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Journalists detained over footage appearing to show South Sudan president wet himself
NAIROBI, Jan 7 – Six journalists in South Sudan have been detained over the circulation of footage showing President Salva Kiir appearing to wet himself at an official event, the national journalists union said on Saturday.
The footage from December showed a dark stain spread down the 71-year-old president’s grey trousers as he stood for the national anthem at a road commissioning event. The video never aired on television but subsequently circulated on social media.
The journalists, who work with the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, were detained on Tuesday and Wednesday, said Patrick Oyet, president of the South Sudan Union of Journalists.
They “are suspected of having knowledge on how the video of the president urinating himself came out,” he told Reuters.
South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei and National Security Service spokesperson David Kumuri did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kiir has been president since South Sudan gained independence in 2011. Government officials have repeatedly denied rumours circulating on social media that he is unwell. The country has been embroiled in conflict for much of the past decade.
The detained journalists are camera operators Joseph Oliver and Mustafa Osman; video editor Victor Lado; contributor Jacob Benjamin; and Cherbek Ruben and Joval Toombe from the control room, Oyet said.
“We are concerned because those who are detained now have stayed longer than what the law says,” he added.
By law, South Sudanese authorities are allowed to detain suspects for only 24 hours before bringing them before a judge.
The incident “matches a pattern of security personnel resorting to arbitrary detention whenever officials deem coverage unfavorable,” said the sub-Saharan Africa representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists, Muthoki Mumo.
Reporting by Ayenat Mersie
Editing by Frances Kerry
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
D.C.-area forecast: Cold and calm today, then wet tomorrow before an Arctic onslaught
Today (Wednesday): Another chilly one out there as we start from lows this morning in the low 20s to near 30. Plenty of sunshine does the best it can, lifting afternoon highs to the low to mid-40s with light winds. Confidence: High
Tonight: Clouds are on the increase this evening, and then skies become mostly cloudy overnight, as low pressure develops to our south. Light rain or a wintry mix could make it into our southern and western suburbs by 4 a.m. or so. Overnight lows range from the upper 20s to mid-30s. Confidence: Medium-High
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest weather updates. Keep reading for the forecast through the weekend…
Tomorrow (Thursday): A brief period of wintry mix is possible, mainly north and west of D.C., before 9 a.m. or so, but any significant icy concerns should be confined to north of Frederick and west of Leesburg. For the metro area, it turns into a rainy day, with rain increasing in coverage during the morning and heavy at times through the afternoon into the evening. Afternoon temperatures should rise well into the 40s as winds turn breezy from the southeast late afternoon into evening. Confidence: Medium
Tomorrow night: The rain moves out from west to east during the evening hours, but skies remain cloudy through the night. Temperatures hover in the mid-40s to low 50s thanks to a relatively mild breeze from the south. Confidence: Medium
Gusty rain showers come through early Friday, between approximately 6 a.m. and noon, possibly ending as snow showers. Can’t rule out a light coating on grass, especially north and west of D.C. The main story is crashing temperatures and gusty winds. Most of us start the day in the 40s, but we’re in the 20s to near 30 by around lunchtime, and in the teens to near 20 by late afternoon or evening with clearing skies. Wind gusts from the west, generally in the 30-40 mph range with a few gusts to around 50 mph possible, should dry things out fairly well. But any remaining wet spots will certainly freeze over (what we call a “flash freeze”) during the afternoon into evening. Confidence: Medium
Friday night winds continue to gust near or past 30 mph with mostly clear skies. Overnight lows plummet to the upper single digits to midteens, with wind chills down to the single digits to as low as around minus-5 degrees. Confidence: Medium-High
Christmas weekend is partly to mostly sunny and absolutely frigid. Both days start with morning lows in the upper single digits to midteens, before struggling to afternoon highs in the 20s to near 30. Saturday winds, gusting from the west around 20-30 mph, keep wind chills in the single digits and teens all day long. Not as windy on Sunday, but still enough of a breeze to keep wind chills from rising past the teens to near 20. Confidence: Medium-High
High temperatures should recover to the 30s to near 40 Monday and Tuesday.
A daily assessment of the potential for at least 1 inch of snow in the next week, on a 0-10 scale.
1/10 (→): As the Arctic front blasts through the area early Friday, rain showers could turn to snow showers before ending. We usually don’t see accumulation in situations like this, but can’t rule out a light coating on grass, especially north and west of D.C.
