Planetary Science
Planetary Science News
Unrelaxed craters muddy the waters of the dwarf planet Ceres
09-19-2024
NATURE — Ceres’s surface is ice-rich and warm, so we expect craters to viscously flow. Yet most of Ceres’s craters are not shallow. A new model, created by Ian Pamerleau and Prof. Mike Sori of Purdue EAPS, that includes a stronger, progressively dirtier icy crust, frozen from an ancient ocean, may reconcile this discrepancy.
1 million shots for ChemCam on Mars
09-10-2024
CNES — On Wednesday August 21, the millionth ChemCam shot was fired at Mars. This was Sol 4281, the 4281st Martian day of the mission. The data were received on Thursday August 22nd for analysis by the American team. ChemCam was developed at Los Alamos and in France with Prof. Roger Wiens of Purdue EAPS as its leader 2004-2021. He and student Mia Rudin are still using it to study Mars.
ChemCam fires its laser for the millionth time on Mars
09-10-2024
LOS ALAMOS — The Curiosity rover has been roaming the red planet for 12 years and has fired its one millionth laser shot on Mars. It began zapping away over 12 years ago and is still going strong. ChemCam was developed at Los Alamos and in France with Prof. Roger Wiens of Purdue EAPS as its leader 2004-2021. He and student Mia Rudin are still using it to study Mars.
Investigating Origins of CO2 Ice on Uranian Moons
09-03-2024
EOS EDITOR'S HIGHLIGHT — A new study investigates the role of volatile migration in the unique Uranian thermal environment. The study's lead author is Stephanie Menten, PhD candidate with Purdue EAPS, et al. test theories of CO2 origin on Ariel by modeling the transport and sublimation of CO2 across the surface. The high obliquity of the Uranus system means that the subsolar point on these moons varies between near the south pole and near the north pole on seasonal timescales (one Uranus year is about 84 Earth years). The authors find that CO2 ice can migrate on timescales of just a few Uranian years, and that it will tend to migrate towards Ariel’s equator and away from the poles, uniformly in longitude.
From lab to lunar and beyond: Check out some of the innovative space research from Purdue University
08-26-2024
PURDUE NEWS — Space scientists are the boots on the ground of extraterrestrial exploration, and Purdue’s researchers rank among the most elite. This collection of impactful news from Purdue University’s space research labs represents the wonder of outer space’s limitless potential. Included in this roundup is research by EAPS faculty Ali Bramson, Alexandria Johnson, Brandon Johnson and Briony Horgan.
Perseverance rover is making a steep ascent to reach unexplored Martian territory
08-26-2024
CNN — The Perseverance rover has begun a long climb up the steep rim of Jezero Crater on a quest to discover some of the most ancient rocks on Mars — and the potential for environments that may have once hosted life on the red planet. “We should be able to access and sample some of the oldest rocks on Mars in the crater rim,” said Briony Horgan, co-investigator on the Perseverance rover mission and professor of planetary science at Purdue University.
Ocean Salinity Affects Earth’s Climate. How About on Exoplanets?
08-19-2024
UNIVERSE TODAY — There’s a link between Earth’s ocean salinity and its climate. Salinity can have a dramatic effect on the climate of any Earth-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star. But how would ocean salinity affect exoplanets that orbit stars which are different from our Sun? That’s the question behind new research titled “Climatic Effects of Ocean Salinity on M Dwarf Exoplanets.” The lead author is Kyle Batra from the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science at Purdue University. Batra is also a member of the NASA Network for Ocean Worlds Exo-oceanography Team.
NASA’s Perseverance rover may have just found what it was looking for on Mars
07-29-2024
CNN — The NASA Perseverance rover may have found a pivotal clue that’s central to its mission on Mars: geological evidence that could suggest life existed on the red planet billions of years ago. “We’re absolutely thrilled to have this sample in the bag!” said Briony Horgan, co-investigator on the Perseverance rover mission and professor of planetary science at Purdue University.
The Thick Ice of Europa: A Barrier or a Gateway to Alien Life?
