MIT researchers have developed a new satellite observation technique that can gauge how fast rivers flowed on Mars billions of years ago and how fast they currently flow on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, reports Talia Lissauer for The Boston Globe. “We can use these other worlds to help us understand what keeps planetary climate stable, or in some cases, what allows planetary climate to change really drastically over time like on Mars,” says Prof. Taylor Perron.
Prof. Lonnie Petersen speaks with Boston Globe reporter Kay Lazar about the need to prepare doctors to provide medical care in space. “As we have more commercial space flight, we will have a different composition of crew members, we will see more preexisting conditions, the age range will expand, and obviously the way we do medicine is evolving,” Petersen said.
Researchers from MIT have developed a new satellite observation technique that can help gauge the strength of ancient rivers on Mars and active liquid methane rivers on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, reports Jamie Carter for Forbes. “What’s exciting about Titan is that it’s active, and on Mars, it gives us a time machine, to take the rivers that are dead now and get a sense of what they were like when they were actively flowing,” says Prof. Taylor Perron. “With this technique, we have a method to make real predictions for a place where we won’t get more data for a long time.”
Using a new satellite observation technique, researchers from MIT and elsewhere have determined the flow of dried-up rivers on Mars and currently active liquid methane rivers on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. “Both kinds are of scientific interest because they could reveal the role rivers play in shaping the worlds’ environments,” reports Isaac Schultz for Gizmodo.
Postdoc Josh Borrow and his colleagues used simulations to explore how early-universe galaxies born inside alternative dark matter halos start out, and what happens as they grow, reports Lyndie Chiou for Scientific American. “The simulations also revealed a new discovery: a connection between alternative dark matter types and starbursts, periods of extremely rapid star formation inside a galaxy.”
SpaceX Crew-6 Mission Commander Stephen Bowen MS ’93 recently answered questions from Cohasset Public School students live from the International Space Station, reports WBZ. "The Earth is always amazing to look at," Bowen told the students of his experience in space.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), postdoc Rohan Naidu and his colleagues will be using a giant cluster of galaxies to “gravitationally magnify the light of some smaller objects up to 750 million years after the big bang,” reports Jonathan O’Callaghan for Scientific American. “The goal is to look for clumps of primordial gas, which could contain clusters of Population III stars—the first stellar generation thought to have lit up the universe,” writes O’Callaghan.
Researchers at MIT are developing a new way to use electric thrusters, reports Freethink. “Electric propulsion actually has the benefit of maximizing the amount of room that you have on a spacecraft so you can use it for this useful payload as opposed to just propellant,” says Prof. Paulo Lozano.
Postdoctoral Scholar Michelle Kunimoto speaks with BBC CrowdScience presenter Marnie Chesterton about the transit technique used to find distant worlds. “The idea behind the transit method is, as a planet is passing in front of a star as it orbits, it will block a small portion of that star’s light,” explains Kunimoto. “So if we are measuring the brightness of our star with the telescope, we can look for these temporary decreases in the brightness of stars over time.”
Virginia Norwood ’47, an aerospace pioneer who designed and championed the scanner used to map and study the earth from space, has died at 96, reports Dylan Loeb McClain for The New York Times. Using her invention, the Landsat Satellite program has been able to capture images of the planet that provide “powerful visual evidence of climate change, deforestation and other shifts affecting the planet’s well-being,” writes McClain.
Prof. Danielle Wood speaks with NPR Shortwave co-host Aaron Scott about the future of space sustainability. “I hope that humans pause and note that the actions we're taking now and in the next 10 years really are going to be decisive in the relationship between humans and our planet, and humans and other locations, like the Moon,” says Wood.
Prof. Tanja Bosak speaks with Scientific American reporter Jonathan O’Callaghan about the possibility that the soil samples collected by NASA’s Perseverance Rover on Mars could contain evidence of ancient Martian life.
NPR reporter Kaitlyn Radde spotlights the life and work of Virginia Norwood ’47, “a founding figure in satellite land imaging who developed technology to scan the surface of the moon for safe landing sites and map our planet from space.” Norwood was known as the "Mother of Landsat” for her work developing the Multispectral Scanner System that flew on the first Landsat satellite.
Virginia Norwood ’47, “a pioneering aerospace engineer who used design innovations, emerging technologies and seasoned intuition in projects that scanned the lunar surface for safe Apollo landing sites and mapped the Earth from space with digital imagery never before seen,” has died at 96, reports Brian Murphy for The Washington Post. “Over a four-decade career that began with slide rules and moved into the age of computer modeling, Ms. Norwood became known as a resourceful problem solver who often hit upon simple but effective solutions,” Murphy writes.
Prof. Nicholas de Monchaux speaks with New York Times reporter Vanessa Friedman about NASA’s newest spacesuit. The suit is “the costume for the drama we project into space,” says Monchaux. “[The way we] put ourselves into the heavens.”