Going out with wet hair WON’T give you a cold but drinking orange juice might beat the sniffles
With cold season now well and truly upon us, you’re probably seeking ways to dodge getting a sniffly nose.
Others might be reading this in desperation to getting rid of one.
Glugging down orange juice, taking multivitamins and avoiding going out with wet hair are some tips you will have heard about.
But do they really help you avoid coming down with a cold? Or are they just myths?
MailOnline spoke to experts to separate fact from fiction, and give you the best tips to avoid a bad bout of the sniffles this winter.
Experts say although vitamin C is good for you, it probably won’t stop you from getting a cold, but it helps you fight one off. However, taking vitamin D in the darker winter months of the year could give your immune system the boost it needs to fight the virus
Multi-vitamins
It is a multi-billion pound industry centered on claims that they will keep you healthy and prevent you from getting sick.
But experts say you shouldn’t rely on multi-vitamins.
In fact, there is nothing available that will prevent you from getting a cold — that is according to Cardiff University’s Professor Ron Eccles, who has spent decades researching the common cold.
He also suggests there is little evidence the pills, which can cost as much as £60 a bottle, will help once you are infected.
He said: ‘There is a lot of hype on multi-vitamins, but none of them really abolish the cold otherwise we would know about them.’
But vitamin C and D, two nutrients usually abundant in high street multi-vitamins, could boost your immune system, the body’s internal army tasked with fighting off infections.
But it might not be necessary to take expensive tablets to get your daily dose, especially when it comes to vitamin C.
Critics of the supplement industry believe a healthy and balanced diet of fruit, vegetables and wholegrains should provide all the nutrients you need — effectively rendering multi-vitamin pills redundant.
Registered dietitian Dr Duane Mellor, based at Birmingham’s Aston University, said: ‘If you are eating a variety of fruit and veg, you will be getting enough vitamin C easily.
‘If you get any more than that you are just going to pee it out.’
Orange juice
Glugging down orange juice each morning won’t prevent you from catching a cold.
But the vitamin C it contains may speed up your recovery, experts believe.
Adults need roughly 40mg of vitamin C a day, half of the amount found in a standard glass of orange juice.
Professor Eccles, who has worked on numerous trials sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, said: ‘There is a possibility that taking very large doses of vitamin C will act as an antioxidant and dampen down the inflammation.
‘But the evidence is weak.’
One review of the evidence supporting taking vitamin C to fight off colds, published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine in 2016, ruled that data does ‘show a decreased severity and duration of colds when vitamin C is consumed at doses at or above 0.2 g/day’.
But the NHS says there’s little evidence vitamin C prevents colds or speeds up recovery.
Orange juice is packed with vitamin C and although it is a common belief that drinking it will help you stay healthy and ward off a cold, experts say it won’t. However, there is a small chance it could speed up your recovery
Professor Eccles added: ‘There is probably a little more evidence for vitamin D over the winter.’
A lack of vitamin D, found in food such as oily fish, red meat, egg yolks and cereal, can lead to bone deformities such as rickets.
It helps to regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in your body — two vital nutrients for keeping bones, teeth and muscles healthy.
Your body also creates vitamin D when exposed to direct sunlight outside.
But from October to early March, we do not make enough vitamin D from sunlight, according to the NHS.
This is particularly true for those living in the northern hemisphere.
The NHS advises everyone should consider taking a vitamin D supplement every day during the autumn and winter.
According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which provides health advice and guidance, vitamin D could play a role in the immune system’s response to respiratory viruses including Covid.
So, taking vitamin D might just keep your immune system in shape.
Wet hair and cold air
If you find yourself needing to rush out with wet hair on a cold winter’s day, do not worry about getting ill.
The common folk story, told for over a century, is heavily disputed by experts.
Respiratory viruses, such as the ones that cause colds, the flu and Covid, are passed on through bodily fluids like coughs and sneezes.
Despite your grandmothers’ warnings, wet hair does not make you more attractive to viral particles, and just having wet hair will not make you more vulnerable.
Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia, has worked on every major epidemiological outbreak over the past 30 years.
He said: ‘You will only catch a cold from being in contact with somebody else with a cold and that is the primary reason.
‘If you are outdoors, you don’t really catch respiratory infections because they are all just blown away in the wind.’
The real reason why we get colds in the winter is, according to experts, because we spend more time crammed inside poorly ventilated spaces close to other people — the perfect conditions for viruses to thrive.
Professor Hunter added: ‘What happens in cold weather is generally people spend more time indoors and that increases risk of transmission.
