Latest news with #NASAJetPropulsionLaboratory
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Dune patterns in California desert hold clues that help researchers map Mars' shifting sands
Our two-person team loaded the car with a GPS, a drone, notebooks, sample bags, a trowel and a flat spatula lovingly called a scoopula. Then we drove 30 minutes in our rented truck from Yuma, Arizona, to the Algodones Dunes, a sandy field bordering California, Arizona and Mexico. The day was sunny, with a strong breeze. Turning off the highway, we carefully headed onto a gravelly path that acted as our road. After making decent – if bumpy – progress, we pulled off onto the sand flats and drove slowly toward the dunes, worried we might get stuck in the sand. Having arrived on the outskirts of the Algodones, we stopped and loaded our backpacks, then set off into the desert on foot. It was November 2022. As a graduate student at Texas A&M University, I was beginning part of my Ph.D. research with my adviser, geology professor Ryan Ewing. We were looking for coarse-grained sand ripples, which are patterned piles of sand shaped by wind. Sand ripples and sand dunes are types of aeolian bedforms, which are wind-created geologic features. Aeolian bedforms are common on Earth and across the solar system, including on Mars, Venus, Pluto, the Saturn moon Titan, the Neptune moon Triton, and Comet 67P. These geological features, among the first landforms observed by remote images of planetary surfaces, are robust indicators of a world's wind patterns. The shapes and patterns of aeolian bedforms can reveal the environmental conditions that created them. Two sizes of the same bedform, such as small dunes on top of big dunes, are called compound bedforms. I study compound bedforms at two scales – the meter- and centimeter-sized coarse-grained ripples at the dunes here on Earth, and the kilometer- and meter-sized dunes on Mars. At the Algodones, I measured the height of each large coarse-grained sand ripple and the distance between neighboring ripples. Then we flew our drone low and steady, above the ripples, to create high-resolution images. The drone data allows us to do further measurements on the ripples later, back at my desk. On that day, I learned an essential rule of fieldwork in the desert: Don't forget a shovel. Otherwise, if your vehicle gets stuck, as ours did, you'll have to dig it out by hand. Luckily for us, a dune buggy driver passing by helped us out and we were able to get back to Yuma in time for dinner. I first became interested in aeolian bedforms during my sophomore year of college, when I interned at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. My job was to view surface images of Mars and then map the sand ripples in the regions where Perseverance, the Mars rover, might land. I assessed the areas where ripples could be hazards – places where the rover could get stuck in the sand, the way our rental truck did in the Algodones. I mapped those sand ripples on Mars for two years. But while I mapped, I became fascinated with the patterns the ripples made. Now, as a graduate student and aspiring planetary geologist, my time is split between work in the field and at my computer, where I have stitched together the drone's photographs of the Algodones to create a large image of the entire study area. I then look for compound dunes on the Martian surface in images taken by the Mars reconnaissance orbiter's context camera. Scientists already know about Earth's weather patterns, sand grain size and wind data. By measuring different parts of bedforms on both planets – such as their height, shape and spacing – I can compare the similarities and differences of the bedforms to find clues to the wind patterns, grains and atmosphere on Mars. Slowly but surely, as I listen to Studio Ghibli soundtracks, I'm creating the first database of compound dunes on Mars. Developing this database is essential to the proposed human mission to Mars. Dust storms are frequent, and some can encircle the entire planet. Understanding aeolian bedforms will help scientists know where to put bases so they don't get buried by moving sand. It is wonderful to spend an afternoon ping-ponging all over a planet that's 140 million miles from us, seeing gorgeous terrain while I try to answer questions about the compound dunes on Mars. How common are they? Where do they form? How do they compare to those on Earth? I hope to answer these questions as I work toward earning my Ph.D in geology. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Lauren Berger, Texas A&M University Read more: NASA's search for life on Mars: a rocky road for its rovers, a long slog for scientists – and back on Earth, a battle of the budget Could people turn Mars into another Earth? Here's what it would take to transform its barren landscape into a life-friendly world I've been studying astronaut psychology since Apollo − a long voyage to Mars in a confined space could raise stress levels and make the journey more challenging Lauren Berger receives funding from NASA FINESST. Lauren Berger would like to acknowledge the help of her mentors Dr. Ryan Ewing (NASA Johnson Space Center), Dr. Marion Nachon (Texas A&M University), and Dr. Julia Reece (Texas A&M University).
