Mars Landing Looms For Nasa; Anxiety Building A Day Out

Mars landing looms for NASA; anxiety building a day out

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — With just a day to go, NASA's InSight spacecraft aimed for a bull's-eye touchdown on Mars, zooming in like an arrow with no turning back. InSight's journey of six months and 300 million miles (482 million kilometers) comes to a precarious grand finale Monday afternoon. The robotic geologist — designed to explore Mars' insides, surface to core — must go from 12,300 mph (19,800 kph) to zero in six minutes flat as it pierces the Martian atmosphere, pops out a parachute, fires its descent engines and, hopefully, lands on three legs. It is NASA's first attempt to land on Mars in six years, and all those involved are understandably anxious. NASA's top science mission official, Thomas Zurbuchen, confided Sunday that his stomach is already churning.

Sections:  news   business   
BING NEWS:
  • Nasa is building Moon bases – and my time living in ‘space’ is a blueprint
    As I push the red airlock handle down and step into our space station, I half-wonder: will I end up losing my mind and have to be hauled out? After all, in the current hit television drama, For All ...
    04/22/2024 - 1:00 am | View Link
  • Dying Mars Helicopter Sends NASA Final Transmission
    NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter ... It looked to be doing so well until it seemingly crashed in January, landing wrong in the red Martian dirt and snapping off one of its rotor blades.
    04/17/2024 - 9:31 am | View Link
  • NASA is asking for help to retrieve Mars samples that could be the first evidence of alien life
    "It's the decade of the 2040s that we're going to be landing astronauts on Mars." At the current price tag, Mars Sample Return would "cannibalize" other NASA missions, Nelson said. So the agency ...
    04/15/2024 - 10:26 am | View Link
  • Too expensive, too slow: NASA asks for help with JPL’s Mars Sample Return mission
    “It’s the decade of the 2040s that we’re going to be landing astronauts on Mars.” NASA will direct $310 million to Mars Sample Return this year, less than half of the amount it’s allowed ...
    04/15/2024 - 9:55 am | View Link
  • NASA rethinks plan to return rare Mars samples to Earth
    NASA is seeking innovative methods that could ... and a 2040 return date is too far away,” Nelson said. “Safely landing and collecting the samples, launching a rocket with the samples off ...
    04/15/2024 - 9:23 am | View Link
  • More

 

Welcome to Wopular!

Welcome to Wopular

Wopular is an online newspaper rack, giving you a summary view of the top headlines from the top news sites.

Senh Duong (Founder)
Wopular, MWB, RottenTomatoes

Subscribe to Wopular's RSS Fan Wopular on Facebook Follow Wopular on Twitter Follow Wopular on Google Plus

MoviesWithButter : Our Sister Site

More Business News