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3 years 9 months ago
Gullies observed on Mars would be produced by the action of dry ice in winter and spring, not by liquid water flows as thought before. Indeed, recent numerical simulations show that under dry ice heated by the Sun, intense gas motions can destabilize and fluidize the soil, until they create flows similar to those created by a liquid.
3 years 10 months ago
Ongoing flow activity was highlighted a few years ago on Mars by high-resolution cameras. Various flow types have been identified (new channels, dark lineae, bright deposits…) but there is still no consensus about possible formation mechanisms: dry avalanche? liquid water? carbon dioxide ice? A study conducted at the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale reveals for the first time the composition of winter ice forming in association with flows. Results suggest the coexistence of several current formation mechanisms.
4 years 4 months ago
After 7 long months, Philae has awoken from hibernation. Its first signs of life reached Earth on Saturday evening (June, 13th) then again the following night. The hope to see Philae awake again and communicating has just come true.
4 years 7 months ago
The flight model of the SIMBIO-SYS instrument of the ESA BEPI-COLOMBO mission has arrived at IAS last week! IAS, who has already provided the main electronics of SIMBIO-SYS, is also in charge of the calibration of the integrated instrument that will take place during this month. The mission will be launched in 2017, for an arrival at Mercury in 2024.
4 years 10 months ago
On the 3rd of December, the Japanese space agency has launched the Hayabusa 2 probe towards a primitive asteroid, named 1999JU3, that it will reach in 2018. This mission aims at analyzing this object in three complementary ways: in remote-sensing, with cameras and spectrometers; in-situ, with instruments on landers; and by laboratory analysis of samples that will be collected on the asteroid and returned to Earth in 2021.