Los Angeles Times
27-06-2025
- Science
- Los Angeles Times
Orange County science reading challenge winners enjoy special JPL visit
Delaney Martinez was like a kid in a candy store. In reality, she was a kid in a laboratory when she and 11 other Orange County students took a special VIP tour of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge on June 17. Delaney, who makes science videos on her YouTube channel 'Science With Dee' and has more than 175,000 followers, certainly felt right at home. 'It was so much fun,' the 13-year-old said. 'My favorite part was definitely seeing all of the models of the Mars Rovers. Those were super-cool, because they had the very first model to the newest one. It was really cool seeing the comparison.' The students all earned the trip based on their work in the 2024 Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Race to Space Reading Challenge. Founder Pat Burns said she started the Race to Space Reading Challenge in 2021 after the Orange County Children's Book Festival, which she co-founded, had to go virtual the previous year due to the coronavirus pandemic. 'I missed having the kids really engaged,' Burns said. 'So I decided to not do a virtual book festival in 2021. I wanted to do a reading challenge, but wanted to be able to encourage STEM. To my surprise, we had more than 1,600 kids register and we had more than 500 finish it.' She retired from running the children's book festival following the 2022 edition to devote her time to the reading challenge. In the reading challenge's three years, more than 4,000 total students have participated. Divided by age group into four levels, the students chart their STEM book-reading progress on an online platform called Beanstack. Anything they read past the requirements earns them bonus tickets, which they can enter to win things like Zoom calls with astronauts, the trip to JPL, laptop computers, sports tickets or book bundles from publishers. Ryan Melendez, an incoming seventh grader at the Pegasus School in Huntington Beach, said his teacher Jaime Kunze-Thibeau recommended the program to him. The trip to JPL was one of the coolest things he did all year, he said. 'My favorite part would be the mission control center,' Ryan said. 'There were a bunch of people on computers there. I thought it was pretty cool. That would be a fun job to do.' After perusing the lab with two scientist tour guides, the students got to go to the California Institute of Technology for a special buffet lunch at the Athenaeum, a private club on the Pasadena school's campus. 'It's just stunning inside,' Burns said of the Athenaeum, which opened in 1930 with a formal dinner to celebrate Albert Einstein's first visit to Caltech. 'The architecture, the detailed woodwork, the white tablecloths, the waiters. The kids, about half of them, liked it as much as they liked the tour, which shocked me. They really appreciated and knew they were someplace special.' Julia Rundzio, an incoming sixth-grade student at Sequoia Elementary School in Westminster, also entered several tickets into the drawing and was selected for the JPL trip. For the next S.T.E.A.M. Race to Space Reading Challenge, she might help promote the program within her school, said Julia's father, Remi Rundzio. 'It's an amazing program,' Julia said. 'It motivates kids to read books that are not just fiction, but also have science elements and help educate about different things that are going on around us.' Other county students who went on the JPL trip included Emma Zirney and Kenzie Murdie of Lake Forest, Andrew Lee Golden of Garden Grove, Harry Lee of Fullerton, Madelyn Perez of Mission Viejo, Matthew Jay of Irvine, Rinal Jamal of Yorba Linda, Sahas Yalamanchili of Irvine and Sai Sitaraman of Fullerton. The students ranged from elementary age to high school. Burns said the program has relied on generous donations for the bonus opportunities, as well as funding from grants. This is the first year the students have been able to tour JPL due to previous COVID protocols. The 2025 edition of the S.T.E.A.M. Race to Space Reading Challenge blasts off Oct. 3, with registration starting Sept. 19. Burns said she's looking to connect with Rocket Lab to organize a bonus tour, or Vast, another Long Beach-based company that is developing artificial gravity space stations.
