US President Donald Trump has said he will try to get some territory back for Ukraine during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
“Russia’s occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They occupied prime territory. We’re going to try to get some of that territory back for Ukraine,” he told a news conference.
Trump said the talks in Alaska would be a “feel-out meeting” aimed at urging Putin to end the war, and that there would be “some swapping, changes in land”.
It is not the first time he has used the phrase “land-swapping”, though it is unclear what land Russia could cede to Ukraine. Kyiv has never lay claim to any Russian territories.
Trump said he will update European leaders if Putin proposes a “fair deal” during the talks, adding that he would speak to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky first “out of respect”.
“I’ll call him first… I’ll call him after, and I may say, ‘lots of luck, keep fighting,’ or I may say, ‘we can make a deal’”, he said.
Trump also said that while he and Zelensky “get along”, he “very severely disagrees with what he has done”.Trump has previously blamed Zelensky for the war in Ukraine, which was sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The US president announced the meeting with Putin last Friday – the day of his self-imposed deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire or face more US sanctions.
In response to news of the Alaska summit, Zelensky said any agreements without input from Kyiv would amount to “dead decisions”.
EXCLUSIVE: Following word this past spring that a package was coming together for a Rambo prequel, Millennium Media looks to have its man as sources tell Deadline that Noah Centineo is attached to star in John Rambo. Sisu director Jalmari Helander is set to direct from a screenplay by writing duo Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani.
Sources say that the package still has a couple of hurdles to overcome, but things are headed in the right direction with hopes to shoot in the fall in Thailand. Insiders also add that while no deals are in place, Lionsgate is the front-runner to land the package. The studio has released the past two Rambo pics and also has a relationship with Helander having worked with him on Sisu.
The film’s plot is under wraps, but it will be the origin story of a young John Rambo during the Vietnam War. One of the most iconic action heroes in U.S. cinema, the character was created by David Morell in his novel First Blood. The original 1982 film saw saw Sylvester Stallone play the veteran Green Beret, who is forced by a cruel sheriff and his deputies to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers. The five movies in the franchise have generated more than $800 million worldwide; the most recent, 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood, produced by Millennium and Sly’s Balboa, made $92M at the box office.
As for Stallone, when Deadline first reported on the package, insiders told Deadline he was aware of the project but was not involved, and as of today that remains the same. Sources now say that Stallone has been alerted to Centineo’s attachment.
Producers on the latest installment are Kevin King-Templeton on behalf of Templeton Media, Les Weldon, Jonathan Yunger and Avi Lerner. Executive producers include Trevor Short and Bonfire Legends’ Dallas Sonnier and Amanda Presmyk.
As for Centineo, his star has been on the rise after breakout roles in the Netflix hit series To All the Boys I Loved Before and The Recruit, but this is sort of role that could launch a young star onto the A-list. Up next, he will star as Ken Masters in Legendary’s live-action adaptation of Street Fighter, starring opposite Jason Momoa and Andrew Koji. Directed by Kitao Sakurai, the film is slated for release in 2026.
Most recently, Centineo appeared in A24’s Warfare from Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, as well as in Oscar Boyson’s directorial debut Our Hero, Balthazar, which he also produced under his Arkhum banner. The latter premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
Centineo is repped by WME and Myman Greenspan Fox.
United States President Donald Trump on Monday deployed military and federal law enforcement to curb violent crime in Washington, as he seeks to make good on his campaign pledge to be a “law and order” president.
The Republican leader said he would place the city’s Metropolitan Police under federal government control while also sending the National Guard onto the streets of the US capital.
The overwhelmingly Democratic city faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged — although violent offences are down.
“This is Liberation Day in DC, and we’re going to take our capital back,” Trump said.
Trump — a convicted felon who granted blanket clemency to nearly 1,600 people involved in the 2021 US Capitol riot in Washington — has complained that local police and prosecutors aren’t tough enough.
He said 800 DC National Guardsmen — “and much more if necessary” — would be deployed to the city of 700,000.
As Trump was speaking at the White House, several dozen demonstrators gathered outside.
“There is absolutely no need for the National Guard here,” said 62-year-old retiree Elizabeth Critchley, who brandished a sign with the slogan “DC says freedom not fascism.”
“It’s all for show. It’s just a big theatre,” she said.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was among several cabinet officials flanking Trump, said “other specialised” National Guard units could also be deployed.
