Nicaragua Creates a “Space Force”
The congress of the Central American country of Nicaragua this week passed a bill through it’s National Assembly which formally approved the creation of the interestingly-named ‘National Ministry for Extraterrestrial Space Affairs, The Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.’ Quite a mouthful!
Obviously the most stand out part of the name is the mention of Extraterrestrial Space Affairs, which straight away conjures up images of meetings between politicians and alien beings!
Of course, extraterrestrial just means something that isn’t from Earth, and doesn’t mean actual beings which you usually associate with when you think of ET.
The Nicaraguan Army will oversee this new ministry which will “promote the development of space activities, with the aim of broadening the country’s capacities in the fields of education, industry, science and technology.”
The bill has been met with some criticism, after all the country has never had a space agency nor believed to have the infrastructure to run one. The small nation has struggled throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, having failed to access any vaccines and with widespread food and financial problems.
So why now? Do they know something we don’t? It’s an interesting one to keep tabs on over the coming years for sure.
Percy Touches Down!
At just before 9pm UK time on Thursday evening, NASA’s Perseverance rover touched down on the surface of Mars after it’s 7 month journey since leaving Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station back in July 2020.
Accompanying the mini-sized rover, which has it’s own high tech lab on board to analyse data and samples as it goes, in its search for ancient life and possible microbial life is an experimental helicopter drone named “Ingenuity” which will become the first ever air craft to be present on the red planet.
As the mission gets underway, we hope to soon see some quality pictures, videos and sounds from the many cameras onboard the rover.
We look forward to seeing what can be uncovered in the forthcoming days and weeks!
Life Accidently Found in Antarctica
James Smith and Paul Anker at the British Antarctic Survey inadvertently discovered unexpected and unexplained animals whilst drilling through a 900-metre thick shelf of ice in the sub-zero temperatures of Antarctica.
Analysing the video footage, Huw Griffiths stated that the animals, which are likely to be filter feeders, shouldn’t be there. The main issue being that these immobile creatures are very far from nutrient sources, being at least 250 kilometres from open water at the front of the ice shelf where organisms can be found.
This is the first time that creatures like these have been found beneath an Antarctic ice shelf, challenging existing beliefs about where life can be created and survive and further exposes how much we still have to learn about our own planet and oceans. As Percy may discover, there could be life where we don’t expect it!