‘There is some suggestion that if the lining or you nose gets chilled then you may be more susceptible when you go back in doors and meet people, but that is not proven as far as I know.’
Despite your grandmother’s warnings, wet hair does not make you more attractive to viruses and just having wet hair will not make you more vulnerable to getting sick. Viruses such as colds, the flu and Covid are passed on through bodily fluids. So, when someone sneezes, coughs or blows their nose the virus could be passed on through droplets
However, a study in 2005 by Professor Eccles, suggested there may be some truth behind the saying ‘you’ll catch your death of cold’.
The study, involving 180 healthy people, saw half the volunteers sit with their feet in cold water for 20 minutes, and others stayed dry with their shoes and socks on.
Professor Eccles found those who had their feet ‘chilled’ were 10 per cent more likely to report the onset of common cold symptoms four to five days later.
But no medical tests were done to confirm they were infected with a virus.
He said: ‘When colds are circulated in the community you may already have a virus at the back of your nose and throat, but you will have fended it off and not really developed into a cold.
‘But the insult of chilling your body causes constriction of blood vessels in your nose and weakens your immunity for a short while and lets the virus get the upper hand.
‘Although it is controversial, my view is that under certain circumstances it can bring on a common cold if you have already got the virus.’
Another study in 2016 by researchers at Mahidol University in Thailand, also implies your immune system weakens when it gets colder.
It suggests the cold, dry conditions of winter could make it harder for your immune system to fight off harmful viruses because it makes fewer interferons — the proteins in your immune system responsible for halting the invasion of foreign pathogens.
There is still no evidence that going out with wet hair will give you a cold, though.
Wrapping up warm on a cold day and avoid going out with wet hair, are both myths disputed by many experts, who say there is no evidence that getting cold will give you a cold. But one expert on the common cold at Cardiff University, Professor Eccles, disagrees and has suggested the cold may weaken your immune system
Hot drinks
Hot cups of tea definitely make you feel better.
And research suggests a cuppa really can relieve your cold-like symptoms.
Professor Eccles and his team, from Cardiff University’s Common Cold Centre, once studied the effects of consuming a comforting hot drink on a stuffy nose.
The 2008 study, in the journal Rhinology, found a hot drink provides immediate relief from a runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, chilliness and tiredness.
But a drink at room temperature only relieved symptoms of a runny nose, cough and sneezing.
Professor Eccles added: ‘Any hot tasty drink will relieve most of the symptoms of a common cold, particularly sore throat and cough.
‘We did a clinical trial on that with a hot blackcurrant cordial and demonstrated that.
‘It doesn’t have to be hot blackcurrant; any soup or hot tasty liquid will promote salivation and mucus secretion and soothes the inflamed throat.’
The theory is steam in the hot drink can soften and break down mucus, allowing you to breathe easier. It also reduces the swelling of a sore throat, but experts aren’t completely sure why.
But a Cochrane review in 2017 on heated, humidified air for the common cold, found little evidence that inhaling steam can drain away mucus and kill colds and viruses.
Yet Professor Hunter believes drinking tea when you have a cold might simply make you feel happier.
He said: ‘With mild illnesses like the cold, how bad to feel is not just a physical thing but it also has psychological factors.
‘Tea or soup (or honey, lemon and whisky in hot water which is my favourite) won’t do much to end the infection, although there may be some symptomatic relief in people with a sore throat.
‘Also, if they improve your mood, they will make you feel better and who doesn’t feel better after a decent cup or tea.’
A comforting cup of tea has not been proven to ward off viruses, but research suggests hot drinks can relieve the symptoms of a cold. One study suggests drinking a hot drink provides immediate relief from a runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, chilliness and tiredness
A dose of chicken soup has been suggested to have some preventative measures when it comes to warding off the first signs of a cold. But its positive effects could just be due to the water in the soup hydrating you
Chicken soup
Does chicken soup really have restorative healing powers, or is it just a comforting placebo effect?
Just like a cuppa, the steam and warmth of a soup can make you feel revived.
But a dose of chicken soup has also been suggested to have some preventative measures when it comes to warding off the first signs of a cold.
A 1998 study by the American College of Chest Physicians looked at the effect the comforting broth has on our immune cells.
It suggested chicken soup may contain a number of substances with medicinal properties, including an anti-inflammatory effect.
However, it could just be the water in the soup hydrating you and making you feel better, others argue.
Dr Mellor said: ‘Probably the main reason why chicken soup helps is because it is hydrating, it is an easy thing to eat as well.
