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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Six days in the crater (day one)
This is the first in a series of posts based on field notes and memories supplemented by background reading material from the Meteor Crater Field Camp that was held from October 17-23, 2010.
Evaporites on Titan
Evaporites form on planetary surfaces when dissolved chemical solids precipitate out of saturated solution as their liquid solvent evaporates and, until recently, were known to exist only on Earth and Mars. This article from the IAG Planetary Geomorphology Working Group describes the third planetary instance of evaporite, discovered on Saturn's moon Titan.
Molar Tooth Texture
Ok, so remember the weird rock I showed in my Galcier Park geology post?
The Geology of Glacier National Park: Part 1
Well, the field trip is over and I am happy to say that I was not eaten by any bears. They seemed much more interested in the huckleberries.
The enigmatic mounds of Acidalia Planitia
Acidalia Planitia is a large basin in Mars' northern lowlands, a dark splotch visible even from Earth telescopes.
Big Sky Country
Well folks, I'm headed off to Big Sky Country tomorrow (aka Montana)! I'll start the week at the MSL camera team meeting, where I will get all sorts of cool news about the MastCam, MAHLI and MARDI cameras which I will not be able to share with you.
Saturn's hexagon is not unique
It turns out that Saturn's not the only place that displays geometrical shapes in its atmosphere. Earth does too.
Using Earth to Study the Moon
Exploring Earth analogues of space landscapes is a valuable activity that can help planetary scientists correctly interpret what their instruments are telling them.
MarsSed 2010 Field Trip Day 2: Stromatolites, Gypsum and Layers
We started off Day 2 of the field trip by driving up onto the eroded rocks of what used to be the tidal flats of the ancient reef, between the shore and the continental shelf.
MarsSed 2010 Field Trip Day 1: Guadalupe Mountains and Evaporites
Hello everyone, I’m back from the MarsSed 2010 meeting in El Paso!
Volcanism across the solar system: Earth
Yesterday I asked for suggestions for topics to write about, and you readers seem to have volcanoes on your minds!
Off to MarsSed 2010
I’m headed off to El Paso Texas tomorrow! Why? Because that’s where the Mars Sedimentology and Stratigraphy workshop is!
AMASE 2009: Testing future Mars surface instruments in the Arctic
I have just posted four more blog entries from Juan Diego Rodgriguez-Blanco detailing the work conducted during this year's Artic Mars Analogue Svalbard Expedition (AMASE).
Exploring Mars on Earth: The Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition
High in the Arctic, just below Earth's north polar ice cap, biologists, geologists, and engineers come together in Svalbard every August to practice and prepare for an expedition to Mars.
Reports from the 2009 AMASE Field Expedition
Now that it's high summer in the Arctic, it's time for research expeditions to swarm northward to explore icy landscapes as analogues to Mars and other far-off places.
Dunes in the Outback Red Center
Jani talks about the importance of understanding analogs we can easily visit on Earth to processes happening across the solar system.
Planetary Surface Processes Field Trip: Day 7
Friday was the last day of the field trip, and we spent it at the Petrified Forest National Park.
Planetary Surface Processes Field Trip: Day 6
Today we visited Grand Falls and the nearby dune field. Grand Falls is especially interesting because it combines many of the processes that are active in shaping planetary surfaces.
Planetary Surface Processes Field Trip: Day 5
Today was a long and awesome day. We started out at Meteor Crater, the youngest and best preserved impact crater on Earth!
Planetary Surface Processes Field Trip: Day 4
Today we visited the Grand Canyon. If you haven’t been there before, there is no way to convey what it is like.