Planetary Science and Resources Discoveries

Planetary scientists sharing ideas and discoveries.

Planetary Science and Resources Discoveries (PSRD) is an educational site sharing the latest research on the nature and origin of the Moon, meteorites, asteroids, planets, and other materials in our Solar System, and on identifying potential resources on those bodies that could be tapped for the benefit of people on Earth. Original support came from the Planetary Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate and Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium. This site is a vital link for what's new in planetary and space sciences, space resources exploration, and learning how science works.

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CosmoSparks Reports

CosmoSparks reports give quick views of big advances in cosmochemistry and planetary science, with links to further details.



DATE POSTED

REPORT

PDF VERSIONS

JULY 2021 Visit to a New Mineralogy Museum: The University of Arizona Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum - See spectacular mineral displays and more.

pdf link, UA Alfie Norville Museum
JULY 2020 Riding Along with Apollo 16 Astronauts - Watch a portion of a motion picture film taken during Apollo 16 extravehicular activity that has been enhanced to an upgraded frame rate by Dutchsteammachine.

pdf link, Riding Along with Apollo 16 Astronauts
JUNE 2020 Geology of Ice Deposits at the Lunar Poles - A geologic model of polar deposits describes the source of the ice, its deposition, and its retention in the frigid polar regolith.

pdf link, Geology of Ice Deposits at the Lunar Poles
JUNE 2020 A Review of the Antarctic Collection of Meteorites - Antarctic meteorites provide a continuous and readily available supply of extraterrestrial materials, stimulating new research and ideas in cosmochemistry, planetary geology, astronomy, and astrobiology.

pdf link, Antarctic Collection of Meteorites
MAY 2020 Applying Machine Learning to Giant-Impact Studies of Planet Formation - Combining giant-impact studies with machine learning builds on the long-standing aspiration to better understand the long chain of events, collisions, mergers, and accretions that formed planets.

pdf link, Applying Machine Learning to Giant-Impact Studies
MAY 2020 New Unified Geologic Map of the Moon - The latest renovations of geologic maps of the Moon, created in the 1970s and updated in 2013, are depicted on one unified geologic map at a 1:5,000,000 scale.

pdf link, New Unified Geologic Map of the Moon
APRIL 2020 Cosmic Dust in Planetary Atmospheres - Models and experiments show the fate of cosmic dust that enters the atmospheres of planets and how ionization and ablation of the cosmic dust influences chemistry all the way to the surface.

pdf link, Cosmic Dust in Planetary Atmospheres
APRIL 2020 Mineral Abundances in Moon Dirt - A data set of mineral and glass abundance of 118 lunar soil samples was determined by quantitative x-ray diffraction analysis.

pdf link, Mineral Abundances in Moon Dirt
MARCH 2020 Looking Up to Understand Down: Studying Other Planets to Learn about Earth - Comparative planetary science is the art of learning about all the planets so we can understand what processes operated during their formation and geologic evolution.

pdf link, Looking Up to Understand Down
FEB 2020 Missions and Instruments for the Moon - Overviews of NASA's current, funded portfolio of lunar missions, instruments, and concept studies were presented at the February 2020 LEAG virtual workshop.

pdf link, LEAG meeting Feb. 2020
FEB 2020 ANSMET 2019-2020 Field Season at Davis-Ward, Antarctica - 346 meteorites collected for scientific study.

pdf link, ANSMET 2019-2020
JAN 2020 No More Global Moon Magnetic Field — When Did the Lunar Dynamo Shut Off? - Studies of remnant rock magnetization in Apollo samples help answer questions of lunar core dynamo duration.

pdf link, Lunar Dynamo
DEC 2019 Geochemistry Journal—Special Issue Honors Professor Klaus Keil - Twenty articles spanning a range of topics in meteoritics and cosmochemistry honor Prof. Klaus Keil on the occasion of his 85th birthday.

pdf link, Geochemistry, special issue
DEC 2019 Bennu–Active Asteroid - Particle ejection events from the surface of asteroid Bennu are studied with OSIRIS-REx imaging data and modeling to try to find plausible explanations.

pdf link, Bennu, active asteroid
NOV 2019 Building the Case for a New CY Group of Carbonaceous Chondrites - Researchers support naming a new CY group of carbonaceous chondrite meteorites that may be similar to near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, the target of sample return in December 2020.

pdf link, New CY Group of CC
NOV 2019 Refueling Space Exploration - An academic-government-industry cohort describes how and why to make a lunar-polar-ice propellant production plant on the Moon.

