Planetary Science
Planetary Science News
Pluto May Have Captured Its Biggest Moon After an Ancient Dance and Kiss
01-09-2025
The New York Times — Some 4.5 billion years ago, the dwarf planet Pluto was suddenly joined by a companion, which resulted in Pluto and its quintet of moons orbiting the sun together today. A former Purdue PhD, Adeene Denton, weighs in about how this is comparable to Earth and its moon. (Subscription required)
Kelsey Prissel joins the College of Science Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science Department as assistant professor
01-08-2025
The College of Science EAPS Department welcomes Kelsey Prissel to the faculty in the fall of 2024. Prissel received an honors undergraduate degree in Geology-Chemistry from Brown University. She obtained her PhD from Washington University in St. Louis and held a post-doc at the Carnegie Institution for Science Earth and Planets Laboratory. Before making the transition to Purdue, she worked at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston as a Research Scientist for three years.
Surprisingly thick ice on Jupiter’s moon Europa complicates hunt for life
01-06-2025
AAAS — For decades, planetary scientists have thought that Jupiter’s moon Europa, which hides an ocean of salty water beneath its icy crust, might provide a rare harbor for extraterrestrial life. However, the ice is surprisingly thick, suggesting the ocean may lack the heat and chemical reactions needed for life to evolve, researchers reported last week at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Professor Brandon Johnson was quoted in this article.
Cauê Borlina joins the College of Science Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science Department as assistant professor
12-20-2024
The College of Science EAPS Department welcomes Cauê Borlina to the faculty in the fall of 2024. Borlina completed his undergraduate work in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan. He then attended MIT for his PhD in Planetary Science. After MIT, Borlina was at Johns Hopkins University as a Blaustein Postdoctoral Fellow.
A legacy etched in the red planet: Mars crater named for planetary expert Jay Melosh
12-19-2024
A leading world expert in impact crater physics, Jay Melosh, has permanently left his mark on Mars, the red planet. According to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature website, a crater on Mars has been named “Melosh.” Jay Melosh, a distinguished professor with Purdue’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), was known for his work on impact cratering, planetary tectonics and the physics of earthquakes and landslides.
Dr. Ben K. D. Pearce joins the College of Science Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science Department
12-19-2024
The College of Science EAPS Department welcomes Dr. Ben K. D. Pearce to the faculty in the fall of 2024. Dr. Pearce’s research investigates the chemical processes that give rise to life on planets.
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences faculty celebrate anniversaries at Purdue
12-17-2024
Purdue University honored over 300 faculty members for their years of service during a celebratory luncheon Dec. 3. Faculty members were celebrated for service anniversaries ranging from 10 years to a remarkable 55. Two members of the Purdue EAPS department were recognized.
Perseverance Rover Escapes Its Giant Martian Crater. Here’s What Happens Next
12-17-2024
GIZMODO — In a session held yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, Perseverance project scientists discussed Perseverance’s new environment, and what’s in store for the rover as it continues its trek across the rusty terrain. Briony Horgan, a planetary scientist at Purdue University and co-investigator on the Perseverance mission, hopped on the phone with Gizmodo to discuss what’s next.
Magnetic Meteorites May Explain How the Solar System Assembled
12-16-2024
Eos — Faint magnetic properties in primitive asteroid fragments suggest an early magnetic field strong enough to shepherd the growth of the outer planets. Cauê Borlina, a planetary scientist at Purdue University is quoted in the article by Eos.
Perseverance rover will uncover mysterious Martian history after a monthslong challenging trek
12-16-2024
CNN — After a steep monthslong trek, the Perseverance rover has reached the top of Jezero Crater on Mars. The site is a region unlike anything Perseverance has encountered during its 3 ½-year journey on the red planet. Candice Bedford, a Perseverance scientist from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, is quoted in article by CNN.
Shattered Genesis spacecraft yields scientific discoveries 20 years after crash landing
12-11-2024
SPACE NEWS — In September 2004, NASA’s Genesis return sample capsule tumbled from the sky and slammed into the Utah desert in a remote part of the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground, shattering the delicate solar wind collectors it carried. The upshot of that downfall: new scientific insights following over 20 years of painstaking work by researchers sorting through the spacecraft’s contaminated remains. “Genesis occupied a special place in the history of robotic space exploration as the first mission to return to Earth from beyond the moon, and the first return in a series of robotic sample-return missions,” said Roger Wiens, who runs the Wiens Planetary Spectroscopy Lab in Purdue University’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.
‘Black Beauty’ was found on Earth in 2011. Now, scientists say it has revealed a new clue to life on Mars
12-11-2024
CNN — A mineral trapped within a Martian meteorite that fell to Earth has revealed traces of water on Mars that date back 4.45 billion years, according to new research. The zircon grain may contain the oldest direct evidence of ancient hot water on the red planet, which may have provided environments such as hot springs that are associated with life on Earth. Until samples can be returned directly from Mars, the Black Beauty meteorite is one of the best windows into how the Martian crust formed and what the early surface of Mars was like, said Briony Horgan, co-investigator on the Perseverance rover mission and professor of planetary science at Purdue University.
UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science participates in AGU24
12-11-2024
WAM — The UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science (UAEREP) is participating in the AGU24, the premier annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union taking place from December 9 to 13, 2024, in Washington D.C. AGU24 brings together leading experts in earth and space sciences from around the globe to discuss topics ranging from climate change to innovative technologies and collaborative research efforts shaping the future of our planet. The UAEREP’s participation at AGU24 will also include strategic engagements with leading institutions in atmospheric and climate sciences including Purdue EAPS.
