Publications
Filter Total Items: 959
The nitty-gritty forces that shape planetary surfaces The nitty-gritty forces that shape planetary surfaces
No abstract available.
Authors
Brian Jackson, Serina Diniega, Timothy Titus, Alejandro Soto, Edgard Rivera-Valentin
The role of giant impacts in planet formation The role of giant impacts in planet formation
Planets are expected to conclude their growth through a series of giant impacts: energetic, global events that significantly alter planetary composition and evolution. Computer models and theory have elucidated the diverse outcomes of giant impacts in detail, improving our ability to interpret collision conditions from observations of their remnants. However, many open questions remain...
Authors
Travis Gabriel, Saverio Cambioni
The composition of Io The composition of Io
Io is unlike any other body in the Solar System making questions about its chemical composition especially interesting and challenging. This chapter examines the many different, but frustratingly indirect, constraints we have on the bulk composition of this restless moon. A detailed consideration of Io’s lavas is used to illustrate how decades of research have bounded, but not pinned...
Authors
Laszlo Keszthelyi, Terry-Ann Suer
Assessment of lunar resource exploration in 2022 Assessment of lunar resource exploration in 2022
The idea of mining the Moon, once purely science-fiction, is now on the verge of becoming reality. Taking advantage of the resources on the Moon is part of the plans of many nations and some enterprising commercial entities; demonstrating in-situ (in place) resource utilization near the lunar south pole is an explicit goal of the United States’ Artemis program. Economic extraction and...
Authors
Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Joshua Coyan, Kristen Bennett, Lillian Ostrach, Lisa R. Gaddis, Travis Gabriel, Justin Hagerty
Constraints on the composition and thermal structure of Ariel’s icy crust as inferred from its largest observed impact crater Constraints on the composition and thermal structure of Ariel’s icy crust as inferred from its largest observed impact crater
The large graben-like troughs and smooth plains visible on the surface of Ariel are indicative of a period of high heat flow in the Uranian moon's past. High heat flows on icy moons like Ariel can also enable viscous flow that removes impact crater topography, a process called viscous relaxation. Here we use numerical modeling to investigate the conditions necessary to viscously relax...
Authors
Michael Bland, Chloe Beddingfield, Tom Nordheim, Donald Patthoff, Steven Vance
Asteroid impacts and cascading hazards Asteroid impacts and cascading hazards
The initial effects from an asteroid impact are generally well characterized and include thermal radiation and blast waves. If the impactor is sufficiently large, either an earthquake or tsunami can also result, depending on whether the impact occurs over land or water. However, the longer-term effects that extend beyond the area initially affected are less well characterized. Because...
Authors
Timothy Titus, D. G. Robertson, Joel B. Sankey, Larry Mastin
Ice resource mapping on Mars Ice resource mapping on Mars
This chapter explains the rationale for considering shallowly buried (0 to >5 m depth) water ice in the mid-latitudes of Mars as a resource to support future human missions, and describes a NASA-funded effort to map that ice with existing orbital remote-sensing data. In recent decades, numerous studies have used various datasets to investigate the presence and stability of water ice in...
Authors
Nathaniel Putzig, Gareth Morgan, Hanna Sizemore, David Hollibaugh Baker, Eric Petersen, Asmin Pathare, Colin M. Dundas, Ali Bramson, Samuel Courville, Matthew Perry, Stefano Nerozzi, Zachary Bain, Rachel Hoover, Bruce Campbell, Marco Mastrogiuseppe, Michael Mellon, Roberto Seu, Isaac Smith
National preparedness strategy & action plan for potentially hazardous near-Earth objects and planetary defense National preparedness strategy & action plan for potentially hazardous near-Earth objects and planetary defense
Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are asteroids and comets that orbit the Sun, but have orbits that can bring them into Earth’s neighborhood—within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit. Planetary defense is “applied planetary science” to address the NEO impact risks on Earth. This National Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan for Near-Earth Objects and Planetary Defense (2023 Planetary Defense...
