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Saturn’s planet-size moon Titan has long intrigued researchers because it is surrounded by a thick blanket of nitrogen and methane. Until recently, scientists believed the most likely explanation for the methane was the presence of a methane-rich sea of hydrocarbons. The Huygens probe and its mother ship, Cassini, have offered evidence against that theory.
Titan’s clouds are made from molecules that include carbon and nitrogen — compounds generated in photochemical smog and circulated by rain and the atmosphere, the researchers reported. They said there was no reason to believe Titan’s methane is a product of biological activity.
Yet more methane is appearing constantly and may burst from ice volcanos or fall as rain, researchers said, describing riverbed and drainage channels.
Scientists described the moon’s freezing temperatures: 290 degrees below zero on the surface. The atmosphere has distinct layers and may offer evidence of lightning.
Titan’s smoggy atmosphere may be similar to that of the primordial Earth, and scientists believe that studying it could provide clues to how life began.
Japan’s space agency said Wednesday a spacecraft that landed on an asteroid last week had successfully collected surface samples in an unprecedented mission to bring the extraterrestrial material to Earth
The space agency, JAXA, previously said the Hayabusa probe appeared to have touched down for a few seconds Saturday on the asteroid. After touching down on the Itokawa asteroid, the probe fired two metal projectiles into its surface, collected the dust that was kicked up and lifted off, JAXA said on its Web site.
"We could prove an epoch-making planetary exploration through autonomous navigation and guidance, and stand foremost in the world in deep space exploration technology," JAXA official Junichiro Kawaguchi said.
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has revealed active volcanic plumes above the surface of Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons.
On a previous, much closer pass by Enceladus, Cassini detected that the south pole of Enceladus is spewing out a vast plume of water vapour that stretches hundreds of kilometres from the moon’s surface.
Enceladus is only the third body in the solar system to show signs of active volcanism, besides Earth and Io, Jupiter’s moon. Even though this volcanism is relatively gentle, planetary scientists cannot yet work out what is driving it. The new pictures could help by revealing the muzzle velocity of the moon’s plumes.
Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa has developed trouble with its thruster system. The agency is trying to fix the problem by a December deadline to begin the craft’s 180-million-mile journey home. The Kyodo News agency said failure to remedy the glitch may make the probe’s return impossible.
The Hayabusa probe appeared to have touched down Saturday, just long enough to collect powder from the asteroid’s surface and lift off again to return to Earth.
"I think in about 10 to 15 years, we will have the ability to build our own space station and to carry out a manned moon landing," said Hu Shixiang, deputy commander of China’s manned space flight program. But the goal is subject to getting enough funds from the government, Hu said, explaining that the space program must fit in the larger scheme of the country’s overall development.
He said China was developing its space program at its own pace, not in competition with the United States. "It’s not the competition of the Cold War era," he said.
Hu stressed China’s intention to use space exploration for peaceful ends, saying the government "is willing to work hard with people around the world for the peaceful use of space."
Hu dismissed suggestions the space program is too costly for a country that, despite rapid economic growth, is still struggling to eradicate rural poverty. He noted the recent space mission cost $111.4 million, compared to the $23.5 billion that China spent on combating pollution last year.
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After the landing on asteroid Itokawa, the Hayabusa probe hovered about three miles from the asteroid and appeared to be shaking due to a possible gas leak from a thruster.
The probe shut down all its engines Saturday and switched to solar power while scientists investigated the problem. But the probe appears to be stabilizing, and JAXA plans to re-ignite its engines by Dec. 10 for the return journey.
A new European studies looking at ice taken from 3km below the surface of Antarctica indicates current levels of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere are higher now than at any time in the last 650,000 years.
The evidence on atmospheric concentrations comes from an Antarctic region called Dome Concordia (Dome C). Over a five year period commencing in 1999, scientists working with the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (Epica) have drilled 3,270m into the Dome C ice, which equates to drilling nearly 900,000 years back in time.
Gas bubbles trapped as the ice formed yield important evidence of the mixture of gases present in the atmosphere at that time, and of temperature.
It is found that CO2 is about 30% higher than at any time, and methane 130% higher than at any time; and the rates of increase are absolutely exceptional: for CO2, 200 times faster than at any time in the last 650,000 years.
Another study claims that for the last 150 years, sea levels have been rising twice as fast as in previous centuries. They calculate the present rate of rise at 2mm per year.
The Hayabusa probe successfully touched down on asteroid Itokawa shortly before 8 a.m. Japan time Saturday. Though it stayed for only a few seconds on the faraway asteroid the time was long enough to collect powder from its surface. After it apparently succeeded in collecting surface samples, the probe lifted off again to transmit data to mission controllers.
More data confirming the mission’s success is expected later in the day after scientists have examined additional transmissions from the probe.
But scientists won’t know if Hayabusa actually collected surface samples until it returns to Earth. It is expected to touch down in the Australian Outback in June 2007.
A study of zircons, the oldest minerals on Earth, suggests that massive amounts of continental crust were formed soon after Earth’s creation 4.56 billion years ago.
Mark Harrison at the Australian National University in Canberra and his team looked at the ratio of hafnium isotopes, which change as a result of the radioactive decay of lutetium, to lutetium itself in 100 zircons dating back between 4 billion and 4.37 billion years. The minerals came from the Jack Hills in Western Australia.
Lutetium is retained in the melting Earth’s mantle, whereas hafnium becomes part of the continental crust. High hafnium ratios in the ancient zircon samples indicate that, at the time they were formed, much of the mantle had melted and cooled to produce crust
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