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NASA proves its space helicopter can fly on Mars
The scientists working on NASA's Mars helicopter project are done building the actual 4-pound vehicle that's blasting off to the red planet with the Mars 2020 rover. But they can't just strap the helicopter to its bigger companion's belly and call it a day -- they first have to prove that it can actually fly in Martian conditions. That's why in late January, the team replicated our neighboring planet's much thinner atmosphere in JPL's Space Simulator in order to make sure the helicopter will be able to take off. Spoiler alert: they were able to successfully conduct two test flights in Martian conditions on separate days.
VP Pence wants US astronauts back on the Moon by 2024
Apparently, plans to put US astronauts on the Moon by the late 2020s weren't ambitious enough. Vice President Pence announced at the National Space Council that the US now planned to return people to the Moon by 2024, about four years earlier than expected. He argued that the US "must remain first in space" this century for the sake of the economy, national security and writing the "rules and values of space" by establishing a more permanent presence.
Google forms an external council to foster 'responsible' AI
Google is joining Facebook, Stanford and other outfits setting up institutions to support ethical AI. The company has created an Advanced Technology External Advisory Council that will shape the "responsible development and use" of AI in its products. The organization will ponder facial recognition, fair machine learning algorithms and other ethical issues. The initial council is a diverse group that tackles a range of disciplines and experiences.
The Morning After: All of Apple's subscriptions (+)
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Apple's big event is over, and we have all the news to recap. If you need a shortcut just look right here. Beyond Apple and its new titanium credit card, rumors point to two new Nintendo Switch consoles on the way, and NASA has some sizing problems.
An ill-fitting spacesuit cancels NASA's first all-female spacewalk
A historic spacewalk was scheduled to occur this week, with only women operating outside the ISS for the first time ever. News of the event was revealed earlier this month when a flight controller tweeted about the schedule, but as NASA noted at the time "assignments and schedules could always change." Now that has happened, as the second of three planned spacewalks will instead be performed by a man and a woman, Nick Hague and Christina Koch. According to NASA, last week when Hague performed the first operation with astronaut Anne McClain, there was an issue with the fit of McClain's spacesuit. In what is essentially the "t-shirt" area of the Enhanced EMU suit astronauts wear on spacewalks, the Hard Upper Torso (H.U.T.) comes in three sizes: Medium, Large and XL. McClain had trained in both the medium and large sized units, but discovered that the medium size worked better for her. According to a spokesperson, there are two medium-sized units onboard, however only one can be ready in time, so Koch will go with Hague instead and history will have to be made another day. While there's some confusion over how this could happen, it seems like there are a few issues going on. Of course astronauts are measured extensively before their trip, but there is no way to simulate the extended effects of zero gravity on their body and earlier this month McClain tweeted that she's grown by two inches since launch.
NASA, ESA will study how artificial gravity can keep astronauts healthy
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have to exercise and alter their diet to endure extended stays in microgravity, but NASA and the ESA hope to find a better way. They're about to start a study that will explore how artificial gravity might keep astronauts in good shape. Volunteers at the German Aerospace Center will spend 60 days in bed starting on March 25th at an incline that will send blood away from their heads. Once a day, a "selection" of the subjects will take a spin in the Center's short-arm centrifuge in a bid to send blood back toward their legs.
'Cannonball' pulsar points to the supernova that formed it
Astronomers have clocked a spinning star at 2.5 million MPH and grabbed an image that leaves no doubt where it came from. Using NASA's Fermi Telescope and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), a team of scientists imaged pulsar J0002, originally discovered by citizen science project Einstein@Home. What makes it look so cool is the clear evidence it came from a recent supernova. "Thanks to its narrow dart-like tail and a fortuitous viewing angle, we can trace this pulsar straight back to its birthplace," said NRAO scientist Frank Schinzel.
Self-healing 3D-printed gel has a future in robots and medicine
Robots might be a little more appealing -- and more practical -- if they're not made of hard, cold metal or plastic, but of a softer material. Researcher at Brown University believe they've developed a new material that could be ideal for "soft robotics." It's already demonstrated that it can pick up small, delicate objects, and it could form customized microfluidic devices -- sometimes called "labs-on-a-chip" and used for things like spotting aggressive cancers and making life-saving drugs in the field.
NASA reveals Bennu asteroid is spewing particles into space
An asteroid slightly wider than the Empire State Building has confused scientists by shooting out plumes of dust, as a new set of close-up images from NASA shows. Bennu, the near-Earth asteroid that NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission has been observing since December 31st, is already confounding scientists in a variety of ways.
