On Vikings, Phoenix, Mars, and Life

Ya something new everyday, and so does NASA.  There's something to be said for going back and taking another look at past research.

It turns out that the ORGANIC chemicals - chloromethane and dichloromethane - found in Martian soil samples from the Phoenix lander were ALSO found in soil samples from the Atacama desert in Chile.  However, these chemicals were only discovered in the Chilean soil AFTER a little perchlorate was added to the soil.

chloromethane

This discovery nixes the previous belief that chloromethane and dichloromethane are the only organics present on Mars.   Perchlorate is now believed to exist.

The next missions will be able to test this theory further with the use of the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument (SAM) attached to the Curiosity rover.

dichloromethane

perchlorate

While this discovery does not yield knowledge to the presence of LIFE on Mars, every bit of discovery get us one step further towards understanding the biological history of the red planet.

Curiosity rover

lllater - M

Google understands

Google gets it.  Yeah, Google Maps is good for finding where that new doughnut shop is, but what about the big dipper?  They understand that us astronomy/planetary science nerds needs a little directional help sometimes too.

They have made it possible for kids like Jonathan Tomshine to produce websites like Dark Sky Finder, which tell you what the light pollution is like in the area you want to see some starts, comets, meteor showers, planets, spaceships, satellites...yanno the like.



It's pretty cool AND simple.  Just use it like you would Google Maps, moving the toggles to the place you want to watch the stars.  I have made a place marker for the POSSE meeting location on the UT campus.

Enjoy your star watching!




Cheers - M

FIRST POSSE MEETING OF THE SEMESTER

Helloooooooo everybody in the planetary science world!

This is it.  It's time.  Time to party.

And by party I mean have a POSSE meeting and talk about Mars, research, robots, and astronauts. WEEEE!

We will have Dr. Mark Helper giving his talk on “Robotic Mapping and Human Field Studies at Haughton Impact Crater, Canada”.  Here's the link to awesomeness.  His research is pretty amazing, ranging from working at NASA Ames to training astronauts in New Mexico.  Also, for your refreshment and eating pleasure, we will provide beverages and Don Juan tacos from Juan in a Million.  Hope to see you all there!

When: 9.8.10 @ 5:15 p.m.

Where: JGB 2.218

Cheers,

M

FIELD CAMP OPPORTUNITY

Hey guys! Here is a really cool field camp opportunity for anyone interested.  The deadline is coming up quick though, so jump to it!




The LPI-JSC Center for Lunar Science and Exploration is excited to
announce a new student field camp opportunity coming this fall! The
Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater is being organized
under the auspices of the NASA Lunar Science Institute, which is
designed, in part, to train a new generation of explorers for the Moon
and beyond.

The Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater is a week-long
geology field class and research project based at Barringer Meteorite
Crater, Arizona, more popularly known as Meteor Crater. The goal will be
to introduce students to impact cratering processes and provide an
opportunity to assist with a research project at the crater.  Skills
developed during the field camp should better prepare students for their
own thesis studies in impact cratered terrains, whether they be on
Earth, the Moon, Mars, or some other solar system planetary surface.

The field camp is designed for graduate college students in geology and
planetary science programs, although advanced undergraduate students
will be considered if they have successfully completed a summer field
geology program and have a demonstrated interest in impact cratering
processes. The field camp is offered October 17-23, 2010, and limited to
twenty-four participants. Interested candidates should apply by June 11,
2010, to be considered.


For more information, please visit: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/nlsi/mcFieldCamp/

Wata Wata Everywhere!

GEE GOLLY.  We might as well be in a desert, we've been searching for water so much.  

I feel like every new article I read has SOMETHING to do with finding/searching for/analyzing water in liquid/ice/gaseous form in planets/asteroids/moons.  Do you think space scientists and explorers are trying to tell us something?  Are they worried about the amount of water we have left on Earth? 

Hmmmm...no, probably not, but it's one more thing to freak yourself out over.

This article explores the possibility that water exists extra-super-stellarly in an asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars.  In space.  Where it's freakin cold.  So uh...they must be lying to us.  It's the only explanation.

If you don't like that conclusion, you can read the article and make your own.  HOLLER.