‘Some people argue that it is the nutrients in there that help. But mainly it is the temperature helping to clear things through.’
It is not just chicken; spicy soups also have a reputation for being healing.
The dietitian said: ‘I have heard of spicy curry soups having the same effect, but if you have a bunged-up nose the spiciness of the chilies helps clear your nose out a little bit anyway.
‘It is not soup having this mythical cold busting effects, it is the hydration and the warmth.’
Garlic does have immune boosting effects, but not enough to get rid of a cold or prevent one. Experts have warned against a trend that saw people put cloves of garlic up their noses, Dr Mellor says it is dangerous and does not work anyway
Sticking garlic up your nose
One TikTok trend last winter saw people attempting to unblock their stuffy nose by shoving garlic cloves up it.
The idea is sticking something up your nose blocks the flow of mucus, so when it is removed, the flow starts and the mucus drips or even runs out of your nose.
Unsurprisingly, this method is discouraged by experts.
Not only because sticking things up your nose is not encouraged for obvious reasons, but also because garlic can cause irritation.
Dr Mellor said: ‘Just don’t stick things up your nose because you can damage your nose.
‘There are lots of children that have to go and have various objects removed from their nose, we do not need more adults going to A&E for the same purpose.’
He added: ‘Garlic contains compounds that irritate. It just irritates your nose, which might help unblock it a little bit.
‘There are lots of lab experiments that show the immune effects of garlic, but they are in cells in labs they are not in humans.’
A study in 2016 by St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee suggests this method would be counterproductive anyway.
The study explains that despite being annoying especially when you have to constantly reach for a tissue, the mucus in your nose actually helps to trap and remove pathogens including viruses.
Washing your hands, staying fit and healthy and avoiding other people are also good ways of avoiding getting ill, according to the experts. GPs advise washing your hands with soap and water or hand gel will help you avoid catching a cold
Giants-Seahawks ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’: Giants fumble away an opportunity
The New York Giants could not follow their ‘keep games close and capitalize on opponents’ fourth-quarter mistakes’ formula on Sunday, falling to the Seattle Seahawks, 27-13. Let’s get to our traditional ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ review.
Kudos to …
Nick Gates — It was only five snaps, but the fact that Gates can play football at all is worthy of ‘Kudos.’ The fact that he made an impact as a jumbo tight end, throwing the key block on a Saquon Barkley 1-yard touchdown run, in those five snaps made it even better.
Darius Slayton — Slayton was the only wide receiver Daniel Jones could count on Sunday. He had five catches in six targets for 66 yards. Four of Slayton’s catches resulted in first downs, including a 21-yarder he took out of the hands of a Seattle defender.
Leonard Williams — Big Cat was a force. He had eight tackles, his first sack of the season, a tackle for loss, and five — yes, five — quarterback hits. He pretty much lived in the Seattle backfield.
Tomon Fox — There was a dominant rookie edge defender on the field for the Giants on Sunday. It wasn’t No. 5 overall pick Kayvon Thibodeaux. Fox, an undrafted free agent out of North Carolina, tied Williams for the team lead with eight tackles — two for loss — while playing only 27 snaps. Fox has taken advantage of injuries and is forcing his way into the Giants’ defensive plans.
Micah McFadden — Before Sunday, the rookie fifth-round pick had played just four defensive snaps in the previous three weeks — none the past two weeks. He played 27 snaps vs. the Seahawks, and made an impact with his first career sack, four tackles including one for loss, and a quarterback hit.
The Giants made an interesting defensive switch on Sunday, moving Jaylon Smith to the MIKE. That put Tae Crowder at the WILL, and Crowder (just 22 snaps) played less than McFadden.
Jamie Gillan — The left-footed punter had an excellent day. He punted six times, averaging 53.3 yards with a net of 47.7 per punt. He had two punts downed inside the 20-yard line and missed by a whisker of having a mammoth 69-yard punt downed at the 1-yard line. Still, I have to mention a personal pet peeve. Gillan hit one of those rugby-style punts Sunday and I just hate those. Punt the ball like an NFL punter, please.
Wet Willies to …
Richie James — Once upon a time, James was a really nice story for the Giants. Now, after a pair of James fumbles on punt returns led to 10 Seattle points on Sunday, Giants’ Twitter wants him cut. James did have a 42-yard punt return negated by a penalty on Sunday, but he now has three fumbled punts this season and has only six receptions in the past five games. James did end up with a concussion after Sunday’s second fumble.
