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Astronomer's suggest that Earth may be surrounded by a Giant Magnetic Tunnel
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By NASA
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft captured this image of Vesta as it left the giant asteroid’s orbit in 2012. The framing camera was looking down at the north pole, which is in the middle of the image.NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA Known as flow formations, these channels could be etched on bodies that would seem inhospitable to liquid because they are exposed to the extreme vacuum conditions of space.
Pocked with craters, the surfaces of many celestial bodies in our solar system provide clear evidence of a 4.6-billion-year battering by meteoroids and other space debris. But on some worlds, including the giant asteroid Vesta that NASA’s Dawn mission explored, the surfaces also contain deep channels, or gullies, whose origins are not fully understood.
A prime hypothesis holds that they formed from dry debris flows driven by geophysical processes, such as meteoroid impacts, and changes in temperature due to Sun exposure. A recent NASA-funded study, however, provides some evidence that impacts on Vesta may have triggered a less-obvious geologic process: sudden and brief flows of water that carved gullies and deposited fans of sediment. By using lab equipment to mimic conditions on Vesta, the study, which appeared in Planetary Science Journal, detailed for the first time what the liquid could be made of and how long it would flow before freezing.
Although the existence of frozen brine deposits on Vesta is unconfirmed, scientists have previously hypothesized that meteoroid impacts could have exposed and melted ice that lay under the surface of worlds like Vesta. In that scenario, flows resulting from this process could have etched gullies and other surface features that resemble those on Earth.
To explore potential explanations for deep channels, or gullies, seen on Vesta, scientists used JPL’s Dirty Under-vacuum Simulation Testbed for Icy Environments, or DUSTIE, to simulate conditions on the giant asteroid that would occur after meteoroids strike the surface.NASA/JPL-Caltech But how could airless worlds — celestial bodies without atmospheres and exposed to the intense vacuum of space — host liquids on the surface long enough for them to flow? Such a process would run contrary to the understanding that liquids quickly destabilize in a vacuum, changing to a gas when the pressure drops.
“Not only do impacts trigger a flow of liquid on the surface, the liquids are active long enough to create specific surface features,” said project leader and planetary scientist Jennifer Scully of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where the experiments were conducted. “But for how long? Most liquids become unstable quickly on these airless bodies, where the vacuum of space is unyielding.”
The critical component turns out to be sodium chloride — table salt. The experiments found that in conditions like those on Vesta, pure water froze almost instantly, while briny liquids stayed fluid for at least an hour. “That’s long enough to form the flow-associated features identified on Vesta, which were estimated to require up to a half-hour,” said lead author Michael J. Poston of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.
Launched in 2007, the Dawn spacecraft traveled to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter to orbit Vesta for 14 months and Ceres for almost four years. Before ending in 2018, the mission uncovered evidence that Ceres had been home to a subsurface reservoir of brine and may still be transferring brines from its interior to the surface. The recent research offers insights into processes on Ceres but focuses on Vesta, where ice and salts may produce briny liquid when heated by an impact, scientists said.
Re-creating Vesta
To re-create Vesta-like conditions that would occur after a meteoroid impact, the scientists relied on a test chamber at JPL called the Dirty Under-vacuum Simulation Testbed for Icy Environments, or DUSTIE. By rapidly reducing the air pressure surrounding samples of liquid, they mimicked the environment around fluid that comes to the surface. Exposed to vacuum conditions, pure water froze instantly. But salty fluids hung around longer, continuing to flow before freezing.
The brines they experimented with were a little over an inch (a few centimeters) deep; scientists concluded the flows on Vesta that are yards to tens of yards deep would take even longer to refreeze.
The researchers were also able to re-create the “lids” of frozen material thought to form on brines. Essentially a frozen top layer, the lids stabilize the liquid beneath them, protecting it from being exposed to the vacuum of space — or, in this case the vacuum of the DUSTIE chamber — and helping the liquid flow longer before freezing again.
This phenomenon is similar to how on Earth lava flows farther in lava tubes than when exposed to cool surface temperatures. It also matches up with modeling research conducted around potential mud volcanoes on Mars and volcanoes that may have spewed icy material from volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Europa.
