We're targeting our third flight for this Sunday, April 25, with initial datasets and imagery arriving in our control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory around 7:16 a.m. PDT (10:16 a.m. EDT). https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/status/295/we-are-prepping-for-ingenuitys-third-flight-test/ https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25845/ingenuity-mars-helicopter-pilots-logbook/

The toaster-sized MOXIE (short for "Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment") produces oxygen from carbon dioxide, expelling carbon monoxide as a waste product. MOXIE's work could help Mars astronauts live off the land someday. NASA's Perseverance rover just notched another first on Mars, one that may help pave the way for astronauts to explore the Red Planet someday. The rover successfully used its MOXIE instrument to generate oxygen from the thin, carbon dioxide-dominated Martian atmosphere for the first time, demonstrating technology that could both help astronauts breathe and help propel the rockets that get them back home to Earth. The MOXIE milestone occurred on Tuesday (April 20), just one day after Perseverance watched over another epic Martian first — the first Mars flight of NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, which rode to the Red Planeton the rover's belly. https://www.space.com/perseverance-rover-makes-mars-oxygen-moxie

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter successfully completed its second Mars flight on April 22 – the 18th sol, or Martian day, of its experimental flight test window. Lasting 51.9 seconds, the flight added several new challenges to the first, which took place on April 19, including a higher maximum altitude, longer duration, and sideways movement. https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8928/nasas-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-logs-second-successful-flight/

NASA astronauts Kate Rubins explains why an International Space Station is an amazing place to conduct science experiments. Astronaut Kate Rubins Advances DNA Sequencing in Space https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqCE8WvxWYk

Mr Borisov told state TV that the planned Russian space station would orbit at a higher latitude and thus be better able to view the polar regions, which would be useful for the opening up of the Northern Sea Route. Russia hopes to develop the route as Arctic sea ice melts. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56812294 https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/04/russia-mulls-withdrawing-international-space-station-after-2024

It styles itself as “a vaccine for all mankind”, and with some justification. Last week, the Sputnik V covid-19 vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Russia, was approved in India, a country of around 1.4 billion people. India is the 60th nation to approve the vaccine, meaning it is now available to a combined population of 3 billion, or 40 per cent of everyone on the planet. Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2275050-sputnik-v-russias-vaccine-is-going-global-how-well-does-it-work/#ixzz6sgW3wbfx https://www.gamaleya.org/en/?fbclid=IwAR1Cyp0wQaNhz2dSgZmKYPeXr5lvTtngMovjXLXCt5_1oBP9mkUF2CXKL6M

‘There is a risk that a malfunction of the SpaceX vehicle during these activities will create an overpressure event that can break windows,’ alert notice warns https://www.independent.co.uk/.../starship-sn15-launch... https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EzdEL0QWYAMurmY?format=jpg... APRIL 16, 2021 STARSHIP TO LAND NASA ASTRONAUTS ON THE MOON https://www.spacex.com/updates/starship-moon-announcement/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3t40M4YS-4_cjxqH3A7HvQ92M8HAcQzRPoLGM483BXUgPvshWelez2KQM

The iceberg that was for a time the biggest in the world is no more. A68, as it was known, covered an area of nearly 6,000 sq km (2,300 sq miles) when it broke away from Antarctica in 2017. That's like a small country; it's equal to a quarter of the size of Wales. But satellites show the mega-berg has now virtually gone, broken into countless small fragments that the US National Ice Center says are no longer worth tracking. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56779687 https://www.livescience.com/larsen-c-iceberg-melts-away.html?fbclid=IwAR0Tn0wJHd5rwwcsmMCTzM7-s0q5M72nbuKDj2oQ-gphuMdS-g4ClAwCH4g https://www.livescience.com/giant-iceberg-breaks-off-antarctica-a-74-images?fbclid=IwAR2MdcNtoM3PeWAeNmLmi2rhs1JcwBAR2GJCp5BOGkwebef5PfklgkmZsUo

OneWeb and Starlink satellites are within a few meters of each other. Such a collision could have dramatic consequences. "If you don't take action now, then you will be as responsible as those who have not taken care of climate change," says Kai-Uwe Schrogl, chief strategy officer for the European Space Agency (ESA). https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-risky-rush-for-mega-constellations/?fbclid=IwAR3J4d_x0o-kLY8ygciN03WXnuN_YlmEXoxB881yEDZRTx9ft7rMOijnEOs https://futurezone.at/science/drohende-kollision-starlink-und-oneweb-satelliten-mussten-einander-ausweichen/401346815?&-notification&-1618045238

NASA are preparing a second test flight of their Ingenuity rotorcraft as early as Thursday following a successful vertical lift-off and landing yesterday. The second flight will aim to reach an altitude of 5 m, then fly laterally about 2 m, come back 2 m before landing softly in the same spot. What is discovered over the next few weeks of test flights will help planetary scientists and engineers plan for future missions to Mars and other planets — including the Dragonfly rotorcraft that will head to Saturn’s moon Titan later this decade. https://physicsworld.com/a/nasas-ingenuity-rotorcraft-prepares-for-second-mars-flight/

Researchers at the laboratory Physics for Medicine Paris have performed the first microscopic mapping of the vascular network in the human brain. The team used transcranial ultrafast ultrasound localization microscopy (ULM) of intravenously injected microbubbles to capture intracranial blood flow dynamics with a resolution of around 25 µm. https://physicsworld.com/a/ultrafast-ultrasound-maps-tiny-blood-vessels-deep-in-the-human-brain/ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41551-021-00697-x.epdf?sharing_token=8Z97aUZK_xMIC_52XqkhA9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0M1H8WlaD3TQt3-9pUkGgQfTTLtSG_luhaRKMSCB21I-n4hcqZgkZmrMHh7u8ceiFricMIEzOE15Wu919I7HyBy8dnHfZ7djIqKiH9QSIvf-CswDVUWyfTpldwI6nq-PwXec0ACGe8pq4ARgx4JBdonUHUTSx3Mm77g_R6_Z5Lq7z7D6aruLiBklV7N419DR0E%3D&tracking_referrer=physicsworld.com&fbclid=IwAR3K9BWc7jrK4qNl6fIZuhkKG4YU2Zral7CY1bbsM_avDxiQIknwLh3b5og

Scientists say one of the world's largest icebergs has melted away. The so-called A68 had a surface area of nearly 6,000 square kilometers and weighed approximately 1 billion tons after it broke away from Antarctica in 2017. Its drift toward the island of South Georgia in the southern Atlantic raised fears for wildlife there. But satellites show the formation is now virtually gone, broken into countless small fragments. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56779687 https://www.livescience.com/larsen-c-iceberg-melts-away.html?fbclid=IwAR0Tn0wJHd5rwwcsmMCTzM7-s0q5M72nbuKDj2oQ-gphuMdS-g4ClAwCH4g