P.S. sorry for the loooong pause in article updates.  I believe that I have been consumed by a large university-size whale, have been allowed a moment for breathing through its little spraying hole thingy, and have returned to the belly where SO MANY TERRIBLE THINGS exist.  Things like finals.  

Also, I apologize for not making sense.  The mind is easily lost in the belly of the whale.

Cheers, ciao, LATA.  M.

POSSE ELECTIONS 2010 (Convention 4.21.2010 @5:15)

Hello Hello!

With the year wrapping up, it's time to start preparing for the next fun-filled one! That's right, folks. It's time to elect new officers for POSSE 2010-2011! AWS YEAHS.

The positions available are:

President - Responsible for organizing meetings (obtaining speakers, stating responsibilities of other officers, completing the "checklist", compiling and sending out the mass POSSE email), arranging field trips.

Vice President - Responsible for aiding the President in all organizational matters, arranging field trips.

Secretary/Media Relations - Responsible for making the meeting PowerPoint and sending out the UT Know Events mass email, web updates.

Undergraduate Social Chairs - Responsible for ordering food and beverages for meetings, organizing social events (bowling, movie night, etc...)

Graduate Social Chair/Liaison - Acts as a bridge between Undergraduates and Graduate student members of POSSE (sending out graduate mass emails, fliers, word-of-mouth), assists rest of team.

Natural Sciences Liaison - Acts as a link between POSSE and the Natural Sciences School (sending out emails and posting fliers within the Natural Sciences buildings), assists rest of team.

Engineering Liaison - Acts as a link between POSSE and the Engineering School (sending out emails and posting fliers within the Engineering quad), assists rest of team.

This is YOUR CHANCE to become more involved in school, finally put to use all those leadership skills you've kept secret, and get to talk to some seriously cool people about space/planets/comets/awesomeness.

Tim, Kelly, Brent, Sam, Crossy, and I have thoroughly enjoyed being your POSSE officers this past year, and cannot wait to see what else is in store!

A meeting will be held on 4.21.2010 to discuss elections. We will also be featuring a great speaker, one of the Jackson School's own, Dr. Sean Gulick. He will be presenting his research on "Geological, biological, and resource implications of Large Impacts: Case Study of the 65.5 Ma Chicxulub Crater".

Come and join the fun! Oh, and we gots some suurrryous Chipotle burritos fo y'all.

Check it. M.

earth wars WATCH OUT

There are just SO many good things about this article.  Nemesis, Death star, star bombs....geeze...I don't know where to start.  READ HURR




It appears as though comets are slowly "killing us softly"  which actually isn't totally bogus (um, hello meteors smashing into Earth causing mass extinctions every few million years??? Yeeeeaaahh what's up.)


I dunno if there's really a Nemesis throwing deadly comet snowballs out there...I mean, c'mon, who would want to intentionally destroy US?  Das sum crazay talk yo.  The name rocks though.


Ciao-M

Special UT POSSE meeting

Dr. Luann Becker from Johns Hopkins University will be visiting our Department March 4th-5th to lecture on topics involving organics on Mars. AWWW YEEAAAHHS


We are STELLARLY excited to bring this external speaker to you guys and hope that you can make either the Tech Session meeting (4:00-5:00 Thursday in JGB 2.324) and/or the UT POSSE meeting (6:00-7:00 Thursday in JGB 3.222).


Dr. Becker is currently the primary investigator of the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer on an Upcoming European Space Agency mission to Mars.  She received her Ph. D. in Astrobiology from the University of California - San Diego..


Becker is probably best known for her work investigating the causes of mass extinctions. She's argued that one of those extinctions, called the Great Dying, was triggered by a giant asteroid that slammed into Earth 250 million years ago. Becker has looked for evidence of this collision in old sediment layers around the world. And she's found exotic carbon molecules -- known as buckyballs or fullerenes -- that may have been carried to Earth from outer space. Becker is also interested in life beyond our planet. She's working on an instrument that will get launched to Mars as part of a European mission in 2013. The instrument, known as a mass spectrometer, will hunt for organic molecules that may have been left behind by long-dead microorganisms. To find these ancient signs of life, the mission will search where no man (or rover) has searched before -- up to 2 meters below the Martian surface." (Idaho National Laboratory Podcast, Roberta Kwok 2010) Click here for more info.


So please come and enjoy the talks, food, and all-out saWEETness.  


