NASA has chosen a new mission in the Mars Exploration Program to study the Martian atmosphere. The purpose of the $485 million MAVEN mission, (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN), is to study the Martian Atmosphere, climate history, and potential habitability. This mission is intended to take the most detailed measurements ever recorded in the Martian atmosphere.

After the launch in 2013, MAVEN will enter an elliptical orbit from 90 to 3870 miles above the Martian surface where it will take measurements for an entire Earth year. Maven will also descend to an altitude of 80 miles above the surface where it will take detailed measurements of the upper atmosphere. After the mission is complete MAVEN will be used as a communications satellite for future rovers and landers.

The Martian atmosphere is relatively thin, with pressures ranging from .03 kPa to 1.155 kPa, and an average sea-level pressure of about .6 kPa (nearly 170 times less than that of Earth). Even though the atmosphere on Mars is 4 km taller than Earths, its Mass is nearly 206 times less than Earths. The atmosphere is composed of 95% CO₂, 3% N, 1.6% Ar, with trace amounts of O₂, H₂O, and CH₄. The atmosphere has been divided into 4 subdivisions: lower atmosphere, middle atmosphere, Upper atmosphere, and exosphere. The lower atmosphere is region that is warmed from airborne dust particles. The middle atmosphere is distinguished only by a jet stream. The upper atmosphere is characterized by very high temperatures, and the atmospheric gasses are stripped apart by the sun. The exosphere, like on Earth, is the boundary-less region where the atmosphere slowly tappers out into space.

Because Mars has the only surface observable from Earth, its climate has been studied since the 17^th century. The first up-close climate observations were made in the 60’s by the Mariner missions and the Viking missions of the 70’s. Today the Mars Global Surveyor keeps up where they left off. We know that the Martian climate has some similarities with the Earth, such as changing seasons, ice-ages, and even a sublimating south-pole which could indicate a warming climate. Unlike Earth, Mars lacks water and has a low ability to resist temperature change during a full heating/cooling cycle.

Recent Missions such as the rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have shown that large amounts of water most likely existed on the Martian surface at one time. So with any luck, MAVEN will be able to provide some insight into where this water went, and what happened to a Martian atmosphere that was once able to support water and perhaps life. Even more importantly, MAVEN will help us understand the evolution and the eventual fate of our own atmosphere.

Twenty-two years ago, the Suizhou meteorite broke into 12 pieces and struck the ground near Hubei, China. This meteorite contained a high-pressure chromite-spinel polymorph called xieite, which was recently classified as the first new mineral with a post-spinel structure. The formation of this mineral requires temperatures between 1800 and 1950 °C, and pressures between 18 and 23 GPa. Because of the high temperatures and pressures required to form this mineral, it is believed that this meteorite suffered from a catastrophic collision.

The discovery of xieite was made by an American-Chinese team from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Carnegie Institute of Washington, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Geophysical Laboratory. Xieite was given official mineral status by the International Mineralogical Association’s Commission of New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification. To be classified as a mineral, a substance must fit into five characterizations: 1) A mineral must be naturally occurring on Earth or somewhere in the Universe, not in a lab; 2) A mineral must be stable at room temperature (with the exception of ice and mercury); 3) A mineral should be inorganic, meaning it contains no C-C double bonds; 4) A mineral must be describable by a chemical formula– in xieite’s case it is Fe²⁺ Cr₂ O₄; and 5) A mineral must have an ordered atomic arrangement.

Spinels are a class of isometric minerals with the general formula XY₂O₄. These minerals are found in the Earth’s upper mantle, starting at the core mantle boundary, or Mohorovicic discontinuity, and down to depths of about 70 km. Any spinel found at greater depths contain high amounts of chromite. If found in the Earth, post-spinel chromite (which is 10% more dense than spinel-chromite) would have to have formed deep in the mantle, at depths of about 500 km.

Because of the high temperatures and pressures required for the formation of xieite, this new mineral could potentially become a useful tool for astronomers and geophysicists. If xieite is found in other asteroids, astronomers can use it to estimate the pressures and forces that have acted on the asteroid during impact. Likewise, if xieite is found in basaltic lava flows, or igneous intrusions, geophysicists can use the mineral to determine what depths in the mantle the magma originated.

Where can you find the world’s largest refrigerator, the world’s fastest racetrack, the hottest spot on Earth, and the emptiest space for thousands of light years? CERN’s Large Hadron Particle Accelerator lays claim to each of these records. Propelled by 9300 super-cooled magnets (-271.3°C), a particle will travel 26,658m at speeds of 99.99% the speed of light through a vacuum whose pressure is 10^-13 atm’s. Two colliding beams of particles will collide with energies of 14 Tev which will generate temperatures 100,000 times the temperature of the center of the sun.

