The Martian Mission

The Martian Mission

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The Life Scientific: Helen Hastie

What if robots of the future weren’t just clever machines, performing tasks in isolation, but trusted teammates you could have a chat with? That could respond naturally to conversational cues and even explain their work? Making this relationship a reality is a focus for Helen Has ...  Show more

The Life Scientific: Seth Berkley

Dr Seth Berkley is an epidemiologist and global health leader whose career has been shaped by one central problem: vaccines save lives, but only if people can actually get them. His 40-year career has spanned the global, from helping to build Uganda’s first HIV surveillance syste ...  Show more

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The Sunday Read: ‘Can Humans Endure the Psychological Torment of Mars?’
The Daily

That people will travel to Mars, and soon, is a widely accepted conviction within NASA. Rachel McCauley, until recently the acting deputy director of NASA’s Mars campaign, had, as of July, a punch list of 800 problems that must be solved before the first human mission launches ...

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Is there life on Mars?
CrowdScience

It’s the central question for the current generation of Mars missions. Since the first close-up pictures of the red planet back in 1965, decades of space missions have revealed our neighbouring planet to be cold, rocky and sterile. But there are hints of a more dramatic past; ...

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The Danger of Going to Mars
On a Mission

Many spacecraft have died trying to get to Mars. The current record for Mars missions is 18 successes, and 25 failures. The InSight mission hopes to improve the odds. 

Mars Gets Ready for Its Close-up
Overheard at National Geographic

Mars Gets Ready for Its Close-up Mars has fascinated Earthlings for millennia, ever since we looked skyward and found the red planet. Through telescopes, probes, and robots, scientists have gazed at its red rocks, craters, and canyons—and the latest rover, Perseverance, is poised ...  Show more