pdf link, Refueling Space Exploration
OCT 2019 Dust Delivered to Earth from the Breakup of the L-chondrite Parent Body - Researchers consider the significance of the Ordovician-time influx of extraterrestrial dust on sudden global cooling and increase in diversity of marine life on Earth.

pdf link, L-chondrite Dust
SEPT 2019 Solar Wind Interactions with a Lunar Paleo-magnetosphere - Modeling results indicate that interaction of a lunar paleo-magnetosphere with the early solar wind affected the competing processes of implantation, accumulation, and space weathering of solar wind H+ on the lunar surface.

pdf link, Lunar Paleo-magnetosphere
SEPT 2019 New Mineral: Edscottite - New iron carbide mineral, Fe5C2, identified in iron meteorite is named after Dr. Edward R. D. Scott.

pdf link, New Mineral: Edscottite
AUG 2019 Rolling Stones on Mars - Researchers use orbital images to document active geologic activity–boulder movement–on steep slopes of high-latitude Martian craters.

pdf link, Rolling Stones on Mars
JUNE 2019 Understanding Volatile Element Loss in Meteorites and their Parent Asteroids - Laboratory heating experiments track the release of labile elements in meteorite samples to better understand asteroid evolution, with relevance to future handling of samples returned from asteroid Bennu.

pdf link, Understanding Volatile Element Loss in Meteorites and their Parent Asteroids
JUNE 2019 Geosciences Journal—Special issue on Recent Advances in Lunar Studies -Five articles cover studies related to the Moon's formation, evolution, and exploration.

pdf link, Geosciences Special Issue
MAY 2019 Icarus Journal—Special Issue on the 1908 Tunguska Airburst - Eight articles take a modern, post-Chelyabinsk, look at the Tunguska event, covering topics also presented at a 2018 NASA workshop.

pdf link, Icarus Journal Issue about Tunguska
APRIL 2019 First Event Horizon Telescope Results–ApJL Focus Issue - Six articles highlight the world's first ultra-high angular resolution images of radio emission from a supermassive black hole.

pdf link, Event Horizon Telescope and first image of supermassive black hole
MARCH 2019 Using Vanadium Isotopes to Investigate Chondrites, Earth, and Moon - Researchers investigate vanadium isotope variations in chondrite meteorites, lunar samples, and the consequences for Earth and Moon accretion.

pdf link, Vanadium Isotopes
FEB 2019 Early Martian Crust as Recorded by NWA 7533 - Researchers study pyrite in Martian meteorite to investigate chalcophile and sideophile element cycling in the early Martian crust.

pdf link, Early Martian Crust as Recorded by NWA 7533
FEB 2019 Davis-Ward: The Ice That Keeps on Giving Meteorites - With 865 meteorites cached in the shipping crate, the 2018-2019 Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) field team has wrapped up a successful season on the ice.

pdf link, ANSMET 2018-2019
JAN 2019 The Primordial Chemistry of Phosphorus - Research suggests volatile forms of phosphorus were not abundant or persistent in the early history of our Solar System, even in the colder regions.

pdf link, Primordial Chemistry of Phosphorus
JAN 2019 Lunar Orange Glass Beads - Lava droplets likely cooled in a short-lived atmosphere of gases released locally from a volcanic eruption on the Moon.

pdf link, Lunar Orange Glass Beads
JAN 2019 2019: International Year of the Periodic Table - Recognizing the 150th anniversary of the valuable Periodic Table of Chemical Elements.

pdf link, International Year of the Periodic Table
DEC 2018 Young Craters with Really Cold Regolith on the Moon - Researchers consider candidate source-craters of lunar meteorites among the cold-spot craters identified in Diviner nighttime regolith temperature maps.

pdf link, Young Craters with Really Cold Regolith on the Moon
NOV 2018 Assessing Venus' Clouds in the Ultraviolet - Researchers hypothesize a biological-microbial contribution to the ultraviolet spectral features in the lower clouds of Venus.

pdf link, Venus' Clouds in the Ultraviolet
OCT 2018 Water Delivery by Impact During Planetary Accretion... and Even Now - Experiments show products of hypervelocity impacts, by carbonaceous chondrite-like projectiles, can retain water.

pdf link, Water Delivery by Impact
SEPT 2018 An Incompletely Differentiated Asteroid - The Acapulcoite-Lodranite group of meteorites provides information about different degrees of partial melting in asteroids.

pdf link, Incompletely Differentiated Asteroid
SEPT 2018 The Moon's Farside Von Kármán Crater - The new, Chang'E-4 mission to the Moon plans to bring a lander and a rover for the first time to the lunar farside.

