NASA: they photograph the “face” of a bear on the surface of Mars

NASA recently released an orbital photograph of Marstaken on December 12, 2022, taken with the HiRISE high-resolution camera that the University of Arizona operates as part of the MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) mission, in which three craters on the red planet give the appearance of a face bear.

“There is a hill with a V-shaped structure (the nose), two craters (the eyes) and a circular fracture pattern (the head). The circular fracture pattern could be due to sedimentation of a deposit on a buried impact crater. Perhaps the nose is a volcanic or mud vent and the deposit could be lava or mud flows?… Maybe just smile”wrote the HiRISE project in a blog post.

Humanity prepares to go to Mars

NASA will partner with a Pentagon research agency to develop a nuclear-powered rocket engine to send astronauts to Mars, the two agencies recently reported. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the US space agency will work with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to “develop and test advanced nuclear thermal propulsion technology from 2027.”

“With the help of this new technology, astronauts could travel to and from deep space faster than ever before, an important capability in preparing for human missions to Mars,” he said in a statement. DARPA is the research and development arm of the Pentagon. and it played a role in many 20th century innovations, such as the Internet.

It’s state-of-the-art technology

According to NASA, nuclear thermal rockets can be three times more efficient than conventional chemical propulsion and would reduce travel time, essential for a possible mission to Mars. In a nuclear heat engine, a fission reactor is used to generate extremely high temperatures.

Heat from the reactor is transferred to liquid propellant which is then converted to gas, which expands through a nozzle and provides thrust. “DARPA and NASA have a long history of successful collaboration.Stefanie Tompkins, director of DARPA, said, citing the Saturn V rocket that carried the first astronauts to the Moon.

“The nuclear thermal rocket program will be essential to more efficiently and quickly transport materials to the Moon and eventually people to Mars,” Tompkins said. NASA conducted its last nuclear thermal rocket engine tests over 50 years agobut left the series due to budget cuts and Cold War tensions.

Author: Write the digital herald
Source: El Heraldo De Mexico