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How Scientists Repurposed a Camera on ESA’s Mars Express Mission

A digicam aboard the Mars Specific orbiter finds a brand new lease on life.

Generally, limitations can result in innovation. A recent paper highlights how researchers are using the VMC (Visible Monitoring Digicam) aboard the European Area Company’s (ESA) venerable Mars Specific orbiter.

The work is a collaboration between the European Area Company (ESA), the IAA-CSIC Institute of Astrophysics in Andalusia Spain, and the College of the Basque Nation.

Table of Contents

A Mars Webcam

Mars Specific is ESA’s first Mars mission. Launched on a Soyuz rocket, Mars Specific arrived in orbit across the Purple Planet on Christmas Day 2003. The VMC was designed for one major objective: to watch the departure of the ill-fated Beagle 2 lander, which was launched from Mars Specific on December 19^th, slightly below every week previous to orbital insertion. The digicam was switched off after the Beagle 2 launch was full, then introduced again on-line in 2007.

Final images — One of many closing photographs of Beagle 2, taken by VMC shortly after separation. Credit score: ESA/Mars Specific

“(The) VMC digicam was initially supposed to take just a few snapshots of the lander launch,” Alejandro Cardesín-Moinelo (ESA Mars Specific Science Operations) informed Universe At this time. “The digicam was then ‘forgotten’ for a number of years till it was switched on once more in 2007 as an engineering take a look at. This confirmed an important worth for public outreach and so it began to be operated recurrently. In recent times, VMC photographs began getting increasingly more in style and raised the eye of the group as a result of its scientific potential.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_0BP9t-U6c

Cam Aboard Mars Express Shows Orbital Plunge | Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_0BP9t-U6c)

A Distinctive Orbit

The VMC was initially solely tasked with taking supplementary photographs of Mars. A 2016 collaboration noticed a push to improve the digicam for scientific use. In 2018, it discovered a task monitoring the Martian climate. Mars Specific is in a virtually polar orbit. Its distant 11,560 kilometer apoapsis vantage level alongside its 7.5 hour orbit is right for full disk observations.

The small VMC digicam has a 40 by 30 diploma vast area of view. This implies it monitor full disk climate on Mars. Mars Specific additionally gives the important thing benefit of a extra versatile orbit versus different missions. The mission sees areas at completely different occasions and at illuminations.

IRIS-IC — IRIS-1 IC digicam on the coronary heart of VMC. Credit score: ESA

Mars Specific as a Climate Satellite tv for pc

“VMC has confirmed to be an important asset within the world monitoring of the Martian ambiance, complementing all different scientific devices and offering very helpful info on meteorological phenomena, largely atmospheric aerosols, ice clouds and dirt storms” says Cardesín-Moinelo. “Among the many many scientific contributions, the primary discovery was the putting Arsia Mons ‘elongated cloud’ noticed in 2018, a 1,500 kilometer cloud which had not been reported by any earlier mission.”

Cloud — Evolution of the cloud seen over Arsia Mons. Credit score: ESA/Mars Specific.

The imaging workflow for VMC makes use of bias, flat and darkish frames, not in contrast to what novice astrophotographers use to course of photographs. VMC is much like previous turn-of-the-century webcams, and produces small photographs which can be straightforward to transmit again to Earth.

This additionally permits the VMC to hold out critical science. The instrument is calibrated for full disk photometry, helpful for monitoring climate and modifications on Mars. Although VMC has a restricted dynamic vary, operating a wide range of exposures permits for the HDR (Excessive Dynamic Vary) imaging wanted to disclose elusive options. Smartphone cameras use this form of ‘hack’ to tease out element.

Evolution of a Mars Digicam

“VMC is much like a ‘low cost’ customary cell-phone digicam of the early 2000s, with lower than 0.2 megapixels,” says Cardesín-Moinelo. “This can not present an enormous stage of element, however is situated in an ‘extraordinary place,’ flying round Mars. This permits us to retrieve tens of photographs of the total disk of Mars each day so we will monitor the atmospheric clouds and dirt storms, which we couldn’t do with another instrument. This type of ‘low cost’ vast digicam has confirmed very helpful, so we are actually pushing to fly an up-to-date digicam in future missions, with extra decision and higher efficiency to enhance the worldwide monitoring of the planet.”