07-29-2024
SCITECH DAILY — Europa is a rocky moon, home to saltwater oceans twice the volume of Earth’s, encased in a shell of ice. Scientists have long thought that Europa may be one of the best places in our solar system to look for nonterrestrial life. A team of planetary science experts including Brandon Johnson, an associate professor, and Shigeru Wakita, a research scientist, in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences in Purdue University’s College of Science, announced in a new paper published in Science Advances that Europa’s ice shell is at least 20 kilometers thick.
Accidentally exposed yellowish-green crystals reveal ‘mind-blowing’ finding on Mars, scientists say
07-22-2024
CNN — The Curiosity rover has made its most unusual find to date on Mars: rocks made of pure sulfur. And it all began when the 1-ton rover happened to drive over a rock and crack it open, revealing yellowish-green crystals never spotted before on the red planet. “My jaw dropped when I saw the image of the sulfur,” said Briony Horgan, co-investigator on the Perseverance rover mission and professor of planetary science at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. “Pure elemental sulfur is a very weird finding because on Earth we mostly find it in places like hydrothermal vents. Think Yellowstone! So it’s a big mystery to me as to how this rock formed in Mt. Sharp.”
Margaret Deahn awarded Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship
07-01-2024
Margaret Deahn says she could have never imagined as a child that she would grow up to study rocks on other planets. But now she has three internships at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) and an education in planetary sciences with Purdue University on her growing list of accomplishments. Now she can add Amelia Earhart Fellow to that list. She is one of only 30 scientists worldwide receiving a 2024 Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship. Deahn is a PhD student with Purdue University’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS).
Stephanie Menten awarded Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship
07-01-2024
During a recent trip to Iceland, Stephanie Menten received an email announcing that she is one of only 30 scientists worldwide receiving a 2024 Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship. Menten, a PhD Student with Purdue University’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), studies the geophysics of icy moons in our outer solar system. Particularly, she studies processes such as cryovolcanism, volatile transport, and internal convection.
Mystery Hole Found on Mars Could Be Future Astronaut Home
06-14-2024
NEWSWEEK — A mysterious pit on Mars, captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), has reignited interest in the potential of these features to support future human missions to the Red Planet. Prof. Brandon Johnson, of Purdue EAPS, discusses this mysterious Martian hole.
What lies beneath: Mars’ subsurface ice could be a key to sustaining future habitats on other planets
06-04-2024
PURDUE NEWS — To survive on other planets, water is, of course, critical. We need it to drink, sustain crops and even create rocket fuel. But on spaceflights, checked luggage is exorbitantly expensive. Anything heavy, especially liquids like water, is bulky and costly to haul by rocket, even to our closest interplanetary neighbors. The best plan, then, is to find water at the spacecraft’s destination. Purdue University planetary scientist Ali Bramson’s research is laying the foundation for future extraterrestrial exploration. She is focused on finding ice deposits beneath the barren surfaces of the moon and Mars, providing a buried resource important for future human habitats and even space travel itself. Subsurface ice also is a compelling target for astrobiology, climatology and geology research.
Are volcanic depressions on the Moon a fountain of youth?
05-17-2024
Some volcanic areas on the Moon have a youthful appearance. These areas are known as Irregular Mare Patches, (pronounced MAHR-ay), or IMPs, and are considered youthful-looking in that, by appearance alone, look as though they were formed over a billion years after the Moon is thought to have stopped having volcanic eruptions. It’s a puzzle that lunar scientists have tried to resolve since their discovery and has major implications for the Moon’s evolution. Researchers at Purdue University recently published their findings on the composition of these IMPs and how they have managed to hide the proverbial fine lines and wrinkles. Hunter Vannier, PhD Candidate at Purdue University, is the lead author of the study published in AGU’s JGR Planets.
Discover Purdue’s latest and greatest in space sciences
05-06-2024
PURDUE NEWS — Space scientists are the boots on the ground of space exploration, and Purdue’s researchers are among the most elite. Celebrate the wonder of space with this collection of the most recent and impactful news from Purdue University’s space research labs. Prof. Brandon Johnson, Prof. Briony Horgan, Prof. Alexandria Johnson, alumna Adriana Brown, and students Hunter Vannier and Riley McGlasson have all recently had giant leaps in space research.
