- Industry: Astronomy
- Number of terms: 6727
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Planetary Science Research Discoveries (PSRD) is an educational site sharing the latest research by NASA-sponsored scientists on meteorites, asteroids, planets, moons, and other materials in our Solar System. The website is supported by the Cosmochemistry Program of NASA's Science Mission ...
A silicate mineral common in basalt and composed mostly of iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), calcium ( Ca), and silicon (Si). Composition varies as a mixture among FeSiO<sub>3</sub>, MgSiO<sub>3</sub>, and CaSiO<sub>3</sub>.
Industry:Astronomy
The study of heat and its transformation to mechanical and other forms of energy.
Industry:Astronomy
NASA lander mission; it is the first Mars "Scout class" mission to study the planet's north-pole ice cap, and the geologic history of water and habitability potential in the polar ice-rich soil. Phoenix launched in August, 2007 and touched down on May 25, 2008. The lander's robotic arm will dig down into the subsurface to collect ice and soil samples for onboard analyses by a suite of instruments. Phoenix Mars Mission homepage.
Industry:Astronomy
U. S. Mission to Mars, launched in 1971, achieved global imaging of the surface, including the first detailed views of the Martian volcanoes, Valles Marineris, the polar caps, and the satellites Phobos and Deimos. The spacecraft gathered data on the atmospheric composition, density, pressure, and temperature and also the surface composition, temperature, gravity, and topography of Mars. Mariner 9 website.
Industry:Astronomy
The geologic history of Mars has been divided into three broad time periods, or Epochs. From oldest to youngest, these are Noachian, Hesperian, and Amazonian (named after places on Mars). These Epochs are defined by the number of impact craters on the ground surface; older surfaces have more craters. The Amazonian Epoch extends from about 1. 8 billion years ago to the present day. The actual timing of the Epochs is not known because we have different models of the rates of meteorite falls on Mars.
Industry:Astronomy
An exploration program to collect meteorites in Antarctica supported by grants from the Office of Polar Programs of the U. S. National Science Foundation and by NASA. The work of the ANSMET teams provides the research community with a steady source of new extraterrestrial materials, including lunar and Martian samples.
Industry:Astronomy
U. S. Space Program that included 6 piloted lunar landings between 1969 and 1972. Apollo astronauts collected and returned 382 kilograms of rock and sediment samples from the Moon.
Industry:Astronomy
The segregation, during cooling, of a homogeneous solid solution into two or more different minerals.
Industry:Astronomy