pdf link, Moon's Farside Von Karman Crater
AUG 2018 Observing the First Interstellar Object in our Solar System - From its brief passage through our Solar System, data collected on the interstellar, comet-like object named ‘Oumuamua can help us learn more about our universe.

pdf link, Interstellar 'Oumuamua
JUNE 2018 What Cycling Temperatures Have To Do With Making Regolith on Asteroids - Meteorite experiments and numerical models show how cracks grow along grain boundaries during thermal cycling, leading to disaggregated rocks and regolith on asteroids.

pdf link, What Cycling Temperatures Have To Do With Making Regolith on Asteroids
MAY 2018 A Spectral Study of Least-processed Carbonaceous Chondrites - 1.4- and 21-µm features are distinctive infrared identifiers of least-processed meteorites from all chemical groups of carbonaceous chondrites; Asteroid (93) Minerva has a similar near-infrared spectrum.

pdf link, Spectral Study of Least-processed CO3s
APRIL 2018 Microtektites - Microtektites from a glacial moraine near Larkman Nunatak, Antarctica are related to the Australasian strewn field.

pdf link, Microtektites
APRIL 2018 Meteoritics & Planetary Science Journal—Special Issue on Impact Cratering - Articles in the April 2018 issue cover work presented at the May 2015 Workshop on Issues in Crater Studies and the Dating of Planetary Surfaces.

pdf link, MAPS special issue
APRIL 2018 Icarus Journal—Special Issue on Asteroids and Space Debris - Articles in the April 2018 issue cover research on asteroids.

pdf link, Icarus special issue
FEB 2018 ANSMET 2017-2018 Field Season - 263 meteorites collected for scientific study from the icefields surrounding Grosvenor Mountains and headwaters of Amundsen Glacier, Antarctica.

pdf link, ANSMET-2017-2018
FEB 2018 Impact Cratering on Porous Asteroids - Experiments and modeling show how large-scale impacts into highly porous targets form craters mostly by compaction.

pdf link, Impact Cratering on Porous Asteroids
JAN 2018 Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta—Astrophysical Implications of Extraterrestrial Materials: A Special Issue for Ernst K. Zinner - A scientific tribute to Ernst K. Zinner.

pdf link, GCA special issue: A scientific tribute to Ernst K. Zinner
JAN 2018 Boron Found in Martian Meteorites and in situ in Gale Crater - The discovery of in situ, water-soluble boron on Mars enables researchers to better track the history of Martian aqueous activity, habitability, and the potential for development of life.

pdf link, Boron on Mars
NOV 2017 Bounty of Iron Meteorites Found on Mars - Six specimens now have official names and designation as meteorites found on Mars.

pdf link, Bounty of Iron Meteorites Found on Mars
NOV 2017 Harrison H. Schmitt's "Apollo 17: Diary of the 12th Man" - The Astronaut's personal account of the Apollo 17 Mission.

pdf link, Apollo 17: Diary of the 12th Man
OCT 2017 Apollo 17 at Taurus-Littrow: New Perspectives from the Geologist in situ - Taking the lead of a multi-dataset, comprehensive study of the geology of the lunar valley of Taurus-Littrow is the first geologist who worked there.

pdf link, Apollo 17 at Taurus-Littrow
OCT 2017 Hafnium-tungsten Isotopes - The elements hafnium and tungsten are marvels when it comes to studying the timescales of planetary accretion, differentiation, and core formation.

pdf link, Hafnium-tungsten Isotopes
JULY 2017 Total Solar Eclipse – August 21, 2017 - The Moon's topography affects the shape of its shadow on Earth's surface during a solar eclipse, plus other information about August's total solar eclipse.

pdf link, Total Solar Eclipse -- August 21, 2017
JULY 2017 More on the Building Blocks of Planet Earth - Isotopic data from meteorites are used in the search for Earth-forming materials.

pdf link, Building Blocks of Earth
JUNE 2017 New Mineral: Rubinite - New refractory mineral, Ca3Ti3+2Si3O12, discovered in CV3 chondrites is named after Dr. Alan Rubin.

pdf link, New Mineral: Rubinite
MAY 2017 Flux of O+ Ions from Earth to the Moon - Terrestrial O+ ions escape to the lunar surface when Earth's magnetosphere blocks the Moon from the solar wind.

pdf link, Flux of Oxygen Ions from Earth to the Moon
APRIL 2017 Life Span of the Solar Nebula - Researchers mark the end of the solar nebula by studying remanent magnetism preserved in angrite meteorites.

