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Sample records for moon jellyfish aurelia

  1. Distribution of moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita in relation to summer hypoxia in Hiroshima Bay, Seto Inland Sea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shoji, Jun; Kudoh, Takaya; Takatsuji, Hideyuki; Kawaguchi, Osamu; Kasai, Akihide

    2010-02-01

    Biological and physical surveys were conducted in order to investigate the relationship between environmental conditions and the distribution of moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita in Hiroshima Bay, western Seto Inland Sea, Japan. Moon jellyfish and ichthyoplankton were collected at 13 stations in Hiroshima Bay during monthly surveys from July to September in 2006 and 2007. Surface temperature in 2006 was significantly lower during the August and September cruises and surface salinity was lower during all cruises than in 2007. Moon jellyfish was the most dominant gelatinous plankton collected, accounting for 89.7% in wet weight. Mean moon jellyfish abundance in 2006 was higher than that in 2007 from July through September, with significant inter-year differences for July and September. Variability in precipitation and nutritional input from the Ohta River, northernmost part of Hiroshima Bay, were suggested as possible factors affecting the inter-annual variability in moon jellyfish abundance in the coastal areas of northern Hiroshima Bay. Moon jellyfish were more abundant in the coastal areas of northern Hiroshima Bay, where the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration was lower, while low in the central part of the bay. Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus eggs were most dominant (58.1% in number) among the ichthyoplankton and were abundant in the central area of Hiroshima Bay. Explanatory analysis was conducted to detect possible effects of environmental conditions on the abundance of moon jellyfish and Japanese anchovy eggs during the summer months in Hiroshima Bay. Of the environmental conditions tested (temperature, salinity and DO of surface and bottom layers at each sampling station), bottom DO had the most significant effect on the moon jellyfish abundance: there was a negative correlation between the bottom DO and the moon jellyfish abundance in Hiroshima Bay during summer.

  2. Effect of tea saponin on ephyrae and polyps of the moon jellyfish Aurelia sp.1.

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    Zhijun Dong

    Full Text Available The moon jellyfish (Aurelia sp.1 is thought to be a nuisance for the sea cucumber aquaculture, which commonly occur in the sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus culture ponds of the Yellow Sea, China. To develop an appropriate method to control Aurelia sp.1 blooms, the toxic effects of tea saponin on Aurelia sp.1 ephyrae and polyps were tested in laboratory experiments. Our results revealed that tea saponin caused significant morphological changes, behavioral abnormality and mortality in Aurelia sp.1 ephyrae and polyps in 24 h and 48 h exposure experiments. The 24 h and 48 h median lethal concentrations (LC50 values of tea saponin for Aurelia sp.1 ephyrae were 1.9 and 1.1 mg L-1 respectively, while the LC50 value for Aurelia sp.1 polyps was 0.4 mg L-1 after 24h and 48 h of exposure to tea saponin. Comparison with literature results of tea saponin on A. japonicus indicates that the resistance of A. japonicus to tea saponin is 12-18 times greater than that of Aurelia sp.1 ephyrae. Therefore, the appropriate tea saponin dosage for the control of Aurelia sp.1 should be paid enough attention in order to minimize possible damage for sea cucumber. We suggest that the recommended level of tea saponin to eradicate Aurelia sp.1 ephyrae and polyps in sea cucumber culture ponds be lower than 1.35 mg L-1.

  3. Effect of tea saponin on ephyrae and polyps of the moon jellyfish Aurelia sp.1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Zhijun; Sun, Tingting; Liang, Likun; Wang, Lei

    2017-01-01

    The moon jellyfish (Aurelia sp.1) is thought to be a nuisance for the sea cucumber aquaculture, which commonly occur in the sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus) culture ponds of the Yellow Sea, China. To develop an appropriate method to control Aurelia sp.1 blooms, the toxic effects of tea saponin on Aurelia sp.1 ephyrae and polyps were tested in laboratory experiments. Our results revealed that tea saponin caused significant morphological changes, behavioral abnormality and mortality in Aurelia sp.1 ephyrae and polyps in 24 h and 48 h exposure experiments. The 24 h and 48 h median lethal concentrations (LC50) values of tea saponin for Aurelia sp.1 ephyrae were 1.9 and 1.1 mg L-1 respectively, while the LC50 value for Aurelia sp.1 polyps was 0.4 mg L-1 after 24h and 48 h of exposure to tea saponin. Comparison with literature results of tea saponin on A. japonicus indicates that the resistance of A. japonicus to tea saponin is 12-18 times greater than that of Aurelia sp.1 ephyrae. Therefore, the appropriate tea saponin dosage for the control of Aurelia sp.1 should be paid enough attention in order to minimize possible damage for sea cucumber. We suggest that the recommended level of tea saponin to eradicate Aurelia sp.1 ephyrae and polyps in sea cucumber culture ponds be lower than 1.35 mg L-1.

  4. Structural and Developmental Disparity in the Tentacles of the Moon Jellyfish Aurelia sp.1.

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    David A Gold

    Full Text Available Tentacles armed with stinging cells (cnidocytes are a defining trait of the cnidarians, a phylum that includes sea anemones, corals, jellyfish, and hydras. While cnidarian tentacles are generally characterized as structures evolved for feeding and defense, significant variation exists between the tentacles of different species, and within the same species across different life stages and/or body regions. Such diversity suggests cryptic distinctions exist in tentacle function. In this paper, we use confocal and transmission electron microscopy to contrast the structure and development of tentacles in the moon jellyfish, Aurelia species 1. We show that polyp oral tentacles and medusa marginal tentacles display markedly different cellular and muscular architecture, as well as distinct patterns of cellular proliferation during growth. Many structural differences between these tentacle types may reflect biomechanical solutions to different feeding strategies, although further work would be required for a precise mechanistic understanding. However, differences in cell proliferation dynamics suggests that the two tentacle forms lack a conserved mechanism of development, challenging the textbook-notion that cnidarian tentacles can be homologized into a conserved bauplan.

  5. Spatial distribution and dietary overlap between Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus and moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan

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    Jun Shoji

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Biological and physical surveys were conducted in order to investigate the relationship between environmental conditions and the distribution of ichthyoplankton and jellyfish, and dietary overlap between the ichthyoplankton and jellyfish in the Seto Inland Sea (SIS, Japan. Ichthyoplankton, copepods, and jellyfish were collected during two cruises in July 2005 in the Sea of Hiuchi and in July 2006 in Hiroshima Bay within the SIS. Sea surface temperature (˚C, salinity, bottom-layer dissolved oxygen (mg l-1 and the abundance (no. m-2 of fish eggs and larvae were significantly higher in the Sea of Hiuchi. Japanese anchovy was most dominant (69.3% in number of eggs and 52.3% in number of larvae among the ichthyoplankton. Mean jellyfish biomass (g m-2 in Hiroshima Bay was significantly higher (50-folds than that in the Sea of Hiuchi. Moon jellyfish was the most dominant among the jellyfish collected, accounting for 85.6% in wet weight. Surface temperature had a significant effect on fish egg and larval distribution: abundance of fish eggs and larvae increased with increasing temperature. Jellyfish abundance was negatively correlated with the bottom-layer oxygen concentration. Stable isotope analysis indicated dietary overlap between the Japanese anchovy and the moon jellyfish in Hiroshima Bay.

  6. High genetic homogeneity of the moon jelly Aurelia aurita ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The moon jelly Aurelia aurita is one of the most common and widespread species of scyphomedusa in the Mediterranean Sea. In all, 18 allozyme loci were studied to investigate the genetic variation and population structure of 11 A. aurita populations from the Tunisian coast. Polymorphism was detected at 14 loci across the ...

  7. Combined effects of ocean acidification and temperature on planula larvae of the moon jellyfish Aurelia coerulea.

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    Dong, Zhijun; Sun, Tingting

    2018-08-01

    Rapidly rising levels of atmospheric CO 2 have caused two environmental stressors, ocean acidification and seawater temperature increases, which represent major abiotic threats to marine organisms. Here, we investigated for the first time the combined effects of ocean acidification and seawater temperature increases on the behavior, survival, and settlement of the planula larvae of Aurelia coerulea, which is considered a nuisance species around the world. Three pH levels (8.1, 7.7 and 7.3) and two temperature levels (24 °C and 27 °C) were used in the present study. There were no interactive effects of temperature and pH on the behavior, survival, and settlement of planula larvae of A. coerulea. We found that the swimming speed and mortality of the planula larvae of A. coerulea were significantly affected by temperature, and low pH significantly affected settlement. Planula larvae of A. coerulea from the elevated temperature treatment moved faster and showed higher mortality than those at the control temperature. The settlement rate of A. coerulea planulae was significantly higher at the pH level of 7.3 than at other pH levels. These results suggest that seawater temperature increase, rather than reduced pH, was the main stress factor affecting the survival of A. coerulea planulae. Overall, the planula larvae of the common jellyfish A. coerulea appeared to be resistant to ocean acidification, but may be negatively affected by future seawater temperature increases. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. [Research advances in the effects of environmental factors on the growth and development of Aurelia spp].

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    Wang, Jian-Yan; Yu, Zhi-Gang; Zhen, Yu; Mi, Tie-Zhu; Yao, Qing-Zhen; Wang, Guo-Shan

    2012-11-01

    Aurelia spp. is a cosmopolitan coastal species, and also, one dominant species of large jellyfish in the coastal waters of China. In recent years, Aurelia spp. bloom events occur frequently in the world, causing severe damage to marine ecosystems, coastal economy, and society development. Aurelia spp. has a complicated life history comprising a benthic asexually-reproducing polyp generation and a sexually-reproducing medusa generation, and various vegetative reproduction (budding, strobilation, and podocyst production) and sexual reproduction. Surrounding physical and biological factors affect each growth stage of Aurelia spp., especially the juvenile stage of planktonic-benthic life cycle, which has major effect on the population dynamics of Aurelia spp. This paper reviewed the research advances in the effects of environmental factors on Aurelia spp. at its different growth and development stages, and discussed some problems worthy of further study, aimed to provide useful reference for the research of the key factors controlling the jellyfish blooms in coastal waters of China.

  9. Can Aurelia (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa species be differentiated by comparing their scyphistomae and ephyrae?

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    Maria Gambill

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Debate exists regarding the number of species of the moon jellyfish (genus Aurelia, a common member of the planktonic community of the coastal shelf seas around the world. Three Aurelia congeners (A. aurita, A. labiata and A. limbata are currently considered to exist but recent genetic analyses suggested that this is an oversimplification. We analyzed the morphological characteristics of scyphistomae, morphological characteristics of ephyrae and differences in the time span of the strobilation process of Aurelia congeners from 17, 7 and 6 different source populations, respectively, of known species. Morphological characteristics of scyphistomae were similar among the 17 populations but those of ephyrae, such as the shape and form of lappets, were effective discriminators in the 6 cases examined. We recommend identifying species based on differences in 1 the morphological characteristics of scyphistomae and ephyrae (and not only medusae, 2 the genetics of individuals, and 3 the geographical occurrence of the population. This study adds to the growing body of knowledge on scyphozoan scyphistomae and ephyrae, stages of the metagenic life cycle of scyphozoans that have received relatively little study compared to medusae.

  10. Environmental control of asexual reproduction and somatic growth of Aurelia spp. (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) polyps from the Adriatic Sea

    OpenAIRE

    Hubot, Nathan; Lucas, Cathy H.; Piraino, Stefano

    2017-01-01

    Polyps of two moon jellyfish species, Aurelia coerulea and A.relicta, from two Adriatic Sea coastal habitats were incubated under multiple combinations of temperature (14, 21 °C), salinity (24, 37 ppt) and food regime (9.3, 18.6, 27.9 μg C ind‾¹ week‾¹) to comparatively assess how these factors may influence major asexual reproduction processes in the two species. Both species exhibited a shared pattern of budding mode (Directly Budded Polyps: DBP; Stolonal Budded Polyps: SBP), with DBP favo...

  11. Life-history stages of the jellyfish Aurelia aurita - towards a demographic understanding of jellyfish blooms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Goldstein, Josephine

    2017-01-01

    Jellyfish blooms are conspicuous demographic events that have received increasing attention by the public and the scientific community over the last decades due to their negative impact on fisheries, tourism and other human industries. Several aspects of the complex life cycles of the jellyfish......, including frequent mass occurrence of A. aurita medusae in temperate Danish waters. The present novel data show for instance, that jellyfish blooms of A. aurita are strongly affected by food availability and corresponding shifts between asexually reproducing benthic polyps and sexually reproducing pelagic...... medusae, which might be highly representative for the majority of bloom-forming jellyfish species. Findings further indicate that seasonal shrinkage and subsequent disappearance of A. aurita medusae is rather driven by food limitation than by a trade-off between sexual reproduction and metabolic...

  12. Aurelia labiata jellyfish in Roscoe Bay on the West Coast of Canada: Seasonal changes in adult bell diameter and mingling of juvenile and adult populations

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    Albert, David J.; Walsh, Michael L.

    2014-01-01

    The bell diameter of adult Aurelia labiata in Roscoe Bay increased from spring (April) to early summer (May/June) and decreased over the rest of the year (2009/2010). The increase in bell diameter in the spring would have been supported by the increase in zooplankton that occurs in the northeast Pacific at this time. Over the summer, bell diameter may have decreased because the food available/medusa would have been decreased by the arrival of a large number of juveniles and may have decreased further over the fall and winter when zooplankton levels are known to be low. Adults and juveniles were intermingled during 2010, 2011, and 2012. Correlations between the number of adults and number of juveniles obtained in individual net lifts across the entire bay and in different parts of the bay were all positive and most were statistically significant. In 2012, salinity in the entire water column of the west side of the bay dropped below 20 ppt in July and most medusae migrated to higher salinity in the east side of the bay, a distance of about 0.5 km. The mingling of adults and juveniles supports other evidence that adult Aurelia sp. medusae do not prey upon juveniles. The ability to withstand months with insufficient food and to inhibit preying on juveniles would contribute greatly to the survival of Aurelia sp. jellyfish.

  13. Respiratory response to temperature of three populations of Aurelia aurita polyps in northern Europe.

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    Danja P Höhn

    Full Text Available The benthic life stage (polyp or scyphistoma of the bloom-forming jellyfish, Aurelia aurita (Linnaeus, 1759, also known as the moon jellyfish, contributes to the seasonal occurrence and abundance of medusa blooms via asexual reproduction. A. aurita is widely distributed in coastal areas in northern Europe, and one of the most studied jellyfish species. While the physiology of the visible medusa is largely understood, understanding of the physiology of the perennial benthic life-stage is scarce. To measure the physiological tolerance of A. aurita, the scyphistoma's temperature sensitivity across its distributional range was investigated. Respiration rates of polyps from three northern European locations exposed to 11 temperatures between 2 and 22°C were measured. There was a significant difference in respiration rate among the three polyp populations, which may reflect on differences in their thermal tolerance window. A critical temperature was reached at 14°C with the metabolic rate decreasing below and above that temperature. This pattern was less pronounced in the Norwegian population but polyps were able to survive, at least temporarily, those temperatures exceeding their natural range. While polyps collected from northern Norway, with a narrow environmental thermal window, displayed a low baseline metabolism with a Q10 value of 1.2, polyps from southern England and Scotland had Q10 values of 1.6 and 2.5, respectively. Differences in polyps' respiration rates across their distributional range suggest that populations have evolved adaptations to local environmental thermal conditions.

  14. The biogenic reefs formed by the alien polychaete Hydroides dianthus (Serpulidae, Annelida) favor the polyp stage of Aurelia coerulea (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) in a coastal artificial lake.

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    Dong, Zhijun; Sun, Tingting; Wang, Lei

    2018-04-01

    Blooms of the moon jellyfish Aurelia coerulea frequently occur in coastal waters. The increased availability of substrates for the settlement and proliferation of polyps due to the expansion of artificial structures in coastal areas has been proposed as a possible contributing factor in jellyfish blooms. This paper investigates whether a marine artificial lake (Fenghuang Lake) provides additional substrates for A. coerulea polyps and contributes to jellyfish blooms. High densities of A. coerulea ephyrae were discovered in this lake, with a mean density of 41 individuals/m 3 and a maximum measured density of 128 individuals/m 3 . Meanwhile, A. coerulea ephyrae were also found in the two emptying channels outside the lake, with a mean density of 13 individuals/m 3 . Underwater surveys revealed that dense colonies of A. coerulea polyps occurred mainly on biogenic reefs formed by a polychaete, which was identified as an invasive serpulid species Hydroides dianthus, based on the phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial COI gene sequences. Our study highlights the potential modification of habitats by the alien polychaete H. dianthus, which might provide complex benthic habits suitable for the settlement and proliferation of A. coerulea polyps and may contribute to jellyfish blooms in the marine artificial lake and nearby coastal waters. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Jellyfish mucin may have potential disease-modifying effects on osteoarthritis

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    Urai Makoto

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background We aimed to study the effects of intra-articular injection of jellyfish mucin (qniumucin on articular cartilage degeneration in a model of osteoarthritis (OA created in rabbit knees by resection of the anterior cruciate ligament. Qniumucin was extracted from Aurelia aurita (moon jellyfish and Stomolophus nomurai (Nomura's jellyfish and purified by ion exchange chromatography. The OA model used 36 knees in 18 Japanese white rabbits. Purified qniumucin extracts from S. nomurai or A. aurita were used at 1 mg/ml. Rabbits were divided into four groups: a control (C group injected with saline; a hyaluronic acid (HA-only group (H group; two qniumucin-only groups (M groups; and two qniumucin + HA groups (MH groups. One milligram of each solution was injected intra-articularly once a week for 5 consecutive weeks, starting from 4 weeks after surgery. Ten weeks after surgery, the articular cartilage was evaluated macroscopically and histologically. Results In the C and M groups, macroscopic cartilage defects extended to the subchondral bone medially and laterally. When the H and both MH groups were compared, only minor cartilage degeneration was observed in groups treated with qniumucin in contrast to the group without qniumucin. Histologically, densely safranin-O-stained cartilage layers were observed in the H and two MH groups, but cartilage was strongly maintained in both MH groups. Conclusion At the concentrations of qniumucin used in this study, injection together with HA inhibited articular cartilage degeneration in this model of OA.

  16. Jellyfish blooms in China: Dominant species, causes and consequences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong Zhijun; Liu Dongyan; Keesing, John K.

    2010-01-01

    Three jellyfish species, Aurelia aurita, Cyanea nozakii and Nemopilema nomurai, form large blooms in Chinese seas. We report on the distribution and increasing incidence of jellyfish blooms and their consequences in Chinese coastal seas and analyze their relationship to anthropogenically derived changes to the environment in order to determine the possible causes. A. aurita, C. nozakii and N. nomurai form blooms in the temperate Chinese seas including the northern East China Sea, Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. N. nomurai forms offshore blooms while the other two species bloom mainly in inshore areas. Eutrophication, overfishing, habitat modification for aquaculture and climate change are all possible contributory factors facilitating plausible mechanisms for the proliferation of jellyfish blooms. In the absence of improvement in coastal marine ecosystem health, jellyfish blooms could be sustained and may even spread from the locations in which they now occur.

  17. Polyp Removal of a Bloom Forming Jellyfish, Aurelia coerulea, in Korean Waters and Its Value Evaluation

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    Yoon, Wonduk; Chae, Jinho; Koh, Byoung-Seol; Han, Changhoon

    2018-04-01

    Aurelia coerulea is a bloom forming jellyfish that first appeared before 1980 in the western and southern Korean seas and which has been blamed for huge economical losses in all fields of marine activities. As a preventive measure to reduce economical losses, polyp removal was undertaken at Lake Shihwa, Lake Saemangeum, and Masan Bay, Korea. In the course of efforts during 2 years to remove polyps, polyps were surveyed, quantified, and removed. In these areas, the initial total polyp abundance was 5.04 × 109 and 46.25% of them were removed; Lake Shihwa the highest rates of removal and Lake Saemangeum the lowest. These efforts to remove polyps prevented the appearance of 1.20 × 109 medusae, corresponding to 78.28 × 106 kg. The cost of polyp removal was evaluated and compared with that of medusae removal. The ratio between the cost of polyp removal and that of medusae removal ranged between 0.78-3.14%, indicating large cost savings for polyp removal undertakings. However, the effect of polyp removal varied from positive to none, and we assumed that the cleared surface for polyp removal, quantity of removed polyp, and existence of polyps' hotspots in neighboring areas were the causes of the non-effectiveness of polyp removal undertakings.

  18. The effects of food and photoperiod on strobilation of Aurelia aurita polyps

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    João Chambel

    2014-06-01

    After 30 days of experiment results showed 100 % survival independently of the treatment. In presence of food the strobilation increased (52.08 ± 4.11 % comparatively with the strobilation in polyps without food (33.33 ± 4.35% (pAurelia aurita. However face the necessity of the optimization of the culture jellyfish conditions for ornamental trade and as source of MNPs, more studies are necessary to turned profitable the mass production of this specie.

  19. Characterization of jellyfish turning using 3D-PTV

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    Xu, Nicole; Dabiri, John

    2017-11-01

    Aurelia aurita are oblate, radially symmetric jellyfish that consist of a gelatinous bell and subumbrellar muscle ring, which contracts to provide motive force. Swimming is typically modeled as a purely vertical motion; however, asymmetric activations of swim pacemakers (sensory organs that innervate the muscle at eight locations around the bell margin) result in turning and more complicated swim behaviors. More recent studies have examined flow fields around turning jellyfish, but the input/output relationship between locomotive controls and swim trajectories is unclear. To address this, bell kinematics for both straight swimming and turning are obtained using 3D particle tracking velocimetry (3D-PTV) by injecting biocompatible elastomer tags into the bell, illuminating the tank with ultraviolet light, and tracking the resulting fluorescent particles in a multi-camera setup. By understanding these kinematics in both natural and externally controlled free-swimming animals, we can connect neuromuscular control mechanisms to existing flow measurements of jellyfish turning for applications in designing more energy efficient biohybrid robots and underwater vehicles. NSF GRFP.

  20. Not all jellyfish are equal: isotopic evidence for inter- and intraspecific variation in jellyfish trophic ecology

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    Nicholas E.C. Fleming

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Jellyfish are highly topical within studies of pelagic food-webs and there is a growing realisation that their role is more complex than once thought. Efforts being made to include jellyfish within fisheries and ecosystem models are an important step forward, but our present understanding of their underlying trophic ecology can lead to their oversimplification in these models. Gelatinous zooplankton represent a polyphyletic assemblage spanning >2,000 species that inhabit coastal seas to the deep-ocean and employ a wide variety of foraging strategies. Despite this diversity, many contemporary modelling approaches include jellyfish as a single functional group feeding at one or two trophic levels at most. Recent reviews have drawn attention to this issue and highlighted the need for improved communication between biologists and theoreticians if this problem is to be overcome. We used stable isotopes to investigate the trophic ecology of three co-occurring scyphozoan jellyfish species (Aurelia aurita, Cyanea lamarckii and C. capillata within a temperate, coastal food-web in the NE Atlantic. Using information on individual size, time of year and δ13C and δ15N stable isotope values, we examined: (1 whether all jellyfish could be considered as a single functional group, or showed distinct inter-specific differences in trophic ecology; (2 Were size-based shifts in trophic position, found previously in A. aurita, a common trait across species?; (3 When considered collectively, did the trophic position of three sympatric species remain constant over time? Differences in δ15N (trophic position were evident between all three species, with size-based and temporal shifts in δ15N apparent in A. aurita and C. capillata. The isotopic niche width for all species combined increased throughout the season, reflecting temporal shifts in trophic position and seasonal succession in these gelatinous species. Taken together, these findings support previous

  1. Not all jellyfish are equal: isotopic evidence for inter- and intraspecific variation in jellyfish trophic ecology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleming, Nicholas E C; Harrod, Chris; Newton, Jason; Houghton, Jonathan D R

    2015-01-01

    Jellyfish are highly topical within studies of pelagic food-webs and there is a growing realisation that their role is more complex than once thought. Efforts being made to include jellyfish within fisheries and ecosystem models are an important step forward, but our present understanding of their underlying trophic ecology can lead to their oversimplification in these models. Gelatinous zooplankton represent a polyphyletic assemblage spanning >2,000 species that inhabit coastal seas to the deep-ocean and employ a wide variety of foraging strategies. Despite this diversity, many contemporary modelling approaches include jellyfish as a single functional group feeding at one or two trophic levels at most. Recent reviews have drawn attention to this issue and highlighted the need for improved communication between biologists and theoreticians if this problem is to be overcome. We used stable isotopes to investigate the trophic ecology of three co-occurring scyphozoan jellyfish species (Aurelia aurita, Cyanea lamarckii and C. capillata) within a temperate, coastal food-web in the NE Atlantic. Using information on individual size, time of year and δ (13)C and δ (15)N stable isotope values, we examined: (1) whether all jellyfish could be considered as a single functional group, or showed distinct inter-specific differences in trophic ecology; (2) Were size-based shifts in trophic position, found previously in A. aurita, a common trait across species?; (3) When considered collectively, did the trophic position of three sympatric species remain constant over time? Differences in δ (15)N (trophic position) were evident between all three species, with size-based and temporal shifts in δ (15)N apparent in A. aurita and C. capillata. The isotopic niche width for all species combined increased throughout the season, reflecting temporal shifts in trophic position and seasonal succession in these gelatinous species. Taken together, these findings support previous assertions

  2. The Bright Side of Gelatinous Blooms: Nutraceutical Value and Antioxidant Properties of Three Mediterranean Jellyfish (Scyphozoa

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    Antonella Leone

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Jellyfish are recorded with increasing frequency and magnitude in many coastal areas and several species display biological features comparable to the most popular Asiatic edible jellyfish. The biochemical and antioxidant properties of wild gelatinous biomasses, in terms of nutritional and nutraceutical values, are still largely unexplored. In this paper, three of the most abundant and commonly recorded jellyfish species (Aurelia sp.1, Cotylorhiza tuberculata and Rhizostoma pulmo in the Mediterranean Sea were subject to investigation. A sequential enzymatic hydrolysis of jellyfish proteins was set up by pepsin and collagenase treatments of jellyfish samples after aqueous or hydroalcoholic protein extraction. The content and composition of proteins, amino acids, phenolics, and fatty acids of the three species were recorded and compared. Protein content (mainly represented by collagen up to 40% of jellyfish dry weight were found in two of the three jellyfish species (C. tuberculata and R. pulmo, whereas the presence of ω-3 and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs was significantly higher in the zooxanthellate jellyfish C. tuberculata only. Remarkable antioxidant ability was also recorded from both proteinaceous and non proteinaceous extracts and the hydrolyzed protein fractions in all the three species. The abundance of collagen, peptides and other bioactive molecules make these Mediterranean gelatinous biomasses a largely untapped source of natural compounds of nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and pharmacological interest.

  3. Jellyfish support high energy intake of leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea: video evidence from animal-borne cameras.

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    Susan G Heaslip

    Full Text Available The endangered leatherback turtle is a large, highly migratory marine predator that inexplicably relies upon a diet of low-energy gelatinous zooplankton. The location of these prey may be predictable at large oceanographic scales, given that leatherback turtles perform long distance migrations (1000s of km from nesting beaches to high latitude foraging grounds. However, little is known about the profitability of this migration and foraging strategy. We used GPS location data and video from animal-borne cameras to examine how prey characteristics (i.e., prey size, prey type, prey encounter rate correlate with the daytime foraging behavior of leatherbacks (n = 19 in shelf waters off Cape Breton Island, NS, Canada, during August and September. Video was recorded continuously, averaged 1:53 h per turtle (range 0:08-3:38 h, and documented a total of 601 prey captures. Lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata was the dominant prey (83-100%, but moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita were also consumed. Turtles approached and attacked most jellyfish within the camera's field of view and appeared to consume prey completely. There was no significant relationship between encounter rate and dive duration (p = 0.74, linear mixed-effects models. Handling time increased with prey size regardless of prey species (p = 0.0001. Estimates of energy intake averaged 66,018 kJ • d(-1 but were as high as 167,797 kJ • d(-1 corresponding to turtles consuming an average of 330 kg wet mass • d(-1 (up to 840 kg • d(-1 or approximately 261 (up to 664 jellyfish • d(-1. Assuming our turtles averaged 455 kg body mass, they consumed an average of 73% of their body mass • d(-1 equating to an average energy intake of 3-7 times their daily metabolic requirements, depending on estimates used. This study provides evidence that feeding tactics used by leatherbacks in Atlantic Canadian waters are highly profitable and our results are consistent with estimates of mass gain prior to

  4. Flexible margin kinematics and vortex formation of Aurelia aurita and Robojelly.

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    Villanueva, Alex; Vlachos, Pavlos; Priya, Shashank

    2014-01-01

    The development of a rowing jellyfish biomimetic robot termed as "Robojelly", has led to the discovery of a passive flexible flap located between the flexion point and bell margin on the Aurelia aurita. A comparative analysis of biomimetic robots showed that the presence of a passive flexible flap results in a significant increase in the swimming performance. In this work we further investigate this concept by developing varying flap geometries and comparing their kinematics with A. aurita. It was shown that the animal flap kinematics can be replicated with high fidelity using a passive structure and a flap with curved and tapered geometry gave the most biomimetic performance. A method for identifying the flap location was established by utilizing the bell curvature and the variation of curvature as a function of time. Flaps of constant cross-section and varying lengths were incorporated on the Robojelly to conduct a systematic study of the starting vortex circulation. Circulation was quantified using velocity field measurements obtained from planar Time Resolved Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (TRDPIV). The starting vortex circulation was scaled using a varying orifice model and a pitching panel model. The varying orifice model which has been traditionally considered as the better representation of jellyfish propulsion did not appear to capture the scaling of the starting vortex. In contrast, the pitching panel representation appeared to better scale the governing flow physics and revealed a strong dependence on the flap kinematics and geometry. The results suggest that an alternative description should be considered for rowing jellyfish propulsion, using a pitching panel method instead of the traditional varying orifice model. Finally, the results show the importance of incorporating the entire bell geometry as a function of time in modeling rowing jellyfish propulsion.

  5. Flexible margin kinematics and vortex formation of Aurelia aurita and Robojelly.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alex Villanueva

    Full Text Available The development of a rowing jellyfish biomimetic robot termed as "Robojelly", has led to the discovery of a passive flexible flap located between the flexion point and bell margin on the Aurelia aurita. A comparative analysis of biomimetic robots showed that the presence of a passive flexible flap results in a significant increase in the swimming performance. In this work we further investigate this concept by developing varying flap geometries and comparing their kinematics with A. aurita. It was shown that the animal flap kinematics can be replicated with high fidelity using a passive structure and a flap with curved and tapered geometry gave the most biomimetic performance. A method for identifying the flap location was established by utilizing the bell curvature and the variation of curvature as a function of time. Flaps of constant cross-section and varying lengths were incorporated on the Robojelly to conduct a systematic study of the starting vortex circulation. Circulation was quantified using velocity field measurements obtained from planar Time Resolved Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (TRDPIV. The starting vortex circulation was scaled using a varying orifice model and a pitching panel model. The varying orifice model which has been traditionally considered as the better representation of jellyfish propulsion did not appear to capture the scaling of the starting vortex. In contrast, the pitching panel representation appeared to better scale the governing flow physics and revealed a strong dependence on the flap kinematics and geometry. The results suggest that an alternative description should be considered for rowing jellyfish propulsion, using a pitching panel method instead of the traditional varying orifice model. Finally, the results show the importance of incorporating the entire bell geometry as a function of time in modeling rowing jellyfish propulsion.

  6. Indoles induce metamorphosis in a broad diversity of jellyfish, but not in a crown jelly (Coronatae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helm, Rebecca R; Dunn, Casey W

    2017-01-01

    Many animals go through one or more metamorphoses during their lives, however, the molecular underpinnings of metamorphosis across diverse species are not well understood. Medusozoa (Cnidaria) is a clade of animals with complex life cycles, these life cycles can include a polyp stage that metamorphoses into a medusa (jellyfish). Medusae are produced through a variety of different developmental mechanisms-in some species polyps bud medusae (Hydrozoa), in others medusae are formed through polyp fission (Scyphozoa), while in others medusae are formed through direct transformation of the polyp (Cubozoa). To better understand the molecular mechanisms that may coordinate these different forms of metamorphosis, we tested two compounds first identified to induce metamorphosis in the moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita (indomethacin and 5-methoxy-2-methylindole) on a broad diversity of medusozoan polyps. We discovered that indole-containing compounds trigger metamorphosis across a broad diversity of species. All tested discomedusan polyps metamorphosed in the presence of both compounds, including species representatives of several major lineages within the clade (Pelagiidae, Cyaneidae, both clades of Rhizostomeae). In a cubozoan, low levels of 5-methoxy-2-methylindole reliably induced complete and healthy metamorphosis. In contrast, neither compound induced medusa metamorphosis in a coronate scyphozoan, or medusa production in either hydrozoan tested. Our results support the hypothesis that metamorphosis is mediated by a conserved induction pathway within discomedusan scyphozoans, and possibly cubozoans. However, failure of these compounds to induce metamorphosis in a coronate suggests this induction mechanism may have been lost in this clade, or is convergent between Scyphozoa and Cubozoa.

  7. Occurrence, inter-annual variability and zooplankton-predation impact of the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi and the native jellyfish Aurelia aurita in Limfjorden (Denmark) in 2010 and 2011

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Riisgaard, Hans Ulrik; Jaspers, Cornelia; Serre, Sandrine

    2012-01-01

    In 2007, the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi was observed for the first time in Limfjorden (Denmark) where it exhibited mass occurrence in late summer while the indigenous and usually dominating common jellyfish, Aurelia aurita, was nearly absent. Both species were further studied in 2008 a...... in the Black Sea in 1989 when the zooplankton and fish stocks collapsed. Analysis of available hydrographic data and model calculations indicates that re-invasion of M. leidyi from the North Sea seeded the autumn population in Limfjorden in mid-September...... and 2009 and it was found that the additional predation pressure by M. leidyi caused the zooplankton stocks to be severely depressed. Here, we report on the population dynamics and predation impact of M. leidyi and A. aurita in Limfjorden in 2010 and 2011. In 2010, M. leidyi was observed in Limfjorden...... for the first time in August with the highest density and largest size in the central parts (Skive Fjord). The estimated half-life of zooplankton (copepods) was only important in Skive Fjord in mid August 2010 when the jointpredation impact of A. aurita and M. leidyi was 2.3 d. In 2011, no M. leidyi were...

  8. Predicting the Presence of Scyphozoan Jellyfish in the Gulf of Mexico Using a Biophysical Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aleksa, K. T.; Nero, R. W.; Wiggert, J. D.; Graham, W. M.

    2016-02-01

    The study and quantification of jellyfish (cnidarian medusae and ctenophores) is difficult due to their fragile body plan and a composition similar to their environment. The development of a predictive biophysical jellyfish model would be the first of its kind for the Gulf of Mexico and could provide assistance in ecological research and human interactions. In this study, the collection data of two scyphozoan medusae, Chrysaora quinquecirrha and Aurelia spp., were extracted from SEAMAP trawling surveys and were used to determine biophysical predictors for the presence of large jellyfish medusae in the Gulf of Mexico. Both in situ and remote sensing measurements from 2003 to 2013 were obtained. Logistic regressions were then applied to 27 biophysical parameters derived from these data to explore and determine significant predictors for the presence of medusae. Significant predictors identified by this analysis included water temperature, chlorophyll a, turbidity, distance from shore, and salinity. Future application for this model include foraging assessment of gelatinous predators as well as possible near real time monitoring of the distribution and movement of these medusae in the Gulf of Mexico.

  9. An experimental study of Aurelia aurita feeding behaviour: Inference of the potential predation impact on a temperate estuarine nursery area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Rita; Teodósio, Maria Alexandra; Garrido, Susana

    2014-06-01

    Temperate estuaries are nursery areas for economically important fisheries resources. The common jellyfish Aurelia aurita is a resident species in many of these areas, where it can reach high abundances. This work aimed to determine the potential for predation of A. aurita on zooplanktonic organisms and early life stages of fishes, measuring feeding rates at concentrations that mimic those occurring for zooplankton, fish eggs and larvae in an estuarine nursery area. A set of experiments was aimed at determining the feeding selectivity of jellyfish when offered a mixture of fish eggs and larvae and wild plankton. Clearance rates varied markedly with prey availability and concentrations. When given mixtures of different prey types, jellyfish preferentially elected some taxa (copepods and fish eggs). Data obtained in the laboratory experiments were used to infer the potential impact of jellyfish predation upon zooplankton and ichthyoplankton in the Guadiana estuary (Southern Iberia). Repeated sampling of zooplankton, fish eggs and medusae was undertaken during the summer season of 2011. Abundance determinations were combined with experimentally estimated clearance rates of individual medusa to infer the potential jellyfish-induced mortality on prey in the area. In June and early August jellyfish-induced mortality rates were very high, and half-life times (t1/2) were consequently short for the zooplankton and ichthyoplankton. Although the potentially overestimation of our feeding rates typical of confined laboratory experiments, the results show high ingestion and clearance rates at high temperatures, typical from summer condition, and results also suggest that either by predation on early life stages of fish, or by competition for food resources, jellyfish may have a significant impact on estuarine communities and its nursery function.

  10. Reynolds number limits for jet propulsion: a numerical study of simplified jellyfish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herschlag, Gregory; Miller, Laura

    2011-09-21

    The Scallop theorem states that reciprocal methods of locomotion, such as jet propulsion or paddling, will not work in Stokes flow (Reynolds number=0). In nature the effective limit of jet propulsion is still in the range where inertial forces are significant. It appears that almost all animals that use jet propulsion swim at Reynolds numbers (Re) of about 5 or more. Juvenile squid and octopods hatch from the egg already swimming in this inertial regime. Juvenile jellyfish, or ephyrae, break off from polyps swimming at Re greater than 5. Many other organisms, such as scallops, rarely swim at Re less than 100. The limitations of jet propulsion at intermediate Re is explored here using the immersed boundary method to solve the 2D Navier-Stokes equations coupled to the motion of a simplified jellyfish. The contraction and expansion kinematics are prescribed, but the forward and backward swimming motions of the idealized jellyfish are emergent properties determined by the resulting fluid dynamics. Simulations are performed for both an oblate bell shape using a paddling mode of swimming and a prolate bell shape using jet propulsion. Average forward velocities and work put into the system are calculated for Re between 1 and 320. The results show that forward velocities rapidly decay with decreasing Re for all bell shapes when Re<10. Similarly, the work required to generate the pulsing motion increases significantly for Re<10. When compared to actual organisms, the swimming velocities and vortex separation patterns for the model prolate agree with those observed in Nemopsis bachei. The forward swimming velocities of the model oblate jellyfish after two pulse cycles are comparable to those reported for Aurelia aurita, but discrepancies are observed in the vortex dynamics between when the 2D model oblate jellyfish and the organism. This discrepancy is likely due to a combination of the differences between the 3D reality of the jellyfish and the 2D simplification, as well as

  11. Gene Expression Data from the Moon Jelly, Aurelia, Provide Insights into the Evolution of the Combinatorial Code Controlling Animal Sense Organ Development.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nagayasu Nakanishi

    Full Text Available In Bilateria, Pax6, Six, Eya and Dach families of transcription factors underlie the development and evolution of morphologically and phyletically distinct eyes, including the compound eyes in Drosophila and the camera-type eyes in vertebrates, indicating that bilaterian eyes evolved under the strong influence of ancestral developmental gene regulation. However the conservation in eye developmental genetics deeper in the Eumetazoa, and the origin of the conserved gene regulatory apparatus controlling eye development remain unclear due to limited comparative developmental data from Cnidaria. Here we show in the eye-bearing scyphozoan cnidarian Aurelia that the ectodermal photosensory domain of the developing medusa sensory structure known as the rhopalium expresses sine oculis (so/six1/2 and eyes absent/eya, but not optix/six3/6 or pax (A&B. In addition, the so and eya co-expression domain encompasses the region of active cell proliferation, neurogenesis, and mechanoreceptor development in rhopalia. Consistent with the role of so and eya in rhopalial development, developmental transcriptome data across Aurelia life cycle stages show upregulation of so and eya, but not optix or pax (A&B, during medusa formation. Moreover, pax6 and dach are absent in the Aurelia genome, and thus are not required for eye development in Aurelia. Our data are consistent with so and eya, but not optix, pax or dach, having conserved functions in sensory structure specification across Eumetazoa. The lability of developmental components including Pax genes relative to so-eya is consistent with a model of sense organ development and evolution that involved the lineage specific modification of a combinatorial code that specifies animal sense organs.

  12. Population dynamics and factors controlling somatic degrowth of the common jellyfish, Aurelia aurita, in a temperate semi-enclosed cove (Kertinge Nor, Denmark)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Goldstein, Josephine; Riisgård, Hans Ulrik

    2016-01-01

    Life expectancy of the scyphomedusa Aurelia aurita seems closely linked to seasonal shrinkage, or somatic degrowth, which occurs synchronously with sexual reproduction in temperate regions. In the present study, the mechanisms controlling body mass losses and subsequent disappearance of medusae w...... reproduction. Seasonal variability in food supply, rather than energy allocation to reproduction, appears to shorten life spans of A. aurita medusae in temperate Danish waters.......Life expectancy of the scyphomedusa Aurelia aurita seems closely linked to seasonal shrinkage, or somatic degrowth, which occurs synchronously with sexual reproduction in temperate regions. In the present study, the mechanisms controlling body mass losses and subsequent disappearance of medusae......, mm), following the exponential relationship NL = 160.8 × e0.029d. The percentage of body mass made up by planulae ranged from 6 to 11 % in Kertinge Nor and 10 to 33 % in Great Belt. ≤15 % of total size-specific body mass losses were due to the release of planulae in Kertinge Nor, suggesting shortage...

  13. Density-driven water exchange controls seasonal declines in the abundance of jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) in a Danish fjord system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Goldstein, Josephine; Jürgensen, Carsten; Steiner, Ulrich

    2018-01-01

    and disappears by winter. While food limitation has been suggested as possible driver of distinct seasonal declines in the local jellyfish abundance, the role of hydrodynamic forcing in the shallow, semi-enclosed system is still unclear. Based on regular measurements from a two-year field campaign, we provide...

  14. Sex determination and differentiation in Aurelia sp.1: the absence of temperature dependence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Chunsheng; Gu, Zhifeng; Xing, Mengxin; Sun, Yun; Chen, Siqing; Chen, Zhaoting

    2018-03-01

    Cnidarians, being regarded as `basal' metazoan animals, are considered to have relatively high plasticity in terms of sex reversal. In this study we used an experimental approach to demonstrate sexual differentiation and plasticity in benthic polyps and pelagic medusae of Aurelia sp.1 maintained at different temperatures. Results indicated that in Aurelia sp.1, sex differentiation has been determined at the polyp stage and that all medusae originating from a given polyp are, phenotypically, of the same sex. In addition, the sex of polyps budding from the same clone (either male or female) at different temperatures appears to be the same as that of the parent. The sex of medusae that had originated from a known-sex polyp was observed to remain the same as that of the parent, irrespective of differences in strobilation or rearing temperatures. These results indicate that the mechanism of sex determination of Aurelia sp.1. is not influenced by prevailing temperature regimes. A comparison of variability in terms of sexual plasticity of Aurelia sp.1 with that of Hydrozoa and Anthozoa suggests that species characterized by a free-swimming medusa life stage have a high dispersal potential, which probably results in a lower rate of sex reversal.

  15. Optimization and preliminary characterization of venom isolated from 3 medically important jellyfish: the box (Chironex fleckeri), Irukandji (Carukia barnesi), and blubber (Catostylus mosaicus) jellyfish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiltshire, C J; Sutherland, S K; Fenner, P J; Young, A R

    2000-01-01

    To optimize venom extraction and to undertake preliminary biochemical studies of venom from the box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri), the Irukandji jellyfish (Carukia barnesi), and the blubber jellyfish (Catostylus mosaicus). Lyophilized crude venoms from box jellyfish tentacles and whole Irukandji jellyfish were prepared in water by homogenization, sonication, and rapid freeze thawing. A second technique, consisting of grinding samples with a glass mortar and pestle and using phosphate-buffered saline, was used to prepare crude venom from isolated nematocysts of the box jellyfish, the bells of Irukandji jellyfish, and the oral lobes of blubber jellyfish. Venoms were compared by use of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Western blot test. Toxicity of some venoms was determined by intravenous median lethal dose assay in mice. Different venom extraction techniques produced significantly different crude venoms for both box and Irukandji jellyfish. Irukandji and blubber venom SDS-PAGE protein profiles were established for the first time. Analysis of Western blot tests revealed that box jellyfish antivenin reacted specifically with the venom of each jellyfish. Toxicity was found in Irukandji jellyfish venom derived by use of the mortar-and-pestle method, but not in the lyophilized venom. Glass mortar-and-pestle grinding and use of an appropriate buffer was found to be a simple and suitable method for the preparation of venom from each jellyfish species studied. This study contributes to biochemical investigations of jellyfish venoms, particularly the venom of the Irukandji jellyfish, for which there are, to our knowledge, no published studies. It also highlights the importance of optimizing venom extraction as the first step toward understanding the complex biological effects of jellyfish venoms.

  16. Ontogeny of antipredator performance in hatchery-reared Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus larvae exposed to visual or tactile predators in relation to turbidity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohata, R; Masuda, R; Yamashita, Y

    2011-12-01

    Laboratory experiments revealed distinct effects of turbidity on the survival of Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus larvae when exposed to either visual (jack mackerel Trachurus japonicus) or tactile (moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita) predators. The experiments were conducted in 30 l tanks with three levels of turbidity obtained by dissolving 0, 50 or 300 mg l(-1) of kaolin. Predators were introduced to experimental tanks followed by larvae of E. japonicus ranging from 5 to 25 mm standard lengths (L(s) ). When exposed to T. japonicus, the mean survival rate of larvae was significantly higher in 300 mg l(-1) treatments compared to the other turbidity levels. When exposed to A. aurita, however, there was no difference in the survival rates among different turbidity treatments. The survival rates when exposed to either predator improved with larval growth. The logistic survivorship models for E. japonicus larvae when exposed to A. aurita had an inflection point at c. 12 mm L(s) , suggesting that their size refuge from A. aurita is close to this value. Comparison to a previous study suggests a high vulnerability of shirasu (long and transparent) fish larvae to jellyfish predation under turbidity. This study indicates that anthropogenic increases of turbidity in coastal waters may increase the relative effect of jellyfish predation on fish larvae. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology © 2011 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  17. Jellyfish movement data - Determining Movement Patterns of Jellyfish

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This project is to determine horizontal and vertical movement patterns of two jellyfish species in Hood Canal, in relation to environmental variables. It is being...

  18. Study on the carry capacity of edible jellyfish fishery in Liaodong Bay

    Science.gov (United States)

    You, Kui; Bian, Yongning; Ma, Caihua; Chi, Xupeng; Liu, Zhiqiang; Zhang, Yuyu

    2016-06-01

    Jellyfish fishing is a special type of fishery that mainly exists in some countries of East and Southeast Asia. China has the largest jellyfish fishery yield in the world with an annual harvest of around 300 thousand tons. Liaodong Bay is the most important jellyfish fishery ground in China. However, due to the high benefits of jellyfish fishery, which leads to illegal and out-of-season jellyfish fishing occurring each year in Liaodong Bay. Illegal jellyfish fishery in Liaodong Bay is a typical example of the tragedy of the commons. The key problem is that fishermen seek to an illegally initiate jellyfish fishing as early as possible. In this paper, basing on the data of edible jellyfish's biology and ecology, we mainly analyzed the history of jellyfish fishery in China, especially in Liaodong bay, and then we calculated the carry capacity of edible jellyfish in Liaodong Bay which is about 300 thousand tons one year. This number is equal to the recent annual yield of edible jellyfish in China. Furthermore, basing on the carry capacity and reasonable quotas price analysis, we set up a Jellyfish fishing quotas and deficit quotas buyback system which could be a suitable and effective solution for jellyfish fishery management and development in Liaodong Bay at the underlying roots. Although China is the first country with edible jellyfish aquaculture, the annual yield of jellyfish aquaculture is only one fifth of jellyfish fishing. So, there is a very bright developing prospect about edible jellyfish aquaculture in China.

  19. Jellyfish stings

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Atlantic and Physalia utriculus in the Pacific). Sea nettle ( Chrysaora quinquecirrha ), one of the most common jellyfish ... nose and watery eyes Swallowing difficulty Sweating SEA NETTLE Mild skin rash (with mild stings) Muscle cramps ...

  20. Indonesian jellyfish as potential for raw materials of food and drug

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yusuf, S.; Fahmid, I. M.; Abdullah, N.; Zulhaeriah

    2018-05-01

    Jellyfish used to be considered as a pest of fish and a nuisance to fishing operations. Yet, forty years ago this jellyfish was found to be materials of food, medicine and cosmetics and the utilization of jellyfish is now familiar in Indonesia after being imported by China and Japan industry. This study aims to determine the potential development of jellyfish commodities as food and drugs from Indonesia with the target to improve the welfare of fishermen. This research used methods of rapid observation, limited interview, processing with immersion experiment and desiccation. In addition, various literatures were also used to enrich the knowledge about jellyfish business. Observation showed that the appearance of jellyfish in Indonesian waters varies based on the fertility of the waters affected by oceanographic conditions. Jellyfish contains low calorie and fat content, high protein and minerals as well as total collagen. Thus, jellyfish is a nutritious food source to be developed into food supplements, nutricosmetics and functional foods. Due to its large size, the jellyfish from Bunyu Island is more viable than jellyfish from Suppa Pinrang to be exported as raw material. Therefore, the manufacture of food and medicines from jellyfish materials is possible to be done in Indonesia.

  1. Decomposition of jellyfish carrion in situ

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chelsky, Ariella; Pitt, Kylie A.; Ferguson, Angus J.P.

    2016-01-01

    Jellyfish often form blooms that persist for weeks to months before they collapse en masse, resulting in the sudden release of large amounts of organic matter to the environment. This study investigated the biogeochemical and ecological effects of the decomposition of jellyfish in a shallow coast...

  2. Clinical manifestations and managements in jellyfish envenomation A systematic review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Negar Taheri

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Background: The phylum Cnidarians have over nine thousand species that approximately, one hundred species are dangerous for humans. Annually, a large number of deaths were reported due to jellyfish stings. The manifestations depend on their species and kind of venoms, and include the local and systemic manifestations. A number of methods and compounds were used and under investigation for management of injuries with jellyfishes. Due to the lack of an integrated systematic review, the current study was done. Materials and Methods: The PubMed data bank was searched for the term “Jellyfish”. A total of 1677 papers were found. These papers were divided into three categories: medical, biomedical and biotechnological fields. The medical category was further divided into three subcategories comprising systemic manifestations, cutaneous manifestations and treatments for the stings of jellyfishes. The biomedical category was further subdivided into genomics, proteomics, and biology of venoms, mechanisms of actions and products of biomedical significance. In this part of systematic review, the medical aspects of injuries with jellyfishes were evaluated. Results: The clinical manifestations in jellyfish envenomation depend on their species and the nature of venoms. The most common clinical manifestations of jellyfish stings are cutaneous presentations like urticasia, erythema, swelling, vesicles and severe dermonectoric manifestations. Systemic manifestations were seen in the stings of box jellyfishes, Portuguese man-of-war and in Irukandji syndrome. The most common recommendations for jellyfish envenomation managements include decreasing the local effects of venom, prevention of the venomous nematocysts release, and Controlling of systemic reactions. Application of commercial vinegar (4 - 6% acetic acid, hot water immersion (HWI (42 ° C for 20 minutes, ice packs, sea water rinsing for inactivating nematocysts, administration of topical and parenteral

  3. Environmental DNA reflects spatial and temporal jellyfish distribution.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toshifumi Minamoto

    Full Text Available Recent development of environmental DNA (eDNA analysis allows us to survey underwater macro-organisms easily and cost effectively; however, there have been no reports on eDNA detection or quantification for jellyfish. Here we present the first report on an eDNA analysis of marine jellyfish using Japanese sea nettle (Chrysaora pacifica as a model species by combining a tank experiment with spatial and temporal distribution surveys. We performed a tank experiment monitoring eDNA concentrations over a range of time intervals after the introduction of jellyfish, and quantified the eDNA concentrations by quantitative real-time PCR. The eDNA concentrations peaked twice, at 1 and 8 h after the beginning of the experiment, and became stable within 48 h. The estimated release rates of the eDNA in jellyfish were higher than the rates previously reported in fishes. A spatial survey was conducted in June 2014 in Maizuru Bay, Kyoto, in which eDNA was collected from surface water and sea floor water samples at 47 sites while jellyfish near surface water were counted on board by eye. The distribution of eDNA in the bay corresponded with the distribution of jellyfish inferred by visual observation, and the eDNA concentration in the bay was ~13 times higher on the sea floor than on the surface. The temporal survey was conducted from March to November 2014, in which jellyfish were counted by eye every morning while eDNA was collected from surface and sea floor water at three sampling points along a pier once a month. The temporal fluctuation pattern of the eDNA concentrations and the numbers of observed individuals were well correlated. We conclude that an eDNA approach is applicable for jellyfish species in the ocean.

  4. Towards a miniature self-propelled jellyfish-like swimming robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junzhi Yu

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Jellyfish uses jet propulsion to achieve a diversity of propulsion modes in the water. In this article, a miniature jellyfish-inspired swimming robot is designed and built, which is capable of executing horizontal and vertical propulsion and maneuvers. In order to imitate the jellyfish in terms of morphology and kinematics, the robotic jellyfish is designed to be comprised of a streamlined head, a cavity shell, four separate drive units with bevel gears, and a soft outer skin encasing the drive units. A combination of four six-bar linkage mechanisms that are centrally symmetric is adopted as the driver to regulate the phases of contraction and relaxation of the bell-shaped body. Furthermore, a triangle wave generator is incorporated to generate rhythmic drive signals, which is implemented on the microcontroller. Through independent and coordinated control of the four drive units, the robotic jellyfish is able to replicate various propulsion modes similar to real jellyfish. Aquatic tests on the actual robot verify the effectiveness of the formed design scheme along with the proposed control methods.

  5. Social behaviour in mesopelagic jellyfish

    KAUST Repository

    Kaartvedt, Stein; Ugland, Karl I.; Klevjer, Thor A.; Rø stad, Anders; Titelman, Josefin; Solberg, Ingrid

    2015-01-01

    Gelatinous organisms apparently play a central role in deep pelagic ecosystems, but lack of observational methodologies has restricted information on their behaviour. We made acoustic records of diel migrating jellyfish Periphylla periphylla forming small, ephemeral groups at the upper fringe of an acoustic scattering layer consisting of krill. Groups of P. periphylla were also documented photographically using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Although the adaptive value of group formation remains speculative, we clearly demonstrate the ability of these jellyfishes to locate and team up with each other.

  6. Social behaviour in mesopelagic jellyfish

    KAUST Repository

    Kaartvedt, Stein

    2015-06-11

    Gelatinous organisms apparently play a central role in deep pelagic ecosystems, but lack of observational methodologies has restricted information on their behaviour. We made acoustic records of diel migrating jellyfish Periphylla periphylla forming small, ephemeral groups at the upper fringe of an acoustic scattering layer consisting of krill. Groups of P. periphylla were also documented photographically using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Although the adaptive value of group formation remains speculative, we clearly demonstrate the ability of these jellyfishes to locate and team up with each other.

  7. Preliminary Results of the in Vivo and in Vitro Characterization of a Tentacle Venom Fraction from the Jellyfish Aurelia aurita

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ponce, Dalia; López-Vera, Estuardo; Aguilar, Manuel B.; Sánchez-Rodríguez, Judith

    2013-01-01

    The neurotoxic effects produced by a tentacle venom extract and a fraction were analyzed and correlated by in vivo and in vitro approaches. The tentacle venom extract exhibited a wide range of protein components (from 24 to >225 kDa) and produced tetanic reactions, flaccid paralysis, and death when injected into crabs. Two chromatography fractions also produced uncontrolled appendix movements and leg stretching. Further electrophysiological characterization demonstrated that one of these fractions potently inhibited ACh-elicited currents mediated by both vertebrate fetal and adult muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) subtypes. Receptor inhibition was concentration-dependent and completely reversible. The calculated IC50 values were 1.77 μg/μL for fetal and 2.28 μg/μL for adult muscle nAChRs. The bioactive fraction was composed of a major protein component at ~90 kDa and lacked phospholipase A activity. This work represents the first insight into the interaction of jellyfish venom components and muscle nicotinic receptors. PMID:24322597

  8. The global susceptibility of coastal forage fish to competition by large jellyfish

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schnedler-Meyer, Nicolas Azaña; Mariani, Patrizio; Kiørboe, Thomas

    2016-01-01

    dominance at low primary production, and a shift towards jellyfish with increasing productivity, turbidity and fishing. We present an index of global ecosystem susceptibility to shifts in fish–jellyfish dominance that compares well with data on jellyfish distributions and trends. The results are a step......Competition between large jellyfish and forage fish for zooplankton prey is both a possible cause of jellyfish increases and a concern for the management of marine ecosystems and fisheries. Identifying principal factors affecting this competition is therefore important for marine management......, but the lack of both good quality data and a robust theoretical framework have prevented general global analyses. Here, we present a general mechanistic food web model that considers fundamental differences in feeding modes and predation pressure between fish and jellyfish. The model predicts forage fish...

  9. Temporal and spatial patterns in the abundance of jellyfish in the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... to be considerably challenged because of significant overlaps in space and time between fish and jellyfish, and through the effects of competition and predation effects of jellyfish on fish. Keywords: Aequorea, Chrysaora, fish recruitment, jellyfish joyride, overfishing. African Journal of Marine Science 2012, 34(1): 131–146 ...

  10. Exposure to elevated pCO2 does not exacerbate reproductive suppression of Aurelia aurita jellyfish polyps in low oxygen environments

    KAUST Repository

    Treible, LM

    2017-08-15

    Eutrophication-induced hypoxia is one of the primary anthropogenic threats to coastal ecosystems. Under hypoxic conditions, a deficit of O2 and a surplus of CO2 will concurrently decrease pH, yet studies of hypoxia have seldom considered the potential interactions with elevated pCO2 (reduced pH). Previous studies on gelatinous organisms concluded that they are fairly robust to low oxygen and reduced pH conditions individually, yet the combination of stressors has only been examined for ephyrae. The goals of this study were to determine the individual and interactive effects of hypoxia and elevated pCO2 on the asexual reproduction and aerobic respiration rates of polyps of the scyphozoan Aurelia aurita during a manipulative experiment that ran for 36 d. pCO2 and pO2 were varied on a diel basis to closely mimic the diel conditions observed in the field. Exposure to low dissolved oxygen (DO) reduced asexual budding of polyps by ~50% relative to control conditions. Under hypoxic conditions, rates of respiration were elevated during an initial acclimation period (until Day 8), but respiration rates did not differ between DO levels under prolonged exposure. There was no significant effect of increased pCO2 on either asexual reproduction or aerobic respiration, suggesting that elevated pCO2 (reduced pH) did not exacerbate the negative reproductive effects of hypoxia on A. aurita polyps.

  11. Exposure to elevated pCO2 does not exacerbate reproductive suppression of Aurelia aurita jellyfish polyps in low oxygen environments

    KAUST Repository

    Treible, LM; Pitt, KA; Klein, SG; Condon, RH

    2017-01-01

    Eutrophication-induced hypoxia is one of the primary anthropogenic threats to coastal ecosystems. Under hypoxic conditions, a deficit of O2 and a surplus of CO2 will concurrently decrease pH, yet studies of hypoxia have seldom considered the potential interactions with elevated pCO2 (reduced pH). Previous studies on gelatinous organisms concluded that they are fairly robust to low oxygen and reduced pH conditions individually, yet the combination of stressors has only been examined for ephyrae. The goals of this study were to determine the individual and interactive effects of hypoxia and elevated pCO2 on the asexual reproduction and aerobic respiration rates of polyps of the scyphozoan Aurelia aurita during a manipulative experiment that ran for 36 d. pCO2 and pO2 were varied on a diel basis to closely mimic the diel conditions observed in the field. Exposure to low dissolved oxygen (DO) reduced asexual budding of polyps by ~50% relative to control conditions. Under hypoxic conditions, rates of respiration were elevated during an initial acclimation period (until Day 8), but respiration rates did not differ between DO levels under prolonged exposure. There was no significant effect of increased pCO2 on either asexual reproduction or aerobic respiration, suggesting that elevated pCO2 (reduced pH) did not exacerbate the negative reproductive effects of hypoxia on A. aurita polyps.

  12. Estimated harvesting on jellyfish in Sarawak

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bujang, Noriham; Hassan, Aimi Nuraida Ali

    2017-04-01

    There are three species of jellyfish recorded in Sarawak which are the Lobonema smithii (white jellyfish), Rhopilema esculenta (red jellyfish) and Mastigias papua. This study focused on two particular species which are L.smithii and R.esculenta. This study was done to estimate the highest carrying capacity and the population growth rate of both species by using logistic growth model. The maximum sustainable yield for the harvesting of this species was also determined. The unknown parameters in the logistic model were estimated using center finite different method. As for the results, it was found that the carrying capacity for L.smithii and R.esculenta were 4594.9246456819 tons and 5855.9894242086 tons respectively. Whereas, the population growth rate for both L.smithii and R.esculenta were estimated at 2.1800463754 and 1.144864086 respectively. Hence, the estimated maximum sustainable yield for harvesting for L.smithii and R.esculenta were 2504.2872047638 tons and 1676.0779949431 tons per year.