“They will be strong, they will be tough, and they will stand with their law enforcement partners,” he said.
The new approach echoes Trump’s immigration policies that have effectively sealed the southern border amid mass deportations while deploying active-duty troops against protesters in Los Angeles.
New York, Chicago next?
The president told reporters he planned to roll out the policy to other cities, spotlighting New York and Chicago.
Unlike the 50 states, Washington operates under a unique relationship with the federal government that limits its autonomy and grants Congress extraordinary control over local matters.
Since the mid-1970s, the Home Rule Act has allowed residents to elect a mayor and a city council, although Congress still controls the city’s budget.
Data from Washington police shows significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, although that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.
A general view of a homeless encampment, in Washington, DC, US, August 11. — Reuters
Trump posted on social media ahead of the news conference that he also wants to tackle homeless encampments, after signing an order last month making it easier to arrest homeless people.
He promised individuals “places to stay,” but “far from the Capital”. Trump said criminals would be jailed and that it would all happen “very fast”.
Federal law enforcement has already increased its presence after a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer was beaten during an attempted carjacking.
“Last week, my administration surged 500 federal agents into the district, including from the FBI, ATF, DEA, Park Police, the US Marshals Service, the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security,” Trump said.
“You know a lot of nations, they don’t have anything like that … They made dozens of arrests.”
A Gallup poll in October found that 64 per cent of Americans believed crime had risen in 2024, although FBI data shows the lowest levels of violent crime nationwide in more than half a century.
“Let me be crystal clear — crime in DC is ending, and it’s ending today,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Landmark trial kicks off over Trump’s use of US military in policing role
Separately, a landmark trial kicks off over the Trump administration’s use of National Guard forces to support its deportation efforts and quell protests in Los Angeles, in a legal challenge to the US president’s break from long-standing norms against deploying troops on American streets.
The three-day non-jury trial before San Francisco-based US District Judge Charles Breyer will determine if the government violated a 19th-century law that bars the military from civil law enforcement when Trump deployed the troops in June, as the state of California claims in its legal challenge.
Los Angeles experienced days of unrest and protests sparked by mass immigration raids at places where people gather to find work, like Home Depot stores, a garment factory and a warehouse.
The administration denies that troops were used in civil law enforcement and plans to show that they were protecting federal property and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Many of the troops have been withdrawn, but California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Monday that 300 National Guard members are still going on immigration raids and restricting civilian movements in the state.
“The federal government deployed military troops to the streets of Los Angeles for the purposes of political theatre and public intimidation,” Bonta said in a statement. “This dangerous move has no precedent in American history.”
California and Gavin Newsom, the state’s Democratic governor, have asked Breyer to prohibit the troops from directly participating in domestic law enforcement activities. California and Newsom say the National Guard is accompanying ICE agents on raids and assisting in arrests, in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 and other laws that forbid the US military from taking part in civilian law enforcement.
The Republican president ordered 700 Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June against Newsom’s wishes. California’s lawsuit ultimately seeks a ruling that would return its National Guard troops to state control and a declaration that Trump’s action was illegal.
The trial before Breyer will have a limited impact, however, on Trump’s plan to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington.
A ruling against the administration could restrict the actions of those troops and constrain Trump if he deploys such forces to police other American cities.
Trump said his efforts to fight crime will go beyond Washington, and he mentioned Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Baltimore.
Trump’s decision to send troops into Los Angeles prompted a national debate about the use of the military on US soil and inflamed political tensions in the second-most-populous US city.
A US appeals court has allowed Trump to retain control of California’s National Guard during the legal challenge.
Lady Kitty and her daughter have spent the summer on a series of jet set getaways, including a recent trip to Tuscany that saw them showcasing their twinning style once again. Dressed in a Dolce & Gabbana dress, she held her two-year-old, wearing a child-sized version of the look. Kitty’s poplin dress featured a bustier top. Her face shielded, Athena’s full-skirted dress was altered to feature three buttons down the front.
Purple appeared to be the theme of the day as the mother-daughter-duo bimbled round the city, taking in the sights. One shot showed the pair gazing up at the leaning tower of Pisa but according to Kitty, it was a purple Fiat that captured the toddler’s attention. Accompanying the gallery of holiday postcards, she penned, ‘Under the Tuscan sun. Purple is Athena’s favourite colour at the moment, so the Fiat 500 was a hit!’
