From new discoveries on Mars, to solving mysteries in the depths of space, here are 9 recent
discoveries made by NASA
Water on Mars Many books, TV shows, and movies have fantasized
about colonizing the planet Mars.
The only problem is that Mars is not a place that can sustain life in its current state,
and just as bad, it does not have any water...or so we thought.
In 2018, scans from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter discovered that formations on the
planet were actually caused by water that is still there right now.
This was a confirmation based on a finding of "hydrated salts" on certain slopes of the
planet.
John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in
Washington said that “Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ in our
search for life in the universe”.
Now they finally have the science to back up what they have long suspected.
There is briny water flowing on the surface of Mars.
This discovery changes very much what we think of Mars.
If it does have the capacity for water in its current state, this means that colonization
of the planet is not only an option, it could be adapted to be habitable.
Not that I want to run and live there but I know some people are excited about the idea!
“It took multiple spacecraft over several years to solve this mystery, and now we know
there is liquid water on the surface of this cold, desert planet,” said Michael Meyer,
lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program at the agency’s headquarters.
“It seems that the more we study Mars, the more we learn how life could be supported
and where there are resources to support life in the future.”
Are you excited??
8.
Multiple "Earths" In February 2017, NASA discovered that there
might be 7 Earth-like planets orbiting a dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1.
In fact, all seven of these planets were found in the same galaxy, which is a very rare thing
indeed.
As you know our Earth is a very special planet, it has an atmosphere that has oxygen (amongst
other gasses) and thus allows life to breathe and grow.
It is orbiting a sun that doesn't bombard our planet with too much heat, or radiation,
nor does it give it too little.
We are in the perfect Goldilocks zone!
Finding another planet that is like Earth is actually extremely hard, as these conditions
are very specific.
So to find seven that could possibly have similar conditions to ours is quite the breakthrough.
Not only that, they are about the same size as Earth, and some of them (based on pictures
and scans) do appear to have water.
Should this be true, and should we be able to reach them, there could be life on these
planets or could be a major colonization option for Earth.
You know, because that’s what everyone really wants to hear!
If this water is like our own, it is reasonable to expect there to be life in the water, and
it gives it a much higher chance that that is the place where the first life outside
of Earth might be discovered.
7.
Liquid on Titan Saturn has 53 moons that have been named by
scientists, and more could actually be named in the future.
One of the most popular of these moons is the one known as Titan.
It's been the source of much research, and has even been home to an alien race in the
Marvel Comics Universe.
During a scan by the Cassini Space Probe of NASA, they found that in certain gorges and
canyons of Titan, there are actually pools of liquid, specifically hydrocarbons.
This find is important because at first, scientists didn't know what was in these canyons.
NASA reports that the branching channels appear dark in radar images, much like Titan's methane-rich
seas.
“Previously it wasn't clear if the dark material was liquid or merely saturated sediment.”
As for how they got there, many speculate that it is actually the same way the Grand
Canyon was formed in the United States.
Meaning, they think that there is an underground river in Titan somewhere, and it eroded the
ground until it formed these massive canyons, and then filled them with liquid.
Alex Hayes, co-author of the study, said in a statement that: "Earth is warm and rocky,
with rivers of water, while Titan is cold and icy, with rivers of methane.
And yet it's remarkable that we find such similar features on both worlds."
Pretty cool right??
6.
Comet Soup In 2005, NASA sent their Deep Impact spacecraft
into a comet called Tempel 1.
If you're curious as to why they would destroy one of their craft by crashing it into a comet
on purpose, it is because they wanted to analyze the content and particles that were released
from the impact.
Scans from the craft before crashing, mixed with observations from the Spitzer Telescope,
revealed that many of the ingredients were already known common ingredients such as silicates
and sand.
BUT, some things like clay, carbonates, iron-bearing compounds and "aromatic hydrocarbons" were
quite the surprise since these things are found on Earth in barbecue pits and car exhaust.
These ingredients form the basis of what is known as “comet soup”.
It is the hope of NASA that by studying these "ingredients", and getting more samples that
they can figure out more about how our solar system was formed.
5.
Death of Saturn's Rings The Rings of Saturn are not only the most
defining features of the planet, but also one of the most recognizable things in all
of our solar system.
Strangely enough NASA speculates that the rings are "dying".
More accurately, NASA states that the rings are losing the moisture in the rocks that
form the rings.