pdf link, Life Span of the Solar Nebula
MARCH 2017 Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta—Special Issue on Isotopic Studies of Planetary and Nuclear Materials - A scientific tribute to Ian Douglass Hutcheon.

pdf link, GCA special issue
MARCH 2017 Ceres Has Organics - Scientists make the first unambiguous detection of organic compounds on a main asteroid belt body from Dawn orbital data.

pdf link, Ceres Has Organics
FEB 2017 Found: Attractive Blue Ice and 219 Meteorites - Report of the 2016-2017 ANSMET team's season in the Elephant Moraine (EET) icefields of Antarctica.

pdf link, ANSMET 2016-2017
FEB 2017 Formal Names for Pluto's Geological Features - The International Astronomical Union, in conjunction with the New Horizons mission team, has approved themes to be used to name surface features on dwarf planet, or planet, Pluto.

pdf link, Pluto
FEB 2017 New Mineral: Machiite - New ultra-refractory mineral, Al2Ti3O9, discovered in Murchison meteorite is named after Dr. Chi Ma.

pdf link, New Mineral: Machiite
JAN 2017 When Achondrites Surpassed Ordinary Chondrites in the Meteorite Flux to Earth - Before the breakup of the L-chondrite parent body, achondrites rained down on the Middle Ordovician Earth.

pdf link, Middle Ordovician meteorite flux
JAN 2017 Lava Flow Look-a-Likes - Impact melt flows on the Moon are formed by the high pressures of shock and melting of rock during an impact event. Once solidified they look like lava flows yet have unique surface roughness characteristics.

pdf link, Lunar Impact Melt Flows
DEC 2016 The Idea of Hematite Formation on Mars Through Photo-Oxidation - Results from photo-oxidation experiments lead to a model for hematite on early Mars.

pdf link, Iron Photo Oxidation
NOV 2016 Revealing the Secrets of Asteroid Melting by Precise Oxygen Isotopic Analyses - High precision oxygen isotopic studies show the relationships among different meteorite groups.

pdf link, High Precision Oxygen Isotopic Analyses
NOV 2016 Modeling the Effects of a Giant Planet Instability in the Early Solar System - Numerical model shows how primordial planetesimals that once existed beyond the orbit of Neptune may be found in the inner asteroid belt. Could the Tagish Lake meteorite be such a sample?

pdf link, Modeling Giant Planet Instability
NOV 2016 LEAG—Bernard Ray Hawke Next Lunar Generation Career Development Award - Sponsored by SSERVI, travel funds awarded to early career scientists and engineers to participate in LEAG meetings honor Dr. Hawke's legacy.

pdf link, LEAG-SSERVI-Hawke travel award
OCT 2016 Measuring and Modeling the Structure of the Best-Preserved Impact Basin on the Moon - Orientale basin formation and structure interpreted with GRAIL gravity data and quantitative modeling.

pdf link, Orientale
OCT 2016 Asteroids Up Close - Remote sensing, returned samples from asteroid missions, and meteorites all help us better understand asteroids.

pdf link, Asteroids Up Close
OCT 2016 A Classic Returns - IMPACT! eBook novel tells a story centering around the threat of a big Earth-crossing asteroid that is heading right at us.

pdf link, Impact! eBook
SEPT 2016 Explaining CO2 Inside the Snowline - Laboratory experiments determine CO2 adsorption onto carbonaceous chondrite meteorites with implications for the presence of CO2 in the non-ice materials on the satellites of Jupiter.

pdf link, CO2 adsorption experiments
SEPT 2016 Icarus Journal—Mars Science Discoveries from Surface and Orbital Information - Eight articles inside the December 2016 issue look at Mars at multiple scales: MicroMars to MegaMars.

pdf link, Icarus, v. 280
SEPT 2016 Science Journal—Results using Dawn Image and Spectral Data from Dwarf-planet Ceres - Six papers in the September 2, 2016 issue of Science cover Dawn Results from Ceres.

pdf link, Science v. 353(6303)
AUG 2016 Groovy Imbrium - Origin and implications of grooves and lineations that trend non-radially from the Imbrium basin.

pdf link, Groovy Imbrium
JULY 2016 Remnants of Earth's Construction - Tungsten isotopic data from modern flood basalts show that regions of Earth's mantle have remained chemically isolated since they formed during accretion of the planet.

pdf link, W-isotopes
JUNE 2016 Elements Magazine—Special Issue on Cosmic Dust - Six articles and the CosmoElements page in the June 2016 issue cover cosmic dust.

