Curiosity landed on Monday after around eight months of flight
It has many components that we simply no longer need, “said NASA researcher Ben Cichy.
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The new software should be uploaded to the rover’s computer and also to the rover’s emergency computer by Monday. Then he could roll off and start scientific experiments.
Most expensive Mars mission ever
“Curiosity” landed on Monday after around eight months of flight. It is the most expensive and technically sophisticated mission that has ever been to Mars. The redesigned rover is the size of a small car with six wheels and weighs almost a ton.
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“Curiosity” is to research the living conditions on Mars and, among other things, look for traces of carbon in the soil, which is a basic requirement for the development of life. For this purpose, the nuclear-powered probe has a number of scientific devices, cameras and a weather station on board. The deployment is initially planned for 23 months.
The situation in the Greek substitute camp for migrants is dire: Doctors Without Borders are sounding the alarm. Apparently the conditions are even worse than previously thought.
Around three months after the major fire in the Moria refugee camp, Development Minister Gerd Müller (CSU) denounced the continued catastrophic conditions for migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos. “The new Kara Tepe camp is obviously no better – on the contrary: Doctors Without Borders now had to start a tetanus vaccination campaign because babies are bitten by rats in wet tents,” said Müller of the “Passauer Neue Presse” (Saturday). “These are terrible conditions – in the middle of Europe.”
After the fire in the Moria refugee camp, everyone assumed “that the terrible conditions would be improved after the fire, but unfortunately the reality is different,” said Müller. And the toughest winter weeks are still ahead of the refugees.
7,500 people live in makeshift camps
The Kara Tepe camp was established after the original Moria camp was destroyed in a major fire. At that time, around 10,000 refugees and migrants were homeless overnight. Around 7,500 people currently live in the new, makeshift camp. It was only on Friday that the SOS Children’s Villages organization announced that a three-year-old girl was allegedly raped in the Kara Tepe camp at the beginning of the week.
Müller said it was particularly bad for the children who were born in refugee camps. “I spoke to African women who were raped on the run and who sat on the bare ground and waited for their children to be born. Without hygiene or medical care,” he said of a visit to Moria in 2018. “This is not how life should begin.” He had visited refugee camps in Northern Iraq and South Sudan. “Nowhere were the conditions as bad as on Lesbos.”
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Another problem is that the on-site recognition process took far too long. The older children would hardly have the opportunity to go to school. “If that doesn’t change, a lost generation will grow up here in the middle of Europe.”
Sources used: dpa news agency
The “InSight” space probe will not be the first visitor to the Red Planet. But her name says it all: the first thing she should do is take a look into the depths. Scientists hope this will also provide information about the formation of the earth.
Six years after the last successful mission, the next Mars lander is in the starting blocks. It should start at the weekend – and if everything goes according to plan, the “InSight” space probe will reach its destination on November 26th.https://123helpme.me/argumentative-essay-topics/ The robot vehicle should then extend its feelers on site. Because the US space agency Nasa wants to put the red planet through its paces.
The instruments on board made it possible to “look deep into the interior of the planet,” says NASA scientist Bruce Banerdt. In addition to temperatures, vibrations – i.e. marsquakes – are to be measured for the first time. This could provide clues as to how not only Mars, but also other rocky planets such as the Earth were formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
The cost is around 830 million euros
Mars is smaller and geologically less active than Earth, where plate tectonics and other processes have changed a great deal since their formation. Accordingly, the “fingerprints” of a very early stage of development can still be found on Mars, says Banerdt. And this is exactly what NASA wants to observe and analyze together with European partners. The total cost of the project is expected to be around $ 1 billion.
On the six-month journey through space, “InSight” will be accompanied by two satellites the size of a briefcase. After the launch, they should detach themselves from the probe and then not land on Mars, but rather fly past the red planet. The aim is to establish a communication link during the further course of the mission using the so-called CubeSats.
Success rate is 40 percent
For the first time, a NASA mission of this kind will not start from Cape Canaveral in Florida, but from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California – probably on Saturday morning at 4:05 a.m. local time (1:05 p.m. German time).
But regardless of the starting point, a trip to Mars is by no means a sure-fire success. Measured against all previous attempts, the success rate of such missions is around 40 percent. Only the USA has ever succeeded in landing probes on Mars. The first success was the Viking program in 1976, the last one in 2012 was the NASA rover “Curiosity”.
“We are extremely excited”
When approaching the Red Planet, “InSight” will use a parachute device – similar to the 2008 spacecraft “Phoenix”. Such a landing with a vehicle that is hardly bigger than a couple of desks is in any case “an extremely difficult task,” emphasizes Banerdt. “And every time we do that, we’re extremely excited.”
The duration of this crucial phase of every Mars mission is short. According to NASA experts, the entire maneuver will only take about seven minutes. “Hopefully we won’t see any surprises on the day of landing,” says project manager Tom Hoffman, but at the same time explains: “You never know.”
No locomotion
As soon as “InSight” is safely on the surface of the planet, a “whole new level” can be reached in matters of extraterrestrial excavations, says the scientific mission leader Thomas Zurbuchen. With a narrow, cylindrical boom, “InSight” should be able to penetrate almost five meters into the depth. Meanwhile, a seismograph for recording vibrations is to be placed directly on the surface using a gripper arm.
