April 25, 2012
Good Morning,
In the second article, the U.S. proposes another probing of Mars to search for signs of life while, in the first article, Russians project how a human may do on the surface of the red planet. Makes you wonder which country is thinking... outside of the box on the matter.
Until Next Time,
Erin
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Human health on Mars mission discussedMOSCOW - Future astronauts spending time on the surface of Mars may face radiation exposure levels that could increase the risk of DNA damage, Russian scientists say. Other heath risks could also be possible with increased levels, they said. "According to our estimates, researchers on the surface of Mars can expect a number of adverse factors, such as cardiac arrhythmia, reduced stability and performance, sensory impairments, as well as more long-term consequences in the form of changes at the DNA level, and demineralization of bone tissue," said Anatoly Grigoryev, the deputy head of Russia's Academy of Sciences. He made the comments at a presentation on the results of the Mars-500 experiment, a ground-based simulation of a mission to Mars that attempted to recreate at least some of the conditions of a flight to the Red Planet by locking six men away in a mock spacecraft for 520 days. The Moscow-based Mars-500 experiment was completed on Nov. 4, RIA Novosti reported. Astronauts could also face a number of adverse psycho-physiological factors during the flight to Mars, Grigoryev said, such as hypokinesia -- decreased motor activity -- monotony and frustration.
Life-seeking Mars mission proposedPULLMAN, Wash. - U.S. researchers are calling for a mission to Mars with "a strong and comprehensive life-detection component" consisting of a fleet of small probes. Washington State University astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch and 20 scientists propose a small fleet of sensor packages that could drill into the martian soil and search for signs of ancient or existing life. The proposal for the BOLD mission, for Biological Oxidant and Life Detection, has been published in the journal Planetary and Space Science. "We really want to address the big questions on Mars and not fiddle around," Schulze-Makuch said. "With the money for space exploration drying up, we finally have to get some exciting results that not only the experts and scientists in the field are interested in but that the public is interested, too." The mission would see six 130-pound probes dropped at various locations, descending by parachute to the surface and thrusting a soil sampler nearly 1 foot into the ground. On-board instrumentation would conduct half a dozen experiments, transmitting data to an orbiter overhead. While each probe would have about a 50-50 chance of landing successfully, with the redundancy of six probes the chance of one succeeding is better than 98 percent, Schulze-Makuch said.
Glasses can show movie subtitlesKNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Sony says its new Access Glasses will give deaf and hearing-impaired moviegoers closed captioned text in their direct line of sight for both 2D and 3D movies. Sony has announced a partnership with Regal Entertainment that will see the glasses in Regal's digitized theaters across the United States, boxofficemagazine.com reported. The Sony glasses are designed with a receiver for receiving and displaying text subtitles. Also, when paired with headphones, Access Glasses can provide descriptive audio tracks for the blind and visually impaired, Sony said. "Regal strives to provide the best experience for all moviegoers and this rollout is the culmination of years of coordination with accessibility advocates, film studios and, of course, Sony Digital Cinema," Amy Miles, chief executive officer of Regal Entertainment Group, said. "By incorporating this technology into the Regal theater experience, we're giving deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired customers a more convenient and natural way to enjoy the movies," she said. "We've worked closely with Sony for the last year testing the technology with audiences and the feedback has been phenomenal." Weighing less than 3 ounces, the glasses can be programmed to display bright closed caption text in a choice of six languages, Sony
World's largest camera get go-aheadPALO ALTO, Calif. - The world's largest digital camera, meant to make the deepest survey ever of night sky, has passed a critical milestone in its creation, U.S. researchers say. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope camera -- which will capture the widest, fastest and clearest view of the night sky ever observed -- has received "Critical Decision 1" approval by the U.S. Department of Energy to move into the next stage of the project. The LSST camera will be roughly 5 feet by 10 feet, provide 3.5-degree field of view with an image surface diameter of just over 2 feet, providing an image resolution of approximately 3.2 billion pixels. "With 189 sensors and over 3 tons of components that have to be packed into an extremely tight space, you can imagine this is a very complex instrument," said Nadine Kurita, the project manager for the LSST camera at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. "But given the enormous challenges required to provide such a comprehensive view of the universe, it's been an incredible opportunity to design something so unique." Having passed Critical Decision 1, the project will enter a detailed engineering design, schedule and budget phase, an SLAC release said Tuesday. If all continues as planned, construction of the telescope will begin in 2014. Preliminary work has started on LSST's 28-foot primary mirror and its final site atop Cerro Pachon in northern Chile.
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