close Video NASA Mars Perseverance rover provided valuable data: Former astronaut Mechanical engineering professor Mike Massimino discusses the complex mission to the Red Planet on 'Your World' Amateur puzzle fans delighted this week when NASA revealed it had hidden a secret color-coded message on the parachute for the Perseverance rover that landed on Mars last week. The message, written by systems engineer Ian Clark in binary code through alternating white and orange strips on the 70-foot chute, spelled out the NASA motto "Dare Mighty Things," which comes from a Theodore Roosevelt quote. Clark, the lead developer of the parachute, had an interesting problem in encoding the message – he couldn’t use any colors that had not already been tested for Mars' atmosphere. Different color dyes might weaken its integrity inside its harsh environment. "There’s all kinds of second-guessing questions," Clark said, according to The New York Times. "Like could having more white than orange, or vice versa, mean that the parachute was going to warm up differently and maybe that would change its behavior?" BUZZ ALDRIN REACTS TO NASA'S PERSEVERANCE ROVER LANDING ON MARS Clark said when he asked deputy project manager Matt Wallace if he could put a message in the parachute, his only guidance was to "make sure it was appropriate and couldn’t be misinterpreted." Only about six people knew about the encoded message before last Thursday’s landing, Clark, a crossword puzzle enthusiast, who called creating the message "super fun," said. He said it only took puzzle solvers a few hours to figure out the binary-coded missive after it was teased during Monday’s news conference. "I’ll have to be a little bit more creative" next time, he said. HOW WILL NASA'S PERSEVERANCE ROVER ENGINEERS PILOT FIRST HELICOPTER ON MARS? Clark also included the GPS coordinates of the mission's headquarters at the Jet ...
When did pathfinder land on mars
Astrophysicist discusses how Mars rover can lead to human exploration
National Science Foundation astrophysicist Joe Pesce told Hill.TV that the launching of the new rover Perseverance to explore Mars is a necessary step to eventual human exploration. “Mars has a very thin atmosphere – it requires quite extensive technology just to come in and land,” he said. “The technology that we saw demonstrated on Perseverance will be used in the future.” NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars earlier this month to examine the surface and search for any signs that life once existed on the planet. Pesce said studying areas on Mars that appear to have had water will help scientists understand the planet’s surface makeup and geology. “I can’t stress enough just the exploration quality of what’s happening here,” he said. “We as humans want to know what’s going on, and Mars in the past was probably very similar to Earth. So understanding Mars helps us understand Earth better as well.” Pesce added that after researchers test the technology to ensure it is working as intended, the rover can start collecting and storing samples in the coming weeks for future missions to take back to Earth. “It’s always better to be able to study things in a laboratory, even though the robots are really quite capable on the surface of Mars,” Pesce said. ...
Texas attorney general hits links with Trump before CPAC appearance
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) played golf with former President Trump Donald Trump Biden to hold virtual bilateral meeting with Mexican president More than 300 charged in connection to Capitol riot Trump Jr.: There are 'plenty' of GOP incumbents who should be challenged MORE ahead of his appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida on Saturday, according to Paxton. Paxton shared a photo of himself and Trump on the golf course with the caption “Beautiful day in Mar-a-Lago with my favorite President. Headed to @CPAC next. Can’t wait to see everyone!” Beautiful day in Mar-a-Lago with my favorite President. Headed to @CPAC next. Can’t wait to see everyone! #CPAC2021 #Trump pic.twitter.com/L7e4WcsGyn — Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) February 27, 2021 ADVERTISEMENT The photo came before Paxton participated in a panel at CPAC on Saturday with Rep. Paul Gosar Paul Anthony Gosar Madison Cawthorn doesn't regret participating in Jan. 6 'Stop the Steal' rally Democrats look to make Marjorie Taylor Greene the face of GOP The GOP and the mainstreaming of right-wing extremism MORE (R-Ariz.). Paxton, one of Trump’s defenders, notably sued several swing states that President Biden Joe Biden House Democrats pass sweeping .9T COVID-19 relief bill with minimum wage hike Biden to hold virtual bilateral meeting with Mexican president More than 300 charged in connection to Capitol riot MORE won in an ill-fated lawsuit at the U.S. Supreme Court as Trump sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election. CPAC began on Friday in Orlando, Fla., with speeches from high-profile allies of the former president who are likely to become GOP contenders for the 2024 presidential election, including Sens. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward Cruz Tomi Lahren says CPAC attendees clearly want Trump to run in 2024 OVERNIGHT ENERGY: ...
It’s time to stop calling slavery America’s ‘original sin’
James Goodman, distinguished professor of history at Rutgers University, Newark, is the author of " Stories of Scottsboro ," " Blackout " and " But Where Is the Lamb? " The views expressed here are his own. Read more opinion on CNN. (CNN) A modest proposal: It's time to stop calling slavery America's "original sin." James Goodman There is no need for me to name names. So many people do it. Secular people as well as religious people; lay historians as well as men and women of the cloth; rabbis as well as ministers and priests; people who believe that Adam and Eve's disobedience resulted in their expulsion from paradise and the estrangement of human beings from God, and people who have never given the Fall and its consequences a moment's thought; left-wingers, right wingers and just about everyone in between. It is one of the few things about which longtime political opponents Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and former President Barack Obama agree : Slavery was America's original sin. The habit might seem harmless, shorthand for saying that slavery was distant, deeply embedded and bad. All history is hindsight. We often see things that people couldn't or didn't see at the time. We tell stories and offer interpretations that depend on our knowledge of events that happened between then and now. We make comparisons and all kinds of judgements. We employ metaphors. The idea that slavery was America's original sin is one such metaphor, used at least as far back as the debate, in 1819, about the admission of Missouri to the union as a slave state. The problem is that it is a weak, misleading metaphor, concealing much more than it reveals about early American history, the institution of slavery, the aftermath of slavery and the messy business of making a nation. We should abandon it. Here are a few of the reasons why. The amendment that abolished slavery had a lasting flaw For starters, the ...
Deja vu? In preparing Amazon bid, Colorado officials learn from failed effort to lure Boeing
Denver has been here before, with a Seattle-based corporate behemoth considering a move that could bring many high-paying jobs to the region. Remember Boeing Corp.? Denver came in third behind Chicago and Dallas to lure the aerospace company’s headquarters despite offering a $15 million incentive package. This time it’s Amazon, which announced last week it is looking for a city for a second headquarters campus. Though the online retailer is looking nationwide, a potential bid from Colorado gained buzz as The New York Times picked Denver as the leader among 52 cities in its own analysis. “It’s like being chosen the Super Bowl winner before the season starts. You kind of put a target on your back,” joked veteran Denver developer Bill Mosher. Still, Mosher, who has worked in commercial real estate for more than 30 years, said he believes Denver has a good shot. “I think Denver and all the growth that’s been taking place here — and the metrics The New York Times utilized — are important. We stack up pretty well,” he said. The analysis looked at a range of factors including workforce, quality of life, transportation and government incentives. Stung by infighting in the past, state and local economic development officials say this time they are working on a single proposal to try to land one of the largest corporate recruitment prizes the country has ever seen. “It is really important when these types of projects come up that we speak with one voice for Colorado,” said Rich Werner, president and CEO of Upstate Colorado in Greeley, one of several groups working to land the huge project. The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, working in coordination with the Metro Denver Economic Development Commission, will vet the various offers from interested Colorado communities and present Amazon with a unified proposal, with Gov. John Hickenlooper invovled. The state has larger financial incentives it can put on the table now than ...