  13. Pediatric jellyfish envenomation in the Mediterranean Sea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glatstein, Miguel; Adir, Dikla; Galil, Bella; Scolnik, Dennis; Rimon, Ayelet; Pivko-Levy, Dikla; Hoyte, Christopher

    2017-06-20

    Several species of jellyfish native to the western Indian Ocean have entered the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal. Since the late 1980s, each summer Rhopilema nomadica forms swarms as long as 100 km in the southeastern Levant and since the millennium aggregations of additional nonnative jellyfish have been sighted. The aim of this study was to evaluate children seen in the emergency department after jellyfish envenomations and to establish patterns of toxicity associated with this organism. A retrospective chart review was performed of all children presenting after jellyfish envenomations to the pediatric emergency department during the jellyfish swarming seasons (June-August) between 2010 and 2015. Extracted data included age, location of envenomation, pain scores, local and systemic manifestations, treatment provided in the emergency department and hospital, and disposition. Forty-one patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria; their ages ranged from 1 to 16 years and the median age was 9.4 years. Clinical manifestations were evident in all patients. Pain, present in 100% of patients, and an erythematous, whip-like, linear rash present in 87.8%, were the most common manifestations. The majority of 'burns' associated with jellyfish stings were first and second degree. The upper limb was affected in 34% and the lower limb was affected in 61% of cases. One patient suffered a sting to the abdomen and three patients suffered a sting to the face. Treatment in the emergency department included pain control, with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opiates, and antihistamines and topical corticosteroids in some cases. Nearly 49% of patients were seen during the summer of 2015 alone and seven patients in this group needed hospitalization. Reasons for hospitalization included systemic symptoms such as fever, chills, tachycardia, and muscle spasms. Two patients developed severe cellulitis, one patient had an anaphylactic reaction, and one was admitted to the

  14. Immunohistochemical evidence for multiple photosystems in box jellyfish

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ekström, Peter; Garm, Anders Lydik; Pålsson, Jonas

    2008-01-01

    data demonstrate that the lens eyes of box jellyfish utilize a single opsin and are thus color-blind, and that there is probably a different photopigment in the pigment cup eyes. The results support our hypothesis that the lens eyes and the pigment cup eyes of box jellyfish are involved in different...

  15. Selective suppression of in situ proliferation of scyphozoan polyps by biofouling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Song; Wang, Shi-Wei; Zhang, Guang-Tao; Sun, Song; Zhang, Fang

    2017-01-30

    An increase in marine artificial constructions has been proposed as a major cause of jellyfish blooms, because these constructions provide additional substrates for organisms at the benthic stage (polyps), which proliferate asexually and release a large amount of free-swimming medusae. These hard surfaces are normally covered by fouling communities, the components of which have the potential to impede the proliferation of polyps. In this study, we report an in situ experiment of polyp survival of four large scyphozoan species found in East Asian marginal seas that were exposed to biofouling, a universal phenomenon occurring on marine artificial constructions. Our results showed that the polyps of three species (Nemopilema nomurai, Cyanea nozaki, and Rhopilema esculentum) attached to the artificial surfaces were completely eliminated by biofouling within 7-8months, and only those of moon jellyfish (Aurelia sp.1) in the upper layers could multiply on both artificial materials and other organisms (e.g., ascidians and bryozoans). Fouling-associated competition and predation and suppressed asexual reproduction of podocysts were observed to contribute to the loss of polyps. This study shows that the natural distribution of polyps is defined by the biofouling community that colonizes the surfaces of artificial constructions. Consequently, the contribution of marine constructions to jellyfish bloom is limited only to the ability of the jellyfish species to reproduce asexually through budding and inhabit solid surfaces of fouling organisms in addition to inhabiting original artificial materials. We anticipate that fragile polyps will colonize and proliferate in harsh environments that are deleterious to biofouling, and we propose special attention to polyps in antifouling practices for excluding the possibility that they occupy the available ecological space. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. A biomimetic jellyfish robot based on ionic polymer metal composite actuators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yeom, Sung-Weon; Oh, Il-Kwon

    2009-01-01

    A biomimetic jellyfish robot based on ionic polymer metal composite actuators was fabricated and activated to mimic real locomotive behavior with pulse and recovery processes. To imitate the curved shape of the jellyfish, a thermal treatment was applied to obtain a permanent initial deformation of a hemispherical form. The bio-inspired input signal was generated for mimicking real locomotion of the jellyfish. The vertical floating displacement and the thrust force of the biomimetic jellyfish robot under various input signals were measured and compared. The present results show that the bio-inspired electrical input signal with pulse-recovery process generates much higher floating velocity of the biomimetic jellyfish robot in comparison with pure sinusoidal excitations. The curved shape of the IPMC actuator through thermal treatments can be successfully applied to mimic the real biomimetic robots with smooth curves

  17. Research on Paramecium aurelia sensitivity factors to natural ionizing radiations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Croute, F.; Soleilhavoup, J.P.; Gros, N.; Planel, H.

    1976-01-01

    Previous results have demonstrated that the proliferative activity of Paramecium aurelia is linked to the level of natural ionizing radiations since this activity is decreased under radiation protection (lead cell) and increased under chronic exposure to very low dose of 60 Co gamma rays. The results of this investigation indicate that cell sensitivity in spite of variations in natural irradiation levels can be isolated; they are called 'radioresistant' in opposition to 'radiosensitive' cells which present the other response. These characters are being retained for 9 months after the strains have been isolated. On the other hand, in the case of radiosensitive strains, it has been demonstrated that autogamy affected the cell response to background irradiation; no response at all occured on the very day when autogamy took place, but it reached a maximum level 8 days approximately after autogamy. Moreover, it has been proved that the catalase activity of Paramecium aurelia is higher than those already studied in other cell varieties. This great amount of catalase, which seems to vary with the age of cultures after autogamy, could act on Paramecium sensitivity to very low radiation doses [fr

  18. A method for in situ estimation of prey selectivity and predation rate in large plankton, exemplified with the jellyfish Aurelia aurita (L.)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansson, L.J.

    2006-01-01

    , predation rate can be calculated as increase in gut content over time. Clearance rates for different prey can be calculated from predation rates and prey concentrations in the water, allowing accurate estimates of prey selectivity. Thus, the problem of unknown feeding history and feeding environment, which...... of a specific individual plankton predator in situ.After prey has been evacuated from the gut of an individual predator, the predator is incubated in situ, and observed by SCUBA-divers who recapture the individual after a defined time. Given that this incubation time is shorter than prey digestion time...... among individual jellyfish and among the various oral arms and gastric pouches within individuals. Clearance rates varied strongly with prey type. The medusae selected large crustacean prey (cladocerans and copepods/copepodites) over echinoderm larvae and copepod nauplii. Prey distribution within...

  19. Selective suppression of in situ proliferation of scyphozoan polyps by biofouling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feng, Song; Wang, Shi-Wei; Zhang, Guang-Tao; Sun, Song; Zhang, Fang

    2017-01-01

    An increase in marine artificial constructions has been proposed as a major cause of jellyfish blooms, because these constructions provide additional substrates for organisms at the benthic stage (polyps), which proliferate asexually and release a large amount of free-swimming medusae. These hard surfaces are normally covered by fouling communities, the components of which have the potential to impede the proliferation of polyps. In this study, we report an in situ experiment of polyp survival of four large scyphozoan species found in East Asian marginal seas that were exposed to biofouling, a universal phenomenon occurring on marine artificial constructions. Our results showed that the polyps of three species (Nemopilema nomurai, Cyanea nozaki, and Rhopilema esculentum) attached to the artificial surfaces were completely eliminated by biofouling within 7–8 months, and only those of moon jellyfish (Aurelia sp.1) in the upper layers could multiply on both artificial materials and other organisms (e.g., ascidians and bryozoans). Fouling-associated competition and predation and suppressed asexual reproduction of podocysts were observed to contribute to the loss of polyps. This study shows that the natural distribution of polyps is defined by the biofouling community that colonizes the surfaces of artificial constructions. Consequently, the contribution of marine constructions to jellyfish bloom is limited only to the ability of the jellyfish species to reproduce asexually through budding and inhabit solid surfaces of fouling organisms in addition to inhabiting original artificial materials. We anticipate that fragile polyps will colonize and proliferate in harsh environments that are deleterious to biofouling, and we propose special attention to polyps in antifouling practices for excluding the possibility that they occupy the available ecological space. - Highlights: • Biofouling selectively controls in situ proliferation of scyphozoan polyps • The contribution

  20. The effects of X irradiation on the metamorphosis and budding of Aurelia aurita

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prokopchak, M.J.; Spangenberg, D.B.; Shaeffer, J.

    1990-01-01

    With the aid of the Aurelia metamorphosis test system, the acute and subtle developmental and behavioral effects of X irradiation in the presence and absence of thyroxine on the Norfolk Aurelia aurita were described. Radiation doses were 0 (control), 50, 100, 150, 200, and 400 Gy. Morphology of the ephyrae, and statolith and rhopalia numbers were recorded using the light microscope. Developmental abnormalities of the polyps and ephyrae were recorded with the scanning electron microscope and light microscope. Major findings from this investigation were the absence of rhopalia and statoliths in ephyrae at 150 and 200 Gy, a reduction in pulses per minute in the ephyrae at 100, 150, and 200 Gy, a reduction in ephyrae released at 150, 200, and 400 Gy, and the development of polyp monsters. There was a significantly higher frequency of polyp monsters in the group exposed to thyroxine prior to radiation than in the thyroxine-free group prior to radiation

  1. Current-oriented swimming by jellyfish and its role in bloom maintenance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fossette, Sabrina; Gleiss, Adrian Christopher; Chalumeau, Julien; Bastian, Thomas; Armstrong, Claire Denise; Vandenabeele, Sylvie; Karpytchev, Mikhail; Hays, Graeme Clive

    2015-02-02

    Cross-flows (winds or currents) affect animal movements [1-3]. Animals can temporarily be carried off course or permanently carried away from their preferred habitat by drift depending on their own traveling speed in relation to that of the flow [1]. Animals able to only weakly fly or swim will be the most impacted (e.g., [4]). To circumvent this problem, animals must be able to detect the effects of flow on their movements and respond to it [1, 2]. Here, we show that a weakly swimming organism, the jellyfish Rhizostoma octopus, can orientate its movements with respect to currents and that this behavior is key to the maintenance of blooms and essential to reduce the probability of stranding. We combined in situ observations with first-time deployment of accelerometers on free-ranging jellyfish and simulated the behavior observed in wild jellyfish within a high-resolution hydrodynamic model. Our results show that jellyfish can actively swim countercurrent in response to current drift, leading to significant life-history benefits, i.e., increased chance of survival and facilitated bloom formation. Current-oriented swimming may be achieved by jellyfish either directly detecting current shear across their body surface [5] or indirectly assessing drift direction using other cues (e.g., magnetic, infrasound). Our coupled behavioral-hydrodynamic model provides new evidence that current-oriented swimming contributes to jellyfish being able to form aggregations of hundreds to millions of individuals for up to several months, which may have substantial ecosystem and socioeconomic consequences [6, 7]. It also contributes to improve predictions of jellyfish blooms' magnitude and movements in coastal waters. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. High activity and Levy searches: jellyfish can search the water column like fish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hays, Graeme C; Bastian, Thomas; Doyle, Thomas K; Fossette, Sabrina; Gleiss, Adrian C; Gravenor, Michael B; Hobson, Victoria J; Humphries, Nicolas E; Lilley, Martin K S; Pade, Nicolas G; Sims, David W

    2012-02-07

    Over-fishing may lead to a decrease in fish abundance and a proliferation of jellyfish. Active movements and prey search might be thought to provide a competitive advantage for fish, but here we use data-loggers to show that the frequently occurring coastal jellyfish (Rhizostoma octopus) does not simply passively drift to encounter prey. Jellyfish (327 days of data from 25 jellyfish with depth collected every 1 min) showed very dynamic vertical movements, with their integrated vertical movement averaging 619.2 m d(-1), more than 60 times the water depth where they were tagged. The majority of movement patterns were best approximated by exponential models describing normal random walks. However, jellyfish also showed switching behaviour from exponential patterns to patterns best fitted by a truncated Lévy distribution with exponents (mean μ=1.96, range 1.2-2.9) close to the theoretical optimum for searching for sparse prey (μopt≈2.0). Complex movements in these 'simple' animals may help jellyfish to compete effectively with fish for plankton prey, which may enhance their ability to increase in dominance in perturbed ocean systems.

  3. Box jellyfish use terrestrial visual cues for navigation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Garm, Anders; Oskarsson, Magnus; Nilsson, Dan-Eric

    2011-01-01

    been a puzzle why they need such a complex set of eyes. Here we report that medusae of the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora are capable of visually guided navigation in mangrove swamps using terrestrial structures seen through the water surface. They detect the mangrove canopy by an eye type...... that is specialized to peer up through the water surface and that is suspended such that it is constantly looking straight up, irrespective of the orientation of the jellyfish. The visual information is used to navigate to the preferred habitat at the edge of mangrove lagoons....

  4. Delimiting Species Boundaries within a Paraphyletic Species Complex: Insights from Morphological, Genetic, and Molecular Data on Paramecium sonneborni (Paramecium aurelia species complex, Ciliophora, Protozoa).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Przyboś, Ewa; Tarcz, Sebastian; Rautian, Maria; Sawka, Natalia

    2015-09-01

    The demarcation of boundaries between protist species is often problematic because of the absence of a uniform species definition, the abundance of cryptic diversity, and the occurrence of convergent morphology. The ciliates belonging to the Paramecium aurelia complex, consisting of 15 species, are a good model for such systematic and evolutionary studies. One member of the complex is P. sonneborni, previously known only from one stand in Texas (USA), but recently found in two new sampling sites in Cyprus (creeks running to Salt Lake and Oroklini Lake near Larnaca). The studied Paramecium sonneborni strains (from the USA and Cyprus) reveal low viability in the F1 and F2 generations of interstrain hybrids and may be an example of ongoing allopatric speciation. Despite its molecular distinctiveness, we postulate that P. sonneborni should remain in the P. aurelia complex, making it a paraphyletic taxon. Morphological studies have revealed that some features of the nuclear apparatus of P. sonneborni correspond to the P. aurelia spp. complex, while others are similar to P. jenningsi and P. schewiakoffi. The observed discordance indicates rapid splitting of the P. aurelia-P. jenningsi-P. schewiakoffi group, in which genetic, morphological, and molecular boundaries between species are not congruent. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  5. [Skin cell response after jellyfish sting].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adamicová, Katarína; Výbohová, Desanka; Fetisovová, Želmíra; Nováková, Elena; Mellová, Yvetta

    2016-01-01

    Jellyfish burning is not commonly part of the professional finding in the central Europe health care laboratory. Holiday seaside tourism includes different and unusual presentations of diseases for our worklplaces. Sea water-sports and leisure is commonly connected with jellyfish burning and changes in the skin, that are not precisely described. Authors focused their research on detection of morphological and quantitative changes of some inflammatory cells in the skin biopsy of a 59-years-old woman ten days after a jellyfish stinging. Because of a comparison of findings the biopsy was performed in the skin with lesional and nonlesional skin. Both excisions of the skin were tested by imunohistochemical methods to detect CD68, CD163, CD30, CD4, CD3, CD8, CD20 a CD1a, to detect histiocytes, as well as several clones of lymphocytes and Langerhans cells (antigen presenting cells of skin), CD 117, toluidin blue and chloracetase esterase to detect mastocytes and neutrophils. Material was tested by immunofluorescent methods to detect IgA, IgM, IgG, C3, C4, albumin and fibrinogen. Representative view-fields were documented by microscope photocamera Leica DFC 420 C. Registered photos from both samples of the skin were processed by morphometrical analysis by the Vision Assistant software. A student t-test was used for statistical analysis of reached results. Mean values of individual found cells in the sample with lesion and without lesion were as follows: CD117 -2.64/0.37, CD68-6.86/1.63, CD163-3.13/2.23, CD30-1.36/0.02, CD4-3.51/0.32, CD8-8.22/0.50, CD3-10.69/0.66, CD20-0.56/0.66, CD1a-7.97/0.47 respectively. Generally mild elevation of eosinofils in lesional skin was detected. Increased values of tested cells seen in excision from lesional skin when compared with nonlesional ones were statistically significant in eight case at the level p = 0.033 to 0.001. A not statistically significant difference was found only in the group of CD163+ histiocytes. Authors detected numbers

  6. Hematological parameters on the effect of the jellyfish venom Cassiopea andromeda in animal models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iraj Nabipour

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available For the first time, we previously recorded an enormous population of the Cassiopea andromeda jellyfish that had increased dramatically from Bushehr coasts of Iran. The sub-acute toxicity of the jellyfish venom in rat organs was correspondingly carried out. The data presented in this paper relate to the in vivo and in vitro hematological effects of this venomous species of jellyfish venom.

  7. Jellyfish Stings and Their Management: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giuseppe Mastrangelo

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Jellyfish (cnidarians have a worldwide distribution. Despite most being harmless, some species may cause local and also systemic reactions. Treatment of jellyfish envenomation is directed at: alleviating the local effects of venom, preventing further nematocyst discharges and controlling systemic reactions, including shock. In severe cases, the most important step is stabilizing and maintaining vital functions. With some differences between species, there seems to be evidence and consensus on oral/topical analgesics, hot water and ice packs as effective painkillers and on 30 s application of domestic vinegar (4%–6% acetic acid to prevent further discharge of unfired nematocysts remaining on the skin. Conversely, alcohol, methylated spirits and fresh water should be carefully avoided, since they could massively discharge nematocysts; pressure immobilization bandaging should also be avoided, as laboratory studies show that it stimulates additional venom discharge from nematocysts. Most treatment approaches are presently founded on relatively weak evidence; therefore, further research (especially randomized clinical trials is strongly recommended. Dissemination of appropriate treatment modalities should be deployed to better inform and educate those at risk. Adequate signage should be placed at beaches to notify tourists of the jellyfish risk. Swimmers in risky areas should wear protective equipment.

  8. Review of fatal and severe cases of box jellyfish envenomation in Thailand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thaikruea, Lakkana; Siriariyaporn, Potjaman; Wutthanarungsan, Rochana; Smithsuwan, Punnarai

    2015-03-01

    The study aimed to describe severe and fatal cases of box jellyfish stings in Thailand. Medical records were reviewed and patients, relatives, health staffs, and witnesses were interviewed. The pictures of suspected box jellyfish were sent via e-mail to experts in the toxic jellyfish network for further identification. There were at least 8 cases of box jellyfish envenomation, with 4 fatal and 4 near-fatal cases. There were an equal number of male and female patients from 4 to 26 years of age. In each case, there was immediate severe pain followed by systemic reactions. Immediately after exposure to the sting, 7 victims collapsed experiencing severe pain at the tentacle marks, respiratory failure, and cardiac arrest. All patients had tentacle marks on their bodies. In none of the fatal cases was vinegar applied to the tentacle marks as first aid, but 3 out of the 4 near-fatal cases were treated with a vinegar application. © 2012 APJPH.

  9. Learning from jellyfish: Fluid transport in muscular pumps at intermediate Reynolds numbers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nawroth, Janna; Dabiri, John

    2010-11-01

    Biologically inspired hydrodynamic propulsion and maneuvering strategies promise the advancement of medical implants and minimally invasive clinical tools. We have chosen juvenile jellyfish as a model system for investigating fluid dynamics and morphological properties underlying fluid transport by a muscular pump at intermediate Reynolds numbers. Recently we have described how natural variations in viscous forces are balanced by changes in jellyfish body shape (phenotypic plasticity), to the effect of facilitating efficient body-fluid interaction. Complementing these studies in our live model organisms, we are also engaged in engineering an artificial jellyfish, that is, a jellyfish-inspired construct of a flexible plastic sheet actuated by a monolayer of rat cardiomyocytes. The main challenges here are (1) to derive a body shape and deformation suitable for effective fluid transport under physiological conditions, (2) to understand the mechanical properties of the muscular film and derive a design capable of the desired deformation, (3) to master the proper alignment and timely contraction of the muscle component needed to achieve the desired deformation, and (4) to evaluate the performance of the design.

  10. Impact of Stinging Jellyfish Proliferations along South Italian Coasts: Human Health Hazards, Treatment and Social Costs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonella De Donno

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Stinging jellyfish outbreaks represent a health hazard, causing contact dermatitis and systemic reactions. This study investigated the epidemiology, severity, and treatment protocols of jellyfish stings in a coastal area with high tourist development and frequent stinging jellyfish outbreaks of the central Mediterranean (Salento, Southern Italy, and the associated costs for the Italian National Health Service. In 2007–2011, 1,733 bathers (mostly children and females sought medical assistance following jellyfish stings, the main cause of human pathologies due to contact with marine organisms. The majority of events were reported in the years 2007–2009, whereas the occurrence of cnidarian jellyfish outbreaks has been increasingly reported in the same area since summer 2010. Most symptoms were limited to local and cutaneous reactions; conversely, 8.7% of cases evoked complications, mainly due to allergic reactions. The main drugs used were corticosteroids, locally applied and systemic (46% and 43%, respectively, and with ammonia (74% as the main non-pharmacological treatment. The estimated cost of jellyfish-related first-aid services along the Salento coastline over the 5-year period was approximately 400,000 Euros. Therefore the management of jellyfish outbreak phenomena need coordinated research efforts towards a better understanding of underlying ecological mechanisms, together with the adoption of effective prevention policy, mitigation strategies, and appropriate planning of health services at tourist hot spots.

  11. Environmental control of phase transition and polyp survival of a massive-outbreaker jellyfish.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Prieto

    Full Text Available A number of causes have been proposed to account for the occurrence of gelatinous zooplankton (both jellyfish and ctenophore blooms. Jellyfish species have a complex life history involving a benthic asexual phase (polyp and a pelagic sexual phase (medusa. Strong environmental control of jellyfish life cycles is suspected, but not fully understood. This study presents a comprehensive analysis on the physicochemical conditions that control the survival and phase transition of Cotylorhiza tuberculata; a scyphozoan that generates large outbreaks in the Mediterranean Sea. Laboratory experiments indicated that the influence of temperature on strobilation and polyp survival was the critical factor controlling the capacity of this species to proliferate. Early life stages were less sensitive to other factors such as salinity variations or the competitive advantage provided by zooxanthellae in a context of coastal eutrophication. Coherently with laboratory results, the presence/absence of outbreaks of this jellyfish in a particular year seems to be driven by temperature. This is the first time the environmental forcing of the mechanism driving the life cycle of a jellyfish has been disentangled via laboratory experimentation. Projecting this understanding to a field population under climatological variability results in a pattern coherent with in situ records.

  12. Capacity Extension of Software Defined Data Center Networks With Jellyfish Topology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mehmeri, Victor; Vegas Olmos, Juan José; Tafur Monroy, Idelfonso

    We present a performance analysis of Jellyfish topology with Software-Defined commodity switches for Data Center networks. Our results show up to a 2-fold performance gain when compared to a Spanning Tree Protocol implementation.......We present a performance analysis of Jellyfish topology with Software-Defined commodity switches for Data Center networks. Our results show up to a 2-fold performance gain when compared to a Spanning Tree Protocol implementation....

  13. Comparison of zooxanthellae densities from upside-down jellyfish, Cassiopea xamachana, across coastal habitats of The Bahamas

    OpenAIRE

    Stoner, Elizabeth W.; Sebilian, Serina S.; Layman, Craig A.

    2016-01-01

    Anthropogenic disturbances may drive jellyfish blooms, and previous studies have suggested this is the case for upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana). Cassiopea were found to have higher mean zooxanthellae densities in human-impacted areas on Abaco Island, The Bahamas, suggesting that nutrient loading in impacted sites may be one factor driving zooxanthellate jellyfish blooms. Gut contents from Cassiopea medusae were positively correlated to zooxanthellae densities, indicating that hete...

  14. Visual pigments of the box jellyfish species Chiropsella bronzie

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    O*Connor, Megan; Garm, Anders Lydik; Marshall, Justin

    2010-01-01

    Box jellyfish (Cubomedusae) possess a unique visual system comprising 24 eyes of four morphological types. Moreover, box jellyfish display several visually guided behaviours, including obstacle avoidance and light-shaft attractance. It is largely unknown what kind of visual information box...... results strongly indicate that only one type of visual pigment is present in the upper and lower lens eyes with a peak absorbance of approximately 510 nm. Additionally, the visual pigment appears to undergo bleaching, similar to that of vertebrate visual pigments....

  15. Systems approach modelling of the interactive effects of fisheries, jellyfish and tourism in the Catalan coast

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomlinson, Benjamin; Maynou, Francesc; Sabatés, Ana; Fuentes, Verónica; Canepa, Antonio; Sastre, Sergio

    2018-02-01

    Despite the large fluctuation in annual recordings of gelatinous plankton along the Catalan coast in the north western Mediterranean and the lack of long term data sets, there is a general perception that jellyfish abundances are increasing. Local authorities are concerned about the stranding events and arrivals of jellyfish to beaches and believe it could reduce the recreational appeal of the beaches - a valuable ecosystem service for the regional tourist industry. Previous studies also demonstrate the predation of jellyfish (Pelagia noctiluca ephyrae) upon some small pelagic fish larvae (Engraulis encrasicolus). Small pelagics are the principal source of revenue for the local fisheries. A social-ecological model was created in order to capture the effects of changes in abundance of P. noctiluca upon the local fisheries, the tourist industry and the wider economy. The following sub-models were constructed and connected following the systems approach framework methodology: an age-class based fisheries model; a jellyfish population matrix model; a jellyfish stranding model; a study on the impact of jellyfish strandings on beach users; and an economic input-output matrix. Various future scenarios for different abundances of jellyfish blooms were run. The "Expected blooms" scenario is similar to the quantity and size of blooms for 2000-2010. For a hypothetical "No blooms" scenario (standard background level of jellyfish but without any blooms) landings would increase by around 294 tonnes (5.1%) per year (averaged over 10 years) or approximately 0.19 M€ in profits per year (4.5%), and strandings would decrease by 49%. In a "Frequent blooms" scenario, landings would decrease by around 147 tonnes per year (2.5%) and decrease profits by 0.10 M€ per year (2.3%), and strandings would increase by 32%. Given the changes that these scenarios would cause on the regional gross domestic product and employment, this study concludes that the overall impact of either of these

  16. The Central Nervous System of Box Jellyfish

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Garm, Anders Lydik; Ekström, Peter

    2008-01-01

    of behaviors in the box jellyfish such as obstacle avoidance and navigation. The need to process the visual information and turn it into the appropriate behavior puts strong demands on the nervous system of box jellyfish, which appears more elaborate than in other cnidarians. Here, the central part...... of this nervous system is described. Each rhopalium holds a separate part of the CNS with 1,000 nerve cells and a large amount of neuropil. The rhopalial nervous system has several subsystems defined by the anatomy, location, and immunocytochemistry of the cells. Most of the subsystems connect to one or more...... of the eye types, and it is likely that the rhopalial nervous system accounts for most of the visual processing. The major part of the CNS is made up of a ring nerve encircling the bell shaped body. The ring nerve holds around 10,000 cells and is directly connected to all four rhopalial nervous systems...

  17. Concurrent jellyfish blooms and tenacibaculosis outbreaks in Northern Norwegian Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar farms.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sverre Bang Småge

    Full Text Available Tenacibaculosis is an increasing problem in the Norwegian Atlantic salmon aquaculture industry causing significant economic losses. In September 2015, two separate outbreaks of suspected tenacibaculosis occurred at two Atlantic salmon farms in Finnmark County in Northern Norway. The events resulted in major losses of smolts newly transferred into seawater. Prior to, and during the outbreaks, large numbers of small jellyfish, identified as Dipleurosoma typicum (Boeck were observed in the vicinity of the farms and inside the net-pens. This study investigates the possible link between the jellyfish, Tenacibaculum spp. and the tenacibaculosis outbreaks. Bacteriology, histology, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and real-time RT-PCR screening were performed on both fish and jellyfish samples. Based on the findings, Tenacibaculum finnmarkense was found to be the dominant bacteria associated with the tenacibaculosis outbreaks at both sites and that D. typicum is unlikely to be a vector for this fish pathogenic bacterium. However, results do show that the jellyfish caused direct damage to the fish's skin and may have exacerbated the bacterial infection by allowing an entry point for bacteria.

  18. Jellyfish Envenomation Resulting In Vascular Insufficiency And Neurogenic Injury of Upper Limb

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Choong CYL

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Following a week after a jellyfish sting, a young man presented with regional cyanosis and threat of distal gangrene secondary to vascular spasm in the forearm. The patient also suffered from transient paresis and numbness of the affected upper limb. Contrasted imaging revealed unopacified vessels in the distal forearm and worsening swelling warranted emergency surgical fasciotomy for impending compartment syndrome. This case highlights the occurrence of jellyfish envenomation and the need for early treatment.

  19. Evaluating the role of large jellyfish and forage fishes as energy pathways, and their interplay with fisheries, in the Northern Humboldt Current System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiaverano, Luciano M.; Robinson, Kelly L.; Tam, Jorge; Ruzicka, James J.; Quiñones, Javier; Aleksa, Katrina T.; Hernandez, Frank J.; Brodeur, Richard D.; Leaf, Robert; Uye, Shin-ichi; Decker, Mary Beth; Acha, Marcelo; Mianzan, Hermes W.; Graham, William M.

    2018-05-01

    Large jellyfish are important consumers of plankton, fish eggs and fish larvae in heavily fished ecosystems worldwide; yet they are seldom included in fisheries production models. Here we developed a trophic network model with 41 functional groups using ECOPATH re-expressed in a donor-driven, end-to-end format to directly evaluate the efficiency of large jellyfish and forage fish at transferring energy to higher trophic levels, as well as the ecosystem-wide effects of varying jellyfish and forage fish consumption rates and fishing rates, in the Northern Humboldt Current system (NHCS) off of Peru. Large jellyfish were an energy-loss pathway for high trophic-level consumers, while forage fish channelized the production of lower trophic levels directly into production of top-level consumers. A simulated jellyfish bloom resulted in a decline in productivity of all functional groups, including forage fish (12%), with the exception of sea turtles. A modeled increase in forage fish consumption rate by 50% resulted in a decrease in large jellyfish productivity (29%). A simulated increase of 40% in forage fish harvest enhanced jellyfish productivity (24%), while closure of all fisheries caused a decline in large jellyfish productivity (26%) and productivity increases in upper level consumers. These outcomes not only suggest that jellyfish blooms and fisheries have important effects on the structure of the NHCS, but they also support the hypothesis that forage fishing provides a competitive release for large jellyfish. We recommend including jellyfish as a functional group in future ecosystem modeling efforts, including ecosystem-based approaches to fishery management of coastal ecosystems worldwide.

  20. Analyzing Beach Recreationists' Preferences for the Reduction of Jellyfish Blooms: Economic Results from a Stated-Choice Experiment in Catalonia, Spain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nunes, Paulo A L D; Loureiro, Maria L; Piñol, Laia; Sastre, Sergio; Voltaire, Louinord; Canepa, Antonio

    2015-01-01

    Jellyfish outbreaks and their consequences appear to be on the increase around the world, and are becoming particularly relevant in the Mediterranean. No previous studies have quantified tourism losses caused by jellyfish outbreaks. We used a stated-choice questionnaire and a Random Utility Model to estimate the amount of time respondents would be willing to add to their journey, in terms of reported extra travel time, in order to reduce the risk of encountering jellyfish blooms in the Catalan coast. The estimation results indicated that the respondents were willing to spend on average an additional 23.8% of their travel time to enjoy beach recreation in areas with a lower risk of jellyfish blooms. Using as a reference the opportunity cost of time, we found that the subsample of individuals who made a trade-off between the disutility generated by travelling longer in order to lower the risk of jellyfish blooms, and the utility gained from reducing this risk, are willing to pay on average €3.20 per beach visit. This estimate, combined with the respondents' mean income, yielded annual economic gains associated with reduction of jellyfish blooms on the Catalan coast around €422.57 million, or about 11.95% of the tourism expenditures in 2012. From a policy-making perspective, this study confirms the importance of the economic impacts of jellyfish blooms and the need for mitigation strategies. In particular, providing daily information using social media applications or other technical devices may reduce these social costs. The current lack of knowledge about jellyfish suggests that providing this information to beach recreationists may be a substantially effective policy instrument for minimising the impact of jellyfish blooms.

  1. GASP. IX. Jellyfish galaxies in phase-space: an orbital study of intense ram-pressure stripping in clusters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaffé, Yara L.; Poggianti, Bianca M.; Moretti, Alessia; Gullieuszik, Marco; Smith, Rory; Vulcani, Benedetta; Fasano, Giovanni; Fritz, Jacopo; Tonnesen, Stephanie; Bettoni, Daniela; Hau, George; Biviano, Andrea; Bellhouse, Callum; McGee, Sean

    2018-06-01

    It is well known that galaxies falling into clusters can experience gas stripping due to ram pressure by the intra-cluster medium. The most spectacular examples are galaxies with extended tails of optically bright stripped material known as `jellyfish'. We use the first large homogeneous compilation of jellyfish galaxies in clusters from the WINGS and OmegaWINGS surveys, and follow-up MUSE observations from the GASP MUSE programme to investigate the orbital histories of jellyfish galaxies in clusters and reconstruct their stripping history through position versus velocity phase-space diagrams. We construct analytic models to define the regions in phase-space where ram-pressure stripping is at play. We then study the distribution of cluster galaxies in phase-space and find that jellyfish galaxies have on average higher peculiar velocities (and higher cluster velocity dispersion) than the overall population of cluster galaxies at all cluster-centric radii, which is indicative of recent infall into the cluster and radial orbits. In particular, the jellyfish galaxies with the longest gas tails reside very near the cluster cores (in projection) and are moving at very high speeds, which coincides with the conditions of the most intense ram pressure. We conclude that many of the jellyfish galaxies seen in clusters likely formed via fast (˜1-2 Gyr), incremental, outside-in ram-pressure stripping during first infall into the cluster in highly radial orbits.

  2. Analyzing Beach Recreationists’ Preferences for the Reduction of Jellyfish Blooms: Economic Results from a Stated-Choice Experiment in Catalonia, Spain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nunes, Paulo A. L. D.; Loureiro, Maria L.; Piñol, Laia; Sastre, Sergio; Voltaire, Louinord; Canepa, Antonio

    2015-01-01

    Jellyfish outbreaks and their consequences appear to be on the increase around the world, and are becoming particularly relevant in the Mediterranean. No previous studies have quantified tourism losses caused by jellyfish outbreaks. We used a stated-choice questionnaire and a Random Utility Model to estimate the amount of time respondents would be willing to add to their journey, in terms of reported extra travel time, in order to reduce the risk of encountering jellyfish blooms in the Catalan coast. The estimation results indicated that the respondents were willing to spend on average an additional 23.8% of their travel time to enjoy beach recreation in areas with a lower risk of jellyfish blooms. Using as a reference the opportunity cost of time, we found that the subsample of individuals who made a trade-off between the disutility generated by travelling longer in order to lower the risk of jellyfish blooms, and the utility gained from reducing this risk, are willing to pay on average €3.20 per beach visit. This estimate, combined with the respondents’ mean income, yielded annual economic gains associated with reduction of jellyfish blooms on the Catalan coast around €422.57 million, or about 11.95% of the tourism expenditures in 2012. From a policy-making perspective, this study confirms the importance of the economic impacts of jellyfish blooms and the need for mitigation strategies. In particular, providing daily information using social media applications or other technical devices may reduce these social costs. The current lack of knowledge about jellyfish suggests that providing this information to beach recreationists may be a substantially effective policy instrument for minimising the impact of jellyfish blooms. PMID:26053674

  3. Analyzing Beach Recreationists' Preferences for the Reduction of Jellyfish Blooms: Economic Results from a Stated-Choice Experiment in Catalonia, Spain.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo A L D Nunes

    Full Text Available Jellyfish outbreaks and their consequences appear to be on the increase around the world, and are becoming particularly relevant in the Mediterranean. No previous studies have quantified tourism losses caused by jellyfish outbreaks. We used a stated-choice questionnaire and a Random Utility Model to estimate the amount of time respondents would be willing to add to their journey, in terms of reported extra travel time, in order to reduce the risk of encountering jellyfish blooms in the Catalan coast. The estimation results indicated that the respondents were willing to spend on average an additional 23.8% of their travel time to enjoy beach recreation in areas with a lower risk of jellyfish blooms. Using as a reference the opportunity cost of time, we found that the subsample of individuals who made a trade-off between the disutility generated by travelling longer in order to lower the risk of jellyfish blooms, and the utility gained from reducing this risk, are willing to pay on average €3.20 per beach visit. This estimate, combined with the respondents' mean income, yielded annual economic gains associated with reduction of jellyfish blooms on the Catalan coast around €422.57 million, or about 11.95% of the tourism expenditures in 2012. From a policy-making perspective, this study confirms the importance of the economic impacts of jellyfish blooms and the need for mitigation strategies. In particular, providing daily information using social media applications or other technical devices may reduce these social costs. The current lack of knowledge about jellyfish suggests that providing this information to beach recreationists may be a substantially effective policy instrument for minimising the impact of jellyfish blooms.

  4. Jellyfish decomposition at the seafloor rapidly alters biogeochemical cycling and carbon flow through benthic food-webs

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sweetman, A.K.; Chelsky, A.; Pitt, K.A.; Andrade, H.; Van Oevelen, D.; Renaud, P.E.

    2016-01-01

    Jellyfish blooms have increased in magnitude in several locations around the world, including in fjords.While the factors that promote jellyfish blooms and the impacts of live blooms on marine ecosystems areoften investigated, the post-bloom effects from the sinking and accumulation of dead

  5. Evolution of complex asexual reproductive strategies in jellyfish

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schnedler-Meyer, Nicolas Azaña; Pigolotti, Simone; Mariani, Patrizio

    2018-01-01

    Many living organisms in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems rely on multiple reproductive strategies to reduce the risk of extinction in variable environments. Examples are provided by the polyp stage of several bloom-forming jellyfish species, which can reproduce asexually using different buddin...

  6. Extract from the Zooxanthellate Jellyfish Cotylorhiza tuberculata Modulates Gap Junction Intercellular Communication in Human Cell Cultures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefano Piraino

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available On a global scale, jellyfish populations in coastal marine ecosystems exhibit increasing trends of abundance. High-density outbreaks may directly or indirectly affect human economical and recreational activities, as well as public health. As the interest in biology of marine jellyfish grows, a number of jellyfish metabolites with healthy potential, such as anticancer or antioxidant activities, is increasingly reported. In this study, the Mediterranean “fried egg jellyfish” Cotylorhiza tuberculata (Macri, 1778 has been targeted in the search forputative valuable bioactive compounds. A medusa extract was obtained, fractionated, characterized by HPLC, GC-MS and SDS-PAGE and assayed for its biological activity on breast cancer cells (MCF-7 and human epidermal keratinocytes (HEKa. The composition of the jellyfish extract included photosynthetic pigments, valuable ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acids, and polypeptides derived either from jellyfish tissues and their algal symbionts. Extract fractions showed antioxidant activity and the ability to affect cell viability and intercellular communication mediated by gap junctions (GJIC differentially in MCF-7and HEKa cells. A significantly higher cytotoxicity and GJIC enhancement in MCF-7 compared to HEKa cells was recorded. A putative action mechanism for the anticancer bioactivity through the modulation of GJIC has been hypothesized and its nutraceutical and pharmaceutical potential was discussed.

  7. The first European stand of Paramecium sonneborni (P. aurelia complex), a species known only from North America (Texas, USA).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Przyboś, Ewa; Tarcz, Sebastian; Rautian, Maria; Lebedeva, Natalia

    2014-06-01

    P. aurelia is currently defined as a complex of 15 sibling species including 14 species designated by Sonneborn (1975) and one, P. sonneborni, by Aufderheide et al. (1983). The latter was known from only one stand (Texas, USA). The main reason for the present study was a new stand of Paramecium in Cyprus, with strains recognized as P. sonneborni based on the results of strain crosses, cytological slides, and molecular analyses of three loci (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2-5'LSU rDNA, COI, CytB). The new stand of P. sonneborni in Europe shows that the species, previously considered endemic, may have a wider range. This demonstrates the impact of under-sampling on the knowledge of the biogeography of microbial eukaryotes. Phylogenetic trees based on all the studied fragments revealed that P. sonneborni forms a separate cluster that is closer to P. jenningsi and P. schewiakoffi than to the other members of the P. aurelia complex. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  8. Flawed citation practices facilitate the unsubstantiated perception of a global trend toward increased jellyfish blooms

    KAUST Repository

    Sanz-Martí n, Marina; Pitt, Kylie A.; Condon, Robert H.; Lucas, Cathy H.; Novaes de Santana, Charles; Duarte, Carlos M.

    2016-01-01

    Speculation over a global rise in jellyfish populations has become widespread in the scientific literature, but until recently the purported ‘global increase’ had not been tested. Here we present a citation analysis of peer-reviewed literature to track the evolution of the current perception of increases in jellyfish and identify key papers involved in its establishment. Trend statements and citation threads were reviewed and arranged in a citation network. Trend statements were assessed according their degree of affirmation and spatial scale, and the appropriateness of the citations used to support statements was assessed. Analyses showed that 48.9% of publications misinterpreted the conclusions of cited sources, with a bias towards claiming jellyfish populations are increasing, with a single review having the most influence on the network. Collectively, these disparities resulted in a network based on unsubstantiated statements and citation threads. As a community, we must ensure our statements about scientific findings in general are accurately substantiated and carefully communicated such that incorrect perceptions, as in the case of jellyfish blooms, do not develop in the absence of rigorous testing. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

  9. Flawed citation practices facilitate the unsubstantiated perception of a global trend toward increased jellyfish blooms

    KAUST Repository

    Sanz-Martín, Marina

    2016-06-24

    Speculation over a global rise in jellyfish populations has become widespread in the scientific literature, but until recently the purported ‘global increase’ had not been tested. Here we present a citation analysis of peer-reviewed literature to track the evolution of the current perception of increases in jellyfish and identify key papers involved in its establishment. Trend statements and citation threads were reviewed and arranged in a citation network. Trend statements were assessed according their degree of affirmation and spatial scale, and the appropriateness of the citations used to support statements was assessed. Analyses showed that 48.9% of publications misinterpreted the conclusions of cited sources, with a bias towards claiming jellyfish populations are increasing, with a single review having the most influence on the network. Collectively, these disparities resulted in a network based on unsubstantiated statements and citation threads. As a community, we must ensure our statements about scientific findings in general are accurately substantiated and carefully communicated such that incorrect perceptions, as in the case of jellyfish blooms, do not develop in the absence of rigorous testing. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

  10. The complete mitochondrial genome of the Antarctic stalked jellyfish, Haliclystus antarcticus Pfeffer, 1889 (Staurozoa: Stauromedusae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hsing-Hui Li

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In present study, the complete mitogenome sequence of the Antarctic stalked jellyfish, Haliclystus antarcticus Pfeffer (Staurozoa: Stauromedusae has been sequenced by next-generation sequencing method. The assembled mitogenome comprises of 15,766 bp including 13 protein coding genes, 7 transfer RNAs, and 2 ribosomal RNA genes. The overall base of Antarctic stalked jellyfish constitutes of 26.5% for A, 19.6% for C, 19.8% for G, 34.1% for T and show 90% identity to Sessile Jelly, Haliclystus sanjuanensis, in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. The complete mitogenome of the Antarctic stalked jellyfish, contributes fundamental and significant DNA molecular data for further phylogeography and evolutionary analysis for seahorse phylogeny. The complete sequence was deposited in DBBJ/EMBL/GenBank under accession number KU947038.

  11. Signatures of active and passive optimized Lévy searching in jellyfish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, Andy M

    2014-10-06

    Some of the strongest empirical support for Lévy search theory has come from telemetry data for the dive patterns of marine predators (sharks, bony fishes, sea turtles and penguins). The dive patterns of the unusually large jellyfish Rhizostoma octopus do, however, sit outside of current Lévy search theory which predicts that a single search strategy is optimal. When searching the water column, the movement patterns of these jellyfish change over time. Movement bouts can be approximated by a variety of Lévy and Brownian (exponential) walks. The adaptive value of this variation is not known. On some occasions movement pattern data are consistent with the jellyfish prospecting away from a preferred depth, not finding an improvement in conditions elsewhere and so returning to their original depth. This 'bounce' behaviour also sits outside of current Lévy walk search theory. Here, it is shown that the jellyfish movement patterns are consistent with their using optimized 'fast simulated annealing'--a novel kind of Lévy walk search pattern--to locate the maximum prey concentration in the water column and/or to locate the strongest of many olfactory trails emanating from more distant prey. Fast simulated annealing is a powerful stochastic search algorithm for locating a global maximum that is hidden among many poorer local maxima in a large search space. This new finding shows that the notion of active optimized Lévy walk searching is not limited to the search for randomly and sparsely distributed resources, as previously thought, but can be extended to embrace other scenarios, including that of the jellyfish R. octopus. In the presence of convective currents, it could become energetically favourable to search the water column by riding the convective currents. Here, it is shown that these passive movements can be represented accurately by Lévy walks of the type occasionally seen in R. octopus. This result vividly illustrates that Lévy walks are not necessarily

  12. Investigation of Gelatin Polypeptides of Jellyfish (Rhopilema esculentum for Their Antioxidant Activity in vitro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yong-Liang Zhuang

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Jellyfish gelatin was hydrolyzed by different proteases to obtain antioxidative polypeptides. The gelatin hydrolysate obtained by progressive hydrolysis using trypsin and Properase E exhibited the highest hydrolysis degree and antioxidant activity. Three series of gelatin polypeptides (SCP1, SCP2 and SCP3 were obtained by ultrafiltrating the gelatin hydrolysate through molecular mass cut-off membranes of 10, 6 and 2 kDa, respectively. Amino acid composition analysis showed that SCP3 had the highest total hydrophobic amino acid content. The in vitro antioxidant tests demonstrated that SCP2 had the strongest hydroxyl radical and hydrogen peroxide scavenging activities and metal chelating ability, while SCP3 showed the highest reducing power, antioxidant activity in linoleic acid emulsion system and superoxide anion radical scavenging activity. The results support the feasibility of jellyfish gelatin as a natural antioxidant polypeptide provider, and enzymatic hydrolysis and ultrafiltration could be potent future processing technologies to utilize the abundant jellyfish resource.

  13. Antioxidant activity of the giant jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai measured by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity and hydroxyl radical averting capacity methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harada, Kazuki; Maeda, Toshimichi; Hasegawa, Yoshiro; Tokunaga, Takushi; Ogawa, Shinya; Fukuda, Kyoko; Nagatsuka, Norie; Nagao, Keiko; Ueno, Shunshiro

    2011-01-01

    The giant jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai (reaching sizes of up to 2 m diameter and 150 kg), which forms dense blooms, has caused extensive damage to fisheries by overloading trawl nets, while its toxic nematocysts cause dermatological symptoms. Giant jellyfish are currently discarded on the grounds of pest control. However, the giant jellyfish is considered to be edible and is part of Chinese cuisine. Therefore, we investigated whether any benefits for human health may be derived from consumption of the jellyfish in order to formulate medicated diets. Antioxidant activity of Nemopilema nomurai was measured using the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and hydroxyl radical averting capacity (HORAC) methods. Based on the results, the ORAC value of the giant jellyfish freeze-dried sample was 541 µmol trolox equivalent (TE)/100 g and the HORAC value was 3,687 µmol gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/100 g. On the other hand, the IC50 value of hydroxyl radical scavenging activity measured by using the electron spin resonance method was 3.3%. In conclusion, the results suggest that the freeze-dried powder of the giant jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai is a potentially beneficial food for humans.

  14. Direct evidence of an efficient energy transfer pathway from jellyfish carcasses to a commercially important deep-water species.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunlop, Kathy M; Jones, Daniel O B; Sweetman, Andrew K

    2017-12-12

    Here we provide empirical evidence of the presence of an energetic pathway between jellyfish and a commercially important invertebrate species. Evidence of scavenging on jellyfish carcasses by the Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) was captured during two deployments of an underwater camera system to 250-287 m depth in Sognefjorden, western Norway. The camera system was baited with two Periphylla periphylla (Scyphozoa) carcasses to simulate the transport of jellyfish detritus to the seafloor, hereby known as jelly-falls. N. norveigus rapidly located and consumed a large proportion (>50%) of the bait. We estimate that the energy input from jelly-falls may represent a significant contribution to N. norvegicus energy demand (0.21 to 10.7 times the energy required for the population of N. norvegicus in Sognefjorden). This potentially high energetic contribution from jelly-falls highlights a possible role of gelatinous material in the support of commercial fisheries. Such an energetic pathway between jelly-falls and N. norvegicus could become more important with increases in jellyfish blooms in some regions.

  15. MOON MOON DEVI

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Home; Journals; Pramana – Journal of Physics. MOON MOON DEVI. Articles written in Pramana – Journal of Physics. Volume 88 Issue 5 May 2017 pp 79 Research Article. Physics potential of the ICAL detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) · A KUMAR A M VINOD KUMAR ABHIK JASH AJIT K MOHANTY ...

  16. Actuation control of a PiezoMEMS biomimetic robotic jellyfish

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alejandre, Alvaro; Olszewski, Oskar; Jackson, Nathan

    2017-06-01

    Biomimetic micro-robots try to mimic the motion of a living system in the form of a synthetically developed microfabricated device. Dynamic motion of living systems have evolved through the years, but trying to mimic these motions is challenging. Micro-robotics are particular challenging as the fabrication of devices and controlling the motion in 3 dimensions is difficult. However, micro-scale robotics have potential to be used in a wide range of applications. MEMS based robots that can move and function in a liquid environment is of particular interest. This paper describes the development of a piezoMEMS based device that mimics the movement of a jellyfish. The paper focuses on the development of a finite element model that investigates a method of controlling the individual piezoelectric beams in order to create a jet propulsion motion, consisting of a quick excitation pulse followed by a slow recovery pulse in order to maximize thrust and velocity. By controlling the individual beams or legs of the jellyfish robot the authors can control the robot to move precisely in 3 dimensions.

  17. Effects of large gut volume in gelatinous zooplankton: ingestion rate, bolus production and food patch utilization by the jellyfish Sarsia tubulosa

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansson, L.J.; Kiørboe, Thomas

    2006-01-01

    or with jellyfish that were pre-adjusted to the food concentration before incubation. The findings have implications for design and interpretation of experiments. The possibility for jellyfish to feed at maximum clearance rate in either very high prey concentration for a short time or low prey concentration...... for a long time was illustrated with calculations of prey uptake by S. tubulosa feeding in prey concentrations of variable heterogeneity. The ability of jellyfish to capture prey at maximum clearance rate under different prey concentrations, and to accumulate relatively large amounts of food in their guts...

  18. Jellyfish prediction of occurrence from remote sensing data and a non-linear pattern recognition approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albajes-Eizagirre, Anton; Romero, Laia; Soria-Frisch, Aureli; Vanhellemont, Quinten

    2011-11-01

    Impact of jellyfish in human activities has been increasingly reported worldwide in recent years. Segments such as tourism, water sports and leisure, fisheries and aquaculture are commonly damaged when facing blooms of gelatinous zooplankton. Hence the prediction of the appearance and disappearance of jellyfish in our coasts, which is not fully understood from its biological point of view, has been approached as a pattern recognition problem in the paper presented herein, where a set of potential ecological cues was selected to test their usefulness for prediction. Remote sensing data was used to describe environmental conditions that could support the occurrence of jellyfish blooms with the aim of capturing physical-biological interactions: forcing, coastal morphology, food availability, and water mass characteristics are some of the variables that seem to exert an effect on jellyfish accumulation on the shoreline, under specific spatial and temporal windows. A data-driven model based on computational intelligence techniques has been designed and implemented to predict jellyfish events on the beach area as a function of environmental conditions. Data from 2009 over the NW Mediterranean continental shelf have been used to train and test this prediction protocol. Standard level 2 products are used from MODIS (NASA OceanColor) and MERIS (ESA - FRS data). The procedure for designing the analysis system can be described as following. The aforementioned satellite data has been used as feature set for the performance evaluation. Ground truth has been extracted from visual observations by human agents on different beach sites along the Catalan area. After collecting the evaluation data set, the performance between different computational intelligence approaches have been compared. The outperforming one in terms of its generalization capability has been selected for prediction recall. Different tests have been conducted in order to assess the prediction capability of the

  19. Reduced salinity increases susceptibility of zooxanthellate jellyfish to herbicide toxicity during a simulated rainfall event

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klein, Shannon G.; Pitt, Kylie A.; Carroll, Anthony R.

    2016-01-01

    Accurately predicting how marine biota are likely to respond to changing ocean conditions requires accurate simulation of interacting stressors, exposure regimes and recovery periods. Jellyfish populations have increased in some parts of the world and, despite few direct empirical tests, are hypothesised to be increasing because they are robust to a range of environmental stressors. Here, we investigated the effects of contaminated runoff on a zooxanthellate jellyfish by exposing juvenile Cassiopea sp. medusae to a photosystem II (PSII) herbicide, atrazine and reduced salinity conditions that occur following rainfall. Four levels of atrazine (0ngL"−"1, 10ngL"−"1, 2μgL"−"1, 20μgL"−"1) and three levels of salinity (35 ppt, 25 ppt, 17 ppt) were varied, mimicking the timeline of light, moderate and heavy rainfall events. Normal conditions were then slowly re-established over four days to mimic the recovery of the ecosystem post-rain and the experiment continued for a further 7 days to observe potential recovery of the medusae. Pulse-amplitude modulated (PAM) chlorophyll fluorescence, growth and bell contraction rates of medusae were measured. Medusae exposed to the combination of high atrazine and lowest salinity died. After 3 days of exposure, bell contraction rates were reduced by 88% and medusae were 16% smaller in the lowest salinity treatments. By Day 5 of the experiment, all medusae that survived the initial pulse event began to recover quickly. Although atrazine decreased YII under normal salinity conditions, YII was further reduced when medusae were exposed to both low salinity and atrazine simultaneously. Atrazine breakdown products were more concentrated in jellyfish tissues than atrazine at the end of the experiment, suggesting that although bioaccumulation occurred, atrazine was metabolised. Our results suggest that reduced salinity may increase the susceptibility of medusae to herbicide exposure during heavy rainfall events. - Highlights:

  20. Is it possible to determine the economic impact of jellyfish outbreaks on fisheries? A Case Study – Slovenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. NASTAV

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The interdependence between the economy and the environment is becoming a fact of increasing importance. Productive coastal areas have been recognised as one of the most valuable ecosystems from an ecological and socio-economic point of view. In this paper we focus on the massive presence of jellyfish in the northern Adriatic and their effect on the Slovenian economy. Our results indicate that high jellyfish abundance in 2004 resulted in a reduction of fish catch, value added, gross income, and employment in the fishing industry. Moreover, the government and the EU have acknowledged the impact of jellyfish on the fishing industry by allocating financial help to the fishermen involved. We attempted to assess other factors influencing the fishing industry but none were statistically significant. The input-output analysis has not revealed a significant impact on the entire Slovenian economy presumably due to the small contribution of the fishing industry to Slovenian GDP. Our work is a first attempt to relate ecological changes such as jellyfish outbreaks in the northern Adriatic to the wider economy and we suggest that such a methodology can be applied to other countries/regions and to other natural phenomena affecting the economy.

  1. The Jellyfish: smart electro-active polymers for an autonomous distributed sensing node

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blottman, John B.; Richards, Roger T.

    2006-05-01

    The US Navy has recently placed emphasis on deployable, distributed sensors for Force Protection, Anti-Terrorism and Homeland Defense missions. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center has embarked on the development of a self-contained deployable node that is composed of electro-active polymers (EAP) for use in a covert persistent distributed surveillance system. Electro-Active Polymers (EAP) have matured to a level that permits their application in energy harvesting, hydrophones, electro-elastic actuation and electroluminescence. The problem to resolve is combining each of these functions into an autonomous sensing platform. The concept presented here promises an operational life several orders of magnitude beyond what is expected of a Sonobuoy due to energy conservation and harvesting, and at a reasonable cost. The embodiment envisioned is that of a deployed device resembling a jellyfish, made in most part of polymers, with the body encapsulating the necessary electronic processing and communications package and the tentacles of the jellyfish housing the sonar sensors. It will be small, neutrally buoyant, and will survey the water column much in the manner of a Cartesian Diver. By using the Electro-Active Polymers as artificial muscles, the motion of the jellyfish can be finely controlled. An increased range of detection and true node autonomy is achieved through volumetric array beamforming to focus the direction of interrogation and to null-out extraneous ambient noise.

  2. KANDUNGAN ASAM AMINO, TAURIN, MINERAL MAKRO-MIKRO, DAN VITAMIN B12 UBUR-UBUR (Aurelia aurita SEGAR DAN KERING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    - - Nurjanah

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Tujuan penelitian adalah menentukan komposisi gizi, asam amino, taurin, mineral makro dan mikro,dan vitamin B12 pada ubur-ubur (Aurelia aurita segar dan kering. Asam amino esensial pada ubur-uburyaitu arginina, leusina, valina, treonina, lisina, isoleusina, fenilalanina, metionina, dan histidina, sedangkanasam amino non esensial yaitu asam glutamat, glisina, asam aspartat, serina, alanina, dan tirosina. Asamamino esensial tertinggi segar dan kering adalah arginina sebesar 1,72% (bk dan 1,44% (bk dan terendahhistidina yaitu sebesar 0,19% (bk dan 0,13% (bk. Asam amino non esensial segar dan kering tertinggiadalah asam glutamat dan glisina yaitu sebesar 3,26% (bk dan 2,62% (bk dan terkecil tirosina sebesar0,38% (bk dan 0,41% (bk. Taurin segar sebesar 2,68% (bk dan kering sebesar 0,67% (bk. Mineral makrotertinggi segar dan kering adalah natrium yaitu 180.092,1 ppm (bk dan 111.209,4 ppm (bk, terkecil adalahkalsium yaitu 5.750,2 ppm (bk dan 11,1 ppm (bk. Mineral mikro tertinggi segar dan kering adalah iodium yaitu8.291,5 ppm (bk dan 1.800 ppm (bk dan yang terkecil adalah tembaga yaitu 1,1 ppm (bk dan 0,6 ppm (bk.Vitamin B12 segar adalah 396,6 μm/100 g (bk dan kering 63,5 μm/100 g (bk.Kata kunci: asam amino, mineral, taurin, ubur-ubur (Aurelia aurita, vitamin B12

  3. Jellyfish Identification Software for Underwater Laser Cameras (JTRACK

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrizio Mariani

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Jellyfish can form erratic blooms in response to seasonal and irregular changes in environmental conditions with often large, transient effects on local ecosystem structure as well as effects on several sectors of the marine and maritime economy. Early warning systems able to detect conditions for jelly fish proliferation can enable management responses to mitigate such effects providing benefit to local ecosystems and economies. We propose here the creation of a research team in response to the EU call for proposal under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund called “Blue Labs: innovative solutions for maritime challenges”. The project will establish a BLUELAB team with a strong cross-sectorial component that will benefit of the expertise of researchers in IT and Marine Biology, Computer Vision and embedded systems, which will work in collaboration with Industry and Policy maker to develop an early warning system using a new underwater imaging system based on Time of Flight Laser cameras. The camera will be combined to machine learning algorithm allowing autonomous early detection of jellyfish species (e.g. polyp, ephyra and planula stages. The team will develop the system and the companion software and will demonstrate its applications in real case conditions.

  4. [Jellyfish and poison-producing animals that endanger swimmers].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Litschauer-Poursadrollah, M; Mayer, D E; Hemmer, W; Jarisch, R

    2010-05-01

    Exposure to fresh water as well as to sea water can cause unpleasant consequences. The water of lakes or biotopes may be the reason for severe itching reactions on exposed skin, caused by cercariae. Exposure to seawater may lead to skin affections including itching or burning urticarial lesions as well as life threatening reactions. The causes for these reactions are especially species of jellyfish. (c) Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart. New York.

  5. MoonNEXT: A European Mission to the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carpenter, J. D.; Koschny, D.; Crawford, I.; Falcke, H.; Kempf, S.; Lognonne, P.; Ricci, C.; Houdou, B.; Pradier, A.

