Here are today’s most important updates from the realm of Science and Space.
NASA's Landsat 8 satellite has captured an extraordinary and rare atmospheric phenomenon of 'sea smoke' rising above Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier. The Operational Land Imager (OLI) clicked those images of the ‘ghostly plumes’, coming out from the White Continent's most vulnerable ice masses, depicted as the "power of the wind". Sea smoke is basically a fog above water, occurring when cold and frigid air above the glacier meets with relatively warm water surrounding it. After cooling, the air condenses to form fog. This ultimately creates a haunting scene over the water as it rises and enwraps the surroundings.
The little copter who could – and did. ❤️
— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) January 25, 2024
Designed for five flights, Ingenuity soared 72 times on Mars, the first powered flights on another planet. #ThanksIngenuity for changing our understanding of what is possible. https://t.co/jtD83vEJpk pic.twitter.com/SUzOoptQyh
(Credit - X/@NASAExoplanets)
NASA is gearing up for a second Mars helicopter mission after the groundbreaking success of Ingenuity quadcopter. The space agency is now planning for a more advanced rotorcraft, with an aim of better aerial exploration on the Red Planet. Ingenuity, attached to the Perseverance rover arrived on Mars in February 2021 and till now has completed 72 flights. Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are now preparing the Mars Science Helicopter (MSH) task to develop technology for deploying science payloads weighing 0.5 to 2 kg on rotorcraft platforms. The upcoming missions will uncover new insights about the red planet's geology and potential for past or present life.
(Credit - X/@NASAJPL)
It is proved that water is present on the Moon, but scientists are yet to know its location and form. NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer mission, scheduled to begin next year, will provide more insights. Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and led by Caltech in Pasadena, California, this small satellite will map the Moon’s surface water, abundance, location, form, and evolution over time. “Making high-resolution measurements of the type and amount of lunar water will help us understand the lunar water cycle, and it will provide clues to other questions, like how and when did Earth get its water,” said Bethany Ehlmann, principal investigator for Lunar Trailblazer at Caltech.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault received a fresh batch of seeds to preserve from 23 seed banks. Read more: https://t.co/LOjQ9xsJii pic.twitter.com/XpsjJBD9HI
— Reuters Science News (@ReutersScience) February 28, 2024
(Credit - X/@ReutersScience)
The Arctic seed vault on Norway's Spitsbergen island received new samples recently from the largest number of depositors since the pandemic. This indicates fear about rising climate change and food security, according to a custodian of the facility. Established in 2008, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is located deep inside a mountain to avoid any nuclear disaster or global warming. This is the backup for the world's gene banks from thousands of species. "This deposit goes beyond conserving crops; it's about protecting our culture," the project coordinator of the Norway-funded Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods, and Development in Bolivia said in a statement.
