It has often been likened to talcum powder. The ultra fine lunar surface material known as the regolith is crushed volcanic rock. For visitors to the surface of the moon it can be a health hazard, causing wear and tear on ...
Space Exploration
Apr 9, 2024
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102
Life on Earth depends on six critical elements: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous, and sulfur. These elements are referred to as CHNOPS, and along with several trace micronutrients and liquid water, they're ...
Astrobiology
Apr 9, 2024
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40
Missions to asteroids have been on a tear recently. Visits by Rosetta, Osirix-REX, and Hayabusa2 have all visited small bodies and, in some cases, successfully returned samples to the Earth. But as humanity starts reaching ...
Space Exploration
Apr 9, 2024
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50
Humans have been digging underground for millennia—on the Earth. It's where we extract some of our most valuable resources that have moved society forward. For example, there wouldn't have been a Bronze Age without tin ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 8, 2024
0
12
Astronomers are pretty sure they know where the moon came from. In the early solar system, a Mars-sized object dubbed Theia smashed into Earth. This cataclysmic collision knocked a huge mass of material into orbit, which ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 4, 2024
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37
Intuitive Machines recently had a major breakthrough, successfully becoming the first non-governmental entity to land on the moon in February. At least the landing was partially successful—the company's Odysseus lander ...
Space Exploration
Apr 4, 2024
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0
Sometimes, all you need for a new discovery is some creative math. That was the case for a new paper by Edward Williams and Laurent Montési of the University of Maryland's Department of Geology. They released a brief paper ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 4, 2024
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45
There's a population of planets that drifts through space untethered to any stars. They're called rogue planets or free-floating planets (FFPs.) Some FFPs form as loners, never having enjoyed the company of a star. But most ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 2, 2024
0
76
Universe Today has explored the importance of studying impact craters, planetary surfaces, exoplanets, astrobiology, solar physics, comets, planetary atmospheres, planetary geophysics, and cosmochemistry, and how this myriad ...
Astrobiology
Apr 1, 2024
0
11
Studying exoplanets is made more difficult by the light from the host star. Coronagraphs are devices that block out the star light and both JWST and Nancy Grace Roman Telescope are equipped with them. Current coronagraphs ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 1, 2024
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