Dubbed “Ingenuity,” the unique vehicle is a small, autonomous aircraft that will be deployed on the Martian surface by the rover after it arrives at its destination in February 2021. Ingenuity’s mission is not linked to the rover’s, which will look for signs of ancient microbial life on Mars and collect samples of rock and sediment for potential return to Earth in future missions. Instead, the helicopter is solely a demonstration of technology and the viability of controlled, powered flight in the thin atmosphere of Mars....

The asteroid known as 2018VP1, first identified at Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, has a diameter of 0.002 kilometers (over 6.5 feet), according to the data. Three potential impacts have been identified and the chance of the asteroid hitting the Earth was reported to be 0.41 percent, according to the NASA data, CNN reported. However, “based on 21 observations spanning 12.968 days,” the agency determined the asteroid will probably not have a deep impact, CNN reported....

September 11th was marked by a speech from President Joe Biden at the Pentagon, which was also hit in the attacks, and First Lady Jill Biden spoke from the site in Pennsylvania where a plane that was being flown by hijackers crashed. “Twenty-one years later, we keep alive the memory of all the precious lives stolen from us at Ground Zero, in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon,” Biden said via the president’s official Twitter account....

But what obstacles does the experimental vehicle need to overcome in order to achieve this historic feat? Currently, the helicopter is attached to the belly of NASA’s Perseverance rover, although the carbon-fiber shield that protected the aircraft during descent and landing has detached, exposing Ingenuity to the elements. NASA is aiming to conduct Ingenuity’s first test flight no earlier than April 8. But first, the rover needs to arrive safely at the fight zone area—a 33-by-33-foot patch of Martian terrain that was chosen for its flatness and lack of notable obstructions....

Scientists think that interstellar space, which is the unimaginably vast near-vacuum in between stars, is filled with interstellar plasma. James Cordes, George Feldstein professor of astronomy at Cornell University, said in a statement that interstellar space is “like a quiet or gentle rain,” and that the activity of our sun—a solar flare, for example—is like a lighting burst of plasma activity. Meanwhile Stella Koch Ocker, a doctoral student in astronomy at Cornell, added there could be more low-level interstellar plasma activity than previously thought....

The federal law enacted in 1992 effectively outlawed sports betting in 46 of the 50 states. On May 14, the court, by a 6-3 margin, ruled that PASPA was unconstitutional and that states are free to decide for themselves whether to allow and regulate wagering on sports. Sportsbooks outside Nevada could open as soon as next month. The major North American sports leagues, such as the NFL and NBA, are unlikely to experience a spike in popularity because of the decision, but NASCAR — which has struggled to maintain its fan base, let alone grow it —could use the ruling to great advantage....

But thanks to a Stage 3 win, he got his shot and he took full advantage as he won the All-Star Race and $1 million to go with it. Larson has fallen on hard times this season as he has yet to win and has just one top five finish, but his win Saturday more than makes up for it as he made up for some lost money. “I didn’t really have many plans (to spend the money),” Larson told FS1 after his run....

Going 400 laps around Charlotte Motor Speedway’s 1.5-mile track, the race changes drastically from start to finish. As the sun sets and the track cool, the more grip on the racetrack a car has. But when the green flag drops, the hot track can cause cars to slip and slide. The race also reminds us that the NASCAR season is a third of the way finished. MORE: Coca-Cola 600 lineup | 10 to watch Sunday...

The Ally 400 — which honors the musical history of its host city with a guitar trophy — was anything but smooth, however. The race finished 6 1/2 hours after the green flag waved, with nine cautions and two weather delays, the second of which lasted roughly two hours. MORE: Watch NASCAR at Nashville live with fuboTV (get access now) To the great relief of those fans who stayed for the duration of the race, there were no more significant delays, caution- or weather-related, following the restart at roughly 10:30 p....

Kevin Harvick crashed at Chicagoland Speedway last Sunday after a bump with Jimmie Johnson cut his tire, resulting in words after the race. Harvick finished 42nd and is 22 points behind Jeff Gordon on the cutoff line with two races remaining to get to the Challenger Round. MORE: Must-see photos from Chicagoland | Chase standings entering New Hampshire This week, Sprint Cup competition will be held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, located north of Boston....

