AskScience AMA Series: We're Preparing to Launch NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover and Mars Helicopter Ingenuity. Ask Us Anything about our #CountdownToMars! | AskScience Blog

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Monday, July 27, 2020

AskScience AMA Series: We're Preparing to Launch NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover and Mars Helicopter Ingenuity. Ask Us Anything about our #CountdownToMars!

AskScience AMA Series: We're Preparing to Launch NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover and Mars Helicopter Ingenuity. Ask Us Anything about our #CountdownToMars!


AskScience AMA Series: We're Preparing to Launch NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover and Mars Helicopter Ingenuity. Ask Us Anything about our #CountdownToMars!

Posted: 27 Jul 2020 04:00 AM PDT

On Thursday, July 30, NASA's Mars 2020 mission is scheduled to blast off, carrying the Perseverance Mars Rover on its six-month journey to the Red Planet. When it lands in Jezero Crater next February, Perseverance will look for signs of ancient life on Mars - and gather climate and terrain data that will help pave the way for future human Martian missions.

Tucked underneath Perseverance until landing, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter will be the first aircraft to attempt controlled flight on another planet; Perseverance will also collect rocks and sediments to be retrieved by a future Mars Sample Return mission, currently being planned by NASA and the European Space Agency. Nearly 11 million names from around the world will fly to Mars, etched on three small microchips Perseverance carries - but even if your name's not one of them, there's plenty you can do to take part in the mission virtually.

We'll be answering questions from 4:30 - 6:30 PM ET (1:30 - 3:30 PM PT, 2030 - 2230 UT). Thanks for joining us!

Participants:

  • Todd Barber, Mars Perseverance Propulsion Engineer, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • Pan Conrad, astrobiologist and scientific investigator for the Mars Perseverance MEDA and SHERLOC teams
  • Nagin Cox, Mars 2020 Engineering Operations Team Deputy Lead, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • Caleb Fassett, Planetary Scientist and Jezero Crater expert
  • Denton Gibson, Senior Vehicle Systems Engineering Discipline Expert, Launch Services Program
  • Jesse Gonzales, flight controls engineer, United Launch Alliance
  • Havard Grip, Mars Helicopter Chief Pilot, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • Greg Hula, Department of Energy
  • Angie Jackman, Mars Ascent Vehicle project manager, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
  • Jeff Sheehy, NASA Space Technology Chief Engineer
  • Roger Wiens, SuperCam PI

Username: nasa

submitted by /u/AskScienceModerator
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Is it possible to have a rectangle, that when divided in half vertically results in 2 rectangles with the same proportions of the bigger one?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 08:32 PM PDT

Wouldn't the machine in the Schrödinger's Cat thought experiment be "observing" the state of particles, therby collapsing their superposition before doing anything to the cat?

Posted: 27 Jul 2020 01:52 AM PDT

I don't know a whole lot about quantum physics, so sorry if this question just reveals a fundamental lack of understanding :D But it always seemed to me like the obvious answer to why the cat is not simultaniously dead and alive. Observation in the Copenhagen interpretation doesn't require a human being to read the data, does it?

submitted by /u/StamatopoulosMichael
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Do microwave transmission dishes heat the air in front of them? Is there enough heat to cook birds and/or turn snow/rain/fog into steam?

Posted: 27 Jul 2020 03:13 AM PDT

At what point in American history did the quintessential "southern" accent take hold? Is this considered a softening of the British colonial accent or is it a result of a melding with "slave" English?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 09:02 AM PDT

A lot of 1850-1900 American literature depicts poor, uneducated white characters and slaves as having a crude "southern accent". I'm just curious at what point in our nation's history, the British colonial accent evolved into what we know today, and why it occured regionally.

submitted by /u/AuDBallBag
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How long after cardiac cessation does the brain continue to function?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 06:07 PM PDT

As sea level rises, does low tide level get higher (or lower)?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 11:24 PM PDT

As sea level rises, obviously high tide gets higher. Does low tide also get higher because there's more water in the ocean, or does low tide get lower because the tides are bigger?

submitted by /u/ukkiwi
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Is radioactivity at nuclear weapon sites entirely from the material in the weapons?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 02:40 PM PDT

My understanding is that radiation isn't 'contagious' in that the emitted radiation from an explosion doesn't make the substances it hits radioactive. Does that mean that the radioactivity around testing sites is entirely from the obliterated dust from the small amount of nuclear material contained in the weapons? Struggling to comprehend how do much material can otherwise be spread out.

submitted by /u/Smedlington
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How do the long term complications of COVID-19 compare to other viruses?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 09:07 AM PDT

I've been hearing a lot in the news about the long term complications associated with COVID-19. Is it more likely to cause long term complications compared to other viral infections? My impression was that any viral infection has the potential to cause long term complications and that it isn't unusual that it's happening with COVID-19. Is there something unique about it?