The general structure of the Mars probe is based in part on its predecessor “Phoenix”, which in turn was a further development of the “Viking” -Lander: three legs ensure a secure footing. Locomotion is, unlike for example with “Curiosity”, not provided. The total weight of “InSight” is 694 kilograms.
“Biggest Parking Lot on Mars”
The focus of the mission is the geological exploration of the Red Planet – “InSight” is the abbreviation for “Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport”. This clearly distinguishes the project from all previous ones, in which only the surface and layers close to the surface were examined carefully. The “Phoenix” probe, for example, only penetrated a few centimeters when taking samples. The atmosphere and the magnetic fields of Mars have also been extensively studied in recent decades. “But we have never actually looked under the outer skin of the planet,” says Banerdt.
A plain called Elysium Planitia is targeted as the landing site. There are only a few rocks there that could damage the probe on landing or become an obstacle during subsequent work. Banerdt casually describes the area as the “largest parking lot on Mars”.
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“InSight” will collect data for two years after landing. Whether it actually works remains to be seen: “Mars is still a mysterious planet,” says the NASA scientist. “Even with all the preparations we’ve made, we’re not safe from unpleasant surprises.”
Sources used: AP
They avoid snow from cannons as much as possible and value closeness to nature: Places that have come together to form the Bergsteigerdörfer initiative. Bavaria’s Environment Minister Thorsten Glauber (Free Voters) hopes that even more municipalities will join the project. “Mountaineering villages are magnets for gentle tourism in the Alps. I am counting on other alpine villages to join the initiative. In mountaineering villages environmental protection is lived,” said Glauber of the German press agency in advance of his speech at the 12th International Annual Meeting of Mountaineering Villages in Berchtesgaden on Friday.
The Bergsteigerdörfer initiative set up by the Austrian Alpine Association has been campaigning for sustainable Alpine tourism for more than ten years. In Bavaria, Ramsau near Berchtesgaden, Sachrang belonging to the municipality of Aschau im Chiemgau, Schleching in the Traunstein district and Kreuth in the Miesbach district bear the Bergsteigerdorf seal.
“In view of the challenges posed by climate change, the Alps need development opportunities that preserve nature and the landscape at the same time,” said Glauber. How mountaineering villages can deal with the various challenges is the topic of the three-day international annual conference, which will take place for the first time in Germany until Sunday under the motto “The future of mountaineering villages”.
Numerous Fairtrade retailers in North Rhine-Westphalia will have to adjust to chocolate shortages in the coming days. The fair trade wholesaler GEPA from Wuppertal can no longer supply retailers and so-called world shops due to the heat this week.
The fair trade wholesaler GEPA from Wuppertal will no longer deliver chocolate to retailers due to the heat in the next few days. The company announced on Thursday. The large central warehouses, on the other hand, are not affected by the delivery stop, as press spokeswoman Brigitte Frommeyer confirmed.
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You don’t want to take any risks in this weather situation. When the chocolate melts, a gray haze can form, making the product unaesthetic, said Frommeyer. You could still eat the chocolate, but the fat bloom made it no longer for sale. The delivery stop initially applies to this week. Then you see further, so the spokeswoman for the trading company. GEPA normally supplies almost 170 world shops in Germany’s largest state alone.
Sources used: dpa news agency
Porz, over 40 degrees. Heat records. Outside you can only stand it in the shade. It hardly cools down in the afternoon either. So where should you go so that sweat doesn’t run down streams? In the outdoor pool, of course. But they are currently overcrowded and not everyone’s cup of tea. And driving to a lake in the area means more effort. So what to do There are alternatives for Cologne residents – in the middle of the city.
Since last year, staying at the fountain on Ebertplatz has been a popular way to defy the heat. After years of draining, water has been bubbling over the fountain sculpture by Wolfgang Göddertz from 1977 since last April. For the little ones, but also for some big ones, this is a welcome and spectacular cooling off when the temperatures make life in the city a strain.
Ebertplatz as an attraction for children
“It’s a difference like day and night to earlier years. The fountain and the café car upgrade the square enormously. The fountain is an attraction for the children. They always ask when we are going back,” says Tobias Hanas . He is 34 years old and the father of 18 month old Marie.
Tobias Hanas with his daughter Marie: You spend a lot of time at Ebertplatz in summer. (Source: Dierk Himstedt)
Additional benches and loungers in the immediate vicinity as well as the café booth whet the appetite for Ebertplatz – especially for families and professionals who spend their lunch breaks here or enjoy the evening after work. “We also regularly meet people from the neighborhood here who come with the children. That’s great,” says Sophia, who is there with her husband Leopold and the children Luzie and Roman to cool off.
Sunbathing over the roofs of Cologne
Anyone who can no longer stand it in the heat after work or afternoon shopping in Schildergasse can spontaneously go to the roof of multi-storey car park B at Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. There is the “SonnenscheinEtage”, a beach club above the roofs of Cologne. A fresh breeze blows here and you can put your feet in the sand with a cold drink. There is also a delightful view over the roofs of Cologne city center, including a view of the cathedral. From 6 p.m. you can buy some holiday and beach bar feelings at acceptable prices with relaxed music.
Chill out with lounge music and cool drinks
Those who prefer to go to the Rhine in midsummer can relax in the beach club in Deutz or in the “beach bar” in Poll instead of on the hot stones of the Rhine boulevard or the Rheinuferwiese.