NASA’s Webb Reveals Smallest Asteroids Yet Found in Main Asteroid Belt
Original Publication Date: 2024-12-20 13:00
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope includes asteroids on its list of objects studied and secrets revealed. A team led by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge repurposed Webb’s observations of a distant star to reveal a population of small asteroids. The 138 new asteroids range from the size of a bus to the size of a stadium.
Lab Work Digs Into Gullies Seen on Giant Asteroid Vesta by NASA’s Dawn
Scientists recreated Vesta-like conditions that would occur after a meteoroid impact. 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.
Station Science Top News: Dec. 20, 2024
Original Publication Date: 2024-12-20 14:19
Scientists use data on surface tension and viscosity of titanium-based alloys in industrial processes such as casting and crystal growth. A series of ESA investigations studied diffusion, or how heat and particles move through liquids, in microgravity. Researchers validated the concept of using ferrofluid technology to operate a thermal control switch in a spacecraft.
NASA’s New Deep Space Network Antenna Has Its Crowning Moment
NASA’s Deep Space Network, an array of giant radio antennas, allows agency missions to track, send commands to, and receive scientific data from spacecraft venturing to the Moon and beyond. When operational in 2026, Deep Space Station 23 will receive transmissions from missions such as Perseverance, Psyche, Europa Clipper, Voyager 1.
Avalanches, Icy Explosions, and Dunes: NASA Is Tracking New Year on Mars
The Martian year, which is 687 Earth days, ends in a very different way in the planet’s northern hemisphere. While winter’s kicking in here, spring is starting there. That means frost avalanches, carbon dioxide gas exploding from the ground, and powerful winds helping reshape the north pole.