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook opened Kurt Busch as the 5-to-1 favorite to win, which makes it the first time he’s been the lone favorite by Las Vegas in a Cup race since 2006 at Bristol after he had won for the fifth time on the half-mile track. The Las Vegas native is well deserving of being tagged the favorite. Let’s take a look at all the drivers odds and how they have fared at Sonoma over their careers: Kurt BUSCH 5/1 - With Jeff Gordon retired, Juan Montoya in IndyCar, Marcos Ambrose in Australia and Tony Stewart on the down side of his career, Kurt has taken over as the ace road course driver in the series....

Johnson’s car passed pre-race inspection, but during a visual inspection on pit road, NASCAR didn’t feel his car looked correct and brought it back into the garage for further inspection, which led to the discovery of unapproved modifications. MORE: These NASCAR trophies will blow your mind Johnson qualified 14th but will move to 40th before the green flag waves for the Ford EcoBoost 400. Johnson is attempting to hoist the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship trophy a record seventh time to tie NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty....

Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick are this year’s Championship 4, and they will make their way to Homestead-Miami Speedway to decide this year’s season title. The rules are simple: The highest-finishing driver will win, and this is a track where truly any of the four drivers can come away with a victory. Defending champion Martin Truex Jr. has been great on 1.5-mile intermediate tracks like Miami for the last two years, Kevin Harvick has four wins on such tracks this season, Kyle Busch has three and Logano has nine top-10 finishes himself....

The race, scheduled for 150 laps, was delayed by 80 minutes because of a power outage in the area. The lights went out again with about 26 laps remaining, leaving the trucks on a dimly lit track (generators kicked in to power light for a portion of the racing surface). MORE: Phoenix picks | Phoenix lineup breakdown | Kurt Busch under investigation for assault While the lights quickly began to come back on at the one-mile facility, NASCAR opted to call the race official because of the possibility of another failure....

Drivers’ starting positions for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 (rescheduled for 4 p.m. ET Sunday; FS1, TSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) were based on four factors: Driver’s finishing position from the previous race (25 percent) Car owner’s finishing position from the previous race (25 percent) Team owner points ranking (35 percent) Fastest lap from the previous race (15 percent) Below is the starting lineup for the NASCAR race on the 0....

This is Busch’s second pole of the season (Texas). “This one was fun because I could trust the car and I knew I needed to go after it hard,” Busch told FS1 after qualifying. “Just watching all the Fords in practice I knew we had a shot at it.” Brad Keselowski will start second while Kyle Busch will be third and Kevin Harvick fourth. If Kyle Larson is going to win his fourth race in a row at Michigan, he will have to work his way up from well back....

Keselowski, who also topped Friday’s practice, recorded a speed of 196.929 mph in the final round of qualifying at the 1.5-mile track. His speed was well ahead of Kevin Harvick, who clocked in at 195.993 mph. MORE: Drivers in the Eliminator Round | Carl Edwards, ready to run, wishes Matt Kenseth could be at Texas “It is a good start and it gets us up front with a great pit stall and hopefully we can make the most of it,” Keselowski told NBC Sports after the race....

Races at Indianapolis and Michigan will feature a high-drag package, which is expected to reduce speeds by 10 mph. Richmond will roll out a new tire tread pattern. The race at Darlington on Labor Day weekend also will use a reduced downforce package similar to what will be used at Kentucky, but with a specially designed Goodyear tire to create more grip. MORE: NASCAR’s arenas of speed | Betting preview: New package levels the field at Kentucky...

Vehicles will no longer back out from the pit wall to begin qualifying sessions, NASCAR announced Tuesday. Instead, all vehicles will be angled toward Turn 1 at the start of each qualifying session. After each hot lap is complete, two crew members are allowed to guide vehicles into position between rounds. MORE: Debating best, worst of Cup season | Clint Bowyer’s weekend-best rant NASCAR’s original rule was in place “to allow access from the media....

But Rick Nash, still dealing with symptoms from what's been reported as a concussion sustained last Tuesday? That's a big deal. Nash, New York's best winger and goal-scorer, is on injured reserve, and any attempts to forecast his return are pointless until he's symptom-free. San Jose Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart earned a three-game suspension for elbowing him in the head. New York's problems started when Nash was in the lineup, and they're currently on a three-game losing streak with a league-worst minus-16 goal differential....