Lady Kitty Spencer donned matching Dolce & Gabbana purple dresses whilst on a family holiday to Italy. She said of the moment, ‘Purple is Athena’s favourite colour at the moment, so the Fiat 500 was a hit!’
Instagram @kitty.spencer
It’s rare that followers are given a glimpse of young Athena – Lady Kitty and Michael Lewis are famously private, and have offered very little insight into their daughter’s life since she was born in April 2023. To celebrate Athena’s birthday this April, however, Kitty and her sisters made some touching tributes to the two-year-old, with some unseen pictures from the family photo album.
Consistent 2-2 moto scores secure milestone victory for the Australian
Jo Shimoda takes second overall in 250 class with 2-2 finishes
Jett Lawrence rebounds from moto 1 penalty to win second moto and finish sixth overall
Following a two-week break, AMA Pro Motocross resumed with round 9 at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence captured the first 450 class overall win of his career with consistent 2-2 finishes. Jo Shimoda matched the moto results in the 250 class, taking second overall. Jett Lawrence overcame a challenging opening moto that included what officials declared was a start infraction, to win the second race and finish sixth overall.
Hunter started 450 moto 1 in second position and took over the lead on lap 6. He maintained it until Chase Sexton got by three laps from the end, but Hunter held on to finish a solid second. Meanwhile, Jett had jumped early and slammed the start gate, resulting in a start position outside the top 20, but he mounted an incredible charge that carried him to ninth by lap 3 and third by lap 11. The series leader crossed the line in that position but was later docked one lap by officials for what they determined to be a start infraction, relegating him to 17th.
Hunter got a second-place moto-2 start and took over the lead by the end of lap 1, while Jett rebounded from his first-moto issues to sit third. Jett passed his brother on lap 2 to assume the lead. A lap-5 tip-over dropped Hunter to fourth, but he quickly remounted and regained third, then passed for second four laps from the end. Jett took the moto win, with Hunter six-and-a-half seconds behind, giving the brothers a 1-2 result. Hunter’s consistent 2-2 scores earned him his career-first 450 Pro Motocross overall win, while Jett was sixth overall.
Shimoda powered his CRF250RWE to the 250 moto-1 holeshot and quickly established a comfortable lead, holding the front position for much of the race. He was overtaken by Haiden Deegan five laps from the end, but the Japanese rider finished nearly 50 seconds ahead of third place. Shimoda started moto 2 in fourth place and quickly slotted into second behind Deegan. The duo pulled away from the field, with Shimoda eventually finishing 20 seconds ahead of third place, securing second overall on the day.
NOTES
M&E Honda, based in Bedford, Indiana, joined Honda HRC Progressive in the team pits at Ironman, showcasing a CRF110F and engaging with fans and customers throughout the day.
As was the case at the High Point and RedBud Nationals, Jamie and Kayla Irvine cooked for the crew on race day. The couple, which owns several restaurants in Pennsylvania, are longtime friends of the Honda HRC Progressive team.
In 450 combined qualifying, Jett posted the fastest time, with Hunter Lawrence fifth. Other Red Riders to qualify were Dylan Ferrandis (Phoenix Racing Honda) in ninth, Kyle Webster (Quad Lock Honda) in 12th, Jeremy Hand (Valley Motorsports) in 15th, Henry Miller (MX6 Racing) in 18th, Shane McElrath (Quad Lock Honda Racing) in 22nd, John Short (The McGinley Clinic Privateer Support Program) in 26th, Brandon Ray (Raylentless Racing) in 28th and Zack Williams (Williams Racing) in 35th. Brad Todd (Ace Motorcycles) claimed his spot in the motos with a third-place finish in the consolation race.
In 250 combined qualifying, Shimoda was 10th, with Brodie Connolly (Quad Lock Honda) 22nd, Izaih Clark (TiLube Honda Racing) 26th and Cullin Park (Phoenix Racing Honda) 28th. Mark Fineis (TiLube Honda Racing) secured his spot in the motos with a fourth-place finish in the consolation race.
After a break during the middle portion of AMA Pro Motocross, the WMX series resumed racing at the Ironman National, with Red Riders making up seven of the 21 entries. Quad Lock Honda Racing’s Charli Cannon went 2-2 for second overall, while SLR Honda Racing’s Mikayla Nielsen was fifth overall with 3-6 finishes. Other Red Riders included Jaylie Gallacher (MotoSport Hillsboro) in 11th overall with 11-11 scores, Kaitlyn Jacobs in 12th (12-12), Sydney Plath in 16th (17-16), Kayla Alexander in 18th (19-18) and Addi Clouse in 21st (20-19).
