Earth's Wet Moon, an Icy Mars

Jet OCTOBER Propulsion 2009 Laboratory VOLUME 39 NUMBER 10 Lab discoveries find Earth’s wet moon, an icy Mars Data from three spacecraft confirm water Reconnaissance orbiter sees frozen water molecules on lunar surface exposed by meteor impacts Three JPL instruments have played our understanding of the moon. This a central role in the discovery of wa- exceptional accomplishment rests on ter molecules in the polar regions of the state-of-the-art M3 spectrometer the moon—a possibility long imagined developed at JPL and is a tribute to the by scientists that could help provide Laboratory’s commitment to the suc- resources for future humans living on cess of such a complex international Earth’s natural satellite. collaboration.” The JPL-managed Moon Mineralogy “These intriguing results,” added JPL Mapper, or M3, instrument reported the Planetary Science Instruments Manager observations. M3 was launched Oct. 22, Chris Webster, “remind us of the great 2008, aboard the Indian Space Research richness in science discovery that ac- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter‘s HIRISE camera took these images of a fresh, 6-meter-wide crater on Oct. 18, 2008 (left) and on Organization’s Chandrayaan-1 space- companies every planetary mission Jan. 14, 2009. Each image is 35 meters across. This crater’s depth is estimated to be 1.33 meters. The impact exposed water ice—the bright material visible in this pair of images—from below the surface. craft. Data from the Visual and Infrared that we conduct; even to our nearest Mapping Spectrometer on JPL’s Cassini neighbor that we thought was well In a fortuitous and unexpected discov- beneath Mars’ surface halfway between spacecraft and the High-Resolution understood.” ery, JPL’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter the north pole and the equator, a lower Infrared Imaging Spectrometer on the M3’s spectrometer measured light re- has revealed frozen water hiding just latitude than expected in the Martian JPL-managed Epoxi spacecraft contrib- flecting off the moon’s surface at infra- below the surface of the Red Planet’s climate. uted to confirmation of the finding. The red wavelengths, splitting the spectral middle latitudes. The spacecraft’s obser- “This ice is a relic of a more humid imaging spectrometers revealed water colors into small enough bits to reveal a vations were obtained after meteorites climate from perhaps just several thou- molecules in amounts that are greater new level of detail in surface composi- excavated fresh craters. sand years ago,” said Shane Byrne of than predicted, but still relatively small. tion. When the mission’s science team The findings provide “a new window the University of Arizona, a member of Hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one analyzed data from the instrument, they into the ‘water on Mars’ story,” noted the team operating the orbiter’s High oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, found the wavelengths of light being Suzanne Smrekar, Mars Reconnaissance Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, also was found in the lunar soil. absorbed were consistent with the Orbiter deputy project scientist. “The or HiRISE camera, which captured the “This is an exciting discovery on the absorption patterns for water molecules distribution of subsurface ice is some- images. Byrne and 17 co-authors report 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 land- and hydroxyl. thing scientists have been pursuing for the findings in the Sept. 25 edition of the ing that provides the impetus for new JPL’s Rob Green, project instrument a long time. This is our first insight into journal Science. ideas and opportunities, for which JPL scientist for M3, noted that the instru- how water and climate have changed on “We now know we can use new impact is in a strong position to compete,” ment—which weighs about 20 pounds, Mars over the last 10,000 to 100,000 sites as probes to look for ice in the noted Cinzia Zuffada, JPL associate runs with the energy equivalent to a 20- years.” shallow subsurface,” said Megan Ken- chief scientist. “It is likely to change Continued on page 3 Scientists controlling instruments on nedy of Malin Space Science Systems, a the orbiter found bright ice exposed at co-author of the paper and member of five Martian sites with new craters that the team operating the orbiter’s Context range in depth from about half a meter Camera. to 2.5 meters (1.5 feet to 8 feet). The During a typical week, the camera craters did not exist in earlier images returns more than 200 images of Mars of the same sites. Some of the craters that cover a total area greater than Cali- show a thin layer of bright ice atop fornia. The camera team examines each darker underlying material. The bright image, sometimes finding dark spots patches darkened in the weeks