24/7 Space News
EXO WORLDS
SwRI and JPL study reveals liquid brine flows on airless worlds
illustration only
SwRI and JPL study reveals liquid brine flows on airless worlds
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Oct 22, 2024

A collaborative effort between Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) seeks to explain mysterious surface features observed on airless celestial bodies, such as the asteroids Vesta and Ceres, and Jupiter's moon Europa. These bodies, recently explored by NASA's Dawn mission and soon by the Europa Clipper mission, exhibit flow patterns that may result from liquid brines formed during meteoroid impacts.

A new study, published in *The Planetary Science Journal*, led by Dr. Michael J. Poston of SwRI, explores how the heat and pressure from an impact can melt subsurface ice on these airless bodies, creating short-lived liquid brines. These brines may flow long enough to form unique features, such as curved gullies and fan-shaped debris patterns, on crater walls.

"We wanted to investigate our previously proposed idea that ice underneath the surface of an airless world could be excavated and melted by an impact and then flow along the walls of the impact crater to form distinct surface features," said Dr. Jennifer Scully (JPL), project PI.

The team simulated the conditions experienced by ice on Vesta following a meteoroid impact. Using a test chamber at JPL, they rapidly decreased pressure over liquid samples to mimic the drop in pressure that occurs as the temporary atmosphere created by the impact dissipates. This rapid pressure change caused liquids to expand and eject material dramatically.

"Through our simulated impacts, we found that the pure water froze too quickly in a vacuum to effect meaningful change, but salt and water mixtures, or brines, stayed liquid and flowing for a minimum of one hour," said Poston. "This is sufficient for the brine to destabilize slopes on crater walls on rocky bodies, cause erosion and landslides, and potentially form other unique geological features found on icy moons."

These findings may help explain features on distant bodies, such as Europa's smooth plains, the distinct "spider" feature in its Manannan crater, and fan-shaped debris deposits on Mars. The research could also support the theory of subsurface water existing in seemingly inhospitable regions of the solar system.

"If the findings are consistent across these dry and airless or thin-atmosphere bodies, it demonstrates that water existed on these worlds in the recent past, indicating water might still be expelled from impacts," added Poston. "There may still be water out there to be found."

The study was funded by NASA's Discovery Data Analysis Program and is part of an ongoing project led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology.

Related Links
Space Science at SwRI
Lands Beyond Beyond - extra solar planets - news and science
Life Beyond Earth

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
EXO WORLDS
It's twins mystery of famed brown dwarf solved
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Oct 17, 2024
An enduring mystery surrounding the first discovered brown dwarf, Gliese 229B, has finally been unraveled by astronomers from Caltech. Despite having been studied extensively since its discovery in 1995, the brown dwarf's faintness for its estimated mass of 70 times that of Jupiter left researchers puzzled. However, recent findings have revealed that Gliese 229B is actually a closely orbiting pair of brown dwarfs, weighing in at about 38 and 34 times the mass of Jupiter, respectively. The two orbit each ... read more

EXO WORLDS
Samsonite's Proxis Suitcase reaches new heights with space launch

A New Space Race: Bloomberg's Critique, NASA's Future, and the Geopolitical Stakes

SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts undock from ISS, begin journey home to Earth

Chinese company to sell tickets for space tourism flights in 2027

EXO WORLDS
NASA Stennis expands range operations with new Skydweller Aero agreement

Chinese private rocket company completes static fire test of ZQ-2E rocket

X-Bow Systems demonstrates calability of solid rocket motor production with Bolt Rocket

Phase Four unveils monopropellant multi-mode propulsion systems

EXO WORLDS
NASA selects crew for 45-day simulated Mars mission in Houston

Potential microbial habitats in Martian ice

Perseverance just keeps roving across Mars

New Team Evaluates Plans for NASA's Mars Sample Return Program

EXO WORLDS
China delivers scientific payloads from reusable satellite Shijian-19 to users

China to launch 14th manned mission to Tiangong Space Station

China sets ambitious space science development goals through 2050

China successfully retrieves first reusable test satellite Shijian-19

EXO WORLDS
Eutelsat America and OneWeb to provide Enhanced Satellite Services for US Govt

ST Engineering iDirect selected for second phase of Indonesia's Satria-1 satellite expansion

SpaceX launches OneWeb 20 mission

Space industry growth and Japan's role in satellite development

EXO WORLDS
OKI to produce satellite units for Astroscale

NASA testing deployable solar array on Pathfinder Mission

Sidus Space completes CDR for Dutch laser comms satellite

SatixFy inks $9M software deal with MDA Space for satellite payload technology

EXO WORLDS
SwRI and JPL study reveals liquid brine flows on airless worlds

Microbes thrive on iron in oxygen-free environments

It's twins mystery of famed brown dwarf solved

Astronomers Use New Technique to Search for Alien Signals Between Planets

EXO WORLDS
NASA and SpaceX Set for Europa Clipper Launch on October 14

NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon

Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate

NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.