Time of India
09-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
NASA captures image of Mars' Arsia Mons volcano, nearly twice the height of Earth's tallest mountain
Image source: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA has captured a breathtaking image of Arsia Mons, one of Mars' most massive volcanoes, towering nearly twice the height of any mountain on Earth. Captured at dawn by the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter, the photograph shows the volcano piercing through a layer of early morning haze, offering a surreal glimpse into the Martian horizon. Beyond its visual beauty, the image provides crucial scientific insights into Mars' volcanic past and atmospheric behaviour. Located in the Tharsis region, Arsia Mons' immense scale and persistent cloud cover make it a key subject for studying the Red Planet's evolving climate and geology. NASA's Mars Odyssey captures stunning image of Arsia Mons volcano NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft captured the breathtaking photo of Arsia Mons using its Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS). The image is of the volcano above a green-colored haze of clouds passing over the Martian horizon at sunrise. The summit caldera of Arsia Mons is 120 kilometers wide, and it is larger than most volcanoes on Earth. For comparison, Arsia Mons is approximately 20 kilometers high, roughly twice as tall as Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the tallest volcano on Earth and roughly 9 kilometers higher than the sea bed. "We were hoping to grab Arsia Mons rising above morning clouds—and it surely didn't disappoint," joined Arizona State University's THEMIS operations lead Jonathon Hill. NASA studies Martian clouds and seasons using Arsia Mons observations Arsia Mons is located in the Tharsis province of volcanoes on Mars, which has three colossal volcanoes. The southernmost and typically cloudiest of the three is Arsia Mons. Its thick cloud cover is most common at Mars' aphelion—the time when Mars is farthest from the Sun. The clouds play an important role in Martian climate observation and phenomena like the planet's notorious dust storms. To record such seldom-observed horizon vistas, the Mars Odyssey orbiter performs a special 90-degree rotation maneuver so that its primarily ground-pointing camera may take pictures of the planet's atmospheric horizon. This special technique enables scientists to track dust and water-ice clouds and analyze their seasonal trends. Planetary scientist Michael D. Smith at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center commented, "The horizon images exhibit large seasonal variations. These measurements are teaching us new things about how Mars' atmosphere varies with time." Why Arsia Mons volcano image matters In addition to its photographic attractiveness, the image of the Arsia Mons contains rich scientific information about Mars' geology and climate. Scientists gain a better understanding of predicting weather, dust storm formation, and the workings of larger-scale planetary phenomena by examining such volcanic formations and their interaction with the atmosphere. This image is particularly important as the space agencies of the world hasten plans to send man to Mars and increase robotic missions to the Red Planet. Such images pave the way for more safe and informed voyages to the Red Planet and take man one step closer to discovering its mysteries. Also Read | June 2025 stargazing: Witness the rare glimpse of the Milky Way's glowing core, planetary alignments and more this month; here's how
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This photo is terrible, but it proves that other planets get auroras too. Mars rover snaps a first-ever photo of the aurora visible from another planet
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Mars doesn't have magnetic poles like Earth does, but that doesn't stop the red planet from experiencing the night sky phenomenon known as the aurora. The Mars rover Perseverance made history by taking the first-ever photograph of an aurora from another planet, following a March 15 solar flare. The discovery confirms what scientists have theorized for years: that if astronauts ever did land on the fourth planet from the sun, they could still see auroras caused by mass solar ejections. Martian auroras have been previously observed from orbit using ultraviolet light equipment, but the image captured in March is the first time that auroral activity has been observed from on the planet itself, and with visible light camera equipment. The photograph shows a grainy green sky – the green being the auroral activity. NASA shared the photo this week alongside a standard photo of the night sky, which lacks the green color, for comparison. The image was captured from the rover Perseverance, which is led by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Importantly, the Martian aurora shouldn't be referred to as the Northern Lights or Southern Lights. NASA says the green light in the photograph is an entirely different kind of aurora. Because Mars doesn't have magnetic poles like Earth does, the planet won't experience the same type of aurora that is caused by solar particles being drawn to the magnetic poles, where they interact with gases in the atmosphere. The aurora captured by Perseverance, NASA explains, was called a solar energetic particle or SEP aurora. This type of aurora happens when particles from a solar flare interact with the Martian atmosphere. With no magnetic fields funneling the light show to the north and south poles, this SEP aurora creates a glow across the entire night sky. While the Martian SEP auroras were previously discovered in 2014, the photograph proves that the green auroras could be observed from Mars' surface. Timing