of bounds to normal aircraft, but millimetre-sized devices could fly there powered by sunlight Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2267723-sunlight-could-power-micro-aircraft-flying-above-the-stratosphere/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Dragonflies do a backwards roll to fly upright – even when unconscious
To get out of an upside-down position, dragonflies do a backwards roll to stabilise their flight – even when they’re unconscious, and if their wings are propped open they do it when they’re dead Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2267165-dragonflies-do-a-backwards-roll-to-fly-upright-even-when-unconscious/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx to fly a farewell tour of Bennu
On April 7, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission will give asteroid Bennu one last glance before saying farewell. Before departing for Earth on May 10, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will perform a final flyby of Bennu—capturing its last images of sample collection site Nightingale to look for transformations on Bennu’s surface after the Oct. 20, 2020, sample collection event. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-nasa-osiris-rex-farewell-bennu.html…
Millie Hughes-Fulford, trailblazing astronaut, dies at 75
Millie Hughes-Fulford, a trailblazing astronaut and scientist who became the first female payload specialist to fly in space for NASA, died following a yearslong battle with cancer, her family said. She was 75. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-millie-hughes-fulford-trailblazing-astronaut-dies.html…
Hey, kids! Meet the new Hot Wheels Mars rover!
Mattel, maker of Hot Wheels, has just released a new Hot Wheels Mars Perseverance Rover to celebrate the landing of the NASA Perseverance rover on Mars on February 18. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/hot-wheels-mars-perseverance-rover-mattel…
SpaceX Announces First-Ever All-Civilian Space Flight Crew
Jared Isaacman, an entrepreneur behind a payment processing startup, is funding a multimillion trip to space aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which could be the first-ever orbital flight crewed entirely by non-astronauts. CNN reports: Isaacman, 37, said he will command the mission, which is slated for late-2021 and will see the spacecraft make a “multi-day” trip into Earth’s orbit, according…
Axiom Names First Private Crew Paying $55 Million For a Trip To the ISS
An American real estate investor, a Canadian investor, and a former Israeli Air Force pilot are paying $55 million each to be part of the first fully private astronaut crew to journey to the International Space Station. The Verge reports: The trio will hitch a ride on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule early next year, with a veteran NASA astronaut as the…
Barbs fly over satellite projects from Musk, Bezos
A spat erupted Tuesday between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk as the tech titans’ space firms exchanged barbs over their rival satellite internet projects being evaluated by regulators. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-barbs-satellite-musk-bezos.html…