The Ironman race also hosted a Moto Combine for up-and-coming amateur riders, with Quad Lock Honda’s Kayd Kingsford leading the Red Riders in 11th overall via 12-12 moto finishes. SLR Honda’s Grayson Townsend was 19th overall (17-19), followed by Phoenix Racing Honda’s Tiger Wood in 20th (21-16) and SLR’s Alvin Hillan in 22nd (20-25).
Jett once again recorded the fastest lap times in both 450 motos, showcasing his pace despite a challenging day. In the 250 class, Shimoda set the quickest time in moto 1 during his run to second overall.
Jett leads the 450 class standings by 47 points over brother and teammate Hunter, who is second. In the 250 class, Shimoda remains second, 51 points behind the leader.
Next, AMA Pro Motocross heads to Unadilla MX in New Berlin, New York, for the penultimate round of the series, set to take place August 16.
Jett Lawrence “Ups and downs today. I tried some new things with my stomach because I’ve been struggling to digest food between motos, and I think the tablets I took kept digesting everything so quickly that by halfway, I had no energy—bit of a bummer there. Obviously, there was the incident in the first moto, which in my mind is kind of silly because I feel like AMA has double standards; we’ve got guys cutting the track and they don’t do anything. I guess this is what we have to deal with, but they might need to get better at realizing who they need to penalize. I came back and won the second moto, so we’ll leave with that.”
Hunter Lawrence “There was a lot of wild stuff that went on today, which worked out in my favor—what happened to Jett in the first moto with being penalized a lap, and then I’m not sure what happened with Chase in the second moto. It was a wild day in that aspect, but I’m happy to be there and able to capitalize on it. It was hot, with no breeze—a really tough, physically demanding day.”
Jo Shimoda “I got 2-2 today and had good starts, so that’s positive; I just need to pick up the pace a little bit more. There’s nothing that I can’t do; we’re very close. Hopefully over the next two rounds we can make a few bike changes—maybe stiffen it up—to make that part better. There are two rounds left, and I’m ready to go.”
Lars Lindstrom – Team Manager “This rollercoaster that we call racing always surprises you with something new, and today was no different. Jett rode unbelievable today, but it was overshadowed by a penalty that we did not agree with at all. The fact that he went from 25th to almost winning the first moto was incredible, and his first two laps of the second moto were absolutely insane. I wish there was an onboard camera on Jett for that; I would love to watch the way he blitzed his way from seventh to third in a half-lap, and then the lead a lap later. Jo continues to make us proud; the consistency that he has found with starts and his riding have been so much fun to watch. The day really belonged to Hunter, though, and everyone on the team and at Honda around the globe is so happy for him to get his first win, after getting so close so many times. He definitely deserved it, and hopefully there will be many more to come.”
Media contact: Tati Ziemer // Jonnum Media // tati@jonnummedia.com // +1 (707) 888-9418
450 Overall Results
Hunter Lawrence (Hon)
R.J. Hampshire (Hus)
Eli Tomac (Yam)
Justin Cooper (Yam)
Jorge Prado (Kaw)
Jett Lawrence (Hon)
Dylan Ferrandis (Hon)
Malcolm Stewart (Hus)
Justin Barcia (Gas)
Chase Sexton (KTM)
—
16. Henry Miller (Hon) 19. Shane McElrath (Hon) 21. Kyle Webster (Hon) 32. Zack Williams (Hon) 35. John Short (Hon) 36. Brad Todd (Hon) 41. Brandon Ray (Hon)
450 Championship Points (after 9 of 11 rounds)
Jett Lawrence (412)
Hunter Lawrence (365)
Eli Tomac (324)
Justin Cooper (315)
R.J. Hampshire (293)
Jorge Prado (224)
Aaron Plessinger (204)
Malcolm Stewart (182)
Valentin Guillod (156)
Cooper Webb (151)
—
250 Overall Results
Haiden Deegan (Yam)
Jo Shimoda (Hon)
Tom Vialle (KTM)
Garrett Marchbanks (Kaw)
Drew Adams (Kaw)
Mikkel Haarup (Tri)
Maximus Vohland (Yam)
Levi Kitchen (Kaw)
Austin Forkner (Tri)
Seth Hammaker (Kaw)
—
26. Cullin Park (Hon) 27. Brodie Connolly (Hon) 33. Izaih Clark (Hon) 43. Mark Fineis (Hon)
250 Championship Points (after 9 of 11 rounds)
Haiden Deegan (418)
Jo Shimoda (367)
Garrett Marchbanks (286)
Levi Kitchen (265)
Tom Vialle (242)
Mikkel Haarup (239)
Maximus Vohland (197)
Michael Mosiman (180)
Seth Hammaker (180)
Jordon Smith (171)
—
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A new generation of malaria drugs failed clinical trials, in part because they were hard to swallow. UCSF chemists remodeled their structures to make them more soluble, while maintaining their effectiveness against drug-resistant parasites.
