The new mosaic of Mars could make people settle in another world | CNN

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When the Perseverance rover arrived at Mars in February 2021, it wasn’t alone.

In addition to the Ingenuity helicopter, the rover carried scientific instruments designed to search for early signs of life.

And mounted on its chassis, Percy also had MOXIE – the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment.

The device has successfully produced oxygen for more than two years from Mars’ carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere.

The first test of its kind has been completed, exceeding NASA’s expectations. The device’s capabilities have shown that oxygen for life support systems and rocket fuel can be created on Mars rather than delivered from Earth.

This device is one of the tools that will eventually allow humans to explore Mars. But astronauts need more logistical support before calling the red planet home.

It’s a good idea to check a map and weather forecast of your destination before any long trip — especially if it’s another planet.

That’s what New York University Abu Dhabi researchers are aiming to do with the Mars Atlas.

The project combined thousands of images taken by the United Arab Emirates’ Hope probe to create a detailed color picture of the entire planet. The spacecraft has been orbiting the red planet since 2021.

The Mars Atlas can be used to identify weather patterns, equipment and safe landing sites for future explorers.

“It may sound silly, but maybe in the future it will be normal for people to go to Mars and live there,” said Dimitra Atri, head of the university’s Mars Research Group.

A dinosaur fossil with unusual legs has been discovered in southeast China.

A creature, named Fujianvenator prodigiosus, which means “strange Fujian hunter” in Latin, lived between 148 million and 150 million years ago.

About the size of a pheasant, Fujianvenator had lower legs twice as long as its thighs – a remarkable thing considering the adaptation was true of many dinosaurs.

When archaeologist Ralph Solecki discovered a 65,000-year-old Neanderthal burial site in northern Iraq in 1960, the bones were surrounded by clumps of pollen.

He and fellow archaeologist Arlette Leroi-Gourhan proposed the idea that the flowers were deliberately placed on the grave in Kurdistan’s Shanidar Cave.

This flower burial led to a new school of thought that early human relatives were intelligent and caring, rather than dumb and lazy.

But new research suggests various traces of pollen, which is present everywhere, were carried by another inhabitant of the cave: bees.

However, the nature of the burials in the cave still shows that “softening” was part of the Neanderthal burial process, said Chris Hunt, professor emeritus at Liverpool John Moores University in the United Kingdom, who led the latest study.

In contrast, a group of scientists has described when ancient humans dwindled and were almost wiped out 900,000 years ago.

After nearly two weeks of studying the moon, India’s Chandrayaan-3 is taking a well-deserved berth.

Mission controllers put the lander and its six-wheeled rover into sleep mode for 14 days of lunar nights while the lander is in Earth’s shadow. The team will attempt to wake up the spacecraft on September 22.

Since its historic landing on August 23, Chandrayaan-3 has analyzed the lunar surface, and the rover measured seismic activity and detected the presence of sulfur. The lander also made a small hop using its thrusters and landed a short distance from its landing spot.

Meanwhile, Japan successfully launched a “Sniper Moon” this week, along with a new X-ray satellite. The one who arrives should reach the moon in three to four months.

Careful penguin parents, a black bird framed by the moon and a bright green bird perched on a heart-shaped leaf are some of the awesome images submitted to this year’s Bird Photographer of the Year competition.

Wildlife photography is a lesson in patience, and some of the images submitted were years in the making.

The winning photo shows a female peregrine falcon striking a pelican more than twice its size that flew too close to the falcon’s nest, and photographer Jack Zhi waited four years to capture it. “The action was fast, and over in the blink of an eye,” Zhi said. “But I will remember that moment forever.”

Check out these interesting stories:

— Archaeologists discovered 1,900-year-old Roman swords and other well-preserved artifacts in a cave near the shores of the Dead Sea in Israel.

— Scientists have grown kidneys made largely from human cells inside pig embryos for the first time, taking the “first steps” in growing organs that can be used for transplants.

– The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will soon deliver a long-awaited asteroid sample to Earth. Take a look at NASA’s preparations before the capsule is expected to arrive on September 24.

– The newly discovered Comet Nishimura has been visible in the pre-dawn sky as it approaches Earth and the sun, but it may pose a challenge for sky watchers. Here’s how to spot a subtle celestial object.

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