The LHC will be conducing six experiments: ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, TOTEM, and LHCf. The ALICE experiment (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) will attempt to recreate the earliest conditions predicted by the big bang. This will be achieved by colliding lead ions at speeds of 99.99% the speed of light. The collision will separate the ions into protons and neutrons, and under temperatures 100,000 times the heat of the sun, should further break down into a quark-gluon plasma, scientists hope to observe this plasma as it cools and recreates known particles.

On September 10^th at precisely 10:28 am, the first step towards experimentation and hopefully discovery was taken, as a test beam successfully traveled the nearly 27,000 m tunnel. For CERN this was a moment of triumph as they observed their marvel of engineering come to flawless life. But their 20 year journey was not without pain, as CERN even had to battle a doomsday scenario lawsuit.

On March 21, 2008 Walter Wagner, founder of Citizens Against The Large Hadron Collider, filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Energy, Fermi lab, the National Science foundation, and CERN. The goal of the lawsuit was to put a time restraint on the activation of the LHC while safety issues were evaluated. The safety issues Wagner is concerned about include miniature black holes, and strangelets. Wagner fears that if the LHC creates miniature black holes, they would fill their tremendous appetites by feasting on the Earth. Defendants of the LHC say that this is of no concern because any black hole that does form would have a lifespan of about 10^-23 seconds. Wagner also fears that if strangelets are formed they will transform the entire planet into a lump of exotic matter.

Once the experimentation has begun, and Wagner can once again sleep through the night, the LHC hopes to prove or disprove a major theory, discover new subatomic particles, search for extra dimensions, discover what causes the formation of mass, and explore the mysteries of dark matter. Whether or not all or even one the goals are achieved, one thing is for certain; the LHC will expand our knowledge and provide us with a clearer image of the universe in which we live.

The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission became the first satellite to take a close-up photograph of a rare E-Type asteroid on September 5th. There are several types of asteroids found in the asteroid belt which is located between Mars and Jupiter. The E-type asteroids are located on the inner portion of the ring, or at about 2.2 AU’s. The E-type asteroids contain high amounts of silicate, and have a relatively high albedo of approximately .3. Because terrestrial planets such as Earth also contain large amounts of silicates it can be assumed that E-type asteroids formed from the mantle of a differentiated asteroid. These asteroids are relatively small; rarely have diameters greater than 25km.

S-type asteroids are also located around 2.2 AU’s and are composed mainly of Iron and Magnesium-Silicates. With a slightly less albedo than the E-type asteroids, S-type shine with an albedo of approximately .22. S-type asteroids come in a variety of sizes–with the largest, 15 Eunomia, having a diameter of 330km wide.

M-type asteroids are responsible for the inner section of the asteroid belt. They are found between 2.2 and 2.7 AU’s. Many of these asteroids are composed of Nickel and Iron; because this is the composition of terrestrial planet’s cores, it is thought that the M-type asteroids are left over chunks of iron core from differentiated asteroids. These asteroids have albedo’s in a range from .1 to about .2.

C-type asteroids make up 75% of the known asteroids and are located around 2.7 AU’s. These Asteroids are rich in Carbonates and have very dark albedo’s in a range from .03 to .1. These asteroids also have the spectral signature which suggests water is present within the minerals. Located just beyond the C-type asteroids is the asteroid belts rim which is composed of the very dark D-type asteroid.

When Rosetta photographed the rare E-type asteroid called 2687 Steins, it captured a diamond shape body measuring in at 5.9 by 4km. Its surface reveals a violent past as it is pocketed with 23 craters having diameters larger than 200m, and a large crater with a diameter of 2km. Surrounding the larger crater is a chain of small craters. Such crater chains have been observed on the moon and are thought to be formed by the showering debris of a large impact.

Stein is only the first asteroid flyby scheduled in the Rosetta mission. On July 10^th 2010, Rosetta will fly by the asteroid 21 Lutetia. Lutetia is an M-type asteroid which is 100km in diameter. Scientists are interested in Lutetia because it doesn’t fit the spectral characteristics of other M-type asteroids. Instead of bearing the spectral signature of nickel-iron, it resembles a carbonaceous signature which is characteristic of C-type asteroids.

After leaving Lutetia, Rosetta will drop a lander onto the surface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. The landing will occur during the comet’s apogee when measurements can be made on the stable nucleus. For the following 2 years Rosetta will follow the comet/lander on a 100,000km/hr chase into the inner solar system Rosetta will be able to make measurements of the comet’s corona. Hopefully Rosetta’s exciting journey will provide insight to the formation of the early solar system.