space conquest

"Take the hit" can mean a pragmatic acceptance of a bad situation, usually financial. It's akin to 'absorb the blow'.

Initially, the cost of a ride on one of these rockets will be hundreds of thousands of dollars at a minimum. That puts the experience within reach of only the wealthiest people. But advances in rocket and capsule design are expected to lower the price to the point that people of more modest fortunes are able to afford a ticket.

Reaching the Moon, Mars and beyond

For success in space exploration in the years to come, we will need to continue along the exponential curve of open source uptake and see advances in the approach to how spacecraft software, hardware and infrastructure is developed and deployed. I believe this is only possible with a truly open and collaborative mindset.

With this baseline in place, advances in AI-driven scientific research have the potential to propel us forwards and take advantage of human knowledge and expertise while machines handle the processes traditionally managed by engineers.

With the number of government organisations and commercial companies involved in the space economy at an all-time high, it is undeniably an exciting time to be involved in space exploration.

Several consistent medical problems have been encountered by astronauts during space flights. These include vestibular dysfunction, weight loss, increase in height, upward fluid shift, anemia, cardiovascular deconditioning, muscle atrophy, and bone loss. Almost all of these alterations can be attributed to the absence of gravitational force. Most are adaptive in nature and therefore reversible, but readaptation after returning to earth may cause further problems (e.g., in the case of vestibular dysfunction). The most recalcitrant and disturbing of all these problems is the relentless bone loss associated with negative calcium balance. This problem appears to be irreversible, and critical demineralization can occur after two years in a weightless state. Unless its mechanism is elucidated and preventive measures are taken, the bone loss may prove to be the medically limiting factor for the duration of space flight.

Nasa's Perseverance rover landed on Mars at 20:55 GMT on 18 February after almost seven months travelling from Earth. 
Since then, it has sent back some amazing images from around its landing site, Jezero Crater, a 49km (30-mile) wide impact depression just north of the Red Planet's equator.
Here is a selection of the pictures sent back from the mission, as Perseverance hunts for signs of past microbial life, seeks to characterise the planet's geology and past climate, and collects Martian rock.