“Our results contribute to a growing body of work that uses lab experiments to understand how long liquids last on a variety of worlds,” Scully said.
Find more information about NASA’s Dawn mission here:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/dawn/
News Media Contacts
Gretchen McCartney
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-287-4115
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
2024-178
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Last Updated Dec 20, 2024 Related Terms
Dawn Asteroids Ceres Jet Propulsion Laboratory Vesta Explore More
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By NASA
Caption: An artist’s concept of the International Space Station orbiting Earth. In the distance is the Moon, and a red star representing Mars.Credit: NASA As part of the agency’s efforts to enable broader use of space, NASA has released its final goals and objectives for low Earth orbit, defining the long-term approach toward advancing microgravity science, technology, and exploration for the benefit of all. Developed with input from a wide range of stakeholders, NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Microgravity Strategy will guide the agency toward the next generation of continuous human presence in orbit, enable greater economic growth, and maintain international partnerships.
“As we near the retirement of the International Space Station in 2030, these objectives are a pivotal next step in solidifying U.S. leadership in space,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “Our consultation with industry, academia, and international partners has helped refine a visionary roadmap for our future in low Earth orbit, which will be enabled by a continuous human presence. Together, we are ensuring that the benefits of exploring space continue to grow – advancing science, innovation, and opportunities for all, while preparing for humanity’s next giant leap of exploring the Moon, Mars and beyond.”
In early 2024, NASA initiated a planning process that included drafting an initial set of goals and objectives for the low Earth orbit microgravity environment and seeking feedback from its workforce, government partners, industry, academia, international space agencies, and the public. The agency reviewed more than 1,800 comments and hosted two workshops, resulting in essential adjustments to the goals and objectives to better align with its partners. The final framework includes 13 goals and 44 objectives across seven key areas: commercial low Earth orbit infrastructure, operations, science, research and technology development for exploration, international cooperation, workforce development and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) engagement, and public engagement.
The agency’s efforts in low Earth orbit are integral to its broader ambitions for deep space exploration. The microgravity environment in low Earth orbit provides a cost-effective, easily accessible proving ground for technologies and research necessary for human missions to explore the solar system. With most of the journey to Moon and Mars occurring in microgravity, the objectives give the opportunity to continue vital human research, test future exploration systems, and retain the critical skills needed to operate in the microgravity environment.
“These finalized objectives represent a clear path forward as NASA transitions from the International Space Station to a new era of commercial space stations,” said Robyn Gatens, director of the International Space Station and acting director of commercial spaceflight. “Low Earth orbit will remain a hub for scientific discovery, technological advancement, and international cooperation, while making strategic investments in a commercial space ecosystem that benefits not just NASA, but the entire space community.”
The low Earth orbit microgravity goals and objectives, combined with significant stakeholder engagement, drive NASA’s need to maintain an unbroken, continuous heartbeat of humans in the commercial low Earth orbit destinations era. NASA requires long-duration flights to mitigate risk for future trips to the Red Planet. To ensure reliable access to and use of low Earth orbit, a diversity of providers operating on a regular cadence is essential. The objectives will also guide the development of requirements for future commercial space stations that will support NASA’s missions, while reducing risk for human missions to Mars, preserving operational skills, advancing critical scientific research, and sustaining engagement with international and commercial partners.
“Collaboration and consultation remain a cornerstone of our low Earth orbit strategy,” said John Keefe, director of cross-agency strategy integration at NASA. “The objectives we’ve established will help NASA craft a work plan that ensures NASA is positioned to meet current and future needs and prioritizes the development of critical capabilities for low Earth orbit.”
The low Earth orbit microgravity goals and objectives are available online at:
https://go.nasa.gov/3DsMtNI
-end-
Amber Jacobson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
amber.c.jacobson@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Dec 16, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Pamela A. Melroy View the full article
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By NASA
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O’Hara and Moghbeli spent six months in space as part of Expedition 70 aboard the International Space Station. On Nov. 1, 2023, they performed a spacewalk together that lasted 6 hours and 42 minutes.
Image credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
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