    2008-09-01

    MoonNEXT is a mission currently being studied, under the direction of the European Space Agency, whose launch is foreseen between 2015 and 2018. MoonNEXT is intended to prepare the way for future exploration activities on the Moon, while addressing key science questions. Exploration Objectives The primary goal for the MoonNEXT mission is to demonstrate autonomous soft precision landing with hazard avoidance; a key capability for future exploration missions. The nominal landing site is at the South Pole of the Moon, at the edge of the Aitken basin and in the region of Shackleton crater, which has been identified as an optimal location for a future human outpost by the NASA lunar architecture team [1]. This landing site selection ensures a valuable contribution by MoonNEXT to the Global Exploration Strategy [2]. MoonNEXT will also prepare for future lunar exploration activities by characterising the environment at the lunar surface. The potentially hazardous radiation environment will me monitored while a dedicated instrument package will investigate the levitation and mobility of lunar dust. Experience on Apollo demonstrated the potentially hazardous effects of dust for surface operations and human activities and so an understanding of these processes is important for the future. Life sciences investigations will be carried out into the effects of the lunar environment (including radiation, gravity and illumination conditions) on a man made ecosystem analogous to future life support systems. In doing so MoonNEXT will demonstrate the first extraterrestrial man made ecosystem and develop valuable expertise for future missions. Geological and geochemical investigations will explore the possibilities for In Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU), which will be essential for long term human habitation on the Moon and is of particular importance at the proposed landing site, given its potential as a future habitat location. Science Objectives In addition to providing extensive

  6. Comparative analysis of methods for concentrating venom from jellyfish Rhopilema esculentum Kishinouye

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Cuiping; Yu, Huahua; Feng, Jinhua; Chen, Xiaolin; Li, Pengcheng

    2009-02-01

    In this study, several methods were compared for the efficiency to concentrate venom from the tentacles of jellyfish Rhopilema esculentum Kishinouye. The results show that the methods using either freezing-dry or gel absorption to remove water to concentrate venom are not applicable due to the low concentration of the compounds dissolved. Although the recovery efficiency and the total venom obtained using the dialysis dehydration method are high, some proteins can be lost during the concentrating process. Comparing to the lyophilization method, ultrafiltration is a simple way to concentrate the compounds at high percentage but the hemolytic activities of the proteins obtained by ultrafiltration appear to be lower. Our results suggest that overall lyophilization is the best and recommended method to concentrate venom from the tentacles of jellyfish. It shows not only the high recovery efficiency for the venoms but high hemolytic activities as well.

  7. JELLYFISH GALAXY CANDIDATES AT LOW REDSHIFT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Poggianti, B. M.; Fasano, G.; Omizzolo, A.; Gullieuszik, M.; Bettoni, D.; Paccagnella, A. [INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova (Italy); Moretti, A.; D’Onofrio, M. [Physics and Astronomy Department, University of Padova (Italy); Jaffé, Y. L. [Department of Astronomy, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción (Chile); Vulcani, B. [Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study (UTIAS), the University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, 277-8582 (Japan); Fritz, J. [Centro de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica, CRyA, UNAM, Michoacán (Mexico); Couch, W. [Australian Astronomical Observatory, North Ryde, NSW 1670 (Australia)

    2016-03-15

    Galaxies that are being stripped of their gas can sometimes be recognized from their optical appearance. Extreme examples of stripped galaxies are the so-called “jellyfish galaxies” that exhibit tentacles of debris material with a characteristic jellyfish morphology. We have conducted the first systematic search for galaxies that are being stripped of their gas at low-z (z = 0.04−0.07) in different environments, selecting galaxies with varying degrees of morphological evidence for stripping. We have visually inspected B- and V-band images and identified 344 candidates in 71 galaxy clusters of the OMEGAWINGS+WINGS sample and 75 candidates in groups and lower mass structures in the PM2GC sample. We present the atlas of stripping candidates and a first analysis of their environment and their basic properties, such as morphologies, star formation rates and galaxy stellar masses. Candidates are found in all clusters and at all clustercentric radii, and their number does not correlate with the cluster velocity dispersion σ or X-ray luminosity L{sub X}. Interestingly, convincing cases of candidates are also found in groups and lower mass halos (10{sup 11}−10{sup 14}M{sub ⊙}), although the physical mechanism at work needs to be securely identified. All the candidates are disky, have stellar masses ranging from log M/M{sub ⊙} < 9 to > 11.5 and the majority of them form stars at a rate that is on average a factor of 2 higher (2.5σ) compared to non-stripped galaxies of similar mass. The few post-starburst and passive candidates have weak stripping evidence. We conclude that disturbed morphologies suggestive of stripping phenomena are ubiquitous in clusters and could be present even in groups and low mass halos. Further studies will reveal the physics of the gas stripping and clarify the mechanisms at work.

  8. Beyond the average: Diverse individual migration patterns in a population of mesopelagic jellyfish

    KAUST Repository

    Kaartvedt, Stein; Titelman, Josefin; Rø stad, Anders; Klevjer, Thor A.

    2011-01-01

    We examined the diel behavior among the jellyfish Periphylla periphylla in Lurefjorden, Norway in a sampling campaign and by a > 3-month continuous acoustic study. Jellyfish distribution and behavior were recorded by an upward-facing, bottom-mounted echo sounder at 280-m depth. The population was typically divided into four groups, each with different behavior. Individuals of behavioral Mode 1 undertook synchronous diel vertical migrations (DVM) within the upper 100 m. Individuals of behavioral Mode 2, stayed at ~ 160-200-m depth during the day, and also exhibited synchronized DVM, ascending at dusk and descending at dawn. The smaller individuals of behavioral Mode 3 swam continuously up and down throughout both day and night, yet occurred below Mode 2 individuals in daytime (~ 200 m-bottom), while their vertical range encompassed the entire water column during night. Mode 4 behavior was displayed by large jellyfish located between ~ 130 m and the bottom. These animals shifted between remaining motionless and relocating in rapid steps during both day and night. These four main behavioral patterns persisted throughout the registration period, although the synchronously migrating Mode 2 behavior became weaker in spring. This acoustic study has unveiled more diverse migration behaviors than previously derived from net sampling and remote-operated vehicles methods and emphasizes the importance of studying individuals. DVM is complex because individuals in a plankton population may simultaneously engage in a range of various contrasting behaviors.

  9. Beyond the average: Diverse individual migration patterns in a population of mesopelagic jellyfish

    KAUST Repository

    Kaartvedt, Stein

    2011-11-01

    We examined the diel behavior among the jellyfish Periphylla periphylla in Lurefjorden, Norway in a sampling campaign and by a > 3-month continuous acoustic study. Jellyfish distribution and behavior were recorded by an upward-facing, bottom-mounted echo sounder at 280-m depth. The population was typically divided into four groups, each with different behavior. Individuals of behavioral Mode 1 undertook synchronous diel vertical migrations (DVM) within the upper 100 m. Individuals of behavioral Mode 2, stayed at ~ 160-200-m depth during the day, and also exhibited synchronized DVM, ascending at dusk and descending at dawn. The smaller individuals of behavioral Mode 3 swam continuously up and down throughout both day and night, yet occurred below Mode 2 individuals in daytime (~ 200 m-bottom), while their vertical range encompassed the entire water column during night. Mode 4 behavior was displayed by large jellyfish located between ~ 130 m and the bottom. These animals shifted between remaining motionless and relocating in rapid steps during both day and night. These four main behavioral patterns persisted throughout the registration period, although the synchronously migrating Mode 2 behavior became weaker in spring. This acoustic study has unveiled more diverse migration behaviors than previously derived from net sampling and remote-operated vehicles methods and emphasizes the importance of studying individuals. DVM is complex because individuals in a plankton population may simultaneously engage in a range of various contrasting behaviors.

  10. Antibacterial polyketides from the jellyfish-derived fungus Paecilomyces variotii.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Juan; Li, Famei; Kim, Eun La; Li, Jian Lin; Hong, Jongki; Bae, Kyung Sook; Chung, Hae Young; Kim, Hyung Sik; Jung, Jee H

    2011-08-26

    Four new polyketides (1-4) were isolated from the fungus Paecilomyces variotii, which was derived from the jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai. The planar structures and relative configurations of these polyketides were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analyses, including 2D NMR experiments. The compounds showed inhibitory activity against pathogenic bacteria including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus 3089 and multi-drug-resistant Vibrio parahemolyticus 7001 with MIC values in the range 5-40 μg/mL.

  11. A gonad-expressed opsin mediates light-induced spawning in the jellyfish Clytia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quiroga Artigas, Gonzalo; Lapébie, Pascal; Leclère, Lucas; Takeda, Noriyo; Deguchi, Ryusaku; Jékely, Gáspár

    2018-01-01

    Across the animal kingdom, environmental light cues are widely involved in regulating gamete release, but the molecular and cellular bases of the photoresponsive mechanisms are poorly understood. In hydrozoan jellyfish, spawning is triggered by dark-light or light-dark transitions acting on the gonad, and is mediated by oocyte maturation-inducing neuropeptide hormones (MIHs) released from the ectoderm. We determined in Clytia hemisphaerica that blue-cyan light triggers spawning in isolated gonads. A candidate opsin (Opsin9) was found co-expressed with MIH within specialised ectodermal cells. Opsin9 knockout jellyfish generated by CRISPR/Cas9 failed to undergo oocyte maturation and spawning, a phenotype reversible by synthetic MIH. Gamete maturation and release in Clytia is thus regulated by gonadal photosensory-neurosecretory cells that secrete MIH in response to light via Opsin9. Similar cells in ancestral eumetazoans may have allowed tissue-level photo-regulation of diverse behaviours, a feature elaborated in cnidarians in parallel with expansion of the opsin gene family. PMID:29303477

  12. The homeobox gene Msx in development and transdifferentiation of jellyfish striated muscle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galle, Sabina; Yanze, Nathalie; Seipel, Katja

    2005-01-01

    Bilaterian Msx homeobox genes are generally expressed in areas of cell proliferation and in association with multipotent progenitor cells. Likewise, jellyfish Msx is expressed in progenitor cells of the developing entocodon, a cell layer giving rise to the striated and smooth muscles of the medusa. However, in contrast to the bilaterian homologs, Msx gene expression is maintained at high levels in the differentiated striated muscle of the medusa in vivo and in vitro. This tissue exhibits reprogramming competence. Upon induction, the Msx gene is immediately switched off in the isolated striated muscle undergoing transdifferentiation, to be upregulated again in the emerging smooth muscle cells which, in a stem cell like manner, undergo quantal cell divisions producing two cell types, a proliferating smooth muscle cell and a differentiating nerve cell. This study indicates that the Msx protein may be a key component of the reprogramming machinery responsible for the extraordinary transdifferentation and regeneration potential of striated muscle in the hydrozoan jellyfish.

  13. To Pee, or Not to Pee: A Review on Envenomation and Treatment in European Jellyfish Species

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Louise Montgomery

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available There is a growing cause for concern on envenoming European species because of jellyfish blooms, climate change and globalization displacing species. Treatment of envenomation involves the prevention of further nematocyst release and relieving local and systemic symptoms. Many anecdotal treatments are available but species-specific first aid response is essential for effective treatment. However, species identification is difficult in most cases. There is evidence that oral analgesics, seawater, baking soda slurry and 42–45 °C hot water are effective against nematocyst inhibition and giving pain relief. The application of topical vinegar for 30 s is effective on stings of specific species. Treatments, which produce osmotic or pressure changes can exacerbate the initial sting and aggravate symptoms, common among many anecdotal treatments. Most available therapies are based on weak evidence and thus it is strongly recommended that randomized clinical trials are undertaken. We recommend a vital increase in directed research on the effect of environmental factors on envenoming mechanisms and to establish a species-specific treatment. Adequate signage on jellyfish stings and standardized first aid protocols with emphasis on protective equipment and avoidance of jellyfish to minimize cases should be implemented in areas at risk.

  14. Multiple photoreceptor systems control the swim pacemaker activity in box jellyfish

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Garm, Anders Lydik; Mori, S.

    2009-01-01

    Like all other cnidarian medusae, box jellyfish propel themselves through the water by contracting their bell-shaped body in discrete swim pulses. These pulses are controlled by a swim pacemaker system situated in their sensory structures, the rhopalia. Each medusa has four rhopalia each with a s......Like all other cnidarian medusae, box jellyfish propel themselves through the water by contracting their bell-shaped body in discrete swim pulses. These pulses are controlled by a swim pacemaker system situated in their sensory structures, the rhopalia. Each medusa has four rhopalia each...... with a similar set of six eyes of four morphologically different types. We have examined how each of the four eye types influences the swim pacemaker. Multiple photoreceptor systems, three of the four eye types, plus the rhopalial neuropil, affect the swim pacemaker. The lower lens eye inhibits the pacemaker...... when stimulated and provokes a strong increase in the pacemaker frequency upon light-off. The upper lens eye, the pit eyes and the rhopalial neuropil all have close to the opposite effect. When these responses are compared with all-eye stimulations it is seen that some advanced integration must take...

  15. Thermal band image processing on the warm water discharges of nuclear power plants and the drifting of Echizen-Jellyfishes by using terra/aqua-MODIS data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kato, Yoshinobu; Fujita, Yusuke

    2005-01-01

    At the Awara campus (lat. 36.264degN, long, 136.235degE) of Fukui University of Technology, a Terra/Aqua-MODIS receiving system is operated from September, 2003. This paper deals with the thermal band image processing by using the received MODIS data. In chapter 2, we investigate the image representation of the warm water discharges of nuclear power plants located with Wakasa Bay of Fukui Prefecture. In chapter 3, we describe the image processing of the drifting of Echizen-Jellyfishes. The Echizen-Jellyfish, a kind of big jellyfish, whose scientific name is Nemopilema nomurai Kishinouye, appeared in large quantities in 2003 and did serious damage to the fishery in Japan Sea. (author)

  16. Biology and ecology of Irukandji jellyfish (Cnidaria: Cubozoa).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gershwin, Lisa-ann; Richardson, Anthony J; Winkel, Kenneth D; Fenner, Peter J; Lippmann, John; Hore, Russell; Avila-Soria, Griselda; Brewer, David; Kloser, Rudy J; Steven, Andy; Condie, Scott

    2013-01-01

    Irukandji stings are a leading occupational health and safety issue for marine industries in tropical Australia and an emerging problem elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean. Their mild initial sting frequently results in debilitating illness, involving signs of sympathetic excess including excruciating pain, sweating, nausea and vomiting, hypertension and a feeling of impending doom; some cases also experience acute heart failure and pulmonary oedema. These jellyfish are typically small and nearly invisible, and their infestations are generally mysterious, making them scary to the general public, irresistible to the media, and disastrous for tourism. Research into these fascinating species has been largely driven by the medical profession and focused on treatment. Biological and ecological information is surprisingly sparse, and is scattered through grey literature or buried in dispersed publications, hampering understanding. Given that long-term climate forecasts tend toward conditions favourable to jellyfish ecology, that long-term legal forecasts tend toward increasing duty-of-care obligations, and that bioprospecting opportunities exist in the powerful Irukandji toxins, there is a clear need for information to help inform global research and robust management solutions. We synthesise and contextualise available information on Irukandji taxonomy, phylogeny, reproduction, vision, behaviour, feeding, distribution, seasonality, toxins, and safety. Despite Australia dominating the research in this area, there are probably well over 25 species worldwide that cause the syndrome and it is an understudied problem in the developing world. Major gaps in knowledge are identified for future research: our lack of clarity on the socio-economic impacts, and our need for time series and spatial surveys of the species, make this field particularly enticing. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. A jellyfish-inspired jet propulsion robot actuated by an iris mechanism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marut, Kenneth; Stewart, Colin; Michael, Tyler; Villanueva, Alex; Priya, Shashank

    2013-01-01

    A jellyfish-inspired jet propulsion robot (JetPRo) is designed, fabricated, and characterized with the objective of creating a fast-swimming uncrewed undersea vehicle. JetPRo measures 7.9 cm in height, 5.7 cm in diameter and is designed to mimic the proficient jetting propulsion mechanism used by the hydromedusa Sarsia tubulosa, which measures approximately 1 cm in diameter. In order to achieve the uniform-bell contraction used by S. tubulosa, we develop a novel circumferential actuation technique based on a mechanical iris diaphragm. When triggered, this mechanism induces a volumetric change of a deformable silicone cavity to expel a jet of fluid and produces positive thrust. A theoretical jetting model is used to optimize JetPRo’s gait for maximum steady-state swimming velocity, a result achieved by minimizing the timing between the contraction and relaxation phases. We validate this finding empirically and quantify the swimming performance of the robot using video tracking and time resolved digital particle image velocimetry. JetPRo was able to produce discrete vortex rings shed before pinch off and swim upwards with a maximum steady-state velocity of 11.6 cm s −1 , outperforming current state-of-the-art robotic jellyfish in velocity as well as diameter-normalized velocity. (paper)

  18. Investigation into the hemolytic activity of tentacle venom from jellyfish Cyanea nozakii Kishinouye

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Cuiping; Yu, Huahua; Li, Rongfeng; Xing, Ronge; Liu, Song; Li, Pengcheng

    2016-03-01

    Cyanea nozakii Kishinouy e ( C. nozakii), a giant cnidarian of the class Scyphomedusae, order Semaeostomeae and family Cyaneidae, is widely distributed in the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea, and is abundant from late summer to early autumn. Venom produced by C. nozakii during mass agglomerations can contaminate seawater resulting in death of the halobios and seriously damage commercial fisheries. Swimmers and fishermen commonly suff er painful stings from this jellyfish, resulting in local edema, tingling, breathing difficulties, depressed blood pressure and even death. Such effects arise from the complex mixture of biologically active molecules that make up jellyfish venom. In the present study, the hemolytic activity of venom from tentacles of C. nozakii and factors aff ecting its activity were assayed. The HU50 ( defined as the amount of protein required to lyse 50 % of erythrocytes) of the venom against dove and chicken erythrocytes was 34 and 59 μg/mL, respectively. Carboxylmethyl chitosan and glycerol could increase hemolytic activity at concentrations greater than 0.06% and 0.2 mol/L, respectively.

  19. Unique Moon Formation Model: Two Impacts of Earth and After Moon's Birth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miura, Y.

    2018-04-01

    The Moon rocks are mixed with two impact-processes of Earth's impact breccias and airless Moon's impact breccias; discussed voids-rich texture and crust-like composition. The present model might be explained as cave-rich interior on the airless-and waterless Moon.

  20. Paramecium aurelia as a cellular model used for studies of the biological effects of natural ionizing radiation or chronic low-level irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Planel, H.; Soleilhavoup, J.P.; Tixador, R.; Croute, F.; Richoilley, G.

    1979-01-01

    Paramecium aurelia appears to be a very suitable object for investigating the biological effects of natural ionizing radiation or the influence of low doses of radiation. The biological effects of ionizing radiation on cell proliferation kinetics were tested. It is shown that radio-protection or chronic exposure to very low doses of 60 Co gamma rays induce different changes in cell growth rate. Special experimental techniques can help to obtain more obvious results using cells more sensitive to the stimulating effects of low doses of ionizing radiation. (author)

  1. Hydrogen-fuel-powered bell segments of biomimetic jellyfish

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tadesse, Yonas; Villanueva, Alex; Priya, Shashank; Haines, Carter; Novitski, David; Baughman, Ray

    2012-01-01

    Artificial muscles powered by a renewable energy source are desired for joint articulation in bio-inspired autonomous systems. In this study, a robotic underwater vehicle, inspired by jellyfish, was designed to be actuated by a chemical fuel source. The fuel-powered muscles presented in this work comprise nano-platinum catalyst-coated multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) sheets, wrapped on the surface of nickel–titanium (NiTi) shape memory alloy (SMA). As a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen gases makes contact with the platinum, the resulting exothermic reaction activates the nickel–titanium (NiTi)-based SMA. The MWCNT sheets serve as a support for the platinum particles and enhance the heat transfer due to the high thermal conductivity between the composite and the SMA. A hydrogen and oxygen fuel source could potentially provide higher power density than electrical sources. Several vehicle designs were considered and a peripheral SMA configuration under the robotic bell was chosen as the best arrangement. Constitutive equations combined with thermodynamic modeling were developed to understand the influence of system parameters that affect the overall actuation behavior of the fuel-powered SMA. The model is based on the changes in entropy of the hydrogen and oxygen fuel on the composite actuator within a channel. The specific heat capacity is the dominant factor controlling the width of the strain for various pulse widths of fuel delivery. Both theoretical and experimental strains for different diameter (100 and 150 µm) SMA/MWCNT/Pt fuel-powered muscles with dead weight attached at the end exhibited the highest magnitude under 450 ms of fuel delivery within 1.6 mm diameter conduit size. Fuel-powered bell deformation of 13.5% was found to be comparable to that of electrically powered (29%) and natural jellyfish (42%). (paper)

  2. Moon (Form-Origin)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsiapas, Elias; Soumelidou, Despina; Tsiapas, Christos

    2017-04-01

    When the Earth was formed, it was in a state of burning heat. As time went by, temperature on the planet's surface was falling due to radiation and heat transfer, and various components (crusts) began taking solid form at the Earth's poles. The formation of crusts took place at the Earth's poles, because the stirring of burning and fluid masses on the surface of the Earth was significantly slighter there than it was on the equator. Due to centrifugal force and Coriolis Effect, these solid masses headed towards the equator; those originating from the North Pole followed a south-western course, while those originating from the South Pole followed a north-western course and there they rotated from west to east at a lower speed than the underlying burning and liquid earth, because of their lower initial linear velocity, their solid state and inertia. Because inertia is proportional to mass, the initially larger solid body swept all new solid ones, incorporating them to its western side. The density of the new solid masses was higher, because the components on the surface would freeze and solidify first, before the underlying thicker components. As a result, the western side of the initial islet of solid rocks submerged, while the east side elevated. . As a result of the above, this initial islet began to spin in reverse, and after taking on the shape of a sphere, it formed the "heart" of the Moon. The Moon-sphere, rolling on the equator, would sink the solid rocks that continued to descend from the Earth's poles. The sinking rocks partially melted because of higher temperatures in the greater depths that the Moon descended to, while part of the rocks' mass bonded with the Moon and also served as a heat-insulating material, preventing the descended side of the sphere from melting. Combined with the Earth's liquid mass that covered its emerging eastern surface, new sphere-shaped shells were created, with increased density and very powerful structural cohesion. During the

  3. Structure of the moon's surface

    CERN Document Server

    Fielder, Gilbert

    1961-01-01

    Structure of the Moon's Surface aims to assemble and marshal relevant matter, and to produce a largely unprejudiced text which brings lunar studies up to date and stresses the importance of certain features of the Moon which have frequently been disregarded in the past, largely because of lack of knowledge about them. The book contains 14 chapters organized into two parts. Part I reviews and summarizes important physical problems. These include the liberations of the moon; height determinations of points of the moon's surface; the figure of the moon; and the moon's temperature and atmosphere.

  4. The spectral sensitivity of the lens eyes of a box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora (Conant)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Coates, Melissa M; Garm, Anders; Theobald, Jamie C

    2006-01-01

    Box jellyfish, or cubomedusae (class Cubozoa), are unique among the Cnidaria in possessing lens eyes similar in morphology to those of vertebrates and cephalopods. Although these eyes were described over 100 years ago, there has been no work done on their electrophysiological responses to light. ...... result from the presence of a single receptor type containing a single opsin. The peak sensitivity is to blue-green light. Visual pigment template fits indicate a vitamin A-1 based opsin with peak sensitivity near 500 nm for both eye types.......Box jellyfish, or cubomedusae (class Cubozoa), are unique among the Cnidaria in possessing lens eyes similar in morphology to those of vertebrates and cephalopods. Although these eyes were described over 100 years ago, there has been no work done on their electrophysiological responses to light. We...... used an electroretinogram (ERG) technique to measure spectral sensitivity of the lens eyes of the Caribbean species Tripedalia cystophora. The cubomedusae have two kinds of lens eyes, the lower and upper lens eyes. We found that both lens eye types have similar spectral sensitivities, which likely...

  5. Physics and astronomy of the Moon

    CERN Document Server

    Kopal, Zdenek

    2013-01-01

    Physics and Astronomy of the Moon focuses on the application of principles of physics in the study of the moon, including perturbations, equations, light scattering, and photometry. The selection first offers information on the motion of the moon in space and libration of the moon. Topics include Hill's equations of motion, non-solar perturbations, improved lunar ephemeris, optical and physical libration of the moon, and adjustment of heliometric observations of the moon's libration. The text then elaborates on the dynamics of the earth-moon system, photometry of the moon, and polarization of

  6. Lévy night flights by the jellyfish Periphylla periphylla

    KAUST Repository

    Ugland, KI; Aksnes, DL; Klevjer, TA; Titelman, J; Kaartvedt, Stein

    2014-01-01

    Jellyfish blooms occur in marine environments around the world and have been linked to over-fishing, eutrophication and climatic change. In some coastal areas of Norway, the circumglobal Periphylla periphylla has increased to exceptionally high abundances and has replaced fish as the main planktivorous predator despite the ineffectiveness of its non-visual predation compared to visual fish predation. Using data from a bottom-mounted acoustic platform, we collected 12341 in situ measurements of individual vertical movements of large individuals of P. periphylla. These jellyfish are characterized by a stepwise vertical movement. The distribution of their vertical swimming distances was extremely left skewed; about 85% of the swimming distances were less than 3 m, and a few displacements were extremely long with a maximum of 85 m. Chi-square tests of goodness of fit to the tail and Akaike’s information criterion gave overwhelming evidence of the truncated power law. There was a clear diel pattern in the exponent with values significantly larger than 3 during the daytime and significantly lower than 3 at night. This pattern means that P. periphylla switches from relatively limited movements during the day to Lévy-like flights during the night. Since the abundance of zooplankton is large in the P. periphylla fjord, Brownian motion, rather than Lévy flight, is predicted by the optimal foraging hypothesis. It is therefore possible that the Lévy-like search pattern has evolved in the food-scarce oceanic environment, which is the main natural habitat of P. periphylla. Alternatively, the large individuals of the population addressed here may forage on scarcer prey sources than the main prevailing zooplankton in Lurefjorden.

  7. Lévy night flights by the jellyfish Periphylla periphylla

    KAUST Repository

    Ugland, KI

    2014-10-22

    Jellyfish blooms occur in marine environments around the world and have been linked to over-fishing, eutrophication and climatic change. In some coastal areas of Norway, the circumglobal Periphylla periphylla has increased to exceptionally high abundances and has replaced fish as the main planktivorous predator despite the ineffectiveness of its non-visual predation compared to visual fish predation. Using data from a bottom-mounted acoustic platform, we collected 12341 in situ measurements of individual vertical movements of large individuals of P. periphylla. These jellyfish are characterized by a stepwise vertical movement. The distribution of their vertical swimming distances was extremely left skewed; about 85% of the swimming distances were less than 3 m, and a few displacements were extremely long with a maximum of 85 m. Chi-square tests of goodness of fit to the tail and Akaike’s information criterion gave overwhelming evidence of the truncated power law. There was a clear diel pattern in the exponent with values significantly larger than 3 during the daytime and significantly lower than 3 at night. This pattern means that P. periphylla switches from relatively limited movements during the day to Lévy-like flights during the night. Since the abundance of zooplankton is large in the P. periphylla fjord, Brownian motion, rather than Lévy flight, is predicted by the optimal foraging hypothesis. It is therefore possible that the Lévy-like search pattern has evolved in the food-scarce oceanic environment, which is the main natural habitat of P. periphylla. Alternatively, the large individuals of the population addressed here may forage on scarcer prey sources than the main prevailing zooplankton in Lurefjorden.

  8. Moons a very short introduction

    CERN Document Server

    Rothery, David A

    2015-01-01

    Moons: A Very Short Introduction introduces the reader to the varied and fascinating moons of our Solar System. Beginning with the early discoveries of Galileo and others, it describes their variety of mostly mythological names, and the early use of Jupiter’s moons to establish position at sea and to estimate the speed of light. It discusses the structure, formation, and profound influence of our Moon, those of the other planets, and ends with the recent discovery of moons orbiting asteroids, whilst looking forward to the possibility of discovering microbial life beyond Earth and of finding moons of exoplanets in planetary systems far beyond our own.

  9. Jellyfish: Observational Properties of Extreme Ram-Pressure Stripping Events in Massive Galaxy Clusters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conor, McPartland; Ebeling, Harald; Roediger, Elke

    2015-08-01

    We investigate the physical origin and observational signatures of extreme ram-pressure stripping (RPS) in 63 massive galaxy clusters at z=0.3-0.7, based on data in the F606W passband obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. Using a training set of a dozen ``jellyfish" galaxies identified earlier in the same imaging data, we define quantitative morphological criteria to select candidate galaxies which are similar to known cases of RPS. Considering a sample of 16 ``jellyfish" galaxies (10 of which we present for the first time), we visually derive estimates of the projected direction of motion based on dynamical features such as apparent compression shocks and debris trails. Our findings suggest that the observed events occur primarily at large distances from the cluster core and involve infall trajectories featuring high impact parameters. Simple models of cluster growth show that such trajectories are consistent with two scenarios: 1) galaxy infall along filaments; and 2) infall at high velocities (≥1000 km/s) characteristic of cluster mergers. The observed distribution of events is best described by timescales of ˜few Myr in agreement with recent numerical simulations of RPS. The broader areal coverage of the Hubble Frontier Fields should provide an even larger sample of RPS events to determine the relative contributions of infall and cluster mergers. Prompted by the discovery of several jellyfish galaxies whose brightness in the F606W passband rivals or exceeds that of the respective brightest cluster galaxy, we attempt to constrain the luminosity function of galaxies undergoing RPS. The observed significant excess at the bright end compared to the luminosity functions of blue cluster members strongly suggests enhanced star formation, thus challenging theoretical and numerical studies according to which RPS merely displaces existing star-forming regions. In-depth studies of individual objects will help test our

  10. Plutonian Moon confirmed

    Science.gov (United States)

    In late February, two separate observations confirmed the 1978 discovery by U.S. Naval Observatory scientist James W. Christy of a moon orbiting the planet Pluto. According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, these two observations were needed before the International Astronomical Society (IAS) would officially recognize the discovery.Two types of observations of the moon, which was named Charon after the ferryman in Greek mythology who carried the dead to Pluto's realm, were needed for confirmation: a transit, in which the moon passes in front of Pluto, and an occultation, in which the moon passes behind the planet. These two phenomena occur only during an 8-year period every 124 years that had been calculated to take place during 1984-1985. Both events were observed in late February.

  11. The Wibbly-Wobbly Moon: Rotational Dynamics of the Moon After Large Impacts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keane, J. T.; Johnson, B. C.; Matsuyama, I.; Siegler, M.

    2017-12-01

    The spins of planets are not constant with time; they continuously evolve in response to both external and internal forces. One of the most dramatic ways a planet's spin can change is via impacts. Impacts change the planet's angular momentum, energy, and moments of inertia. These changes can have important consequences for the geology of the planet. For the well-studied case of the Moon, these repercussions include everything from changing the orientation of the magnetic field, controlling the geometry of fault networks, and altering the stability of volatiles (e.g. water ice) in permanently shadowed regions. While previous studies have investigated the dynamical effects of impacts on the Moon, most use simplistic models for the impact basin formation process—often only considering the impulsive change in the Moon's angular momentum, and occasionally the change in the Moon's moments of inertia from a simplified basin geometry (e.g. a cylindrical hole surrounded by a cylindrical ejecta blanket). These simplifications obscure some of the subtler and more complicated dynamics that occur in the aftermath of an impact. In this work, we present new model results for the rotational dynamics of the Moon after large, basin-forming impacts. We couple iSALE hydrocode simulations with the analytical and numerical formalisms of rotational dynamics. These simulations allow us to quantitatively track how different impact processes alter the Moon's moments of inertia, including basin formation, mantle uplift, impact heating, and ejecta-blanket emplacement. This unique combination of techniques enables us to more accurately track the spin of the Moon in the aftermath of these impacts, including periods of non-synchronous and non-principal-axis rotation, libration, and long-term reorientation (true polar wander). We find that the perturbation of the Moon's moments of inertia immediately after impact is several times larger than what is expected based on the present-day gravity

  12. Moon-bevægelsen

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, René Dybdal

    2014-01-01

    Moon-bevægelsen er det populære navn for religionen "Family Federation for World peace and Unification", som også tidligere kaldte sig "Unification Church". Moon-bevægelsen ser sig selv som den sande kristne kirke. Til forskel fra mange andre kristne kirker mener Moon-bevægelsen, at Gud ønskede...

  13. Moon over Mauna Loa - a review of hypotheses of formation of earth's moon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wood, J.A.

    1986-01-01

    The present paper examines five models of lunar formation after considering the following constraints: (1) the large mass of the moon and the substantial prograde angular momentum of the earth-moon system; (2) the moon's depletion in volatile elements and iron, (3) the correspondence of oxygen isotope signatures in earth and moon, and (4) the lunar magma ocean. The models considered are: (1) capture from an independent heliocentric orbit, (2) coaccretion from a swarm of planetesimals in geocentric orbit, (3) fission from a rapidly rotating earth, (4) collisional ejection, and (5) disintegrative capture. 99 references

  14. The moon as a symbol of death in "The Romance of the Moon, Moon"

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William Leonardo Perdomo Vanegas

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available The following article is an approach to semiotic analysis of the artistic text, specifically the poem. It takes up the thesis that consider poetic language as an integral element of semiotics, not linguistics. From a semiotic perspective, the text discusses the symbol of death in the Ballad of the Moon, Moon by Federico García Lorca, the analysis establishes a relationship between natural language and poetic language, reflecting part of Gypsy culture.

  15. Art on the Moon?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lee, Rosemary; Minch, Manuel

    2018-01-01

    Manuel Minch launched Internet Moon Gallery in 2016 with the intention of exploring new modes of creating and engaging with digital art. This article is the result of a collaborative conversation between Manuel Minch and Rosemary Lee, which has evolved from their work together on the exhibition...... “Memory Palace”, launched on Internet Moon Gallery on the full moon, May 2017....

  16. Moon nature and culture

    CERN Document Server

    Williams, Edgar

    2014-01-01

    Long before a rocket hit the Man in the Moon in the eye in Georges Méliès's early film Le Voyage dans la Lune, the earth's lone satellite had entranced humans. We have worshipped it as a deity, believed it to cause madness, used it as a means of organizing time, and we now know that it manipulates the tides-our understanding of the moon continues to evolve. Following the moon from its origins to its rich cultural resonance in literature, art, religion, and politics, Moon provides a comprehensive account of the significance of our lunar companion. Edgar Williams explores the interdependence of

  17. Recovery of Coastal Fauna after the 2011 Tsunami in Japan as Determined by Bimonthly Underwater Visual Censuses Conducted over Five Years.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reiji Masuda

    Full Text Available Massive tsunamis induce catastrophic disturbance in marine ecosystems, yet they can provide unique opportunities to observe the process of regeneration. Here, we report the recovery of fauna after the 2011 tsunami in northeast Japan based on underwater visual censuses performed every two months over five years. Both total fish abundance and species richness increased from the first to the second year after the tsunami followed by stabilization in the following years. Short-lived fish, such as the banded goby Pterogobius elapoides, were relatively abundant in the first two years, whereas long-lived species, such as the black rockfish Sebastes cheni, increased in the latter half of the survey period. Tropical fish species were recorded only in the second and third years after the tsunami. The body size of long-lived fish increased during the survey period resulting in a gradual increase of total fish biomass. The recovery of fish assemblages was slow at one site located in the inner bay, where the impact of the tsunami was the strongest. Apart from fish, blooms of the moon jellyfish Aurelia sp. occurred only in the first two years after the tsunami, whereas the abundances of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus and abalone Haliotis discus hannai increased after the second year. Although we lack quantitative data prior to the tsunami, we conclude that it takes approximately three years for coastal reef fish assemblages to recover from a heavy disturbance such as a tsunami and that the recovery is dependent on species-specific life span and habitat.

  18. The Tethered Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zahnle, Kevin; Lupu, Roxana Elena; Dubrovolskis, A. R.

    2014-01-01

    A reasonable initial condition on Earth after the Moonforming impact is that it begins as a hot global magma ocean1,2. We therefore begin our study with the mantle as a liquid ocean with a surface temperature on the order of 3000- 4000 K at a time some 100-1000 years after the impact, by which point we can hope that early transients have settled down. A 2nd initial condition is a substantial atmosphere, 100-1000 bars of H2O and CO2, supplemented by smaller amounts of CO, H2, N2, various sulfur-containing gases, and a suite of geochemical volatiles evaporated from the magma. Third, we start the Moon with its current mass at the relevant Roche limit. The 4th initial condition is the angular momentum of the Earth-Moon system. Canonical models hold this constant, whilst some recent models begin with considerably more angular momentum than is present today. Here we present a ruthlessly simplified model of Earth's cooling magmasphere based on a full-featured atmosphere and including tidal heating by the newborn Moon. Thermal blanketing by H2O-CO2 atmospheres slows cooling of a magma ocean. Geochemical volatiles - chiefly S, Na, and Cl - raise the opacity of the magma ocean's atmosphere and slow cooling still more. We assume a uniform mantle with a single internal (potential) temperature and a global viscosity. The important "freezing point" is the sharp rheological transition between a fluid carrying suspended crystals and a solid matrix through which fluids percolate. Most tidal heating takes place at this "freezing point" in a gel that is both pliable and viscous. Parameterized convection links the cooling rate to the temperature and heat generation inside the Earth. Tidal heating is a major effect. Tidal dissipation in the magma ocean is described by viscosity. The Moon is entwined with Earth by the negative feedback between thermal blanketing and tidal heating that comes from the temperature-dependent viscosity of the magma ocean. Because of this feedback, the rate

  19. Prospective study of Chironex fleckeri and other box jellyfish stings in the "Top End" of Australia's Northern Territory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Currie, Bart J; Jacups, Susan P

    To describe the epidemiology and clinical features of box jellyfish envenoming in the Top End of the Northern Territory and, in particular, confirmed stings from the major Australian box jellyfish, Chironex fleckeri. Prospective collection of clinical data and skin scrapings or sticky-tape tests for nematocyst identification from patients presenting to Royal Darwin Hospital and remote coastal community health clinics in the Northern Territory, spanning 10 950 km of coastline; analysis of tidal, weather and seasonal data. All patients with jellyfish sting details recorded between 1 April 1991 and 30 May 2004. Demographic and clinical features, use of C. fleckeri antivenom, and associations between weather, seasonal and tidal factors and confirmed C. fleckeri stings. Of 606 jellyfish stings documented, 225 were confirmed to have been caused by C. fleckeri. 37% of C. fleckeri stings were in children, 92% occurred during the "stinger season" (1 October to 1 June), 83% occurred in water 1 m or less deep, and 17% occurred while victims were entering the water. Stings were least common on outgoing tides (P < 0.001) and commonest between 15:00 and 18:00 (P < 0.001) and on days with wind speed less than that month's average (P < 0.001). Nearly all victims experienced immediate pain, but this could often be controlled with ice; only 30% required parenteral narcotics and 8% required hospital admission. Cardiorespiratory arrest occurred within several minutes of the sting in the one fatal case, involving a 3-year-old girl with only 1.2 m of visible tentacle contact. C. fleckeri antivenom was given to another 21 patients, none of whom had life-threatening features at the time they were given antivenom. Most C. fleckeri stings are not life-threatening; patients who die usually have cardiopulmonary arrest within minutes of the sting. The potential benefit of antivenom and magnesium under these circumstances remains to be shown, but a protocol with their rapid use is recommended

  20. Swim pacemakers in box jellyfish are modulated by the visual input

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Garm, Anders Lydik; Bielecki, Jan

    2008-01-01

    A major part of the cubozoan central nervous system is situated in the eye-bearing rhopalia. One of the neuronal output channels from the rhopalia carries a swim pacemaker signal, which has a one-to-one relation with the swim contractions of the bell shaped body. Given the advanced visual system...... of box jellyfish and that the pacemaker signal originates in the vicinity of these eyes, it seems logical to assume that the pacemakers are modified by the visual input. Here, the firing frequency and distribution of inter-signal intervals (ISIs) of single pacemakers are examined in the Caribbean box...

  1. Adding bevacizumab to single agent chemotherapy for the treatment of platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer: A cost effectiveness analysis of the AURELIA trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wysham, Weiya Z; Schaffer, Elisabeth M; Coles, Theresa; Roque, Dario R; Wheeler, Stephanie B; Kim, Kenneth H

    2017-05-01

    AURELIA, a randomized phase III trial of adding bevacizumab (B) to single agent chemotherapy (CT) for the treatment of platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer, demonstrated improved progression free survival (PFS) in the B+CT arm compared to CT alone. We aimed to evaluate the cost effectiveness of adding B to CT in the treatment of platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer. A decision tree model was constructed to evaluate the cost effectiveness of adding bevacizumab (B) to single agent chemotherapy (CT) based on the arms of the AURELIA trial. Costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and progression free survival (PFS) were modeled over fifteen months. Model inputs were extracted from published literature and public sources. Incremental cost effectiveness ratios (ICERs) per QALY gained and ICERs per progression free life year saved (PF-LYS) were calculated. One-way sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate the robustness of results. The ICER associated with B+CT is $410,455 per QALY gained and $217,080 per PF-LYS. At a willingness to pay (WTP) threshold of $50,000/QALY, adding B to single agent CT is not cost effective for this patient population. Even at a WTP threshold of $100,000/QALY, B+CT is not cost effective. These findings are robust to sensitivity analyses. Despite gains in QALY and PFS, the addition of B to single agent CT for treatment of platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer is not cost effective. Benefits, risks, and costs associated with treatment should be taken into consideration when prescribing chemotherapy for this patient population. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. FOOLISH MOON

    OpenAIRE

    Wang, Jingjing

    2017-01-01

    Foolish Moon is a product design for Chinese young adults who come to big Chinese cities to fight for their dreams to help them to slow down, to think more, to be practical and patient under the influence of fast culture which makes people eager to quick success. It has two physical parts, a moon phase clock anda work journal book, and three functions: 1) a new time experience of slow, stable and circular; 2) to encourage people to write down their goals and plans; 3) to make time capsules to...

  3. Floating nurseries? Scyphozoan jellyfish, their food and their rich symbiotic fauna in a tropical estuary

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José M. Riascos

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Background The anthropogenic modification of trophic pathways is seemingly prompting the increase of jellyfish populations at the expense of planktivorous fishes. However, gross generalizations are often made because the most basic aspects of trophic ecology and the diverse interactions of jellyfish with fishes remain poorly described. Here we inquire on the dynamics of food consumption of the medusoid stage of the scyphozoan jellyfish Stomolophus meleagris and characterize the traits and diversity of its symbiotic community. Methods S. meleagris and their associated fauna were sampled in surface waters between November 2015 and April 2017 in Málaga Bay, an estuarine system at the Colombian Pacific. Stomach contents of medusae were examined and changes in prey composition and abundance over time analysed using a multivariate approach. The associated fauna was identified and the relationship between the size of medusae and the size those organisms tested using least-square fitting procedures. Results The presence of S. meleagris medusa in surface waters was seasonal. The gut contents analysis revealed that algae, copepods and fish early life stages were the more abundant items, and PERMANOVA analysis showed that the diet differed within the seasons (P(perm = 0.001 but not between seasons (P(perm = 0.134. The majority of the collected medusae (50.4% were associated with individuals of 11 symbiotic species, 95.3% of them fishes, 3.1% crustaceans and 1.6% molluscs. Therefore, this study reports 10 previously unknown associations. The bell diameter of S. meleagris was positively related to the body sizes of their symbionts. However, a stronger fit was observed when the size relationship between S. meleagris and the fish Hemicaranx zelotes was modelled. Discussion The occurrence of S. meleagris was highly seasonal, and the observed patterns of mean body size through the seasons suggested the arrival of adult medusae to the estuary from adjacent

  4. Floating nurseries? Scyphozoan jellyfish, their food and their rich symbiotic fauna in a tropical estuary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguirre, Willington; Hopfe, Charlotte; Morales, Diego; Navarrete, Ángela; Tavera, José

    2018-01-01

    Background The anthropogenic modification of trophic pathways is seemingly prompting the increase of jellyfish populations at the expense of planktivorous fishes. However, gross generalizations are often made because the most basic aspects of trophic ecology and the diverse interactions of jellyfish with fishes remain poorly described. Here we inquire on the dynamics of food consumption of the medusoid stage of the scyphozoan jellyfish Stomolophus meleagris and characterize the traits and diversity of its symbiotic community. Methods S. meleagris and their associated fauna were sampled in surface waters between November 2015 and April 2017 in Málaga Bay, an estuarine system at the Colombian Pacific. Stomach contents of medusae were examined and changes in prey composition and abundance over time analysed using a multivariate approach. The associated fauna was identified and the relationship between the size of medusae and the size those organisms tested using least-square fitting procedures. Results The presence of S. meleagris medusa in surface waters was seasonal. The gut contents analysis revealed that algae, copepods and fish early life stages were the more abundant items, and PERMANOVA analysis showed that the diet differed within the seasons (P(perm) = 0.001) but not between seasons (P(perm) = 0.134). The majority of the collected medusae (50.4%) were associated with individuals of 11 symbiotic species, 95.3% of them fishes, 3.1% crustaceans and 1.6% molluscs. Therefore, this study reports 10 previously unknown associations. The bell diameter of S. meleagris was positively related to the body sizes of their symbionts. However, a stronger fit was observed when the size relationship between S. meleagris and the fish Hemicaranx zelotes was modelled. Discussion The occurrence of S. meleagris was highly seasonal, and the observed patterns of mean body size through the seasons suggested the arrival of adult medusae to the estuary from adjacent waters. The diet

  5. Floating nurseries? Scyphozoan jellyfish, their food and their rich symbiotic fauna in a tropical estuary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riascos, José M; Aguirre, Willington; Hopfe, Charlotte; Morales, Diego; Navarrete, Ángela; Tavera, José

    2018-01-01

    The anthropogenic modification of trophic pathways is seemingly prompting the increase of jellyfish populations at the expense of planktivorous fishes. However, gross generalizations are often made because the most basic aspects of trophic ecology and the diverse interactions of jellyfish with fishes remain poorly described. Here we inquire on the dynamics of food consumption of the medusoid stage of the scyphozoan jellyfish Stomolophus meleagris and characterize the traits and diversity of its symbiotic community. S. meleagris and their associated fauna were sampled in surface waters between November 2015 and April 2017 in Málaga Bay, an estuarine system at the Colombian Pacific. Stomach contents of medusae were examined and changes in prey composition and abundance over time analysed using a multivariate approach. The associated fauna was identified and the relationship between the size of medusae and the size those organisms tested using least-square fitting procedures. The presence of S. meleagris medusa in surface waters was seasonal. The gut contents analysis revealed that algae, copepods and fish early life stages were the more abundant items, and PERMANOVA analysis showed that the diet differed within the seasons ( P (perm)  = 0.001) but not between seasons ( P (perm)  = 0.134). The majority of the collected medusae (50.4%) were associated with individuals of 11 symbiotic species, 95.3% of them fishes, 3.1% crustaceans and 1.6% molluscs. Therefore, this study reports 10 previously unknown associations. The bell diameter of S. meleagris was positively related to the body sizes of their symbionts. However, a stronger fit was observed when the size relationship between S. meleagris and the fish Hemicaranx zelotes was modelled. The occurrence of S. meleagris was highly seasonal, and the observed patterns of mean body size through the seasons suggested the arrival of adult medusae to the estuary from adjacent waters. The diet of S. meleagris in the study

  6. Experience the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortiz-Gil, A.; Benacchio, L.; Boccato, C.

    2011-10-01

    The Moon is, together with the Sun, the very first astronomical object that we experience in our life. As this is an exclusively visual experience, people with visual impairments need a different mode to experience it too. This statement is especially true when events, such as more and more frequent public observations of sky, take place. This is the reason why we are preparing a special package for visual impaired people containing three brand new items: 1. a tactile 3D Moon sphere in Braille with its paper key in Braille. To produce it we used imaging data obtained by NASA's mission Clementine, along with free image processing and 3D rendering software. In order to build the 3D small scale model funding by Europlanet and the Italian Ministry for Research have been used. 2. a multilingual web site for visually impaired users of all ages, on basic astronomy together with an indepth box about the Moon; 3. a book in Braille with the same content of the Web site mentioned above. All the items will be developed with the collaboration of visually impaired people that will check each step of the project and support their comments and criticism to improve it. We are going to test this package during the next International Observe the Moon Night event. After a first testing phase we'll collect all the feedback data in order to give an effective form to the package. Finally the Moon package could be delivered to all those who will demand it for outreach or educational goals.

  7. Hot moons and cool stars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heller René

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available The exquisite photometric precision of the Kepler space telescope now puts the detection of extrasolar moons at the horizon. Here, we firstly review observational and analytical techniques that have recently been proposed to find exomoons. Secondly, we discuss the prospects of characterizing potentially habitable extrasolar satellites. With moons being much more numerous than planets in the solar system and with most exoplanets found in the stellar habitable zone being gas giants, habitable moons could be as abundant as habitable planets. However, satellites orbiting planets in the habitable zones of cool stars will encounter strong tidal heating and likely appear as hot moons.

  8. Screening of extraction methods for glycoproteins from jellyfish ( Rhopilema esculentum) oral-arms by high performance liquid chromatography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Guoyan; Li, Bafang; Zhao, Xue; Zhuang, Yongliang; Yan, Mingyan; Hou, Hu; Zhang, Xiukun; Chen, Li

    2009-03-01

    In order to select an optimum extraction method for the target glycoprotein (TGP) from jellyfish ( Rhopilema esculentum) oral-arms, a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-assay for the determination of the TGP was developed. Purified target glycoprotein was taken as a standard glycoprotein. The results showed that the calibration curves for peak area plotted against concentration for TGP were linear ( r = 0.9984, y = 4.5895 x+47.601) over concentrations ranging from 50 to 400 mgL-1. The mean extraction recovery was 97.84% (CV2.60%). The fractions containing TGP were isolated from jellyfish ( R. esculentum) oral-arms by four extraction methods: 1) water extraction (WE), 2) phosphate buffer solution (PBS) extraction (PE), 3) ultrasound-assisted water extraction (UA-WE), 4) ultrasound-assisted PBS extraction (UA-PE). The lyophilized extract was dissolved in Milli-Q water and analyzed directly on a short TSK-GEL G4000PWXL (7.8 mm×300 mm) column. Our results indicated that the UA-PE method was the optimum extraction method selected by HPLC.

  9. Apollo 11 Moon Landing

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    The crowning achievement for the Saturn V rocket came when it launched Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin, and Michael Collins, to the Moon in July 1969. In this photograph, astronaut Aldrin takes his first step onto the surface of the Moon.

  10. A child's view of the moon

    OpenAIRE

    Grilc, Tina

    2014-01-01

    This diploma paper is divided into two parts, the theoretical and the practical one. The first part describes the history of travelling and landing on the Moon, general information on the Moon (its evolution, composition, surface, visibility, and moon phases), and the astronomical instruments. The development of a child's way of thinking is also briefly presented. The second, more practical part, is introduced by a questionnaire consisting of 10 general questions about the Moon. The aim ...

  11. "A Nightmare Land, a Place of Death": An Exploration of the Moon as a Motif in Herge's "Destination Moon" (1953) and "Explorers on the Moon" (1954)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beauvais, Clementine

    2010-01-01

    This article analyses the symbolic meaning of the Moon in two "bande dessinee" books from the Tintin series, Herge's "Destination Moon" ("Objectif Lune," 1953) and its sequel "Explorers on the Moon" ("On a Marche sur la Lune," 1954). It argues that these two volumes stand out in the series for their graphic, narrative and philosophical emphasis on…

  12. The Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren, P. H.

    2003-12-01

    Oxygen isotopic data suggest that there is a genetic relationship between the constituent matter of the Moon and Earth (Wiechert et al., 2001). Yet lunar materials are obviously different from those of the Earth. The Moon has no hydrosphere, virtually no atmosphere, and compared to the Earth, lunar materials uniformly show strong depletions of even mildly volatile constituents such as potassium, in addition to N2, O2, and H2O (e.g., Wolf and Anders, 1980). Oxygen fugacity is uniformly very low ( BVSP, 1981) and even the earliest lunar magmas seem to have been virtually anhydrous. These features have direct and far-reaching implications for mineralogical and geochemical processes. Basically, they imply that mineralogical diversity and thus variety of geochemical processes are subdued; a factor that to some extent offsets the comparative dearth of available data for lunar geochemistry.The Moon's gross physical characteristics play an important role in the more limited range of selenochemical compared to terrestrial geochemical processes. Although exceptionally large (radius=1,738 km) in relation to its parent planet, the Moon is only 0.012 times as massive as Earth. By terrestrial standards, pressures inside the Moon are feeble: the upper mantle gradient is 0.005 GPa km -1 (versus 0.033 GPa km -1 in Earth) and the central pressure is slightly less than 5 GPa. However, lunar interior pressures are sufficient to profoundly influence igneous processes (e.g., Warren and Wasson, 1979b; Longhi, 1992, 2002), and in this sense the Moon more resembles a planet than an asteroid.Another direct consequence of the Moon's comparatively small size was early, rapid decay of its internal heat engine. But the Moon's thermal disadvantage has resulted in one great advantage for planetology. Lunar surface terrains, and many of the rock samples acquired from them, retain for the most part characteristics acquired during the first few hundred million years of solar system existence. The

  13. Clearance rates of jellyfish and their potential predation impact on zooplankton and fish larvae in a neritic ecosystem (Limfjorden, Denmark)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansson, L. J.; Moeslund, O.; Kiørboe, Thomas

    2005-01-01

    clearance potential were given assumed clearance rate values, but the collective predation potential by these species was evaluated to be small. Hydromedusae dominated numerically and had their highest potential clearance impact in spring, but overall jellyfish clearance potential on copepods was low during...

  14. Applied radiotracer techniques for studying pollutant bioaccumulation in selected marine organisms (jellyfish, crabs and sea stars)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fowler, S.W.; Teyssie, J.-L.; Cotret, O.; Danis, B.; Warnau, M.; Rouleau, C.

    2004-01-01

    Obtaining specific information on contaminant biokinetics in marine biota is often necessary for properly interpreting monitoring data on trace contaminant levels in bioindicator species living under varying environmental conditions. Radiotracers have been employed in laboratory experiments to assess the uptake, distribution and retention of selected heavy metals and PCB congeners in three potential marine bioindicators occupying different ecological niches in the coastal zone. Pelagic and benthic jellyfish readily accumulated Co, Ag, Zn, Cd, 137 Cs and 241 Am from both water and food and retained them with biological half-lives (Tb1/2) ranging from a few days to several weeks. Zinc and silver were accumulated to the greatest degree (CF ∼ 4 · 10 2 ), with benthic jellyfish having a greater affinity for metals than the pelagic species. Results from light-dark experiments indicate that the enhanced metal uptake in the benthic jellyfish is due to the presence of endosymbiotic photosynthetic zooxanthellae situated in the arms of organisms. Shore crabs ingesting Ag, a sewage-related contaminant, readily accumulated the metal with male crabs assimilating some 71% and female crabs 51% of the Ag from their food. Moreover, the assimilated fraction of Ag remained virtually immobile in their tissues as evidenced by an extremely long Tb1/2 for depuration of 7.3 years. Sea stars exposed to 14 C-labelled PCB congener no. 153 in sea water accumulated the congener mainly in the body wall and podia reaching lipid weight CFs that ranged between approximately 2 · 10 5 to 4 · 10 5 . In contrast, following exposure in radiolabelled sediments, the corresponding PCB transfer factors in the same tissues were much lower, viz., 3 · 10 2 to 5 · 10 2 . Nevertheless, regardless of the exposure mode, CFs of PCB in the other tissues (digestive system, gonads, pyloric and rectal caeca) were consistently one to two orders of magnitude lower, an observation which suggests that sea star body

  15. From fish to jellyfish in the eutrophicated Limfjorden (Denmark)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Riisgård, Hans Ulrik; Andersen, Per; Hoffmann, Erik

    2012-01-01

    the historical development of nutrient overloading and subsequent oxygen depletion in near-bottom water, and how the annual landings of edible bottom-dwelling fish species (plaice, flounder, eel and others) caught in Limfjorden have decreased from about 2,500 t in the early 1920s to only about 20 t in recent...... ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, which was observed in Limfjorden for the first time in 2007, is a second carnivore adding additional predation pressure of the indigenous A. aurita so that copepods and other mesozooplankton organisms may be virtually absent, as observed in 2008 and 2009 where ciliates made up...... a substantial part of the zooplankton biomass. Marine environmental management programmes should be aware of the increasing importance of both indigenous and new invasive jellyfish species that may show mass occurrence in especially eutrophicated and overfished areas...

  16. Moons Around Saturn

    Science.gov (United States)

    1996-01-01

    This series of 10 Hubble Space Telescope images captures several small moons orbiting Saturn. Hubble snapped the five pairs of images while the Earth was just above the ring plane and the Sun below it. The telescope captured a pair of images every 97 minutes as it circled the Earth. Moving out from Saturn, the visible rings are: the broad C Ring, the Cassini Division, and the narrow F Ring.The first pair of images shows the large, bright moon Dione, near the middle of the frames. Two smaller moons, Pandora (the brighter one closer to Saturn) and Prometheus, appear as if they're touching the F Ring. In the second frame, Mimas emerges from Saturn's shadow and appears to be chasing Prometheus.In the second image pair, Mimas has moved towards the tip of the F Ring. Rhea, another bright moon, has just emerged from behind Saturn. Prometheus, the closest moon to Saturn, has rounded the F Ring's tip and is approaching the planet. The slightly larger moon Epimetheus has appeared.The third image pair shows Epimetheus, as a tiny dot just beyond the tip of the F Ring. Prometheus is in the lower right corner. An elongated clump or arc of debris in the F ring is seen as a slight brightening on the far side of this thin ring.In the fourth image pair, Epimetheus, in the lower right corner, streaks towards Saturn. The long ring arc can be seen in both frames.The fifth image pair again captures Mimas, beyond the tip of the F Ring. The same ring arc is still visible.In addition to the satellites, a pair of stars can be seen passing behind the rings, appearing to move towards the lower left due to Saturn's motion across the sky.The images were taken Nov. 21, 1995 with Wide Field Planetary Camera-2.The Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2 was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and managed by the Goddard Spaced Flight Center for NASA's Office of Space Science.This image and other images and data received from the Hubble Space Telescope are posted on the World Wide Web on the Space

  17. Dream recall and the full moon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schredl, Michael; Fulda, Stephany; Reinhard, Iris

    2006-02-01

    There is ongoing debate on whether the full moon is associated with sleep and dreaming. The analysis of diaries kept by the participants (N = 196) over 28 to 111 nights showed no association of a full moon and dream recall. Psychological factors might explain why some persons associate a full moon with increased dream recall.

  18. New Moon water, exploration, and future habitation

    CERN Document Server

    Crotts, Arlin

    2014-01-01

    Explore Earth's closest neighbor, the Moon, in this fascinating and timely book and discover what we should expect from this seemingly familiar but strange, new frontier. What startling discoveries are being uncovered on the Moon? What will these tell us about our place in the Universe? How can exploring the Moon benefit development on Earth? Discover the role of the Moon in Earth's past and present; read about the lunar environment and how it could be made more habitable for humans; consider whether continued exploration of the Moon is justified; and view rare Apollo-era photos and film still

  19. Nonbehavioral Selection for Pawns, Mutants of PARAMECIUM AURELIA with Decreased Excitability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schein, Stanley J.

    1976-01-01

    The reversal response in Paramecium aurelia is mediated by calcium which carries the inward current during excitation. Electrophysiological studies indicate that strontium and barium can also carry the inward current. Exposure to high concentrations of barium rapidly paralyzes and later kills wild-type paramecia. Following mutagenesis with nitrosoguanidine, seven mutants which continued to swim in the `high-barium' solution were selected. All of the mutants show decreased reversal behavior, with phenotypes ranging from extremely non-reversing (`extreme' pawns) to nearly wild-type reversal behavior (`partial' pawns). The mutations fall into three complementation groups, identical to the pwA, pwB, and pwC genes of Kung et al. (1975). All of the pwA and pwB mutants withstand longer exposure to barium, the pwB mutants surviving longer than the pwA mutants. Among mutants of each gene, survival is correlated with loss of reversal behavior. Double mutants (A–B, A–C, B–C), identified in the exautogamous progeny of crosses between `partial' mutants, exhibited a more extreme non-reversing phenotype than either of their single-mutant (`partial' pawn) parents.———Inability to reverse could be expected from an alteration in the calcium-activated reversal mechanism or in excitation. A normal calcium-activated structure was demonstrated in all pawns by chlorpromazine treatment. In a separate report (Schein, Bennett and Katz 1976) the results of electrophysiological investigations directly demonstrate decreased excitability in all of the mutants, a decrease due to an altered calcium activation. The studies of the genetics, the survival in barium and the electro-physiology of the pawns demonstrate that the pwA and pwB genes have different effects on calcium activation. PMID:1001878

  20. Non-rocket Earth-Moon transportation system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolonkin, A.

    Author suggests and researches one of his methods of flights to outer Space, described in book "Non Rocket Flights in Space", which is prepared and offered for publication. In given report the method and facilities named "Bolonkin Transport System" (BTS) for delivering of payload and people to Moon and back is presented. BTS can be used also for free trip to outer Space up at altitude 60,000 km and more. BTS can be applying as a trust system for atmospheric supersonic aircrafts, and as a free energy source. This method uses, in general, the rotary and kinetic energy of the Moon. The manuscript contains the theory and results of computation of special Project. This project uses three cables (main and two for driving of loads) from artificial material: fiber, whiskers, nanotubes, with the specific tensile strength (ratio the tensile stress to density) k=/=4*10^7 or more. The nanotubes with same and better parameters are received in scientific laboratories. Theoretical limit of nanotubes SWNT is about k=100*10^7. The upper end of the cable is connected to the Moon. The lower end of the cable is connected to an aircraft (or buoy), which flies (i.e. glides or slides) in Earth atmosphere along the planet's surface. The aircraft (and Moon) has devices, which allows the length of cables to be changed. The device would consists of a spool, motor, brake, transmission, and controller. The facility could have devices for delivering people and payloads t o the Moon and back using the suggested Transport System. The delivery devices include: containers, cables, motors, brakes, and controllers. If the aircraft is small and the cable is strong the motion of the Moon can be used to move the airplane. For example (see enclosed project), if the airplane weighs 15 tons and has an aerodynamic ratio (the lift force to the drag force) equal 5, a thrust of 3000 kg would be enough for the aircraft to fly for infinity without requiring any fuel. The aircraft could use a small turbine engine

  1. The formation of the moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Keefe, J. A., III

    1974-01-01

    Supporting evidence for the fission hypothesis for the origin of the moon is offered. The maximum allowable amount of free iron now present in the moon would not suffice to extract the siderophiles from the lunar silicates with the observed efficiency. Hence extraction must have been done with a larger amount of iron, as in the mantle of the earth, of which the moon was once a part, according to the fission hypothesis. The fission hypothesis gives a good resolution of the tektite paradox. Tektites are chemically much like products of the mantle of the earth; but no physically possible way has been found to explain their production from the earth itself. Perhaps they are a product of late, deep-seated lunar volcanism. If so, the moon must have inside it some material with a strong resemblance to the earth's mantle.

