Gemma Hoskins (right), is a retired elementary school teacher who attended Keough from 1966-1970. She leads the amateur detective group investigating Cesnik’s murder. Abbie Schaub (left) is a retired registered nurse who attended Keough from 1966-1970. She is working with Hoskins to investigate the murder. (Photos: Abbie Schaub and Gemma Hoskins)
"We are farther down the path to sending humans to Mars than at any point in NASA's history."
We're going to Mars – and we're going in the not-too-distant future.
NASA says preparations for a manned mission to the Red Planet are proceeding as planned, with humans expected to set foot on Mars in the 2030s.
"We are farther down the path to sending humans to Mars than at any point in NASA's history," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said at an event last week, according to Space.com. "We have a lot of work to do to get humans to Mars, but we'll get there."
That work includes completing the development of the rockets and spacecraft that will get humans there and back again, including the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, which are still being tested.
The next Mars rover, planned for a 2020 launch, will carry the Mars Oxygen ISRU experiment. MOXIE, as its known, will take carbon dioxide out of the thin Martian atmosphere and produce oxygen, the space agency said.
If it can do so successfully, humans will have oxygen to breathe and rockets will be able to use that oxygen to help power the return trip home.
“We’re going to make oxygen on another planet – the first time ever to make oxygen on another planet,” said NASA deputy administrator Dava Newman, according to The Space Reporter. "These experiments – they’re real, they’re here."
Andy Weir, author of "The Martian" which has been made into a film starring Matt Damon, was at the NASA event. He recently said the main barrier is funding – and that given enough money, a manned Mars mission could happen in the 2030s as planned.
"But I don't have faith in Congress to give them enough money to make that happen, so I'm being a little more conservative," the novelist told Space.com last month, guessing that humans would set foot on the Red Planet by 2050.
"The Martian" goes into wide release on Oct. 2, but the film was given an early screening over the weekend in a very unique location: the International Space Station.
Photos Courtesy of Sophia Wallace
Student take part in Quiet Time twice a day at BUGS,
for 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon.
A
Illustration by Troy Dunham. Stock from Getty Images and Shutterstock
Hundreds of taxi drivers from Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte block the avenue which links South and Center Rio de Janeiro on July 24, 2015, to protest against UBER, a mobile phone application to hail taxi. (VANDERLEI ALMEIDA via Getty Images)
Illustration by Kriti Kaur
Humans are projected to walk the surface of Mars within our lifetimes.
Tried #UBER for the first time in NYC this weekend. drivers were FRIENDLIER, cars were CLEANER, ride was QUICKER (they were not trying to take the long route), felt SAFER because I knew who was coming AND their tag number, I could forward this information to friends who I was with as a secondary safety measure. NO MORE TAXIS FOR ME, UBER FROM NOW ON !!!!!!
–msvyhunt
VERIFICATION
Under the deal, IAEA inspectors will have increased access to Iran’s uranium enrichment sites for 25 years.
Iran’s supreme leader had balked at the idea of allowing the inspectors into military facilities and giving them interviews with nuclear scientists, both of which the U.S. had insisted were vital. Under a compromise solution, the final deal outlines a dispute-resolution mechanism if Iran turns down IAEA requests for access.
SANCTIONS RELIEF
As soon as the IAEA verifies that Iran has complied with the restrictions on its nuclear program, the United Nations, European Union and U.S. will lift nuclear-related sanctions on the country.
The deal includes a “snap-back” provision – which had been a priority for U.S. lawmakers – that will quickly reimpose sanctions if the agreement is violated. Possible violations will be investigated and U.N. sanctions reintroduced within 65 days, a much faster timeline than the current system of investigations.
ARMS EMBARGO, MISSILE BAN
The international arms embargo on Iran, which became a key sticking point in the final weeks of the negotiations, will be gradually rolled back. The U.N. ban on Iran trading in conventional weapons will be lifted after five years, followed by the ban on ballistic missile technology after eight years. Both of those timelines could be moved up if the IAEA concludes that the nuclear program is entirely peaceful, as The Guardian points out.
Read the entire
Iranian Nuclear Deal
Text here.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani addresses the nation after a nuclear agreement was announced, in Tehran, Iran, July 14, 2015.
AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi
That's my sister with the peace signs. #IranWinsPeace #IranDeal #HappyDealDay
Ash Roughani @Roughani
By Ed Mazza
Opener, Getty Images/iStockphoto/Shutterstock.