The search for new ways to treat malaria – a disease that kills some 600,000 people a year, most of them children in Sub-Saharan Africa – may have just gotten a boost.
Chemists at UC San Francisco have found a way to rearrange the atoms in a new generation of malaria drugs to make them easier to put into pill form without forfeiting their effectiveness against the malaria parasite.
New malaria drugs are desperately needed, as the parasite that causes the disease has developed resistance to today’s best therapies, and this new resistant form is spreading from Southeast Asia into Africa.
Now that drug resistance is in Africa, many more lives are at risk. These new molecules could give us the upper hand we need to control this deadly disease.”
Adam Renslo, PhD, professor of pharmaceutical chemistry in the UCSF School of Pharmacy and senior author of the paper
The work, which appears Aug. 8 in Science Advances, was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
The drawn-out battle against malaria
For centuries, malaria has been known for causing cyclical and sometimes deadly fevers. In the 1950s, chemists developed new and more potent malaria drugs based on quinine, an anti-malarial compound found in plants.
Over time, the parasites evolved to resist the best of these drugs, chloroquine, and the global health community scrambled to find new ones.
Today’s most essential anti-malarial therapies include a compound called artemisinin that is found in sweet wormwood, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine. As with quinine, artemisinin gave chemists inspiration to make more effective drugs.
Artemisinin was combined with other effective drugs into a cocktail, known as artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), that became the standard malaria treatment. But resistance appeared once again.
We’ve tracked artemisinin resistance for years in Southeast Asia, but we’re now seeing it spread to Africa, where 95% of cases and 95% of deaths occur. Given how long it takes to develop new drugs, there is widespread consensus that we need better drugs to circumvent this resistance ASAP.”
Phil Rosenthal, MD, professor of medicine at UCSF and co-author of the paper
Saved by a quirk of drug chemistry
Artefenomel, a newer artemisinin-inspired variant, was intended to replace ACTs in time to stanch the spread of artemisinin resistance, which was just beginning to emerge. It was potent enough that scientists hoped it could cure malaria in a single dose. This would have been an improvement over ACTs, which must be taken for three days in a row to be effective.
“For a disease like malaria, you would ideally like to cure the patient with one pill or a handful of pills and be done with it,” Renslo said. “A multi-day regimen risks missing a dose.”
But artefenomel proved difficult to study in clinical trials. The drug had to be given as an oral suspension – it resisted dissolving, so it needed to be shaken up with a liquid and swallowed quickly. This finicky nature also made it hard to combine with other drugs in a pill.
Children also had trouble keeping the oral suspension down after drinking it, making it hard to know whether they had received the intended dose. In January of 2025, artefenomel was pulled from clinical trials.
Renslo and his team realized that the symmetry of the artefenomel molecule might be the problem: highly symmetrical molecules tend to clump into crystals that are slow to dissolve.
The scientists thought that a less-symmetric version of artefenomel might avoid this clumping and dissolve more readily, making it easier to put into pill form. Their first successful attempt at making this molecule proved them right when it disappeared immediately into a water-like solution.
The team continued tweaking the new molecules, testing how they worked against malaria parasites in cells, and then animals, and finally against artemisinin-resistant parasites sourced from blood samples from malaria patients in Uganda.
The optimized compound passed with flying colors: it was just as potent as artefenomel, and much more effective than artemisinin, against artemisinin-resistant parasites.
“We’re optimistic that a simple chemical change like this can pave the way for an effective successor to artemisinin,” Renslo said, “one that’s cheap to make and easy to combine with other anti-malarial drugs.”