  2. Moon Effect on Paciic Basin Stock Markets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rayenda Khresna Brahman

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available This is an empirical study on the inluences of moon on seven stock markets, which are Indonesia, Malaysia, United Kingdom, United States, Philippines, Japan, and Thailand. The period is from January 1999 until December 2009 in daily basis. This study investigates the relationship  between  moon  phase  and  market  returns.  We  divided  moon  phases  into  new moon  and  full  moon.  While  literature  mention  the  relationship  between  moon  phase  and market returns, our research reject the null hypothesis in regression analysis. However, the descriptive  catches  the  indication  and  conirmed  previous  research.  It  also  proposes  that the market is still rational and not moon-mood inluenced. This result is not contending the EMH theorem. Further research is needed in term of investigating the relationship between psychology  factors  (heuristic  bias,  information  ignorance,  and  other  factors  and  investor behavior. The effect of moon on certain anomalies has to examine speciically. ";} // -->activate javascript

  3. Moon. Prospective energy and material resources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Badescu, Viorel (ed.) [Polytechnic Univ. of Bucharest (Romania). Candida Oancea Inst.

    2012-07-01

    The Earth has limited material and energy resources. Further development of the humanity will require going beyond our planet for mining and use of extraterrestrial mineral resources and search of power sources. The exploitation of the natural resources of the Moon is a first natural step on this direction. Lunar materials may contribute to the betterment of conditions of people on Earth but they also may be used to establish permanent settlements on the Moon. This will allow developing new technologies, systems and flight operation techniques to continue space exploration. In fact, a new branch of human civilization could be established permanently on Moon in the next century. But, meantime, an inventory and proper social assessment of Moon's prospective energy and material resources is required. This book investigates the possibilities and limitations of various systems supplying manned bases on Moon with energy and other vital resources. The book collects together recent proposals and innovative options and solutions. It is a useful source of condensed information for specialists involved in current and impending Moon-related activities and a good starting point for young researchers. (orig.)

  4. The origin of the moon and the early history of the earth - A chemical model. Part 1: The moon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Neill, H. St.C.

    1991-01-01

    The chemical implications of a giant impact model for the origin of the moon are examined, both for the moon and for the earth. The Impactor is taken to be an approximately Mars-sized body. It is argued that the likeliest bulk chemical composition of the moon is quite similar to that of the earth's mantle, and that this composition may be explained in detail if about 80% of the moon came from the primitive earth's mantle after segregation of the earth's core. The other 20% of the moon is modelled as coming from (a) the Impactor, which is constrained to be an oxidized, probably undifferentiated body of roughly CI chondritic composition (on a volatile free basis) and (b) a late stage veneer, with a composition and oxidation state similar to that of the H-group ordinary chondrites. This latter component is the source of all the volatile elements in the moon, which failed to condense from the earth-and Impactor-derived materials; this component constitutes about 4% of the moon. It is argued that Mo may behave as a volatile element under the relatively oxidising conditions necessary for the condensation of the proto-moon. The model accounts satisfactorily for most of the siderophile elements, including Fe, Ni, Co, W, P, and Cu. The relatively well-constrained lunar abundances of V, Cr, and Mn are also accounted for; their depletion in the moon is inherited from the earth's mantle

  5. Inefficient volatile loss from the Moon-forming disk: Reconciling the giant impact hypothesis and a wet Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakajima, Miki; Stevenson, David J.

    2018-04-01

    The Earth's Moon is thought to have formed from a circumterrestrial disk generated by a giant impact between the proto-Earth and an impactor approximately 4.5 billion years ago. Since this impact was energetic, the disk would have been hot (4000-6000 K) and partially vaporized (20-100% by mass). This formation process is thought to be responsible for the geochemical observation that the Moon is depleted in volatiles (e.g., K and Na). To explain this volatile depletion, some studies suggest the Moon-forming disk was rich in hydrogen, which was dissociated from water, and it escaped from the disk as a hydrodynamic wind accompanying heavier volatiles (hydrodynamic escape). This model predicts that the Moon should be significantly depleted in water, but this appears to contradict some of the recently measured lunar water abundances and D/H ratios that suggest that the Moon is more water-rich than previously thought. Alternatively, the Moon could have retained its water if the upper parts (low pressure regions) of the disk were dominated by heavier species because hydrogen would have had to diffuse out from the heavy-element rich disk, and therefore the escape rate would have been limited by this slow diffusion process (diffusion-limited escape). To identify which escape the disk would have experienced and to quantify volatiles loss from the disk, we compute the thermal structure of the Moon-forming disk considering various bulk water abundances (100-1000 ppm) and mid-plane disk temperatures (2500-4000 K). Assuming that the disk consists of silicate (SiO2 or Mg2SiO4) and water and that the disk is in the chemical equilibrium, our calculations show that the upper parts of the Moon-forming disk are dominated by heavy atoms or molecules (SiO and O at Tmid > 2500- 2800 K and H2O at Tmid lost water and hydrogen would have been small compared to the initial abundance assumed. This result indicates that the giant impact hypothesis can be consistent with the water-rich Moon

  6. Student Moon Observations and Spatial-Scientific Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Merryn; Wilhelm, Jennifer; Yang, Hongwei

    2015-07-01

    Relationships between sixth grade students' moon journaling and students' spatial-scientific reasoning after implementation of an Earth/Space unit were examined. Teachers used the project-based Realistic Explorations in Astronomical Learning curriculum. We used a regression model to analyze the relationship between the students' Lunar Phases Concept Inventory (LPCI) post-test score variables and several predictors, including moon journal score, number of moon journal entries, student gender, teacher experience, and pre-test score. The model shows that students who performed better on moon journals, both in terms of overall score and number of entries, tended to score higher on the LPCI. For every 1 point increase in the overall moon journal score, participants scored 0.18 points (out of 20) or nearly 1% point higher on the LPCI post-test when holding constant the effects of the other two predictors. Similarly, students who increased their scores by 1 point in the overall moon journal score scored approximately 1% higher in the Periodic Patterns (PP) and Geometric Spatial Visualization (GSV) domains of the LPCI. Also, student gender and teacher experience were shown to be significant predictors of post-GSV scores on the LPCI in addition to the pre-test scores, overall moon journal score, and number of entries that were also significant predictors on the LPCI overall score and the PP domain. This study is unique in the purposeful link created between student moon observations and spatial skills. The use of moon journals distinguishes this study further by fostering scientific observation along with skills from across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.

  7. Man-induced hydrological changes, metazooplankton communities and invasive species in the Berre Lagoon (Mediterranean Sea, France)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Delpy, Floriane; Pagano, Marc; Blanchot, Jean; Carlotti, François; Thibault-Botha, Delphine

    2012-01-01

    The Berre Lagoon has been under strong anthropogenic pressure since the early 1950s. The opening of the hydroelectric EDF power plant in 1966 led to large salinity drops. The zooplankton community was mainly composed of two common brackish species: Acartia tonsa and Brachionus plicatilis. Since 2006, European litigation has strongly constrained the input of freshwater, maintaining the salinity above 15. A study was performed between 2008 and 2010 to evaluate how these modifications have impacted the zooplankton community. Our results show that the community is more diverse and contains several coastal marine species (i.e., Centropages typicus, Paracalanus parvus and Acartia clausi). A. tonsa is still present but is less abundant, whereas B. plicatilis has completely disappeared. Strong predatory marine species, such as chaetognaths, the large conspicuous autochtonous jellyfish Aurelia aurita and the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, are now very common as either seasonal or permanent features of the lagoon.

  8. Yes, there was a moon race

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oberg, James E.

    1990-01-01

    Examination of newly disclosed evidence confirms that the Soviets were indeed striving to reach the moon before the U.S. in 1969. It is noted that a Soviet unmanned lunar probe crashed on the moon's surface only hours before the U.S. Apollo landing. Now confirmed openly are moon-exploration schedules that were competitive with Apollo plans, the names and histories of Soviet lunar boosters and landers, identities of the lunar cosmonauts; and even photos of manned lunar craft are available. Additional details on the troubled moon-probe program are presented: technical problems, continuous changes in goals, schedules, and planning, vehicle and personnel disasters, transfer of authority between ministries, and political power struggles in the scientific community.

  9. UVIT view of ram-pressure stripping in action: Star formation in the stripped gas of the GASP jellyfish galaxy JO201 in Abell 85

    Science.gov (United States)

    George, K.; Poggianti, B. M.; Gullieuszik, M.; Fasano, G.; Bellhouse, C.; Postma, J.; Moretti, A.; Jaffé, Y.; Vulcani, B.; Bettoni, D.; Fritz, J.; Côté, P.; Ghosh, S. K.; Hutchings, J. B.; Mohan, R.; Sreekumar, P.; Stalin, C. S.; Subramaniam, A.; Tandon, S. N.

    2018-06-01

    Jellyfish are cluster galaxies that experience strong ram-pressure effects that strip their gas. Their Hα images reveal ionized gas tails up to 100 kpc, which could be hosting ongoing star formation. Here we report the ultraviolet (UV) imaging observation of the jellyfish galaxy JO201 obtained at a spatial resolution ˜ 1.3 kpc. The intense burst of star formation happening in the tentacles is the focus of the present study. JO201 is the "UV-brightest cluster galaxy" in Abell 85 (z ˜ 0.056) with knots and streams of star formation in the ultraviolet. We identify star forming knots both in the stripped gas and in the galaxy disk and compare the UV features with the ones traced by Hα emission. Overall, the two emissions remarkably correlate, both in the main body and along the tentacles. Similarly, also the star formation rates of individual knots derived from the extinction-corrected FUV emission agree with those derived from the Hα emission and range from ˜ 0.01 -to- 2.07 M⊙ yr-1. The integrated star formation rate from FUV flux is ˜ 15 M⊙ yr-1. The unprecedented deep UV imaging study of the jellyfish galaxy JO201 shows clear signs of extraplanar star-formation activity due to a recent/ongoing gas stripping event.

  10. North Sea Scyphomedusae; summer distribution, estimated biomass and significance particularly for 0-group Gadoid fish

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hay, S. J.; Hislop, J. R. G.; Shanks, A. M.

    Data on the by-catch of Scyphomedusae from pelagic trawls was collected during the routine ICES International 0-group Gadoid Surveys of the North Sea, in June and July of the years 1971-1986 (except 1984). These data are used to describe the distributions, abundances and biomasses of three common North Sea Scyphomedusae: Aurelia aurita (L.), Cyanea capillata (L.) and C. lamarckii (Péron & Lesuer). Information is also presented on inter-annual variability, size (umbrella diameter) frequencies and, for the Cyanea species, umbrella diameter: wet weight relationships. The general role and ecological significance of Scyphomedusae is discussed and, given the well known 'shelter' relationships between Scyphomedusae and certain 0-group fish, whiting ( Merlangius merlangus) and haddock ( Melanogrammus aeglefinus), in particular. The data were examined for evidence of such relationships. Aurelia aurita, although fairly widespread in the northern North Sea was virtually absent from the central North Sea but very abundant in coastal waters. This species was particularly abundant off the Scottish east coast and especially in the Moray Firth. Cyanea lamerckii was most abundant in the southern and eastern North Sea. More widespread than Aurelia, this species was also most abundant in coastal regions, particularly off the Danish west coast. Cyanea capillata, with a more northern distribution was also more widely distributed and abundant offshore. This species was most abundant in the area between the Orkney/Shetland Isles and the Norwegian Deep and in shelf waters of the north west approaches to the North Sea. As with C. lamarckii it was also, in some years, abundant off the Scottish east coast and west of Denmark. The abundance and the size frequency of the jellyfish show considerable inter-annual variability, and variability between regions of the North Sea. It is considered that hydrographic variability and differences in food supply to both medusae and to their sessile

  11. Influences of temperature and salinity on asexual reproduction and development of scyphozoan jellyfish from the British Isles

    OpenAIRE

    Widmer, Chad L.

    2015-01-01

    Jellyfish (Phylum Cnidaria, Class Scyphozoa) play important roles in pelagic ecosystems as predators and prey. Seasonally they form blooms facilitating reproductive success, but that are at times problematic for human enterprise. Medusa abundance has been correlated with environmental variables in several instances. However, the direct mechanisms for changes in medusa abundance are unclear. As global sea surface temperatures continue to change there is increasing concern that warming may enha...

  12. Effective Methods of Teaching Moon Phases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Heather; Hintz, E. G.; Lawler, M. J.; Jones, M.; Mangrubang, F. R.; Neeley, J. E.

    2010-01-01

    This research investigates the effectiveness of several commonly used methods for teaching the causes of moon phases to sixth grade students. Common teaching methods being investigated are the use of diagrams, animations, modeling/kinesthetics and direct observations of moon phases using a planetarium. Data for each method will be measured by a pre and post assessment of students understanding of moon phases taught using one of the methods. The data will then be used to evaluate the effectiveness of each teaching method individually and comparatively, as well as the method's ability to discourage common misconceptions about moon phases. Results from this research will provide foundational data for the development of educational planetarium shows for the deaf or other linguistically disadvantage children.

  13. The earth and the moon

    CERN Document Server

    Elkins-Tanton, Linda T

    2010-01-01

    The moon is the only body in the solar system outside of the Earth that has been visited by humans. More than 440 pounds of lunar material are brought by NASA and Soviet space missions to Earth for study. The information gleaned about the moon from this relatively small pile of rocks is mind-boggling and stands as the greatest proof that Martian planetary science would be greatly enhanced by returning samples to Earth. Compositional studies of lunar rocks show that the moon and the Earth are made of similar material, and because lunar material has not been reworked through erosion and plate te

  14. NIMPH - Nano Icy Moons Propellant Harvester

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The latest Decadal Survey lists multiple sample return missions to the Moon, Mars and Jovian moons as high priority goals. In particular, a mission to Jupiter's...

  15. Dynamics of the Sun-Earth-Moon System

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The dynamics of the Sun-Earth-Moon system is discussed with special attention to the effects of. Sun's perturbations on the Moon's orbit around the Earth. Important secular effects are the re- gression of the nodes, the advance of the perigee and the increase in the Moon's mean longitude. We discuss the relationship of the ...

  16. Towards A Moon Village: Vision and Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foing, Bernard

    2016-04-01

    The new DG of ESA, Jan Wörner, has expressed from the very beginning of his duty a clear ambition towards a Moon Village, where Europe could have a lead role. The concept of Moon Village is basically to start with a robotic lunar village and then develop a permanent station on the Moon with different countries and partners that can participate and contribute with different elements, experiments, technologies, and overall support. ESA's DG has communicated about this programme and invited inputs from all the potential stakeholders, especially member states, engineers, industry, scientists, innovators and diverse representatives from the society. In order to fulfill this task, a series of Moon Village workshops have been organized first internally at ESA and then at international community events, and are also planned for the coming months, to gather stakeholders to present their ideas, their developments and their recommendations on how to put Moon Village into the minds of Europeans, international partners and prepare relevant actions for upcoming International Lunar Decade. Moon Village Workshop: The Moon Village Workshop in ESTEC on the 14th December was organized by ILEWG & ESTEC Staff Association in conjunction with the Moon 2020-2030 Symposium. It gathered people coming from all around the world, with many young professionals involved, as well as senior experts and representatives, with a very well gender balanced and multidisciplinary group. Engineers, business experts, managers, scientists, architects, artists, students presented their views and work done in the field of Lunar Exploration. Participants included colleagues from ESA, SGAC Space Generation Advisory Council, NASA, and industries such as OHB SE, TAS, Airbus DS, CGI, etc… and researchers or students from various Universities in Europe, America, and Asia. Working groups include: Moon Habitat Design, Science and Technology potentials on the Moon Village, and Engaging Stakeholders. The Moon

  17. Phospholipase A2 activity of the Persian Gulf upside-down jellyfish venom (Cassiopea andromeda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gholamhossean Mohebbi

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: The venomous jellyfish Cassiopea andromeda can produce envenomation and different toxicological and biological effects by their nematocysts. The phospholipase A2 enzymes (PLA2 are toxic and induce various pharmacological effects including neurotoxicity, myotoxicity and anticoagulant activities. The main aim of the current project was to screen the in vitro PLA2 activity of the C. andromeda crude venom. To better understand the experimental result; a molecular docking study was also performed. Materials and methods: The live specimens were collected from Nayband lagoon, by a trawl net, and separation of their tentacles was done according to Bloom 's et al., method. The PLA2 activity of crude venom was performed according to the acidimetric method of Tan and Tan. The lyophilized venom was subjected to Gas Chromatography/ Mass Spectroscopy, and the obtained structures were used for docking study against PLA2. The indoxam was considered as standard control. Results: The PLA2 activity of the jellyfish crude venom was 413 ±0.08 µmol/min/mg. Analysis of the crude venom detected seven compounds (i-vii using GC-MS. Docking data was also confirmed the experimental results. According to the docking results, the highest affinity (-6.7 (kcal/mol was observed in the compound “Pregn-5-ene-3,11-dione, 17,20:20,21 bis [methylenebis(oxy]-, cyclic 3-(1,2-ethane diyl acetal”. Conclusions: A high PLA2 level was found in the venom of C. andromeda. There was a good correlation between in vitro and in silico studies.

  18. Lunar Plants Prototype for Moon Express

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The goal of our project is to bring the first full life cycle to the moon: to demonstrate germination of plants in lunar gravity and radiation.The Moon Express...

  19. Learning from real and tissue-engineered jellyfish: How to design and build a muscle-powered pump at intermediate Reynolds numbers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nawroth, Janna; Lee, Hyungsuk; Feinberg, Adam; Ripplinger, Crystal; McCain, Megan; Grosberg, Anna; Dabiri, John; Parker, Kit

    2012-11-01

    Tissue-engineered devices promise to advance medical implants, aquatic robots and experimental platforms for tissue-fluid interactions. The design, fabrication and systematic improvement of tissue constructs, however, is challenging because of the complex interactions of living cell, synthetic materials and their fluid environments. In a proof of concept study we have tissue-engineered a construct that mimics the swimming of a juvenile jellyfish, a simple model system for muscle-powered pumps at intermediate Reynolds numbers with quantifiable fluid dynamics and morphological properties. Optimally designed constructs achieved jellyfish-like swimming and generated biomimetic propulsion and feeding currents. Focusing on the fluid interactions, we discuss failed and successful designs and the lessons learned in the process. The main challenges were (1) to derive a body shape and deformation suitable for effective fluid transport under physiological fluid conditions, (2) to understand the mechanical properties of muscle and bell matrix and device a design capable of the desired deformation, (3) to establish adequate 3D kinematics of power and recovery stroke, and (4) to evaluate the performance of the design.

  20. Structure and optics of the eyes of the box jellyfish Chiropsella bronzie

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    O’Connor, Megan; Garm, Anders Lydik; Nilsson, Dan-E.

    2009-01-01

    Cubomedusae have a total of 24 eyes of four morphologically different types. Two of these eye types are camera-type eyes (upper and lower lens-eye), while the other two eye types are simpler pigment pit eyes (pit and slit eye). Here, we give a description of the visual system of the box jellyfish...... those in the previously investigated species Tripedalia cystophora. In the lower lens-eye of C. bronzie, blur circles subtend 20 and 52° for closed and open pupil, respectively, effectively removing all but the coarsest structures of the image. Histology reveals that the retina of the lower lens...

  1. Unique structure and optics of the lesser eyes of the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Garm, A; Andersson, F; Nilsson, Dan-E

    2008-01-01

    mere light meters. The slit eyes, comprising four cell types, are complex and highly asymmetric. They also hold a lens-like structure, but its optical power is minute. Optical modeling suggests spatial resolution, but only in one plane. These unique and intriguing traits support strong peripheral......The visual system of box jellyfish comprises a total of 24 eyes. These are of four types and each probably has a special function. To investigate this hypothesis the morphology and optics of the lesser eyes, the pit and slit eyes, were examined. The pit eyes hold one cell type only and are probably...

  2. Protecting the Moon for research: ILEWG report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foing, Bernard H.

    We give a report on recommendations with emphasis on environment protection, and since last COSPAR from ILEWG International conferences Exploration and Utilisation of the Moon on held at Cape Canaveral in 2008 (ICEUM10), and in Beijing in May 2010 with IAF (GLUC -ICEUM11). We discuss the different rationale for Moon exploration, as debated at ILEWG. ILEWG Science task group has listed priorities for scientific investigations: clues on the formation and evolution of rocky planets, accretion and bombardment in the inner solar system, comparative planetology processes (tectonic, volcanic, impact cratering, volatile delivery), records astrobiology, survival of organics; past, present and future life; sciences from a biology lunar laboratory. We discuss how to preserve Moon research potential in these areas while operating with instruments, landers, rover during a cooperative robotic village, and during the transition form lunar human outpost to permanent sustainable human base. We discuss how Moon-Mars Exploration can inspire solutions to global Earth sustained development with the trade-off of In-Situ Utilisation of resources; Establishment of permanent robotic infrastructures, Environmental and planetary protection aspects and lessons for Mars; Life sciences laboratories, and support to human exploration. Co-authors: ILEWG Task Groups on Science, Technology and Human Lunar Bases ILEWG Reference documents: http://sci.esa.int/ilewg -10th ILEWG Conference on Exploration and Utilisation of the Moon, NASA Lunar Ex-ploration Analysis Group-PSace Resources Roundtable, Cape Canaveral October 2008, pro-gramme online at http://sci.esa.int/ilewg/ -9th ILEWG Conference on Exploration and Utilisation of the Moon, ICEUM9 Sorrento 2007, programme online at http://sci.esa.int/ilewg/ -8th ILEWG Conference on Exploration and Utilisation of the Moon, Beijing July 2006, programme online at http://sci.esa.int/ilewg/ -The Moon and Near Earth Objects (P. Ehrenfreund , B.H. Foing, A

  3. Did Triton Destroy Neptune's First Moons?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2017-11-01

    Neptunes moon system is not what we would expect for a gas giant in our solar system. Scientists have now explored the possibility that Neptune started its life with an ordinary system of moons that was later destroyed by the capture of its current giant moon, Triton.An Odd SystemOur current understanding of giant-planet formation predicts a period of gas accretion to build up the large size of these planets. According to models, the circumplanetary gas disks that surround the planets during this time then become the birthplaces of the giant planets satellite systems, producing systems of co-planar and prograde (i.e., orbiting in the same direction as the planets rotation) satellites similar to the many-moon systems of Jupiter or Saturn.Tritons orbit is tilted relative to the inner Neptunian satellite orbits. [NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)]Neptune, however, is quirky. This gas giant has surprisingly few satellites only 14 compared to, say, the nearly 70 moons of Jupiter and most of them are extremely small. One of Neptunes moons is an exception to this, however: Triton, which contains 99.7% of the mass of Neptunes entire satellite system!Tritons orbit has a number of unusual properties. The orbit is retrograde Triton orbits in the opposite direction as Neptunes rotation which is unique behavior among large moons in our solar system. Tritons orbit is also highly inclined, and yet the moons path is nearly circular and lies very close to Neptune.The distribution of impact velocities in the authors simulations for primordial satellite interactions with Triton, in three cases of different satellite mass ratios. In the low-mass case a third of the mass ratio of the Uranian satellite system 88% of simulations ended with Triton surviving on its high-inclination orbit. The survival rate was only 12% in the high-mass case. [Adapted from Rufu et al. 2017]How did this monster of a satellite get its strange properties, and why is Neptunes system so odd compared to what we

  4. More Saturnian Moons

    Science.gov (United States)

    2000-10-01

    Saturn takes the lead Following the discovery of at least four additional moons of that planet, Saturn has again taken the lead as the planet with the greatest number of known natural satellites. A corresponding announcement was made today by an international team of astronomers [1] at a meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Pasadena (California, USA). The four new faint bodies were spotted during observations in August-September 2000 at several astronomical telescopes around the world. Subsequent orbital calculations have indicated that these objects are almost certainly new satellites of the giant planet. Two Saturnian moons found at La Silla ESO PR Photo 29a/00 ESO PR Photo 29a/00 [Preview - JPEG: 263 x 400 pix - 26k] [Normal - JPEG: 525 x 800 pix - 93k] ESO PR Photo 29b/00 ESO PR Photo 29b/00 [Preview - JPG: 289 x 400 pix - 43k] [Normal - JPG: 578 x 800 pix - 432k] ESO PR Photo 29c/00 ESO PR Photo 29c/00 [Animated GIF: 330 x 400 pix - 208k] Captions : The photos show the discovery images of two new Saturnian moons, as registered on August 7, 2000, with the Wide-Field Imager (WFI) camera at the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at the La Silla Observatory. Photo PR 29a/00 displays the faint image of the newly discovered moon S/2000 S 1 in the lower right corner of the field. A spiral galaxy is seen in the upper left corner of this photo. The other objects are (background) stars in the Milky Way. Photo PR 29b/00 is a combination of three successive WFI exposures of the second moon, S/2000 S 2 . Because of its motion, there are three images (to the left). Photo PR 29c/00 is an animated GIF image of the same three exposures that demonstrates this motion. Technical details are found below. The observations of the first two objects are described on a Circular of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) that was issued today [2]. The images of these new moons were first registered on exposures made on August 7, 2000

  5. β adrenergic receptor/cAMP/PKA signaling contributes to the intracellular Ca2+ release by tentacle extract from the jellyfish Cyanea capillata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qianqian; Zhang, Hui; Wang, Bo; Wang, Chao; Xiao, Liang; Zhang, Liming

    2017-07-25

    Intracellular Ca 2+ overload induced by extracellular Ca 2+ entry has previously been confirmed to be an important mechanism for the cardiotoxicity as well as the acute heart dysfunction induced by jellyfish venom, while the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. Under extracellular Ca 2+ -free or Ca 2+ -containing conditions, the Ca 2+ fluorescence in isolated adult mouse cardiomyocytes pre-incubated with tentacle extract (TE) from the jellyfish Cyanea capillata and β blockers was scanned by laser scanning confocal microscope. Then, the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) concentration and protein kinase A (PKA) activity in primary neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes were determined by ELISA assay. Furthermore, the effect of propranolol against the cardiotoxicity of TE was evaluated in Langendorff-perfused rat hearts and intact rats. The increase of intracellular Ca 2+ fluorescence signal by TE was significantly attenuated and delayed when the extracellular Ca 2+ was removed. The β adrenergic blockers, including propranolol, atenolol and esmolol, partially inhibited the increase of intracellular Ca 2+ in the presence of 1.8 mM extracellular Ca 2+ and completely abolished the Ca 2+ increase under an extracellular Ca 2+ -free condition. Both cAMP concentration and PKA activity were stimulated by TE, and were inhibited by the β adrenergic blockers. Cardiomyocyte toxicity of TE was antagonized by β adrenergic blockers and the PKA inhibitor H89. Finally, the acute heart dysfuction by TE was antagonized by propranolol in Langendorff-perfused rat hearts and intact rats. Our findings indicate that β adrenergic receptor/cAMP/PKA signaling contributes to the intracellular Ca 2+ overload through intracellular Ca 2+ release by TE from the jellyfish C. capillata.

  6. The Acute Toxicity and Hematological Characterization of the Effects of Tentacle-Only Extract from the Jellyfish Cyanea capillata

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liming Zhang

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available To investigate the hematologic changes and the activities of jellyfish venoms other than hemolytic and cardiovascular toxicities, the acute toxicity of tentacle-only extract (TOE from the jellyfish Cyanea capillata was observed in mice, and hematological indexes were examined in rats. The median lethal dose (LD50 of TOE was 4.25 mg/kg, and the acute toxicity involved both heart- and nervous system-related symptoms. Arterial blood gas indexes, including pH, PCO2, HCO3−, HCO3std, TCO2, BEecf and BE (B, decreased significantly. PO2 showed a slight increase, while SO2c (% had no change at any time. Na+ and Ca2+ decreased, but K+ increased. Biochemical indexes, including LDH, CK, CK-MB, ALT, AST and sCr, significantly increased. Other biochemical indexes, including BUN and hemodiastase, remained normal. Lactic acid significantly increased, while glucose, Hct% and THbc showed slight temporary increases and then returned to normal. These results on the acute toxicity and hematological changes should improve our understanding of the in vivo pathophysiological effects of TOE from C. capillata and indicate that it may also have neurotoxicity, liver toxicity and muscular toxicity in addition to hemolytic and cardiovascular toxicities, but no kidney or pancreatic toxicity.

  7. The Moon's near side megabasin and far side bulge

    CERN Document Server

    Byrne, Charles

    2013-01-01

    Since Luna and Lunar Orbiter photographed the far side of the Moon, the mysterious dichotomy between the face of the Moon as we see it from Earth and the side of the Moon that is hidden has puzzled lunar scientists. As we learned more from the Apollo sample return missions and later robotic satellites, the puzzle literally deepened, showing asymmetry of the crust and mantle, all the way to the core of the Moon. This book summarizes the author’s successful search for an ancient impact feature, the Near Side Megabasin of the Moon and the extensions to impact theory needed to find it. The implications of this ancient event are developed to answer many of the questions about the history of the Moon.

  8. A soft X-ray image of the Moon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schmitt, J.H.M.M.; Aschenbach, B.; Hasinger, G.; Pfeffermann, E.; Predehl, P.; Truemper, J.; Snowden, S.L.; Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI

    1991-01-01

    A soft X-ray image of the Moon obtained by the Roentgen Observatory Satellite ROSAT clearly shows a sunlit crescent, demonstrating that the Moon's X-ray luminosity arises from backscattering of solar X-rays. The Moon's optically dark side is also X-ray dark, and casts a distinct shadow on the diffuse cosmic X-ray background. Unexpectedly, the dark side seems to emit X-rays at a level about one per cent that of the bright side; this emission very probably results from energetic solar-wind electrons striking the Moon's surface. (author)

  9. Tracking Apollo to the Moon

    CERN Document Server

    Lindsay, Hamish

    2001-01-01

    This is perhaps the most complete, detailed and readable story of manned space-flight ever published Beginning with the historical origins of the dream of walking on the Moon, Tracking Apollo to the Moon is the complete story of manned spaceflight, from the earliest Mercury and Gemini flights through to the end of the Apollo era In readable, fascinating detail, Hamish Lindsay - who was directly involved in all three programs - chronicles mankind's greatest adventure with a great narrative, interviews, quotes and masses of photographs, including some previously unpublished As well as bringing the history of these missions to life Tracking Apollo to the Moon serves as a detailed reference for space enthusiasts and students Having seen the manuscript, the Smithsonian requested two copies of the finished book, and Buzz Aldrin asked for five!

  10. Moon Prospective Energy and Material Resources

    CERN Document Server

    2012-01-01

    The Earth has limited material and energy resources. Further development of the humanity will require going beyond our planet for mining and use of extraterrestrial mineral resources and search of power sources. The exploitation of the natural resources of the Moon is a first natural step on this direction. Lunar materials may contribute to the betterment of conditions of people on Earth but they also may be used to establish permanent settlements on the Moon. This will allow developing new technologies, systems and flight operation techniques to continue space exploration.   In fact, a new branch of human civilization could be established permanently on Moon in the next century. But, meantime, an inventory and proper social assessment of Moon’s prospective energy and material resources is required. This book investigates the possibilities and limitations of various systems supplying manned bases on Moon with energy and other vital resources. The book collects together recent proposals and innovative optio...

  11. Survival of extrasolar giant planet moons in planet-planet scattering

    Science.gov (United States)

    CIAN HONG, YU; Lunine, Jonathan; Nicholson, Phillip; Raymond, Sean

    2015-12-01

    Planet-planet scattering is the best candidate mechanism for explaining the eccentricity distribution of exoplanets. Here we study the survival and dynamics of exomoons under strong perturbations during giant planet scattering. During close encounters, planets and moons exchange orbital angular momentum and energy. The most common outcomes are the destruction of moons by ejection from the system, collision with the planets and the star, and scattering of moons onto perturbed but still planet-bound orbits. A small percentage of interesting moons can remain bound to ejected (free-floating) planets or be captured by a different planet. Moons' survival rate is correlated with planet observables such as mass, semi-major axis, eccentricity and inclination, as well as the close encounter distance and the number of close encounters. In addition, moons' survival rate and dynamical outcomes are predetermined by the moons' initial semi-major axes. The survival rate drops quickly as moons' distances increase, but simulations predict a good chance of survival for the Galilean moons. Moons with different dynamical outcomes occupy different regions of orbital parameter space, which may enable the study of moons' past evolution. Potential effects of planet obliquity evolution caused by close encounters on the satellites’ stability and dynamics will be reported, as well as detailed and systematic studies of individual close encounter events.

  12. Jellyfish: the origin and distribution of extreme ram-pressure stripping events in massive galaxy clusters

    Science.gov (United States)

    McPartland, Conor; Ebeling, Harald; Roediger, Elke; Blumenthal, Kelly

    2016-01-01

    We investigate the observational signatures and physical origin of ram-pressure stripping (RPS) in 63 massive galaxy clusters at z = 0.3-0.7, based on images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. Using a training set of a dozen `jellyfish' galaxies identified earlier in the same imaging data, we define morphological criteria to select 211 additional, less obvious cases of RPS. Spectroscopic follow-up observations of 124 candidates so far confirmed 53 as cluster members. For the brightest and most favourably aligned systems, we visually derive estimates of the projected direction of motion based on the orientation of apparent compression shocks and debris trails. Our findings suggest that the onset of these events occurs primarily at large distances from the cluster core (>400 kpc), and that the trajectories of the affected galaxies feature high-impact parameters. Simple models show that such trajectories are highly improbable for galaxy infall along filaments but common for infall at high velocities, even after observational biases are accounted for, provided the duration of the resulting RPS events is ≲500 Myr. We thus tentatively conclude that extreme RPS events are preferentially triggered by cluster mergers, an interpretation that is supported by the disturbed dynamical state of many of the host clusters. This hypothesis implies that extreme RPS might occur also near the cores of merging poor clusters or even merging groups of galaxies. Finally, we present nine additional `jellyfish" galaxies at z > 0.3 discovered by us, thereby doubling the number of such systems known at intermediate redshift.

  13. Radio astronomy on the moon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burns, J.O.; Asbell, J.

    1987-01-01

    The advantages and opportunities for radio astronomy on the moon during the early to mid 21st century are reviewed. In particular, it is argued that the lack of atmosphere, the extremely low seismic activity, the low RF background, and the natural cryogenic environment make the moon (particularly the far side and the poles) a nearly ideal locale for submillimeter/FIR to VLF (below 10 MHz) radio astronomy. 22 references

  14. A New Moon for the Twenty-First Century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, G. J.

    2000-08-01

    Thirty years of lunar sample studies supplemented by spotty remote sensing and geophysical data gave us the broad outline of the nature and geologic history of the Moon. Many cherished beliefs are now being questioned on the basis of global data returned by two bargain-basement missions sent to the Moon in the 1990s, Clementine and Lunar Prospector. These data are being integrated with new and old lunar sample data, to give us new, though still controversial, ideas about the nature of the Moon. Two articles in a special section of the Journal of Geophysical Research (Planets) illustrate the point. Brad Jolliff and his colleagues at Washington University in St. Louis, Jeff Gillis, Larry Haskin, Randy Korotev, and Mark Wieczorek (now at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) divide the Moon's crust into distinct geochemical provinces quite different from the traditional highlands (or terra) and maria. In a separate paper, Randy Korotev presents a detailed analysis of a common rock type among the samples returned by the Apollo missions. This rock type, nicknamed enigmatically "LKFM," was thought by many of us to represent the composition of the lower crust everywhere on the Moon. Korotev argues that it is confined to only one of Jolliff's provinces. If correct, this changes our estimates of the composition of the lunar crust, hence of the entire Moon. Although other lunar scientists will scrutinize these new views of the Moon, it is clear that some long-held ideas about the Moon might be modified significantly, if not tossed out completely.

  15. sanghoon moon

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Home; Journals; Journal of Genetics. SANGHOON MOON. Articles written in Journal of Genetics. Volume 96 Issue 6 December 2017 pp 1041-1046 Research article. Genome-based exome sequencing analysis identifies GYG1, DIS3L and DDRGK1 are associated with myocardial infarction in Koreans · JI-YOUNG LEE ...

  16. The Moon: Resources, Future Development and Colonization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schrunk, David; Sharpe, Burton; Cooper, Bonnie; Thangavelu, Madhu

    1999-07-01

    This unique, visionary and innovative book describes how the Moon could be colonised and developed as a platform for science, industrialization and exploration of our Solar System and beyond. Thirty years ago, the world waited with baited breath to watch history in the making, as man finally stepped onto the moon's surface. In the last few years, there has been growing interest in the idea of a return to the moon. This book describes the reasons why we should now start lunar development and settlement, and how this goal may be accomplished. The authors, all of whom are hugely experienced space scientists, consider the rationale and steps necessary for establishing permanent bases on the Moon. Their innovative and scientific-based analysis concludes that the Moon has sufficient resources for large-scale human development. Their case for development includes arguments for a solar-powered electric grid and railroad, creation of a utilities infrastructure, habitable facilities, scientific operations and the involvement of private enterprise with the public sector in the macroproject. By transferring and adapting existing technologies to the lunar environment, the authors argue that it will be possible to use lunar resources and solar power to build a global lunar infrastructure embracing power, communication, transportation, and manufacturing. This will support the migration of increasing numbers of people from Earth, and realization of the Moon's scientific potential. As an inhabited world, the Moon is an ideal site for scientific laboratories dedicated to geosciences, astronomy and life sciences, and most importantly, it would fulfil a role as a proving ground and launch pad for future Solar System exploration. The ten chapters in this book go beyond the theoretical and conceptual. With vision and foresight, the authors offer practical means for establishing permanent bases on the Moon. The book will make fascinating and stimulating reading for students in

  17. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV: Moon and Mercury

    Science.gov (United States)

    2004-01-01

    The session" Moon and Mercury" included the following reports:Helium Production of Prompt Neutrinos on the Moon; Vapor Deposition and Solar Wind Implantation on Lunar Soil-Grain Surfaces as Comparable Processes; A New Lunar Geologic Mapping Program; Physical Backgrounds to Measure Instantaneous Spin Components of Terrestrial Planets from Earth with Arcsecond Accuracy; Preliminary Findings of a Study of the Lunar Global Megaregolith; Maps Characterizing the Lunar Regolith Maturity; Probable Model of Anomalies in the Polar Regions of Mercury; Parameters of the Maximum of Positive Polarization of the Moon; Database Structure Development for Space Surveying Results by Moon -Zond Program; CM2-type Micrometeoritic Lunar Winds During the Late Heavy Bombardment; A Comparison of Textural and Chemical Features of Spinel Within Lunar Mare Basalts; The Reiner Gamma Formation as Characterized by Earth-based Photometry at Large Phase Angles; The Significance of the Geometries of Linear Graben for the Widths of Shallow Dike Intrusions on the Moon; Lunar Prospector Data, Surface Roughness and IR Thermal Emission of the Moon; The Influence of a Magma Ocean on the Lunar Global Stress Field Due to Tidal Interaction Between the Earth and Moon; Variations of the Mercurian Photometric Relief; A Model of Positive Polarization of Regolith; Ground Truth and Lunar Global Thorium Map Calibration: Are We There Yet?;and Space Weathering of Apollo 16 Sample 62255: Lunar Rocks as Witness Plates for Deciphering Regolith Formation Processes.

  18. ON THE DYNAMICS AND ORIGIN OF HAUMEA'S MOONS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ćuk, Matija; Ragozzine, Darin; Nesvorný, David

    2013-01-01

    The dwarf planet Haumea has two large satellites, Namaka and Hi'iaka, which orbit at relatively large separations. Both moons have significant eccentricities and inclinations in a pattern that is consistent with a past orbital resonance. Based on our analysis, we find that the present system is not consistent with satellite formation close to the primary and tidal evolution through mean-motion resonances. We propose that Namaka experienced only limited tidal evolution, leading to the mutual 8:3 mean-motion resonance which redistributed eccentricities and inclinations between the moons. This scenario requires that the original orbit of Hi'iaka was mildly eccentric; we propose that this eccentricity was either primordial or acquired through encounters with other trans-Neptunian objects. Both dynamical stability and our preferred tidal evolution model imply that the moons' masses are only about one-half of previously estimated values, suggesting high albedos and low densities. Because the present orbits of the moons strongly suggest formation from a flat disk close to their present locations, we conclude that Hi'iaka and Namaka may be second-generation moons, formed after the breakup of a larger past moon, previously proposed as the parent body of the Haumea family. We derive plausible parameters of that moon, consistent with the current models of Haumea's formation. An interesting implication of this hypothesis is that Hi'iaka and Namaka may orbit retrograde with respect to Haumea's spin. Retrograde orbits of Haumea's moons would be in full agreement with available observations and our dynamical analysis, and could provide a unique confirmation of the ''disrupted satellite'' scenario for the origin of the family

  19. MIGRATION OF SMALL MOONS IN SATURN's RINGS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bromley, Benjamin C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, 115 S 1400 E, Rm 201, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Kenyon, Scott J., E-mail: bromley@physics.utah.edu, E-mail: skenyon@cfa.harvard.edu [Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

    2013-02-20

    The motions of small moons through Saturn's rings provide excellent tests of radial migration models. In theory, torque exchange between these moons and ring particles leads to radial drift. We predict that moons with Hill radii r {sub H} {approx} 2-24 km should migrate through the A ring in 1000 yr. In this size range, moons orbiting in an empty gap or in a full ring eventually migrate at the same rate. Smaller moons or moonlets-such as the propellers-are trapped by diffusion of disk material into corotating orbits, creating inertial drag. Larger moons-such as Pan or Atlas-do not migrate because of their own inertia. Fast migration of 2-24 km moons should eliminate intermediate-size bodies from the A ring and may be responsible for the observed large-radius cutoff of r {sub H} {approx} 1-2 km in the size distribution of the A ring's propeller moonlets. Although the presence of Daphnis (r {sub H} Almost-Equal-To 5 km) inside the Keeler gap challenges this scenario, numerical simulations demonstrate that orbital resonances and stirring by distant, larger moons (e.g., Mimas) may be important factors. For Daphnis, stirring by distant moons seems the most promising mechanism to halt fast migration. Alternatively, Daphnis may be a recent addition to the ring that is settling into a low inclination orbit in {approx}10{sup 3} yr prior to a phase of rapid migration. We provide predictions of observational constraints required to discriminate among possible scenarios for Daphnis.

  20. GRAVITY ANOMALIES OF THE MOON

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. G. Pugacheva

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The source of gravity anomalies of the Moon are large mascons with a high mass concentration at a depth of volcanic plains and lunar Maria. New data on the gravitational field of the Moon were obtained from two Grail spacecrafts. The article presents the data of physical and mechanical properties of the surface soil layer of the lunar Maria and gives an assessment of the chemical composition of the soil. There have been calculated heterogeneity parameters of the surface macro-relief of the lunar Maria: albedo, soil density, average grain diameter of the particles forming the surface layer and the volume fraction occupied by particles. It can be assumed that mascons include rich KREEP rocks with a high content of thorium and iron oxide. Formation of mascons is connected with intensive development of basaltic volcanism on the Moon in the early periods of its existence.

  1. Temperature-dependent settlement of planula larvae of two scyphozoan jellyfish from the North Sea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gambill, Maria; McNaughton, Sadie L.; Kreus, Markus; Peck, Myron A.

    2018-02-01

    Exploring the settlement dynamics of the planula larvae is critical to understanding the establishment of polyp populations that can give rise to blooms of scyphozoan jellyfish. We conducted experiments to examine the effects of temperature on settlement of planulae of the scyphozoans Cyanea lamarckii and Chrysaora hysoscella, two jellyfish commonly encountered within the North Sea. When provided immediate access to substrate, larvae of C. lamarckii were able to settle at each of 12 temperatures between 9 and 27 °C. Most settlement occurred within the first five days and warmer temperatures were not only associated with decreased time to settlement but also increased settlement success. When not allowed access to substrate and maintained in the water column, planula larvae remained competent to settle for 21, 21 and 14 days at 11.3, 13.4 and 19.4 °C, respectively. Based on these maximum times of competency, hydrodynamic model simulations suggested that the planula larvae of C. lamarckii released in May could be transported up to 100 km before settlement. A substrate choice experiment indicated that larvae of C. hysoscella settled in similar numbers onto PET, wood and concrete. Settlement was highest at 20 °C and a 12/12 light/dark regime and lower at 10 °C and 15 °C in total darkness. The results of all three experiments suggest that projected warming of the North Sea will not impede the settlement of planula larvae of resident C. lamarckii and C. hysoscella populations. Species- and/or population-specific differences may exist in the ecophysiology of planula larvae and additional experiments are needed to understand the mechanisms promoting the establishment of new benthic populations of polyps. That information, combined with process knowledge on the productivity of benthic polyps, will be needed to better understand and predict climate-dependent changes in the production of scyphozoans and other gelatinous plankton.

  2. Space architecture for MoonVillage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherwood, Brent

    2017-10-01

    The concept of a multinational MoonVillage, as proposed by Jan Wörner of ESA, is analyzed with respect to diverse factors affecting its implementation feasibility: potential activities and scale as a function of location, technology, and purpose; potential participants and their roles; business models for growth and sustainability as compared to the ISS; and implications for the field of space architecture. Environmental and operations constraints that govern all types of MoonVillage are detailed. Findings include: 1) while technically feasible, a MoonVillage would be more distributed and complex a project than the ISS; 2) significant and distinctive opportunities exist for willing participants, at all evolutionary scales and degrees of commercialization; 3) the mixed-use space business park model is essential for growth and permanence; 4) growth depends on exporting lunar material products, and the rate and extent of growth depends on export customers including terrestrial industries; 5) industrial-scale operations are a precondition for lunar urbanism, which goal in turn dramatically drives technology requirements; but 6) industrial viability cannot be discerned until significant in situ operations occur; and therefore 7) government investment in lunar surface operations is a strictly enabling step. Because of the resources it could apply, the U.S. government holds the greatest leverage on growth, no matter who founds a MoonVillage. The interplanetary business to be built may because for engagement.

  3. The Moon's Moment in the Sun - Extending Public Engagement after the Total Solar Eclipse with International Observe the Moon Night

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bleacher, L.; Jones, A. P.; Wasser, M. L.; Petro, N. E.; Wright, E. T.; Ladd, D.; Keller, J. W.

    2017-12-01

    2017 presented an amazing opportunity to engage the public in learning about lunar and space science, the motions of the Earth-Moon-Sun system, and NASA's fleet of space missions, beginning with the 2017 total solar eclipse on 21 August and continuing with International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) on 28 October. On 21 August 2017, everyone in the continental United States had the opportunity to witness a solar eclipse, weather permitting, in total or partial form. The path of totality, in which the Sun was completely obscured from view by the Moon, stretched from Oregon to South Carolina. The Education and Communication Team of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) worked to highlight the Moon, the "central player" in the total solar eclipse, in a variety of ways for the public. Efforts included collaborating with Minor League Baseball teams to host eclipse-viewing events along the path of totality, communicating the Moon's role in the eclipse through public engagement products, communicating about InOMN as an experiential opportunity beyond the eclipse, and more. InOMN is an annual event, during which everyone on Earth is invited to observe and learn about the Moon and its connection to planetary science, and to share personal and community connections we all have to the Moon [2, 3, 4 and references therein]. For viewers across the United States, the total solar eclipse of 21 August provided an exciting opportunity to watch a New Moon cross in front of the Sun, casting the viewer in shadow and providing amazing views of the solar corona. The public observed the Moon in a different part of its orbit, when reflected sunlight revealed a fascinating lunar landscape - and extended their excitement for space science - by participating in InOMN on 28 October. With InOMN taking place barely two months after the total solar eclipse, it offered an opportunity to sustain and grow public interest in lunar and space science generated by the eclipse. We will report on

  4. Moon 101: Introducing Students to Lunar Science and Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaner, A. J.; Shipp, S. S.; Allen, J. S.; Kring, D. A.

    2011-12-01

    Moon 101 is designed with the purpose of familiarizing students with lunar geology and exploration. Armed with guiding questions, students read articles covering various lunar science topics and browse images from past and current lunar missions to familiarize themselves with available lunar data sets. Moon 101 was originally created for high school students preparing to conduct open-inquiry, lunar research. Most high school students' knowledge of lunar science is limited to lunar phases and tides, and their knowledge of lunar exploration is close to non-existent. Moon 101 provides a summary of the state of knowledge of the Moon's formation and evolution, and the exploration that has helped inform the lunar science community. Though designed for high school students, Moon 101 is highly appropriate for the undergraduate classroom, especially at the introductory level where resources for teaching lunar science are scarce. Moon 101 is comprised of two sections covering lunar science (formation and geologic evolution of the Moon) and one section covering lunar exploration. Students read information on the formation and geologic evolution of the Moon from sources such as the Planetary Science Research Discoveries (PSRD) website and the USGS professional paper A Geologic History of the Moon by Wilhelms. While these resources are not peer-reviewed journals, the information is presented at a level more advanced than articles from newspapers and popular science magazines. This ensures that the language is accessible to students who do not have a strong lunar/planetary science background, or a strong science background in general. Formation readings include information on older and current formation hypotheses, including the Giant Impact Hypothesis, the Magma Ocean hypothesis, and the age of the lunar crust. Lunar evolution articles describe ideas such as the Late Heavy Bombardment and geologic processes such as volcanism and impact cratering. After reading the articles

  5. The Moon is a Planet Too: Lunar Science and Robotic Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Barbara A.

    2009-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews some of what is known about the moon, and draws parallels between the moon and any other terrestrial planet. The Moon is a cornerstone for all rocky planets The Moon is a terrestrial body, formed and evolved similarly to Earth, Mars, Mercury, Venus, and large asteroids The Moon is a differentiated body, with a layered internal structure (crust, mantle, and core) The Moon is a cratered body, preserving a record of bombardment history in the inner solar system The Moon is an active body, experiencing moonquakes, releasing primordial heat, conducting electricity, sustaining bombardment, and trapping volatile molecules Lunar robotic missions provide early science return to obtain important science and engineering objectives, rebuild a lunar science community, and keep our eyes on the Moon. These lunar missions, both past and future are reviewed.

  6. Nystagmus in Laurence-Moon-Biedl Syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Bruce Janati

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Laurence-Moon-Biedl (LMB syndrome is a rare autosomal-recessive ciliopathy with manifold symptomatology. The cardinal clinical features include retinitis pigmentosa, obesity, intellectual delay, polydactyly/syndactyly, and hypogenitalism. In this paper, the authors report on three siblings with Laurence-Moon-Biedl syndrome associated with a probable pseudocycloid form of congenital nystagmus. Methods. This was a case study conducted at King Khaled Hospital. Results. The authors assert that the nystagmus in Laurence-Moon-Biedl syndrome is essentially similar to idiopathic motor-defect nystagmus and the nystagmus seen in optic nerve hypoplasia, ocular albinism, and bilateral opacities of the ocular media. Conclusion. The data support the previous hypothesis that there is a common brain stem motor abnormality in sensory-defect and motor-defect nystagmus.

  7. Global effects of moon phase on nocturnal acoustic scattering layers

    KAUST Repository

    Prihartato, Perdana; Irigoien, Xabier; Genton, Marc G.; Kaartvedt, Stein

    2016-01-01

    © Inter-Research 2016. The impact of moon phase on the global nocturnal vertical distribution of acoustic scattering layers (SLs) in the upper 200 m was studied during the Malaspina expedition that circumnavigated the world. We assessed the nocturnal weighted mean depths and the vertical extension of the SL (the range between the upper 25th percentile and lower 75th percentile of the backscatter) and used a generalized additive model to reveal the relationship between the nocturnal vertical distribution of the SL and moon phase, as well as other environmental factors. Moon phase significantly affected the SL distribution on a global scale, in contrast to other factors such as dissolved oxygen, temperature and fluorescence, which each correlated with nocturnal SL distribution during the large geographic coverage. Full moon caused a deepening effect on the nocturnal SL. Contrary to expectations, the shallowest distribution was not observed during the darkest nights (new moon) and there was no difference in vertical distribution between new moon and intermediate moon phases. We conclude that the trend of deepening SL during approximately full moon (bright nights) is a global phenomenon related to anti-predator behavior.

  8. Global effects of moon phase on nocturnal acoustic scattering layers

    KAUST Repository

    Prihartato, PK

    2016-01-18

    © Inter-Research 2016. The impact of moon phase on the global nocturnal vertical distribution of acoustic scattering layers (SLs) in the upper 200 m was studied during the Malaspina expedition that circumnavigated the world. We assessed the nocturnal weighted mean depths and the vertical extension of the SL (the range between the upper 25th percentile and lower 75th percentile of the backscatter) and used a generalized additive model to reveal the relationship between the nocturnal vertical distribution of the SL and moon phase, as well as other environmental factors. Moon phase significantly affected the SL distribution on a global scale, in contrast to other factors such as dissolved oxygen, temperature and fluorescence, which each correlated with nocturnal SL distribution during the large geographic coverage. Full moon caused a deepening effect on the nocturnal SL. Contrary to expectations, the shallowest distribution was not observed during the darkest nights (new moon) and there was no difference in vertical distribution between new moon and intermediate moon phases. We conclude that the trend of deepening SL during approximately full moon (bright nights) is a global phenomenon related to anti-predator behavior.

  9. The evolution of the Earth-Moon system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Finch, D.G.

    1982-01-01

    The tidally-induced couple acting on the Moon, due to friction between the oceans and their beds, is calculated as a function of the Earth-Moon separation. The function is found to be proportional to 1 +d/R 3 , and not the previously used 1/R 6 . By use of this new function it is found that the present rate of lunar recession gives an acceptable history for the system if it is assumed the Moon was initially in a close geo-stationary orbit 4 billion years ago, when perturbed by the condensation of the Earth's core. (Auth.)

  10. Effects of irradiation on hygiene quality of moon cake

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Fengjiao; Chen Bin; Guo Yaping; Gao Meixu; Li Haipeng; Sun Baozhong

    2007-01-01

    To explore the influence of controllable conditions with different doses of irradiation and store time on the safe and the quality of Moon Cake, the indexes including peroxide value, acid value, mould, coli group coliform group, total numbers of colony and taste of Moon Cake were concerned about. The results show that the peroxide value were increased and acid value were decreased gradually with the increased value of 60 Co γ-irradiation. Meanwhile, the microorganism growth in the moon cake were controlled. It is concluded that the taste of Moon Cake was not changed and the shelf life of ones were prolonged by 3 months when doses of irradiation was 8 kGy, in addition, Tea-polyphenols could prevent the lipid in Moon Cake from lipid oxidation effectively. (authors)

  11. Simulating the Phases of the Moon Shortly after Its Formation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noordeh, Emil; Hall, Patrick; Cuk, Matija

    2014-01-01

    The leading theory for the origin of the Moon is the giant impact hypothesis, in which the Moon was formed out of the debris left over from the collision of a Mars sized body with the Earth. Soon after its formation, the orbit of the Moon may have been very different than it is today. We have simulated the phases of the Moon in a model for its…

  12. V, Cr, and Mn in the Earth, Moon, EPB, and SPB and the origin of the Moon: Experimental studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Drake, M.J.; Capobianco, C.J.; Newsom, H.E.

    1989-01-01

    The abundances of V, Cr, and Mn inferred for the mantles of the Earth and Moon decrease in that order and are similar, but are distinct from those inferred for the mantles of the Eucrite Parent Body (EPB) and Shergottite Parent Body (SPB). This similarity between Earth and Moon has been used to suggest that the Moon is derived substantially or entirely from Earth mantle material following terrestrial core formation. To test this hypothesis, the authors have determined the partitioning of V, Cr, and Mn between solid iron metal, S-rich metallic liquid, and synthetic basaltic silicate liquid at 1,260 degree C and one bar pressure. The sequence of compatibility in the metallic phases is Cr > V > Mn at high oxygen fugacity and V > Cr > Mn at low oxygen fugacities. Solubilities in liquid metal always exceed solubilities in solid metal. These partition coefficients suggest that the abundances of V, Cr, and Mn do not reflect core formation in the Earth. Rather, they are consistent with the relative volatilities of these elements. The similarity in the depletion patterns of V, Cr, and Mn inferred for the mantles of the Earth and Moon is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for the Moon to have been derived wholly or in part from the Earth's mantle

  13. Can plants grow on Mars and the moon: a growth experiment on Mars and moon soil simulants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wamelink, G W Wieger; Frissel, Joep Y; Krijnen, Wilfred H J; Verwoert, M Rinie; Goedhart, Paul W

    2014-01-01

    When humans will settle on the moon or Mars they will have to eat there. Food may be flown in. An alternative could be to cultivate plants at the site itself, preferably in native soils. We report on the first large-scale controlled experiment to investigate the possibility of growing plants in Mars and moon soil simulants. The results show that plants are able to germinate and grow on both Martian and moon soil simulant for a period of 50 days without any addition of nutrients. Growth and flowering on Mars regolith simulant was much better than on moon regolith simulant and even slightly better than on our control nutrient poor river soil. Reflexed stonecrop (a wild plant); the crops tomato, wheat, and cress; and the green manure species field mustard performed particularly well. The latter three flowered, and cress and field mustard also produced seeds. Our results show that in principle it is possible to grow crops and other plant species in Martian and Lunar soil simulants. However, many questions remain about the simulants' water carrying capacity and other physical characteristics and also whether the simulants are representative of the real soils.

  14. Can plants grow on Mars and the moon: a growth experiment on Mars and moon soil simulants.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G W Wieger Wamelink

    Full Text Available When humans will settle on the moon or Mars they will have to eat there. Food may be flown in. An alternative could be to cultivate plants at the site itself, preferably in native soils. We report on the first large-scale controlled experiment to investigate the possibility of growing plants in Mars and moon soil simulants. The results show that plants are able to germinate and grow on both Martian and moon soil simulant for a period of 50 days without any addition of nutrients. Growth and flowering on Mars regolith simulant was much better than on moon regolith simulant and even slightly better than on our control nutrient poor river soil. Reflexed stonecrop (a wild plant; the crops tomato, wheat, and cress; and the green manure species field mustard performed particularly well. The latter three flowered, and cress and field mustard also produced seeds. Our results show that in principle it is possible to grow crops and other plant species in Martian and Lunar soil simulants. However, many questions remain about the simulants' water carrying capacity and other physical characteristics and also whether the simulants are representative of the real soils.

  15. Nitrogen and phosphorus budget of a polyculture system of sea cucumber ( Apostichopus japonicus), jellyfish ( Rhopilema esculenta) and shrimp ( Fenneropenaeus chinensis)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Junwei; Dong, Shuanglin; Gao, Qinfeng; Zhu, Changbo

    2014-06-01

    The nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) budget and the ecological efficiency of a polyculture system of sea cucumber ( Apostichopus japonicus), jellyfish ( Rhopilema esculenta) and shrimp ( Fenneropenaeus chinensis) were studied in a cofferdam, 120.2 ha in size. The nutrients were supplied by spring tide inflow. In total, 139600 kg N yr-1 and 9730 kg P yr-1 input to the system; while 118900 kg N yr-1 and 2840 kg P yr-1 outflowed from the system concurrently, thus the outflow was 85.7% (N) and 29.2% (P) of inflow. The production of N and P was 889.5 kg yr-1 and 49.28 kg yr-1 (sea cucumber) and 204 kg yr-1 and 18.03 kg yr-1 (jellyfish and shrimp), respectively. The utilization rate of N and P by polycultured animals was 7.8‰ and 6.9‰, respectively, 21.9% and 38% higher than that of monocultured sea cucumber. Our results indicated that the polyculture system was an efficient culture system of animals and a remediation system of coastal environment as well; it scavenged 14.3% and 70.8% of N and P, respectively. Such an ecological efficiency may be improved further by increasing either the stocking density or the size of sea cucumber or both.