Cheers - Martha

Stellar

No, fo realz, dis iz awesomely stellar.

A group of German scientists have recently released their findings on the Australian landed Murchison carbonaceous chondritic meteorite (the lucky dawgs...they get all the cool stuff...c'mon the speed of light really?).

This thing is most likely older than the sun, in the general range of about 4.65 billion years old, but it contains what could be MILLIONZ of lil organics!  Like you and me or little Whovillians?  Mebe not, but organic molecules all da same.  Wowzers.

This could be huge for better understanding our solar system.  Life on other planets?  Looks like we're getting closer.

Cheers - Martha

Shuttle Launch

In case you weren't up at 4:30 a.m. on February 8th, NOW you can feel like you were with this BRAND NEW, ONE OF A KIND, photo of the launch!  This photo was taken from the County Route 210 bridge over the Intercoastal Waterway in Ponte Verda Beach, Florida.  This is the last time the shuttle will have a nighttime launch.

So, check it out right now, FREE OF CHARGE!  COME ONE, COME ALL!

I hear those ooohs and aaaahs.

Ciao - M

Ahem...we're going to have to ENDEAVOR at another time...

MY BAD.

So Houston had a wee bit of a problem (sorry for the cliche, but yanno I had to).

The Endeavor is now scheduled to launch TOMORROW at 4:14 a.m., weather allowing.  Again, nobody but Dago will be up.

You can check out THE FINAL COUNTDOOOOWWWN here ------>

Does anyone know anything about these orange glow sticks they are now giving the astronauts?  I kinda thought raving was against protocol...

Ciao - M

NASA's Endeavor to fly this Sunday

On Sunday, the Endeavor shuttle will meet up with the International Space Station on it's STS-130 mission.  The lift off time is scheduled at 4:39 EST, so waaaaay before anyone wants to wake up, but what a great way to start the day!


You can check out the briefing at this NASA TV link from Kennedy's press sight.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will meet with
reporters covering the launch of space shuttle Endeavour at the
Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Sorry for the late notice on this, guys.  But we (POSSE) just got back from visiting the Johnson's Space Center yesterday. Pictures and a re-cap of events will be posted shortly. We had a FANTASTIC time and learned a lot!

Have a happy shuttle launch and Superbowl Sunday!

Cheers - Martha

Like Liquid Gold, but Better

Nature Physics, via Discovery News features a new article which states that Neptune and Uranus may have oceans composed of......LIQUID DIAMONDS.

If De Beers gets a hold of this information, I think the funding for exploration and research may come a bit quicker. Jus sayin.

The article goes on to say that an ocean of diamonds could help explain the off-axis magnetic field of these two planets (Earth's is lined up with the north and south poles).

The article is quite interesting, explaining why little icebergs of diamond can float on a diamond sea, just like water.

Ahhhh... In other words, heaven.

Cheers - Martha

VAMPIRES

Well, sorta kinda.

The Hubble Space Telescope has recently determined another theory why some stars in globular clusters, pictured below, appear brighter than others.  It's not necessarily because they are bigger and farther away, or smaller and closer, but because they may actually be stealing some thunder from their neighbors.  Vampire style.

Or you could call it leeching, I guess.  Pretty much the same thing.  But NASA's right; vampires are way cooler.

Anyway, these clusters (usually 12-13 billion years old, abuh!) have a few loners (blue stragglers) that don't really appreciate their old age, and siphon youth (hydrogen) from the other stars.  Greedy, if you ask me.

The telescope also found that some of the blue stragglers increased their brightness after colliding with other stars, in a sort of nuclear fusion.

That's an interesting little elderly community right there.  Check it out here!

Cheers-Martha

Rover Update

Ello ello!  Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!


Recent news on our sturdy little Mars Rover:


The little-rover-that-could may be finally reaching its courageous end...


The signs have been slowly creeping up (see the "Awwww Poor Rover... post on 11.13.2009), but still, the loyal followers, such as myself, kept pushing for the friendly robot to keep chugging along.
The dusty and rough Martian terrain has proven to be just too much to handle as of late, as the rover currently lies stuck in a ditch.  If circumstances don't change, power will run out by May.


Here's a little 2:32 minute video with an article below from National Geographic.  The text is taken word-for-word from the video.


Energizer batteries wouldn't work in this case, I'ma guessin'.


Ciao-Martha