USGS Astrogeology Hot Topics

A rocket fires for Translunar Injection, carrying the Crew Exploration Vehicle and lunar lander out of Earth's orbit and toward the moon. Credit: NASA/John Frassanito and Associates.

NASA's Constellation Program is getting to work on the new spacecraft that will return humans to the moon and blaze a trail to Mars and beyond. Thousands of people across the agency are pulling together to meet this challenge, with work assignments that will sustain ten healthy and productive centers.Each NASA center is playing a vital role in making the Vision for Space Exploration a reality.

More information and images on the NASA website:

• How We'll Get Back to the Moon
• Constellation Work Assignments

Posted by BlogAdmin in Manned Missions at 09:39

Artist concept of 2003 UB313

(also known as the "10th" planet)

Credit: Robert Hurt (IPAC)

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The International Astronomical Union (IAU) will be meeting this August to hammer out the final definition of the word "planet." If approved, the definition will be announced in September.

Webster defines the word planet as: any of the seven celestial bodies sun, moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Saturn that in ancient belief have motions of their own among the fixed stars b (1) : any of the large bodies that revolve around the sun in the solar system (2) : a similar body associated with another star.

So one might ask, what's the big deal? Apparently it's UB313, an object roughly the size of Pluto that orbits the Sun beyond Neptune. The object's discoverer, Mike Brown of Caltech, has argued it should be called a planet. Some astronomers say if UB313 is a planet, then several similar bodies should gain the same status. The number of planets in our solar system could ultimately climb into the thousands as technology improves.

What will the definition be? Will they scratch Pluto from being a planet? What qualifiers will they use to rewrite this definiton? Will they look at mass? Some have wondered if they in fact would include orbit characteristics and formation scenarios? I suppose we won't know until the new committee that includes historians and educators, make their recommendation to the IAU in September. Mark your calenders.

Posted by HotTopicsJournalist in Odds and Ends at 15:25

The following�names in the Elysium region of Mars have been provisionally approved by the IAU. The database information and images showing the features can be seen on the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Aeolis Planum

Cerberus Palus

Cerberus Tholi

Lethe Vallis

Persbo

Tombaugh

Zephyria Planum

Posted by Jennifer_Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 10:48

The following names have been provisionally approved by the IAU for features on Mars. The database information and images showing the features can be seen�on the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Abalos Scopuli

Baetis Chaos

Boola

Columbia Valles

Daga Vallis

Puyo

Tenuis Mensa

Posted by Jennifer_Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 09:25

On May 2, 2006, a baby crater was born on the Moon. NASA says it�s about 14 meters wide, 3 meters deep and precisely one month, eleven days old. What a baby!

NASA astronomers watched a meteoroid hit the Moon's Sea of Clouds (Mare Nubium) with 17 billion joules of kinetic energy.

Bill Cooke, the head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office in Huntsville, Alabama said that the impact created a bright fireball, which was video-recorded using a 10-inch telescope. Stuff hits the Moon all the time," said Cooke--but this is the best-ever recording of an explosion in progress."

Show me the impact and tell me the full story!

Posted by HotTopicsJournalist in Odds and Ends at 17:36

June 27 - June 30, 2006
Pasadena, California USA
Late Registration Deadline June 19

IPPW-4, the Fourth International Planetary Probe Workshop, is devoted to robotic exploration of planets with atmospheres through the use of entry probes, aerial platforms and the technologies of aeroassist. The workshop brings together planetary scientists, engineers and technologists with an interest in entry descent and flight in planetary and satellite atmospheres. This includes the major planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - with their bottomless atmospheric oceans and Mars, Venus and Saturn's moon Titan which have solid surfaces accessible to scientific investigation. The workshop will feature keynote addresses by leading researchers as well as invited and contributed papers.
The workshop will be preceded on June 25-26, 2006, by a two-day short course "In Situ Instruments for Planetary Probes and Aerial Platforms," designed to further the workshop goals.

More information: Fourth Annual International Planetary Probe Workshop

Posted by HotTopicsJournalist in Other EPO at 18:13

Saturn's moon Enceladus - an active, icy world with an unusually warm south pole - may have performed an unusual trick for a planetary body. New research shows Enceladus rolled over, literally, explaining why the moon's hottest spot is at the south pole.

Image right: This graphic illustrates the interior of Saturn's moon Enceladus. It shows warm, low-density material rising to the surface from within, in its icy shell (yellow) and/or its rocky core (red). Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute 200x200

Enceladus recently grabbed scientists' attention when the Cassini spacecraft observed icy jets and plumes indicating active geysers spewing from the tiny moon's south polar region.

"The mystery we set out to explain was how the hot spot could end up at the pole if it didn't start there," said Francis Nimmo, assistant professor of Earth sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz.

The researchers propose the reorientation of the moon was driven by warm, low-density material rising to the surface from within Enceladus. A similar process may have happened on Uranus' moon Miranda, they said. Their findings are in this week's journal Nature.