  16. Launching to the Moon, Mars, and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sumrall, John P.

    2007-01-01

    America is returning to the Moon in preparation for the first human footprint on Mars, guided by the U.S. Vision for Space Exploration. This presentation will discuss NASA's mission today, the reasons for returning to the Moon and going to Mars, and how NASA will accomplish that mission. The primary goals of the Vision for Space Exploration are to finish the International Space Station, retire the Space Shuttle, and build the new spacecraft needed to return people to the Moon and go to Mars. Unlike the Apollo program of the 1960s, this phase of exploration will be a journey, not a race. In 1966, the NASA's budget was 4 percent of federal spending. Today, with 6/10 of 1 percent of the budget, NASA must incrementally develop the vehicles, infrastructure, technology, and organization to accomplish this goal. Fortunately, our knowledge and experience are greater than they were 40 years ago. NASA's goal is a return to the Moon by 2020. The Moon is the first step to America's exploration of Mars. Many questions about the Moon's history and how its history is linked to that of Earth remain even after the brief Apollo explorations of the 1960s and 1970s. This new venture will carry more explorers to more diverse landing sites with more capable tools and equipment. The Moon also will serve as a training ground in several respects before embarking on the longer, more perilous trip to Mars. The journeys to the Moon and Mars will require a variety of vehicles, including the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle, the Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle, the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, and the Lunar Surface Access Module. The architecture for the lunar missions will use one launch to ferry the crew into orbit on the Ares I and a second launch to orbit the lunar lander and the Earth Departure Stage to send the lander and crew vehicle to the Moon. In order to reach the Moon and Mars within a lifetime and within budget, NASA is building on proven hardware and decades of experience derived from

  17. Moon Phase as a Context for Teaching Scale Factor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, Ann; Dickerson, Daniel; Hopkins, Sara

    2007-01-01

    The Sun and the Moon are our most visible neighbors in space, yet their distance and size relative to the Earth are often misunderstood. Science textbooks fuel this misconception because they regularly depict linear images of Moon phases without respect to the actual sizes of the Sun, Earth, and Moon, nor their correlated distances from one…

  18. TRANSIT MODEL OF PLANETS WITH MOON AND RING SYSTEMS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tusnski, Luis Ricardo M.; Valio, Adriana

    2011-01-01

    Since the discovery of the first exoplanets, those most adequate for life to begin and evolve have been sought. Due to observational bias, however, most of the discovered planets so far are gas giants, precluding their habitability. However, if these hot Jupiters are located in the habitable zones of their host stars, and if rocky moons orbit them, then these moons may be habitable. In this work, we present a model for planetary transit simulation considering the presence of moons and planetary rings around a planet. The moon's orbit is considered to be circular and coplanar with the planetary orbit. The other physical and orbital parameters of the star, planet, moon, and rings can be adjusted in each simulation. It is possible to simulate as many successive transits as desired. Since the presence of spots on the surface of the star may produce a signal similar to that of the presence of a moon, our model also allows for the inclusion of starspots. The result of the simulation is a light curve with a planetary transit. White noise may also be added to the light curves to produce curves similar to those obtained by the CoRoT and Kepler space telescopes. The goal is to determine the criteria for detectability of moons and/or ring systems using photometry. The results show that it is possible to detect moons with radii as little as 1.3 R ⊕ with CoRoT and 0.3 R ⊕ with Kepler.

  19. Dermatologia comparativa: lesão de ataque por caravela portuguesa (Physalia physalis Comparative dermatology: skin lesion produced by attack of jellyfishes (Physalia physalis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria do Carmo Araújo Palmeira Queiroz

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Demonstra-se lesão dermatológica, em caprichoso formato de coração, característica de ataque por caravela-portuguesa, em banhista do sexo feminino, 21 anosIt is reported the case of a 21-year-old female bather with a skin lesion, heart-shaped ,characteristic of attack by jellyfish

  20. The Moon and how to observe it an advanced handbook for students of the Moon in the 21st century

    CERN Document Server

    Grego, Peter

    2005-01-01

    This revolutionary new book is written for practical amateur astronomers who not only want to observe, but want to know the details of exactly what they are looking at. The Moon is the most commonly observed of all astronomical objects. This is the first book to deal equally with the Moon itself - its formation, geology, and history - as well as the practical aspects of observation. The concept of the book - and of the series - is to present an up-to-date detailed description of the Moon, including its origins, history, and geology (part one); and then (part two) to consider how best to observe and record it successfully using commercially-available equipment. The Moon and How to Observe It is a mine of information for all levels of amateur observers, from the beginner to the experienced.

  1. Visually guided obstacle avoidance in the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora and Chiropsella bronzie

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Garm, A; O'Connor, M; Parkefelt, L

    2007-01-01

    Box jellyfish, cubomedusae, possess an impressive total of 24 eyes of four morphologically different types. Two of these eye types, called the upper and lower lens eyes, are camera-type eyes with spherical fish-like lenses. Compared with other cnidarians, cubomedusae also have an elaborate...... behavioral repertoire, which seems to be predominantly visually guided. Still, positive phototaxis is the only behavior described so far that is likely to be correlated with the eyes. We have explored the obstacle avoidance response of the Caribbean species Tripedalia cystophora and the Australian species...... a tendency to follow the intensity contrast between the obstacle and the surroundings (chamber walls). In the flow chamber Tripedalia cystophora displayed a stronger obstacle avoidance response than Chiropsella bronzie since they had less contact with the obstacles. This seems to follow differences...

  2. Astrobiology field research in Moon/Mars Analogue

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Foing, B.H.; Stoker, C.; Ehrenfreund, P.

    2011-01-01

    Extreme environments on Earth often provide similar terrain conditions to landing/operation sites on Moon and Mars. Several field campaigns (EuroGeoMars2009 and DOMMEX/ILEWG EuroMoonMars from November 2009 to March 2010) were conducted at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah. Some of the

  3. Learning the moon's phases through CL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbera, Maria

    2013-04-01

    This work is a CLIL experience for a class of 14-year-old students, a first grade of a Secondary school, level B1/B2. It is presented an Astronomy lesson whose topic is about the Moon's phases, a quite difficult phenomenon to visualize. Students' attention is attracted by presenting them songs and a short documentary; comprehension is made easier using both Internet-based materials and a card game using Cooperative Learning strategies through Johnsons' ' Learning Together'. The lesson consists of three steps for a total length of three hours. The teacher assigns a time limit for each activity. During the pre-task step, students' interest for present-day music is used to catch their attention and make them aware of the importance of the Moon as an inspiring subject for artistic expression such as popular or rock music. Then the students are requested to brainstorm some simple ideas of ther own about the moon. In the task step, a clear short BBC video is shown in order to stimulate students' listening and comprehension skills and an animation is proposed to help them view the moon cycle. In the post-task step, students are engaged in a card game through Johnsons' 'Learning Together'.Learners are divided into pairs and they have to cooperate to rebuild the moon's cicle as fast as they can. Then the two pairs join together to form groups of four and check their answers. The Assessor shares the group's keys with the whole class. The teacher gives feedback. The groups celebrate their success by clapping their hands and saying what they appreciated regarding their way of working together as pairs and groups.

  4. Lunar paleotides and the origin of the earth-moon system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, A.J.

    1978-01-01

    A new method for determining the early history of the Earth-Moon system is described. Called the study of lunar paleotides, it describes a method for explaining features of the remnant lunar gravity field, and the generation of the lunar mascons. A method for the determination of Earth-Moon distances compared with the radiometric ages of the maria is developed. It is shown that the Moon underwent strong anomalous gravitational tidal forces, for a duration t 6 yr, prior to the formation of the mascon surfaces. As these tidal forces had not been present at the time of the formation of the Moon, this shows that the Moon could not have been formed in orbit about the Earth. (Auth.)

  5. Cellular respiration, oxygen consumption, and trade-offs of the jellyfish Cassiopea sp. in response to temperature change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aljbour, Samir M.; Zimmer, Martin; Kunzmann, Andreas

    2017-10-01

    Pelagic jellyfish blooms are increasing worldwide as a potential response to climate-change. However, virtually nothing is known about physiological responses of jellyfish to e.g. sudden changes in water temperature due to extreme weather events. When confronted with a sudden decrease or increase in water temperature by 6 °C, medusae of Cassiopea sp. exhibited a strong response in locomotor activity (i.e., bell pulsation increased and decreased by ca. 37 and 46% in hot and cold acute (2 h) treatments, respectively) relative to control. Although medusae significantly gained in body mass (wet weight) upon chronic (2 weeks) heat treatment, their body size (e.g., bell diameter) did not change over this time interval. In contrast, chronic cold treatment resulted in both significant shrinking (reduced diameter) and mass loss. Measurements of mitochondrial electron transport system (ETS) activities and rate of respiratory oxygen uptake (MO2) are good estimates of energy consumption and the potential aerobic metabolic rates of an organism. While both acute treatments significantly increased ETS-activities, acclimation over two weeks resulted in a drop in activities to the control levels. Whereas acute heat treatment significantly increased MO2, chronic exposure resulted in significant MO2 decrease compared to control; however no changes in MO2 could be observed in both acute and chronic cold treatments. Overall these results suggest an enhanced growth in response to global warming, whereas low temperatures may set the limits for successful invasion of Cassiopea into colder water bodies. Our results provide a framework for understanding the physiological tolerance of Cassiopea under possible future climate changes.

  6. Sketching the moon an astronomical artist's guide

    CERN Document Server

    Handy, Richard; McCague, Thomas; Rix, Erika; Russell, Sally

    2012-01-01

    Soon after you begin studying the sky through your small telescope or binoculars, you will probably be encouraged by others to make sketches of what you see. Sketching is a time-honored tradition in amateur astronomy and dates back to the earliest times, when telescopes were invented. Even though we have lots of new imaging technologies nowadays, including astrophotography, most observers still use sketching to keep a record of what they see, make them better observers, and in hopes of perhaps contributing something to the body of scientific knowledge about the Moon. Some even sketch because it satisfies their artistic side. The Moon presents some unique challenges to the astronomer-artist, the Moon being so fond of tricks of the light. Sketching the Moon: An Astronomical Artist’s Guide, by five of the best lunar observer-artists working today, will guide you along your way and help you to achieve really high-quality sketches. All the major types of lunar features are covered, with a variety of sketching te...

  7. Tectonic evolution of mercury; comparison with the moon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomas, P.G.; Masson, P.

    1983-01-01

    With regard to the Earth or to Mars, the Moon and Mercury look like tectonicless planetary bodies, and the prominent morphologies of these two planets are due to impact and volcanic processes. Despite these morphologies, several types of tectonic activities may be shown. Statistical studies of lineaments direction indicate that Mercury, as well as the Moon, have a planet wide lineament pattern, known as a ''grid''. Statistical studies of Mercury scarps and the Moon grabens indicate an interaction between planetary lithospheric evolution and large impact basins. Detailed studies of the largest basins indicate specific tectonic motions directly or indirectly related to impacts. These three tectonic types have been compared on each planet. The first tectonic type seems to be identical for Mercury and the Moon. But the two other types seem to be different, and are consistent with the planets' thermal evolution

  8. Transits of extrasolar moons around luminous giant planets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heller, R.

    2016-04-01

    Beyond Earth-like planets, moons can be habitable, too. No exomoons have been securely detected, but they could be extremely abundant. Young Jovian planets can be as hot as late M stars, with effective temperatures of up to 2000 K. Transits of their moons might be detectable in their infrared photometric light curves if the planets are sufficiently separated (≳10 AU) from the stars to be directly imaged. The moons will be heated by radiation from their young planets and potentially by tidal friction. Although stellar illumination will be weak beyond 5 AU, these alternative energy sources could liquify surface water on exomoons for hundreds of Myr. A Mars-mass H2O-rich moon around β Pic b would have a transit depth of 1.5 × 10-3, in reach of near-future technology.

  9. Exploring the Moon

    CERN Document Server

    Harland, David M

    2008-01-01

    David Harland opens with a review of the robotic probes, namely the Rangers which returned television before crashing into the Moon, the Surveyors which ''soft landed'' in order to investigate the nature of the surface, and the Lunar Orbiters which mapped prospective Apollo landing sites. He then outlines the historic landing by Apollo 11 in terms of what was discovered, and how over the next several missions the program was progressively geared up to enable the final three missions each to spend three days on comprehensive geological investigations. He concludes with a review of the robotic spacecraft that made remote-sensing observations of the Moon. Although aimed at the enthusiast, and can be read as an adventure in exploration, the book develops the scientific theme of lunar geology, and therefore will be of use as background reading for undergraduate students of planetary sciences. In addition, with the prospect of a resumption of human missions, it will help journalists understand what Apollo achieved ...

  10. Proposal for revisions of the United Nations Moon Treaty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernandes, Vera; Abreu, Neyda; Fritz, J.; Knapmeyer, Martin; Smeenk, Lisa; Ten Kate, Inge; Trüninger, Monica

    During this new 2010-decade, it will be imperative to reconsider the effectiveness of the current United Nations (U.N.) Moon Treaty (c.1979). Amendments are necessary to underline the mandatory human stewardship of this fragile planetary body of our Solar System, indispensible to life on Earth. After the very successful Apollo and Luna missions to the Moon (ending in 1976), which brought a wide array of data (samples, surface and orbital experiments), the Moon lost its exploratory attraction in favor of other programs, such as the International Space Station and potential human exploration of Mars. However, since the mid-90's, the enthusiasm for the Moon has been revived, which resulted in several space agencies worldwide (NASA, ESA, ISRO, JAXA, and the Chinese Space Agency) having made great efforts to re-start ex-ploratory and scientific campaigns even though budgetary changes may delay the process. As a result, a wide array of peoples and their interests are put together in each mission planned to reach the Moon (e.g., orbiters and landers). Up to now, mission plans focus on technical requirements and the desires of scientists and engineers, but hardly any other aspects. Field specialists on issues regarding the social, economic, political, cultural, ethical and environmen-tal impacts of Moon exploration and colonization have had little to no involvement in current and past lunar missions. However, these fields would provide different and essential points of view regarding the planning of lunar missions. Moreover, recent documents written by the scientific community, such as "The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon: Final Re-port" Committee on the Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon, National Research Council (2007), or the recent (summer 2009) White Papers for the National Research Council Planetary Science Decadal Survey 2011-2020, do not seem to leave space for a multidisciplinary approach regarding the future lunar exploration either

  11. Two Moons and the Pleiades from Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    2005-01-01

    [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Inverted image of two moons and the Pleiades from Mars Taking advantage of extra solar energy collected during the day, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit recently settled in for an evening of stargazing, photographing the two moons of Mars as they crossed the night sky. In this view, the Pleiades, a star cluster also known as the 'Seven Sisters,' is visible in the lower left corner. The bright star Aldebaran and some of the stars in the constellation Taurus are visible on the right. Spirit acquired this image the evening of martian day, or sol, 590 (Aug. 30, 2005). The image on the right provides an enhanced-contrast view with annotation. Within the enhanced halo of light is an insert of an unsaturated view of Phobos taken a few images later in the same sequence. On Mars, Phobos would be easily visible to the naked eye at night, but would be only about one-third as large as the full Moon appears from Earth. Astronauts staring at Phobos from the surface of Mars would notice its oblong, potato-like shape and that it moves quickly against the background stars. Phobos takes only 7 hours, 39 minutes to complete one orbit of Mars. That is so fast, relative to the 24-hour-and-39-minute sol on Mars (the length of time it takes for Mars to complete one rotation), that Phobos rises in the west and sets in the east. Earth's moon, by comparison, rises in the east and sets in the west. The smaller martian moon, Deimos, takes 30 hours, 12 minutes to complete one orbit of Mars. That orbital period is longer than a martian sol, and so Deimos rises, like most solar system moons, in the east and sets in the west. Scientists will use images of the two moons to better map their orbital positions, learn more about their composition, and monitor the presence of nighttime clouds or haze. Spirit took the five images that make up this composite with the panoramic camera, using the camera's broadband filter, which was designed specifically

  12. Towards a Moon Village : Community Workshops Highlights

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foing, Bernard H.

    2016-07-01

    A series of Moon Village Workshops were organised at ESTEC and at ILEWG community events in 2015 and 2016. They gathered a multi-disciplinary group of professionals from all around the world to discuss their ideas about the concept of a Moon Village, the vision of ESA's Director General (DG) Jan Woerner of a permanent lunar base within the next decades [1]. Three working groups focused on 1) Moon Habitat Design; 2) science and technology potentials of the Moon Village, and 3) engaging stake-holders [2-3]. Their results and recommendations are presented in this abstract. The Moon Habitat Design group identified that the lunar base design is strongly driven by the lunar environment, which is characterized by high radiation, meteoroids, abrasive dust particles, low gravity and vacuum. The base location is recommended to be near the poles to provide optimized illumination conditions for power generation, permanent communication to Earth, moderate temperature gradients at the surface and interesting subjects to scientific investigations. The abundance of nearby available resources, especially ice at the dark bottoms of craters, can be exploited in terms of In-Situ Resources Utilization (ISRU). The identified infrastructural requirements include a navigation, data- & commlink network, storage facilities and sustainable use of resources. This involves a high degree of recycling, closed-loop life support and use of 3D-printing technology, which are all technologies with great potential for terrestrial spin-off applications. For the site planning of the Moon Village, proven ideas from urban planning on Earth should be taken into account. A couple of principles, which could improve the quality of a long-term living milieu on the Moon, are creating spacious environments, visibility between interior and exterior spaces, areas with flora, such as gardens and greenhouses, establishing a sustainable community and creating social places for astronauts to interact and relax. The

  13. The Enigmatic Face of the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galles, C. D.; Gallagher, C. J.

    2011-06-01

    Whilst Man's only way of observing the Moon was with the naked eye, attempts at explaining the spots on her surface remained highly speculative. The telescopic observation by Galileo of previously unknown spots, differing from the earlier ones by their variability in time, was to signify a radical change to the hereto medieval ideas on the material composition of the Moon. And curiously enough, this new scenario was a revindication of Plutarch's hypothesis construed more than a millennium before.

  14. Launching to the Moon, Mars, and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dumbacher, Daniel L.

    2006-01-01

    The U.S. Vision for Space Exploration, announced in 2004, calls on NASA to finish constructing the International Space Station, retire the Space Shuttle, and build the new spacecraft needed to return to the Moon and go on the Mars. By exploring space, America continues the tradition of great nations who mastered the Earth, air, and sea, and who then enjoyed the benefits of increased commerce and technological advances. The progress being made today is part of the next chapter in America's history of leadership in space. In order to reach the Moon and Mars within the planned timeline and also within the allowable budget, NASA is building upon the best of proven space transportation systems. Journeys to the Moon and Mars will require a variety of vehicles, including the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle, the Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle, the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, and the Lunar Surface Access Module. What America learns in reaching for the Moon will teach astronauts how to prepare for the first human footprints on Mars. While robotic science may reveal information about the nature of hydrogen on the Moon, it will most likely tale a human being with a rock hammer to find the real truth about the presence of water, a precious natural resource that opens many possibilities for explorers. In this way, the combination of astronauts using a variety of tools and machines provides a special synergy that will vastly improve our understanding of Earth's cosmic neighborhood.

  15. Non-Rocket Earth-Moon Transport System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolonkin, Alexander

    2002-01-01

    This paper proposes a new method and transportation system to travel to the Moon. This transportation system uses a mechanical energy transfer and requires only minimal energy so that it provides a 'Free Trip' into space. The method uses the rotary and kinetic energy of the Moon. This paper presents the theory and results of computations for the project provided Free Trips (without rockets and spend a big energy) to the Moon for six thousand people annually. The project uses artificial materials like nanotubes and whiskers that have a ratio of tensile strength to density equal 4 million meters. In the future, nanotubes will be produced that can reach a specific stress up 100 millions meter and will significantly improve the parameters of suggested project. The author is prepared to discuss the problems with serious organizations that want to research and develop these innovations.

  16. Galileo's Medicean Moons (IAU S269)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbieri, Cesare; Chakrabarti, Supriya; Coradini, Marcello; Lazzarin, Monica

    2010-11-01

    Preface; 1. Galileo's telescopic observations: the marvel and meaning of discovery George V. Coyne, S. J.; 2. Popular perceptions of Galileo Dava Sobel; 3. The slow growth of humility Tobias Owen and Scott Bolton; 4. A new physics to support the Copernican system. Gleanings from Galileo's works Giulio Peruzzi; 5. The telescope in the making, the Galileo first telescopic observations Alberto Righini; 6. The appearance of the Medicean Moons in 17th century charts and books. How long did it take? Michael Mendillo; 7. Navigation, world mapping and astrometry with Galileo's moons Kaare Aksnes; 8. Modern exploration of Galileo's new worlds Torrence V. Johnson; 9. Medicean Moons sailing through plasma seas: challenges in establishing magnetic properties Margaret G. Kivelson, Xianzhe Jia and Krishan K. Khurana; 10. Aurora on Jupiter: a magnetic connection with the Sun and the Medicean Moons Supriya Chakrabarti and Marina Galand; 11. Io's escaping atmosphere: continuing the legacy of surprise Nicholas M. Schneider; 12. The Jovian Rings Wing-Huen Ip; 13. The Juno mission Scott J. Bolton and the Juno Science Team; 14. Seeking Europa's ocean Robert T. Pappalardo; 15. Europa lander mission: a challenge to find traces of alien life Lev Zelenyi, Oleg Korablev, Elena Vorobyova, Maxim Martynov, Efraim L. Akim and Alexander Zakahrov; 16. Atmospheric moons Galileo would have loved Sushil K. Atreya; 17. The study of Mercury Louise M. Prockter and Peter D. Bedini; 18. Jupiter and the other giants: a comparative study Thérèse Encrenaz; 19. Spectroscopic and spectrometric differentiation between abiotic and biogenic material on icy worlds Kevin P. Hand, Chris McKay and Carl Pilcher; 20. Other worlds, other civilizations? Guy Consolmagno, S. J.; 21. Concluding remarks Roger M. Bonnet; Posters; Author index; Object index.

  17. Magnetism and the history of the moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strangway, D. W.; Gose, W. A.; Pearce, G. W.; Carnes, J. G.

    1973-01-01

    All lunar samples measured to date contain a weak but stable remanent magnetization of lunar origin. The magnetization is carried by metallic iron and is considered to be caused by cooling from above the Curie point in the presence of a magnetic field. Although at present the moon does not have a global field, the remanent magnetization of the rock samples and the presence of magnetic anomalies, both on the near and far side of the moon, imply that the moon experienced a magnetic field during some portion of its history. The field could have been generated in a liquid iron core sustaining a self-exciting dynamo, but there are some basic thermal and geochemical objections that need to be resolved.

  18. Boundary conditions for the formation of the Moon

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reuver, Maarten; de Meijer, R. J.; ten Kate, I. L.; van Westrenen, W.

    Recent measurements of the chemical and isotopic composition of lunar samples indicate that the Moon's bulk composition shows great similarities with the composition of the silicate Earth. Moon formation models that attempt to explain these similarities make a wide variety of assumptions about the

  19. The moon as a high temperature condensate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, D. L.

    1973-01-01

    The accretion during condensation mechanism, if it occurs during the early over-luminous stage of the sun, can explain the differences in composition of the terrestrial planets and the moon. An important factor is the variation of pressure and temperature with distance from the sun, and in the case of the moon and captured satellites of other planets, with distance from the median plane. Current estimates of the temperature and pressure in the solar nebula suggest that condensation will not be complete in the vicinity of the terrestrial planets, and that depending on location, iron, magnesium silicates and the volatiles will be at least partially held in the gaseous phase and subject to separation from the dust by solar wind and magnetic effects associated with the transfer of angular momentum just before the sun joins the Main Sequence. Many of the properties of the moon, including the 'enrichment' in Ca, Al, Ti, U, Th, Ba, Sr and the REE and the 'depletion' in Fe, Rb, K, Na and other volatiles can be understood if the moon represents a high temperature condensate from the solar nebula.

  20. Unmasking Europa the search for life on Jupiter's ocean moon

    CERN Document Server

    Greenberg, Richard

    2008-01-01

    Jupiter's ice moon Europa is widely regarded as the most likely place to find extraterrestrial life. This book tells the engaging story of Europa, the oceanic moon. It features a large number of stunning images of the ocean moon's surface, clearly displaying the spectacular crack patterns, extensive rifts and ridges, and refrozen pools of exposed water filled with rafts of displaced ice. Coverage also features firsthand accounts of Galileo's mission to Jupiter and its moons. The book tells the rough and tumble inside story of a very human enterprise in science that lead to the discovery of a f

  1. India plans to land near moon's south pole

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagla, Pallava

    2018-02-01

    Sometime this summer, an Indian spacecraft orbiting over the moon's far side will release a lander. The craft will ease to a soft landing just after lunar sunrise on an ancient, table-flat plain about 600 kilometers from the south pole. There, it will unleash a rover into territory never before explored at the surface. That's the ambitious vision for India's second voyage to the moon in a decade, due to launch in the coming weeks. If Chandrayaan-2 is successful, it will pave the way for even more ambitious Indian missions, such as landings on Mars and an asteroid, as well as a Venus probe. Lunar scientists have much at stake, too. Chandrayaan-2 will collect data on the moon's thin envelope of plasma, as well as isotopes such as helium-3, a potential fuel for future fusion energy reactors. And it will follow up on a stunning discovery by India's first lunar foray, which found water molecules on the moon in 2009.

  2. Moon bound choosing and preparing NASA's lunar astronauts

    CERN Document Server

    Burgess, Colin

    2013-01-01

    Often lost in the shadow of the first group of astronauts for the Mercury missions, the second and third groups included the leading figures for NASA's activities for the following two decades. “Moon Bound” complements the author’s recently published work, “Selecting the Mercury Seven” (2011), extending the story of the men who helped to launch human spaceflight and broaden the American space program. Although the initial 1959 group became known as the legendary pioneering Mercury astronauts, the astronauts of Groups 2 and 3 gave us many household names. Sixteen astronauts from both groups traveled to the Moon in Project Apollo, with several actually walking on the Moon, one of them being Neil Armstrong. This book draws on interviews to tell the astronauts' personal stories and recreate the drama of that time. It describes the process by which they were selected as astronauts and explains how the criteria had changed since the first group. “Moon Bound” is divided into two parts, recounting the b...

  3. On Signal Modeling of Moon-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR Imaging of Earth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhen Xu

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The Moon-based Synthetic Aperture Radar (Moon-Based SAR, using the Moon as a platform, has a great potential to offer global-scale coverage of the earth’s surface with a high revisit cycle and is able to meet the scientific requirements for climate change study. However, operating in the lunar orbit, Moon-Based SAR imaging is confined within a complex geometry of the Moon-Based SAR, Moon, and Earth, where both rotation and revolution have effects. The extremely long exposure time of Moon-Based SAR presents a curved moving trajectory and the protracted time-delay in propagation makes the “stop-and-go” assumption no longer valid. Consequently, the conventional SAR imaging technique is no longer valid for Moon-Based SAR. This paper develops a Moon-Based SAR theory in which a signal model is derived. The Doppler parameters in the context of lunar revolution with the removal of ‘stop-and-go’ assumption are first estimated, and then characteristics of Moon-Based SAR imaging’s azimuthal resolution are analyzed. In addition, a signal model of Moon-Based SAR and its two-dimensional (2-D spectrum are further derived. Numerical simulation using point targets validates the signal model and enables Doppler parameter estimation for image focusing.

  4. Origin of the earth and moon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ringwood, A.E.

    1981-01-01

    The composition of the Earth's interior and its bearing on the Earth's origin are discussed. It seems likely that the terrestrial planets formed by the accretion of solid planetisimals from the nebula of dust and gas left behind during the formation of the Sun. The scenario proposed is simpler than others. New evidence based upon a comparison of siderophile element abundances in the Earth's mantle and in the Moon imply that the Moon was derived from the Earth's mantle after the Earth's core had segregated

  5. When Moons Collide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rufu, Raluca; Aharonson, Oded

    2017-10-01

    Impacts between two orbiting satellites is a natural consequence of Moon formation. Mergers between moonlets are especially important for the newly proposed multiple-impact hypothesis as these moonlets formed from different debris disks merge together to form the final Moon. However, this process is relevant also for the canonical giant impact, as previous work shows that multiple moonlets are formed from the same debris disk.The dynamics of impacts between two orbiting bodies is substantially different from previously heavily studied planetary-sized impacts. Firstly, the impact velocities are smaller and limited to, thus heating is limited. Secondly, both fragments have similar mass therefore, they would contribute similarly and substantially to the final satellite. Thirdly, this process can be more erosive than planetary impacts as the velocity of ejected material required to reach the mutual Hill sphere is smaller than the escape velocity, altering the merger efficiency. Previous simulations show that moonlets inherit different isotopic signatures from their primordial debris disk, depending on the parameters of the collision with the planet. We therefore, evaluate the degree of mixing in moonlet-moonlet collisions in the presence of a planetary gravitational field, using Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). Preliminary results show that the initial thermal state of the colliding moonlets has only a minor influence on the amount of mixing, compared to the effects of velocity and impact angle over their likely ranges. For equal mass bodies in accretionary collisions, impact angular momentum enhances mixing. In the hit-and-run regime, only small amounts of material are transferred between the bodies therefore mixing is limited. Overall, these impacts can impart enough energy to melt ~15-30% of the mantle extending the magma ocean phase of the final Moon.

  6. Towards a Moon Village: Young Lunar Explorers Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamps, Oscar; Foing, Bernard; Batenburg, Peter

    2016-04-01

    Introduction: The Moon Village Workshop at ESTEC on the 14th December 2015 was organized by ILEWG/ESTEC in conjunction with the Moon 2020-2030 Symposium. It gathered a multi-disciplinary group of professionals from all around the world to discuss their ideas about the concept of a Moon Village, the vision of ESA's Director General (DG) Jan Woerner of a permanent lunar base within the next decades [1]. The workshop participants split in three working groups focusing on Moon Habitat Design, science and technology potentials of the Moon Village, and engaging stakeholders [2-3]. Their results and recommendations are presented in this abstract. The Moon Habitat Design group identified that the lunar base design is strongly driven by the lunar environment, which is characterized by high radiation, meteoroids, abrasive dust particles, low gravity and vacu-um. The base location is recommended to be near the poles to provide optimized illumination conditions for power generation, permanent communication to Earth, moderate temperature gradients at the surface and interesting subjects to scientific investigations. The abundance of nearby available resources, especially ice at the dark bottoms of craters, can be exploited in terms of In-Situ Resources Utilization (ISRU). The identified infrastructural requirements include a navigation, data- & commlink network, storage facilities and sustainable use of resources. This involves a high degree of recycling, closed-loop life support and use of 3D-printing technology, which are all technologies with great potential for terrestrial spin-off applications. For the site planning of the Moon Village, proven ideas from urban planning on Earth should be taken into account. A couple of principles, which could improve the quality of a long-term living milieu on the Moon, are creating spacious environments, visibility between interior and exterior spaces, areas with flora, such as gardens and greenhouses, establishing a sustainable community

  7. Astronomy from the Moon and International Lunar Observatory Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durst, S.; Takahashi, Y. D.

    2018-04-01

    Astronomy from the Moon provides a promising new frontier for 21st century astrophysics and related science activity. International Lunar Observatory Association is an enterprise advancing missions to the Moon for observation and communication.

  8. Exploration of the Moon to Enable Lunar and Planetary Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neal, C. R.

    2014-12-01

    The Moon represents an enabling Solar System exploration asset because of its proximity, resources, and size. Its location has facilitated robotic missions from 5 different space agencies this century. The proximity of the Moon has stimulated commercial space activity, which is critical for sustainable space exploration. Since 2000, a new view of the Moon is coming into focus, which is very different from that of the 20th century. The documented presence of volatiles on the lunar surface, coupled with mature ilmenite-rich regolith locations, represent known resources that could be used for life support on the lunar surface for extended human stays, as well as fuel for robotic and human exploration deeper into the Solar System. The Moon also represents a natural laboratory to explore the terrestrial planets and Solar System processes. For example, it is an end-member in terrestrial planetary body differentiation. Ever since the return of the first lunar samples by Apollo 11, the magma ocean concept was developed and has been applied to both Earth and Mars. Because of the small size of the Moon, planetary differentiation was halted at an early (primary?) stage. However, we still know very little about the lunar interior, despite the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments, and to understand the structure of the Moon will require establishing a global lunar geophysical network, something Apollo did not achieve. Also, constraining the impact chronology of the Moon allows the surfaces of other terrestrial planets to be dated and the cratering history of the inner Solar System to be constrained. The Moon also represents a natural laboratory to study space weathering of airless bodies. It is apparent, then, that human and robotic missions to the Moon will enable both science and exploration. For example, the next step in resource exploration is prospecting on the surface those deposits identified from orbit to understand the yield that can be expected. Such prospecting will also

  9. From the Moon: Bringing Space Science to Diverse Audiences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Runyon, C. J.; Hall, C.; Joyner, E.; Meyer, H. M.; M3 Science; E/PO Team

    2011-12-01

    NASA's Apollo missions held a place in the mindset of many Americans - we dared to go someplace where humans had never set foot, a place unknown and beyond our imaginations. These early NASA missions and discoveries resulted in an enhanced public understanding of the Moon. Now, with the human element so far removed from space exploration, students must rely on textbooks, TV's, and computers to build their understanding of our Moon. However, NASA educational materials about the Moon are stale and out-of-date. In addition, they do not effectively address 21st Century Skills, an essential for today's classrooms. Here, we present a three-part model for developing opportunities in lunar science education professional development that is replicable and sustainable and integrates NASA mission-derived data (e.g., Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)/Chandrayaan-1). I) With the return of high resolution/high spatial data from M3/Chandrayaan-1, we can now better explore and understand the compositional variations on the lunar surface. Data and analysis techniques from the imaging spectrometer are incorporated into the M3 Educator's Guide: Seeing the Moon in a New Light. The guide includes an array of activities and lessons to help educators and students understand how NASA is currently exploring the Moon. The guide integrates NASA maps and data into the interactive lessons, bringing the excitement of scientific exploration and discovery into the classroom. II) Utilizing the M3 Educator's Guide as well as educational activities from more current NASA lunar missions, we offer two sustained professional development opportunities for educators to explore the Moon through interactive and creative strategies. 1) Geology of the Moon, an online course offered through Montana State University's National Teacher Enhancement Network, is a 3-credit graduate course. 2) Fly Me to the Moon, offered through the College of Charleston's Office of Professional Development in Education, is a two

  10. The Moon and the U-47 in Scapa Flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaefer, B. E.

    2005-12-01

    The skies above affect historical events here on Earth more than is generally realized. Events during wars are often tied to the Moon through operational requirements for illumination (or dark), high tides (or low), and even links to events in lunar calendars. World War II has many famous battles, commando operations, and naval sorties dictated in date by the Moon. Famous examples are D-Day (needing low tides and Full Moon illumination), the amphibious landing on Tarawa (needing but not getting high tides), El Alamein (requiring Full Moon light for the mine-clearers), the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III (chosen for the stealth possible with a New Moon), Mussolini's invasion of Albania (on Good Friday), and even Rudolf Hess' flight to Scotland (timed by a six-planet conjunction and aided in navigation by the Full Moon). This paper will concentrate on one event for which the Moon provided the primary trick for a major Nazi naval victory, while an aurora saved the British from an even worse disaster. The story is set in Scapa Flow, the huge anchorage in the Orkney Islands that was used as a primary base for the British Navy in blockading the North Sea. During World War I, German submarines had twice tried to slip into Scapa Flow but were sunk both times, and the anchorage later became the last resting place of the scuttled German High Seas Fleet. At the outbreak of World War II, then Commodore Karl Doenitz suggested that his ace U-boat captain consider sneaking into Scapa Flow to loose salvos of torpedoes at all the anchored ships. Captain Gunther Prien of the U-47 took up the challenge after realizing that the British had not completely blocked a narrow inlet. His plan was to surface the submarine and go in over the sunken block ships at the highest of spring tides. Spring tides require a syzygy (New or Full Moon), during which the high tides occur near noon or midnight. To be unobserved by onshore guards, the Moon should not be in the sky illuminating the waters

  11. The Sodium Tail of the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matta, M.; Smith, S.; Baumgardner, J.; Wilson, J.; Martinis, C.; Mendillo, M.

    2009-01-01

    During the few days centered about new Moon, the lunar surface is optically hidden from Earth-based observers. However, the Moon still offers an observable: an extended sodium tail. The lunar sodium tail is the escaping "hot" component of a coma-like exosphere of sodium generated by photon-stimulated desorption, solar wind sputtering and meteoroid impact. Neutral sodium atoms escaping lunar gravity experience solar radiation pressure that drives them into the anti-solar direction forming a comet-like tail. During new Moon time, the geometry of the Sun, Moon and Earth is such that the anti-sunward sodium flux is perturbed by the terrestrial gravitational field resulting in its focusing into a dense core that extends beyond the Earth. An all-sky camera situated at the El Leoncito Observatory (CASLEO) in Argentina has been successfully imaging this tail through a sodium filter at each lunation since April 2006. This paper reports on the results of the brightness of the lunar sodium tail spanning 31 lunations between April 2006 and September 2008. Brightness variability trends are compared with both sporadic and shower meteor activity, solar wind proton energy flux and solar near ultra violet (NUV) patterns for possible correlations. Results suggest minimal variability in the brightness of the observed lunar sodium tail, generally uncorrelated with any single source, yet consistent with a multi-year period of minimal solar activity and non-intense meteoric fluxes.

  12. The Moon Challenge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitzsimmons, Pat; Leddy, Diana; Johnson, Lindy; Biggam, Sue; Locke, Suzan

    2013-01-01

    This article describes a first-grade research project that incorporates trade books and challenges misconceptions. Educators see the power of their students' wonder at work in their classrooms on a daily basis. This wonder must be nourished by students' own experiences--observing the moon on a crystal clear night--as well as by having…

  13. Materials refining on the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landis, Geoffrey A.

    2007-05-01

    Oxygen, metals, silicon, and glass are raw materials that will be required for long-term habitation and production of structural materials and solar arrays on the Moon. A process sequence is proposed for refining these materials from lunar regolith, consisting of separating the required materials from lunar rock with fluorine. The fluorine is brought to the Moon in the form of potassium fluoride, and is liberated from the salt by electrolysis in a eutectic salt melt. Tetrafluorosilane produced by this process is reduced to silicon by a plasma reduction stage; the fluorine salts are reduced to metals by reaction with metallic potassium. Fluorine is recovered from residual MgF and CaF2 by reaction with K2O.

  14. The Occurrence of Type S1A Serine Proteases in Sponge and Jellyfish

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rojas, Ana; Doolittle, Russell F.

    2003-01-01

    Although serine proteases are found in all kinds of cellular organisms and many viruses, the classic "chymotrypsin family" (Group S1A by th e 1998 Barrett nomenclature) has an unusual phylogenetic distribution , being especially common in animals, entirely absent from plants and protists, and rare among fungi. The distribution in Bacteria is larg ely restricted to the genus Streptomyces, although a few isolated occ urrences in other bacteria have been reported. The family may be enti rely absent from Archaea. Although more than a thousand sequences have been reported for enzymes of this type from animals, none of them ha ve been from early diverging phyla like Porifera or Cnidaria, We now report the existence of Group SlA serine proteases in a sponge (phylu m Porifera) and a jellyfish (phylum Cnidaria), making it safe to conc lude that all animal groups possess these enzymes.

  15. Integration of Apollo Lunar Sample Data into Google Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawson, Melissa D.; Todd, Nancy S.; Lofgren, Gary

    2010-01-01

    The Google Moon Apollo Lunar Sample Data Integration project is a continuation of the Apollo 15 Google Moon Add-On project, which provides a scientific and educational tool for the study of the Moon and its geologic features. The main goal of this project is to provide a user-friendly interface for an interactive and educational outreach and learning tool for the Apollo missions. Specifically, this project?s focus is the dissemination of information about the lunar samples collected during the Apollo missions by providing any additional information needed to enhance the Apollo mission data on Google Moon. Apollo missions 15 and 16 were chosen to be completed first due to the availability of digitized lunar sample photographs and the amount of media associated with these missions. The user will be able to learn about the lunar samples collected in these Apollo missions, as well as see videos, pictures, and 360 degree panoramas of the lunar surface depicting the lunar samples in their natural state, following collection and during processing at NASA. Once completed, these interactive data layers will be submitted for inclusion into the Apollo 15 and 16 missions on Google Moon.

  16. GCR-Induced Photon Luminescence of the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, K. T.; Wilson, T. L.

    2008-01-01

    It is shown that the Moon has a ubiquitous photon luminescence induced by Galactic cosmic-rays (GCRs), using the Monte Carlo particle-physics program FLUKA. Both the fluence and the flux of the radiation can be determined by this method, but only the fluence will be presented here. This is in addition to thermal radiation emitted due to the Moon s internal temperature and radioactivity. This study is a follow-up to an earlier discussion [1] that addressed several misconceptions regarding Moonshine in the Earth-Moon system (Figure 1) and predicted this effect. There also exists a related x-ray fluorescence induced by solar energetic particles (SEPs, <350 MeV) and solar photons at lower x-ray energies, although this latter fluorescence was studied on Apollo 15 and 16 [2- 5], Lunar Prospector [6], and even EGRET [7].

  17. Motivation of Citizen Scientists Participating in Moon Zoo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Shanique; Gay, P. L.; Daus, C. S.

    2011-01-01

    Moon Zoo is an online citizen science project with the aim of providing detailed crater counts for as much of the Moon's surface as possible. In addition to focusing on craters, volunteers are encouraged to remain vigilant for sightings of atypical features which may lead to new discoveries. Volunteers accomplish these tasks by exploring images captured by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) which has a resolution of 50cm per pixel. To be successful, Moon Zoo needs to attract and retain a large population of citizen scientists. In this study, we examine the factors motivating Moon Zoo participants who invest many hours exploring these images. In this, the first of a two-phased study, we conducted a qualitative analysis using semi-structured interviews as a means of data collection. A stratified sample of participants was used in an attempt to uncover the driving forces behind decisions to participate from a wide-range of participants. Inquiring and probing questions were asked about factors which led volunteers to Moon Zoo as well as reasons which kept them committed to exploring the Moon's surface through this online portal. Responses were then categorized using a grounded theory approach, and frequency distributions are calculated where appropriate. Aggregate results from these interviews are presented here including the demographics of the sample and motivators as per the content analysis. The information gathered from this phase will be used to guide the development of an online survey to further explore volunteers’ motivation based on the presented classification schemes. The survey will then be used to guide future research and development in the area of citizen science in the field of astronomy. These findings will also be useful in charting new boundaries for future research.

  18. GLOBAL INSTABILITY OF THE EXO-MOON SYSTEM TRIGGERED BY PHOTO-EVAPORATION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Ming; Xie, Ji-Wei; Zhou, Ji-Lin; Liu, Hui-Gen; Zhang, Hui, E-mail: jwxie@nju.edu.cn, E-mail: zhoujl@nju.edu.cn [School of Astronomy and Space Science and Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics in Ministry of Education, Nanjing University, 210093 (China)

    2016-12-10

    Many exoplanets have been found in orbits close to their host stars and thus they are subject to the effects of photo-evaporation. Previous studies have shown that a large portion of exoplanets detected by the Kepler mission have been significantly eroded by photo-evaporation. In this paper, we numerically study the effects of photo-evaporation on the orbital evolution of a hypothesized moon system around a planet. We find that photo-evaporation is crucial to the stability of the moon system. Photo-evaporation can erode the atmosphere of the planet thus leading to significant mass loss. As the planet loses mass, its Hill radius shrinks and its moons increase their orbital semimajor axes and eccentricities. When some moons approach their critical semimajor axes, global instability of the moon system would be triggered, which usually ends up with two, one or even zero surviving moons. Some lost moons could escape from the moon system to become a new planet orbiting the star or run away further to become a free-floating object in the Galaxy. Given the destructive role of photo-evaporation, we speculate that exomoons are less common for close-in planets (<0.1 au), especially those around M-type stars, because they are more X-ray luminous and thus enhancing photo-evaporation. The lessons we learn in this study may be helpful for the target selection of on-going/future exomoon searching programs.

  19. Origin of the Moon new concept geochemistry and dynamics

    CERN Document Server

    Galimov, Erik M

    2012-01-01

    The origin of the Moon remains an unsolved problem of the planetary science. Researchers engaged in celestial dynamics, geophysics, and geochemistry are still discussing various models of creation of our closest cosmic neighbour. The most popular scenario, the impact hypothesis involving a collision early in the Earth's history, has been substantially challenged by the new data. The birth and development of a planet-moon system always play a role in the formation of an entire planetary system around our Sun or around another star. This way, the story of our Moon acquires broader ramifications

  20. MoonBEAM: Gamma-Ray Burst Detectors on SmallSAT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hui, C. M.; Briggs, M. S.; Goldstein, A. M.; Jenke, P. A.; Kocevski, D.; Wilson-Hodge, C. A.

    2018-01-01

    Moon Burst Energetics All-sky Monitor (MoonBEAM) is a CubeSat concept of deploying gamma-ray detectors in cislunar space to improve localization precision for gamma-ray bursts by utilizing the light travel time difference between a spacecraft in Earth and cislunar orbit. MoonBEAM is designed with high TRL components to be flight ready. This instrument would probe the extreme processes in cosmic collision of compact objects and facilitate multi-messenger time-domain astronomy to explore the end of stellar life cycles and black hole formations.

  1. Astrobiology Field Research in Moon/Mars Analogue Environments: Preface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foing, B. H.; Stoker, C.; Ehrenfreund, P.

    2011-01-01

    Extreme environments on Earth often provide similar terrain conditions to landing/operation sites on Moon and Mars. Several field campaigns (EuroGeoMars2009 and DOMMEX/ILEWG EuroMoonMars from November 2009 to March 2010) were conducted at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah. Some of the key astrobiology results are presented in this special issue on Astrobiology field research in Moon/Mars analogue environments relevant to investigate the link between geology, minerals, organics and biota. Preliminary results from a multidisciplinary field campaign at Rio Tinto in Spain are presented.

  2. ON THE DYNAMICS AND ORIGIN OF HAUMEA'S MOONS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ćuk, Matija [Carl Sagan Center, SETI Institute, 189 North Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043 (United States); Ragozzine, Darin [Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States); Nesvorný, David, E-mail: mcuk@seti.org [Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302 (United States)

    2013-10-01

    The dwarf planet Haumea has two large satellites, Namaka and Hi'iaka, which orbit at relatively large separations. Both moons have significant eccentricities and inclinations in a pattern that is consistent with a past orbital resonance. Based on our analysis, we find that the present system is not consistent with satellite formation close to the primary and tidal evolution through mean-motion resonances. We propose that Namaka experienced only limited tidal evolution, leading to the mutual 8:3 mean-motion resonance which redistributed eccentricities and inclinations between the moons. This scenario requires that the original orbit of Hi'iaka was mildly eccentric; we propose that this eccentricity was either primordial or acquired through encounters with other trans-Neptunian objects. Both dynamical stability and our preferred tidal evolution model imply that the moons' masses are only about one-half of previously estimated values, suggesting high albedos and low densities. Because the present orbits of the moons strongly suggest formation from a flat disk close to their present locations, we conclude that Hi'iaka and Namaka may be second-generation moons, formed after the breakup of a larger past moon, previously proposed as the parent body of the Haumea family. We derive plausible parameters of that moon, consistent with the current models of Haumea's formation. An interesting implication of this hypothesis is that Hi'iaka and Namaka may orbit retrograde with respect to Haumea's spin. Retrograde orbits of Haumea's moons would be in full agreement with available observations and our dynamical analysis, and could provide a unique confirmation of the ''disrupted satellite'' scenario for the origin of the family.

  3. The dark side of the moon: Impact of moon phases on long-term survival, mortality and morbidity of surgery for lung cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kuehnl A

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Objective Superstition is common and causes discomfiture or fear, especially in patients who have to undergo surgery for cancer. One superstition is, that moon phases influence surgical outcome. This study was performed to analyse lunar impact on the outcome following lung cancer surgery. Methods 2411 patients underwent pulmonary resection for lung cancer in the past 30 years at our institution. Intra-and postoperative complications as well as long-term follow-up data were entered in our lung-cancer database. Factors influencing mortality, morbidity and survival were analyzed. Results Rate of intra-operative complications as well as rate of post-operative morbidity and mortality was not significantly affected by moon phases. Furthermore, there was no significant impact of the lunar cycle on long-term survial. Conclusion In this study there was no evidence that outcome of surgery for lung cancer is affected by the moon. These results may help the physician to quite the mind of patients who are somewhat afraid of wrong timing of surgery with respect to the moon phases. However, patients who strongly believe in the impact of moon phase should be taken seriously and correct timing of operations should be conceded to them as long as key-date scheduling doesn't constrict evidence based treatment regimens.

  4. MOM-E: Moon-Orbiting Mothership Explorer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Gloria A.

    2010-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration proposed that a new class of robotic space missions and spacecrafts be introduced to "ensure that future missions are safe, sustainable and affordable". Indeed, the United States space program aims for a return to manned space missions beyond Earth orbit, and robotic explorers are intended to pave the way. This vision requires that all future missions become less costly, provide a sustainable business plan, and increase in safety. Over the course of several fast feasibility studies that considered the 3 drivers above, the small-scale, consumer-driven Moon-Orbiting Mothership Explorer (MOM-E) mission was born. MOM-E's goals are to enable space exploration by offering a scaled down platform which carries multiple small space explorers to the Moon. Each payload will be dropped at their desired destination, offering a competitive price to customers. MOM-E's current scope of operations is limited to the Moon and will be used as a proof of concept mission. However, MOM-E is specifically designed with the idea that the platform is scalable.

  5. MRS2016: Rigid Moon Rotation Series in the Relativistic Approximation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pashkevich, V. V.

    2017-03-01

    The rigid Moon rotation problem is studied for the relativistic (kinematical) case, in which the geodetic perturbations in the Moon rotation are taken into account. As the result of this research the high-precision Moon Rotation Series MRS2016 in the relativistic approximation was constructed for the first time and the discrepancies between the high-precision numerical and the semi-analytical solutions of the rigid Moon rotation were investigated with respect to the fixed ecliptic of epoch J2000, by the numerical and analytical methods. The residuals between the numerical solution and MRS2016 in the perturbing terms of the physical librations do not exceed 80 mas and 10 arc seconds over 2000 and 6000 years, respectively.

  6. Estimation of Gravitation Parameters of Saturnian Moons Using Cassini Attitude Control Flight Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krening, Samantha C.

    2013-01-01

    A major science objective of the Cassini mission is to study Saturnian satellites. The gravitational properties of each Saturnian moon is of interest not only to scientists but also to attitude control engineers. When the Cassini spacecraft flies close to a moon, a gravity gradient torque is exerted on the spacecraft due to the mass of the moon. The gravity gradient torque will alter the spin rates of the reaction wheels (RWA). The change of each reaction wheel's spin rate might lead to overspeed issues or operating the wheel bearings in an undesirable boundary lubrication condition. Hence, it is imperative to understand how the gravity gradient torque caused by a moon will affect the reaction wheels in order to protect the health of the hardware. The attitude control telemetry from low-altitude flybys of Saturn's moons can be used to estimate the gravitational parameter of the moon or the distance between the centers of mass of Cassini and the moon. Flight data from several low altitude flybys of three Saturnian moons, Dione, Rhea, and Enceladus, were used to estimate the gravitational parameters of these moons. Results are compared with values given in the literature.

  7. Sun, Moon and Earthquakes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolvankar, V. G.

    2013-12-01

    During a study conducted to find the effect of Earth tides on the occurrence of earthquakes, for small areas [typically 1000km X1000km] of high-seismicity regions, it was noticed that the Sun's position in terms of universal time [GMT] shows links to the sum of EMD [longitude of earthquake location - longitude of Moon's foot print on earth] and SEM [Sun-Earth-Moon angle]. This paper provides the details of this relationship after studying earthquake data for over forty high-seismicity regions of the world. It was found that over 98% of the earthquakes for these different regions, examined for the period 1973-2008, show a direct relationship between the Sun's position [GMT] and [EMD+SEM]. As the time changes from 00-24 hours, the factor [EMD+SEM] changes through 360 degree, and plotting these two variables for earthquakes from different small regions reveals a simple 45 degree straight-line relationship between them. This relationship was tested for all earthquakes and earthquake sequences for magnitude 2.0 and above. This study conclusively proves how Sun and the Moon govern all earthquakes. Fig. 12 [A+B]. The left-hand figure provides a 24-hour plot for forty consecutive days including the main event (00:58:23 on 26.12.2004, Lat.+3.30, Long+95.980, Mb 9.0, EQ count 376). The right-hand figure provides an earthquake plot for (EMD+SEM) vs GMT timings for the same data. All the 376 events including the main event faithfully follow the straight-line curve.

  8. The moon's origins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boss, P.; Benz, W.

    1987-01-01

    Planet formation theory is recalled. The different existing hypothesis on the moon's origins are reviewed also to see how much they are compatible with the planet formation theory. Up to now, the giant impact model seems to be the only model to satisfy all the constraints. Computerized simulation results have been presented in colloquiums and their scenarios are recalled [fr

  9. Dating the Moon: Teaching Lunar Stratigraphy and the Nature of Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Edward; Bell, Randy

    2013-01-01

    As our closest celestial neighbor, the Moon is a familiar and inspiring object to investigate using a small telescope, binoculars, or even photographs or one of the many high quality maps available online. The wondrously varied surface of the Moon--filled with craters, mountains, volcanic flows, scarps, and rilles--makes the Moon an excellent…

  10. Live from the Moon ExoLab: EuroMoonMars Simulation at ESTEC 2017

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neklesa, A.; Foing, B. H.; Lillo, A.; Evellin, P.; Kołodziejczyk, A.; Jonglez, C.; Heinicke, C.; Harasymczuk, M.; Authier, L.; Blanc, A.; Chahla, C.; Tomic, A.; Mirino, M.; Schlacht, I.; Hettrich, S.; Pacher, T.

    2017-10-01

    Space enthusiasts simulated the landing on the Moon having pre-landed Habitat ExoHab, ExoLab 2.0, supported by the control centre on Earth. We give here the first-hand experience from a reporter (A.N.) who joined the space crew.

  11. Non-rocket Earth-Moon transport system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolonkin, Alexander

    2003-06-01

    This paper proposes a new transportation system for travel between Earth and Moon. This transportation system uses mechanical energy transfer and requires only minimal energy, using an engine located on Earth. A cable directly connects a pole of the Earth through a drive station to the lunar surface_ The equation for an optimal equal stress cable for complex gravitational field of Earth-Moon has been derived that allows significantly lower cable masses. The required strength could be provided by cables constructed of carbon nanotubes or carbon whiskers. Some of the constraints on such a system are discussed.

  12. Nuclear technologies for Moon and Mars exploration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buden, D.

    1991-01-01

    Nuclear technologies are essential to successful Moon and Mars exploration and settlements. Applications can take the form of nuclear propulsion for transport of crews and cargo to Mars and the Moon; surface power for habitats and base power; power for human spacecraft to Mars; shielding and life science understanding for protection against natural solar and cosmic radiations; radioisotopes for sterilization, medicine, testing, and power; and resources for the benefits of Earth. 5 refs., 9 figs., 3 tabs

  13. The dynamically evolving nematocyst content of an anthozoan, a scyphozoan, and a hydrozoan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rachamim, Tamar; Morgenstern, David; Aharonovich, Dikla; Brekhman, Vera; Lotan, Tamar; Sher, Daniel

    2015-03-01

    Nematocytes, the stinging cells of cnidarians, are the most evolutionarily ancient venom apparatus. These nanosyringe-like weaponry systems reach pressures of approximately 150 atmospheres before discharging and punching through the outer layer of the prey or predator at accelerations of more than 5 million g, making them one of the fastest biomechanical events known. To gain better understanding of the function of the complex, phylum-specific nematocyst organelle, and its venom payload, we compared the soluble nematocyst's proteome from the sea anemone Anemonia viridis, the jellyfish Aurelia aurita, and the hydrozoan Hydra magnipapillata, each belonging to one of the three basal cnidarian lineages which diverged over 600 Ma. Although the basic morphological and functional characteristics of the nematocysts of the three organisms are similar, out of hundreds of proteins identified in each organism, only six are shared. These include structural proteins, a chaperone which may help maintain venon activity over extended periods, and dickkopf, an enigmatic Wnt ligand which may also serve as a toxin. Nevertheless, many protein domains are shared between the three organisms' nematocyst content suggesting common proteome functionalities. The venoms of Hydra and Aurelia appear to be functionally similar and composed mainly of cytotoxins and enzymes, whereas the venom of the Anemonia is markedly unique and based on peptide neurotoxins. Cnidarian venoms show evidence for functional recruitment, yet evidence for diversification through positive selection, common to other venoms, is lacking. The final injected nematocyst payload comprises a mixture of dynamically evolving proteins involved in the development, maturation, maintenance, and discharge of the nematocysts, which is unique to each organism and potentially to each nematocyst type. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved

  14. Supporting a Deep Space Gateway with Free-Return Earth-Moon Periodic Orbits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Genova, A. L.; Dunham, D. W.; Hardgrove, C.

    2018-02-01

    Earth-Moon periodic orbits travel between the Earth and Moon via free-return circumlunar segments and can host a station that can provide architecture support to other nodes near the Moon and Mars while enabling science return from cislunar space.

  15. Geographic envelope of the Moon and the identification of Moon landscapes with the use of the axiomatic method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyryliuk Serhii

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Three consequent concepts that build up the algorithm of the identification of modern landscapes on the Moon surface are suggested. They are anaglyphonosphere axiomatic and landscape concepts obtained with the use of the axiomatic method. The first concept depicts the geographic envelope of the Moon as an anaglyphonosphere layer (relief that is a continuum (total environment. The latter becomes the research subject for both a geomorphologist and a landscape researcher. Continuity, dynamics, range (amplitude, and erosion potential determine anaglyphonosphere. Axiomatic concept means constructing the sole scheme (mathematically determined of the search for the elementary surface units using the geometric interpretation of surface patterns of the Moon and its landscape interpretation. The landscape concept is based on the classical principles of the landscape theory and the axiomatic principles of the previous concept. The synthesis of concepts is implemented in the models of Moon landscapes of four scales: zero, linear, two- and three-dimensional. The paper offers the last two models of Davy Catena. Proposed concepts with appropriate correction can be used in parallel studies of the natural environment: geological, geomorphological, climatic, etc. The advantages of the axiomatic method consist in the objective approach to the division of the surface into specific units (the landscapes in our case. The proposed method of identifying and displaying the landscape complexes on the lunar surface can be a significant complement for the study and mapping of terrestrial planets, satellites of planet-giants, etc.

  16. CosmoQuest MoonMappers: Citizen Lunar Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gay, P. L.; Antonenko, I.; Robbins, S. J.; Bracey, G.; Lehan, C.; Moore, J.; Huang, D.

    2012-09-01

    The MoonMappers citizen science project is part of CosmoQuest, a virtual research facility designed for the public. CosmoQuest seeks to take the best aspects of a research center - research, seminars, journal clubs, and community discussions - and provide them to a community of citizen scientists through a virtual facility. MoonMappers was the first citizen science project within CosmoQuest, and is being used to define best practices in getting the public to effectively learn and do science.

  17. Moon Zoo - Examples of Interesting Lunar Morphology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, A. C.; Wilkinson, J.

    2012-09-01

    The MoonMappers citizen science project is part of CosmoQuest, a virtual research facility designed for the public. CosmoQuest seeks to take the best aspects of a research center - research, seminars, journal clubs, and community discussions - and provide them to a community of citizen scientists through a virtual facility. MoonMappers was the first citizen science project within CosmoQuest, and is being used to define best practices in getting the public to effectively learn and do science.

  18. Introduction to EGU session "Lunar Science and Exploration Towards Moon Village"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foing, Bernard

    2017-04-01

    The EGU PS2.2 session "Lunar Science and Exploration" Towards Moon Village" will address: - Recent lunar results: geochemistry, geophysics in the context of open planetary science and exploration - Synthesis of results from SMART-1, Kaguya, Chang'e 1, 2 and 3, Chandrayaan-1, LCROSS, LADEE, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and, Artemis and GRAIL - Goals and Status of missions under preparation: orbiters, Luna-Glob, Google Lunar X Prize, Luna Resurs polar lander, SLIM, Chandrayaan2, Chang'E 4 & 5, Lunar Resource Prospector, Future landers, Lunar sample return missions - Precursor missions, instruments and investigations for landers, rovers, sample return, and human cis-lunar activities and human lunar surface sorties - Preparation for International Lunar Decade: databases, instruments, missions, terrestrial field campaigns, support studies - ILEWG and Global Exploration roadmaps towards a global robotic/human Moon village - Strategic Knowledge Gaps, and key science Goals relevant to Lunar Global Exploration Lunar science and exploration are developing further with new and exciting missions being developed by China, the US, Japan, India, Russia, Korea and Europe, and with new stakeholders. The Moon Village is an open concept proposed by ESA DG with the goal of a sustainable human and robotic presence on the lunar surface as an ensemble where multiple users can carry out multiple activities. Multiple goals of the Moon Village include planetary science, life sciences, astronomy, fundamental research, resources utilisation, human spaceflight, peaceful cooperation, economical development, inspiration, training and capacity building. ESA director general has revitalized and enhanced the original concept of MoonVillage discussed in the last decade. Space exploration builds on international collaboration. COSPAR and its ILEWG International Lunar Exploration Working Group (created in 1994) have fostered collaboration between lunar missions [4-8]. A flotilla of lunar orbiters has

  19. Santa and the Moon

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Barthel, P.

    This article reflects on the use of illustrations of the Moon in images of Santa Claus, on Christmas gift-wrapping paper and in children's books, in two countries which have been important in shaping the image of Santa Claus and his predecessor Sinterklaas: the USA and the Netherlands. The

  20. Moon manned missions radiation safety analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tripathi, R. K.; Wilson, J. W.; de Anlelis, G.; Badavi, F. F.

