- 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 ...
Rocks or processes involving the formation and solidification of hot, molten magma.
Industry:Astronomy
A rare class of red giant stars unusually rich in carbon or carbon compounds.
Industry:Astronomy
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
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
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
Radiocarbon, or <sup>14</sup>C, is the unstable, radioactive isotope of carbon having atomic number 6 and atomic mass 14. It is continuously produced in Earth's upper atmosphere by cosmic ray bombardment. In space, <sup>14</sup>C is produced when cosmic rays interact with oxygen in silicate minerals in rocks. The half-life of <sup>14</sup>C is 5730 years, which makes this radioactive isotope suitable for dating rocks and archaeological items as old as about 75,000 years.
Industry:Astronomy