The moisture itself is being pulled into the planet due to gravity, and thus, the rings
are slowly but surely breaking down.
James O'Donoghue, a space physicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said that We
are lucky to be around to see Saturn's ring system, which appears to be in the middle
of its lifetime.
An interesting point he makes is that if rings are temporary, perhaps we just missed out
on seeing giant ring systems of Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, which have only thin ringlets
today!"
Maybe all of the gas giants had them at one point!
As for when the rings of Saturn will truly "disappear", it is believed it will take another
300 million years, but NASA has also stated it could happen much faster depending on how
fast the moisture continues to be drained from the rocks.
But eventually it's going to happen.
4.
Jupiter's Orbit NASA has long tried to get a spacecraft into
Jupiter's orbit.
But because of conditions in the planet's atmosphere, it's been a very difficult task.
Not to mention, getting a craft near the planet in terms of its position in space is also
hard.
Yet, on July 4th, 2016, the Juno became the first spacecraft to make it into Jupiter's
orbit, which by NASA's own admission was one of the hardest things they've ever done.
The Juno is a solar-powered spacecraft, and it was sent to Jupiter to learn more about
the planet through pictures, videos and scans.
Already, it has sent back video of storms taking place on the planet’s surface, as
well as a volcanic eruption happening on the nearby moon of Io.
3.
Supermassive Black Hole The Hubble Space Telescope is one of NASA's
biggest tools in regards to searching deep space for new discoveries, and in February
of 2016, the telescope took a picture of a galaxy and found a black hole of astonishing
size.
This was found in galaxy NGC 4889, in what is known as the Coma Cluster.
The black hole in question is 21 billion times the mass of the sun in our own galaxy.
To those who don't recall, black holes are a pocket of space where the gravity is so
intense that nothing escapes it, not even light.
Anyone or anything that is caught in this gravitational field is instantly stretched
beyond recognition into spaghetti!
(Maybe, it’s just a theory).
To find a black hole of this size in a singular galaxy is something few ever expected.
Just as unexpected though is that this particular black hole doesn't seem to be "feeding" anymore.
Meaning it isn't drawing in matter that surround it like it used to.
This is quite rare and may offer proof that black holes can "evolve" over time.
Maybe at some point they shut down, offering another sliver of information to help us learn
more about black holes.
2.
Ice Volcanoes On Earth, volcanoes spew fire, ash, soot,
and smoke, but on the dwarf planet (a planet that never matured to full size) called Ceres,
the volcanoes shoot ice!
This was discovered by NASA via their Dawn Spacecraft in 2015, which was observing Ceres
(which orbits between Mars and Jupiter).
The technical term for these are "Cryovolcanoes", because instead of fire and ash, they could
potentially shoot out ice and mud.
This is based on the fact that Ceres is covered with ice both above and below its surface.
To that end, should these structures "erupt", the only thing it can shoot is ice.
Ralf Jaumann of the German Aerospace Center says“The members of the (Dawn science) team
expected a lot of things, but not what we finally got!
He says “I was completely surprised, and ‘completely’ means ‘completely.’
” Though obviously unproven in terms of the
"eruption' aspect of the cryovolcanoes, it does make sense given that the temperature
in the craters of Ceres can reach 350 degrees below zero.
But how would an ice volcano form?
And what would cause it to shoot ice?
Fun fact: the discovery via the Dawn spacecraft was actually the first time Ceres had even
been explored by such a device.
1.
Reaching Ultima Thule 4 billion miles away from Earth, there is
an object known as Ultima Thule.
This "celestial body" is actually two round objects made of an unknown composition that
are actually fused together.
NASA has released the first up-close stereo images of this celestial body via the New
Horizons spacecraft, making this the most distant object that a spacecraft from Earth
has ever explored.
The New Horizons spacecraft was able to get within 2200 miles of the mysterious "body",
and through its scans and pictures, were able to find some very interesting information
about the formation.
First, both "lobes" of Ultima Thule were similar in shape and in color, inferring that this
was actually formed from the same 'source'.
Despite the object being 21 miles at max length, it does not have an atmosphere, nor is its
gravitational force strong enough to pull in other objects.
Ultima Thule resides in what is known as the Kuiper Belt, also known as the "Twilight Zone",
and the New Horizons spacecraft is not only very deep into it now, but it'll continue
to explore it and continue to make new discoveries.
Thanks for watching!
What did you think about these amazing discoveries from NASA?
Which one is your favorite?
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