    An analysis is performed on the radiation environment found on the surface of the Moon, and applied to different possible lunar base mission scenarios. An optimization technique has been used to obtain mission scenarios minimizing the astronaut radiation exposure and at the same time controlling the effect of shielding, in terms of mass addition and material choice, as a mission cost driver. The optimization process has been realized through minimization of mass along all phases of a mission scenario, in terms of time frame (dates, transfer time length and trajectory, radiation environment), equipment (vehicles, in terms of shape, volume, onboard material choice, size and structure), location (if in space, on the surface, inside or outside a certain habitats), crew characteristics (number, gender, age, tasks) and performance required (spacecraft and habitat volumes), radiation exposure annual and career limit constraint (from NCRP 132), and implementation of the ALARA principle (shelter from the occurrence of Solar Particle Events). On the lunar surface the most important contribution to radiation exposure is given by background Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) particles, mostly protons, alpha particles, and some heavy ions, and by locally induced particles, mostly neutrons, created by the interaction between GCR and surface material and emerging from below the surface due to backscattering processes. In this environment manned habitats are to host future crews involved in the construction and/or in the utilization of moon based infrastructure. Three different kinds of lunar missions are considered in the analysis, Moon Base Construction Phase, during which astronauts are on the surface just to build an outpost for future resident crews, Moon Base Outpost Phase, during which astronaut crews are resident but continuing exploration and installation activities, and Moon Base Routine Phase, with long-term shifting resident crews. In each scenario various kinds of habitats

  1. Early Dynamics of the Moon's Core

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuk, Matija; Hamilton, Douglas; Stewart, Sarah T.

    2018-04-01

    The Moon has a small molten iron core (Williams et al. 2006). Remanent magnetization in lunar rocks likely derives from a past lunar dynamo (Wieczorek 2018 and references therein), which may have been powered by differential precession between the mantle and the core. The rotations of the lunar mantle and core were largely decoupled for much of lunar history, with a large mutual offset during the Cassini State Transition (Meyer and Wisdom, 2011). It is likely that the past work underestimated lunar obliquities, and therefore core offsets, during early lunar history (Cuk et al. 2016). Here we investigate the dynamics of the lunar core and mantle using a Lie-Poisson numerical integrator (Touma and Wisdom 2001) which includes interactions between triaxial core and mantle, as well as all gravitational and tidal effects included in the model of Cuk et al. (2016). Since we assume a rigid triaxial mantle, this model is applicable to the Moon only once it has acquired its current shape, which probably happened before the Moon reached 25 Earth radii. While some details of the core dynamics depend on our assumptions about the shape of the lunar core-mantle boundary, we can report some robust preliminary findings. The presence of the core does not change significantly the evolutionary scenario of Cuk et al. (2016). The core and mantle are indeed decoupled, with the core having a much smaller obliquity to the ecliptic than the mantle for almost all of the lunar history. The core was largely in an equivalent of Cassini State 2, with the vernal equinoxes (wrt the ecliptic) of the core and the mantle being anti-aligned. The core-mantle spin axis offset has been very large during the Moon's first billion years (this is true both in canonical and high-inclination tidal evolution), causing the lunar core to be sub-synchronous. If the ancient lunar magnetic dipole was rotating around the core axis that was inclined to the Moon's spin axis, then the magnetic poles would move across

  2. Moons of the solar system from giant Ganymede to dainty Dactyl

    CERN Document Server

    Hall III, James A

    2016-01-01

    This book captures the complex world of planetary moons, which are more diverse than Earth's sole satellite might lead you to believe. New missions continue to find more of these planetary satellites, making an up to date guide more necessary than ever.  Why do Mercury and Venus have no moons at all? Earth's  Moon, of course, is covered in the book with highly detailed maps. Then we move outward to the moons of Mars, then on to many of the more notable asteroid moons, and finally to a list of less-notable ones. All the major moons of the gas giant planets are covered in great detail, while the lesser-known satellites of these worlds are also touched on.  Readers will learn of the remarkable trans-Neptunian Objects – Pluto, Eris, Sedna, Quaoar –including many of those that have been given scant attention in the literature. More than just objects to read about, the planets' satellites provide us with important information about the history of the solar system. Projects to help us learn more abo...

  3. Moon Zoo: Educating side-by-side with Doing Science (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gay, P. L.; Moon Zoo Team

    2010-12-01

    The Moon Zoo citizen science project (http://www.moonzoo.org) engages individuals - primarily members of the public - in identifying geological (and sometimes technological) features on the lunar surface. Using a flash-based interface that runs in a web browser, users can mark craters, linear features, and even left-behind lunar landers on Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images. These science tools are embedded in an environment designed to encourage learning and collaboration. On the main Moon Zoo site users can explore educational content, including video tutorials, articles, glossary terms, and flash interactive activities. Additionally, there is a blog and a forum to encourage collaboration and social learning, and a twitter feed for general communications. Through this suite of software Moon Zoo users can contribute to science while learning about the Moon and geology. The Moon Zoo educational content is designed with one purpose in mind: To make sure that a curious user can find information quickly, easily, and on (or within 1-click of) the Moon Zoo site. The Internet is filled with many excellent lunar educational products, and many high-quality digital products exist in offline archives. Finding desired resources, however, can sometimes be a challenge even for professional educators. In order to make finding content easier, we developed a glossary list and a basic concept map for our website that addresses geology, lunar exploration, observing, and the moon in history and culture, and then we populated these terms and concepts with already available materials. We also do things in a way that encourages both doing science tasks and learning at the same time! Specifically, we use pop-out audio and video players that allow users to listen, learn, and classify the lunar surface all at once. To try and understand our users better we are conducting both learning and motivations studies while also monitoring site usage. Our learning assessments use an assessment tool

  4. Impact History of the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, B. A.; Bottke, W. F.; Norman, M. V.; van der Bogert, C. H.; Fassett, C. I.; Hiesinger, H.; Joy, K. H.; Mazrouei, S. A.; Nemchin, A.; Neumann, G. A.; Zellner, N. E. B.

    2018-04-01

    Establishing an absolute planetary chronology has important ramifications for understanding the early structure of the solar system and the geologic history of the planets. The Moon is the cornerstone for understanding this impact history.

  5. Geochemical Constraints on the Size of the Moon-Forming Giant Impact

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piet, Hélène; Badro, James; Gillet, Philippe

    2017-12-01

    Recent models involving the Moon-forming giant impact hypothesis have managed to reproduce the striking isotopic similarity between the two bodies, albeit using two extreme models: one involves a high-energy small impactor that makes the Moon out of Earth's proto-mantle; the other supposes a gigantic collision between two half-Earths creating the Earth-Moon system from both bodies. Here we modeled the geochemical influence of the giant impact on Earth's mantle and found that impactors larger than 15% of Earth mass result in mantles always violating the present-day concentrations of four refractory moderately siderophile trace elements (Ni, Co, Cr, and V). In the aftermath of the impact, our models cannot further discriminate between a fully and a partially molten bulk silicate Earth. Then, the preservation of primordial geochemical reservoirs predating the Moon remains the sole argument against a fully molten mantle after the Moon-forming impact.

  6. OUTCOMES AND DURATION OF TIDAL EVOLUTION IN A STAR-PLANET-MOON SYSTEM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sasaki, Takashi; Barnes, Jason W.; O'Brien, David P.

    2012-01-01

    We formulated tidal decay lifetimes for hypothetical moons orbiting extrasolar planets with both lunar and stellar tides. Previous works neglected the effect of lunar tides on planet rotation, and are therefore applicable only to systems in which the moon's mass is much less than that of the planet. This work, in contrast, can be applied to the relatively large moons that might be detected around newly discovered Neptune-mass and super-Earth planets. We conclude that moons are more stable when the planet/moon systems are further from the parent star, the planets are heavier, or the parent stars are lighter. Inclusion of lunar tides allows for significantly longer lifetimes for a massive moon relative to prior formulations. We expect that the semimajor axis of the planet hosting the first detected exomoon around a G-type star is 0.4-0.6 AU and is 0.2-0.4 AU for an M-type star.

  7. Five Fabulous Flybys of the Small Inner Moons of Saturn by the Cassini Spacecraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buratti, B. J.; Momary, T.; Clark, R. N.; Brown, R. H.; Filacchione, G.; Mosher, J. A.; Baines, K. H.; Nicholson, P. D.

    2017-12-01

    The Saturn system possesses a number of small unique moons, including the coorbitals Janus and Epimetheus; the ring moons Pan and Daphnis; and Prometheus, Pandora, and Atlas, which orbit near the edge of the main ring system. During the last phases of the Cassini mission, when the spacecraft executed close passes to the F-ring of Saturn, five "best-ever" flybys of these moons occurred. Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Pandora, and Epimetheus were approached at distances ranging from 6000-40,000 km. The Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) captured data from the spectral range spanning 0.35-5.1 microns, as well as capturing solar phase angles not observed before. When combined with spectra from different regions of the moons obtained throughout the mission, the VIMS observations reveal substantial changes in the depth of water-ice absorption bands and color over the moons' surfaces. These measurements show the accretion of main-ring material onto the moons, with leading sides exhibiting stronger water-ice signatures in general. Atlas and Pandora have red visible spectra similar to the A-ring and unlike other icy moons, which are blue, further revealing accretion of main ring material onto the small inner moons. In general the visible spectra of the moons gets bluer with distance from Saturn until the surface of the moons is dominated by contamination from the E-ring, which is composed of fresh ice. There is a weak correlation between color and albedo, with lower-albedo moons being redder, suggesting the existence of a dark reddish contaminant from the main ring system. The solar phase curves of the moons are similar to those of larger icy moons (unfortunately no opposition surge data was gathered). 2017 California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged.

  8. Clementine Observes the Moon, Solar Corona, and Venus

    Science.gov (United States)

    1997-01-01

    In 1994, during its flight, the Clementine spacecraft returned images of the Moon. In addition to the geologic mapping cameras, the Clementine spacecraft also carried two Star Tracker cameras for navigation. These lightweight (0.3 kg) cameras kept the spacecraft on track by constantly observing the positions of stars, reminiscent of the age-old seafaring tradition of sextant/star navigation. These navigation cameras were also to take some spectacular wide angle images of the Moon.In this picture the Moon is seen illuminated solely by light reflected from the Earth--Earthshine! The bright glow on the lunar horizon is caused by light from the solar corona; the sun is just behind the lunar limb. Caught in this image is the planet Venus at the top of the frame.

  9. International lunar observatory / power station: from Hawaii to the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durst, S.

    Astronomy's great advantages from the Moon are well known - stable surface, diffuse atmosphere, long cool nights (14 days), low gravity, far side radio frequency silence. A large variety of astronomical instruments and observations are possible - radio, optical and infrared telescopes and interferometers; interferometry for ultra- violet to sub -millimeter wavelengths and for very long baselines, including Earth- Moon VLBI; X-ray, gamma-ray, cosmic ray and neutrino detection; very low frequency radio observation; and more. Unparalleled advantages of lunar observatories for SETI, as well as for local surveillance, Earth observation, and detection of Earth approaching objects add significant utility to lunar astronomy's superlatives. At least nine major conferences in the USA since 1984 and many elsewhere, as well as ILEWG, IAF, IAA, LEDA and other organizations' astronomy-from-the-Moon research indicate a lunar observatory / power station, robotic at first, will be one of the first mission elements for a permanent lunar base. An international lunar observatory will be a transcending enterprise, highly principled, indispensable, soundly and broadly based, and far- seeing. Via Astra - From Hawaii to the Moon: The astronomy and scie nce communities, national space agencies and aerospace consortia, commercial travel and tourist enterprises and those aspiring to advance humanity's best qualities, such as Aloha, will recognize Hawaii in the 21st century as a new major support area and pan- Pacific port of embarkation to space, the Moon and beyond. Astronomical conditions and facilities on Hawaii's Mauna Kea provide experience for construction and operation of observatories on the Moon. Remote and centrally isolated, with diffuse atmosphere, sub-zero temperature and limited working mobility, the Mauna Kea complex atop the 4,206 meter summit of the largest mountain on the planet hosts the greatest collection of large astronomical telescopes on Earth. Lunar, extraterrestrial

  10. First report of a thioredoxin homologue in jellyfish: molecular cloning, expression and antioxidant activity of CcTrx1 from Cyanea capillata.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zengliang Ruan

    Full Text Available Thioredoxins (Trx proteins are a family of small, highly-conserved and ubiquitous proteins that play significant roles in the resistance of oxidative damage. In this study, a homologue of Trx was identified from the cDNA library of tentacle of the jellyfish Cyanea capillata and named CcTrx1. The full-length cDNA of CcTrx1 was 479 bp with a 312 bp open reading frame encoding 104 amino acids. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the putative CcTrx1 protein harbored the evolutionarily-conserved Trx active site 31CGPC34 and shared a high similarity with Trx1 proteins from other organisms analyzed, indicating that CcTrx1 is a new member of Trx1 sub-family. CcTrx1 mRNA was found to be constitutively expressed in tentacle, umbrella, oral arm and gonad, indicating a general role of CcTrx1 protein in various physiological processes. The recombinant CcTrx1 (rCcTrx1 protein was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3, and then purified by affinity chromatography. The rCcTrx1 protein was demonstrated to possess the expected redox activity in enzymatic analysis and protection against oxidative damage of supercoiled DNA. These results indicate that CcTrx1 may function as an important antioxidant in C. capillata. To our knowledge, this is the first Trx protein characterized from jellyfish species.

  11. Natural radioactivity of the rocks from the Moon and planets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Surkov, Yu.A. (AN SSSR, Moscow. Inst. Geokhimii i Analiticheskoj Khimii)

    1982-01-01

    Tha data on natural radioactivity of rocks (U, Th and K contents) from the Moon, Venus and Mars obtained by means of cosmic means are analyzed. The Moon rock radioactivity has been measured in situ (from orbital vehicles) as well as in the samples of lunar material delivered to the Earth and as for Venus and Mars rocks - by landing vehicles. It has been found that the main specific feature of the Moon and the Earth group planets is the presence of two geomorphological types of the structure of their surface composed by two different types of the matter. The ancient continent regions are made up by feldspar rock - gabbroanorthosite at the Moon (and possibly at the Mars) and granite-metamorphic at the Earth (and possibly at the Venus). The younger ''marine'' regions are composed by basalt rock. The presence at the Moon of two types of crust (marine and continental ones) having a different nature is clearly reflected on the Moon radioactivity map where marine regions (15% of the total surface) which have high radioactivity and continental regions with a relatively low radioactivity can be seen. The discovery of rocks on the Venus surface highly enriched by U, Th and K speaks of their melting from the primary matter in the depth of the Earth. The Marsian rock by the natural radioelement content is close to igneous rocks of the Earth crust of the basic composition and lunar marine basalts.

  12. Natural radioactivity of the rocks from the Moon and planets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Surkov, Yu.A.

    1982-01-01

    Tha data on natural radioactivity of rocks (U, Th and K contents) from the Moon, Venus and Mars obtained by means of cosmic means are analyzed. The Moon rock radioactivity has been measured in situ (from orbital vehicles) as well as in the samples of lunar material delivered to the Earth and as for Venus and Mars rocks - by landing vehicles. It has been found that the main specific feature of the Moon and the Earth group planets is the presence of two geomorphological types of the structure of their surface composed by two different types of the matter. The ancient contineent regions are made up by feldspar rock - gabbroanorthosite at the Moon (and possibly at the Mars) and granite-metamorphic at the Earth (and possibly at the Venus). The younger ''marine'' regions are composed by basalt rock. The presence at the Moon of two types of crust (marine and continental ones) having a different nature is clearly reflected on the Moon radioactivity map where marine regions (15% of the total surface) which have high radioactivity and continental regions with a relatively low radioactivity can be seen. The discovery of rocks on the Venus surface highly enriched by U, Th and K speaks of their melting from the primary matter in the depth of the Earth. The Marsian rock by the natural radioelement content is close to igneous rocks of the Earth crust of the basic composition and lunar marine basalts

  13. Science on the Moon: The Wailing Wall of Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Thomas

    Science on and from the Moon has important implications for expanding human knowledge and understanding, a prospect for the 21st Century that has been under discussion for at least the past 25 years [1-3]. That having been said, however, there remain many issues of international versus national priorities, strategy, economy, and politics that come into play. The result is a very complex form of human behavior where science and exploration take center stage, but many other important human options are sacrificed. To renew this dialogue about the Moon, it seems we are already rushing pell-mell into it as has been done in the past. The U.S., Japan, China, India, and Russia either have sent or plan to send satellites and robotic landers there at this time. What does a return to the Moon mean, why are we doing this now, who should pay for it, and how? The only semblance of such a human enterprise seems to be the LHC currently coming online at CERN. Can it be used as a model of international collaboration rather than a sports or military event focused on national competition? Who decides and what is the human sacrifice? There are compelling arguments for establishing science on the Moon as one of the primary goals for returning to the Moon and venturing beyond. A number of science endeavors will be summarized, beyond lunar and planetary science per se. These include fundamental physics experiments that are background-limited by the Earth's magnetic dipole moment and noise produced by its atmosphere and seismic interior. The Moon is an excellent platform for some forms of astronomy. Other candidate Moon-based experiments vary from neutrino and gravitational wave astronomy, particle astrophysics, and cosmic-ray calorimeters, to space physics and fundamental physics such as proton decay. The list goes on and includes placing humans in a hostile environment to study the long-term effects of space weather. The list is long, and even newer ideas will come from this COSPAR

  14. Electron holes observed in the Moon Plasma Wake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchinson, I. H.; Malaspina, D.; Zhou, C.

    2017-10-01

    Electrostatic instabilities are predicted in the magnetized wake of plasma flowing past a non-magnetic absorbing object such as a probe or the moon. Analysis of the data from the Artemis satellites, now orbiting the moon at distances ten moon radii and less, shows very clear evidence of fast-moving isolated solitary potential structures causing bipolar electric field excursions as they pass the satellite's probes. These structures have all the hallmarks of electron holes: BGK solitons typically a few Debye-lengths in size, self-sustaining by a deficit of phase-space density on trapped orbits. Electron holes are now observed to be widespread in space plasmas. They have been observed in PIC simulations of the moon wake to be the non-linear consequence of the predicted electron instabilities. Simulations document hole prevalence, speed, length, and depth; and theory can explain many of these features from kinetic analysis. The solar wind wake is certainly the cause of the overwhelming majority of the holes observed by Artemis, because we observe almost all holes to be in or very near to the wake. We compare theory and simulation of the hole generation, lifetime, and transport mechanisms with observations. Work partially supported by NASA Grant NNX16AG82G.

  15. The Moon as a unifying sociological attraction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbieri, C.; Pachera, S.; Ciucci, A.

    We propose to develop an economic, fully automated telescope to equip a variety of public and private buildings, such as disco dancings, pubs, resting houses, hospitals, schools etc., optimized to image and project the Moon, both in daylight and nightime. We strongly believe that the wide spread conscience of being part of a common Universe, by imaging the real Moon ( not a series of computer files) and following its changing course, distributed in places where the soul is usually taken in a wave of loneliness, can have a profound effect. In fact, living such an experience of observation in places where people of all ages usually meet, can help them to mix up socially and have fun and acquire new interests and fulfillment. They could confront their doubts, opinions, curiosity. The Moon is the natural choice, being visible even in polluted cities, it comes to the Zenith of a large band on the Earth encompassing each emisphere, it has deeply rooted meanings in all civilizations, and it is therefore the perfect astronomical object towards which humanity should direct its view above the ground. The possibility of the instrument to zoom in and out and to move across the surface of the Moon or to observe in real time the slowly moving line of the terminator, is intended just for the sheer wonder of it. No didactic use is meant to begin with, although interest is sure to be stimulated and may be followed up in many ways. Our object is indeed to make young and older people throughout the world feel our satellite nearer and more familiar in the shapes and names of its features, truly a constant presence in our everyday natural surroundings. When the time will come for human coloniz ation, the Moon could no longer be considered such an extraneous, exotic and faraway new home. The telescope can be built in very large quantities by a variety of firms practically even in underdeveloped countries, easily automated and connected to the world wide web.

  16. Taking Europe To The Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-03-01

    The first step in this ESA initiated programme is a unique project called 'Euromoon 2000' which is currently being studied by ESA engineers/ scientists and key European Space Industries. The project is intended to celebrate Europe's entry into the New Millennium; and to promote public awareness and interest in science, technology and space exploration. Euromoon 2000 has an innovative and ambitious implementation plan. This includes a 'partnership with industry' and a financing scheme based on raising part of the mission's budget from sponsorship through a dynamic public relations strategy and marketing programme. The mission begins in earnest with the small (approx. 100 kg) LunarSat orbiter satellite, to be designed and built by 50 young scientists and engineers from across Europe. Scheduled for launch in 2000 as a secondary payload on a European Ariane 5 rocket, it will then orbit the Moon, mapping the planned landing area in greater detail in preparation of the EuroMoon Lander in 2001. The Lander's 40 kg payload allocation will accommodate amongst others scientific instrumentation for in-situ investigation of the unique site. Elements of specific support to the publicity and fund-raising campaign will also be considered. The Lander will aim for the 'Peak of Eternal Light' on the rim of the 20 km-diameter, 3 km-deep Shackleton South Pole crater - a site uniquely suited for establishing a future outpost. This location enjoys almost continuous sunlight thus missions can rely on solar power instead of bulky batteries or costly and potentially hazardous nuclear power generation. As a consequence of the undulating South Pole terrain there are also permanently shadowed areas - amongst the coldest in the Solar System resulting in conditions highly favourable for the formation of frozen volatiles (as suggested by the Clementine mission in 1994). Earlier this year (7th January 1998), NASA launched its Lunar Prospector satellite which is currently performing polar lunar

  17. Formation, habitability, and detection of extrasolar moons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heller, René; Williams, Darren; Kipping, David; Limbach, Mary Anne; Turner, Edwin; Greenberg, Richard; Sasaki, Takanori; Bolmont, Emeline; Grasset, Olivier; Lewis, Karen; Barnes, Rory; Zuluaga, Jorge I

    2014-09-01

    The diversity and quantity of moons in the Solar System suggest a manifold population of natural satellites exist around extrasolar planets. Of peculiar interest from an astrobiological perspective, the number of sizable moons in the stellar habitable zones may outnumber planets in these circumstellar regions. With technological and theoretical methods now allowing for the detection of sub-Earth-sized extrasolar planets, the first detection of an extrasolar moon appears feasible. In this review, we summarize formation channels of massive exomoons that are potentially detectable with current or near-future instruments. We discuss the orbital effects that govern exomoon evolution, we present a framework to characterize an exomoon's stellar plus planetary illumination as well as its tidal heating, and we address the techniques that have been proposed to search for exomoons. Most notably, we show that natural satellites in the range of 0.1-0.5 Earth mass (i) are potentially habitable, (ii) can form within the circumplanetary debris and gas disk or via capture from a binary, and (iii) are detectable with current technology.

  18. Science on the Moon: The Wailing Wall of Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Thomas

    2008-01-01

    Science on and from the Moon has important implications for expanding human knowledge and understanding, a prospect for the 21st Century that has been under discussion for at least the past 25 years. That having been said, however, there remain many issues of international versus national priorities, strategy, economy, and politics that come into play. The result is a very complex form of human behavior where science and exploration take center stage, but many other important human options are sacrificed. To renew this dialogue about the Moon, it seems we are already rushing pell-mell into it as has been done in the past. The U.S., Japan, China, India, and Russia either have sent or plan to send satellites and robotic landers there at this time. What does a return to the Moon mean, why are we doing this now, who should pay for it, and how? The only semblance of such a human enterprise seems to be the LHC currently coming online at CERN. Can it be used as a model of international collaboration rather than a sports or military event focused on national competition? Who decides and what is the human sacrifice? There are compelling arguments for establishing science on the Moon as one of the primary goals for returning to the Moon and venturing beyond. A number of science endeavors will be summarized, beyond lunar and planetary science per se. These include fundamental physics experiments that are background-limited by the Earth's magnetic dipole moment and noise produced by its atmosphere and seismic interior. The Moon is an excellent platform for some forms of astronomy. Other candidate Moon-based experiments vary from neutrino and gravitational wave astronomy, particle astrophysics, and cosmic-ray calorimeters, to space physics and fundamental physics such as proton decay. The list goes on and includes placing humans in a hostile environment to study the long-term effects of space weather. The list is long, and even newer ideas will come from this COSPAR conference

  19. Effect of Venom from the Jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai on the Silkworm Bombyx mori L.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Huahua; Li, Rongfeng; Chen, Xiaolin; Yue, Yang; Xing, Ronge; Liu, Song; Li, Pengcheng

    2015-09-24

    The silkworm Bombyx mori L. (B. mori) has a significant impact on the economy by producing more than 80% of the globally produced raw silk. The exposure of silkworm to pesticides may cause adverse effects on B. mori, such as a reduction in the production and quality of silk. This study aims to assay the effect of venom from the jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai on growth, cuticle and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity of the silkworm B. mori by the leaf dipping method. The experimental results revealed that the four samples caused neither antifeeding nor a lethal effect on B. mori. The sample SFV inhibited B. mori growth after 6 days of treatment in a dose-dependent manner. The samples SFV, DSFV and Fr-1 inhibited the precipitation and synthesis of chitin in the cuticle after 12 and 14 days of treatment. In the case of the four samples, the AChE was significantly improved after 14 days of treatment.

  20. Magmatism on the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michaut, Chloé; Thorey, Clément; Pinel, Virginie

    2016-04-01

    Volcanism on the Moon is dominated by large fissure eruptions of mare basalt and seems to lack large, central vent, shield volcanoes as observed on all the other terrestrial planets. Large shield volcanoes are constructed over millions to several hundreds of millions of years. On the Moon, magmas might not have been buoyant enough to allow for a prolonged activity at the same place over such lengths of time. The lunar crust was indeed formed by flotation of light plagioclase minerals on top of the lunar magma ocean, resulting in a particularly light and relatively thick crust. This low-density crust acted as a barrier for the denser primary mantle melts. This is particularly evident in the fact that subsequent mare basalts erupted primarily within large impact basins where at least part of the crust was removed by the impact process. Thus, the ascent of lunar magmas might have been limited by their reduced buoyancy, leading to storage zone formation deep in the lunar crust. Further magma ascent to shallower depths might have required local or regional tensional stresses. Here, we first review evidences of shallow magmatic intrusions within the lunar crust of the Moon that consist in surface deformations presenting morphologies consistent with models of magma spreading at depth and deforming an overlying elastic layer. We then study the preferential zones of magma storage in the lunar crust as a function of the local and regional state of stress. Evidences of shallow intrusions are often contained within complex impact craters suggesting that the local depression caused by the impact exerted a strong control on magma ascent. The depression is felt over a depth equivalent to the crater radius. Because many of these craters have a radius less than 30km, the minimum crust thickness, this suggests that the magma was already stored in deeper intrusions before ascending at shallower depth. All the evidences for intrusions are also preferentially located in the internal

  1. Formation and growth of embryos of the Earth-Moon system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ipatov, Sergei I.

    2016-07-01

    Galimov and Krivtsov [1] made computer simulations of the formation of the embryos of the Earth and the Moon as a result of contraction of a rarefied condensation. The angular momentum needed for such contraction could not be acquired during formation of the condensation from a protoplanetary disk. Using the formulas presented in [2], we obtained that the angular momentum of the present Earth-Moon system could be acquired at a collision of two rarefied condensations with a total mass not smaller than 0.1M_{e}, where M_{e} is the Earth mass. In principle, the angular momentum of the condensation needed for formation of the Earth-Moon system could be acquired by accumulation only of small objects, but for such model, the parental condensations of Venus and Mars could also get the angular momentum that was enough for formation of large satellites. Probably, the condensations that contracted and formed the embryos of the terrestrial planets other than the Earth did not collide with massive condensations, and therefore they did not get a large enough angular momentum needed to form massive satellites. The embryos formed as a result of contraction of the condensation grew by accumulation of solid planetesimals. The mass of the rarefied condensation that was a parent for the embryos of the Earth and the Moon could be relatively small (0.02M_{e} or even less), if we take into account the growth of the angular momentum of the embryos at the time when they accumulated planetesimals. There could be also the second main collision of the parental rarefied condensation with another condensation, at which the radius of the Earth's embryo condensation was smaller than the semi-major axis of the orbit of the Moon's embryo. The second main collision (or a series of similar collisions) could change the tilt of the Earth to its present value. For large enough eccentricities of planetesimals, the effective radii of proto-Earth and proto-Moon were proportional to r (where r is the

  2. How Apollo Flew to the Moon

    CERN Document Server

    Woods, W. David

    2008-01-01

    Out of the technological battlefield of World War II came a team of gifted German engineers and designers who developed the vengeance weapon, the V-2, which evolved into the peaceful, powerful Saturn V rocket to take men to the Moon. David Woods tells the exciting story, starting from America’s post war astronautical research facilities, that used the V-2 for the development of the robust, resilient and reliable Saturn V launcher. He describes the initial launches through manned orbital spaceflights, comprehensively detailing each step, including computer configuration, the role of ground control, trajectory planning, lunar orbiting, separation of the lander, walking and working on the Moon, retrieval of the lunar astronauts and returning to Earth in this massive technical accomplishment.

  3. Precursor life science experiments and closed life support systems on the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez, A.; Paille, C.; Rebeyre, P.; Lamaze, B.; Lobo, M.; Lasseur, C.

    Nowadays the Moon is not only a scientific exploration target but also potentially also a launch pad for deeper space exploration. Establishing an extended human presence on the Moon could reduce the cost of further space exploration, and gather the technical and scientific experience that would make possible the next steps of space exploration, namely manned-missions to Mars. To enable the establishment of such a Moon base, a reliable and regenerative life support system (LSS) is required: without any recycling of metabolic consumables (oxygen, water and food), a 6-person crew during the course of one year would require a supply of 12t from Earth (not including water for hygiene purposes), with a prohibitive associated cost! The recycling of consumables is therefore mandatory for a combination of economic, logistical and also safety reasons. Currently the main regenerative technologies used, namely water recycling in the ISS, are physical-chemical but they do not solve the issue of food production. In the European Space Agency, for the last 15 years, studies are being performed on several life support topics, namely in air revitalisation, food, water and waste management, contaminants, monitoring and control. Ground demonstration, namely the MELiSSA Pilot Plant and Concordia Station, and simulation studies demonstrated the studies feasibility and the recycling levels are promising. To be able to build LSS in a Moon base, the temperature amplitude, the dust and its 14-day night, which limits solar power supply, should be regarded. To reduce these technical difficulties, a landing site should be carefully chosen. Considering the requirements of a mission to the Moon and within the Aurora programme phase I, a preliminary configuration for a regenerative LSS can be proposed as an experiment for a precursor mission to the Moon. An overview of the necessary LSS to a Moon base will be presented, identifying Moon?s specific requirements and showing preliminary

  4. There are days ... and moons. Self-poisoning is not lunacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckley, N A; Whyte, I M; Dawson, A H

    To determine whether there are significant circadian, weekly or lunar variations in self-poisoning presentations and whether patients' names or dates of birth have an influence on the likelihood of self-poisoning by analysing biorhythms, numerology and star sign. Hunter Valley, Australia. Consecutive adult patients admitted with self-poisoning between January 1987 and June 1993. There were 2215 patients admitted. There was a marked circadian variation. Over 6% of all admissions occurred in each of the hours between 6 p.m. and 1 a.m. compared with less than 2% per hour between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. This pattern was not different for patients with a diagnosis of depression. Numerology, biorhythms and star signs had no significant correlations with self-poisoning, nor was there a significant weekly or yearly variation in presentations. There was a small but statistically significant sex difference in presentations analysed by lunar phases. At the new moon 60% of self-poisonings were in women, compared with 45% when the moon was full. The odds ratios (OR) for women to be admitted at full moon and at new moon were 1.27 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92-1.66; P value not significant) and 0.73 (95% CI, 0.57-0.92; P = 0.009) respectively. The mean illumination of the moon at the time of overdose was 50.63% +/- 0.91% for men, compared with 47.45% +/- 0.85% for women (P = 0.014). The circadian cycle (but not weekly, yearly or mystical cycles) should be taken into account when determining staffing levels for poison information and casualty services. The full moon is protective for women.

  5. The Origin of the Moon Within a Terrestrial Synestia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lock, Simon J.; Stewart, Sarah T.; Petaev, Michail I.; Leinhardt, Zoë; Mace, Mia T.; Jacobsen, Stein B.; Cuk, Matija

    2018-04-01

    The giant impact hypothesis remains the leading theory for lunar origin. However, current models struggle to explain the Moon's composition and isotopic similarity with Earth. Here we present a new lunar origin model. High-energy, high-angular-momentum giant impacts can create a post-impact structure that exceeds the corotation limit, which defines the hottest thermal state and angular momentum possible for a corotating body. In a typical super-corotation-limit body, traditional definitions of mantle, atmosphere, and disk are not appropriate, and the body forms a new type of planetary structure, named a synestia. Using simulations of cooling synestias combined with dynamic, thermodynamic, and geochemical calculations, we show that satellite formation from a synestia can produce the main features of our Moon. We find that cooling drives mixing of the structure, and condensation generates moonlets that orbit within the synestia, surrounded by tens of bars of bulk silicate Earth vapor. The moonlets and growing moon are heated by the vapor until the first major element (Si) begins to vaporize and buffer the temperature. Moonlets equilibrate with bulk silicate Earth vapor at the temperature of silicate vaporization and the pressure of the structure, establishing the lunar isotopic composition and pattern of moderately volatile elements. Eventually, the cooling synestia recedes within the lunar orbit, terminating the main stage of lunar accretion. Our model shifts the paradigm for lunar origin from specifying a certain impact scenario to achieving a Moon-forming synestia. Giant impacts that produce potential Moon-forming synestias were common at the end of terrestrial planet formation.

  6. ISS as testbed towards food production on the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuebler, Ulrich; Thallemer, Axel; Kern, Peter; Schwarzwaelder, Achim

    Almost all major space faring nations are presently investigating concepts for the exploration of extra terrestrial planetary bodies, including Earth's Moon and Mars. One major objective to sustain any human exploration plans will be the provision of fresh food. Even if a delivery from Earth to Moon is still possible with regular preservation techniques as for the international space station, there will be a big psychological impact from the ability to grow fresh food on a Moon Basis. Various architectural and agricultural concepts have been proposed. A comprehensive summary of the related requirements and constraints shall be presented as a baseline for further studies. One presently unknown constraint is the question of the gravity threshold for the genetic stability of plants or more specifically the level of gravity which is needed for normal growth and reproduction of plants. This paper shall focus on a roadmap towards a food production facility a planetary surface using the International Space Station as a test bed. Presented will be 1.) The concept of a Food Research Rotor for the artificial gravity facility EMCS. This Rotor shall allow the investigation into the gravity dependence of growth and reproduction of nutritionally relevant plants like radishes, tomatoes, bell peppers or lettuce. An important answer from this research could be if the Moon Gravity of 1/6g is sufficient for a vegetative food production or if additional artificial gravity is needed for a Moon Greenhouse. 2.) An inflatable demonstrator for ATV as scaled down version of a proposed planetary greenhouse

  7. "The Moon Village and Journey to Mars enable each other"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beldavs, Vidvuds

    2016-07-01

    NASA has proposed the Journey to Mars, a multi-decade collaborative international effort to establish permanent manned operations on the Martian surface as well as in orbit, most likely on the Martian moons. NASA's proposed the Journey to Mars has come under politically motivated attack as illusory, as beyond NASA's capabilities and anticipated NASA budgets in the foreseeable future. [1]. Other concerns come from various communities of researchers concerned about securing sustaining funding for their largely robotic research missions. ESA's Director General Dietrich Woerner's proposed Moon Village faces challenges ESA member states concerned about sustaining funding for projects already underway or in planning. Both the Journey to Mars and Moon Village raise the question - who will or who can pay for it? The 2013 US Research Council study suggested potential benefits to a mission to Mars from activities on the Moon [2]. The NASA funded Flexible Lunar Architecture study came to similar conclusions using a different methodology [3]. A logistics analysis by an MIT team suggested the possibility of cost savings through use of lunar water for propellant to reach Mars [4]. The highly promising private-public financing approach has been examined for potential application to funding the costs of reaching Mars [5]. Insofar as the feasibility of utilization of lunar water has not been determined these conclusions are speculative. This study will examine the following alternative scenarios for establishing sustainable, manned operations on Mars and permanent manned operations on the Moon: A. NASA-led Journey to Mars without an ESA-led Moon Village B. ESA-led Moon Village without NASA-led Journey to Mars C. NASA-led Journey to Mars with an ESA-led Moon Village D. Shared Infrastructure scenario - NASA-led Journey to Mars with ESA-led Moon Village and with a potential JAXA-led space-based-solar power initiative E. Space Industrialization scenario - Shared Infrastructure scenario

  8. Comparative study of the hemolytic and cytotoxic activities of nematocyst venoms from the jellyfish Cyanea nozakii Kishinouye and Nemopilema nomurai Kishinouye

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pang, Min; Xu, Jintao; Liu, Yunlong; Zhang, Xuelei

    2017-10-01

    Two species of jellyfish, Cyanea nozakii Kishinouye and Nemopilema nomurai Kishinouye, have occurred off coastal areas of the northeastern China Sea, Yellow Sea, and Bohai Sea in recent years. They influence marine ecosystem safety and fishery production, and also pose a risk to human health. The current study examined the hemolytic and cytotoxic activities of crude venoms extracted from the nematocysts of C. nozakii and N. nomurai. The results showed that there were more nematocysts on tentacles from C. nozakii than on tentacles of the same length from N. nomurai. The protein concentration per nematocyst extracted from N. nomurai was higher than that from C. nozakii. Both nematocyst venoms showed dose- and time-dependent hemolytic activity on erythrocytes from chicken, pigeon, and sheep, with sheep erythrocytes being the most sensitive, with EC50 values of 69.69 and 63.62 μg/mL over a 30-min exposure with N. nomurai and C. nozakii nematocyst venoms, respectively. A cytotoxic assay of both jellyfish venoms on A431 human epidermal carcinoma cells resulted in IC50 values of 68.6 and 40.9 μg/mL after 24-h incubation, respectively, with venom from C. nozakii showing stronger cytotoxic activity than that from N. nomurai. The results of current study indicate that nematocyst venom from C. nozakii had stronger hemolytic and cytotoxic activities than that from N. nomurai and, thus, C. nozakii might be more harmful to the health of humans and other species than are N. nomurai when they appear in coastal waters.

  9. Insights into three whole-genome duplications gleaned from the Paramecium caudatum genome sequence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGrath, Casey L; Gout, Jean-Francois; Doak, Thomas G; Yanagi, Akira; Lynch, Michael

    2014-08-01

    Paramecium has long been a model eukaryote. The sequence of the Paramecium tetraurelia genome reveals a history of three successive whole-genome duplications (WGDs), and the sequences of P. biaurelia and P. sexaurelia suggest that these WGDs are shared by all members of the aurelia species complex. Here, we present the genome sequence of P. caudatum, a species closely related to the P. aurelia species group. P. caudatum shares only the most ancient of the three WGDs with the aurelia complex. We found that P. caudatum maintains twice as many paralogs from this early event as the P. aurelia species, suggesting that post-WGD gene retention is influenced by subsequent WGDs and supporting the importance of selection for dosage in gene retention. The availability of P. caudatum as an outgroup allows an expanded analysis of the aurelia intermediate and recent WGD events. Both the Guanine+Cytosine (GC) content and the expression level of preduplication genes are significant predictors of duplicate retention. We find widespread asymmetrical evolution among aurelia paralogs, which is likely caused by gradual pseudogenization rather than by neofunctionalization. Finally, cases of divergent resolution of intermediate WGD duplicates between aurelia species implicate this process acts as an ongoing reinforcement mechanism of reproductive isolation long after a WGD event. Copyright © 2014 by the Genetics Society of America.

  10. Trace element evidence for a laterally inhomogeneous moon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jovanovic, S.; Reed, G.W. Jr.

    1978-01-01

    A number of trace element interrelations support the concept of a laterally inhomogeneous moon based orginally in Cl/sub r//P 2 O 5 ratios. The correspondence between Cl/sub r//P 2 O 5 and Rb/Sr ratios in basalts are of special interest since the isotopic evolution of the latter pair of elements relates to the earliest history of the moon. This implies the times when the Cl/sub r//P 2 O 5 relations were established. The early magma ocean is conjectured to have been made up of nonintermixing seas resulting either from large convection cells or large body accretion. These mutually exclusive regions could be lunar geological provinces. It is proposed that the diversity of basalts from the Apollo 17 site is related to the lateral inhomogeneity of the moon. Ca/Na ratios in basalts show a trend which parallels that of Ru/Os and in a corresponding fashion may serve as a depth indicator. 4 figures, 4 tables, 12 references

  11. Jellyfish stinging is driven by the moving front of the nematocyst's tubule

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shavit, Uri; Park, Sinwook; Piriatinskiy, Gadi; Yossifon, Gilad; Lotan, Tamar

    2017-11-01

    Nematocysts are ultra-fast stinging organelles that are utilized by the Cnidaria phylum for prey capture, defense and locomotion. They consist of a capsule and a tubule and exert high pressure and acceleration to penetrate the target organism. Previous studies report that the ejection and elongation of the tubule are driven by a buildup of osmotic potential in the capsule. We question this explanation using a microfluidic system that controls the osmotic potential by directing the tubule through oil, where no osmotic potential can develop, while keeping the capsule in water. It was found that the time needed for elongation through oil is orders of magnitude larger than through water. Our mathematical model shows that the p γGlu concentration in the tubule is higher than in the capsule and the internal pressure that develops there serves as the elongation driving force. These findings imply that modifications of the environment along the tubule route have the potential to slow down the process and reduce its impact. This may shed light on prey defense strategies, human protection against jellyfish stinging, the use of nematocysts for drug delivery and exploration of osmotic based methods for nanotubes production and elongation.

  12. Tidal Friction in the Earth-Moon System and Laplace Planes: Darwin Redux

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubincam, David P.

    2015-01-01

    The dynamical evolution of the Earth-Moon system due to tidal friction is treated here. George H. Darwin used Laplace planes (also called proper planes) in his study of tidal evolution. The Laplace plane approach is adapted here to the formalisms of W.M. Kaula and P. Goldreich. Like Darwin, the approach assumes a three-body problem: Earth, Moon, and Sun, where the Moon and Sun are point-masses. The tidal potential is written in terms of the Laplace plane angles. The resulting secular equations of motion can be easily integrated numerically assuming the Moon is in a circular orbit about the Earth and the Earth is in a circular orbit about the Sun. For Earth-Moon distances greater than 10 Earth radii, the Earth's approximate tidal response can be characterized with a single parameter, which is a ratio: a Love number times the sine of a lag angle divided by another such product. For low parameter values it can be shown that Darwin's low-viscosity molten Earth, M. Ross's and G. Schubert's model of an Earth near melting, and Goldreich's equal tidal lag angles must all give similar histories. For higher parameter values, as perhaps has been the case at times with the ocean tides, the Earth's obliquity may have decreased slightly instead of increased once the Moon's orbit evolved further than 50 Earth radii from the Earth, with possible implications for climate. This is contrast to the other tidal friction models mentioned, which have the obliquity always increasing with time. As for the Moon, its orbit is presently tilted to its Laplace plane by 5.2deg. The equations do not allow the Moon to evolve out of its Laplace plane by tidal friction alone, so that if it was originally in its Laplace plane, the tilt arose with the addition of other mechanisms, such as resonance passages.

  13. The Electrostatic Environments of the Moon and Mars: Implications for Human Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calle, Carlos I.; Mackey, Paul J.; Johansen, Michael R.; Hogue, Michael D.; Phillips, James; Cox, Rachel E.

    2016-01-01

    Lacking a substantial atmosphere, the moon is exposed to the full spectrum of solar radiation as well as to cosmic rays. Electrostatically, the moon is a charged body in a plasma. A Debye sheet meters high on the dayside of the moon and kilometers high on the night side envelops the moon. This sheet isolates the lunar surface from high energy particles coming from the sun. The electrostatic environment on Mars is controlled by its ever present atmospheric dust. Dust devils and dust storms tribocharge this dust. Theoretical studies predict that lightning and/or glow discharges should be present on Mars, but none have been directly observed. Experiments are planned to shed light on this issue.

  14. The Moon In The Classic Maya World

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romano, Giuliano

    During the Classic Period of the Maya civilization (250-900 A.D.) we have many documents in which it is possible to see the interest of this people on the principal lunar phenomena as the phases and the eclipses in particular. On a number of stelae, lintels and many other inscriptions (in Copan, Quirigua, Tikal, etc.), we can see that in correspondence of the dedication date of the monument, the Maya point out the phase of the Moon and its position in a period of six months corresponding to half year of eclipse. In some parts of the Dresda Codex (one of the four original codices of the Maya) we can see some pages in which were indicated the days of the Tzolkin calendar (the religious calendar of 260 days) in which it is possible to observe a lunar or solar eclipse. The periods of 177 or 148 days are allotted in a sequence that corresponds to the exact interval between the eclipses. The accuracy in the observations and in the calculations of the phases of the Moon, also in very old epochs, is an interesting evidence of the fundamental importance of the Moon in the Maya civilisation.

  15. Astronaut Aldrin is photographed by Astronaut Armstrong on the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    Apollo 11 Onboard Film -- The deployment of scientific experiments by Astronaut Edwin Aldrin Jr. is photographed by Astronaut Neil Armstrong. Man's first landing on the Moon occurred today at 4:17 p.m. as Lunar Module 'Eagle' touched down gently on the Sea of Tranquility on the east side of the Moon.

  16. Shooting the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrews, Daniel R.

    2011-01-01

    This story is about an unlikely NASA mission to the Moon. It was unlikely because it was started with far too little time and too-little money to complete. It was unlikely because it was able to take chances to accept risk of failure. It was unlikely because it was searching for the unthinkable: water-ice on the moon... Figure 1-1: LCROSS Mission. The mission of the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was to investigate the possibility of water ice in craters on the Moon s poles. This is certainly an interesting scientific topic in itself, but I intend to focus on the compelling experience of managing the LCROSS Project in the context of this storied Agency. Perhaps most interesting are the implications this story has for managing any development effort, lunar or not, and working a balance to achieve success. NASA is by design a risk-taking agency within the US Government. It could be argued that NASA s purpose in the aerospace community is to take on the really big challenges that either the corporate world can t afford, are not yet profitable endeavors, or are just too risky for private corporations to entertain. However, expectations of the Agency have evolved. A combination of grim human tragedies and some very public cost and schedule overruns have challenged the public s and Congress s tolerance for risk-taking within the Agency. NASA, which is supposed to be in the business of taking risks to do bold, difficult things, has become less and less able to do so within its cost framework. Yet effectively replacing prudent risk management with attempts to "risk-eliminate" is completely unaffordable. So where does risk-taking fit within the Agency, or within private/corporate organizations for that matter? Where astronauts play there is clearly concern about risk. When an organization puts humans in harm s way, it is understandably going to take extra effort to assure nobody gets hurt. Doing so, of course, costs money - a lot of money to pay for

  17. Europe rediscovers the Moon with SMART-1

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-08-01

    The whole story began in September 2003, when an Ariane 5 launcher blasted off from Kourou, French Guiana, to deliver the European Space Agency’s lunar spacecraft SMART-1 into Earth orbit. SMART-1 is a small unmanned satellite weighing 366 kilograms and roughly fitting into a cube just 1 metre across, excluding its 14-metre solar panels (which were folded during launch). After launch and injection into an elliptical orbit around the Earth, the gentle but steady push provided by the spacecraft’s highly innovative electric propulsion engine forcefully expelling xenon gas ions caused SMART-1 to spiral around the Earth, increasing its distance from our planet until, after a long journey of about 14 months, it was “captured” by the Moon’s gravity. To cover the 385,000 km distance that separates the Earth from the Moon if one travelled in a straight line, this remarkably efficient engine brought the spacecraft on a 100 million km long spiralling journey on only 60 litres of fuel! The spacecraft was captured by the Moon in November 2004 and started its scientific mission in March 2005 in an elliptical orbit around its poles. ESA’s SMART-1 is currently the only spacecraft around the Moon, paving the way for the fleet of international lunar orbiters that will be launched from 2007 onwards. The story is now close to ending. On the night of Saturday 2 to Sunday 3 September, looking at the Moon with a powerful telescope, one may be able to see something special happening. Like most of its lunar predecessors, SMART-1 will end its journey and exploration of the Moon by landing in a relatively abrupt way. It will impact the lunar surface in an area called the “Lake of Excellence”, situated in the mid-southern region of the Moon’s visible disc at 07:41 CEST (05:41 UTC), or five hours before if it finds an unknown peak on the way. The story is close to ending After 16 months harvesting scientific results in an elliptical orbit around the Moon’s poles (at

  18. Human Space Exploration: The Moon, Mars, and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sexton, Jeffrey D.

    2007-01-01

    America is returning to the Moon in preparation for the first human footprint on Mars, guided by the U.S. Vision for Space Exploration. This presentation will discuss NASA's mission, the reasons for returning to the Moon and going to Mars, and how NASA will accomplish that mission in ways that promote leadership in space and economic expansion on the new frontier. The primary goals of the Vision for Space Exploration are to finish the International Space Station, retire the Space Shuttle, and build the new spacecraft needed, to return people to the Moon and go to Mars. The Vision commits NASA and the nation to an agenda of exploration that also includes robotic exploration and technology development, while building on lessons learned over 50 years of hard-won experience. Why the Moon? Many questions about the Moon's potential resources and how its history is linked to that of Earth were spurred by the brief Apollo explorations of the 1960s and 1970s. This new venture will carry more explorers to more diverse landing sites with more capable tools and equipment for extended expeditions. The Moon also will serve as a training ground before embarking on the longer, more difficult trip to Mars. NASA plans to build a lunar outpost at one of the lunar poles, learn to live off the land, and reduce dePendence on Earth for longer missions. America needs to extend its ability to survive in hostile environments close to our home planet before astronauts will reach Mars, a planet very much like Earth. NASA has worked with scientists to define lunar exploration goals and is addressing the opportunities for a range of scientific study on Mars. In order to reach the Moon and Mars within a lifetime and within budget, NASA is building on common hardware, shared knowledge, and unique experience derived from the Apollo Saturn, Space Shuttle and contemporary commercial launch vehicle programs. The journeys to the Moon and Mars will require a variety of vehicles, including the Ares I

  19. Surface material of the moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren, C.R.

    1963-01-01

    A skeletal fuzz that consists mostly of open space probably covers the moon to a depth of several millimeters or centimeters. The solid part of the fuzz probably consists of randomly oriented linear units, with or without enlarged nodes, which either anastomose in a mesh or are branching.

  20. Low energy trajectories for the Moon-to-Earth space flight

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The Moon-to-Earth low energy trajectories of 'detour' type are found and studied within the frame ... km from the Earth where the Sun gravitation decreases the particle orbit perigee distance to a small value .... The solid curve in fig- ... the Moon, respectively, as is the semimajor axis .... inclination i0 = 90 .... Then, according to.

  1. Origin of the Moon Unveiled by its Heavy Iron Isotope Composition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poitrasson, F.; Halliday, A. N.; Lee, D.; Levasseur, S.; Teutsch, N.

    2002-12-01

    The origin of the Moon has long been of interest and although the Giant Impact theory is currently the preferred explanation, unequivocal supporting evidence has been lacking. We have measured the iron isotope compositions of Shergotty-Nakhla-Chassigny meteorites and eucrites thought to come from Mars and Vesta, as well as samples from the Moon and the mafic Earth using high precision plasma source mass spectrometry. The mean iron isotope composition of the lunar samples, expressed in the conventional delta notation (d57Fe/54Fe) with respect to the IRMM-14 isotopic standard, is heavier (0.221 per mil (0.041: one standard deviation, 10 samples)) than those of the Earth (0.119 per mil (0.044, 7 samples)), which themselves are heavier than Martian meteorites (0.009 per mil (0.024, 6 samples)) and the eucrites measured (0.033 per mil (0.038, 7 samples)). Student's t-test calculations show that the Moon and Earth means are different from each other and from those of the other planetary bodies at >99% level of significance. The iron isotope compositions show no simple relationship with planetary heliocentric position, mantle oxygen fugacity, volatile content, or planet size. Similarly, these results do not support an origin of the Moon through co-accretion with the Earth, or as a fragment ejected from the Earth's mantle, or as another planet captured by the early Earth. In contrast, these data can be explained if the Earth, and especially the Moon, went through partial vaporisation and condensation leading to kinetic iron isotopic fractionation. Our data are also consistent with the suggested levels of enrichment of refractory elements for the bulk Earth and Moon. These new iron isotope results thus provide strong support for the origin of the Moon through a giant impact between the proto-Earth and another planet. Raleigh kinetic fractionation calculations indicate that only 1% loss of the current Fe budget of the Moon is required to explain its heavier isotopic

  2. Un nuevo fragmento de la Tabvla Hebana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    González, Julián

    2000-12-01

    Full Text Available The author describes a small fragment of bronze found some years ago at the site of Carissa Aurelia, in the province of Cádiz, containing the remains of four lines of text, matching those of 11. 19-22 of the Tabula Hebana or lex Valeria Aurelia.El autor presenta un pequeño fragmento de bronce que fue encontrado hace ya algunos años en el yacimiento de Carissa Aurelia, en la provincia de Cádiz, que contiene restos de cuatro líneas de texto, coincidentes con las 11. 19-22 de la Tabula Hebana o lex Valeria Aurelia.

  3. Europa the ocean moon : search for an alien biosphere

    CERN Document Server

    Greenberg, Richard

    2004-01-01

    Europa - The Ocean Moon tells the story of the Galileo spacecraft probe to Jupiter's moon, Europa. It provides a detailed description of the physical processes, including the dominating tidal forces that operate on Europa, and includes a comprehensive tour of Europa using images taken by Galileo's camera. The book reviews and evaluates the interpretative work carried out to date, providing a philosophical discussion of the scientific process of analyzing results and the pitfalls that accompany it. It also examines the astrobiological constraints on this possible biosphere, and implications for future research, exploration and planetary biological protection. Europa - The Ocean Moon provides a unique understanding of the Galileo images of Europa, discusses the theory of tidal processes that govern its icy ridged and disrupted surface, and examines in detail the physical setting that might sustain extra-terrestrial life in Europa's ocean and icy crust.

  4. The extreme ultraviolet albedos of the planet Mercury and of the moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, H. H.; Broadfoot, A. L.

    1977-01-01

    The albedo of the moon in the far UV was measured by Mariner 10 at a solar phase angle of 74 deg, and the geometric albedo of Mercury was measured in same wavelength range (584-1657 A) at solar phase angles ranging from 50 to 120 deg. For both the moon and Mercury there is a general increase in albedo for wavelengths decreasing from 1657 to 584 A. The ratio of the albedos of Mercury and the moon increases from about 0.6 to 0.8 in the range 600-1600 A. This merely points to a difference in the surfaces of the moon and Mercury, there being insufficient data to make any conclusions regarding the nature of the difference.

  5. Seasonal variation of macromedusae (Cnidaria at North Bay, Florianópolis, southern Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miodeli Nogueira Júnior

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Seasonal variation of large medusae abundance and biomass was studied in the North Bay, Santa Catarina, southern Brazil (27°30'S, 48° 32'W, from February to December 2005. Collecting was conducted seasonally with the help of fishing bottom trawl in 30-minute sections (12 in summer, 18 in each of the remaining seasons in six stations, totaling 66 samples. Eight species were found: the hydrozoans Aequorea sp., Olindias sambaquiensis Müller, 1861, and Rhacostoma atlantica L. Agassiz, 1850; the cubozoans Chiropsalmus quadrumanus (Müller, 1859 and Tamoya haplonema Müller, 1859, and the scyphozoans Aurelia sp., Chrysaora lactea Eschscholtz, 1829 and Lychnorhiza lucerna Haeckel, 1880. Capture rates were low, up to 38 indiv. ha-1, and only ~47% of the samples were positive for jellyfish, comprising 206 individuals. Medusae abundance and species richness clearly changed from one season to another, but did not vary between the sites. Higher species richness (7 out of 8 and greater abundances were recorded during the fall (~60% and 72% of all medusae individuals and biomass respectively. Specific frequency of capture varied from 1.5 to 29% and C. lactea was the only species found in more than 25% of the samples. The three most common species dominated in different periods of the year: C. lactea during fall (78% of individuals and 60% of biomass, R. atlantica during winter (90% of individuals and 17% of biomass, and O. sambaquiensis in spring (78% of individuals and 40% of biomass. Only two individuals were caught during summer, one C. lactea and one R. atlantica. The results offer a general picture of the distribution of the macromedusae in the North Bay, but a continuous monitoring is desirable for a more detailed knowledge on the jellyfish dynamics in the Brazilian coastal waters.

  6. Moon Trek: An Interactive Web Portal for Current and Future Lunar Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Day, B.; Law, E.

    2017-09-01

    NASA's Moon Trek (https://moontrek.jpl.nasa.gov) is the successor to and replacement for NASA's Lunar Mapping and Modeling Portal (LMMP). Released in 2017, Moon Trek features a new interface with improved ways to access, visualize, and analyse data. Moon Trek provides a web-based Portal and a suite of interactive visualization and analysis tools to enable mission planners, lunar scientists, and engineers to access mapped lunar data products from past and current lunar missions.

  7. Definition of Physical Height Systems for Telluric Planets and Moons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tenzer, Robert; Foroughi, Ismael; Sjöberg, Lars E.; Bagherbandi, Mohammad; Hirt, Christian; Pitoňák, Martin

    2018-01-01

    In planetary sciences, the geodetic (geometric) heights defined with respect to the reference surface (the sphere or the ellipsoid) or with respect to the center of the planet/moon are typically used for mapping topographic surface, compilation of global topographic models, detailed mapping of potential landing sites, and other space science and engineering purposes. Nevertheless, certain applications, such as studies of gravity-driven mass movements, require the physical heights to be defined with respect to the equipotential surface. Taking the analogy with terrestrial height systems, the realization of height systems for telluric planets and moons could be done by means of defining the orthometric and geoidal heights. In this case, however, the definition of the orthometric heights in principle differs. Whereas the terrestrial geoid is described as an equipotential surface that best approximates the mean sea level, such a definition for planets/moons is irrelevant in the absence of (liquid) global oceans. A more natural choice for planets and moons is to adopt the geoidal equipotential surface that closely approximates the geometric reference surface (the sphere or the ellipsoid). In this study, we address these aspects by proposing a more accurate approach for defining the orthometric heights for telluric planets and moons from available topographic and gravity models, while adopting the average crustal density in the absence of reliable crustal density models. In particular, we discuss a proper treatment of topographic masses in the context of gravimetric geoid determination. In numerical studies, we investigate differences between the geodetic and orthometric heights, represented by the geoidal heights, on Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Moon. Our results reveal that these differences are significant. The geoidal heights on Mercury vary from - 132 to 166 m. On Venus, the geoidal heights are between - 51 and 137 m with maxima on this planet at Atla Regio and Beta

  8. Solar sail trajectory design in the Earth-Moon circular restricted three body problem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Das, Ashwati

    The quest to explore the Moon has helped resolve scientific questions, has spurred leaps in technology development, and has revealed Earth's celestial companion to be a gateway to other destinations. With a renewed focus on returning to the Moon in this decade, alternatives to chemical propulsion systems are becoming attractive methods to efficiently use scarce resources and support extended mission durations. Thus, an investigation is conducted to develop a general framework, that facilitates propellant-free Earth-Moon transfers by exploiting sail dynamics in combination with advantageous transfer options offered in the Earth-Moon circular restricted multi-body dynamical model. Both periodic orbits in the vicinity of the Earth-Moon libration points, and lunar-centric long-term capture orbits are incorporated as target destinations to demonstrate the applicability of the general framework to varied design scanarios, each incorporating a variety of complexities and challenges. The transfers are comprised of three phases - a spiral Earth escape, a transit period, and, finally, the capture into a desirable orbit in the vicinity of the Moon. The Earth-escape phase consists of spiral trajectories constructed using three different sail steering strategies - locally optimal, on/off and velocity tangent. In the case of the Earth-libration point transfers, naturally occurring flow structures (e.g., invariant manifolds) arising from the mutual gravitational interaction of the Earth and Moon are exploited to link an Earth departure spiral with a destination orbit. In contrast, sail steering alone is employed to establish a link between the Earth-escape phase and capture orbits about the Moon due to a lack of applicable natural structures for the required connection. Metrics associated with the transfers including flight-time and the influence of operational constraints, such as occultation events, are investigated to determine the available capabilities for Earth-Moon

  9. Sediments Of The Moon And Earth As End-Members For Comparative Planetology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basu, Abhijit; Molinaroli, Emanuela

    Processes of production, transport, deposition, lithification, and preservation of sediments of the Moon and Earth are extremely different. The differences arise primarily from the dissimilarity in the origins and sizes of the Moon and Earth. The consequence is that the Moon does not have an atmosphere, a hydrosphere (the Moon is totally dry), a biosphere (the Moon is totally life-less), a magnetosphere, and any tectonic force. Pristine rocks on the exposed surface of the Moon are principally anorthositic and basaltic, but those on the Earth are granitic (discounting suboceanic rocks). Sediments on these two bodies probably represent two end-members on rocky planetary bodies. Sediments on other rocky planetary bodies (atmosphere-free Mercury and asteroids, Venus with a thick atmosphere but possibly no water on its surface, and Mars with a currently dry surface sculptured by running water in the past) are intermediate in character. New evidence suggests that characteristics of Martian sediments may be in-between those of the Moon and Earth. For example, impacts generate most Martian sediments as on the Moon, and, Martian sediments are wind-blown to form dunes as on Earth. A comparative understanding of sediments of the Moon and Earth helps us anticipate and interpret the sedimentary record of other planetary bodies. Impact processes, large and small, have produced the sediments of the Moon. Unlike Earth, the surface of the Moon is continuously bombarded by micrometeorites and solar wind. Processes of chemical and mechanical weathering aided by biological activity produce sediments on Earth, fixing a significant amount of carbon in the solid state. Whereas solar wind produces minor chemical changes in lunar sediments, chemical weathering significantly alters and affects the character of Earth sediments. Primarily ballistic and electrostatic forces transport lunar sediments but Earth sediments are transported by air, water, and ice. Whereas Earth sediments accumulate

  10. Mars via the Moon the next giant leap

    CERN Document Server

    Seedhouse, Erik

    2016-01-01

    MOMENTUM IS BUILDING for a return to the Moon. NASA’s international partners on the International Space Station are in favor of returning to the lunar surface, as are India and China. The horizon goal may be Mars, but the political, funding and the technological and medical infeasibility of such an objective means the next logical step is a return to the Moon. While much has been learned about the Moon over the years, we don’t understand its resource wealth potential and the technologies to exploit those resources have yet to be developed, but there are a number of companies that are developing these capabilities. And, with the discovery of water in the lunar polar regions, plans are in the works to exploit these resources for fuel for transportation operations in cis-lunar space and in low Earth orbit (LEO). The time has come for commercial enterprise to lead the way back to the lunar surface. Embarking on such a venture requires little in the way of new technologies. We don’t need to develop super-fas...