Ultima Thule is unlike anything we’ve seen in the solar system
It turns out Ultima Thule is a kind of lumpy space snowman. If you've been following NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, you know Ultima Thule is an object in Kuiper Belt, the donut-shaped region of icy bodies beyond Pluto. New Horizons made the farthest flyby in human history when it passed Ultima Thule on New Year's Day. As data from New Horizons makes its way back to Earth, scientists are beginning to analyze the data it collected, and they're making surprising discoveries.
'Lucy In The Sky' trailer shows a darker side of space travel
Today, we got our first glimpse of the Lucy In The Sky trailer. Starring Natalie Portman and Jon Hamm, this is the first feature film directed by Noah Hawley, who's behind Fargo and Legion. Lucy In The Sky is loosely based on the headline-grabbing story of astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak. After returning from space, Nowak had a breakdown in which she drove from Houston to Orlando, where she attempted to kidnap a woman involved in a love affair with another astronaut.
‘Farscape’ comes to Amazon Prime Video on March 19th
Fans of Farscape, the cult sci-fi show from 1999 that features a lost astronaut, deadly mercenaries, and puppets, are in for a treat. All four seasons of the Jim Henson Company series, newly remastered in HD, will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on March 19th. Curious viewers can ask Brian Henson, one of the show's creators, questions at a Facebook Live event on March 19th, at 12:45 PT.
SpaceX tests heat shields that will stop its Starship from burning up
After successfully getting its Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) and back, SpaceX has shifted focus to another huge project: the interplanetary Starship. In a tweet, Elon Musk showed off tests on the Starship's heat shield, the part that will keep it from burning up when it returns to Earth. The blow-torch like devices brought the temperatures up to 1,650 degrees Kelvin (2,500 degrees F) at the most extreme, white-hot regions -- enough to stand the heat of orbital re-entry, Musk said.
Shrimp-inspired robot claw could punch through rock
Shrimp may be small, but some of them can pack quite a wallop. One of the pistol shrimp's claws, for instance, delivers such an explosive amount of force that it creates a shockwave of superhot plasma that can take out prey or create impromptu shelters. It only makes sense, then, that scientists hope to harness that power. A team has developed a robot claw that mimics the pistol shrimp's basic behavior to generate plasma and, potentially a valuable tool for underwater science and industry.
NASA's latest cubesat candidates include a solar sail test
NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative is still going strong nine years after it was first announced. In fact, the agency has just revealed the 16 small satellite projects hitching a ride on bigger missions from 2020 to 2022. The selected CubeSats, which include ones designed to deploy an inflatable antenna and another that's meant to test solar sails, come from various educational institutions and research organizations from 10 different states.
Neil deGrasse Tyson will continue with 'Cosmos' after investigation
Fox and National Geographic have completed their investigation into Neil deGrasse Tyson over alleged sexual misconduct, and have decided to give both Cosmos: Possible Worlds and StarTalk the go-ahead. While the channels didn't reveal their findings (they have "no further comment"), they now expect to find a new air date for Cosmos after a last-minute delay and will return Nat Geo's remaining 13 StarTalk episodes in April.
Stanford study finds Apple Watch can detect irregular heart rhythms
Stanford has released the results of its Apple Watch-based heart study more than a year after it began, and it appears to have been a success, with a few caveats. Only 0.5 percent of the more than 400,000 volunteers received warnings of irregular heart rhythms, but physicians later verified that 84 percent of those notifications were atrial fibrillation episodes and thus potential signs of trouble. To put it another way, the technology both avoided a glut of false positives (a major concern going into the study) and was reliable enough that it was worth a follow-up with doctors.
MIT robot's flytrap gripper can grab both fragile and heavy objects
Robot hands tend to skew toward extremes. They can pick up delicate objects or heavy objects, but rarely both. MIT CSAIL's solution? Avoid hands altogether. Its researchers have developed a Venus flytrap-like gripper that can grab objects as fragile as a grape, but also items 100 times its weight -- even if they're oddly shaped. The trick relies on a combination of clever physics with brute force.
Sneaky deep sea robot will take pics of fish without spooking them
Robots typically aren't good choices for studying deep sea animals like jellyfish -- not when their light, noise and movement can scare away those creatures. Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution may have a far less intrusive option, though. Their planned Mesobot observer is designed to move as quietly as possible while collecting data about aquatic life. The four-foot-tall robot moves using six large but low-power thrusters that won't cause a stir, and its LED lights can switch to red (which many deep sea species can't see). A two-day running time should also minimize attention-getting trips to the surface.
NASA's upcoming Moon mission may use commercial rockets
Today, in a surprising move at a Senate hearing, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine proposed that Orion, NASA's upcoming crew vehicle, may fly aboard a commercial rocket. This was the first time that the possibility had been broached by the NASA administrator.