pdf link, Elements magazine on cosmic dust
MAY 2016 An Improved Calibration of Reflectance Data from LOLA - An Icarus special issue presents new results from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, including LOLA data, relevant to space weathering and many other topics of interest.

pdf link, Improved Calibration of Reflectance Data from LOLA
APRIL 2016 Mars Gravity, Tides, and Love Number - Radio tracking data of orbiting spacecraft are used to investigate the gravity field, solid tides, and the Love number on Mars.

pdf link, Mars Gravity Field
FEB 2016 Iron Meteorites Just Below the Icy Surface - New hypothesis says Antarctic iron meteorites could sink at a rate that offsets the local, annual upward ice flow, effectively trapping them a few tens of centimeters below the surface.

pdf link, Iron Meteorites Just Below the Icy Surface
FEB 2016 ANSMET 2015-2016 North to South in the Miller Range, Antarctica - Successful season recovering meteorites for scientific study.

pdf link, ANSMET 2015-2016
FEB 2016 Space Weathering on the Moon–By Degrees Latitude - Researchers propose that reduced solar wind flux toward higher latitudes is the reason for systematic near-infrared spectral variations in lunar maria.

pdf link, Space Weathering on the Moon
JAN 2016 Comprehending Asteroids - Understanding asteroids through the effective blend of laboratory analyses of meteorites and samples and data obtained with asteroid missions.

pdf link, Comprehending Asteroids
DEC 2015 Impacting the Properties of Asteroids - Researchers assess damaged and deformed chondrules in a meteorite to understand the impact-induced changes on chondrite parent bodies.

pdf link, Impacting the Properties of Asteroids
DEC 2015 Probing Bulk Magma Compositions of Mars - Using small melt inclusions in olivine crystals in the Tissint meteorite to investigate bulk magma compositions of Mars.

pdf link, Probing Bulk Magma Compositions of Mars
OCT 2015 Target: Schrödinger Basin - Impact melt rocks collected from Schrödinger Basin could reveal the age of the Moon's South Pole-Aitken basin.

pdf link, Target: Schrodinger Basin
AUG 2015 Impact Jetting: Very Quick Looks at Jet Velocities - Ultrafast imaging of high-velocity experimental impact collisions are allowing new measurements of the ejection velocities of jetted material.

pdf link, Impact Jetting: Very Quick Looks at Jet Velocities
JULY 2015 The Shocking Price of Escape Velocity - Correlating the percentage of maskelynite-bearing samples in a basaltic-meteorite group with parent-body escape velocity.

pdf link, shocking price of escape velocity
JULY 2015 First Discovery of a High-pressure Polymorph of Silica in an Apollo Sample - Though stishovite was identified previously in lunar meteorites, this is the first detection of stishovite in an Apollo sample.

pdf link, discovery of stishovite in Apollo sample 15299
JULY 2015 Icarus Journal—Special Issue on Lunar Volatiles - Articles in the July 15, 2015 issue cover research presented at a virtual workshop focusing on recent advances in understanding water and other volatiles on the Moon.

pdf link, Icarus Special Issue on Lunar Volatiles
MAY 2015 Modeling Water Adsorption on Olivine Crystals in the Solar Nebula - Modeling results suggest a pathway for the formation of phyllosilicates, which could have been accreted into Earth.

pdf link, adsorption on olivine in the solar nebula
MAY 2015 Making an Argument Against the Late Veneer Hypothesis for Mars - HSE contents in the mantle of Mars are due to a long process of equilibration during the planet's growth, influenced by the combined effects of pressure, temperature, and core composition.

pdf link, HSE and agrument against late veneer on Mars
MARCH 2015 New Book Published on 35 Seasons of U.S. Antarctic Meteorites - Ten chapters and 80 color plates showcase the efforts to collect, curate, and analyze these extraterrestrial samples.

pdf link, new book on 35 seasons of U.S. Antarctic meteorites
FEB 2015 Circumstances of Cubanite in a Comet and Asteroid - Laboratory synthesis of copper-iron sulfide helps establish conditions of its formation.

pdf link, cubanite experiments
FEB 2015 Elements Magazine—Issue on the Mineralogy of Mars - Six articles inside the February 2015 issue look at Mars with Curiosity rover data.

pdf link, Elements magazine
FEB 2015 ANSMET 2014-2015 Field Season at Davis-Ward, Antarctica - The team sets a record with 172 meteorites collected in a single day.

pdf link, ANSMET 2014-2015
JAN 2015 Mineralogical–Spectral Details of Meteorites Shed Light on Dark Asteroids - CM and CI chondrites are used to interpret aqueous alteration on asteroids.