Source:
University of California – San Francisco
Journal reference:
Klope, M. T., et al. (2025) Identifying a next-generation antimalarial trioxolane in a landscape of artemisinin partial resistance. Science Advances. doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ads9168.
FC Barcelona has reached an agreement with player Xavi Espart to renew his contract, which will bind him to the club for the next three seasons, until 30 June 2028. This means the player will remain with the blaugrana in his final year as a youth player and his first two seasons as a senior, as part of Barça Atlètic. At the signing ceremony, he was accompanied by the Director of Youth Football, José Ramon Alexanco.
A versatile player from the class of 2007, his natural position on the pitch is either as a holding midfielder or in a central role. However, in recent seasons he has also emerged as an energetic right-back, able to combine well and cover plenty of ground.
Ten years in blaugrana
Xavi Espart has spent his entire football upbringing at Barça. He joined the club in the summer of 2015 from UE Vilassar de Mar as an U10. He went through the 7-a-side stage before making the jump to the U13s. By the U16 category, his versatility had already made him an important player, and as an U19 player he increasingly featured at right-back.
Last season, Espart made his debut for Barça Atlètic on 31 August 2024, in the second league match of the season away to Andorra (2-1). Over the course of the campaign, he was called up occasionally to reinforce the reserve team, making six appearances in total, one as a starter.
He was also a key player in the U19A’s treble-winning season in the League, Copa del Rey and UEFA Youth League. Overall, he made 15 league appearances, three in the Copa del Rey and 10 in the Youth League.
Grace Harris once again led London Spirit to victory by steering them home in a tense chase of 123 against Manchester Originals at Old Trafford.
The defending champions, who won a final-ball thriller on Saturday and now have three wins from three this year, stuttered to 56-3 after 59 balls but Australia international Harris hit 50 not out as the Spirit edged over the line again, winning by three wickets and with two balls to spare.
Having swung the match in her side’s favour with a flurry of boundaries, Harris lost the strike at the finish and Kathryn Bryce dismissed Issy Wong and Charlie Dean in consecutive deliveries.
That left nine needed from six balls but Sarah Glenn, who earlier took a tidy 1-18, edged the hat-trick ball for four and drove the winning runs to end 10 not out.
Earlier, Spirit took regular wickets throughout to limit Originals to a below-par total.
The hosts were 10-2 when New Zealand international Melie Kerr was run out for one and Spirit captain Dean halted a counter-attack of 26 from 20 balls by Originals skipper Beth Mooney.
West Indies international Deandra Dottin dragged the score up with 36 from 30 balls but she was caught hitting the final ball of the innings to deep mid-wicket.
The Originals stay fifth with one win and two defeats from their first three matches – already eight points behind Spirit who lead the way.
How’s this for a holiday snap? A robot has snapped an image of the Red Planet with a blue sky.
The imaging team of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took advantage of clear skies recently to capture one of the sharpest panoramas of its mission so far.
Visible in the mosaic, which was stitched together from 96 images taken at a location the science team calls Falbreen, are a rock that appears to lie on top of a sand ripple, a boundary line between two geologic units, and hills as distant as 40 miles (65 kilometers) away.
The Red Planet. (ESA/MPS et al. via SWNS)
By Talker
However, the space scientists say Mars isn’t suddenly an ideal destination for a vacation as the blue sky is due to image processing carried out to better study the Martian terrain to prepare for future space travel.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory said: “The enhanced-color version shows the Martian sky to be remarkably clear and deceptively blue, while in the natural-color version, it’s reddish.”
Jim Bell, Mastcam-Z’s principal investigator at Arizona State University in Tempe, added: “The relatively dust-free skies provide a clear view of the surrounding terrain. And in this particular mosaic, we have enhanced the color contrast, which accentuates the differences in the terrain and sky.”
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASUS via SWNS)
By Talker
Sean Duffy, acting NASA administrator, said: “Our bold push for human space exploration will send astronauts back to the Moon.
“Stunning vistas like that of Falbreen, captured by our Perseverance rover, are just a glimpse of what we’ll soon witness with our own eyes.
“NASA’s groundbreaking missions, starting with Artemis, will propel our unstoppable journey to take human space exploration to the Martian surface. NASA is continuing to get bolder and stronger.”
The rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument captured the images on May 26, the 1,516th Martian day, or sol, of Perseverance’s mission, which began in February 2021 on the floor of Jezero Crater.
Mars rover captures stunning blue skies on Red Planet | Features | homenewshere.com
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