From ancient climate changes caused by our solar system’s galactic road trip to NASA’s dishwasher-sized Moon explorer and Australia launching Vegemite into space, this month’s space roundup has it all. Plus, if you ever need to call ET, the 21 cm hydrogen signal might be your best bet! And did you know rogue planets aren’t necessarily kicked-out exiles? They might actually form on their own. 🚀🌍✨
NASA’s Europa Clipper is using Mars as a cosmic slingshot to get a speed boost on its journey to Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. While zipping past at 884 km, scientists will test its instruments before it heads off on its 2.9-billion-kilometr trek. But Europa isn’t the only icy world making waves—new data suggests Jupiter’s Callisto also has a hidden ocean, and Saturn’s Enceladus has a mushy zone under its ice shell that might be hiding alien microbes. Beyond the frost line, the search for life is heating up! 🚀❄️👽
(And we can do something about it.)
Life needs CHNOPS, the six essential elements Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, and Sulphur. Curiosity found them on ancient Mars, but a new study shows Earth was born without them. Only a lucky impact with Theia made our world habitable. In contrast, Venus never stood a chance. Meet the three planetary siblings and discover why only Earth became a cradle for life.
Mars’s mantle contains ancient fragments up to 4km wide from its formation—preserved like geological fossils from the planet’s violent early history.
Cosmic rays are hitting the atmosphere constantly. One of the products of the collisions is muons, and we can detect muons on the surface of the Earth to learn about the cosmic rays.
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