pdf link, mineralogy-MIR-meteorites
DEC 2014 Discovery of Bridgmanite in the Tenham L6 Chondrite - Meteorites teach us about the Earth.

pdf link, bridgmanite
NOV 2014 Tracking Asteroids—Watching the Sky—Searching for Meteorites - NASA's Near-Earth Object observation program released a new global map of meteor strikes plus ANSMET begins a new season of searching for meteorites in Antarctica.

pdf link, meteor map plus meteorites
NOV 2014 Extraordinary View of a Star and its Protoplanetary Disk - Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array image captures protoplanetary disk.

pdf link, protoplanetary disk image
OCT 2014 Presolar Graphite Grain Isolated from a Carbonaceous Chondrite - Isotopic and microstructural investigations of a unique low-density supernova graphite grain.

pdf link, Presolar graphite grain
SEPT 2014 Meteoritics & Planetary Science—More Cosmochemical Details of Interstellar Dust from the Stardust Mission - More results of the analyses of interstellar dust particles collected in the aerogel and aluminum foil of NASA's Stardust mission.

pdf link, Contemporary interstellar dust
AUG 2014 Contemporary Interstellar Dust in the Lab - Stardust scientists and the Stardust@home dusters find seven particles of probable interstellar origin.

pdf link, Contemporary interstellar dust
JULY 2014 Partition Coefficients in Fe-rich Systems: Relevance to the Lunar Mantle - Experiments help us learn about partial melting in the geochemically heterogeneous lunar mantle.

pdf link, Partition Coefficients in Fe-rich Systems
JULY 2014 Invoking a Hit-and-Run Collisional Origin for Planet Mercury - Grazing collisions between proto-Mercury and a larger body can explain Mercury's massive metallic core and thin rocky mantle.

pdf link, Hit-and-Run Collisional Origin for Mercury
JULY 2014 Investigating Particle Clumping in Microgravity - Educational demonstrations on the International Space Station are relevant to studies of the growth of asteroids and planets.

pdf link, Investigating Particle Clumping in Microgravity
JUNE 2014 Meteors Generate Radio Emissions - Observations of bright radio emission are correlated to large, energetic meteors.

pdf link, Meteors Generate Radio Emissions
APRIL 2014 Felsic Crust Formation - Iron isotope compositions of paired meteorites GRA 06128 and 06129 help to explain a formation mechanism for iron-sulfide-rich felsic melts.

pdf link, Felsic Crust Formation
APRIL 2014 Investigating Q and Noble Gases in Meteorites - Nano-scale analyses on a carbon-rich, acid-resistant residue of the Saratov (L4) meteorite.

pdf link, Investigating Q and Noble Gases in Meteorites
APRIL 2014 Laboratory Experiments to Understand the Chemical Origin of the Solar System - Looking at lithium concentration and isotope fractionation in augite grains.

pdf link, Lithium isotope fractionation
MARCH 2014 Elements Magazine—Special Issue on Asteroids - Six articles and the CosmoElements page in the February 2014 issue cover asteroid targets and sampling.

pdf link, Elements special issue on asteroids
FEB 2014 ANSMET 2013-2014 Field Season in the Miller Range, Antarctica - 333 meteorites collected for scientific study.

pdf link, ANSMET 2013-2014
FEB 2014 Presolar Oxide Grains: A Study of Spinels - Measurements of elemental and isotopic compositions and microstructural properties of presolar grains.

pdf link, presolar spinel grains
JAN 2014 The First Rock Ages Returned from the Surface of Mars - Measurements by NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover help scientists determine the age of a mudstone at Gale crater.

pdf link, First Rock Ages Returned from the Surface of Mars
DEC 2013 Titanium Variations in Mare Basalts at the Chang'e-3 Landing Site on the Moon - A look at the landing site of Yutu (Jade-Rabbit), China's Moon rover.

pdf link, mare basalts at the Chang'e-3 landing site
DEC 2013 Eden Patera, Mars—New Category of Ancient Martian Volcanism? - New study suggests plains-style caldera complexes in Arabia Terra.

pdf link, Eden Patera, Mars
NOV 2013 World Notice: 10,000 Near-Earth Objects and Details About One That Landed in Russia - International space agencies, observatories, and the United Nations plan to coordinate NEO efforts.

pdf link, Near-Earth Objects
SEPT 2013 Composition of the Rocknest Deposit, Gale Crater, Mars - Coupled with laboratory data on Martian meteorites, Curiosity rover analyses give a much fuller picture of the geological and geochemical evolution of the Martian surface.

