Topic: Pamela Gay
Flood of Mars Science from Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

Flood of Mars Science from Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

by | Mar 24, 2025 |

Artist's depiction of MARS missions (Image credit: NASA) During the week of March 10, the Planetary Science community gathered in The Woodlands, Texas, a suburb of Houston - and also in Zoom - as we watched dozens and dozens of presentations on everything from tomorrow’s planned missions to today’s latest research results. I was one of the many folks on Zoom, so I was missing the between-sessions gossip, but I can bring you the science. And since the panels are all still up for attendees to rewatch to their hearts’ delight, this may be a multi-week review of what all I have learned and will...

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Black Holes Fire Off Cosmos Altering Jets

Black Holes Fire Off Cosmos Altering Jets

by | Oct 16, 2024 |

High-energy jets emerge from two sides of a black hole (illustrated). The black hole resides in a galaxy that is part of a filament of the cosmic web (silvery wisps). E. Wernquist, M. Oei, D. Nelson/IllustrisTNG Collaboration The definition of a black hole allows for...

Invasion of the Microscopic Black Holes

Invasion of the Microscopic Black Holes

by | Oct 15, 2024 |

Image credit: Tech Explorist Every once in a while, a story comes along that just makes me giggle, and also forces me to fix some misinformation living in my brain. Consider the microscopic black hole. In my brain, these diminutive creations of the early universe...

When Asteroids (Don’t) Attack

When Asteroids (Don’t) Attack

by | Sep 18, 2024 |

Artist's concept of the Hera mission gliding past Didymos to Dimorphos. Image credit: ESA For a hot second back in 2004, it looked like there was a couple percent chance the asteroid 99942 Apophis just might crash into the planet Earth on April 13, 2029. And even if...

VIPER May Live to Rove Another Day

VIPER May Live to Rove Another Day

by | Sep 17, 2024 |

A computer generated concept image of the VIPER rover Despite what the contents of this and recent episodes might imply, my passion is for science not for spacecraft. The thing is, sometimes spacecraft are needed to do the science. And lately, I and many others have...

The Cost of Space Flight on the Planet

The Cost of Space Flight on the Planet

by | Sep 17, 2024 |

As a nerdy member of GenX, I can state with pride and shame that I watched Buck Rogers in the early 80s and was constantly fascinated by all the weird ways their writers found for fictional 24th century scientists to misunderstand the relics from the 20th century....

Dino Prints Match Continents

Dino Prints Match Continents

by | Sep 16, 2024 |

One of the reasons we study the Moon is to help us understand the history of our own planet Earth. The shifting continents and weather patterns of Earth join forces to erase our world’s history. Occasionally, however, our planet reveals its past through the rocks...

Closer Look: Mars is the Future

Closer Look: Mars is the Future

by | Sep 6, 2024 | ,

Since Mars Spirit and Opportunity first set down on Mars in 2004, there has been a continuous robotic presence on the Red Planet. The Phoenix and Insight Landers have answered specific questions about Mars composition and interior, while a small herd of rovers have...