Fernandez and his colleagues maintain that chitin is likely to be part of any planned artificial ecosystem, because it is so plentiful in nature. It's the primary component of fish scales and fungal cell walls, for example, as well as the exoskeletons of crustaceans and insects. In fact, insects have already been targeted as a key source of protein for a possible Martian base.
For their experiments, the researchers relied on fairly simple chemistry. They took chitosan derived from shrimp, dissolved it in acetic acid—a common byproduct of both aerobic and anaerobic fermentation—and combined it with a mineral equivalent to Martian soil to create their chitinous building material. They tested its properties by fashioning various objects out of it, most notably a functional wrench, which they tested by tightening a hexagonal bolt.
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Anand Mahindra thinks it is time we set off to Mars, here's why
The stark realisation came from a CNN news report that informed about 'brain eating amoeba that was found in the water supply of a certain part of Texas, United States
The PIXL device on Perseverance will look for fossilized microbes on Mars
"PIXL's X-ray beam is so narrow that it can pinpoint features as small as a grain of salt. That allows us to very accurately tie chemicals we detect to specific textures in a rock," said PIXL principal investigator Abigail Allwood, who has been developing the instrument with her team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Stromatolite fossil on Earth (above). Perseverance will use its PIXL device to find out if these fossilized mats of bacteria exist on Mars. The impressive stone structure in the NASA photo (top) is Whale Rock, which has no stromatolites that we know of...yet. Credit: Auscape/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Colorado Skies: Mars shines bright in October skies and lore – Loveland Reporter-Herald
As we enter the Halloween season, it is appropriate that this month's most prominent object in the early evening sky is the storied planet Mars.
Hanging like a celestial garnet above the eastern horizon at the onset of darkness, Mars will not be this close to the Earth again until the year 2035. As a result, the Red Planet currently shines brighter than any other celestial object, save the Sun, Moon and the planet Venus, and will glow all night long in the eastern region of the constellation of Pisces during October
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Are You Ready To See Mars In Ultra HD 8K? Japan's Plans To Take 'Super Hi-Vision' Cameras To Space
JAXA's Martian Moons eXploration mission will seek to recreate the mission Ultra HD 4K and 8K video. ... [+]
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A joint venture between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Japan's state broadcaster NHK—which pioneered HD and Ultra HD TV technology and broadcasting—will jointly develop a "Super Hi-Vision Camera" capable of filming both 4K and 8K images for JAXA to take to Mars.
JAXA has history here; its Kaguya (Selene) lunar orbiter in 2008 produced the first high-definition HD video ever seen of the Moon.
NASA's New Mars Rover Will Use X-Rays to Hunt for Chemical Fingerprints Left by Ancient Microbes
PIXL, an instrument on the end of the Perseverance rover’s arm, will search for chemical fingerprints left by ancient microbes.
Short for Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry, PIXL is a lunchbox-size instrument located on the end of Perseverance’s 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm. The rover’s most important samples will be collected by a coring drill on the end of the arm, then stashed in metal tubes that Perseverance will deposit on the surface for return to Earth by a future mission.
Plum keeps rolling, upends No. 2 Mars | Trib HSSN | Trib HSSN
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