More on Enceladus. Credit: NASA

Posted by HotTopicsJournalist in Cassini at 17:44

The starting and ending latitudes and longitudes for the named features on Venus, Mars, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are now available on the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. These coordinates can be viewed by displaying the�table of features for a body and then selecting "Show All Fields" near the top of the table, or by selecting�the box labeled "Extent" at the bottom of the page.

Posted by Jennifer_Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 12:53

The name Lindgren Patera has been provisionally approved for Venus. This feature can be seen on the image of V-16 from the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer_Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 08:24

Voyager 2 could pass beyond the outermost layer of our solar system, called the "termination shock," sometime within the next year. The milestone, which comes about a year after Voyager 1's crossing, comes earlier than expected and suggests to scientists that the edge of the shock is about one billion miles closer to the Sun in the southern region of the solar system than in the north.
This implies that the heliosphere, a spherical bubble of charged low-energy particles created by our Sun's solar wind, is irregularly shaped, bulging in the northern hemisphere and pressed inward in the south.
Scientists determined that Voyager 1 was approaching the termination shock when it began detecting charged particles that were being pushed back toward the Sun by charged particles coming from outside our solar system. This occurred when Voyager 1 was about 85 AU from the Sun.
One AU is the distance between the Earth and the Sun, or 93 million miles.
In contrast, Voyager 2 began detecting returning particles while only 76 AU from the Sun.
"This tells us that the shock down where Voyager 2 is must be closer the sun than where Voyager 1 is," said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
The researchers think that the heliosphere's asymmetry might be due to a weak interstellar magnetic field pressing inward on the southern hemisphere.
"The [magnetic] field is only 1/100,000 of the field on the Earth's surface, but it's over such a large area and pushing on such a faint gas that it can actually push the shock about a billion miles in," Stone explained.

credit: Space.com, Ker Than

Posted by HotTopicsJournalist in Other Missions at 10:43

Earth. Our world is the poster child for solar-powered planets. Most flora and fauna on Earth � with some important exceptions such as the bacteria that live in deep rock � are ultimately animated by the roaring nuclear fusion taking place in the Sun�s heart. On Earth, it�s usually chlorophyll that converts this radiant energy into chemical compounds to energize our existence (or bulge our waistlines).

Venus. Despite the fact that Venus, our sister planet, has been described as purgatory personified, there are some researchers who still hold out hope for life there.

Mars. While Mars� highly reactive and powder-dry landscape is practically guaranteed to be sterile, there is indirect evidence for watery aquifers a few hundred feet beneath the surface. If these liquid reservoirs exist, life may have found refuge within.

Titan. This large moon of Saturn, revealed in detail by NASA�s Cassini mission, and subject to shameless examination by the Huygens probe, is far too cold for liquid water. But its air is thick with hydrocarbons. David Grinspoon has suggested that the Sun�s weak ultraviolet light might rip apart some of these atmospheric compounds, producing acetylene. Falling into the liquid lakes of methane and ethane below, this gas (best known for firing blowtorches on Earth) could serve as a food for microscopic life. Unlikely? Yes. Impossible? No.

The best known of tidally heated satellites are:

Europa. There�s good evidence, mostly from its changing magnetic field, that this ice-covered world orbiting Jupiter has an ocean lying 10 miles or so beneath its crusty exterior. At the bottom of this vast, cryptic sea, volcanic vents might be spewing nutrients and hot water into a cold, dark abyss, providing both the food and energy for simple life.

Ganymede and Callisto. Both of these jovian moons show magnetic field variations similar to those of Europa, suggesting that they, too, might be hiding large, watery oceans. Given their thicker ice skins, finding that life � if it exists � would be even more daunting than for Europa.

Enceladus. In the news recently, this Saturnian satellite seems to be a giant Slurpee � an icy moon that, thanks to tidal heating, is spouting geysers of water into space. An unexpected entry in the horse race of habitability, Enceladus is the first other world for which we have convincing evidence of liquid

Credit:Seth Shostak,SETI Institute. More: 8 Worlds where life might exist

Posted by HotTopicsJournalist at 11:49

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June is almost here and I've been thinking about the brides who will need a dress for their wedding, should they carry out their celebration in space. After all, life will go on there.

Eri Matsui designed these wedding dresses for a Space Couture Design Contest supported by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The dress to the left can be worn in gravity, and the one on the right in zero gravity; however, both will look exceptional under either condition.

Her design stimulates our dream that we may get married in space soon. Excuse me, I just remembered something. I had better call Eri Matsui. We're going to need a tuxedo to go with that.

Wedding dress for use in space [Seihin-World]

Posted by HotTopicsJournalist in Humorous at 10:24

American Scientist Online, 10 April 2006: The U.S. Geolgoical Survey, Branch of Astrogeology's Map-a-Planet was chosen for "Site of the Week," in American Scientist Online. American Scientist is a magazine of SIGMA XI, a scientific research society. Congratulations Patty Garcia, Lisa Gaddis, Chris Isbell, Janet Barrett, Deborah Soltesz, and Annie Bennett. Read what was reported by this web site, verbatim, below:

The U.S. Geological Survey goes far beyond its national ambit with this friendly, intuitive tool. Choosing from a growing array of datasets, visitors can create customized, browsable maps of Venus, Mars or any of six moons, including our own.