  11. Low energy trajectories for the Moon-to-Earth space flight

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The Moon-to-Earth low energy trajectories of `detour'type are found and studied within the frame of the Moon –Earth –Sun-particle system. ... This results in the particle flight to a distance of about 1.5 million km from the Earth where the Sun gravitation decreases the particle orbit perigee distance to a small value that leads to ...

  12. Radio Astronomy on and Around the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falcke, Heino; Klein Wolt, Mark; Ping, Jinsong; Chen, Linjie

    2018-06-01

    The exploration of remote places on other planets has now become a major goal in current space flight scenarios. On the other hand, astronomers have always sought the most remote and isolated sites to place their observatories and to make their most precise and most breath taking discoveries. Especially for radio astronomy, lunar exploration offers a complete new window to the universe. The polar region and the far-side of the moon are acknowledged as unique locations for a low-frequency radio telescope providing scientific data at wavelengths that cannot be obtained from the Earth nor from single satellites. Scientific areas to be covered range from radio surveys, to solar-system studies, exo-planet detection, and astroparticle physics. The key science area, however, is the detection and measurement of cosmological 21 cm hydrogen emission from the still unexplored dark ages of the universe. Developing a lunar radio facility can happen in steps and may involve small satellites, rover-based radio antennas, of free- flying constellations around the moon. A first such step could be the Netherlands-Chinese Long Wavelength Explorer (NCLE), which is supposed to be launched in 2018 as part of the ChangE’4 mission to the moon-earth L2 point.

  13. Capture of terrestrial-sized moons by gas giant planets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Darren M

    2013-04-01

    Terrestrial moons with masses >0.1 M (symbol in text) possibly exist around extrasolar giant planets, and here we consider the energetics of how they might form. Binary-exchange capture can occur if a binary-terrestrial object (BTO) is tidally disrupted during a close encounter with a giant planet and one of the binary members is ejected while the other remains as a moon. Tidal disruption occurs readily in the deep gravity wells of giant planets; however, the large encounter velocities in the wells make binary exchange more difficult than for planets of lesser mass. In addition, successful capture favors massive binaries with large rotational velocities and small component mass ratios. Also, since the interaction tends to leave the captured moons on highly elliptical orbits, permanent capture is only possible around planets with sizable Hill spheres that are well separated from their host stars.

  14. Earthlike planets: Surfaces of Mercury, Venus, earth, moon, Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murray, B.; Malin, M. C.; Greeley, R.

    1981-01-01

    The surfaces of the earth and the other terrestrial planets of the inner solar system are reviewed in light of the results of recent planetary explorations. Past and current views of the origin of the earth, moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars are discussed, and the surface features characteristic of the moon, Mercury, Mars and Venus are outlined. Mechanisms for the modification of planetary surfaces by external factors and from within the planet are examined, including surface cycles, meteoritic impact, gravity, wind, plate tectonics, volcanism and crustal deformation. The origin and evolution of the moon are discussed on the basis of the Apollo results, and current knowledge of Mercury and Mars is examined in detail. Finally, the middle periods in the history of the terrestrial planets are compared, and future prospects for the exploration of the inner planets as well as other rocky bodies in the solar system are discussed.

  15. Complementary specificity of restriction endonucleases of Diplococcus pneumoniae with respect to DNA methylation. [Haemophilus influenzae, Escherichia coli, Paramecium aurelia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lacks, S.; Greenberg, B.

    1977-01-01

    Restriction endonucleases Dpn I and Dpn II are produced by two distinct strains of Diplococcus pneumoniae. The two enzymes show complementary specificity with respect to methylation of sites in DNA. From the identity of its cleavage site with that of Mbo I, it appears that Dpn II cleaves at the unmodified sequence 5'-G-A-T-C-3'. Dpn I cleaves at the same sequence when the adenine residue is methylated. Both enzymes produce only double-strand breaks in susceptible DNA. Their susceptibility to Dpn I and not Dpn II shows that essentially all the G-A-T-C sequences are methylated in DNA from the pneumococcal strain that produces Dpn II as well as in DNA from Hemophilus influenzae and Escherichia coli. In the dam-3 mutant of E. coli none of these sequences appear to be methylated. Residual adenine methylation in the dam-3 mutant DNA most likely occurs at different sites. Different but characteristic degrees of methylation at G-A-T-C sites are found in the DNA of bacterial viruses grown in E. coli. DNAs from mammalian cells and viruses are not methylated at this sequence. Mitochondrial DNA from Paramecium aurelia is not methylated, but a small proportion of G-A-T-C sequences in the macronuclear DNA of this eukaryote appear to be methylated. Possible roles of sequence-specific methylation in the accommodation of plasmids, in the replication of DNA, in the regulation of gene function and in the restriction of viral infection are discussed.

  16. Cosmic acceleration of Earth and the Moon by dark matter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordtvedt, Kenneth L.

    1994-01-01

    In order to test the hypothesis that the gravitational interaction between our Galaxy's dark matter and the ordinary matter in Earth and the Moon might not fulfill the equivalence principle (universality of free fall), we consider the pertinent perturbation of the lunar orbit -- a sidereal month period range oscillation resulting from a spatially fixed polarization of the orbit. Lunar laser ranging (LLR) data can measure this sidereal perturbation to an accuracy equal to or better than its existing measurement of the synodic month period range oscillation amplitude (+/- 3 cm) which has been used for testing whether Earth and the Moon accelerate at equal rates toward the Sun. Because of the slow precession rate of the Moon's perigree (8.9 yr period), the lunar orbit is particularly sensitive to a cosmic acceleration; the LLR fit of the orbit places an upper limit of 10(exp -13) cm/sq. s for any cosmic differential acceleration between Earth (Fe) and the Moon (silicates). This is 10(exp -5) of the total galactic acceleration of the solar system, of which, it has been suggested, a large portion is produced by dark matter.

  17. The MOON-1 detector construction and the study of backgrounds from radioactive isotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogama, T; Nakamura, H; Ejiri, H; Fushimi, K; Ichihara, K; Matsuoka, K; Nomachi, M; Hazama, R; Umehara, S; Yoshida, S; Sakiuchi, T; Hai, V H; Sugaya, Y

    2006-01-01

    MOON is a multilayer system of plastic scintillators and 100 Mo films for 100 Mo 0νββ decays. A prototype detector MOON-1 was built with 6 layers of plastic scintillators and 142g of 100Mo films for background (BG), energy and position resolution studies of the MOON detector. No serious BG from natural radioactive isotopes (RI) for 0νββ detection was found

  18. The full moon and motorcycle related mortality: population based double control study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redelmeier, Donald A; Shafir, Eldar

    2017-12-11

    To test whether a full moon contributes to motorcycle related deaths. Population based, individual level, double control, cross sectional analysis. Nighttime (4 pm to 8 am), United States. 13 029 motorcycle fatalities throughout the United States, 1975 to 2014 (40 years). Motorcycle fatalities during a full moon. 13 029 motorcyclists were in fatal crashes during 1482 relevant nights. The typical motorcyclist was a middle aged man (mean age 32 years) riding a street motorcycle with a large engine in a rural location who experienced a head-on frontal impact and was not wearing a helmet. 4494 fatal crashes occurred on the 494 nights with a full moon (9.10/night) and 8535 on the 988 control nights without a full moon (8.64/night). Comparisons yielded a relative risk of 1.05 associated with the full moon (95% confidence interval 1.02 to 1.09, P=0.005), a conditional odds ratio of 1.26 (95% confidence interval 1.17 to 1.37, Pmotorcycle crashes, although potential confounders cannot be excluded. An awareness of the risk might encourage motorcyclists to ride with extra care during a full moon and, more generally, to appreciate the power of seemingly minor distractions at all times. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  19. International Lunar Observatory Association Advancing 21st Century Astronomy from the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durst, Steve

    2015-08-01

    Long considered a prime location to conduct astronomical observations, the Moon is beginning to prove its value in 21st Century astronomy through the Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope aboard China’s Chang’e-3 Moon lander and through the developing missions of the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA). With 24 hours / Earth day of potential operability facilitating long-duration observations, the stable platform of the lunar surface and extremely thin exosphere guaranteeing superior observation conditions, zones of radio-quiet for radio astronomy, and the resources and thermal stability at the lunar South Pole, the Moon provides several pioneering advantages for astronomy. ILOA, through MOUs with NAOC and CNSA, has been collaborating with China to make historic Galaxy observations with the Chang’e-3 LUT, including imaging Galaxy M101 in December 2014. LUT has an aperture of 150mm, covers a wavelength range of 245 to 340 nanometers and is capable of detecting objects at a brightness down to 14 mag. The success of China’s mission has provided support and momentum for ILOA’s mission to place a 2-meter dish, multifunctional observatory at the South Pole of the Moon NET 2017. ILOA also has plans to send a precursor observatory instrument (ILO-X) on the inaugural mission of GLXP contestant Moon Express. Advancing astronomy and astrophysics from the Moon through public-private and International partnerships will provide many valuable research opportunities while also helping to secure humanity’s position as multi world species.

  20. Human factors for the Moon: the gap in anthropometric data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lia Schlacht, Irene; Foing, Bernard H.; Rittweger, Joern; Masali, Melchiorre; Stevenin, Hervé

    2016-07-01

    Since the space era began, we learned first to survive and then to live in space. In the state of the art, we know how important human factors research and development is to guarantee maximum safety and performance for human missions. With the extension of the duration of space missions, we also need to learn how habitability and comfort factors are closely related to safety and performance. Humanities disciplines such as design, architecture, anthropometry, and anthropology are now involved in mission design from the start. Actual plans for building a simulated Moon village in order to simulate and test Moon missions are now being carried out using a holistic approach, involving multidisciplinary experts cooperating concurrently with regard to the interactions among humans, technology, and the environment. However, in order to implement such plans, we need basic anthropometrical data, which is still missing. In other words: to optimize performance, we need to create doors and ceilings with dimensions that support a natural human movement in the reduced gravity environment of the Moon, but we are lacking detailed anthropometrical data on human movement on the Moon. In the Apollo missions more than 50 years ago, no anthropometrical studies were carried in hypogravity out as far as we know. The necessity to collect data is very consistent with state-of-the-art research. We still have little knowledge of how people will interact with the Moon environment. Specifically, it is not known exactly which posture, which kind of walking and running motions astronauts will use both inside and outside a Moon station. Considering recent plans for a Moon mission where humans will spend extensive time in reduced gravity conditions, the need for anthropometric, biomechanics and kinematics field data is a priority in order to be able to design the right architecture, infrastructure, and interfaces. Objective of this paper: Bring knowledge on the relevance of anthropometrical and

  1. To the Moon on a Shoestring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mortensen, T. F.; Rasmussen, S.

    2013-09-01

    The Euroluna Team is one of the around 30 teams competing in the Google Lunar X PRIZE Competition. The goal of the competition is to be the first team to successfully land a vehicle on the Moon, drive 500 m, and send video of the drive back to Earth. The Euroluna Team was formed in 2007, and the first flight hardware was acquired in 2010. Euroluna is financed privately with small funds. We have not received any external financial support. Therefore we have made an effort to keep all investments low. This has resulted in a design that uses new technologies and old technologies in a new way. Components are largely based on the Cubesat family and an ion thruster is being used for propulsion. A special strategy for landing on the Moon is under development. Special software of own design is being used for simulation of trajectories and energy consumption.

  2. On the Moon the apollo journals

    CERN Document Server

    Heiken, Grant

    2007-01-01

    Public interest in the first lunar landing transcended political, economic and social borders – the world was briefly united by the courage of the crew, and the wonder of the accomplishment. Prompted by the rivalry of the Cold War, Apollo 11 and the five missions that subsequently landed on the Moon were arguably the finest feats of exploration in human history. But these were more than exercises in ‘flags and footprints’, because the missions involved the crews making geological field trips on a low gravity site while wearing pressure suits, carrying life-support systems on their backs and working against an unforgiving time line. The missions delivered not only samples of moonrock, but also hard-learned lessons for how to work on the surface of another planet, and this experience will be crucial to planning the resumption of the human exploration of the Moon and going on to Mars.

  3. Moon and sun shadowing effect measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Medeiros, Michelle Mesquita de; Gomes, Ricardo Avelino

    2011-01-01

    Full text: The deficit due to the absorption of cosmic rays by the Moon and the Sun can be observed detecting the muon flux generated in extensive air showers. This phenomenon, known as cosmic ray shadow, can be used to study the behaviour of the geomagnetic, solar and interplanetary magnetic fields, to measure the antiproton-proton ratio and to determine the angular resolution and alignment of the detectors to confirm its accuracy and precision. Many experiments using surface or underground detectors have measured the Moon and Sun shadow: MINOS, CYGNUS, CASA, Tibet, MACRO, Soudan2, L3+C, Milagro, BUST, GRAPE and HEGRA. The MINOS experiment (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search) uses two layered steel and plastic scintillator detectors (Near Detector and Far Detector) along with a muon neutrino beam (NuMI - Neutrinos at the Main Injector) to search for ν μ disappearance, and thus neutrino oscillations. However the magnetic field and the fiducial volume of the underground Far Detector at Soudan Underground Mine State Park (Minnesota, USA) allow a great opportunity to investigate cosmic rays at TeV surface energy. The deficit caused by the Moon and the Sun was detected by the MINOS Far Detector and this could also be done using the Near Detector. In this report we describe the motivation of measuring this effect. We present the recent results from MINOS along with its experimental apparatus and, in addition, the main results from the various experiments. We also make considerations about the possibility of doing such a measurement with the MINOS Near Detector. (author)

  4. Automated Spacecraft Conjunction Assessment at Mars and the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berry, David; Guinn, Joseph; Tarzi, Zahi; Demcak, Stuart

    2012-01-01

    Conjunction assessment and collision avoidance are areas of current high interest in space operations. Most current conjunction assessment activity focuses on the Earth orbital environment. Several of the world's space agencies have satellites in orbit at Mars and the Moon, and avoiding collisions there is important too. Smaller number of assets than Earth, and smaller number of organizations involved, but consequences similar to Earth scenarios.This presentation will examine conjunction assessment processes implemented at JPL for spacecraft in orbit at Mars and the Moon.

  5. Origin of the earth's moon: constraints from alkali volatile trace elements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kreutzberger, M.E.; Drake, M.J.; Jones, J.H.

    1986-01-01

    Although the Moon is depleted in volatile elements compared to the Earth, these depletions are not in accord with simple volatility. For example, the Cs/Rb ratios of the Earth and Moon inferred from basalts are approximately one seventh and one half of the CI ratio, respectively. Volatility considerations alone predict that the lunar Cs/Rb ratio should be equal to or lower than the terrestrial ratio if the Moon was derived entirely from Earth mantle material. Thus hypotheses such as rotational fission which invoke derivation of lunar material entirely from the Earth's mantle may be excluded. The collisional ejection hypothesis of lunar origin requires at least 18% of lunar material to be derived from a projectile with dehydrated CI composition to match the lunar Cs/Rb ratio, and 25% to 50% to match both the lunar Cs/Rb ratio and absolute concentrations of Cs and Rb. It remains to be demonstrated that this relatively large contribution of projectile material is consistent with other elemental abundances and element ratios in the Moon. (author)

  6. Moon Zoo: Making the public part of a crater survey algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gay, P. L.; Brown, S.; Huang, D.; Daus, C.; Lehan, C.; Robbins, S.

    2011-10-01

    The Moon Zoo citizen science website launched in May 2010 and invited the public to annotate images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's Narrow Angle Camera (NAC). Tasks included marking the edges of craters with an ellipse tool, indicating where linear features (e.g. scarps) and special types of craters (e.g. dark haloed) are located with a box, and rating the number of boulders in an image. The goal of this project is to create crater and feature catalogues for large areas of the moon. In addition to doing science, Moon Zoo also seeks to educate its audience through educational content, to engage them through social media, and to understand them through research into their motivations and behaviors.

  7. Asymmetric shock heating and the terrestrial magma ocean origin of the Moon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karato, Shun-ichiro

    2014-01-01

    One of the difficulties of the current giant impact model for the origin of the Moon is to explain the marked similarity in the isotopic compositions and the substantial differences in the major element chemistry. Physics of shock heating is analyzed to show that the degree of heating is asymmetric between the impactor and the target, if the target (the proto-Earth) had a magma-ocean but the impactor did not. The magma ocean is heated much more than the solid impactor and the vapor-rich jets come mainly from the magma-ocean from which the Moon might have been formed. In this scenario, the similarity and differences in the composition between the Moon and Earth would be explained as a natural consequence of a collision in the later stage of planetary formation. Including the asymmetry in shock heating is the first step toward explaining the chemical composition of the Moon.

  8. Fear of darkness, the full moon and the nocturnal ecology of African lions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Packer, Craig; Swanson, Alexandra; Ikanda, Dennis; Kushnir, Hadas

    2011-01-01

    Nocturnal carnivores are widely believed to have played an important role in human evolution, driving the need for night-time shelter, the control of fire and our innate fear of darkness. However, no empirical data are available on the effects of darkness on the risks of predation in humans. We performed an extensive analysis of predatory behavior across the lunar cycle on the largest dataset of lion attacks ever assembled and found that African lions are as sensitive to moonlight when hunting humans as when hunting herbivores and that lions are most dangerous to humans when the moon is faint or below the horizon. At night, people are most active between dusk and 10:00 pm, thus most lion attacks occur in the first weeks following the full moon (when the moon rises at least an hour after sunset). Consequently, the full moon is a reliable indicator of impending danger, perhaps helping to explain why the full moon has been the subject of so many myths and misconceptions.

  9. The moon as a radiometric reference source for on-orbit sensor stability calibration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stone, T.C.

    2009-01-01

    The wealth of data generated by the world's Earth-observing satellites, now spanning decades, allows the construction of long-term climate records. A key consideration for detecting climate trends is precise quantification of temporal changes in sensor calibration on-orbit. For radiometer instruments in the solar reflectance wavelength range (near-UV to shortwave-IR), the Moon can be viewed as a solar diffuser with exceptional stability properties. A model for the lunar spectral irradiance that predicts the geometric variations in the Moon's brightness with ???1% precision has been developed at the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, AZ. Lunar model results corresponding to a series of Moon observations taken by an instrument can be used to stabilize sensor calibration with sub-percent per year precision, as demonstrated by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS). The inherent stability of the Moon and the operational model to utilize the lunar irradiance quantity provide the Moon as a reference source for monitoring radiometric calibration in orbit. This represents an important capability for detecting terrestrial climate change from space-based radiometric measurements.

  10. Fear of darkness, the full moon and the nocturnal ecology of African lions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Craig Packer

    Full Text Available Nocturnal carnivores are widely believed to have played an important role in human evolution, driving the need for night-time shelter, the control of fire and our innate fear of darkness. However, no empirical data are available on the effects of darkness on the risks of predation in humans. We performed an extensive analysis of predatory behavior across the lunar cycle on the largest dataset of lion attacks ever assembled and found that African lions are as sensitive to moonlight when hunting humans as when hunting herbivores and that lions are most dangerous to humans when the moon is faint or below the horizon. At night, people are most active between dusk and 10:00 pm, thus most lion attacks occur in the first weeks following the full moon (when the moon rises at least an hour after sunset. Consequently, the full moon is a reliable indicator of impending danger, perhaps helping to explain why the full moon has been the subject of so many myths and misconceptions.

  11. A Planetary Park system for the Moon and beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cockell, Charles; Horneck, Gerda

    Deutschland International space exploration programs foresee the establishment of human settlements on the Moon and on Mars within the next decades, following a series of robotic precursor missions. These increasing robotic visits and eventual human exploration and settlements may have an environmental impact on scientifically important sites and sites of natural beauty in the form of contamination with microorganisms and spacecraft parts, or even pollution as a consequence of in situ resource use. This concern has already been reflected in the Moon Treaty, "The Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies" of the United Nations, which follows the Outer Space Treaty of the UN. However, so far, the Moon Treaty has not been ratified by any nation which engages in human space programs or has plans to do so. Planetary protection guidelines as formulated by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) are based on the Outer Space Treaty and follow the objectives: (i) to prevent contamination by terrestrial microorganisms if this might jeopardize scientific investi-gations of possible extraterrestrial life forms, and (ii) to protect the Earth from the potential hazard posed by extraterrestrial material brought back to the Earth. As a consequence, they group exploratory missions according to the type of mission and target body in five different categories, requesting specific means of cleaning and sterilization. However, the protection of extraterrestrial environments might also encompass ethical and other non-instrumental reasons. In order to allow intense scientific research and exploitation, and on the other hand to preserve regions of the Moon for research and use by future generations, we proposed the introduction of a planetary (or lunar) park system, which would protect areas of scientific, historic and intrinsic value under a common scheme. A similar placePlaceNamePlanetary PlaceTypePark system could be established on Mars well

  12. The Moon in Close-up A Next Generation Astronomer's Guide

    CERN Document Server

    Wilkinson, John

    2010-01-01

    Information collected by recent space probes sent to explore the Moon by the USA, the European Space Agency, Japan, China and India has changed our knowledge and understanding of the Moon, particularly its geology, since the Apollo missions. This book presents those findings in a way that will be welcomed by amateur astronomers, students, educators and anyone interested in the Moon. Enhanced by many colour photos, it combines newly acquired scientific understanding with detailed descriptions and labelled photographic maps of the lunar surface. Guided by observation methods explained in the book and 17 Study Areas presented and carefully explained in the last chapter, amateur astronomers can observe these features from Earth using telescopes and binoculars. Readers who consult the photographic maps will gain a better understanding about the Moon’s topography and geology. The book is rounded out by a helpful glossary.

  13. Apollo Lunar Sample Integration into Google Moon: A New Approach to Digitization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawson, Melissa D.; Todd, nancy S.; Lofgren, Gary E.

    2011-01-01

    The Google Moon Apollo Lunar Sample Data Integration project is part of a larger, LASER-funded 4-year lunar rock photo restoration project by NASA s Acquisition and Curation Office [1]. The objective of this project is to enhance the Apollo mission data already available on Google Moon with information about the lunar samples collected during the Apollo missions. To this end, we have combined rock sample data from various sources, including Curation databases, mission documentation and lunar sample catalogs, with newly available digital photography of rock samples to create a user-friendly, interactive tool for learning about the Apollo Moon samples

  14. LOW-FREQUENCY OBSERVATIONS OF THE MOON WITH THE MURCHISON WIDEFIELD ARRAY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McKinley, B.; Briggs, F. [Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra (Australia); Kaplan, D. L. [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI (United States); Greenhill, L. J.; Bernardi, G.; De Oliveira-Costa, A. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (United States); Bowman, J. D. [School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (United States); Tingay, S. J.; Gaensler, B. M. [ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW (Australia); Oberoi, D. [National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, Pune (India); Johnston-Hollitt, M. [School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington (New Zealand); Arcus, W.; Emrich, D. [International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Curtin University, Perth (Australia); Barnes, D. [Center for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne (Australia); Bunton, J. D. [CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Canberra (Australia); Cappallo, R. J.; Corey, B. E. [MIT Haystack Observatory, Westford, MA (United States); Deshpande, A. [Raman Research Institute, Bangalore (India); DeSouza, L. [Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney (Australia); Goeke, R. [MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Cambridge, MA (United States); and others

    2013-01-01

    A new generation of low-frequency radio telescopes is seeking to observe the redshifted 21 cm signal from the epoch of reionization (EoR), requiring innovative methods of calibration and imaging to overcome the difficulties of wide-field low-frequency radio interferometry. Precise calibration will be required to separate the expected small EoR signal from the strong foreground emission at the frequencies of interest between 80 and 300 MHz. The Moon may be useful as a calibration source for detection of the EoR signature, as it should have a smooth and predictable thermal spectrum across the frequency band of interest. Initial observations of the Moon with the Murchison Widefield Array 32 tile prototype show that the Moon does exhibit a similar trend to that expected for a cool thermally emitting body in the observed frequency range, but that the spectrum is corrupted by reflected radio emission from Earth. In particular, there is an abrupt increase in the observed flux density of the Moon within the internationally recognized frequency modulated (FM) radio band. The observations have implications for future low-frequency surveys and EoR detection experiments that will need to take this reflected emission from the Moon into account. The results also allow us to estimate the equivalent isotropic power emitted by the Earth in the FM band and to determine how bright the Earth might appear at meter wavelengths to an observer beyond our own solar system.

  15. How Apollo Flew to the Moon

    CERN Document Server

    Woods, W David

    2011-01-01

    This new and expanded edition of the bestselling How Apollo Flew to the Moon tells the exciting story of how the Apollo missions were conducted and follows a virtual flight to the Moon and back. New material includes: - the exploration of the lunar surface; - more illustrations; - more technical explanations and anecdotes. From launch to splashdown, hitch a ride in the incredible Apollo spaceships, the most sophisticated machines of their time. Explore each step of the journey and glimpse the enormous range of disciplines, techniques, and procedures the Apollo crews had to master. Although the tremendous technological accomplishments are well documented, the human dimension is not forgotten, and the book calls on the testimony of the people who were there at the time. A wealth of fascinating and accessible material is provided, including: the role of the powerful Saturn V; the reasoning  behind trajectories; the day-to-day concerns of human and spacecraft health; the triumphs and difficulties of working in...

  16. Thermal history, thermal state, and related tectonism of a moon of fission origin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Binder, A.B.; Lange, M.A.

    1980-01-01

    Thermal history of an initially totally molten moon of fission origin properly accounts for (1) the mare basalt epoch, in terms of its duration, the depth of the source region, and degrees of partial melting which produced the magmas; (2) the present-day heat flow of 17--18 ergs cm -2 s -1 ; and (3) the current high temperatures of the lower mantle as deduced from magnetic and seismic data. The model moon has a radius decrease of 5.4 km (3.1 x 10 -3 R) during lunar history. This value is within the rather poorly defined limits for the maximum change of the lunar radius of 10 -3 -10 -2 R. The majority of the thermoelastic stresses produced by the cooling of the moon have been dissipated via aseismic creep in the upper parts of the lunar mantle, not via faulting activity. A lower limit of 10 24 P for the viscosity of the mantle of the moon (at subsolidus temperatures) is suggested, based on the apparent absence of solid state convection in the moon at any time during its history. This is 10 3 times larger than that for the terrestrial mantle. The energy derived from the thermoelastic stresses in the type A moonquake zone is orders of magnitude smaller than the available tidal energy. Hence the thermoelastic stresses are not an important energy source for the tidal moon-quakes. The thermoelastic stresses can easily supply the energy for the high-frequency tele-seismic moonquakes. The relative rarity of HFT's is explained by the long times (10 8 -10 9 years) needed to accumulate the energy required to initiate faulting in the predicted source regions. These regions are in the uppermost mantle (depths between 80 and 200 km), where tensional quakes can occur, and at 10-km depths in the crust, where compressional quakes can occur. The consistency between our thermal history model results and the corresponding characteristics now known for the moon add further support for the fission model for the origin of the moon

  17. Deep electromagnetic sounding of the moon with Lunokhod 2 data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanyan, L. L.; Yegorov, I. V.; Faynberg, E. B.

    1977-01-01

    Results of electromagnetic sounding distinguished an outer high resistance shell about 200 km thick in the moon's structure. A preliminary petrological interpretation of the moon's layers indicated their origin as a consequence of differentiation of the initial peridotite material. Upon melting, 20% to 40% of the material melts and is removed to form a high resistance basaltic shell underlain by a layer of spinal peridotites enriched in divalent iron oxides and having a reduced resistance.

  18. Impact landing ends SMART-1 mission to the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-09-01

    SMART-1 scientists, engineers and space operations experts witnessed the final moments of the spacecraft’s life in the night between Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 September at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), in Darmstadt, Germany. The confirmation of the impact reached ESOC at 07:42:22 CEST (05:42:22 UT) when ESA’s New Norcia ground station in Australia suddenly lost radio contact with the spacecraft. SMART-1 ended its journey in the Lake of Excellence, in the point situated at 34.4º South latitude and 46.2º West longitude. The SMART-1 impact took place on the near side of the Moon, in a dark area just near the terminator (the line separating the day side from the night side), at a “grazing” angle of about one degree and a speed of about 2 kilometres per second. The impact time and location was planned to favour observations of the impact event from telescopes on Earth, and was achieved by a series of orbit manoeuvres and corrections performed during the course of summer 2006, the last of which was on 1 September. Professional and amateur ground observers all around the world - from South Africa to the Canary Islands, South America, the continental United States, Hawaii, and many other locations - were watching before and during the small SMART-1 impact, hoping to spot the faint impact flash and to obtain information about the impact dynamics and about the lunar surface excavated by the spacecraft. The quality of the data and images gathered from the ground observatories - a tribute to the end of the SMART-1 mission and a possible additional contribution to lunar science - will be assessed in the days to come. For the last 16 months and until its final orbits, SMART-1 has been studying the Moon, gathering data about the morphology and mineralogical composition of the surface in visible, infrared and X-ray light. “The legacy left by the huge wealth of SMART-1 data, to be analysed in the months and years to come, is a precious contribution to

  19. World-Wide Outreach through International Observe the Moon Night

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buxner, S.; Jones, A. P.; Bleacher, L.; Shaner, A. J.; Day, B. H.; Wenger, M.; Joseph, E.; Canipe, M.

    2016-12-01

    International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) is an annual worldwide public event that encourages observation, appreciation, and understanding of our Moon and its connection to NASA planetary science and exploration. Everyone on Earth is invited to join the celebration by hosting or attending an InOMN event - and uniting on one day each year to look at and learn about the Moon together. Events are hosted by a variety of institutions including astronomy clubs, observatories, schools, and universities, museums, planetaria, schools, universities, observatories, parks, private businesses and private homes. Events hosts are supported with event flyers, information sheets, Moon maps for observing, activities to use during events, presentations, certificates of participation, and evaluation materials to be used by hosts. 2016 is the seventh year of worldwide participation in InOMN which will be held on October 8th. In the last six years, over 3,000 events were registered worldwide from almost 100 different countries and almost all 50 states and the District of Columbia in the United States. Evaluation of InOMN is conducted by an external evaluation group and includes analysis of event registrations, facilitator surveys, and visitor surveys. Evaluation results demonstrate that InOMN events are successful in raising visitors' awareness of lunar science and exploration, providing audiences with information about lunar science and exploration, and inspiring visitors to want to learn more about the Moon. Additionally, preliminary analysis of social media has shown that there is a virtual network of individuals connecting about InOMN. A large fraction of events have been held by institutions for more than one year showing sustained interest in participation. During this presentation, we will present data for all seven years of InOMN including lessons learned through supporting and evaluating a worldwide event. InOMN is sponsored by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA

  20. NEXT GENERATION OF TELESCOPES OR DYNAMICS REQUIRED TO DETERMINE IF EXO-MOONS HAVE PROGRADE OR RETROGRADE ORBITS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lewis, Karen M.; Fujii, Yuka

    2014-01-01

    We survey the methods proposed in the literature for detecting moons of extrasolar planets in terms of their ability to distinguish between prograde and retrograde moon orbits, an important tracer of the moon formation channel. We find that most moon detection methods, in particular, sensitive methods for detecting moons of transiting planets, cannot observationally distinguishing prograde and retrograde moon orbits. The prograde and retrograde cases can only be distinguished where the dynamical evolution of the orbit due to, e.g., three body effects is detectable, where one of the two cases is dynamically unstable, or where new observational facilities, which can implement a technique capable of differentiating the two cases, come online. In particular, directly imaged planets are promising targets because repeated spectral and photometric measurements, which are required to determine moon orbit direction, could also be conducted with the primary interest of characterizing the planet itself

  1. Habitability in the Solar System and on Extrasolar Planets and Moons

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKay, Christopher P.

    2015-01-01

    The criteria for a habitable world initially was based on Earth and centered around liquid water on the surface, warmed by a Sun-like star. The moons of the outer Solar System, principally Europa and Enceladus, have demonstrated that liquid water can exist below the surface warmed by tidal forces from a giant planet. Titan demonstrates that surface liquids other than water - liquid methane/ethane - may be common on other worlds. Considering the numerous extrasolar planets so far discovered and the prospect of discovering extrasolar moons it is timely to reconsider the possibilities for habitability in the Solar System and on extrasolar planets and moons and enumerate the attributes and search methods for detecting habitable worlds and evidence of life.

  2. Moon Teachings for the Masses at the U.Mass. Sunwheel and around the World

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, J. S.

    2004-12-01

    With the culmination of the 18.6 year cycle of the Moon in 2006, the major lunar standstill, we are afforded the unique opportunity to teach the public about the monthly, annual, and 18.6-year wanderings of the Moon. The 18.6 year cycle is caused by the precession of the plane of the lunar orbit, while this orbit maintains a 5 degree tilt relative to the ecliptic. At the peak of this cycle, the Moon's declination swings from -28.8 to +28.8 degrees each month. And even though we are more than 1 year away from the peak of the 18.6-year cycle, already the Moon's declination ranges each month between -28 and +28 degrees. What this means is that each month for the years 2005-2007, the Moon can be seen to rise and set more northerly and also more southerly than the solar extremes, and will transit monthly with altitudes which are higher in the sky than the summer Sun and lower in the sky than the winter Sun. The U.Mass. Sunwheel is a stone circle calendar constructed in 1997 on the campus of U.Mass. Amherst, with 8'-10' tall stones marking the cardinal directions, the solstice sunrise and sunset directions, and the northernmost and southernmost moonrise and moonset directions. Over 13,000 people have visited the Sunwheel since its construction, and over 5,000 have attended the seasonal sunrise and sunset gatherings which I host. Already, late in 2004, I have begun showning the public the Moon at it's extremes, and there will be monthly opportunities over the next several years for all of us to notice the very high or very low transiting Moon. Finally, Moon teachings from calendar sites at Callanish, Chaco Canyon, and Stonehenge will be presented.

  3. Main Difference with Formed Process of the Moon and Earth Minerals and Fluids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kato, T.; Miura, Y.

    2018-04-01

    Minerals show large and global distribution on Earth system, but small and local formation on the Moon. Fluid water is formed as same size and distribution on Earth and the Moon based on their body-systems.

  4. Periods, poles, and shapes of Saturn's irregular moons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denk, Tilmann; Mottola, Stefano

    2016-10-01

    We report rotational-lightcurve observations of irregular moons of Saturn based on disk-integrated observations with the Narrow-Angle Camera of the Cassini spacecraft. From 24 measured rotation periods, 20 are now known with an accuracy of ~2% or better. The numbers are as follows (in hours; an '*' marks the less reliable periods): Hati 5.42; Mundilfari 6.74; Loge 6.94*; Skoll 7.26; Kari 7.70; Suttungr 7.82*, Bergelmir 8.13; Phoebe 9.274; Siarnaq 10.188; Narvi 10.21; Tarvos 10.69; Skathi 11.30; Ymir 11.922; Hyrrokkin 12.76; Greip 12.79*; Ijiraq 13.03; Albiorix 13.32; Bestla 14.624; Bebhionn 16.40; Paaliaq 18.75; Kiviuq 21.96; Erriapus 28.15; Thrymr 35 or >45* Tarqeq 76.8.More recent data strengthen the notion that objects in orbits with an inclination supplemental angle i' > 27° have significantly slower spin rates than those at i' 27°, Siarnaq, stands opposed to at least eight objects with faster spins and i' 27° bin contains all nine known prograde moons and four retrograde objects.A total of 25 out of 38 known outer moons has been observed with Cassini, and there is no chance to observe the 13 missing objects until end-of-mission. However, all unobserved objects are part of the i' 27° are known, and none of them is a fast rotator, with no exception.Several objects were observed repeatedly to determine pole directions, sidereal periods, and convex shapes. A few lightcurves have been observed to show three maxima and three minima even at low phase angles, suggesting objects with a triangular equatorial cross-section. Some objects with 2 maxima/ 2 minima are probably quite elongated. One moon even shows lightcurves with 4 maxima/ 4 minima.

  5. Is the Moon Illusion a Celestial Ames Demonstration?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brecher, Kenneth

    2010-01-01

    To most naked eye observers, the Moon appears larger when seen near the horizon than it does when seen near the zenith. This "Moon Illusion” has been reported from as early as the fourth century BC and has been the subject of hundreds of papers and two books. Its explanation does not lie in the realm of physics (atmospheric refraction) or astronomy (eccentric lunar orbit) but, rather, in the realm of visual perception. Theories for the cause of the effect abound but, at present, there is no universally accepted explanation. Because the effect can be easily observed in many locations and during the course of an academic year, the moon illusion can provide a nice astronomical example that involves both direct observations and theoretical analysis. As part of the NSF funded "Project LITE: Light Inquiry Through Experiments", we have been developing inexpensive experiments and demonstrations that can be done at home. One of these is a miniature version of the classic "Ames Room". The life size version was originally developed by Adelbert Ames, Jr. and can be seen in many science museums. Our "digital” Ames Room has been designed to be printed on heavy paper using an inexpensive inkjet printer from a PDF file that is posted on the Project LITE web site http://lite.bu.edu and then cut and folded to make the room. When viewed through one wall using a commonly available door viewer, it dramatically demonstrates how the eye and brain system assesses the relative size of objects by making comparisons with the surrounding environment in which the objects are placed. In this presentation we will discuss some insights that the Ames Room provides that may offer clues to the correct explanation for the Moon Illusion. Project LITE is supported by the NSF through DUE Grant # 0715975.

  6. Comments on 'The origin of the Earth-Moon system'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Savic, P.; Teleki, G.

    1986-01-01

    The main points are presented of a new hypothesis of the origin of the Earth-Moon system, developed on the basis of Savic's (1961) theory of the origin of rotation of celestial bodies. The cooling off and contraction due to gravitational attraction on vast particle systems, with the pushing out of electrons from atom shells result in a continually increasing density. Depending on the amount of mass, this pushing out can lead to the expulsion of electrons and the creation of a magnetic field by which a rotational motion is brought about. These conditions are satisfied for the Earth's mass and all larger masses. If the Earth and the Moon formed a unique body, the protoplanet, then once rotational motion had begun, the primeval spherical body must have taken the shape of a large Jacobi ellipsoid. New condensation followed, however no longer solely around the centre of the protoplanet, but also along the edge of the ellipsoid, the process leading to the creation of the dual Earth-Moon system. (Auth.)

  7. Planetary Drilling and Resources at the Moon and Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    George, Jeffrey A.

    2012-01-01

    Drilling on the Moon and Mars is an important capability for both scientific and resource exploration. The unique requirements of spaceflight and planetary environments drive drills to different design approaches than established terrestrial technologies. A partnership between NASA and Baker Hughes Inc. developed a novel approach for a dry rotary coring wireline drill capable of acquiring continuous core samples at multi-meter depths for low power and mass. The 8.5 kg Bottom Hole Assembly operated at 100 We and without need for traditional drilling mud or pipe. The technology was field tested in the Canadian Arctic in sandstone, ice and frozen gumbo. Planetary resources could play an important role in future space exploration. Lunar regolith contains oxygen and metals, and water ice has recently been confirmed in a shadowed crater at the Moon.s south pole. Mars possesses a CO2 atmosphere, frozen water ice at the poles, and indications of subsurface aquifers. Such resources could provide water, oxygen and propellants that could greatly simplify the cost and complexity of exploration and survival. NASA/JSC/EP/JAG

  8. The Kaguya Lunar Atlas The Moon in High Resolution

    CERN Document Server

    Shirao, Motomaro

    2011-01-01

    In late 2007 the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency placed the Kaguya/Selene spacecraft in orbit around the Moon. Like previous lunar orbiters, Kaguya carried scientific instruments to probe the Moon’s surface and interior. But it also had the first high-definition television camera (HDTV) sent to the Moon. Sponsored by the Japanese NHK TV network, the HDTV has amazed both scientists and the public with its magnificent views of the lunar surface. What makes the images much more engaging than standard vertical-view lunar photographs is that they were taken looking obliquely along the flight path. Thus, they show the Moon as it would be seen by an astronaut looking through a porthole window while orbiting only 100 km above the lunar surface. This is the view we all would wish to have, but are never likely to, except vicariously through the awe-inspiring Kaguya HDTV images. The remarkable Kaguya/Selene HDTV images are used here to create a new type of lunar atlas. Because of the unique perspective of the imag...

  9. Mr.Seah Moon Ming Leadership & Management

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2006-01-01

    @@ Life and Work Philosophy Seah Moon Ming considers life a continuous journey of learning,adaptation and attainment of goals.He believes that as long as there are changes,you will need to learn - to learn to adapt and to play a useful role in a dynamic and ever-changing world.

  10. Polymerization of Building Blocks of Life on Europa and Other Icy Moons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimura, Jun; Kitadai, Norio

    2015-06-01

    The outer Solar System may provide a potential habitat for extraterrestrial life. Remote sensing data from the Galileo spacecraft suggest that the jovian icy moons--Europa, Ganymede, and possibly Callisto--may harbor liquid water oceans underneath their icy crusts. Although compositional information required for the discussion of habitability is limited because of significantly restricted observation data, organic molecules are ubiquitous in the Universe. Recently, in situ spacecraft measurements and experiments suggest that amino acids can be formed abiotically on interstellar ices and comets. These amino acids could be continuously delivered by meteorite or comet impacts to icy moons. Here, we show that polymerization of organic monomers, in particular amino acids and nucleotides, could proceed spontaneously in the cold environment of icy moons, in particular the jovian icy moon Europa as a typical example, based on thermodynamic calculations, though kinetics of formation are not addressed. Observed surface temperature on Europa is 120 and 80 K in the equatorial region and polar region, respectively. At such low temperatures, Gibbs energies of polymerization become negative, and the estimated thermal structure of the icy crust should contain a shallow region (i.e., at a depth of only a few kilometers) favorable for polymerization. Investigation of the possibility of organic monomer polymerization on icy moons could provide good constraints on the origin and early evolution of extraterrestrial life.

  11. Simulation of the cosmic ray Moon shadow in the geomagnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Di Sciascio, Giuseppe; Iuppa, Roberto

    2011-01-01

    An accurate Monte Carlo simulation of the deficit of primary cosmic rays in the direction of the Moon has been developed to interpret the observations reported in the TeV energy region until now. Primary particles are propagated through the geomagnetic field in the Earth-Moon system. The algorithm is described and the contributions of the detector resolution and of the geomagnetic field are disentangled.

  12. The Moon Zoo citizen science project: Preliminary results for the Apollo 17 landing site

    OpenAIRE

    Bugiolacchi, Roberto; Bamford, Steven; Tar, Paul; Thacker, Neil; Crawford, Ian A.; Joy, Katherine H.; Grindrod, Peter M.; Lintott, Chris

    2016-01-01

    Moon Zoo is a citizen science project that utilises internet crowd-sourcing techniques. Moon Zoo users are asked to review high spatial resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), onboard NASA’s LRO spacecraft, and perform characterisation such as measuring impact crater sizes and identify morphological ‘features of interest’. The tasks are designed to address issues in lunar science and to aid future exploration of the Moon. We have tested various methodologies and...

  13. The Gravitation of the Moon Plays Pivotal Roles in the Occurrence of the Acute Myocardial Infarction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryotaro Wake

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Acute myocardial infarction (AMI is a social burden. However, being able to predict AMI could lead to prevention. A previous study showed only the relation between the lunar phase and the occurrence of AMI, but the period it takes for the moon to orbit around the earth and the period of the lunar phase differ. This study investigated the effect of the gravitation of the moon on AMI. Data was comprised of 1369 consecutive patients with first AMI at 5 hospitals from October, 1984 to December, 1997. The universal gravitation of the moon was calculated and compared to the earth onset time of AMI. Universal gravitation of the moon was derived by G*m/d2 (G: universal gravitation constant, m: the mass of the moon, d: the distance between the center of the moon and the center of the earth. The relationship between m/d2 and the cases of AMI was determined. There was an increase in cases, when there is a distance of more than 399864 km from the center of the earth to the center of the moon. The gravitation of more than 399864 km was determined to be weaker gravitation. It is confirmed that the number of AMI patients significantly increases at weaker gravitation periods in this multicenter trial. In conclusion, these results suggest that the gravitation of the moon may have an influence on the occurrence of AMI.

  14. Can Plants Grow on Mars and the Moon: A Growth Experiment on Mars and Moon Soil Simulants

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wamelink, G.W.W.; Frissel, J.Y.; Krijnen, W.H.J.; Verwoert, M.R.; Goedhart, P.W.

    2014-01-01

    When humans will settle on the moon or Mars they will have to eat there. Food may be flown in. An alternative could be to cultivate plants at the site itself, preferably in native soils. We report on the first large-scale controlled experiment to investigate the possibility of growing plants in Mars

  15. Integrated Oil spill detection and forecasting using MOON real time data

    OpenAIRE

    De Dominicis, M.; Pinardi, N.; Coppini, G.; Tonani, M.; Guarnieri, A.; Zodiatis, G.; Lardner, R.; Santoleri, R.

    2009-01-01

    MOON (Mediterranean Operational Oceanography Network) is an operational distributed system ready to provide quality controlled and timely marine observations (in situ and satellite) and environmental analyses and predictions for management of oil spill accidents. MOON operational systems are based upon the real time functioning of an integrated system composed of the Real Time Observing system, the regional, sub-regional and coastal forecasting systems and a products dissemination system. All...

  16. Origin of the Earth–Moon system

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    However, during the course of time some incon- sistencies of the impact hypothesis have surfaced. It is not the ... At the same time, there are some important differences between the composition of the Earth and that of ... primitive carbonaceous chondrites but to a much lesser degree. At first glance, depletion of the Moon in ...

  17. Asian-American deaths near the Harvest Moon Festival.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Gary

    2004-01-01

    Reexamine the claim that elderly Chinese-American women are able to prolong their lives until after the celebration of the Harvest Moon Festival. See if independent 1985 to 2000 data for Chinese-, Korean-, and Vietnamese-Americans replicate results that were reported using 1960 to 1984 data for Chinese-Americans. The original 1960 to 1984 data do not support the death-postponement theory unless deaths that occur on the festival day are classified as having occurred after the festival. The new data do not support the theory, no matter how deaths on the festival day are classified. These data do not support the hypothesis that elderly Chinese-, Korean-, or Vietnamese-American women are able to prolong their lives until after the celebration of the Harvest Moon Festival.

  18. Galilean Moons, Kepler's Third Law, and the Mass of Jupiter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bates, Alan

    2013-01-01

    Simulations of physical systems are widely available online, with no cost, and are ready to be used in our classrooms. Such simulations offer an accessible tool that can be used for a range of interactive learning activities. The Jovian Moons Apple allows the user to track the position of Jupiter's four Galilean moons with a variety of…

  19. Compositional evidence for an impact origin of the Moon's Procellarum basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakamura, Ryosuke; Yamamoto, Satoru; Matsunaga, Tsuneo; Ishihara, Yoshiaki; Morota, Tomokatsu; Hiroi, Takahiro; Takeda, Hiroshi; Ogawa, Yoshiko; Yokota, Yasuhiro; Hirata, Naru; Ohtake, Makiko; Saiki, Kazuto

    2012-11-01

    The asymmetry between the nearside and farside of the Moon is evident in the distribution of mare basalt, crustal thickness and concentrations of radioactive elements, but its origin remains controversial. According to one attractive scenario, a gigantic impact early in the Moon's history produced the observed dichotomy; the putative 3,000-km-diameter Procellarum basin has been suggested to be a relic of this ancient impact. Low-calcium pyroxene can be formed during an impact by melting a mixture of crust and mantle materials or by excavating differentiated cumulates from the lunar magma ocean. Therefore, the association of low-calcium pyroxene with a lunar basin could indicate an impact origin. Here we use spectral mapping data from KAGUYA/SELENE (ref. ) to show that low-calcium pyroxene is concentrated around two established impact structures, the South Pole-Aitken and Imbrium basins. In addition, we detect a high concentration of low-calcium pyroxene at Procellarum, which supports an impact origin of the ancient basin. We propose that, in forming the largest known basin on the Moon, the impact excavated the nearside's primary feldspathic crust, which derived from the lunar magma ocean. A secondary feldspathic crust would have later recrystallized from the sea of impact melt, leading to two distinct sides of the Moon.

  20. Detection of a strongly negative surface potential at Saturn's moon Hyperion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordheim, T A; Jones, G H; Roussos, E; Leisner, J S; Coates, A J; Kurth, W S; Khurana, K K; Krupp, N; Dougherty, M K; Waite, J H

    2014-10-28

    On 26 September 2005, Cassini conducted its only close targeted flyby of Saturn's small, irregularly shaped moon Hyperion. Approximately 6 min before the closest approach, the electron spectrometer (ELS), part of the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) detected a field-aligned electron population originating from the direction of the moon's surface. Plasma wave activity detected by the Radio and Plasma Wave instrument suggests electron beam activity. A dropout in energetic electrons was observed by both CAPS-ELS and the Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument Low-Energy Magnetospheric Measurement System, indicating that the moon and the spacecraft were magnetically connected when the field-aligned electron population was observed. We show that this constitutes a remote detection of a strongly negative (∼ -200 V) surface potential on Hyperion, consistent with the predicted surface potential in regions near the solar terminator.

  1. First Results at the Moon from the SMART-1 / AMIE Experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Josset, J. L.; Beauvivre, S.; AMIE Team

    2005-08-01

    The Advanced Moon micro-Imager Experiment (AMIE), on board ESA SMART-1, the first European mission to the Moon (launched on 27th September 2003), is an imaging system with scientific, technical and public outreach oriented objectives. The science objectives are to image the Lunar South Pole, permanent shadow areas (ice deposit), eternal light (crater rims), ancient Lunar Non-mare volcanism, local spectro-photometry and physical state of the lunar surface, and to map high latitudes regions (south) mainly at far side (South Pole Aitken basin). The technical objectives are to perform a laserlink experiment (detection of laser beam emitted by ESA/Tenerife ground station), flight demonstration of new technologies and on-board autonomy navigation. The public outreach and educational objectives are to promote planetary exploration. We present here the first results obtained during the cruise phase and at the Moon.

  2. Precession of the Earth-Moon System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urbassek, Herbert M.

    2009-01-01

    The precession rate of the Earth-Moon system by the gravitational influence of the Sun is derived. Attention is focussed on a physically transparent but complete presentation accessible to first- or second-year physics students. Both a shortcut and a full analysis are given, which allows the inclusion of this material as an example of the physics…

  3. Modern mysteries of the Moon what we still don’t know about our lunar companion

    CERN Document Server

    Foster, Vincent S

    2016-01-01

    There are still many questions that remain about the Moon. From concentric craters to lunar swirls, water vapor and lunar reverberations on impact, Foster collects it all for a fascinating tour that will illuminate the backyard observer's understanding of this easily viewed, yet also imperfectly understood, celestial object. Data from Apollo and a flotilla of unmanned Moon orbiters, crashers, and landers have all contributed to our understanding of the Moon, but these mysteries linger despite decades of research. When Project Apollo brought back lunar rocks and soil samples, it opened a new chapter of understanding Earth's lone natural satellite, a process that continues to this day, as old results are revisited and new techniques are used on existing samples. Topics such as the origin, evolution, structure and composition of the Moon, however, are still under debate. Lunar research is still an active field of study. New technologies make it possible to continue to learn. But even so, the Moon continues to h...

  4. Post-Formation Sodium Loss on the Moon: A Bulk Estimate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saxena, P.; Killen, R. M.; Airapetian, V.; Petro, N. E.; Mandell, A. M.

    2018-01-01

    The Moon and Earth are generally similar in terms of composition, but there exist variations in the abundance of certain elements among the two bodies. These differences are a likely consequence of differing physical evolution of the two bodies over the solar system's history. While previous works have assumed this may be due to conditions during the Moonâ€"TM"s formation, we explore the likelihood that the observed depletion in Sodium in lunar samples may be partially due to post-formation mechanisms. Solar effects, loss from a primordial atmosphere and impacts are some of the dominant post-formation mechanisms that we examine. We describe how our past and current modeling efforts indicate that a significant fraction of the observed depletion of sodium in lunar samples relative to a bulk silicate earth composition may have been due to solar activity, atmospheric loss and impacts. Using profiles of sodium abundances from lunar crustal samples may thus serve as a powerful tool towards exploring conditions on the Moon's surface throughout solar system history. Conditions on the Moon immediately after formation may still be recorded in the lunar crust and may provide a window towards interpreting observations from some of the first rocky exoplanets that will be most amenable to characterization. Potential spatial variation of sodium in the lunar crust may be a relevant consideration for future sample return efforts. Sodium Depletion in the Lunar Crust: Lunar

  5. International Observe the Moon Night: Providing Opportunities for the Public to Engage in Lunar Observation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, B. C.; Bleacher, L.; Day, B. H.; Daou, D.; Jones, A. P.; Mitchell, B.; Shaner, A. J.; Shipp, S. S.

    2010-12-01

    International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) is designed to engage lunar science and education communities, our partner networks, amateur astronomers, space enthusiasts, and the general public in annual lunar observation campaigns that share the excitement of lunar science and exploration. InOMN enables the public to maintain its curiosity about the Moon and gain a better understanding of the Moon's formation, its evolution, and its place in the sky. For 2010, members of the public were encouraged to host their own InOMN events. InOMN hosts such as astronomy clubs, museums, schools, or other groups could find helpful resources and share information about InOMN events they organized on the InOMN website (http://observethemoonnight.org). Images, feedback, and lessons learned from the 2010 InOMN event will be shared in order to encourage increased planning and hosting of InOMN events in 2011. From various interpretations of the lunar “face,” early pictograms of the Moon’s phases, or to the use of the lunar cycle for festivals or harvests, the Moon has an undeniable influence on human civilization. We have chosen the 2011 InOMN theme to provide an opportunity for individuals to share their personal or cultural connections to the Moon. For 2011, the InOMN website will include a ‘lunar bulletin board’ where InOMN participants can post pictures and share stories of what the Moon means to them. The 2011 InOMN contest will encourage people to submit their works of art, poems, short stories, or music about the Moon all centered around the theme “What does the Moon mean to you?” As with the winners of previous contests, winning entries will be incorporated into the following year’s InOMN advertisements and events.

  6. MERI: an ultra-long-baseline Moon-Earth radio interferometer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burns, J. O.

    Radiofrequency aperture synthesis, pioneered by Ryle and his colleagues at Cambridge in the 1960's, has evolved to ever longer baselines and larger arrays in recent years. The limiting resolution at a given frequency for modern ground-based very-long-baseline interferometry is simply determined by the physical diameter of the Earth. A second-generation, totally space-based VLB network was proposed recently by a group at the Naval Research Laboratory. The next logical extension of space-based VLBI would be a station or stations on the Moon. The Moon could serve as an outpost or even the primary correlator station for an extended array of space-based antennas.

  7. The Electrostatic Environments of Mars and the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calle, Carlos I.

    2011-01-01

    The electrical activity present in the environment near the surfaces of Mars and the moon has very different origins and presents a challenge to manned and robotic planetary exploration missions. Mars is covered with a layer of dust that has been redistributed throughout the entire planet by global dust storms. Dust, levitated by these storms as well as by the frequent dust devils, is expected to be electrostatically charged due to the multiple grain collisions in the dust-laden atmosphere. Dust covering the surface of the moon is expected to be electrostatically charged due to the solar wind, cosmic rays, and the solar radiation itself through the photoelectric effect. Electrostatically charged dust has a large tendency to adhere to surfaces. NASA's Mars exploration rovers have shown that atmospheric dust falling on solar panels can decrease their efficiency to the point of rendering the rover unusable. And as the Apollo missions to the moon showed, lunar dust adhesion can hinder manned and unmanned lunar exploration activities. Taking advantage of the electrical activity on both planetary system bodies, dust removal technologies are now being developed that use electrostatic and dielectrophoretic forces to produce controlled dust motion. This paper presents a short review of the theoretical and semiempirical models that have been developed for the lunar and Martian electrical environments.

  8. The electrostatic environments of Mars and the Moon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calle, C I

    2011-01-01

    The electrical activity present in the environment near the surfaces of Mars and the moon has very different origins and presents a challenge to manned and robotic planetary exploration missions. Mars is covered with a layer of dust that has been redistributed throughout the entire planet by global dust storms. Dust, levitated by these storms as well as by the frequent dust devils, is expected to be electrostatically charged due to the multiple grain collisions in the dust-laden atmosphere. Dust covering the surface of the moon is expected to be electrostatically charged due to the solar wind, cosmic rays, and the solar radiation itself through the photoelectric effect. Electrostatically charged dust has a large tendency to adhere to surfaces. NASA's Mars exploration rovers have shown that atmospheric dust falling on solar panels can decrease their efficiency to the point of rendering the rover unusable. And as the Apollo missions to the moon showed, lunar dust adhesion can hinder manned and unmanned lunar exploration activities. Taking advantage of the electrical activity on both planetary system bodies, dust removal technologies are now being developed that use electrostatic and dielectrophoretic forces to produce controlled dust motion. This paper presents a short review of the theoretical and semiempirical models that have been developed for the lunar and Martian electrical environments.

  9. Are children like werewolves? Full moon and its association with sleep and activity behaviors in an international sample of children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean-Philippe eChaput

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available In order to verify if the full moon is associated with sleep and activity behaviors, we used a 12-country study providing 33710 24-hour accelerometer recordings of sleep and activity. The present observational, cross-sectional study included 5812 children ages 9-11 years from study sites that represented all inhabited continents and wide ranges of human development (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, India, Kenya, Portugal, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States. Three moon phases were used in this analysis: full moon (±4 days; reference, half moon (±5-9 days and new moon (±10-14 days from nearest full moon. Nocturnal sleep duration, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA, light-intensity physical activity (LPA and total sedentary time (SED were monitored over 7 consecutive days using a waist-worn accelerometer worn 24 hours a day. Only sleep duration was found to significantly differ between moon phases (~5 min per night shorter during full moon compared to new moon. Differences in MVPA, LPA and SED between moon phases were negligible and non-significant (<2 min per day difference. There was no difference in the associations between study sites. In conclusion, sleep duration was 1% shorter at full moon compared to new moon while activity behaviors were not significantly associated with the lunar cycle in this global sample of children. Whether this seemingly minimal difference is clinically meaningful is questionable.

  10. An International Parallax Campaign to Measure Distance to the Moon and Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cenadelli, D.; Zeni, M.; Bernagozzi, A.; Calcidese, P.; Ferreira, L.; Hoang, C.; Rijsdijk, C.

    2009-01-01

    Trigonometric parallax is a powerful method to work out the distance of celestial bodies, and it was used in the past to measure the distance of the Moon, Venus, Mars and nearby stars. We set up an observation campaign for high school and undergraduate students with the purpose to measure both the Moon's and Mars' parallax. To have a large enough…

  11. Farside explorer : Unique science from a mission to the farside of the moon

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mimoun, D.; Wieczorek, M.A.; Gurvits, L.

    2012-01-01

    Farside Explorer is a proposed Cosmic Vision medium-size mission to the farside of theMoon consisting of two landers and an instrumented relay satellite. The farside of the Moon is a unique scientific platform in that it is shielded from terrestrial radio-frequency interference, it recorded the

  12. Mars-Moons Exploration, Reconnaissance and Landed Investigation (MERLIN)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murchie, S. L.; Chabot, N. L.; Buczkowski, D.; Arvidson, R. E.; Castillo, J. C.; Peplowski, P. N.; Ernst, C. M.; Rivkin, A.; Eng, D.; Chmielewski, A. B.; Maki, J.; trebi-Ollenu, A.; Ehlmann, B. L.; Spence, H. E.; Horanyi, M.; Klingelhoefer, G.; Christian, J. A.

