The Scramble For Rare Places – Mars, Space And The Arctic Are In Play

The Scramble For Rare Places – Mars, Space And The Arctic Are In Play

Share to Linkedin UNSPECIFIED: In this concept illustraion provided by NASA, NASA's Perseverance rover fires up its ... [+] descent stage engines as it nears the Martian surface to land in the area known as Jezero crater on the planet Mars. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. (Photo illustration by NASA via Getty Images) One of the more surprising things someone said to me in recent years was that 'Ireland has a decent space industry'. The fact that the comment came from the head of the space agency of a large European country, and we were sitting together in a bus in the Middle East adds some lustre to the observation. There is a budding space industry in Ireland, to match its large aircraft sector and this had me wondering whether someday Ireland will send a man or woman to Mars! The images that NASA's Perseverance probe have sent back to earth reinforce the