More than half a century after Neil Armstrong took mankind’s giant leap on the moon, another space race is heating up. This time, the promising new frontier for Earthlings is Mars, the planet next door. Unmanned missions over the decades have beamed a trove of information, including the presence of water ice on Mars, fueling expectations a human landing is possible. The United Arab Emirates -- which now has a spacecraft orbiting the planet -- is promoting a 100-year plan to create a colony there. Solar KillersA long flight would expose humans to one of space travel’s biggest terrors: solar flares.

Source: Mint May 26, 2021 06:00 UTC