Purdue announces new head of the Department of Earth Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
12-06-2024
After a competitive search, Purdue University announced Andrea Donnellan will take on the role of head of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) effective January 1, 2025. Donnellan was manager of the Instrumental Systems Section at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) where she was also a senior research scientist before her taking this role at Purdue University’s College of Science.
Purdue scientist expecting new world to reveal itself to Mars rover
12-04-2024
NASA’s Mars 2020 rover mission and Purdue planetary scientist Briony Horgan are approaching a new phase in the search for details about the red planet’s history and potential for previously hosting life. The mission’s Perseverance rover is only weeks away from emerging from the 28-mile-wide Jezero Crater to explore new terrain. It’s a point in the mission Horgan set her sights on following the rover’s landing in the crater four years ago.
Meteorite contains evidence of liquid water on Mars 742 million years ago
11-06-2024
Eleven million years ago, an asteroid struck Mars and sent pieces of the red planet hurling through space. One of these chunks of Mars eventually crashed into the Earth somewhere near Purdue and is one of the few meteorites that can be traced directly to Mars. This meteorite was rediscovered in a drawer at Purdue University in 1931 and therefore named the Lafayette meteorite. During early investigations of the Lafayette meteorite, scientists discovered that it had interacted with liquid water while on Mars. Scientists have long wondered when the interaction with liquid water took place. An international collaboration of scientists including two from Purdue University’s College of Science have recently determined the age of the minerals in Lafayette that formed when there was liquid water. The team has published their findings in Geochemical Perspective Letters.
Europa Clipper is one of two missions on their way to see if Jupiter’s moons could support life
10-21-2024
POPULAR SCIENCE — On Oct. 14, 2024, NASA launched a robotic spacecraft named Europa Clipper to Jupiter’s moons. Clipper will reach the ice-covered Jovian moon Europa in 2030 and spend several years collecting and sending valuable data on the moon’s potential habitability back to Earth. Mike Sori, of Purdue EAPS, explains this mission and more for The Conversation and Popular Science.
NASA Mars Rover Spots Surprising ‘Zebra Rock’ Unlike Any Other
09-24-2024
FORBES — Mars fans have been abuzz since NASA’s Perseverance rover spotted an extraordinary rock on Sept. 13. A raw image sent back by the rover shows a striped rock with dark and light features sitting on the dusty ground. No other known Mars rocks have looked quite like this “zebra rock.” Researchers are now offering possible explanations for the oddity. “The internet immediately lit up with speculation about what this ‘zebra rock’ might be, and we’ve enjoyed reading your theories,” wrote Athanasios Klidaras, a Perseverance team member and doctoral student at Purdue EAPS.
Unrelaxed craters muddy the waters of the dwarf planet Ceres
09-19-2024
NATURE — Ceres’s surface is ice-rich and warm, so we expect craters to viscously flow. Yet most of Ceres’s craters are not shallow. A new model, created by Ian Pamerleau and Prof. Mike Sori of Purdue EAPS, that includes a stronger, progressively dirtier icy crust, frozen from an ancient ocean, may reconcile this discrepancy.
1 million shots for ChemCam on Mars
09-10-2024
CNES — On Wednesday August 21, the millionth ChemCam shot was fired at Mars. This was Sol 4281, the 4281st Martian day of the mission. The data were received on Thursday August 22nd for analysis by the American team. ChemCam was developed at Los Alamos and in France with Prof. Roger Wiens of Purdue EAPS as its leader 2004-2021. He and student Mia Rudin are still using it to study Mars.
ChemCam fires its laser for the millionth time on Mars
09-10-2024
LOS ALAMOS — The Curiosity rover has been roaming the red planet for 12 years and has fired its one millionth laser shot on Mars. It began zapping away over 12 years ago and is still going strong. ChemCam was developed at Los Alamos and in France with Prof. Roger Wiens of Purdue EAPS as its leader 2004-2021. He and student Mia Rudin are still using it to study Mars.
Investigating Origins of CO2 Ice on Uranian Moons
09-03-2024
EOS EDITOR'S HIGHLIGHT — A new study investigates the role of volatile migration in the unique Uranian thermal environment. The study's lead author is Stephanie Menten, PhD candidate with Purdue EAPS, et al. test theories of CO2 origin on Ariel by modeling the transport and sublimation of CO2 across the surface. The high obliquity of the Uranus system means that the subsolar point on these moons varies between near the south pole and near the north pole on seasonal timescales (one Uranus year is about 84 Earth years). The authors find that CO2 ice can migrate on timescales of just a few Uranian years, and that it will tend to migrate towards Ariel’s equator and away from the poles, uniformly in longitude.
From lab to lunar and beyond: Check out some of the innovative space research from Purdue University
08-26-2024
PURDUE NEWS — Space scientists are the boots on the ground of extraterrestrial exploration, and Purdue’s researchers rank among the most elite. This collection of impactful news from Purdue University’s space research labs represents the wonder of outer space’s limitless potential. Included in this roundup is research by EAPS faculty Ali Bramson, Alexandria Johnson, Brandon Johnson and Briony Horgan.
Perseverance rover is making a steep ascent to reach unexplored Martian territory
08-26-2024
CNN — The Perseverance rover has begun a long climb up the steep rim of Jezero Crater on a quest to discover some of the most ancient rocks on Mars — and the potential for environments that may have once hosted life on the red planet. “We should be able to access and sample some of the oldest rocks on Mars in the crater rim,” said Briony Horgan, co-investigator on the Perseverance rover mission and professor of planetary science at Purdue University.