Current Events in Astronomy

[calikid]

First flight of Mars helicopter Ingenuity delayed until next week.
By Georgina Torbet .
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We’ll have to wait a little longer to see the data on the first test flight of the tiny Mars helicopter Ingenuity, currently sitting on the Martian surface. NASA had planned to run the helicopter’s first test flight today, Sunday, April 11, but the flight has now been delayed until next week.

Now, the first test flight will take place on Wednesday, April 14 at the earliest. The delay is due to an issue spotted during a test of the rotor blades on Friday, April 9.

“During a high-speed spin test of the rotors on Friday, the command sequence controlling the test ended early due to a “watchdog” timer expiration. This occurred as it was trying to transition the flight computer from ‘Pre-Flight’ to ‘Flight’ mode. The helicopter is safe and healthy and communicated its full telemetry set to Earth,” NASA wrote in an update.
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[calikid]

A brief, but historic flight.
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NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity successfully completed its historic first flight
By Ashley Strickland.

The Ingenuity helicopter has successfully completed its historic flight on Mars and safely landed back on the surface, according to NASA.
The first powered, controlled flight on another planet took place at 3:34 a.m. ET.
Unlike when the helicopter's fellow traveler, the Perseverance rover, landed on Mars on February 18, there was a bit of wait to know how the helicopter fared in its attempt.

The helicopter team was in mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, early Monday morning to receive and analyze the first data from Ingenuity's flight attempt.

Live coverage began on NASA's site Monday morning at 6:15 a.m. ET, shortly before confirmation of the flight's success at 6:46 a.m. A postflight briefing is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
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[epo333]

Perseverance rover has created oxygen on Mars



NASA's car-sized rover has successfully managed to turn the Martian atmosphere into breathable oxygen.
The space agency has been celebrating a lot of scientific firsts recently such as the maiden flight of the Ingenuity helicopter which last week marked the first powered, controlled flight on another world.

Not to be outdone, the Perseverance rover has now achieved its own first for science by converting some of the carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere into oxygen - something that had never done before on another planet.

To accomplish this, it used an on-board instrument known as the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment - or MOXIE - a car battery-sized device described as a 'mechanical tree'.

o make oxygen, the device works by splitting carbon dioxide molecules which are comprised of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms.

Such an achievement is important because if it is possible to produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, future settlers will be able to produce their own breathable air.

It will also be possible to create fuel on Mars as well, reducing the need to ferry it from Earth.

"This is a critical first step at converting carbon dioxide to oxygen on Mars," said NASA's Jim Reuter, associate administrator for the agency's space technology mission directorate.

https://www.unexplained-mysteries.co...oxygen-on-mars

[Wally]

From CNN
Massive object could be an interstellar moon, a rare find

[Wally]

A meteor from outside the solar system.
US military confirms an interstellar meteor collided with Earth
Let's hope they are successful in their search for more pieces of the object.
Still it will be fascinating to see the results when they analyze the bit they already have.

[Wally]

The Webb telescope is ready and releasing its first images.
https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

[CasperParks]

The Webb telescope is ready and releasing its first images.
https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

I'm hoping they look at some of the planets that only 12.5 light-years away, and make those images public.

[Wally]

NASA's James Webb telescope snaps its first picture of an exoplanet

[Wally]

From astrobiology.com
New Evidence For Liquid Water Beneath The South Polar Ice Cap Of Mars

[Wally]

From astrobiology.com
A Catalog Of Habitable Zone Exoplanets
the data can be found at:
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2210.02484