The interface offers three levels. The "easy" version assigns default values for size, resolution, format and projection; these values can be customized in the "intermediate" version via a simple control panel (choose a Mercator projection, for example, or assign a specific resolution). The advanced version provides full control of all variables. The completed maps can be panned, zoomed or resized, and are downloadable either directly via the user's browser or via ftp.

Though the interface is not as polished as that in Google's browsable maps of the moon and Mars, the USGS offering goes much farther afield, offering detailed views of Saturn's moon Rhea and Jupiter's Callisto, Europa, Io and Ganymede. It offers hours of fascinating exploration of a solar system that's at once strikingly alien and increasingly familiar.

View the original article on the American Scientist Online

Map-a-Planet was also recognized in the Resource section of the�May 2006 issue of The Geological Society of America's online magazine, �GSA Connection.

View the original issue of�the GSA Connection

Posted by HotTopicsJournalist in Astrogeology at 13:25

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There is life on Mars,

even if,

it's just a mouse.

Posted by HotTopicsJournalist in Humorous at 08:53

Gerald�G. Schaber (left) and dad at the launch of Apollo 15 (July, 1971). Schaber helped to develop a geologic field training program for Apollo astronauts. He was also involved in the traverse planning and production (in Flagstaff) of the Lunar Surface Exploration Map Data Package for Apollo 15.

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A "must read" Open File Report that is a comprehensive account of the USGS participation in the Apollo era, from its conception through the end of Project Apollo, has been completed by Gerald G. �Jerry� Schaber during the time he was with�the U.S. Geological Survey, Branch of Astrogeology,�working�as a �Scientist Emeritis. The work was encouraged and suported by former and current Program Chiefs of Astrogeology, Wes Ward and Lisa Gaddis respectively.

The Open File Report, The U.S. Geological Survey, Branch of Astrogeology-- A Chronology of Activities from Conception though the End of Project Apollo, covers the period of the 1960s-1970s capturing the roles of geoscientist and support personnel working for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Branch of Astrogeology, in Flagstaff, and elsewhere, in support of expeditions to the Moon. Although there are books written by Don Wilhelms that include accounts of Astrogeology�s research and support of NASA�s unmanned lunar spacecraft missions during the Apollo era, they lack detail regarding Astrogeology�s concurrent activities of the �Manned Lunar Exploration Group.� Jerry Schaber has filled that significant gap of history with regard to the participation of the USGS. Astrogeology celebrates this accomplishment.

�This work has been a true labor of love, taking place over many years and requiring much labor and perseverance to get into �print�,� says Lisa Gaddis.

The report reveals intimate details such as Astrogeology�s origin and working conditions during these times, studies at Meteor Crater, involvement in telescopic Moon mapping, planning for NASA�s Lunar Missions activities, Flagstaff in the media �Spotlight� during Apollo 11, and also one of the Branch�s own Harrison H. �Jack� Schmitt's walk on the moon during Apollo 17. It captures Eugene M. Shoemaker�s, the Father of Astrogeology, dream of doing field mapping on the surface of the Moon, and recounts how he reaches the lunar surface. There is a wealth of information filled with warmth, humor, struggles, failures and successes-- viewpoints of various participants telling rich and complex stories that leave the reader proud to be an American.

Jerry conducted interviews with sixty-six current and past employees of the U.S. Geological Survey�s Branch of Astrogeology and Branch of Surface Planetary Exploration (the latter in existence from 1967 to 1973). He cited many texts, accessed Astrogeology's personal daily logs and monthly reports, consulted unpublished memoirs of Astrogeology�s geologist John F. �Jack� McCauley's transcripts, and NASA�s Apollo Journal web site which is noted as an excellent resource to capture these fine moments in history, and many other references to bring this valuable information to our fingertips.

This is a highly readable account. It is serious scholarship, suitable for the general public, and those with an interest in science, in the rich culture of history in the making. It is for those who�d like to celebrate their hometown�s (Flagstaff) contribution to space history in familiar locations such as Meteor Crater, where astronaut training took place, use of the Cinder Lakes volcanic field to create Moon-like terrain, where Apollo 15 astronauts James Irwin and David Scott test-drove a geologic rover, and much more.

The publications consists of text, figures, tables, appendixes, and many photographs from the branch history photo collection. This report has a total of 1,162 pages; there are links to separate files, tables, and appendix files that are listed on the web pages. Gerald G. Schaber's Open File Report is available on the World Wide Web at URL http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1190/ .

Coming in June: an interview with Gerald G. Schaber.

Posted by HotTopicsJournalist in Astrogeology at 08:33