Latest news with #LunarandPlanetaryScienceConference
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Scientists discover new minimoons orbiting Earth – what could this mean for our planet's future
For years, the space near Earth was assumed to be fairly well known, particularly in terms of detecting near-Earth objects (NEOs) like asteroids and debris. That perception is being turned on its head by new discoveries. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now According to a recent paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, there could be an undiscovered population of " minimoons "—small natural satellites—around Earth. And what is interesting about these objects is that some of them seem to be debris from the Moon itself. The research highlights the recently identified object 2024 PT5 , an asteroid-like body that shows lunar-like features such as orbital properties and compositional similarities with Moon rock. This finding by planetary scientist Teddy Kareta and his Lowell Observatory team opens up the thrilling possibility that numerous other such pieces are orbiting Earth in silence, leftovers from old lunar impacts. What are minimoons and their role in space science Minimoons are minor bodies temporarily held in Earth's gravity. In contrast to the Moon, which is a natural permanent satellite, minimoons have transient orbits—occasionally staying within the gravitational clutches of Earth for weeks, months, or years before finally breaking free again into solar orbit. Until recently, these objects were thought to be very rare. The first clearly established minimoon of possible lunar origin, Kamo'oalewa, was found in 2021. With the discovery of 2024 PT5, the story is emerging. Researchers are starting to see these objects not as oddities, but as possible members of a larger population that hasn't been seen because they are too small and have too complicated, changing orbits. New evidence suggests 2024 PT5 could be a piece of the moon The identification of 2024 PT5 is especially noteworthy due to its possible lunar origin. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Its path and spectral character—a method of determining an object's composition from the manner in which it scatters light—effectively mimic those of rocks brought back to Earth by NASA's Apollo missions. This heavily indicates that PT5 could be a piece that was ejected from the surface of the Moon, perhaps by a meteoric impact. Teddy Kareta emphasised the importance of the discovery at the 56th annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, saying: 'If there were only one object, that would be interesting but an outlier. If there's two, we're pretty confident that's a population.' In other words, the confirmation of a second minimoon with lunar properties supports the idea that such objects are more common than previously believed. Understanding lunar debris: How high-energy impacts send moon fragments into Earth's orbit Lunar debris is usually created through high-energy impact events, in which meteoroids collide with the lunar surface and send debris into space. A portion of this debris may fall into the Earth's sphere of gravitational influence, becoming temporarily captured. They have chaotic, highly elliptical orbits that set them apart from both standard NEOs and Earth's main Moon. Simulations and tracking models imply that these fragments can be trapped for a few months to a few years, after which they will burn up in Earth's atmosphere, escape Earth's gravity, or be deflected by subsequent gravitational encounters. What minimoons can reveal The implications of minimoons from a scientific perspective are significant. Minimoons provide a one-of-a-kind chance to investigate the Moon's impact record without sending complex sample-return missions to the surface of the Moon. By analysing the composition of the minimoons, scientists can determine the nature of the rock, the age of the rock, and possibly trace it to a particular crater or region of geology on the Moon. This could greatly improve the knowledge of: Geological evolution of the Moon Rate and magnitude of lunar impact events Orbital dynamics of Earth-Moon interactions Kareta compared it to forensic science by saying: "It's like discovering a crime scene has a completely new type of evidence you didn't realise you had before." These pieces are actually natural sample-return missions already underway. From sample return to space mining: The strategic value of minimoons Aside from academic curiosity, minimoons also have significant potential for future missions of exploration. Because they are close and relatively slow-moving relative to other NEOs, they are prime targets for: Robotic spacecraft missions Sample return programs Experimentation with navigation and landing technologies for asteroid mining or deep space missions They provide a valuable stepping stone to deep-space exploration while also facilitating new types of resource analysis and planetary defense testing. 2024 PT5 highlights the need for advanced detection methods The detection of 2024 PT5 emphasises the necessity of more sensitive sky surveys and special observation programs. The majority of existing asteroid detection systems are optimized for discovering larger, brighter objects. Minimoons, being small and faint, need different methods and continuous monitoring in order to be discovered. The development of this capability would greatly improve our knowledge of not just minimoons, but also the dynamic interaction between Earth and its cosmic environment. Also Read |
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Meet 'Nighthawk': Mars helicopter mission could be big leap for exploration
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The little Ingenuity drone proved that helicopters can play a revolutionary role in Mars exploration. Now, NASA is thinking ahead to bigger and better things. On the back of the success of Ingenuity, which opened up the skies of the Red Planet with 72 flights, the agency is developing a larger drone — the SUV-sized Mars Chopper, which would use six rotors, each with six blades, to propel it through the thin Martian atmosphere. And scientists are already cooking up proposals to make the most of the cutting edge craft. An intriguing new proposal is Nighthawk, detailed in a pair of papers presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference at the Woodlands, Texas, which was held from March 10 to March 14. Nighthawk would task Mars Chopper — which does not require support from a rover, as was the case with Ingenuity and the Perseverance rover — with swooping through the deep, interconnected canyons and across dune fields and lava flows of Eastern Noctis Labyrinthus, a fascinating and scientifically rich region located at the transition between the canyon system of Valles Marineris and the vast volcanic plateau of Tharsis. Related: How NASA's Ingenuity helicopter opened the Mars skies to exploration Among key aims of Nighthawk are studying key areas of Eastern Noctis Labyrinthus — thought to be a deeply eroded and glaciated giant volcano — for potential biomarkers and even suitability for future human exploration. Notably, within this region is Noctis Landing, considered a candidate site for a future crewed touchdown. The mission would also characterize water features and their evolution and volcanic features and their histories, and explore the area's now deeply eroded giant volcano, Noctis Volcano, and its expected massive amounts of glacier ice. To achieve this, Nighthawk would be equipped with three science payloads, using just 6.6 pounds (3.0 kilograms) of the available 11 lbs (5 kg) of payload mass on Mars Chopper. This would allow it to fly significantly higher and reach a ceiling of 4,920 feet (1,500 meters) above the global average Mars altitude and thus carry out its science goals. By contrast, Ingenuity was flying within Jezero Crater, at around 1.6 miles (2.6 kilometers) below the global average, where the atmosphere is thicker. The payloads are OCCAM (Omni-directional Color CAMera system), an eight-camera color imager for navigation and geological context, the NIRAC spectrometer and context camera, and PMWS (Puli Mars Water Snooper), a neutron detector for assessing water abundance in the near subsurface. RELATED STORIES: — NASA is mapping out plans for bigger, more capable Mars helicopters — The Mars helicopter Ingenuity is an amazing success. NASA's already testing tech for the next generation (video) — Facts about NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter Nighthawk would operate for at least 240 sols (Mars days) on the Red Planet, conducting 100 flights of up to 1.86 miles (3.0 km) each. "Nighthawk's science mission would not be achievable with an Ingenuity-class helicopter, but could be accomplished with the larger, more capable NASA Mars Chopper currently under design," the paper, led by Pascal Lee of NASA's Ames Research Center in California, concluded. "The Mars Chopper's expected flight range, flight altitude AGL (above ground level), and payload capacity would allow Nighthawk to accomplish its vast range of science." There is currently no indication of when proposals for using Mars Chopper will enter a selection phase, but the possibilities, as suggested by Nighthawk, are tantalizing.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Poppy seeds' and 'leopard spots' on Mars could hint at ancient microbial life
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An arrowhead-shaped rock on Mars sporting features that may hint at ancient microbial activity on the Red Planet has left scientists puzzled. NASA announced in July of last year that the rock, found in Mars' Jezero Crater by the agency's Perseverance rover, held some of the best evidence yet that ancient microbial life may have existed on the Red Planet billions of years ago, when it was significantly wetter than it is today. Earlier this week, scientists involved with the discovery presented their findings publicly for the first time this week at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas, detailing the rock's chemical signatures and structures that continue to offer tantalizing hints of ancient Martian microbial life. The fine-grained mudstone named Cheyava Falls, after the highest waterfall in Arizona's Grand Canyon, sits at the edge of an ancient river valley known as Neretva Vallis, which runs along the inner wall of the crater. The rock features spots of black, blue, or greenish hues, which the researchers have nicknamed "poppy seeds." Alongside these are dozens of dark-rimmed, millimeter-size splotches dubbed "leopard spots." Perseverance's instruments have revealed that several rocks hosting these two features are rich in iron, but that they vary in their oxidation states and redness — a telltale sign of activity by organic matter, which may have bleached the rocks of their red color. "On Earth, reactions like these are commonly associated with microbially-driven organic matter respiration," Joel Hurowitz, the deputy principal investigator of the PIXL instrument located at the end of Perseverance's robotic arm, said at the conference. Back in July, the discovery team had also noted the presence of calcium sulfate veins running through the rock, suggesting that water may have once flowed through it. While this and other features could point to non-biological processes, such as exposure to high temperatures from a volcanic event, ongoing analysis suggests the rock was never subjected to such heat or exposed to heat-related processes that would have caused it to recrystallize. "Everything seems to be consistent with low-temperature processes," Hurowitz said. Scientists suspect the Neretva Vallis channel was carved out eons ago, by water gushing into the crater. One theory is that mud loaded with organic compounds was deposited into the valley, later cementing into the Cheyava Falls rock. Alternatively, a second water episode could have seeped into the rock after it had already formed, creating the features observed. "The rocks that we investigated appear to fill the Neretva Vallis channel," Hurowitz said. There are no life-detection instruments onboard Perseverance, as its mission is to collect samples of scientific interest that will be returned to Earth for further scrutiny. "As a community, we should feel compelled to do a whole lot of laboratory, field and modeling studies to try to investigate features like this in more detail," Hurowitz said. "And ultimately bring these samples back home so that we can reach a conclusion with regard to whether they were or were not formed by life." However, details of the troubled Mars Sample Return effort remain uncertain after costs that ballooned to $11 billion led NASA to overhaul its approach and seek new ideas from its research centers, private industry and academia. Former NASA administrator Bill Nelson announced earlier this year that the agency is leaving two options for the Trump administration to return to Earth 30 cigar-sized tubes containing bits of Mars that Perseverance has been collecting since 2021, including the Cheyava Falls sample. The two approaches differ in the way they would put hardware down on Mars, but either would require Congress to allocate $300 million to the mission for it to start launch proceedings by 2030 and return the samples between 2035 and 2039. Related Stories: — What makes Mars the 'Red' Planet? Scientists have some new ideas — Perseverance Mars rover finds 'one-of-a-kind treasure' on Red Planet's Silver Mountain — Ancient beach on Mars discovered by China's Mars rover: 'This strengthens the case for past habitability' Scientists are eager to analyze the Cheyava Falls sample, as it could help answer one of humanity's most profound questions: Are we alone in the universe? "The discovery of life beyond Earth is so profound, so paradigm-shifting, you have to get it right," Amy Williams, an astrobiologist at the University of Florida who's on the Perseverance science team, had told shortly after the discovery. "Once you cross that line, you can't come back."
