Geeks in Space: There’s Mud in Your Eye
Warm-Season Flows on Slope in Newton Crater - Click for animation
News yesterday came out that NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found signs that liquid salt water may be flowing during the warmest months on Mars. These signs include dark features extending down some Martian slopes during late spring through summer and then fading by winter. Scientists believe the formations are mudslides.
Since salt lowers the freezing temperature of water and pure water would freeze in the observable temperatures, the mud must be made of salt water mixed with thin soil. Salt deposits are abundant on Mars and indicate that brine was abundant in the red planet’s past. This find marks the closest we have come to finding evidence of liquid water on the surface of Mars and as NASA administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement, it affirms that Mars is a very important future destination for exploration.
What Lies Beneath
The Juno spacecraft is shown deploying its three solar arrays in this artist concept. Artist concept, NASA
Jupiter’s status as the largest planet in the solar system means we have known about it since ancient times. Galileo was the first to view it through a telescope and made detailed observations of its swirling clouds. Centuries later, the entire world watched in fascination as Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 plunged into its depths. And the Great Red Spot is familiar to schoolchildren everywhere.
Ironically, Jupiter’s beautiful cloud coverage means our knowledge of the planet is purely superficial. The Galileo probe did enter the clouds, but only penetrated no more than 0.2% of the entire radius. Scientists have questions such as how far down does the Great Red Spot go and how much water does Jupiter have and what is that exotic material near the planet’s core?
Juno, NASA’s New Frontiers mission, hopefully will answer some of these questions as it spends nearly a full year exploring the gas giant from orbit. It will fully map the gravitational field and hopefully figure out how the interior is structured. Made mostly of hydrogen, Jupiter’s core contains an exotic form of material called liquid metallic hydrogen, similar to liquid mercury here on Earth. Most likely caused by the high temperatures and crushing gravitational pressure, scientists want to know what effect the dynamic action of the material has on Jupiter’s magnetic field. Juno will also search for water and explore Jupiter’s auroras and is slated to reach Jupiter in 2016.
A Sad Reminder
The space shuttle program is over, but we’ll never forget the impact it had on our lives, including the grief shared by our nation at the horrible loss of the Columbia. This week, we received a reminder of that pain when the severe drought in Texas revealed a four foot long tank in the receding Lake Nacogdoches. NASA plans on retrieving the tank and adding it to where the previously recovered pieces of Columbia are being stored at the Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building.
Have a great week!
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