submitted by /u/peri_5xg
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Are we going to have a flu vaccine this year?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 09:52 AM PDT

Given all of the (rightful) push for a Covid vaccine, well we have a flu vaccine this year? Or, is everyone working on Covid?

submitted by /u/Working-on-it12
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How does a dye work?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 10:51 PM PDT

Once my friend asked me how did transparent dye worked, like how can somethi a make a liquid turn incolor like water.

submitted by /u/JK_Cranker
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Can you trick a plant into growing faster by changing the duration of the day - night cycle?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 05:44 AM PDT

In the simplest terms: if I have a plant who has 6 hours of light and darkness rather than 12, so experiences two shorter days for every 24 hour period, would its growth be any faster?

submitted by /u/WippitGuud
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What exactly happens to a bone for your body to increase it’s density?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 02:32 PM PDT

I know that bone density increases with exercise and conditioning, but what actually happens to the bone?

With exercise, does the increase come from an increase in muscle mass, or does it come from the compressive stress on the bone from the muscle attached to it contracting?

Is the process of a bone increasing in density due to exercise and conditioning (like martial artists condition their shins) similar?

If it is due to stress applied to the bone, does the same occur with tensile stress as well?

I would really appreciate any response, as I'm having a very hard time finding information on this. Thank you!

submitted by /u/ProChad
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Why does the parasympathetic nervous system become active in vasovagal syncope and why does removing the stimulus reduce syncope?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 12:01 PM PDT

My understanding is that the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) gets activated by some stress inducing stimulus, causing (among other things) a dilation of blood vessels in skeletal muscle. If blood pools in large muscles, the brain is not adequately perfused. Then I believe the body tries to "flip the switches":

  • The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is overactivated, leading to a decrease in heart rate.
  • The SNS activity is decreased leading to a drop in blood pressure.

The drop in heart rate and blood pressure on top of the already poorly perfused brain causes syncope. (I believe this to be accurate but, of course, I welcome any correction). Here are my questions:

  • How is the "flipping of the switches" (SNS off, PNS on) a mechanism to reperfuse the brain? Is it meant to cause syncope and put body in a horizontal position? Or does the body try to reperfuse the brain with these mechanisms but it isn't a perfect system and thus causes syncope in a subset of people?
  • If the nail in the coffin is the activation of the PNS and inhibition of the SNS, wouldn't removing the stimulus decrease the SNS and allow the PNS to become overactive leading to syncope? In other words, isn't the presence of a stress-inducing stimulus the only thing keeping the blood pressure up?

Thanks!

submitted by /u/VasovagalResponse
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Do plants that grow in very dusty/smoggy areas have any selection or adaptations for unnaturally reduduced levels of sunlight?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 08:28 AM PDT

I regularly drive through brickyards in dusty areas in India and every plant I see is coated in dust. Does this affect their ability to convert sunlight into energy? Would transplanting them to areas without similar pollution result in super plants in any way? I imagine the dust isnt such to kill plants and allow mutations to really take over, but it seems nuts that they do just fine with that much dust on their leaves.

*...any sort of selection or other adaptations...

submitted by /u/keyilan
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What does it mean to say that the planet Uranus is laying on it’s side?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 09:39 AM PDT

I'm watching NOVA and they just said this. This is probably a dumb question, but I guess I'm confused how a planet can be laying on its side if it's just floating in space? What are planets resting on that allows them to be laying on one side over another, does it have something to do with the sun?

submitted by /u/dch222
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If evolution takes millions of years and is very gradual, then how did wings evolve? Evolution has no intelligence so how did it gradually create wings, considering they wouldn't work until fully evolved.

Posted: 25 Jul 2020 08:51 PM PDT

I understand that evolution works by genetic mutations that allow an animal to be faster or stronger, which makes them more likely to reproduce more and spread those genes, but that doesn't explain how wings evolved. Like where did it even start? It's not like one day an animal was just born with wings. In order for it to gradually evolve, it must have started as a little bump, but that would serve no purpose and the animal would just die. I can't think of any explanation.

submitted by /u/_ep1x_
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Why is taxonomy and philogeny important?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 07:30 AM PDT

I find the evolutionary history of organisms, specifically plants, to be awe-inspiring, but sometimes I wonder if it has any practical applications. Why is it important to map accurate phylogenetic relationships, or why does it matter if a group is monophyletic or not? Why is it so important to place species in the correct taxa?

submitted by /u/bobohiha1
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How are nutritional values actually calculated?

Posted: 26 Jul 2020 02:15 AM PDT

It may seem stupid but how do they calculate the energy and macronutrients in food? Especially in meats where depending on the food you give to the animal, its body composition changes

submitted by /u/Colon-elcolon
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How does the hair "know" when to stop growing?

Posted: 25 Jul 2020 11:10 PM PDT

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