Tyre Phillips — I have not seen the Pro Football Focus grades, but I did not think Phillips played well at all starting in place of the injured Evan Neal. There were two false starts, and what seemed like a lot of Seattle pass rushers running around Phillips.
Wide receivers not named Slayton — Wan’Dale Robinson had two catches for 15 yards. Marcus Johnson played 56 snaps and produced a single catch for 3 yards. David Sills, who is playing less and less, had a single catch for 5 yards in just 10 snaps. James played four snaps and was not targeted. That’s not nearly enough production to allow the Giants to play good offense against good teams.
Early offense — As they have in most games this season, the Giants started sleepily on offense. They went three-and-out on their first three possessions and had just 46 yards of total offense at halftime. The Giants’ only points came on a 2-yard ‘drive.’ The offense always seems to play with urgency later in the game. They need to find some of that in the early stages.
Kwillies to …
Adoree’ Jackson — Jackson was brilliant on Sunday … until he wasn’t. Jackson set up the Giants’ only first-half point by stripping Tyler Lockett of the ball and recovering at the Seattle 2-yard line. He also had a couple of pass breakups.
But … don’t you hate it when there is a but? For three quarters, Jackson was a hero. Then, well, not a hero. Jackson was victimized by Lockett for the game-winning 33-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, biting hard on a Lockett fake. In truth, he was also victimized by Lockett in the third quarter, but Lockett dropped what should have been a similar 33-yard touchdown pass.
Will the SF Bay Area get a wet winter? Forecasters weigh in
The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration said in its US winter weather outlook that La Niña will make an appearance December through February for the third year in a row.
It’s not unusual to see two consecutive winters marked by La Niña, but what US forecasters are calling a “triple dip” is uncommon. Going back some 70 years, this has occurred only two other times.
“It has happened in the past, but it’s not normal,” said Brian Garcia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
What does this mean for the water-starved San Francisco Bay Area? Last winter was abnormally dry amid a La Niña pattern. Could the region see the same this winter?
With La Niña persisting, NOAA’s winter forecast favors wetter weather in the Pacific Northwest and drier conditions in Southern California, for December 2022 to February 2023. Northern California and the Bay Area fall in an in-between area, where the odds of the winter going in one direction or the other aren’t strong. The outlook map suggests the likelihood of a warmer winter are slightly higher than a chillier one in the Bay Area, while there are equal chances of above average, below average and normal precipitation.
The rain forecast is the result of data from past winters marked by La Niña. While the Bay Area has seen more abnormally dry winters during La Niña years, it has also average years and unusually wet ones.
“The forecast of equal chances in your area does in fact mean that current climate signals and historical forecast reliability in your region don’t allow for a confident or reliable forecast shift in climatological probabilities,” Jon Gottschalk, chief of the NOAA Climate Prediction Center’s forecasting branch, wrote in an email. “So the odds at the current time for your area are 33% for each category. No clear shift either way unfortunately. Your area is notorious for high variability or outcomes during La Nina event winters and this is why equal chances is forecast.”
NOAA released its 2022-23 winter weather outlook.
NOAALa Niña is a weather phenomenon that occurs when the equatorial waters in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean cool to below-normal averages. The better-known El Niño, the inverse of La Niña, is when the waters warm. Both can impact the atmospheric conditions worldwide, including the jet stream and storm track.
Local meteorologist Jan Null of Golden Gate Weather Services said that while La Niña influences winter weather, many other factors are at play, including a smattering of oscillations, such as the Arctic and Magellan-Julian oscillations.
“El Niño and La Niña, they are the superstars of the team,” Null said. “They have the highest probability of having a big night. Some of these other bench players can come in and still influence the game.”
A big twists in this year’s forecast is that NOAA predicts La Niña will transition to what’s called ENSO neutral as early as February. In ENSO, the equatorial waters are at average temperatures. A similar pattern occurred in 2016-17, when winter started dry but had a wet ending.
“We had one or two storms in 2016 and then once we turned the new year and we popped out of La Niña, the storm completely blew open,” said Garcia, who works for the weather service’s Bay Area office. “We had two months of nonstop rain. It seemed like nonstop rain. We had so many atmospheric rivers come through our area. That was the year Coyote Creek flooded in San Jose.”
Garcia predicts that 2022-23 could unfold similarly.
