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The surface of Mars is a pretty desolate place at first glance. The soil is many times as dry as the driest desert on planet Earth, the temperatures swing from one extreme to the other, and the air is incredibly thin and toxic. And yet, there’s ample evidence that the planet was once much warmer and wetter, with lots of flowing and standing water on its surface. Over time, as Mars’ atmosphere was slowly stripped away, much of this water was lost to space, and what remains is largely concentrated around the poles as glacial ice and permafrost.

For years, space agencies have been sending robotic landers, rovers, orbiters, and aerial vehicles to Mars to learn more about when this transition took and how long it took. According to China’s Tianwen-1 mission, which includes the Zhurong rover, there may have been liquid water on the Martian surface later than previously thought. According to new research from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Zhurong rover observed salt-rich dunes in the Utopia Planitia region that showed cracks and crusts, indicating the possible presence of water as recently as a few hundred thousand years ago.

The research team was co-led by Xiaoguang Qin and Xu Wang of the Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics; and Xin Ren and Jianjun Liu of the Key Laboratory of Lunar and Deep Space Exploration (part of the National Astronomical Observatories). They were joined by many additional researchers from these respective institutions, the College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics. Their findings were described in a paper that appeared in Science Advances on April 28th.

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Mars’ Barchan Dunes, captured by the MRO’s HiRISE Camera. Credit: NASA/ HiRISE/MRO/LPL (UofA)

As they describe, the Zhurong rover observed interesting features on the surfaces of Barchan dunes in Utopia Planitia, a massive plain and the largest impact basin in the Solar System. These dunes are a characteristic feature in Mars’ northern hemisphere that are similar to dunes that appear in deserts all across Earth. These result from high winds depositing sand in a crescent shape, with the curved side facing in the direction of the wind. When observing a patch of dunes in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, Zhurong noted crusts, cracks, aggregates, and bright polygonal ridges.

The team concluded that these features were formed from small pockets of water from thawing frost or snow mixed with mineral salts. Once the water sublimated in Mars’ atmosphere, patches of hard crust and loose material were left behind, along with depressions and ridges. Like other features that formed in the presence of water, these were then preserved by Mars’ extremely cold and dry atmosphere. But unlike other features that are hundreds of eons or billions of years old, the team estimates that these features formed between 1.4 million and 400,000 years ago (perhaps even more recently).

As they explain in their paper, the team was able to rule out the possibility that frozen carbon dioxide (“dry ice”) and wind were responsible:

“Instead, involvement of saline water from thawed frost/snow is the most likely cause. This discovery sheds light on more humid conditions of the modern Martian climate and provides critical clues to future exploration missions searching for signs of extant life, particularly at low latitudes with comparatively warmer, more amenable surface temperatures.”

During the period in question, the Martian environment was much as it is today (i.e., extremely cold and dry). Therefore, these findings indicate that a hydrological cycle existed recently on Mars, far more recent than previously thought. The team also ran computer simulations and combined them with observations made by other robotic missions. These indicated that conditions could be suitable in other regions on Mars for frost and ice to form during certain times of the year, leading to
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Jupiter’s “Stripes” Change Color. Now We Might Know Why

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June 4, 2023

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While Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is one of the most well-known spectacles in the solar system, Jupiter’s clouds and stripes that are responsible for the planet’s weather patterns are highly regarded, as well. Though not nearly as visible in an amateur astronomy telescope, Jupiter’s multicolored, rotating, and swirling cloud stripes are a sight to behold for any astronomy fan when seen in up-close images. And, what makes these stripes unique is they have been observed to change color from time to time, but the question of what causes this color change to occur has remained elusive.

This is what a recent study published in Nature Astronomy hopes to address as an international team of researchers examine how Jupiter’s massive magnetic field could be responsible for Jupiter’s changing stripe colors. This study was led by Dr. Kumiko Hori of Kobe University and Dr. Chris Jones of the University of Leeds and holds the potential to help scientists better understand how a planet’s magnetic field could influence a planet’s weather patterns. In this case, Jupiter’s massive magnetic field influencing its massive, swirling clouds.

“If you look at Jupiter through a telescope, you see the stripes, which go round the equator along lines of latitude,” explains Dr. Jones. “There are dark and light belts that occur, and if you look a little bit more closely, you can see clouds zipping around carried by extraordinarily strong easterly and westerly winds. Near the equator, the wind blows eastward but as you change latitude a bit, either north or south, it goes westward. And then if you move a little bit further away it goes eastward again. This alternating pattern of eastward and westward winds is quite different from weather on Earth.”

While previous studies have demonstrated that Jupiter’s appearance is somehow altered by infrared fluctuations approximately 50 km (31 mi) below the gas cloud surface, this most recent study demonstrates the infrared fluctuations could be caused by Jupiter’s magnetic field, the source of which, like Earth, is far deeper inside the planet.

“Every four or five years, things change,” said Dr. Jones. “The colors of the belts can change and sometimes you see global upheavals when the whole weather pattern goes slightly crazy for a bit, and it has been a mystery as to why that happens.”