pdf link, Composition of the Rocknest Deposit, Gale Crater, Mars
SEPT 2013 The Organics in Sutter's Mill Meteorite - Soluble and insoluble organic materials in a recently fallen CM chondrite—what they possibly mean to the development of prebiotic organics on the early Earth.

pdf link, The Organics in Sutter's Mill Meteorite
AUG 2013 Absolute Ages of Mercury's Surface - Determining the absolute ages of Mercury's oldest surfaces to bracket the bombardment and volcanic histories of the closest planet to the Sun.

pdf link, Absolute Ages of Mercury's Surface
JULY 2013 Dmisteinbergite: Refractory Mineral in Allende FUN CAI - Hexagonal CaAl2Si2O8 likely crystallized from a silicate melt at high temperature by rapid cooling.

pdf link, Dmisteinbergite in meteorites
MARCH 2013 Studying the Most Primitive Extraterrestrial Dust - Isotopic compositions and presolar grain abundances from interplanetary dust particles.

pdf link, Studying the Most Primitive Extraterrestrial Dust
FEB 2013 The Surprise Meteorite Fall in Russia, February, 2013 - The meteoroid, meteor, and ordinary chondrite in Chelyabinsk in the news.

pdf link, The Surprise Meteorite Fall in Russia, February, 2013
FEB 2013 ANSMET 2012-2013 Field Season Yields New Meteorite Samples - Hundreds of new specimens will be available for research.

pdf link, ANSMET 2012-2013 Field Season Yields New Meteorite Samples
FEB 2013 Meteoritics & Planetary Science Journal–Special Issue - Articles in the December 2012 issue cover cosmochemical research presented at the 2011 Workshop on Formation of the First Solids in the Solar System.

pdf link, Meteoritics & Planetary Science Journal Special Issue
JAN 2013 Chondrule Formation - Data from oxygen-isotopic compositions and oxidation states of chondrule olivines in CR chondrites.

pdf link, Chondrule Formation
OCT 2012 Discovery of Native Mercury and Mercury Sulfide in Tieschitz Meteorite - Microbeads of native Hg indicate cold accretion.

pdf link, Discovery of Native Mercury and Mercury Sulfide in Tieschitz Meteorite
SEPT 2012 Volatiles on Vesta - Implications for the hydrogen detected on Vesta with data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft.

pdf link, Volatiles on Vesta
AUG 2012 Mantle of Mars - Insights to the interior of Mars: theme of an upcoming workshop in Houston, TX and a newly selected NASA geophysical mission.

pdf link, Mantle of Mars
JULY 2012 Lunar Rock Densities - Measuring rock properties of density and porosity for geophysical modeling of the Moon.

pdf link, Lunar Rock Densities
JULY 2012 Water, Carbonaceous Chondrites, and Earth - The drive continues to understand all the possible sources of Earth's water.

pdf link, Water, Carbonaceous Chondrites, and Earth
JUNE 2012 Olympic-caliber Mineral Finder - A new mineral, panguite, formed during the birth of our Solar System has been found in the Allende meteorite.

pdf link, Olympic-caliber Mineral Finder
MAY 2012 Space Station Crew Answers Question about Micrometeorites - On the day Space Station astronauts opened the hatch and entered the SpaceX Dragon capsule for the first time, PSRD asked: how does micrometeorite bombardment affect spacecraft?

pdf link, Space Station Crew Answers Question about Micrometeorites
MAY 2012 Weathered Glass on Mars - Extensive deposits of weathered, glassy sediments suggest widespread explosive volcanism and late-stage surface alteration by water.

pdf link, Weathered Glass on Mars
APRIL 2012 Meteoritics & Planetary Science Journal–Special Issue - Nineteen articles in the April 2012 issue cover cosmochemical results from the Stardust Mission to Comet Wild 2.

pdf link, Meteoritics & Planetary Science Journal Special Issue
APRIL 2012 Earth's Temporary Minimoons - Asteroids temporarily orbiting Earth follow a wild route before they exit. Could they someday be mined?

pdf link, Earth's Temporary Minimoons
APRIL 2012 Why the Definition of Crystal Changed - The discovery of quasicrystals revolutionized the science of crystal chemistry, and one of them shows evidence of an extraterrestrial origin.

pdf link, Why the Definition of Crystal Changed
FEB 2012 ANSMET 2011-2012 Field Season in the Miller Range, Antarctica - 302 meteorites collected for scientific study.

pdf link ANSMET 2011-2012 Field Season in the Miller Range, Antarctica
JAN 2012 A Summer Fall - Martian meteorite, Tissint, fell in Morocco in July, 2011 and pieces are now being analyzed by cosmochemists.