“This winter, we will get rain,” he said. “The question is, ‘How much rain will we get?’ From things that I’ve been looking at, it looks like it’s going to be back-loaded. We’ll get a few fronts come through and give us a little bit of rain during the last part of this calendar year, but I really think the next calendar year is going to be the time when we get hit; probably late February through April is going to be our window this year. If we get something in March, we have ‘Miracle March.’ If we get something in April, we have our ‘Amazing April.'”
Null isn’t ready to make a prediction and is sticking with NOAA’s forecast that doesn’t favor one scenario over another.
“I think we just don’t know,” he said. “If somebody really had the answer, they’d be the richest person on the planet.”
This news story has been updated.
New clues about early atmosphere on Mars suggest a wet planet capable of supporting life
New research published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters suggests that Mars was born wet, with a dense atmosphere allowing warm-to-hot oceans for millions of years. To reach this conclusion, researchers developed the first model of the evolution of the Martian atmosphere that links the high temperatures associated with Mars’s formation in a molten state through to the formation of the first oceans and atmosphere.
This model shows that—as on the modern Earth—water vapor in the Martian atmosphere was concentrated in the lower atmosphere and that the upper atmosphere of Mars was “dry” because the water vapor would condense out as clouds at lower levels in the atmosphere. Molecular hydrogen (H2), by contrast, did not condense and was transported to the upper atmosphere of Mars, where it was lost to space. This conclusion—that water vapor condensed and was retained on early Mars whereas molecular hydrogen did not condense and escaped—allows the model to be linked directly to measurements made by spacecraft, specifically, the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity.
“We believe we have modeled an overlooked chapter in Mars’s earliest history in the time immediately after the planet formed. To explain the data, the primordial Martian atmosphere must have been very dense (more than ~1000x as dense as the modern atmosphere) and composed primarily of molecular hydrogen (H2),” said Kaveh Pahlevan, SETI Institute research scientist.
“This finding is significant because H2 is known to be a strong greenhouse gas in dense environments. This dense atmosphere would have produced a strong greenhouse effect, allowing very early warm-to-hot water oceans to be stable on the Martian surface for millions of years until the H2 was gradually lost to space. For this reason, we infer that—at a time before the Earth itself had formed—Mars was born wet.”
The data constraining the model is the deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H) ratio (deuterium is the heavy isotope of hydrogen) of different Martian samples, including Martian meteorites and those analyzed by Curiosity. Meteorites from Mars are mostly igneous rocks—they formed when the interior of Mars melted, and the magma ascended towards the surface. The water dissolved in these interior (mantle-derived) igneous samples has a deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio similar to that of the Earth’s oceans, indicating that the two planets started with similar D/H ratios and that their water came from the same source in the early solar system.
By contrast, Curiosity measured the D/H ratio of an ancient 3-billion-year-old clay on the Martian surface and found that this value is ~3x that of Earth’s oceans. Apparently, by the time these ancient clays formed, the surface water reservoir on Mars—the hydrosphere—had substantially concentrated deuterium relative to hydrogen. The only process known to produce this level of deuterium concentration (or “enrichment”) is preferential loss of the lighter H isotope to space.
The model further shows that if the Martian atmosphere was H2-rich at the time of its formation (and more than ~1000x as dense as today), then the surface waters would naturally be enriched in deuterium by a factor of 2–3x relative to the interior, reproducing the observations. Deuterium prefers partitioning into the water molecule relative to molecular hydrogen (H2), which preferentially takes up ordinary hydrogen and escapes from the top of the atmosphere.
“This is the first published model that naturally reproduces these data, giving us some confidence that the atmospheric evolutionary scenario we have described corresponds to early events on Mars,” said Pahlevan.
Aside from curiosity about the earliest environments on the planets, H2-rich atmospheres are significant in the SETI Institute’s search for life beyond Earth. Experiments going back to the middle of the 20th century show that prebiotic molecules implicated in the origin of life form readily in such H2-rich atmospheres but not so readily in H2-poor (or more “oxidizing”) atmospheres. The implication is that early Mars was a warm version of modern Titan and at least as promising a site for the origin of life as early Earth was, if not more promising.
Help NASA scientists find clouds on Mars
More information:
Kaveh Pahlevan et al, A primordial atmospheric origin of hydrospheric deuterium enrichment on Mars, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117772
Kaveh Pahlevan et al, A primordial atmospheric origin of hydrospheric deuterium enrichment on Mars, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117772
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NASA gearing up for another try at Artemis 1 ‘wet dress’
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will fly NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission is at the pad for a critical series of tests this weekend.