the Perseverance's camera with solar activity was a multi-team effort, led by researchers from the University of Oslo in Norway in a study in Science Advances. Elise Knutsen, a postdoctoral researcher from the university, said her team strategized the optical angle for the rover's spectrometer and camera to observe the aurora. But like on Earth, timing is essential in spotting any auroral activity. Knusten's team worked with NASA's Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office and the Community Coordinated Modeling Center for real-time analysis of solar activity. Space physicist and MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere Volatile Evolution) team member Christina Lee, of the University of California, Berkeley, spotted the solar storm, flagging the activity on the Mars Space Weather Alert Notification system. A few days after the March 15 solar activity, the rover was able to capture the image of the green aurora as the solar activity reached the planet. The presence of solar activity was confirmed by the MAVEN SEP instruments, as well as data from the European Space Agency. While Mars experiences a different type of aurora, the 557.7 nm emission measured by the Mars instruments is the same emission level that causes the green color during Earth's Northern and Southern Lights. For more Mars rover inspiration, check out this solar eclipse captured from Mars. Or, learn how to photograph the aurora (from Earth, of course!) or what astrophotography events to photograph for May.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Striking image and video of 'Steeple Mountain' on Jupiter's moon Io are concept art — but authentic pics do exist
In March and April 2025, internet users shared a striking image that they claimed showed "Steeple Mountain," a massive point of interest on Jupiter's moon Io. For example, one X user posted (archived) the image with the caption, "An actual mountain on Jupiter's moon Io." Other users also shared the image with similar captions, including one person who simply added (archived), crediting NASA, "Discovered on Jupiter's moon Io — Steeple Mountain looks like a mountain straight out of a fantasy novel." (@latestinspace/X) As NASA's website (archived) and at least one of the aforementioned X users noted (archived), however, the image and a sweeping video animation (archived) of the same scene were both conceptual artwork based on authentic data about a real feature on Io. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory spokesperson David C. Agle also confirmed by email that the image and video were artist's conceptions created from various data points that specialized equipment gathered as part of the Juno mission. The creator of the artwork sourced genuine, raw images of Steeple Mountain, which appear later in this article. According to NASA, Steeple Mountain — a nickname credited (archived) to the Juno science team — stands (archived) between 3 and 4.3 miles (5 and 7 kilometers), or 15,840 to 22,704 feet, in height. By comparison, Mount Everest stands at an elevation of 29,032 feet (8,849 meters) above sea level. The tallest mountain on Earth — measured not by elevation above sea level but rather from base to peak — is Mauna Kea in Hawaii, standing 33,481 feet (10,205 meters) in height. The creators of the image and animation, which NASA first published in April 2024, sourced the data to create the two pieces of media from a special visible-light camera named JunoCam (archived), which captures (archived) three-color (red, green and blue) and methane-band images. Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) created JunoCam for NASA's Juno mission, which launched in August 2011. The mission, focused on studying Jupiter and its moons, reached Jupiter's orbit on July 4, 2016. NASA announced the mission would continue through September 2025, "or until the spacecraft's end of life." On April 19, 2024, a Juno Mission website hosted by Southwest Regional Institute (SwRI) featured an article (archived) about the mountain and also "an almost glass-smooth lake of cooling lava." The story's author referenced "extremely close flybys" of Jupiter as being "within 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of the surface" and also noted Io's many volcanoes and the theory that "Jupiter was likely the first planet to form." A search of SwRI's JunoCam website located an authentic and downloadable set of red, green and blue images — including the raw band images — showing Steeple Mountain. Several creators also shared their slightly enhanced versions of the source images, which rendered the features on Io more clearly. This picture shows a raw image of Steeple Mountain on Io. (Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS) The descriptions of some Juno mission images capturing Jupiter and its moons featured the word "enhanced," communicating to users the full context of the pictures' alterations. "Io's 'Steeple Mountain' (Artist's Concept)." NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 18 Apr. 2024, "Io's 'Steeple Mountain' (Artist's Concept)." YouTube, JPLraw, 17 Apr. 2024, "Juno - Jupiter Missions." NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), "JunoCam Images." NASA Science, "JunoCam : Processing." Mission Juno, "Malin Space Science Systems." Junocam, Juno Jupiter Orbiter, NASA / SwRI / MSSS. "'Io Image.'" Mission Juno, 30 Dec. 2023, NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS. "Catalog Page for PIA26294." NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planetary Data System, 18 Apr. 2024, "NASA's Juno Gives Aerial Views of Mountain, Lava Lake on Io." Mission Juno, 19 Apr. 2024, Saunders, Toby. "What Is the Tallest Mountain in the World? No, It's Not Mount Everest." BBC Science Focus Magazine, 1 July 2023,
