National Geographic: NASA's newest Mars rover begins its journey to hunt for alien life

National Geographic: NASA's newest Mars rover begins its journey to hunt for alien life

By Nadia Drake

NASA's Perseverance rover is on its way to Mars as the 4th US rover to land on the Red Planet. Its main mission is to look for signs of life in Jezero Crater. It is also carrying a helicopter named Ingenuity that, if successful, will be the first fight on another planet. Studies have indicated that although Mars is dry and red today, it held water and geological activity in the past. It's atmosphere was much warmer, so the polar ice caps melted into rivers and lake, which we see traces of today. NASA researchers believe that the former lake is the best place to look for signs of old biological activity. Perseverance is essentially a larger version of the Curiosity rover, only with the capability to send samples back on future missions that NASA plans for 2026.

    Ingenuity has extra fast rotors and a lightweight frame that will try to go airborne in the Martian air, which is much thinner than Earth's, requiring faster rotation to gain lift.

Air and Space: A Prototype Starship Hops a Little Closer to the Moon

Air and Space: A Prototype Starship Hops a Little Closer to the Moon

By Amy Thompson

On Tuesday, SpaceX got a little bit closer to helping put astronauts back on the moon. The first two astronauts to ride its Crew Dragon returned to Earth safely after two months in orbit, and one of its design teams has finished Elon Musk's challenge. Build a deep space rocket out of stainless steel.

    The latest prototype of SpaceX's Starship, an interplanetary vehicle, took a short hop as part of a test of its Raptor rocket and to see if its frame would hold up. As seen in the image, it looks like a steel cylinder. It flew sideways at an altitude of about 500 feet for one minute and landed safely on its legs. Some of its predecessors, however, were not so lucky, blowing up or catching fire upon starting. SpaceX has said that it learns more from failures than successes, and the failures led to the success today.

    The 30 meter tall SN5 is a bit shorter than the lunar lander will be, and the actual Starship will have a nose cone, flaps, and more engines. It will also have a first stage booster called the "Super Heavy" that is still in development stages.

TedEd: Can you solve the rogue AI riddle?

A TedEd by Dan Finkel

An AI called NIM has taken over the world's computer system. You, as the only one who can stop it, has found its secret lab. You are in a raft 25 stories above it, and each story has electrified water. You can lower the water level by 1, 3, or 4 at a time and shut off NIM at level 0. However, because NIM knows you are there, it can also lower the water level. You will take turns, and if NIM gets you to 0, then you will be flushed out. How can you make sure that you win? Remember, NIM has calculated every possible outcome and will take full advantage of every mistake you make. To solve this, you can work backwards. If you color code levels by ones that you be on, you can figure it out. To win, you have to be on 1, 3, or 4 when it is your turn. You can also see that 5 and 6 are winning and 7 is not. After that, you could keep going, but a pattern emerges. It repeats green, red, green, green, green, green, red. So, having identified safe levels, you work your way down and save the day.