follow- that fresh, small craters make in ter- ing initial observations, as the freshly rain covered with dust. Checking earlier exposed ice vaporized into the thin Mar- photos of the same areas can confirm tian atmosphere. One of the new craters a feature is new. The team has found had a bright patch of material large more than 100 fresh impact sites, mostly These images show a very young lunar crater on the side of the moon that faces away from Earth, as viewed by JPL’s Moon enough for the orbiter’s spectrometer to closer to the equator than the ones that Mineralogy Mapper on the Indian Space Research Organization’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. On the left is an image showing confirm it is water-ice. revealed ice. brightness at shorter infrared wavelengths. On the right, the distribution of water-rich minerals is shown around a small crater. The findings indicate water-ice occurs Continued on page 3 2 men projectors combine to provide bigger and floor will include at least one conference room with 3 brighter pictures than those offered in von Kármán high-definition video capability. The Office of the Auditorium. CIO provides full-service networking capabilities The new auditorium will utilize built-in, multi-cam- for both the smaller meeting rooms (with a capac- n i v e r s e n i v eBuilding r s e a future The state-of-the-art audito- era, high-definition videotaping and permanent video U U ity of 12) and conference rooms (capacity 40), rium contributes significantly teleconference capability. The seating capacity is which are scheduled through JPL’s Unified Messag- for flight projects to the building’s promise of approximately double that of von Kármán. Chairs in ing Service. the new facility include small, retractable desktops energy efficiency. Its features The facility also includes some new recycling By Mark Whalen and Alex Abels for easier note taking. Food is prohibited inside but features not found in other buildings on Lab. include carbon dioxide sensors water is allowed. Events in the auditorium require a Pantry areas on each floor (which also serve as a to reduce heating and cooling minimum of 50 people. copy center) are equipped with receptacles for the when lightly occupied as well For large meetings that don’t quite require all the recycling of bottles and cans. Each floor has an as displacement ventilation for auditorium’s features, the building’s basement in- additional area adjacent to the elevators for recy- cludes a 200-seat multipurpose room, which will be cling newspapers and magazines, and an additional improved air quality. available in late November. With capabilities similar receptacle for plastic bottles. Pantries also have to the 180-101 and 167 conference rooms, the room a tall blue paper-recycling bin, next to the copy will offer multiple projectors and non-permanent machine. Additional bottle and can recycling can Bottom row, from left: An exterior seating so it can be configured in a “U-shape” with be provided for auditorium events. For information, view of the building and its green- tables, a feature often used for design reviews. In contact Taenha Goodrich, ext. 4-1973. Thom Wynne / JPL Photo Lab ery; Pete Jones shows off the new this configuration, the seating capacity is approxi- An exercise room is also being prepared in the look in sliding glass doors for mately 130 people (compared to about 80 in 180- basement, and will be available in late October. 101). Other setups will be available, Inova said. To The Flight Projects Center was championed offices; one of the newly designed schedule events, call ext. 4-6666 or 4-6170. among others by retired JPL executive Tom Gavin, cubicles, which offer enhanced All told, more than 40 meeting/conference rooms thus the building’s affectionate designation as working and storage space; the are available in the building. Floors 3, 4 and 5 each “Gavin Towers.” Conceived early in this decade, “green” roof; the theater-style have meeting rooms in the four corners of the build- the building was constructed in approximately 24 ing; floors 1 and 2 have meeting rooms in three auditorium; one of the meeting months. The cost of about $71 million was funded corners. Conference rooms offer a centralized con- by JPL projects through NASA’s Construction of rooms that are on most corners trol system, projection capability, computers and a Facilities program. of the structure. voice conferencing system. By late November, each Earth’s moon Continued from page 1 “For all of those who thought the moon was just a orbiter’s higher resolution camera on Sept. 12, 2008, . watt light bulb and is about the size of a desktop laser white or gray body in orbit around the Earth, it isn’t,” confirming a cluster of small craters. printer—has returned almost 1,000 gigabytes of data in Green said.

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