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Poppy seeds' and 'leopard spots' on Mars could hint at ancient microbial life
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An arrowhead-shaped rock on Mars sporting features that may hint at ancient microbial activity on the Red Planet has left scientists puzzled. NASA announced in July of last year that the rock, found in Mars' Jezero Crater by the agency's Perseverance rover, held some of the best evidence yet that ancient microbial life may have existed on the Red Planet billions of years ago, when it was significantly wetter than it is today. Earlier this week, scientists involved with the discovery presented their findings publicly for the first time this week at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas, detailing the rock's chemical signatures and structures that continue to offer tantalizing hints of ancient Martian microbial life. The fine-grained mudstone named Cheyava Falls, after the highest waterfall in Arizona's Grand Canyon, sits at the edge of an ancient river valley known as Neretva Vallis, which runs along the inner wall of the crater. The rock features spots of black, blue, or greenish hues, which the researchers have nicknamed "poppy seeds." Alongside these are dozens of dark-rimmed, millimeter-size splotches dubbed "leopard spots." Perseverance's instruments have revealed that several rocks hosting these two features are rich in iron, but that they vary in their oxidation states and redness — a telltale sign of activity by organic matter, which may have bleached the rocks of their red color. "On Earth, reactions like these are commonly associated with microbially-driven organic matter respiration," Joel Hurowitz, the deputy principal investigator of the PIXL instrument located at the end of Perseverance's robotic arm, said at the conference. Back in July, the discovery team had also noted the presence of calcium sulfate veins running through the rock, suggesting that water may have once flowed through it. While this and other features could point to non-biological processes, such as exposure to high temperatures from a volcanic event, ongoing analysis suggests the rock was never subjected to such heat or exposed to heat-related processes that would have caused it to recrystallize. "Everything seems to be consistent with low-temperature processes," Hurowitz said. Scientists suspect the Neretva Vallis channel was carved out eons ago, by water gushing into the crater. One theory is that mud loaded with organic compounds was deposited into the valley, later cementing into the Cheyava Falls rock. Alternatively, a second water episode could have seeped into the rock after it had already formed, creating the features observed. "The rocks that we investigated appear to fill the Neretva Vallis channel," Hurowitz said. There are no life-detection instruments onboard Perseverance, as its mission is to collect samples of scientific interest that will be returned to Earth for further scrutiny. "As a community, we should feel compelled to do a whole lot of laboratory, field and modeling studies to try to investigate features like this in more detail," Hurowitz said. "And ultimately bring these samples back home so that we can reach a conclusion with regard to whether they were or were not formed by life." However, details of the troubled Mars Sample Return effort remain uncertain after costs that ballooned to $11 billion led NASA to overhaul its approach and seek new ideas from its research centers, private industry and academia. Former NASA administrator Bill Nelson announced earlier this year that the agency is leaving two options for the Trump administration to return to Earth 30 cigar-sized tubes containing bits of Mars that Perseverance has been collecting since 2021, including the Cheyava Falls sample. The two approaches differ in the way they would put hardware down on Mars, but either would require Congress to allocate $300 million to the mission for it to start launch proceedings by 2030 and return the samples between 2035 and 2039. Related Stories: — What makes Mars the 'Red' Planet? Scientists have some new ideas — Perseverance Mars rover finds 'one-of-a-kind treasure' on Red Planet's Silver Mountain — Ancient beach on Mars discovered by China's Mars rover: 'This strengthens the case for past habitability' Scientists are eager to analyze the Cheyava Falls sample, as it could help answer one of humanity's most profound questions: Are we alone in the universe? "The discovery of life beyond Earth is so profound, so paradigm-shifting, you have to get it right," Amy Williams, an astrobiologist at the University of Florida who's on the Perseverance science team, had told shortly after the discovery. "Once you cross that line, you can't come back."