NASA officials held a call with reporters on Wednesday (June 15) to give an update ahead of those tests, which together comprise a launch simulation known as a “wet dress rehearsal.”
The Artemis 1 stack — the SLS and an Orion crew capsule — was rolled out to the historic Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on June 6. Mission teams have since completed ground communication validations leading up to the wet dress, which is scheduled to begin on Saturday (June 18).
Live updates: NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission
Related: NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission explained in photos
Artemis 1 will be the first launch for the SLS and will send an uncrewed Orion around the moon and back. This is Artemis 1’s second time at the pad for a wet dress rehearsal, a launch simulation that involves fueling the rocket and running through the procedures of an actual countdown, right up until T-10 seconds.
NASA tried to perform the wet dress in early April, attempting to fuel up the SLS three separate times over the course of multiple days. But the Artemis 1 team decided to roll the Artemis stack back to KSC’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in late April, after a hydrogen leak and other issues prevented fueling of the rocket, ultimately scrubbing each attempt.
Over the course of about a month, teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida were able to make the necessary repairs to the SLS vehicle and associated ground systems, as well get a jumpstart on some upgrades that had been originally scheduled for after the wet dress rehearsal.
“We fixed some things around the area where we saw the [hydrogen] leak,” Jim Free, associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development at NASA, said during Wednesday’s call.
The time in the VAB also gave technicians a chance to improve loading operations for SLS. Using “knowhow from the [space] shuttle days,” Free said, teams in the VAB were able to update and automate certain procedures for filling the rocket’s cryogenic fuel tanks.
Free praised Exploration Ground Systems teams, as well as other Artemis-focused NASA offices, for their excellent planning “to save as much of [this year’s] launch periods that we can, so we can get the vehicle going and understand how it operates.” Free stressed that SLS is still a new vehicle, and while officials are hopeful for a late-August Artemis 1 launch attempt, a successful wet dress rehearsal has to precede the liftoff.
Related: NASA’s Artemis program of moon exploration
“This is the first step on getting us back to the moon,” Free said. “This launch has very specific objectives. It is a flight test. We want to test the heat shield at lunar reentry velocities, we want to make sure we recover the vehicle, and we want to make sure the systems work in orbit so that when we get to [Artemis] 2, we feel confident to put crew on [Orion].”
The Artemis 1 stack has spent the past week at Pad 39B undergoing validation tests, according to Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis launch director with the Exploration Ground Systems Program at KSC, who was also on Wednesday’s call. Over several days following Artemis 1’s return to the pad, teams worked to confirm services and connectivity between the SLS mobile launch platform and the command and control systems in NASA’s launch control center.
This past weekend, teams also performed booster servicing procedures, completing hypergolic fuel loading for the booster hydraulic power unit, which provides the rocket’s thrust-vector control during flight. Blackwell-Thompson said that system is scheduled to be tested “inside the 30-second mark” of the coming wet dress rehearsal.
“Our pad flow is essentially complete,” Blackwell-Thompson said, “less our wet dress rehearsal preps, which are in full swing now.” Further wet dress preparations have included completion of booster and engine inspections, lowering the engine service platform away from the rocket and, finally, the completion of prep work on the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen systems, which preceded a full power-down of the launch vehicle.
“The next power-up will be as part of our wet dress rehearsal operations,” said Blackwell-Thompson. She indicated that a pre-test briefing for ground teams will take place on Friday (June 17), with the expectation for the wet dress to begin the next day. The rehearsal itself is estimated to last just under 48 hours and will run the vehicle through several launch countdown simulations, holds and abort situations.
NASA officials are hopeful that a successful wet dress rehearsal will keep Artemis 1 on track for an available launch window at the end of August but emphasized that they’re focused on completing the wet dress first. Accounting for lunar positioning, NASA has published a schedule of possible launch windows for the Artemis 1 mission that extends through 2023.
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Mick Schumacher car splits into two pieces in big crash at wet Monaco Grand Prix
MONTE CARLO — Mick Schumacher walked away unharmed from a big crash at the Monaco Grand Prix that prompted the second red flag of the event.
A downpour just before the scheduled start delayed the race by 70 minutes, and it eventually got going on a drying track.
Drivers had just completed the switch from the full and intermediate wet tyres to dry tyres when Schumacher, running 17th, lost control of his car through the Swimming Pool section and slammed into the wall on the exit of the chicane.
Schumacher’s rear suspension and rear wing completely detached from the Haas car.
