Latest news with #PlanetaryScience
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists Say There's Over a Trillion Dollars of Platinum Waiting to Be Extracted From the Moon's Craters
Researchers say there could be over $1 trillion worth of platinum lurking under the surface of the Moon — a major lunar bounty waiting to be mined. As detailed in a paper published in the journal Planetary and Space Science, independent researcher Jayanth Chennamangalam and his team determined that out of around 1.3 million craters lining the Moon's surface with diameters greater than 0.6 miles across, almost 6,500 were created by asteroids that contain commercial quantities of platinum, among other valuable ores like palladium or iridium. To the researchers, the draw isn't just the promise of immense wealth; the proceeds of mining these ores could be used to explore space. "Today, astronomy is done to satiate our curiosity," Chennamangalam told New Scientist, a surprisingly cynical statement that's bound to raise eyebrows among researchers. "It has very few practical applications and is mostly paid for by taxpayer money, meaning that research funding is at the mercy of governmental policy." "If we can monetise space resources — be it on the Moon or on asteroids — private enterprises will invest in the exploration of the solar system," he added. Chennamangalam, who holds a PhD in astrophysics and was a postdoc at the University of Oxford, found that there could be a "lot more craters on the moon with ore-bearing asteroidal remnants than there are accessible ore-bearing asteroids." Mining these craters would be significantly simpler than traveling to distant asteroids, which most of the time don't have enough gravity for mining operations. But whether plundering the Moon for profit would even be legal remains a far murkier question. As New Scientist points out, the Outer Space Treaty, which was signed in 1967, sets strict rules for space resource mining, stopping any nation from claiming or occupying the "Moon and other celestial bodies." However, experts say those rules could still allow for governments to find loopholes and still claim licensing rights to extract resources. In an effort to ratify international rules, the US established the Artemis Accords, a non-binding framework. However, neither China nor Russia has signed it, leaving its authority murky. In short, the race to the surface of the Moon is on — a tight competition that could be decided between the US and China by the end of this decade, especially if a fortune in precious metals is at play. More on the Moon: Elon Boasts of Huge Starship Improvements Immediately Before It Blows Up Spectacularly
CBS News
07-06-2025
- Science
- CBS News
Mars volcano twice as big as Earth's tallest one seen poking through clouds in first-of-its-kind image
A dazzling image taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter shows an unprecedented view of a 12-mile-high volcano poking through clouds at dawn on the Red Planet. Arsia Mons, which dwarfs Earth's tallest volcanoes, and its two neighboring volcanoes are often surrounded by water ice clouds, especially in the early morning. The image released Friday marks the first time one of the volcanoes has been imaged on the planet's horizon, NASA said. Odyssey has previously captured high-altitude images of the Martian horizon, and to do so, it rotates 90 degrees while in orbit so that its camera can take the picture, NASA said. The spacecraft typically focuses on the upper atmosphere but also studies surface features. The latest image, captured on May 2, focuses on Arsia Mons, which is roughly twice as tall as Earth's largest volcano, Hawaii's Mauna Loa, which rises 6 miles above the seafloor. The 2001 Odyssey spacecraft captured a first-of-its-kind look at Arsia Mons, which dwarfs Earth's tallest volcanoes. NASA Arsia Mons is the cloudiest of the three volcanoes in the area -- collectively called the Tharsis Mountains -- and the clouds are especially thick when the Red Planet is farthest from the sun, a period called aphelion. The new snapshot clearly shows the cloud canopy across the Red Planet's equator. "We picked Arsia Mons hoping we would see the summit poke above the early morning clouds. And it didn't disappoint," said Jonathon Hill, the operations lead for Odyssey's camera, called the Thermal Emission Imaging System, or THEMIS. The angle of the camera allows scientists to see dust and water ice cloud layers, enabling them to observe changes over the course of seasons. "We're seeing some really significant seasonal differences in these horizon images," said planetary scientist Michael D. Smith of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "It's giving us new clues to how Mars' atmosphere evolves over time." Launched in 2001, Odyssey has the distinction of being the longest-running spacecraft orbiting another planet. NASA's Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in 2021, is collecting samples for an eventual return to Earth from Jezero Crater, an ancient lakebed and river delta that could hold clues to any past microbial life. Last month, Perseverance took a selfie that captured an image of a dust devil popping up about 3 miles behind the rover.