Authors
Matthew Daniels, Lindley Johnson, Renata Kommel, Patrick Besha, Perry Brody, Kevin Conole, Kelly Fast, Angelo Fernandez, Ralph Gaume, Kevin Greenaugh, Ryan Guglietta, Diane Howard, Grace Hu, Christine Joseph, Brig Keuker-Murphy, L.A. Lewis, Lindsay Millard, Joel Mozer, Dianne Poster, Timothy Titus, Ashley Vanderley
User’s Guide to planetary image analysis and geologic mapping in ArcGIS Pro User’s Guide to planetary image analysis and geologic mapping in ArcGIS Pro
Geologic maps are valuable tools in planetary science. Though planetary geologic maps are similar to terrestrial (Earthbased) geologic maps, the nature of planetary exploration introduces unique challenges for geologic mappers. Terrestrial geologic mappers prepare products from field-based observation, often comparing or refining those with aerial and (or) orbital images. Planetary...
Authors
Sarah Black
An examination of soil crusts on the floor of Jezero crater, Mars An examination of soil crusts on the floor of Jezero crater, Mars
Martian soils are critically important for understanding the history of Mars, past potentially habitable environments, returned samples, and future human exploration. This paper examines soil crusts on the floor of Jezero crater encountered during initial phases of the Mars 2020 mission. Soil surface crusts have been observed on Mars at other locations, starting with the two Viking...
Authors
E.M. Hausrath, C. Adcock, A. Bechtold, P.S.A. Beck, K. Benison, A.J. Brown, E. L. Cardarelli, N. Carman, B. Chide, J. Christian, B. C. Clark, E. Cloutis, A. Cousin, O. Forni, Travis Gabriel, O. Gasnault, M. Golombek, F. Gomez, M. Hecht, T. Henley, J. Huidobro, J. Johnson, M. Jones, P. Kelemen, A. Knight, J. A. Lasue, S. Le Mouelic, J. M. Madariaga, J. Maki, L. Mandon, G. Martinez, J. Martinez-Frias, T. McConnochie, P. Meslin, M. Zorzano, H. Newsom, G. Paar, N. Randazzo, C. Royer, S. Siljestroem, M. Schmidt, S. Schroeder, M. A. Sephton, R. Sullivan, N. Turenne, A. Udry, S. VanBommel, A. Vaughan, R. Wiens, N. Williams
A review of common natural disasters as analogs for asteroid impact effects and cascading hazards A review of common natural disasters as analogs for asteroid impact effects and cascading hazards
Modern civilization has no collective experience with possible wide-ranging effects from a medium-sized asteroid impactor. Currently, modeling efforts that predict initial effects from a meteor impact or airburst provide needed information for initial preparation and evacuation plans, but longer-term cascading hazards are not typically considered. However, more common natural disasters...
Authors
Timothy Titus, D. G. Robertson, Joel B. Sankey, Larry Mastin, Francis Rengers
Regolith of the crater floor units, Jezero crater, Mars: Textures, composition and implications for provenance Regolith of the crater floor units, Jezero crater, Mars: Textures, composition and implications for provenance
A multi-instrument study of the regolith of Jezero crater floor units by the Perseverance rover has identified three types of regolith: fine-grained, coarse-grained, and mixed-type. Mastcam-Z, WATSON, and SuperCam RMI were used to characterize regolith texture, particle size, and roundedness where possible. Mastcam-Z multispectral and SuperCam LIBS data were used to constrain the...
Authors
Alicia Vaughan, Michelle Minitti, Emily Cardarelli, Jeffrey Johnson, Linda Kah, Paolo Pilleri, Mellisa Rice, Mark Sephton, Briony Horgan, Roger Wiens, R. Yingst, Maria-Paz Zorzano Mier, Ryan Anderson, James F. III Bell, Adrian Brown, Edward Cloutis, Agnes Cousin, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, Elisabeth Housrath, Alexander Hayes, Kjartan Kinch, Marco Merusi, Chase Million, Robert Sullivan, Sandra Siljestrom, Michael St. Clair