However VMC had different points to beat as properly with a purpose to present essential science knowledge. First, Mars Specific’s inside clock isn’t fully correct. Plus, engineers fastened VMC on the chassis of the spacecraft. This implies it factors the place Mars Specific factors throughout operations. Along with utilizing star area photographs to get a repair on the spacecraft’s place, the group makes use of transits of the moons Phobos and Deimos throughout the disk of Mars as a clock to calibrate photographs and confirm timestamps.

VMC images — A montage of VMC photographs. Credit score: ESA.

VMC isn’t alone in monitoring Martian climate. The United Arab Emirates’ Mars Hope additionally does full disk imaging and might help see what’s presently happening. These opposing view factors are helpful to have as mud storm season evolves. Different devices comparable to JunoCam aboard NASA’s Juno mission in orbit round Jupiter are designed solely round an analogous form of public collaboration.

Small Cameras for Small Missions

Lastly, these types of primary off-the-shelf cameras have gotten customary gear on smallsats. Examples in planetary science embrace the Mars Dice One MarCO-A and B cubesats which hitched a experience with NASA’s Mars Insight lander which flew previous Mars in 2018, the Minerva-II landers aboard the Hayabusa 2 asteroid mission, and the Italian Area Company’s LICIACube mission which witnessed the DART influence into asteroid Dimorphos in 2022.

Actually, this can be a game-changer for Martian climate predictions. It’s fascinating to see the distinctive photographs of Mars supplied by VMC, as an illustration of how previous {hardware} in area can discover a new objective.

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Detained citizen says agents bragged after arresting dozens at Home Depot

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A 37-year-old U.S. citizen who was tackled to the bottom and arrested after filming federal agents at Home Depot on Thursday mentioned he was held for greater than an hour at Dodger Stadium, the place brokers boasted about what number of immigrants they arrested.

“What number of our bodies did you guys seize right now?” he mentioned one agent requested.

“Oh, we grabbed 31,“ the opposite replied.

“That was a superb day right now,” the primary agent responded.

The 2 high-fived, as Garcia sat on the asphalt below the solar, he mentioned.

Job Garcia was launched on Friday from a downtown federal detention heart. No obvious felony expenses have but to be filed. He’s considered one of a number of U.S residents arrested throughout enforcement operations in current days. Division of Homeland Safety officers say some have illegally interfered with brokers’ jobs.

In response to questions on why Garcia was arrested and if he’d been charged, a spokesperson for the U.S. lawyer’s workplace in L.A. beneficial a reporter contact the Division of Homeland Safety.

DHS and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol didn’t reply to a request for remark

Job Garcia in his apartment in Silver Lake Friday, June 20, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.

Garcia mentioned he was shaken by what he heard whereas he was detained.

“They name them ‘our bodies,’ they cut back them to our bodies,” he mentioned. “My blood was boiling.”

Garcia, a photographer and doctoral pupil Claremont Graduate College had been selecting up a supply at Residence Depot, when somebody approached the client desk and mentioned one thing was unfolding outdoors.

“La migra, La migra,” he heard as he walked out. He rapidly grabbed his telephone and adopted brokers across the car parking zone, telling them they have been “f— ineffective” till he got here to a bunch of them forming a half-circle round a field truck.

A Border Patrol agent radioed somebody after which slammed his baton towards the passenger window, his video reveals. Glass shattered. He unlocked the door as individuals shouted.

Within the video, a shocked man might be seen texting behind the wheel. He had apparently refused to open his door.

It’s unclear from the footage what occurred subsequent, however Garcia mentioned an agent lunged towards him and pushed him.

“My first response was to love push his hand off,” he recalled. Then, he mentioned, the agent grabbed his left arm, twisted it behind his again and threw his telephone.

The agent introduced him to the bottom and three different brokers jumped in, Garcia mentioned

“Get the f— down sir” and “give me your f— hand. You need it, you bought it, sir, you f— bought it. You need to go to jail, high-quality. You bought it,” an agent might be heard saying within the video.

“You wished it, you bought it,” the person yelled.

