SPACE — On March 14 2016, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ExoMars spacecraft was launched on a mission to search for signs of life on Mars. The ExoMars mission consists of an orbiter called the Trace Gas Orbiter and a lander called Schiaparelli.
The Trace Gas Orbiter studies the Martian atmosphere while relaying communications between a lander on Mars and mission controllers on Earth. The two spacecraft launched together on a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
They spent the next seven months sailing towards Mars. When they arrived, Schiaparelli separated from the orbiter and began descending to the surface of Mars.
However, something went wrong when the plane made a controlled landing. Mission controllers lost contact with the lander and it was later discovered that the lander crashed due to a computer error.
Also read: ESA will create a solar eclipse every day with twin spacecraft
Despite experiencing an unexpected accident, the ExoMars mission continues. The orbiter is still working fine.
Uranus Discovered
Image of Uranus taken by Voyager 2 on January 24, 1986. Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
On March 13, 1781, Sir William Herschel discovered Uranus, the seventh planet orbiting the sun. Before Herschel discovered Uranus, other astronomers had seen it, but no one realized it was a planet. Instead, they thought it was a star.
Meanwhile, Herschel saw the object moving so he suspected it was not a star. Herschel initially thought he was seeing a comet.
Herschel and other astronomers then spent two years arguing about whether it was a comet or a planet. In 1783, Herschel finally announced that the object was a planet. However, Uranus only got its name in 1850.
Herschel originally wanted to name it George’s Star after King George III. Astronomers outside England disagree with the name.
Also Read: Today’s History: Uranus Rings Discovered
Finally, German astronomer Johann Bode named it Uranus after the ancient Greek sky god. Although the international astronomical community preferred the name Uranus to George’s Star, the planet was destined to forever be the butt of all solar system jokes.
2024-03-14 13:50:00
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