Preserverance Gets First Rock Sample

On September 7th 2021, NASA announced that its Preserverance Rover had successfully captured its first sample of Martian rock. The actual grab, which was the second of two, took place in an attemp that took place on September 1st. The first attempted sample was lost back in August when the rock that was gathered crumbled into dust. The second sample was taken from a much sterner piece of rock that the scientists nicknamed Rochette.

The sample is the first of many, which will be stored inside Preserverance until a future mission will go to Mars and retrieve them. Peserverance landed on Mars in February 2021, in the Jezero Crater meterorite impact zone. This area is believed to possess basalt rock, which is evidence of volcanic activity. Scientist hope that an exploration of this area may also reveal layers, that may have been caused by wind and/or water erosion, or volcanic erruptions. 

Scientists Create Engineered Living Materials

On August !9th 2021, researchers at Imperil College, London, announced that they had created a material that could heal it's own damage. As published in Nature Communications, the new substance is called, Engineered Living Materials, or ELMs. The scientists say that the new creation, which was funded in part by the  U S Office of Naval Research Global London, could have may uses, from repairing skin to fixing roads or cracked windshields.

According to the study's lead author, Joaquin Caro-Astorga, the break through was made through the use of a genetically engineered bacteria called Komagataeibactor rhaeticus. The bacteria was given a sensor and then arranged into shereoid structures. Holes were then punched into a layer of bacterial cellulose and the shperoids were placed inside. When scientists checked the expeiriment after three days, they found that the holes had been completely repaired.

Dr. Caro-Astorga said, "The posible living materials that can come from this are diverse: For example, with yeast cells that secrete medically-relavent proteins, we could generate wound-healing films where hormones and emzymes are produced by a bandage to improve skin repair. 

Fusion Moves Closer To Reality

On August 8th, 2021, scientists at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore Lab made a break through that brings them ever closer to sucessful nuclear fusion. An experiment took place that used a powerful laser to generate a temendous amount of energy. The new method of ignition moves the fusion pocess away from the eletro-magnetic field containment systems used in current Tokamak experiements or Stellarators.  

In the experiment, which uses a process called, "inertial confinment fusion,' a pellet of hydrogen no larger than a BB, was struck by a total of 192 laser beams. The result was the release of 1.3 megajoules or 10 quadrillion watts of power for about 100 trillionth of a second. Chief scientist for the ICFP (Inertial Confinement Fusion Program), Omar A. Hurricane, considers this a significant step. The expeiment is leading to the eventual self sustainment of the fusion process.

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SpaceX And NASA Unite to Make History

On May 30th 2020, NASA astronauts made history as they successfully blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida in a SpaceX rocket and crew capsule. The launch which took place at 3:22 pm ET, marked the first ever collaboration between NASA and a privately held company. Astronauts, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, launched in SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehicle  which rode atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The launch was flawless as the all digitally controlled Crew Dragon headed for a rendezvous with the ISS (International Space Station). About 19 hours after liftoff, the Crew Dragon successfully docked at the ISS's Harmony module. The docking procedure was fully automated. The astronauts went aboard the ISS on May 31st at 1:22 pm ET. The Crew Dragon is designed to stay in orbit for approximately 210 days.

Evidence of Organic Compounds Might Be Oil On Mars

On March 5th 2020, astrobiologists from Berlin's Technical University and Washington State University, annouced that NASA's Curiosity Rover has discovered organic molecules called, thiophenes. Here on Earth, thiophenes are found in coal, crude oil, and truffles (mushrooms). The organic compounds were found in sediment samples taken from Mars' Gale Crater. The researchers studying the data have not yet made a claim that his is proof of life.

The scientists, Dr. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Dr. Jacob Heinz, published their findings at Phys.org. They make the case that there are other pathways that could lead to a discovery of organic compounds, like the thiophenes found on Mars. They go on to say that such molecules found on Earth would mean the presence of biological processes. They state that it is possible for thiophenes to be formed by a thermochemical sulfate reduction, such as the result of an asteroid strike.