An agent handcuffed him so exhausting “that there was no circulation working to my fingers,” Garcia mentioned.

Pinned down, Garcia had problem respiratory.

“That second, I assumed I might in all probability die right here,” he mentioned.

The agent put Garcia’s telephone again in his pocket. The recording saved working.

As Garcia was put right into a car, his video captured an agent twice saying: “I’ve bought one again right here.”

“You bought one what?” Garcia shot again. “You bought one what?”

He mentioned an agent informed him in damaged Spanish to “wait right here,’ although it couldn’t be heard on the video.

“I f— converse English, you f— dumbass,” he clearly shouts again.

No agent requested if he was an American citizen, he mentioned. No one requested for identification.

“They assumed that I used to be undocumented,” he mentioned later in an interview.

The video ends after about 4 minutes, whereas he’s ready within the van.

Garcia requested an agent to get his pockets from his automobile, so he might show he was a U.S. citizen. One other agent retrieved his ID, however he remained handcuffed.

They have been so tight, his arms started to swell.

The brokers switched him to handcuffs that appeared like shoelaces. They took off round a nook, stopped to shuffle him into one other van and sped off down the 101 Freeway.

“I smeared my blood of their seat,” he mentioned. And he thought, “They’re going to recollect me.”

With him within the van was a Mexican man, face downcast, who mentioned his spouse was six months pregnant.

“My spouse informed me to not go to work right now,” the person mentioned. “One thing doesn’t really feel proper,” he mentioned she informed him.

“It broke my coronary heart,” Garcia mentioned. “I want he was the one who bought away after they have been making an attempt to seize me.”

On what he described as a ramp going into Dodger stadium near Lot K, Garcia was taken out of the automobile and informed to take a seat on the asphalt as brokers shuffled detainees into totally different vans and processed them for about an hour. A lady ran his background for felony offenses.

It felt surreal and enraging.

“They have been making an attempt to construct some type of case,” Garcia mentioned. He informed The Occasions he was arrested at 17 for driving and not using a license.

After they transported him, brokers later fingerprinted him and tried to interrogate him.

The agent mentioned they wished to “take your aspect of the story.”

Garcia declined.

He mentioned he overheard an agent inform somebody, “Trump is basically working us.”

Whereas held at a downtown detention facility, he met Adrian Martinez.

Martinez, a 20-year-old Walmart employee and in addition a U.S. citizen, had been arrested on Tuesday whereas he tried to cease the arrest of a person who cleaned a shopping mall in Pico Rivera. The 2 spoke for about 10 minutes, as Martinez waited to go to court docket.

“You’re the Walmart child, proper?” he requested him.

Garcia informed him what had unfolded outdoors the Residence Depot.

“That’s precisely what occurred to me,” he mentioned Martinez informed him. “They have been bullying this older man. I didn’t like that so I went and confronted them they usually put their arms on me and I pushed their arms off.”

U.S. Atty. Invoice Essayli posted a photograph of Martinez on X and mentioned he “was arrested for an allegation of punching a border patrol agent within the face after he tried to impede their immigration enforcement operation.” Martinez was charged in a felony grievance with conspiracy to impede a federal officer.

The grievance makes no reference to a punch, however alleges that Martinez blocked brokers’ autos along with his automobile after which later a trash can.

“A grievance usually incorporates one cost and doesn’t embody the complete scope of a defendant’s conduct, or the proof that will probably be introduced at trial,” mentioned Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for the U.S. lawyer’s workplace in L.A. “Contemplating that is an energetic case, we is not going to be offering additional feedback outdoors of court docket proceedings.”

Martinez was launched Friday on a $5,000 bond.

“U.S. Lawyer Essayli and U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino outrageously alleged that Adrian assaulted a federal agent,” Martinez’s attorneys mentioned in an announcement. “Nonetheless he has not been charged with an assault cost as a result of he didn’t assault anybody, and the proof of that’s clear.”

Garcia mentioned his cellmate was apprehensive about these protests. He requested, “Don’t you assume the protesters who’re on the market destroying property, rioters, is a nasty look?”