Schumacher, the son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, immediately climbed out of the car and walked back to the Haas garage.
Curiously, the race stewards cycled through all three of the options available to them in the case of a crash as marshals looked to clear the wreckage.
First, they implemented the virtual safety car, in which drivers are required to drive slowly to a delta time.
The actual safety car was then deployed two minutes later, which requires the field to bottle up behind a pace car.
Just six minutes later, the race was suspended with a red flag to allow marshals to fix the barrier Schumacher had gone into.
When the race resumed, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez led a rolling start.
NASA restarts moon rocket wet dress rehearsal countdown – Spaceflight Now
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION
NASA restarted a two-day dress-rehearsal countdown Tuesday for the agency’s new Space Launch System moon rocket after a series of unrelated glitches, mostly involving ground systems, blocked two earlier attempts to fully fuel the huge launcher to verify its readiness for flight.
The lone rocket-related problem — trouble with a one-way helium pressurization valve in the booster’s second stage — cannot be fixed at the launch pad and engineers will be unable to pump supercold cryogenic propellants into the stage during fueling operations Thursday as originally planned.
Instead, the team will concentrate on loading the SLS core stage with 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen fuel and 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen Thursday morning, testing their ability to monitor and control the flow of propellants, verifying control room commanding and validating software through two terminal countdown test runs.
In one, the countdown will tick down to the T-minus 33-second mark before a recycle back to T-minus 10 minutes to test procedures that could be needed should a problem interrupt an actual launch countdown.
A second run will then will tick all the way down to T-minus 9.3 seconds, the moment before main engine ignition commands would be sent for an actual launch. At that point, the ground launch sequencer computer will stop the countdown and the test will end.
The original goals of the countdown test included loading both stages with liquid oxygen and hydrogen.
But it also “was about testing the Launch Control Center, all of the (ground support equipment), our sister control centers … and making sure that we are all able to operate in a day-of-launch environment,” said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, NASA’s first female launch director.
Given the helium valve issue, the team “looked at what of those objectives can we go and accomplish without loading the upper stage. We want to get as much data as we can while we’re at the pad. The data will lead us and tell us what we need to do next.”
It’s not yet known whether an additional fueling test might be required at some point before launch, but the SLS upper stage, known as the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, or ICPS, cannot be loaded with propellants unless the core stage is filled as well.
In any case, the revised dress rehearsal countdown test began at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday as planned. If all goes well, core stage fueling operations will begin around 7 a.m. Thursday with cutoff targeted for 2:40 p.m.
While the upper stage will not be loaded with propellants, liquid oxygen and hydrogen will flow through launch pad transfer lines and into the ICPS plumbing to make sure the system is leak free.
After the test is complete, engineers will spend about 10 days readying the rocket and its mobile launch platform for the 4.2-mile trip back to the Vehicle Assembly Building where the helium valve will be replaced.
What happens after that is not yet known. NASA wants to launch the SLS on its maiden flight, boosting an unpiloted Orion crew capsule beyond the moon and back, some time this summer, but that will depend on what additional testing is required.
“This is the first flight of a program that is intended to last for years, to take us back to the moon … and one day to go on to Mars,” said Blackwell-Thompson. “And so when you think about that investment, and you think about the first flight, you have to expect that you’re going to learn things.
“You can’t have a first flight and not have some learning. And so what do you do when something happens? You adapt, you look at the data, you develop a plan and you let the data lead you to the next step. And that’s what we’re going to do in preparing this amazing vehicle to go fly.”
The Space Launch System rocket is the most powerful launcher ever built for NASA, a key element of the agency’s Artemis program to send astronauts back to the moon.
Equipped with two extended solid-fuel boosters and a core stage powered by four modified space shuttle main engines, the SLS rocket will tip the scales at 5.75 million pounds at liftoff and generate a ground-shaking 8.8 million pounds of thrust, making it the most powerful rocket yet flown.
The 322-foot-tall SLS was hauled out to launch pad 39B on March 18 and engineers began the first attempt at a dress-rehearsal countdown on April 1.
But before core stage fueling could begin two days later, the team ran into problems with fans needed to pressurize the rocket’s mobile launch platform, a routine step to prevent any free hydrogen gas from making its way into various compartments and posing a fire hazard.
The problem could not be quickly fixed and the fueling operation was delayed one day to April 4. Two more ground system problems caused additional delays before the helium valve issue was identified. Engineers then opted to press ahead Tuesday with a modified countdown.