NASA is targeting no earlier than April 8 for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to make the first attempt at powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-prepares-for-first-flight

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is directed by NASA to the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) with support from several NASA centers: the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Johnson Space Center (JSC), Glenn Research Center (GRC), and Langley Research Center (LaRC). https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart

We develop the mathematical theory for an automatic, space-based system to deflect NEOs by virtue of missiles shot from the Earth-Moon L1 and L3 Lagrangian Points. https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.13304 https://futurezone.at/science/studie-raketen-aus-dem-all-sollen-asteroiden-unschaedlich-machen/401333037?&-notification&-1616774635

A new imaging algorithm devised by researchers in the US could improve our ability to track space junk orbiting the Earth. Through simulated tests, the team has showed how a cross-correlation of the signals reflected by a piece of debris could be used to extract high-resolution, undistorted images of how an object spins as it travels through space – allowing it to be tracked more accurately. Their algorithm could soon prove invaluable in protecting satellite systems from colliding with space junk. https://physicsworld.com/a/new-imaging-algorithm-can-spot-fast-moving-and-rotating-space-junk/ https://epubs.siam.org/doi/abs/10.1137/20M1357469

On March 21, 2021 NASA’s Perseverance Rover send images of Mars Helicopter Ingenuity deployment started from Debris Shield Dropping. For the first flight, the helicopter will take off a few feet from the ground, hover in the air for about 20 to 30 seconds, and land. That will be a major milestone: the very first powered flight in the extremely thin atmosphere of Mars. After that, the team will attempt additional experimental flights of incrementally farther distance and greater altitude. After the helicopter completes its technology demonstration, Perseverance will continue its scientific mission. Ingenuity hitched a ride on the Perseverance rover's belly, covered by a shield to protect it during the descent and landing. Once at a suitable spot on Mars, the shield covering beneath the rover will drop. Then, the team will release the helicopter in several steps to get it safely onto the surface. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAQxNd3uBN0&t=5s

The Ingenuity Mars helicopter, which arrived with the Perseverance rover, is a technology demonstration that will attempt the first-ever powered, controlled flight on another world. The teams operating Ingenuity and Perseverance have now chosen the flight zone where the helicopter will conduct its operations for up to 31 days (30 sols, or Mars days). Join NASA experts to discuss upcoming milestones and get answers to your questions.

This animation depicts the CRISPR-Cas9 method for genome editing – a powerful new technology with many applications in biomedical research, including the potential to treat human genetic disease. Feng Zhang, a leader in the development of this technology, is a faculty member at MIT, an investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and a core member of the Broad Institute. Further information can be found on Prof. Zhang’s website at http://zlab.mit.edu​ .

For decades, science has been trying to unlock the mysteries of how a single cell becomes a fully formed human being and what goes wrong to cause genetic diseases, miscarriages and infertility. Now, scientists have created living entities in their labs that resemble human embryos; the results of two new experiments are the most complete such "model embryos" developed to date. The goal of the experiments is to gain important insights into early human development and find new ways to prevent birth defects and miscarriages and treat fertility problems. https://www.livescience.com/model-embryos-blastoids-lab-experiments.html? https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00695-8?&&&

The method is set to reveal the hidden first stages of embryonic development – from a tiny ball of cells to organ growth https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/advanced-mouse-embryos-grown-outside-uterus https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03416-3

The main purpose of this book is to trace the origins of the concept of light and to understand how it gained theologically over the millennia its sacredness and its current value, to extrapolate this concept from the religious context and to investigate scientifically its individual aspects in order to overcome the concept of creationism and lay the foundation of all principles of a new era introducing a new political vision for a changing world. FREE COPY TO DOWNLOAD! https://eoti.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Free-Copy-Gothic-All-is-Light-Intelligent-Design.pdf The National Library of Russia in Saint Petersburg https://primo.nlr.ru/permalink/f/oo3rn7/07NLR_LMS012289160 The Digital Library of the National Library of Russia https://vivaldi.nlr.ru/bx000040661/details DNB Deutsche National Bibliothek http://d-nb.info/1203939787

How did Earth get the phosphorus it needed to make the first DNA and RNA molecules? The answer may be crackling through the sky. https://www.livescience.com/lightning-bolts-early-life-on-earth.html? https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-21849-2?&&&

Abstract Geological evidence shows that ancient Mars had large volumes of liquid water. Models of past hydrogen escape to space, calibrated with observations of the current escape rate, cannot explain the present-day D/H isotope ratio. We simulate volcanic degassing, atmospheric escape, and crustal hydration on Mars, incorporating observational constraints from spacecraft, rovers and meteorites. We find ancient water volumes equivalent to a 100- to 1500-meter global layer are simultaneously compatible with the geological evidence, loss rate estimates, and D/H measurements. In our model, the volume of water participating in the hydrological cycle decreased by 40 to 95% over the Noachian period (~3.7 to 4.1 billion years ago), reaching present-day values by ~3.0 billion years ago. Between 30 and 99% of Martian water was sequestered by crustal hydration, demonstrating that irreversible chemical weathering can increase the aridity of terrestrial planets. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2021/03/15/science.abc7717?fbclid=IwAR2v8aDX2LGuR7UF4VPJA00sewxQB5X0-CKd_W16qJKEnZLyYhO9GPzzOjk

In 2016, European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake shared a photo of a quarter-inch dent gouged into a glass window of the International Space Station (ISS). The culprit? A tiny fleck of space junk. The piece of debris, perhaps a paint flake or a metal fragment from a satellite, was only a few thousandths of a millimeter across — not much bigger than a single cell of E. coli. But how can something so small cause visible damage? https://www.livescience.com/tiny-space-junk-damage.html?