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Infrared images of Jupiter obtained by a ground-based telescope displaying changes in the color of Jupiter’s clouds between 2001 and 2011 (dashed blue lines). (Credit: Arrate Antuñano/NASA/IRTF/NSFCam/SpeX)

For the study, the researchers analyzed data collected over several years from NASA’s Juno spacecraft to both observe and measure variations in Jupiter’s magnetic field, more commonly known as oscillations. Despite Jupiter’s massive radiation belt which can cause immense harm to any spacecraft, Juno has been orbiting the solar system’s largest planet since 2016 and is frequently lauded for it still being active despite the constant bombardment from the radiation.

From the data, the team was able to monitor the magnetic field’s waves and oscillations. They focused on a specific area of the magnetic field dubbed the Great Blue Spot, which is invisible to the naked eye and located near Jupiter’s equator. While this spot has been observed to be traveling eastwards on Jupiter, the data from this study indicates the spot is slowing down, which the team interprets as the start of an oscillation within the magnetic field, meaning the spot could eventually slow enough to where it reverses direction and starts traveling westwards.

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Still image taken from a video animation featuring Jupiter’s massive magnetic field at one instant in time, specifically its Great Blue Spot located near
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CRS-28 Mission

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June 3, 2023

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SpaceX is targeting Saturday, June 3 for Falcon 9’s launch of Dragon’s 28th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-28) mission to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The instantaneous launch window is at 12:35 p.m. ET (16:35 UTC) and a backup launch opportunity is available on Sunday, June 4 at 12:12 p.m. ET (16:12 UTC).

This is the fifth flight of the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-5, GPS III Space Vehicle 06, Inmarsat I-6 F2, and one Starlink mission. Following stage separation, Falcon 9 will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

CRS-28 is the fourth flight for this Dragon spacecraft, which previously flew CRS-21, CRS-23, and CRS-25 to the space station. After an approximate 41-hour flight, Dragon will autonomously dock with the orbiting laboratory on Monday, June 5 at approximately 5:38 a.m. ET (9:38 UTC).

A live webcast of this mission will begin about 20 minutes prior to liftoff.

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You Can Detect Tsunamis as They Push the Atmosphere Around

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3 days ago

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June 2, 2023

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Anyone who’s ever lived along a coastline or been at sea knows the effects of tsunamis. And, they appreciate all the early warning they can get if one’s on the way. Now, NASA’s GNSS Upper Atmospheric Real-time Disaster and Alert Network (GUARDIAN) is using global navigation systems to measure the effect these ocean disturbances have on our atmosphere. The system’s measurements could provide a very effective early warning tool for people to get to higher ground in the path of a tsunami.

Earthquakes and undersea volcanic eruptions often trigger tsunamis. Essentially, those tectonic events displace huge amounts of ocean water. During the resulting tsunami, huge areas of the ocean’s surface rise and fall. As they do, the ocean movement displaces the overlying column of air. That sets off ripples in the atmosphere. Think of it as if the air is responding by creating its own tsunami. It actually does that in response to fast-moving storms and their squall lines. Meteorologists call those reactions “meteotsunamis.” They can push water around into dangerous waves, which then cause flooding and other damage. That’s very similar to tsunamis generated by earthquakes.

What NASA’s Doing to Predict Tsunamis

Weather forecasters can generally predict bad weather leading to meteotsunamis, but that’s not the case for earthquakes and underwater volcanoes and the tsunamis they trigger. So, the NASA project aims to provide advance notice after a temblor or a volcanic eruption.

The GUARDIAN system taps into a constant data stream emitted by clusters of global positioning satellites and other wayfinding stations orbiting Earth. They give real-time information about changes in water heights in the ocean and surface measurements of land masses. Those data-rich radio signals get collected by ground stations and sent to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. There, it gets analyzed by the Global Differential network, which constantly improves the real-time positional accuracy of features on the planet.

So, when a tectonic event happens, the system is alerted to look for changes in the air masses over the oceans. Displaced ripples in the air move out in all directions as low-frequency sound and gravity waves. Those vibrations rush to the top of the atmosphere within just a few minutes. There, they crash into the charged particles of the ionosphere. That distorts signals from the GPS satellites, and those distorted signals tell the system that something’s going on down below.

This animation shows how waves of energy from the Tohoku-Oki earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, pierced Earth’s ionosphere in the vicinity of Japan, disturbing the density of electrons. These disturbances were monitored by tracking GPS signals between satellites and ground receivers.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Normally navigational systems would correct for the distorted signals because they aren’t useful to their users, according to Léo Martire, who works on the GUARDIAN project. “Instead of correcting for this as an error, we use it as data to find natural hazards,” he said.

Early Warning is the Key

The most active tectonic region on our planet is the area known as the Ring of Fire. It’s basically a large ring of volcanically and tectonically active regions in the Pacific Ocean basin. About 78 percent of tsunamis between 1900 and 2015 occurred there.

Most of us remember the tsunami that hit Japan after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit just off the coast in 2011. That event devastated 70 kilometers of coastline, destroyed towns and villages, killed hundreds of people, and shut down the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Damaged village in Japan in the wake of the tsunami onf 2011. Photo: Katherine Mueller, IFRC
Damaged village in Japan in the wake of the tsunami onf 2011. Photo: Katherine Mueller, IFRC

One of the most damaging tsunamis occurred on the Big Island of Hawai’i on April 1st, 1946. An earthquake off the Aleutian Islands triggered the tsunami that crushed a small village in Alaska and struck California. It also reached out and touched the Hawaiian coast near Hilo. 50-foot waves crashed into the island, taking out buildings, and
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