pdf link, A Summer Fall
JAN 2012 Soluble Organics of the Bells Meteorite - An inventory of prebiotic, soluble organic compounds in an anomalous CM chondrite.

pdf link, Soluble Organics of the Bells Meteorite
DEC 2011 It's Not All Basalt on the Moon: Another Kind of Volcanic Rock - Looking at non-mare silicic volcanism.

pdf link, It's Not All Basalt on the Moon: Another Kind of Volcanic Rock
NOV 2011 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences–Cosmochemistry Special Feature - Nine articles inside the November 2011 issue cover cosmochemical research.

pdf link, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences--Cosmochemistry Special Feature
OCT 2011 Earth's Heat - It is now possible to measure the radiogenic heat production inside Earth, previously estimated from element ratios in chondritic meteorites.

pdf link, Earth's Heat
SEPT 2011 Cosmochemical Building Blocks called GEMS - The unfolding story of grains of Glass with Embedded Metal and Sulfides found in interplanetary dust particles.

pdf link, Cosmochemical Building Blocks called GEMS
JULY 2011 Shooting Iron Sulfides into Aluminum Foil to Better Understand Comet Wild 2 - Laboratory simulations of impacts on Stardust Al foils.

pdf link, Shooting Iron Sulfides into Aluminum Foil to Better Understand Comet Wild 2
JULY 2011 Vesta and the Vestoids - Insights to Vesta's crust, before the Dawn mission's close look at the asteroid.

pdf link, Vesta and the Vestoids
JUNE 2011 Looking After and Preserving NASA's Extraterrestrial Samples - The work of NASA's Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office.

pdf link, Looking After and Preserving NASA's Extraterrestrial Samples
JUNE 2011 A Meteorite with Up and Down Markers - Metal-sulfide nodules and vesicles aligned in asteroid's gravitational field.

pdf link, A Meteorite with Up and Down Markers
MAY 2011 Discovery of New Mineral, Krotite, in a CAI - CaAl2O4 named after Dr. Alexander N. Krot.

pdf link, Discovery of New Mineral, Krotite, in a CAI
APRIL 2011 The Role of H2S in Amino Acid Synthesis on Primordial Earth and Elsewhere - Intriguingly similar abundances of amino acids from historic lab samples and carbonaceous chondrites.

pdf link, The Role of H2S in Amino Acid Synthesis on Primordial Earth and Elsewhere
MARCH 2011 Planetary Science Decadal Survey - Vision and voyages for planetary science in the decade 2013-2022.

pdf link, Planetary Science Decadal Survey
MARCH 2011 Elements Magazine–Special Issue on Cosmochemistry - Seven articles inside the February 2011 issue cover cosmochemical research.

pdf link, Elements Magazine Special Issue on Cosmochemistry
FEB 2011 1,203 More Antarctic Meteorites Bound for Study - The 2010-2011 ANSMET team's collection.

pdf link, 1,203 More Antarctic Meteorites Bound for Study
FEB 2011 Asteroid Itokawa Samples - Hayabusa Mission results show definitive evidence for LL chondrite compositions of minerals in Itokawa Samples.

pdf link, Asteroid Itokawa Samples
DEC 2010 Asteroid Tracked--Meteorites Found! - The unfolding story of meteorite Almahata Sitta is covered in the Oct/Nov 2010 issue of Meteoritics & Planetary Science journal.

pdf link, Asteroid Tracked--Meteorites Found!
OCT 2010 An Icy Treat - Water ice confirmed on the Moon.

pdf link, An Icy Treat
OCT 2010 Stardust--Snapshots of Stars - Automated NanoSIMS Measurements of Spinel Stardust.

pdf link, Stardust--Snapshots of Stars
SEPT 2010 Brownleeite: The First New Mineral Identified From a Comet - Manganese silicide discovered in an IDP named after Dr. Donald E. Brownlee.

pdf link, Brownleeite: The First New Mineral Identified From a Comet
AUG 2010 Putting a Damper on the Damp Moon - Measurements of chlorine isotopes in lunar samples.

pdf link, Putting a Damper on the Damp Moon
JULY 2010 Controlling Contamination Before, During, and After Spaceflight - NASA Stardust Mission.

pdf link, Controlling Contamination Before, During, and After Spaceflight
JULY 2010 Messing with an Onion - Cooling of the H-chondrite parent body.

pdf link, Messing with an Onion



In July, 2010 we began creating CosmoSparks reports to bring you quick views of big advances in cosmochemistry.
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