“Rioting is the language of the unheard,” he mentioned, riffing on a quote from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Mahmoud Khalil Must Be Released on Bail, Federal Judge Orders

Mr. Khalil, a Columbia graduate and authorized everlasting resident, has been held in Louisiana for over three months. The decide discovered motive to consider it was retaliation for his pro-Palestinian speech.

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What is the price of gold today?

Stock market financial exchange and Trading graph — Understanding as we speak’s gold spot worth can preserve you knowledgeable and enable you make sound investing choices.

Busakorn Pongparnit/Getty Photographs

Gold has for hundreds of years been a gorgeous commodity. Not solely is the dear steel considered as a type of foreign money, but it surely’s thought of a gorgeous funding commodity as nicely. That is particularly the case when market or financial uncertainty hits. In reality, gold is typically viewed as a safe-haven asset and inflation hedge.

And, physical gold, like gold bars and coins, has traditionally held its worth, making it a wise wager for a lot of buyers. That mentioned, the price of gold can and can fluctuate within the brief time period, so it is essential to control these modifications if you wish to purchase gold on the proper time.

Able to get began? Find out how gold investing can benefit you here.

What’s the worth of gold as we speak?

As of June 18, 2025, the value of gold is $3,394.42 per ounce, in keeping with American Hartford Gold. Whereas that determine represents the market’s evaluation of the dear steel’s present worth, it is essential to notice that gold costs are topic to fixed fluctuations resulting from quite a lot of components.

Explore your gold investing options here.

Elements that affect the value of gold

Quite a few components can impression the spot worth of gold, together with:

Provide and demand: Like some other commodity, the value of gold is basically influenced by the fundamental financial precept of provide and demand. When demand for gold will increase, and the provision stays fixed or decreases, costs are likely to rise. Conversely, when demand drops or provide will increase, costs might fall.
Financial situations: The state of the worldwide economic system performs a major position in figuring out gold costs. Throughout times of economic uncertainty, akin to recessions or monetary crises, buyers usually flock to gold as a safe-haven asset, driving up its worth. In distinction, robust financial situations can result in lowered curiosity in gold and decrease costs.
Inflation: Gold is commonly seen as a hedge against inflation. When the buying energy of fiat currencies erodes resulting from inflation, buyers search refuge in property like gold that retain their worth over time. As inflation rises, gold costs usually observe go well with.
Rates of interest: The connection between gold costs and rates of interest is inversely proportional. When rates of interest are low, the chance value of holding gold (which does not present any yield) is minimal, making gold extra enticing. Conversely, when rates of interest rise, the chance value of holding gold will increase, doubtlessly resulting in decrease demand and decrease costs.
Geopolitical uncertainty: Political instability, conflicts and world occasions may considerably impression gold costs. Traders usually turn to gold throughout occasions of geopolitical turmoil, driving up its worth as a secure haven.
Foreign money actions: Since gold is priced in U.S. {dollars}, fluctuations within the power of the greenback can have an effect on gold costs. When the greenback weakens, gold turns into cheaper for overseas buyers, rising demand and costs.
Market sentiment: Investor sentiment and speculative buying and selling could cause sudden and substantial worth swings within the gold market. Optimistic sentiment can result in a rally, whereas damaging sentiment can set off sell-offs.
Central financial institution insurance policies: Central banks maintain important gold reserves, and their actions can affect the market. Massive purchases or gross sales of gold by central banks can impression costs.

The underside line

The worth of gold, like some other monetary asset, is influenced by a fancy interaction of provide and demand dynamics, financial situations, inflation, rates of interest, geopolitics, foreign money actions, sentiment and central financial institution insurance policies. On condition that gold’s spot worth can fluctuate, buyers and fans ought to preserve an in depth eye on these components to make knowledgeable choices concerning their gold investments. There are a lot of top gold investing companies that may assist. Whether or not you’re contemplating gold as a retailer of worth, a portfolio diversifier or a speculative funding, nevertheless, understanding the dynamics of the gold market is essential for making sound monetary decisions.

Angelica Leicht

Angelica Leicht is the senior editor for the Managing Your Cash part for CBSNews.com, the place she writes and edits articles on a variety of non-public finance matters. Angelica beforehand held modifying roles at The Easy Greenback, Curiosity, HousingWire and different monetary publications.