2024 EAPS Awards announced
04-29-2024
On Thursday, April 11, 2024, Purdue EAPS announced this year's awards for students, faculty, and staff at the Dauch Alumni Center of Purdue University. Thank you to donors who have made these awards possible!
NASA: 'New plan needed to return rocks from Mars'
04-16-2024
BBC — The US space agency says the current mission design can't return the samples before 2040 on the existing funds and the more realistic $11B needed to make it happen is not sustainable. NASA is going to canvas for cheaper, faster "out of the box" ideas. Perseverance has been drilling and caching rocks that appear to have been laid down at the margin of the lake. One of the rover's senior scientists, Prof. Briony Horgan, of Purdue EAPS, said these samples were particularly exciting.
China to hear pitches from NASA scientist, other researchers, to study Chang’e 5 lunar samples
04-11-2024
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST — China’s space agency has invited 10 scientists from the US, Europe and Asia to pitch their plans in person to study lunar samples brought back to Earth by China’s Chang’e 5 moon mission. US applicants appearing at the review will include planetary scientist Michelle Thompson from Purdue University.
Rock Sampled by NASA's Perseverance Embodies Why Rover Came to Mars
04-10-2024
NASA — Analysis by instruments aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover indicate that the latest rock core taken by the rover was awash in water for an extended period of time in the distant past, perhaps as part of an ancient Martian beach. Collected on March 11, the sample is the rover’s 24th – a tally that includes 21 sample tubes filled with rock cores, two filled with regolith (broken rock and dust), and one with Martian atmosphere. Briony Horgan, of Purdue EAPS, says, "we’re still exploring the margin and gathering data, but results so far may support our hypothesis that the rocks here formed along the shores of an ancient lake."
Thousands of strange white rocks found on Mars. Will they ever be brought to Earth?
04-04-2024
SPACE.COM — Mars' rusty red surface may have given it its famous "Red Planet" status, but it would also appear that thousands of white rocks are strangely littered on the Martian ground. NASA's Perseverance rover, a robotic geologist that has been exploring the Jezero Crater since early 2021, puzzled scientists when it delivered images of over 4,000 light-toned, pebble-sized rocks scattered all over the crater floor. "These are very unusual rocks and we're trying to figure out what's been going on," Candice Bedford, a planetary scientist at Purdue University in Indiana and a member of the Mars 2020 science team, said at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
A 'snowball fight' may help scientists find life on Jupiter's moon Europa
03-25-2024
SPACE — Scientists hoping to find life in liquid water oceans beneath the frigid, icy shell of Jupiter's moon Europa may get a helping hand from a "cosmic snowball fight" this world once engaged in. A team of planetary scientists, including Brandon Johnson and Shigeru Wakita of Purdue EAPS, may have some clues about the final value. After looking at large craters on Europa that resulted from asteroids and comets bombarding the moon, the researchers used these observations to determine that Enceladus' shell is around 12 miles (20 kilometers) thick. And this shell, they say, likely floats on an ocean ranging in depth from 40 to 100 miles (60 to 150 kilometers) situated around the moon's rocky core.
Jupiter’s icy moon may be the next place humans find life, but first, they need to understand the structure of the moon
03-25-2024
PURDUE NEWS — Sometimes planetary physics is like being in a snowball fight. Most people, if handed an already-formed snowball, can use their experience and the feel of the ball to guess what kind of snow it is comprised of: packable and fluffy, or wet and icy. Using nearly the same principles, planetary scientists have been able to study the structure of Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon. A team of planetary science experts including Brandon Johnson, an associate professor, and Shigeru Wakita, a research scientist, in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences in Purdue University’s College of Science, announced in a new paper published in Science Advances that Europa’s ice shell is at least 20 kilometers thick.
6 questions with NASA astronaut Drew Feustel, who will be at IMS for the total eclipse
03-15-2024
WRTV — As a child, Andrew Feustel never really dreamed of becoming an astronaut. But somehow, he knew, deep in his heart, that he would one day travel to outer space. "When I was growing up," Feustel said, "I just somehow believed that I would have an opportunity to eventually to work in the Human Spaceflight program. "He put in the work, investing years into making himself a NASA candidate. He exercised, honed his mechanical skills and got an education, earning two degrees from Purdue University along the way.