NASA's InSight Survived the Trip to Mars ー Now Comes the Wait for Results
*By Conor White*
The Curiosity rover is no longer alone on Mars.
NASA's InSight lander successfully touched down on the Red Planet Monday afternoon, but spectators will have months to wait before any results arrive.
"It's a 26-month mission," said Sarah Lewin, an associate editor at Space.com said. The first results from InSight's experiments are expected sometime in the spring.
InSight marks NASA's first mission to Mars since Curiosity began its journey in 2011. The launch was originally scheduled for 2016 before officials discovered a leak in the rocket's vacuum chamber. As a result, InSight missed its launch window. The delay and necessary repairs added almost $154 million to the mission's price tag, bringing it to a total cost of $814 million.
And even those years of planning didn't guarantee a success.
"Mars missions have like a 40 percent success rate across the world," Lewin said. "NASA is a little bit higher, so there was a definite chance it wouldn't work."
Now that it has safely landed, the probe will be responsible for drilling into Mars ー largely to determine the planet's composition. The robot will also monitor the planet for "Marsquakes."
"We've put a lot of things on Mars that are either orbiters, which are looking down on it, or rovers like Curiosity exploring the surface, but we really don't know what's going on inside," Lewin said.
It’s no secret that the world is amidst a climate crisis never before seen in our time. And our excessive resource consumption is to blame. But just exactly what resources are to blame might surprise you. Hint: fossil fuels are only one part of the problem.
Dr. Robert Lahita, the director of Saint Joseph's Institute for Autoimmune and Rheumatic Diseases, joined Cheddar to discuss the latest on omicron as the new variant has popped up in more than a dozen states so far. He emphasized that vaccinations should remain the priority despite efficacy against the new variant being unknown at this point.
Six states have confirmed cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, and this number is expected to grow. Cheddar's Hena Doba speaks with Dr. William Schaffner,
Professor of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, on the latest developments.
Just days after the detection of the Omicron variant, the World Health Organization has agreed to start the process of establishing a global pandemic treaty or accord. Amy Maxmen, senior reporter for Nature, and Dr. Samuel Scarpino, managing director for the Rockefeller Foundation's Pandemic Prevention Institute, joined Cheddar to discuss this effort and what lessons can be learned from the many COVID-19 failures as the world prepares for future pandemics.
Local Bounti rang the opening bell December 3 in honor of its recent trading debut on the NYSE after closing a $1.1 billion SPAC deal. The company operates an indoor growing facility in Montana and aims to transform the production and delivery of local, fresh and sustainably-grown leafy greens. Craig Hurlbert, co-founder and co-CEO of Local Bounti, joined Cheddar to discuss the company's goals as a newly publicly-traded company.
Stephan Winkelmann, president of Bugatti Automobiles and CEO of Lamborghini, stopped by Cheddar to talk about Lamborghini's 2021 success after the luxury automaker set a company sales record on more than 6,9000 vehicles delivered. With climate change top of mind for the auto industry, Winkelmann also talked about Lamborghini's commitment to hybridizing its entire fleet. Still, when it comes to supercars, the legacy brand isn't quite ready to give up gasoline power, and according to the CEO, three new combustion engine vehicles will be available in 2022.
New York officials have confirmed five omicron COVID-19 cases in New York City and on Long Island after a Minnesota man who tested positive for the same variant said he attended a convention in November at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan.
It's Friday at long last. Jill and Carlo cover the latest on Omicron, including a possible superspreader event in NYC. Plus, previewing the November jobs report, a new Zoom feature no one asked for, and when it's no longer a good idea to eat Thanksgiving leftovers.
Three cases of the new omicron COVID-19 variant have been confirmed in the U.S. Cheddar speaks with global infection disease specialist Dr. Rajeev Fernando on how to prepare for a possible new coronavirus wave.