    2015-12-01

    The Mars-Moons Exploration, Reconnaissance and Landed Investigation (MERLIN) is a NASA Discovery mission proposal to explore the moons of Mars. Previous Mars-focused spacecraft have raised fundamental questions about Mars' moons: What are their origins and compositions? Why do the moons resemble primitive outer solar system D-type objects? How do geologic processes modify their surfaces? MERLIN answers these questions through a combination of orbital and landed measurements, beginning with reconnaissance of Deimos and investigation of the hypothesized Martian dust belts. Orbital reconnaissance of Phobos occurs, followed by low flyovers to characterize a landing site. MERLIN lands on Phobos, conducting a 90-day investigation. Radiation measurements are acquired throughout all mission phases. Phobos' size and mass provide a low-risk landing environment: controlled descent is so slow that the landing is rehearsed, but gravity is high enough that surface operations do not require anchoring. Existing imaging of Phobos reveals low regional slope regions suitable for landing, and provides knowledge for planning orbital and landed investigations. The payload leverages past NASA investments. Orbital imaging is accomplished by a dual multispectral/high-resolution imager rebuilt from MESSENGER/MDIS. Mars' dust environment is measured by the refurbished engineering model of LADEE/LDEX, and the radiation environment by the flight spare of LRO/CRaTER. The landed workspace is characterized by a color stereo imager updated from MER/HazCam. MERLIN's arm deploys landed instrumentation using proven designs from MER, Phoenix, and MSL. Elemental measurements are acquired by a modified version of Rosetta/APXS, and an uncooled gamma-ray spectrometer. Mineralogical measurements are acquired by a microscopic imaging spectrometer developed under MatISSE. MERLIN delivers seminal science traceable to NASA's Strategic Goals and Objectives, Science Plan, and the Decadal Survey. MERLIN's science

  13. Short-term capture of the Earth-Moon system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qi, Yi; de Ruiter, Anton

    2018-06-01

    In this paper, the short-term capture (STC) of an asteroid in the Earth-Moon system is proposed and investigated. First, the space condition of STC is analysed and five subsets of the feasible region are defined and discussed. Then, the time condition of STC is studied by parameter scanning in the Sun-Earth-Moon-asteroid restricted four-body problem. Numerical results indicate that there is a clear association between the distributions of the time probability of STC and the five subsets. Next, the influence of the Jacobi constant on STC is examined using the space and time probabilities of STC. Combining the space and time probabilities of STC, we propose a STC index to evaluate the probability of STC comprehensively. Finally, three potential STC asteroids are found and analysed.

  14. The design of the MOONS-VLT spectrometer

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oliva, E.; Diolaiti, E.; Garilli, B.; Gratton, R.; Lorenzetti, D.; Schipani, P.; Scuderi, S.; Vanzella, E.; Cirasuolo, M.; Afonso, J.; Bender, R.; Bonifacio, P.; Kaper, L.; Vanzi, L.; Baffa, C.; Bianco, A.; Bonoli, C.; Bortoletto, F.; Bruno, P.; Carbonaro, L.; Centrone, M.; Cresci, G.; De Caprio, V.; Del Vecchio, C.; Di Marcantonio, P.; Di Paola, A.; D'Alessio, F.; D'Alessandro, M.; D'Orsi, S.; Falcini, G.; Ferruzzi, D.; Fontana, A.; Foppiani, I.; Fumana, M.; Giani, E.; Leone, F.; Li Causi, G.; Lombini, M.; Maiolino, R.; Mannucci, F.; Marty, L.; Miglietta, L.; Munari, M.; Navarro, R.; Origlia, L.; Paioro, L.; Pedichini, F.; Pragt, J.; Randich, S.; Scodeggio, M.; Spano, P.; Speziali, R.; Stuik, R.; Tozzi, A.; Vitali, F.

    2012-01-01

    MOONS is a new conceptual design for a multi-object spectrograph for the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) which will provide the ESO astronomical community with a powerful, unique instrument able to serve a wide range of Galactic, Extragalactic and Cosmological studies. The instrument foresees 1000

  15. Stennis engineer part of LCROSS moon mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    Karma Snyder, a project manager at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, was a senior design engineer on the RL10 liquid rocket engine that powered the Centaur, the upper stage of the rocket used in NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission in October 2009. Part of the LCROSS mission was to search for water on the moon by striking the lunar surface with a rocket stage, creating a plume of debris that could be analyzed for water ice and vapor. Snyder's work on the RL10 took place from 1995 to 2001 when she was a senior design engineer with Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. Years later, she sees the project as one of her biggest accomplishments in light of the LCROSS mission. 'It's wonderful to see it come into full service,' she said. 'As one of my co-workers said, the original dream was to get that engine to the moon, and we're finally realizing that dream.'

  16. Exploration of the Moon:Chandrayaan1 and Chandrayaan-2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goswami, J. N.

    The Indian mission to Moon, Chandrayaan-1, has discovered signatures of water (H2O) molecule and hydroxyl (OH) on surface layers of exposed lunar surface (rocks and soils) that is more prominent near the cooler lunar polar regions. Several new and some unexpected results obtained in this mission are:(i)Possible presence of water and carbon-di-oxide molecules in the tenuous lunar atmosphere, an unexpected result, (ii)Sub-surface ice in permanently shadowed crater in the polar region confirming previous indication from the Clementine mission,(iii)Detection of reflected solar wind component as well as presence of solar wind on night side, unexpected new results, (iv)localized mini-magnetosphere, confirmation of earlier result using a new improved approach,(v)Presence of “refractory” rock-types not identified earlier (also reported by “Kaguya” mission), (vi)Elemental (Mg, Al, Si, Ca and Fe) composition of several areas of lunar surface by X-ray fluorescence technique, a new result,(vii)Three dimensional high resolution map of the lunar surface revealing new features,(viii)Radiation environment in the earth-moon and lunar space, and (ix) High energy X-ray continuum background on moon due to cosmic ray interactions with lunar surface. These results coupled with those obtained by Kaguya (Japan) and LRO and LCROSS (USA) missions have revealed a new face of the moon. The Chandrayaan-2 mission, that will have a Orbiter-Lander-Rover configuration, will carry close to a dozen payloads. The instruments on the Orbiter will extend studies conducted by Chandrayyan-1 mission with higher sensitivity. This will be supplemented by in-depth investigations of lunar surface properties in the polar region using several instruments in the lander and the rover. The present status of the mission and expected scientific results will be presented.

  17. Astronomy from the Moon: A New Frontier for 21st Century Astrophysics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durst, Steve

    2018-06-01

    The International Lunar Observatory Association of Hawai'i USA continues into its second decade with research and development of South Pole instruments for astronomy, observation and communication from the Moon. Since the pioneering first astronomy observations from the Moon by Apollo 16 Commander John Young (an ILOA founding-emeritus director until his recent passing), with China Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope LUT operations and current American and European considerations for far-side radio telescopes, today's climate is most promising for a diversity of lunar-based astronomy locations, instruments and technologies. ILOA is aiming to advance this frontier through its Galaxy First Light Imaging program, being developed through contracts with Moon Express and Canadensys Aerospace Corp.A wide variety of extreme and unique lunar conditions enable many astronomy activities and installations, on the Moon's near-side, far-side, north pole, and south pole: The extremely thin lunar exosphere favors observations in millimeter / submillimeter to optical, UV, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths; the highly stable platform that is the Moon provides for long-duration observations; ultra cold, shaded areas for cryogenic infrared instruments; far-side radio-quiet environment for radio telescopes and VLF astronomy; 1/6-Earth gravity for production and utilization of new, very lightweight materials and instruments, including large refractors, 100-m class liquid mirror telescopes, and possibly 1,000-m class radio telescopes and interferometer antenna arrays vastly larger than Atacama LMA; North and especially South Pole sites, with high peaks and long solar power windows, offer perhaps the widest variety of lunar conditions and opportunities for astronomical innovation on the Moon: a veritable "condominium of observatories".21st century astrophysics seems likely to find Luna a very busy and productive new frontier, as American Astronomical Society and IAU members will validate, with

  18. The Brick Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    2004-01-01

    Science fiction writers, like Jules Verne in France and Edward Everett Hale in America, had discovered one of the most vital elements in the formula for space travel-a fertile imagination. The first known proposal for a marned-satellite appears in a story by Hale entitled 'The Brick Moon' published in 1899. The story involved a group of young Bostonians who planned to put an artificial satellite into polar orbit for sailors to use to determine longitude accurately and easily. They planned to send a brick satellite into orbit because the satellite would have to withstand fire very well. The Satellite's 37 inhabitants signaled the Earth in morse code by jumping up and down on the outside of the satellite.

  19. Tidal effects on Earth, Planets, Sun by far visiting moons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fargion, Daniele

    2016-07-01

    The Earth has been formed by a huge mini-planet collision forming our Earth surface and our Moon today. Such a central collision hit was statistically rare. A much probable skimming or nearby encounter by other moons or planets had to occur. Indeed Recent observations suggest that many planetary-mass objects may be present in the outer solar system between the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud. Gravitational perturbations may occasionally bring them into the inner solar system. Their passage near Earth could have generated gigantic tidal waves, large volcanic eruptions, sea regressions, large meteoritic impacts and drastic changes in global climate. They could have caused the major biological mass extinctions in the past in the geological records. For instance a ten times a terrestrial radius nearby impact scattering by a peripherical encounter by a small moon-like object will force huge tidal waves (hundred meter height), able to lead to huge tsunami and Earth-quake. Moreover the historical cumulative planet hits in larger and wider planets as Juppiter, Saturn, Uranus will leave a trace, as observed, in their tilted spin axis. Finally a large fraction of counter rotating moons in our solar system probe and test such a visiting mini-planet captur origination. In addition the Earth day duration variability in the early past did show a rare discountinuity, very probably indebt to such a visiting planet crossing event. These far planets in rare trajectory to our Sun may, in thousands event capture, also explain sudden historical and recent temperature changes.

  20. Thermal, Thermophysical, and Compositional Properties of the Moon Revealed by the Diviner Lunar Radiometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenhagen, B. T.; Paige, D. A.

    2012-01-01

    The Diviner Lunar Radiometer is the first multispectral thermal instrument to globally map the surface of the Moon. After over three years in operation, this unprecedented dataset has revealed the extreme nature of the Moon's thermal environment, thermophysical properties, and surface composition.

  1. Spectroscopic observations of the Moon at the lunar surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yunzhao; Hapke, Bruce

    2018-02-01

    The Moon's reflectance spectrum records many of its important properties. However, prior to Chang'E-3 (CE-3), no spectra had previously been measured on the lunar surface. Here we show the in situ reflectance spectra of the Moon acquired on the lunar surface by the Visible-Near Infrared Spectrometer (VNIS) onboard the CE-3 rover. The VNIS detected thermal radiation from the lunar regolith, though with much shorter wavelength range than typical thermal radiometer. The measured temperatures are higher than expected from theoretical model, indicating low thermal inertia of the lunar soil and the effects of grain facet on soil temperature in submillimeter scale. The in situ spectra also reveal that 1) brightness changes visible from orbit are related to the reduction in maturity due to the removal of the fine and weathered particles by the lander's rocket exhaust, not the smoothing of the surface and 2) the spectra of the uppermost soil detected by remote sensing exhibit substantial differences with that immediately beneath, which has important implications for the remote compositional analysis. The reflectance spectra measured by VNIS not only reveal the thermal, compositional, and space-weathering properties of the Moon but also provide a means for the calibration of optical instruments that view the surface remotely.

  2. South Pole Region of the Moon as Seen by Clementine

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Lunar mosaic of 1500 Clementine images of the south polar region of the moon. The projection is orthographic, centered on the south pole. The Schrodinger Basin (320 km in diameter) is located in the lower right of the mosaic. Amundsen-Ganswindt is the more subdued circular basin between Schrodinger and the pole. The polar regions of the moon are of special interest because of the postulated occurrence of ice in permanently shadowed areas. The south pole is of greater interest because the area that remains in shadow is much larger than that at the north pole.

  3. The Earth, the Moon and Conservation of Momentum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brunt, Marjorie; Brunt, Geoff

    2013-01-01

    We consider the application of both conservation of momentum and Newton's laws to the Moon in an assumed circular orbit about the Earth. The inadequacy of some texts in applying Newton's laws is considered.

  4. Moon Phase as the Cause of Monday Irrationality: Case of Asean Day of the Week Anomaly

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rayenda Khresna Brahmana

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Many Day-of-the week anomaly papers have suggested investor behaviour as the explanation of highly differentiated returns on Mondays; yet, rarely found a paper has empirically investigated it. Therefore, this paper proposes Moon-Induced mood as the determinant of that irrational behaviour. This proposition is based on our preliminary findings that the full moon phase occurred more often on Mondays compared to other days; an indication of a causal relationship. By taking Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines as samples during the period of 1999-2010, this paper found: (1 There is evidence of a Monday effect across all the ASEAN stock markets, (2 The moon phase and its interaction with Mondays has significantly influenced the Monday effect, and (3 A full moon on Monday has significant negative influenced on Monday returns. In conclusion, the stimulation by moon phase forms affection bias, and the resulting outcome is the irrational stock market behavior.

  5. China (CNSA) views of the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, S.

    China's lunar objectives have widely attracted the world's attention since China National Space Administration (CNSA) chief Luan Enjie in October 2000 officially affirmed the nation plans to carry out lunar exploration. The success of the Shenzhou-3 mission last April, which indicates that China is on the eve to become the third nation to attain an independent ability to launch humans into space, coupled with Chinese president Jiang Zemin's announcement issued immediately after the launch of SZ-3 that China will develop its own space station, further prompted the mass media in the West to ponder whether "the next footsteps on the Moon will be Chinese." Although China's lunar intention is well publicized, no detail about the project has yet been unveiled in the Western space media because China's space program has been notoriously cloaked in state-imposed secrecy, while the available information is basically unreported by Western observers mainly due to the cultural and language barriers. Based on original research of both the unpublished documents as well as reports in China's space media and professional journals, this paper attempts to piece together the available material gathered from China, providing some insight into China's Moon project, and analyzing the Chinese activities in pursuit of their lunar dream in perspective of space policy. Motivations China's presence on the Moon, in the Chinese leadership's view, could help aggrandize China's international prestige and consolidate the cohesion of the Chinese nation. Lunar exploration, the science community consents, not only helps acquire knowledge about the Moon, but also deepen the understanding of the Earth. A lunar project is believed to be able to accelerate the development of launching and navigating technologies, preparing for future deep space exploration. The emergence of the return to the Moon movement in the world, and the presumption that NASA has plans to return to the Moon, as evidenced by

  6. Designating Earth's Moon as a United Nations World Heritage Site - Permanently Protected from Commercial or Military Uses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steiner, R. G.

    2002-01-01

    This paper proposes that Earth's Moon, in its entirety, be designated a United Nations World Heritage Site (WHS), permanently protected from any and all commercial or military utilization and reserved exclusively for scientific and aesthetic purposes. The paper discusses: 1) the extraordinary importance of the Moon for science, culture, and religion - past, present and future; 2) the history of proposals to exploit the Moon for commercial and military purposes and the shortcomings of this colonial, exploitation paradigm; and 3) the necessity, policy mechanisms, and political dynamics of designating the Moon as a World Heritage Site, permanently protected from commercial and/or military uses. The first part of the paper discusses the extraordinary importance of the Moon as it exists today - as a scientific laboratory, a source of beauty and inspiration throughout human evolution, a source for artistic expression, and as an object that is considered sacred by many cultures. Next, the paper traces the history of specific proposals for the exploitation of the Moon for commercial and/or military purposes - including plans by the U.S. Air Force in 1959 to detonate a nuclear explosion on the Moon, proposals to strip-mine the lunar regolith for helium-3 and rocket-fuel hydrogen; construction of solar power plants to transmit energy to Earth, and proposals to use the lunar surface as a billboard upon which to project commercial advertisements visible from Earth. The profound ethical, legal, and scientific shortcomings of this exploitation paradigm are described as an emerging Extraterrestrial Manifest Destiny that we have a collective obligation to challenge and constrain. The paper proposes that space exploration be infused with an ethical commitment to compassion, reverence, conservation, and non-interference to abiotic and biotic systems alike; as opposed to the expansion and extraterrestrial imposition of the colonization, exploitation, domination, and despoliation

  7. International Observe the Moon Night: Using Public Outreach Events to Tell Your Story to the Public

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, B. C.; International Observe the Moon Night Coordinating Committee

    2011-12-01

    From various interpretations of the lunar "face," early pictograms of the Moon's phases, or to the use of the lunar cycle for festivals or harvests, the Moon has an undeniable influence on human civilization. International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) capitalizes on the human connection to the Moon by engaging the public in annual lunar observation campaigns that share the excitement of lunar science and exploration. In 2010 (InOMN's inaugural year), over 500,000 people attended events in 53 countries around the world. About 68% of InOMN hosts - astronomy clubs, museums, schools, or other groups - used the resources on the InOMN website (http://observethemoonnight.org). The InOMN website provided supporting materials for InOMN event hosts in the form of downloadable advertising materials, Moon maps, suggestions for hands-on educational activities, and links to lunar science content. InOMN event participants shared their experiences with the world using the Web and social media, event hosts shared their experiences with evaluation data, and amateur astronomers and photographers shared their images of the Moon through the lunar photography contest. The overwhelming response from InOMN in 2010 represents an untapped potential for infusing cutting edge lunar science and exploration into a large-scale public outreach event.

  8. Telerobotic exploration and development of the Moon

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    There has been a debate for the last thirty years about the relative merits of human versus robotic systems and we argue here that both are essential components for successful lunar exploration and development.We examine the role of robots in the next phases of exploration and human development of the Moon.

  9. The Absolute Reflectance and New Calibration Site of the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yunzhao; Wang, Zhenchao; Cai, Wei; Lu, Yu

    2018-05-01

    How bright the Moon is forms a simple but fundamental and important question. Although numerous efforts have been made to answer this question such as use of sophisticated electro-optical measurements and suggestions for calibration sites, the answer is still debated. An in situ measurement with a calibration panel on the surface of the Moon is crucial for obtaining the accurate absolute reflectance and resolving the debate. China’s Chang’E-3 (CE-3) “Yutu” rover accomplished this type of measurement using the Visible-Near Infrared Spectrometer (VNIS). The measurements of the VNIS, which were at large emission and phase angles, complement existing measurements for the range of photometric geometry. The in situ reflectance shows that the CE-3 landing site is very dark with an average reflectance of 3.86% in the visible bands. The results are compared with recent mission instruments: the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Wide Angle Camera (WAC), the Spectral Profiler (SP) on board the SELENE, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) on board the Chandrayaan-1, and the Chang’E-1 Interference Imaging Spectrometer (IIM). The differences in the measurements of these instruments are very large and indicate inherent differences in their absolute calibration. The M3 and IIM measurements are smaller than LROC WAC and SP, and the VNIS measurement falls between these two pairs. When using the Moon as a radiance source for the on-orbit calibration of spacecraft instruments, one should be cautious about the data. We propose that the CE-3 landing site, a young and homogeneous surface, should serve as the new calibration site.

  10. In-Situ Resource Utilization for further exploration of the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thakore, B.; Pohajsky, S.

    In-Situ Resource Utilization ISRU is the concept of living off the land Initially proposed in the mid 20th Century many experts have suggested that ISRU is an important enabler for the expansion of humanity beyond the confines of limited resources on Earth However even today ISRU remains a relatively underdeveloped and under--demonstrated in current exploration roadmaps This paper summarizes the proposals of an interdisciplinary study carried out by 27 students from 17 different countries at the International Space University The study reviewed the past and present ISRU techniques and related robotic technologies in the context of complementing the Moon and Mars exploration scenarios of the major space faring countries The economic viability and benefits of ISRU are examined together with the regulatory ethical and cultural aspects of space resource utilisation The renewed opportunities for moon exploration have rekindled interest in ISRU as an enabling technology It is important to assess both the tangible and intangible benefits of this technology in order to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of adopting it in support of human exploration of the Moon Mars and beyond

  11. Isotopic evolution of the protoplanetary disk and the building blocks of Earth and the Moon

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schiller, Martin; Bizzarro, Martin; Fernandes, Vera Assis

    2018-01-01

    Nucleosynthetic isotope variability among Solar System objects is often used to probe the genetic relationship between meteorite groups and the rocky planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars), which, in turn, may provide insights into the building blocks of the Earth-Moon system. Using this approach......, it has been inferred that no primitive meteorite matches the terrestrial composition and the protoplanetary disk material from which Earth and the Moon accreted is therefore largely unconstrained. This conclusion, however, is based on the assumption that the observed nucleosynthetic variability of inner...... into the thermally processed inner protoplanetary disk associated with the accretion of mass to the proto-Sun. The identical calcium isotope composition of Earth and the Moon reported here is a prediction of our model if the Moon-forming impact involved protoplanets or precursors that completed their accretion near...

  12. Topography of the Moon from the Clementine Lidar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, David E.; Zuber, Maria T.; Neumann, Gregory A.; Lemoine, Frank G.

    1997-01-01

    Range measurements from the lidar instrument carried aboard the Clementine spacecraft have been used to produce an accurate global topographic model of the Moon. This paper discusses the function of the lidar; the acquisition, processing, and filtering of observations to produce a global topographic model; and the determination of parameters that define the fundamental shape of the Moon. Our topographic model: a 72nd degree and order spherical harmonic expansion of lunar radii, is designated Goddard Lunar Topography Model 2 (GLTM 2). This topographic field has an absolute vertical accuracy of approximately 100 m and a spatial resolution of 2.5 deg. The field shows that the Moon can be described as a sphere with maximum positive and negative deviations of approx. 8 km, both occurring on the farside, in the areas of the Korolev and South Pole-Aitken (S.P.-Aitken) basins. The amplitude spectrum of the topography shows more power at longer wavelengths as compared to previous models, owing to more complete sampling of the surface, particularly the farside. A comparison of elevations derived from the Clementine lidar to control point elevations from the Apollo laser altimeters indicates that measured relative topographic heights generally agree to within approx. 200 in over the maria. While the major axis of the lunar gravity field is aligned in the Earth-Moon direction, the major axis of topography is displaced from this line by approximately 10 deg to the cast and intersects the farside 24 deg north of the equator. The magnitude of impact basin topography is greater than the lunar flattening (approx. 2 km) and equatorial ellipticity (approx. 800 m), which imposes a significant challenge to interpreting the lunar figure. The floors of mare basins are shown to lie close to an equipotential surface, while the floors of unflooded large basins, except for S.P.-Aitken, lie above this equipotential. The radii of basin floors are thus consistent with a hydrostatic mechanism

  13. MoonBEAM: A Beyond Earth-Orbit Gamma-Ray Burst Detector for Gravitational-Wave Astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hui, C. M.; Briggs, M. S.; Goldstein, A. M.; Jenke, P. A.; Kocevski, D.; Wilson-Hodge, C. A.

    2018-01-01

    Moon Burst Energetics All-sky Monitor (MoonBEAM) is a CubeSat concept of deploying gamma-ray detectors in cislunar space to improve localization precision for gamma-ray bursts by utilizing the light travel time difference between different orbits. We present here a gamma-ray SmallSat concept in Earth-Moon L3 halo orbit that is capable of rapid response and provide a timing baseline for localization improvement when partnered with an Earth-orbit instrument. Such an instrument would probe the extreme processes in cosmic collision of compact objects and facilitate multi-messenger time-domain astronomy to explore the end of stellar life cycles and black hole formations.

  14. An Alternative view of Earth's Tectonics : The Moon's explosive origin out of SE Asia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coleman, P. F.

    2017-12-01

    A lunar birth scar is typically considered untenable, under the standard paradigm (GTS-4.6-0 Ga, Giant Impact/Plate Tectonics), since it would have been erased by a combination of Wilson recycling, and erosion. This paradigm, while supported by robust, absolute dating, is still provisional, and, like all scientifc paradigms, is nonetheless open to refutation. It cannot, a priori, rule out such a scar. If empirical evidence were to be discovered, in favor of a lunar birthmark, it would have profound implications for the standard view. Coleman (2015) proposed an alternative paradigm based on an internal explosion of Proto-Earth (PE) that ejected the Moon into orbit and left coeval global signatures, such as; ocean-continent antipodality, the global geoid, origin of water, continents, trenches, fault lines, LIPs, hotspots, seamount chains, from the high TP shock/seismic waves. The abrupt deceleration also led to inertial effects of PE's crustal layers, possibly explaining subduction/obduction and fold and thrust fold belts. One major, first order, line of evidence is the actual fission signature ( 4000+ km long) where the Moon was explosively thrust tangentially (to the core) through ductile mantle (see Fig B) to escape into orbit. The proposed path, (locus Moon's center) is from (0°, 78.5°E) (Fig A), near present day India, to (+14.4°, 119°E) out of SE Asia (See Fig C). Possible evidence in favor of this path (but not limited to) include: the Indian Geoid Anomaly Low ( Moon's exhumation?), the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau (generated by the Moon's NE collisional movement and temporary hole and mantle rebound), SE Asia with many minor plates and back arc basins ( the Moon's exit zone), the East African Rifts (EARs) form a NE-directed pull apart region (explained as a set explosive crustal fragments or "plates") moving towards this relic unconsolidated Asian sink hole (See Fig D). The existence of a fossilised lunar birth points to a recent Earth-Moon, since

  15. World cup soccer players tend to be born with sun and moon in adjacent zodiacal signs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verhulst, J

    2000-01-01

    The ecliptic elongation of the moon with respect to the sun does not show uniform distribution on the birth dates of the 704 soccer players selected for the 1998 World Cup. However, a uniform distribution is expected on astronomical grounds. The World Cup players show a very pronounced tendency (p = 0.00001) to be born on days when the sun and moon are in adjacent zodiacal signs. Key Words: soccer; World Cup; astrology; moon PMID:11131239

  16. Observation in the MINOS far detector of the shadowing of cosmic rays by the sun and moon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2010-01-01

    The shadowing of cosmic ray primaries by the the moon and sun was observed by the MINOS far detector at a depth of 2070 mwe using 83.54 million cosmic ray muons accumulated over 1857.91 live-days. The shadow of the moon was detected at the 5.6 σ level and the shadow of the sun at the 3.8 σ level using a log-likelihood search in celestial coordinates. The moon shadow was used to quantify the absolute astrophysical pointing of the detector to be 0.17 ± 0.12 o . Hints of Interplanetary Magnetic Field effects were observed in both the sun and moon shadow.

  17. Europe over the moon with new satellite

    CERN Document Server

    2002-01-01

    ESA has taken delivery of a 3kg device that it plans to use to complete the first high-resolution map of the moon. The D-CIXS (Demonstration of a Compact Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer) will be aboard the SMART-1 satellite to be launched from French Guyana in South America next February (1/2 page).

  18. Four Years on Orbit at the Moon with LOLA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, D. E.; Zuber, M. T.; Neumann, G. A.; Mazarico, E.; Torrence, M. H.; Lemoine, F. G.

    2013-12-01

    After four years of near-continuous operation at the Moon, the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) continues to collect altimetry, surface roughness, slope and normal reflectance data. Although the instrument is beginning to show the effects of tens of thousands of thermal cycles and the natural process of the aging of the laser transmitters, LOLA continues to acquire data on the sunlit portion of every orbit on all 5 laser beams when below 100-km altitude. LOLA has acquired over 6x10^9 altimeter measurements, all geodetically controlled to the center-of-mass of the Moon with a radial precision of around 10 cm and an accuracy of about 1 meter. The position of the measurements on the lunar surface is primarily limited by the knowledge of the position of the spacecraft in orbit; in the last year the LRO orbit accuracy has improved significantly as a result of the availability of an accurate gravity model of the Moon from the GRAIL Discovery mission. Our present estimate of positional accuracy is less than 10 m rms but is only achievable with a GRAIL gravity model to at least degree and order 600 because of the perturbing gravitational effect of the Moon's surface features. Significant improvements in the global shape and topography have assisted the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) stereo mapping program, and the identification of potential lunar landing sites for ESA and Russia, particularly in the high-latitude polar regions where 5- and 10-meter average horizontal resolution has been obtained. LOLA's detailed mapping of the polar regions has improved the delineation of permanently-shadowed areas and assisted in the understanding of the LEND neutron data and its relationship to surface slopes. Recently, a global, calibrated LOLA normal albedo dataset at 1064 nm has been developed and is being combined with analysis and modeling by the Diviner team for the identification of the coldest locations in the polar regions.

  19. Automatic data-processing equipment of moon mark of nail for verifying some experiential theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niu, Renjie; Fu, Chenyu; Xu, Zhiyong; Huang, Jianyuan

    2016-04-29

    Doctors who practice Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnose using four methods - inspection, auscultation and olfaction, interrogation, and pulse feeling/palpation. The shape and shape changes of the moon marks on the nails are an important indication when judging the patient's health. There are a series of classical and experimental theories about moon marks in TCM, which does not have support from statistical data. To verify some experiential theories on moon mark in TCM by automatic data-processing equipment. This paper proposes the equipment that utilizes image processing technology to collect moon mark data of different target groups conveniently and quickly, building a database that combines this information with that gathered from the health and mental status questionnaire in each test. This equipment has a simple design, a low cost, and an optimized algorithm. The practice has been proven to quickly complete automatic acquisition and preservation of key data about moon marks. In the future, some conclusions will likely be obtained from these data; some changes of moon marks related to a special pathological change will be established with statistical methods.

  20. Exploring the martian moons a human mission to Deimos and Phobos

    CERN Document Server

    von Ehrenfried, Manfred “Dutch”

    2017-01-01

    This book explores the once popular idea of 'Flexible Path' in terms of Mars, a strategy that would focus on a manned orbital mission to Mars's moons rather than the more risky, expensive and time-consuming trip to land humans on the Martian surface. While currently still not the most popular idea, this mission would take advantage of the operational, scientific and engineering lessons to be learned from going to Mars's moons first. Unlike a trip to the planet's surface, an orbital mission avoids the dangers of the deep gravity well of Mars and a very long stay on the surface. This is analogous to Apollo 8 and 10, which preceded the landing on the Moon of Apollo 11. Furthermore, a Mars orbital mission could be achieved at least five years, possibly 10 before a landing mission. Nor would an orbital mission require all of the extra vehicles, equipment and supplies needed for a landing and a stay on the planet for over a year. The cost difference between the two types of missions is in the order of tens of billi...

  1. Irregular Saturnian Moon Lightcurves from Cassini-ISS Observations: Update

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denk, Tilmann; Mottola, S.

    2013-10-01

    Cassini ISS-NAC observations of the irregular moons of Saturn revealed various physical information on these objects. 16 synodic rotational periods: Hati (S43): 5.45 h; Mundilfari (S25): 6.74 h; Suttungr (S23): ~7.4 h; Kari (S45): 7.70 h; Siarnaq (S29): 10.14 h; Tarvos (S21): 10.66 h; Ymir (S19, sidereal period): 11.92220 h ± 0.1 s; Skathi (S27): ~12 h; Hyrrokkin (S44): 12.76 h; Ijiraq (S22): 13.03 h; Albiorix (S26): 13.32 h; Bestla (S39): 14.64 h; Bebhionn (S37): ~15.8 h; Kiviuq (S24): 21.82 h; Thrymr (S30): ~27 h; Erriapus (S28): ~28 h. The average period for the prograde-orbiting moons is ~16 h, for the retrograde moons ~11½ h (includes Phoebe's 9.2735 h from Bauer et al., AJ, 2004). Phase-angle dependent behavior of lightcurves: The phase angles of the observations range from 2° to 105°. The lightcurves which were obtained at low phase (<40°) show the 2-maxima/ 2-minima pattern expected for this kind of objects. At higher phases, more complicated lightcurves emerge, giving rough indications on shapes. Ymir pole and shape: For satellite Ymir, a convex-hull shape model and the pole-axis orientation have been derived. Ymir's north pole points toward λ = 230°±180°, β = -85°±10°, or RA = 100°±20°, Dec = -70°±10°. This is anti-parallel to the rotation axes of the major planets, indicating that Ymir not just orbits, but also rotates in a retrograde sense. The shape of Ymir resembles a triangular prism with edge lengths of ~20, ~24, and ~25 km. The ratio between the longest 25 km) and shortest axis (pole axis, ~15 km) is ~1.7. Erriapus seasons: The pole direction of object Erriapus has probably a low ecliptic latitude. This gives this moon seasons similar to the Uranian regular moons with periods where the sun stands very high in the sky over many years, and with years-long periods of permanent night. Hati density: The rotational frequency of the fastest rotator (Hati) is close to the frequency where the object would lose material from the surface if

  2. Apollo Anniversary: Moon Landing "Inspired World"

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    John Roach; 李然

    2004-01-01

    @@ On July 20, 1969, at 10:56 p.m. ET, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon and said, "That' s one small step for man,one giant leap for mankind." Thirty-five years later, Steven Dick, NASA's chief historian at the space agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C. , said that a thousand years from now, that step may be considered the crowning① achievement of the 20th century.

  3. Changes in the composition of ichthyoplankton assemblage and plastic debris in mangrove creeks relative to moon phases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lima, A R A; Barletta, M; Costa, M F; Ramos, J A A; Dantas, D V; Melo, P A M C; Justino, A K S; Ferreira, G V B

    2016-07-01

    Lunar influence on the distribution of fish larvae, zooplankton and plastic debris in mangrove creeks of the Goiana Estuary, Brazil, was studied over a lunar cycle. Cetengraulis edentulus, Anchovia clupeoides and Rhinosardinia bahiensis were the most abundant fish larvae (56·6%), independent of the moon phase. The full moon had a positive influence on the abundance of Gobionellus oceanicus, Cynoscion acoupa and Atherinella brasiliensis, and the new moon on Ulaema lefroyi. The full and new moons also influenced the number of zoeae and megalopae of Ucides cordatus, protozoeae and larvae of caridean shrimps, and the number of hard and soft plastic debris, both 5 mm. Micro and macroplastics were present in samples from all 12 creeks studied, at densities similar to the third most abundant taxon, R. bahiensis. Cetengraulis edentulus and R. bahiensis showed a strong positive correlation with the last quarter moon, when there was less zooplankton available in the creeks and higher abundance of microplastic threads. Anchovia clupeoides, Diapterus rhombeus, U. lefroyi and hard microplastics were positively associated with different moon phases, when calanoid copepods, Caridean larvae and zoeae of U. cordatus were highly available in the creeks. Cynoscion acoupa, G. oceanicus and A. brasiliensis were strongly associated with the full moon, when protozoeae of caridean shrimps and megalopae of U. cordatus were also highly available, as were hard and soft macroplastics, paint chips (mangrove creeks as nursery habitats. The moon phases influenced the distribution of fish larvae species, zooplankton and plastic debris by changing their compositions and abundances in the mangrove creeks of the Goiana Estuary when under the influence of different tidal current regimes. © 2015 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  4. More Sophisticated Fits of the Oribts of Haumea's Interacting Moons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oldroyd, William Jared; Ragozzine, Darin; Porter, Simon

    2018-04-01

    Since the discovery of Haumea's moons, it has been a challenge to model the orbits of its moons, Hi’iaka and Namaka. With many precision HST observations, Ragozzine & Brown 2009 succeeded in calculating a three-point mass model which was essential because Keplerian orbits were not a statistically acceptable fit. New data obtained in 2010 could be fit by adding a J2 and spin pole to Haumea, but new data from 2015 was far from the predicted locations, even after an extensive exploration using Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods (using emcee). Here we report on continued investigations as to why our model cannot fit the full 10-year baseline of data. We note that by ignoring Haumea and instead examining the relative motion of the two moons in the Hi’iaka centered frame leads to adequate fits for the data. This suggests there are additional parameters connected to Haumea that will be required in a full model. These parameters are potentially related to photocenter-barycenter shifts which could be significant enough to affect the fitting process; these are unlikely to be caused by the newly discovered ring (Ortiz et al. 2017) or by unknown satellites (Burkhart et al. 2016). Additionally, we have developed a new SPIN+N-bodY integrator called SPINNY that self-consistently calculates the interactions between n-quadrupoles and is designed to test the importance of other possible effects (Haumea C22, satellite torques on the spin-pole, Sun, etc.) on our astrometric fits. By correctly determining the orbit of Haumea’s satellites we develop a better understanding of the physical properties of each of the objects with implications for the formation of Haumea, its moons, and its collisional family.

  5. Examples of the nonlinear dynamics of ballistic capture and escape in the earth-moon system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belbruno, Edward A.

    1990-01-01

    An example of a trajectory is given which is initially captured in an elliptic resonant orbit about the earth and then ballistically escapes the earth-moon system. This is demonstrated by a numerical example in three-dimensions using a planetary ephemeris. Another example shows a mechanism of how an elliptic orbit about the earth can increase its energy by performing a complex nonlinear transition to an elliptic orbit of a larger semi-major axis. Capture is also considered. An application of ballistic capture at the moon via an unstable periodic orbit using the four-body sun-earth-moon-S/C interaction is described.

  6. Saturn's Irregular Moon Ymir

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denk, Tilmann; Mottola, S.

    2012-10-01

    Ymir (diameter 18 km), Saturn's second largest retrograde outer or irregular moon, has been observed six times by the Cassini narrow-angle camera (NAC) during the first 7 months in 2012. The observations span phase angles from 2° up to 102° and were taken at ranges between 15 and 18 million kilometers. From such a distance, Ymir is smaller than a pixel in the Cassini NAC. The data reveal a sidereal rotation period of 11.93 hrs, which is 1.6x longer than the previously reported value (Denk et al. 2011, EPSC/DPS #1452). Reason for this discrepancy is that the rotational light curve shows a rather uncommon 3-maxima and 3-minima shape at least in the phase angle range 50° to 100°, which was not recognizable in earlier data. The data cover several rotations from different viewing and illumination geometries and allow for a convex shape inversion with possibly a unique solution for the pole direction. The model reproduces the observed light curves to a very good accuracy without requiring albedo variegation, thereby suggesting that the lightcurve is dominated by the shape of Ymir. Among Saturn's irregular moons, the phenomenon of more than two maxima and minima at moderate to high phase angles is not unique to Ymir. At least Siarnaq and Paaliaq also show light curves with a strong deviation from a double-sine curve. Their rotation periods, however, remain unknown until more data can be taken. The light curve of Phoebe is fundamentally different to Ymir's because it is mainly shaped by local albedo differences and not by shape. Other reliable rotation periods of irregular satellites measured by Cassini include: Mundilfari 6.74 h; Kari 7.70 h; Albiorix 13.32 h; Kiviuq 21.82 h. More uncertain values are: Skathi 12 h; Bebhionn 16 h; Thrymr 27 h; Erriapus 28 h.

  7. Creating an isotopically similar Earth-Moon system with correct angular momentum from a giant impact

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wyatt, Bryant M.; Petz, Jonathan M.; Sumpter, William J.; Turner, Ty R.; Smith, Edward L.; Fain, Baylor G.; Hutyra, Taylor J.; Cook, Scott A.; Gresham, John H.; Hibbs, Michael F.; Goderya, Shaukat N.

    2018-04-01

    The giant impact hypothesis is the dominant theory explaining the formation of our Moon. However, the inability to produce an isotopically similar Earth-Moon system with correct angular momentum has cast a shadow on its validity. Computer-generated impacts have been successful in producing virtual systems that possess many of the observed physical properties. However, addressing the isotopic similarities between the Earth and Moon coupled with correct angular momentum has proven to be challenging. Equilibration and evection resonance have been proposed as means of reconciling the models. In the summer of 2013, the Royal Society called a meeting solely to discuss the formation of the Moon. In this meeting, evection resonance and equilibration were both questioned as viable means of removing the deficiencies from giant impact models. The main concerns were that models were multi-staged and too complex. We present here initial impact conditions that produce an isotopically similar Earth-Moon system with correct angular momentum. This is done in a single-staged simulation. The initial parameters are straightforward and the results evolve solely from the impact. This was accomplished by colliding two roughly half-Earth-sized impactors, rotating in approximately the same plane in a high-energy, off-centered impact, where both impactors spin into the collision.

  8. FIRST LIGHT: MeV ASTROPHYSICS FROM THE MOON

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miller, Richard S. [University of Alabama in Huntsville, 301 Sparkman Drive, Huntsville, AL 35899 (United States); Lawrence, David J., E-mail: richard.s.miller@uah.edu [Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723 (United States)

    2016-06-01

    We report evidence of the first astrophysical source detected from the Moon at MeV energies. Our detection of Cygnus X-1 is a validation of a new investigative paradigm in which the lunar environment is intrinsic to the detection approach: the Lunar Occultation Technique (LOT). NASA’s Lunar Prospector mission served as a proxy for a dedicated LOT-based mission. The characteristic signature of temporal modulation, generated by repeated lunar occultations and encoded within acquired gamma-ray data (0.5–9 MeV), is consistent with an unambiguous detection of Cygnus X-1 at 5.4 σ significance. Source localization and long-term monitoring capabilities of the LOT are also demonstrated. This “first light” detection verifies the basic tenets of the LOT methodology, reinforces its feasibility as an alternative astronomical detection paradigm for nuclear astrophysics investigations, and is an illustration of the fundamental benefits of the Moon as a platform for science.

  9. Io After Galileo A New View of Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon

    CERN Document Server

    Lopes, Rosaly M. C

    2007-01-01

    Jupiter’s moon Io is the Solar System’s most exotic satellite. Active volcanism on Io was discovered from observations by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1979, confirming a possibility suggested from theoretical studies of Io’s orbit. Our knowledge of Io’s volcanism, composition, and space environment were significantly increased as a result of observations by the Galileo spacecraft from 1996 through 2001. The end of the Galileo mission in 2003 makes this an ideal time to summarize the new results in a book as no book has ever been written about Jupiter’s volcanic moon, Io.

  10. Young Children's Knowledge About the Moon: A Complex Dynamic System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Venville, Grady J.; Louisell, Robert D.; Wilhelm, Jennifer A.

    2012-08-01

    The purpose of this research was to use a multidimensional theoretical framework to examine young children's knowledge about the Moon. The research was conducted in the interpretive paradigm and the design was a multiple case study of ten children between the ages of three and eight from the USA and Australia. A detailed, semi-structured interview was conducted with each child. In addition, each child's parents were interviewed to determine possible social and cultural influences on the child's knowledge. We sought evidence about how the social and cultural experiences of the children might have influenced the development of their ideas. From a cognitive perspective we were interested in whether the children's ideas were constructed in a theory like form or whether the knowledge was the result of gradual accumulation of fragments of isolated cultural information. Findings reflected the strong and complex relationship between individual children, their social and cultural milieu, and the way they construct ideas about the Moon and astronomy. Findings are presented around four themes including ontology, creatures and artefacts, animism, and permanence. The findings support a complex dynamic system view of students' knowledge that integrates the framework theory perspective and the knowledge in fragments perspective. An initial model of a complex dynamic system of young children's knowledge about the Moon is presented.

  11. MyMoon: Engaging the “Missing Link” in Lunar Science Exploration through New Media

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaner, A.; Shupla, C.; Shipp, S. S.; Eriksson, A.

    2009-12-01

    NASA’s new scientific exploration of the Moon, coupled with the public’s interest in the Moon and innovative social networking approaches, is being leveraged to engage a fresh adult audience in lunar science and exploration. In July 2009 the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) launched a lunar education new media portal, MyMoon. LPI is collaborating with lunar scientists, educators, artists - and the public - to populate the site with science content, diverse media exhibits, events, and opportunities for involvement. Through MyMoon, the general public interacts with lunar content that informs them about lunar science research and missions, and engages them in future plans for lunar exploration and eventual habitation. MyMoon’s objectives are to: 1) develop a dynamic, new media learning portal that will enable the general public, with a focus on adults ages 18-35; 2) host a growing, active audience that becomes further involved in NASA’s lunar exploration by sharing their ideas about lunar topics, creating their own materials, and participating in events and experiences; 3) build a community of enthusiasts through social networking media; 4) create a model for online engagement of audiences 18 to 35, and provide detailed evaluation data on best practices and strategies for success. Immersive new media technologies are changing the way that people interact, work, learn, and teach. These provide potentially high-impact opportunities for reaching an audience of young adults, age 18 to 35, that largely is not accessed by, or accessing, NASA (Dittmar, 2004). MyMoon strives to engage - and involve - this audience to build a community of enthusiasts for lunar scientific exploration through social networks and current and emerging new media platforms, including posting videos on YouTube, photo contests on Flickr, and sharing events and challenges on Facebook and Twitter. MyMoon features interactive exhibits that are audience driven and added on a quarterly basis

  12. Fruits of exploration of moon and neighbouring planets of the solar system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lal, D.

    1976-01-01

    It has been demonstrated that a lot of quantitative information about the palaeontology of the Solar system can be derived from the results of the recent explorations of the Moon and other planets. Based on the study of the lunar samples, the geological, chemical and age aspects of the Moon are discussed. Comparisons are made with the geology of the Earth. The importance of the study of meteorites in understanding the evolution of the planets and the solar system is also pointed out. (A.K.)

  13. Construction of chitin/PVA composite hydrogels with jellyfish gel-like structure and their biocompatibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Meng; Wang, Zhenggang; Cao, Yan; Zhao, Yanteng; Duan, Bo; Chen, Yun; Xu, Min; Zhang, Lina

    2014-09-08

    High strength chitin/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) composite hydrogels (RCP) were constructed by adding PVA into chitin dissolved in a NaOH/urea aqueous solution, and then by cross-linking with epichlorohydrin (ECH) and freezing-thawing process. The RCP hydrogels were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, FTIR, differential scanning calorimetry, solid-state (13)C NMR, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, and compressive test. The results revealed that the repeated freezing/thawing cycles induced the bicrosslinked networks consisted of chitin and PVA crystals in the composite gels. Interestingly, a jellyfish gel-like structure occurred in the RCP75 gel with 25 wt % PVA content in which the amorphous and crystalline PVA were immobilized tightly in the chitin matrix through hydrogen bonding interaction. The freezing/thawing cycles played an important role in the formation of the layered porous PVA networks and the tight combining of PVA with the pore wall of chitin. The mechanical properties of RCP75 were much higher than the other RCP gels, and the compressive strength was 20× higher than that of pure chitin gels, as a result of broadly dispersing stress caused by the orderly multilayered networks. Furthermore, the cell culture tests indicated that the chitin/PVA composite hydrogels exhibited excellent biocompatibility and safety, showing potential applications in the field of tissue engineering.

  14. DISCOVERY OF A MAKEMAKEAN MOON

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parker, Alex H.; Buie, Marc W. [Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut Street, Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80302 (United States); Grundy, Will M. [Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ (United States); Noll, Keith S., E-mail: aparker@boulder.swri.edu [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States)

    2016-07-01

    We describe the discovery of a satellite in orbit about the dwarf planet (136472) Makemake. This satellite, provisionally designated S/2015 (136472) 1, was detected in imaging data collected with the Hubble Space Telescope ’s Wide Field Camera 3 on UTC 2015 April 27 at 7.80 ± 0.04 mag fainter than Makemake and at a separation of 0.″57. It likely evaded detection in previous satellite searches due to a nearly edge-on orbital configuration, placing it deep within the glare of Makemake during a substantial fraction of its orbital period. This configuration would place Makemake and its satellite near a mutual event season. Insufficient orbital motion was detected to make a detailed characterization of its orbital properties, prohibiting a measurement of the system mass with the discovery data alone. Preliminary analysis indicates that if the orbit is circular, its orbital period must be longer than 12.4 days and must have a semimajor axis ≳21,000 km. We find that the properties of Makemake’s moon suggest that the majority of the dark material detected in the system by thermal observations may not reside on the surface of Makemake, but may instead be attributable to S/2015 (136472) 1 having a uniform dark surface. This “dark moon hypothesis” can be directly tested with future James Webb Space Telescope observations. We discuss the implications of this discovery for the spin state, figure, and thermal properties of Makemake and the apparent ubiquity of trans-Neptunian dwarf planet satellites.

  15. Discovery of a Makemakean Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parker, Alex H.; Buie, Marc W.; Grundy, Will M.; Noll, Keith S.

    2016-01-01

    We describe the discovery of a satellite in orbit about the dwarf planet (136472) Makemake. This satellite, provisionally designated S/2015 (136472) 1, was detected in imaging data collected with the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 on UTC 2015 April 27 at 7.80 +/- 0.04 mag fainter than Makemake and at a separation of 0farcs57. It likely evaded detection in previous satellite searches due to a nearly edge-on orbital configuration, placing it deep within the glare of Makemake during a substantial fraction of its orbital period. This configuration would place Makemake and its satellite near a mutual event season. Insufficient orbital motion was detected to make a detailed characterization of its orbital properties, prohibiting a measurement of the system mass with the discovery data alone. Preliminary analysis indicates that if the orbit is circular, its orbital period must be longer than 12.4 days and must have a semimajor axis > or approx. = 21,000 km. We find that the properties of Makemake's moon suggest that the majority of the dark material detected in the system by thermal observations may not reside on the surface of Makemake, but may instead be attributable to S/2015 (136472) 1 having a uniform dark surface. This dark moon hypothesis can be directly tested with future James Webb Space Telescope observations. We discuss the implications of this discovery for the spin state, figure, and thermal properties of Makemake and the apparent ubiquity of trans-Neptunian dwarf planet satellites.

  16. Mission analysis for the Martian Moons Explorer (MMX) mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campagnola, Stefano; Yam, Chit Hong; Tsuda, Yuichi; Ogawa, Naoko; Kawakatsu, Yasuhiro

    2018-05-01

    Mars Moon eXplorer (MMX) is JAXA's next candidate flagship mission to be launched in the early 2020s. MMX will explore the Martian moons and return a sample from Phobos. This paper presents the mission analysis work, focusing on the transfer legs and comparing several architectures, such as hybrid options with chemical and electric propulsion modules. The selected baseline is a chemical-propulsion Phobos sample return, which is discussed in detail with the launch- and return-window analysis. The trajectories are optimized with the jTOP software, using planetary ephemerides for Mars and the Earth; Earth re-entry constraints are modeled with simple analytical equations. Finally, we introduce an analytical approximation of the three-burn capture strategy used in the Mars system. The approximation can be used together with a Lambert solver to quickly determine the transfer Δ v costs.

  17. On Choosing a Rational Flight Trajectory to the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordienko, E. S.; Khudorozhkov, P. A.

    2017-12-01

    The algorithm for choosing a trajectory of spacecraft flight to the Moon is discussed. The characteristic velocity values needed for correcting the flight trajectory and a braking maneuver are estimated using the Monte Carlo method. The profile of insertion and flight to a near-circular polar orbit with an altitude of 100 km of an artificial lunar satellite (ALS) is given. The case of two corrections applied during the flight and braking phases is considered. The flight to an ALS orbit is modeled in the geocentric geoequatorial nonrotating coordinate system with the influence of perturbations from the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon factored in. The characteristic correction costs corresponding to corrections performed at different time points are examined. Insertion phase errors, the errors of performing the needed corrections, and the errors of determining the flight trajectory parameters are taken into account.

  18. The telescopic tourist's guide to the Moon

    CERN Document Server

    May, Andrew

    2017-01-01

    Whether you’re interested in visiting Apollo landing sites or the locations of classic sci-fi movies, this is the tourist guide for you! This tourist guide has a twist – it is a guide to a whole different world, which you can visit from the comfort of your backyard with the aid of nothing more sophisticated than an inexpensive telescope. It tells you the best times to view the Moon, the most exciting sights to look out for, and the best equipment to use, allowing you to snap stunning photographs as well as view the sights with your own eyes. Have you ever been inspired by stunning images from the Hubble telescope, or the magic of sci-fi special effects, only to look through a small backyard telescope at the disappointing white dot of a planet or faint blur of a galaxy? Yet the Moon is different. Seen through even a relatively cheap telescope, it springs into life like a real place, with mountains and valleys and rugged craters. With a bit of imagination, you can even picture yourself as a sightseeing visi...

  19. A 3D Planetary Neocartographic Tool in Education: A Game on Virtual Moon and Mars Globes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hargitai, H.; Simonné-Dombóvári, E.; Gede, M.

    2012-03-01

    The paper describes the educational use of online virtual globes of Mars and the Moon. The game uses topographic globes of Mars (MOLA) and the Moon (LRO DTM) that includes IAU nomenclature + informal names. Students have to position the points described.

  20. SMART-1 leaves Earth on a long journey to the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    2003-09-01

    The European Space Agency’s SMART-1 was one of three payloads on Ariane Flight 162. The generic Ariane-5 lifted off from the Guiana Space Centre, Europe’s spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, at 2014 hrs local time (2314 hrs GMT) on 27 September (01:14 Central European Summer time on 28 September). 42 minutes after launch, SMART-1 as last of the three satellites had been successfully released into a geostationary transfer orbit (654 x 35 885 km, inclined at 7 degrees to the Equator). While the other two satellites are due to manoeuvre towards geostationary orbit, the 367 kg SMART-1 will begin a much longer journey to a target ten times more distant than the geostationary orbit: the Moon. “Europe can be proud”, said ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain, after witnessing the launch from ESA’s ESOC space operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany, “we have set course for the Moon again. And this is only the beginning: we are preparing to reach much further”. The spacecraft has deployed its solar arrays and is currently undergoing initial checkout of its systems under control from ESA/ESOC. This checkout will continue until 4 October and will include with the initial firing of SMART-1’s innovative ion engine. By ion drive to the Moon “Science and technology go hand in hand in this exciting mission to the Moon. The Earth and Moon have over 4 thousand million years of shared history, so knowing the Moon better will help scientists in Europe and all over the world to better understand our planet and will give them valuable new hints on how to better safeguard it” said ESA Director of Science David Southwood, following the launch from Kourou. As the first mission in the new series of Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology, SMART-1 is mainly designed to demonstrate innovative and key technologies for future deep space science missions. The first technology to be demonstrated on SMART-1 will be Solar Electric Primary Propulsion (SEPP), a

  1. Exploring The Moon through a 21st Century Learning Environment of Interactive Whiteboards

    Science.gov (United States)

    Runyon, C. J.; Hall, C.; Joyner, E.; Meyer, H. M.

    2012-12-01

    Lunar exploration has an important role to play in inspiring students to hone their skills and understanding, as well as encouraging them to pursue careers in science, technology engineering and math (STEM). Many of NASA's current lunar educational materials do not dynamically engage the whole learner or effectively address 21st Century skills. We present examples of several dynamic lunar science activities for use on interactive white boards. These activities are replicable and incorporate NASA mission-derived sampling and analysis techniques. Building on a highly visual and tactile workforce, it is imperative that today's classrooms keep up with technologies that are the media of modern life. Interactive white boards offer a coordinated curricula and supporting resources that are immediately usable in most classrooms across America. Our dynamic classroom materials are rich in scientific processes, meet the national standards of learning in STEM, and are teacher-vetted for content and usability. Incorporating educational activities created from the NASA Lunar Science Institute team activities, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) Educator's Guide, and more current NASA lunar missions, we offer three dynamic modules for use on an interactive white board. SMART activities implement the mastery teaching model, employing instructional strategies so that all students can achieve the same level of learning. Our goal is to provide educators with multiple resources for teaching their students about the Moon and engaging their interest in pursuing STEM in the future. In addition to background information, inquiry-oriented lessons allow students to gather information and data directly through the Internet. For example, with the return of high resolution/high spatial data from M3/Chandrayaan-1, we can now better identify, discern and understand the compositional variations on the lunar surface. Data and analysis techniques from the M3 imaging spectrometer are incorporated into

  2. RAPID-L: an operator-free reactor for the Moon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kambe, M.; Tsunoda, Kh.; Misima, K.; Ivamura, T.

    2005-01-01

    An outlook of using the RAPID-L nuclear energy facility with a fast reactor under conditions of self-contained operation on the Moon is considered in the context of approval of the new space development program in the USA [ru

  3. Students' annotated drawings of Sun, Moon and Earth mediating teachers' professional development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Birgitte Lund

    A case study of a teacher examining her 4th graders’ conceptual understanding of factors causing day and night, seasons, and the phases of the Moon is presented. The teaching example and the data-collection are sourced from the Danish continuous professional development (CPD) project QUEST......-making model. The pre-teaching annotated drawings reveal several alternative conceptions, but based on the post-teaching drawings the teaching must be seen as rather efficient in most areas concerning challenging students’ alternative conceptions; however not in relation to the phases of the Moon. The teacher...

  4. MoonVillage: Frame & Opportunity for Space Economy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foing, B. H.

    2017-09-01

    We shall discuss the frame and opportunity for space economy in the context of elaborating the concept of a Moon Village with the goal of a sustainable human presence and activity on the lunar surface as an ensemble where multiple users can carry out multiple activities. This enterprise can federate all interested Nations and partners, in particular from terrestrial and non space commercial sectors .

  5. Thermo-chemical Ice Penetrator for Icy Moons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arenberg, J. W.; Lee, G.; Harpole, G.; Zamel, J.; Sen, B.; Ross, F.; Retherford, K. D.

    2016-12-01

    The ability to place sensors or to take samples below the ice surface enables a wide variety of potential scientific investigations. Penetrating an ice cap can be accomplished via a mechanical drill, laser drill, kinetic impactor, or heated penetrator. This poster reports on the development of technology for the latter most option, namely a self-heated probe driven by an exothermic chemical reaction: a Thermo-chemical ice penetrator (TChIP). Our penetrator design employs a eutectic mix of alkali metals that produce an exothermic reaction upon contact with an icy surface. This reaction increases once the ice starts melting, so no external power is required. This technology is inspired by a classified Cold-War era program developed at Northrop Grumman for the US Navy. Terrestrial demonstration of this technology took place in the Arctic; however, this device cannot be considered high TRL for application at the icy moons of the solar system due to the environmental differences between Earth's Arctic and the icy moons. These differences demand a TChIP design specific to these cold, low mass, airless worlds. It is expected that this model of TChIP performance will be complex, incorporating all of the forces on the penetrator, gravity, the thermo-chemistry at the interface between penetrator and ice, and multi-phase heat and mass transport, and hydrodynamics. Our initial efforts are aimed at the development of a validated set of tools and simulations to predict the performance of the penetrator for both the environment found on these icy moons and for a terrestrial environment. The purpose of the inclusion of the terrestrial environment is to aid in model validation. Once developed and validated, our models will allow us to design penetrators for a specific scientific application on a specific body. This poster discusses the range of scientific investigations that are enabled by TChIP. We also introduce the development plan to advance TChIP to the point where it can be

  6. The south pole region of the moon as seen by Clementine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shoemaker, E.M.; Robinson, M.S.; Eliason, E.M.

    1994-01-01

    The Clementine mission has provided the first comprehensive set of high-resolution images of the south pole region of the moon. Within 5?? of latitude of the pole, an area of an estimated 30,000 square kilometers remained in shadow during a full lunar rotation and is a promising target for future exploration for ice deposits. The Schrodinger Basin (320 kilometers in diameter), centered at 75??S, is one of the two youngest, least modified, great multiring impact basins on the moon. A large maar-type volcano localized along a graben within the Schrodinger Basin probably erupted between 1 and 2 billion years ago.

  7. Mercury is Moon's brother

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ksanfomalifi, L.V.

    1976-01-01

    The latest information on Mercury planet is presented obtained by studying the planet with the aid of radar and space vehicles. Rotation of Mercury about its axis has been discovered; within 2/3 of its year it executes a complete revolution about its axis. In images obtained by the ''Mariner-10'' Mercurys surface differs little from that of the Moon. The ''Mariner-10'' has also discovered the Mercurys atmosphere, which consists of extremely rarefied helium. The helium is continuously supplied to the planet by the solar wind. The Mercury's magnetic field has been discovered, whose strength is 35 x 10 -4 at the Equator and 70 x 10 -4 E at the poles. The inclination of the dipole axis to the Mercury's rotation axis is 7 deg

  8. Workshop on New Views of the Moon: Integrated Remotely Sensed, Geophysical, and Sample Datasets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jolliff, Brad L.; Ryder, Graham

    1998-01-01

    It has been more than 25 years since Apollo 17 returned the last of the Apollo lunar samples. Since then, a vast amount of data has been obtained from the study of rocks and soils from the Apollo and Luna sample collections and, more recently, on a set of about a dozen lunar meteorites collected on Earth. Based on direct studies of the samples, many constraints have been established for the age, early differentiation, crust and mantle structure, and subsequent impact modification of the Moon. In addition, geophysical experiments at the surface, as well as remote sensing from orbit and Earth-based telescopic studies, have provided additional datasets about the Moon that constrain the nature of its surface and internal structure. Some might be tempted to say that we know all there is to know about the Moon and that it is time to move on from this simple satellite to more complex objects. However, the ongoing Lunar Prospector mission and the highly successful Clementine mission have provided important clues to the real geological complexity of the Moon, and have shown us that we still do not yet adequately understand the geologic history of Earth's companion. These missions, like Galileo during its lunar flyby, are providing global information viewed through new kinds of windows, and providing a fresh context for models of lunar origin, evolution, and resources, and perhaps even some grist for new questions and new hypotheses. The probable detection and characterization of water ice at the poles, the extreme concentration of Th and other radioactive elements in the Procellarum-Imbrium-Frigon's resurfaced areas of the nearside of the Moon, and the high-resolution gravity modeling enabled by these missions are examples of the kinds of exciting new results that must be integrated with the extant body of knowledge based on sample studies, in situ experiments, and remote-sensing missions to bring about the best possible understanding of the Moon and its history.

  9. On the Moon with Apollo 15, A Guidebook to Hadley Rille and the Apennine Mountains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simmons, Gene

    The booklet, published before the Apollo 15 mission, gives a timeline for the mission; describes and illustrates the physiography of the landing site; and describes and illustrates each lunar surface scientific experiment. Separate timelines are included for all traverses (the traverses are the Moon walks and, for Apollo 15, the Moon rides in the…

  10. Dusty plasmas over the Moon: theory research in support of the upcoming lunar missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Popel, Sergey; Zelenyi, Lev; Zakharov, Alexander; Izvekova, Yulia; Dolnikov, Gennady; Dubinskii, Andrey; Kopnin, Sergey; Golub, Anatoly

    The future Russian lunar missions Luna 25 and Luna 27 are planned to be equipped with instruments for direct detection of nano- and microscale dust particles and determination of plasma properties over the surface of the Moon. Lunar dust over the Moon is usually considered as a part of a dusty plasma system. Here, we present the main our theory results concerning the lunar dusty plasmas. We start with the description of the observational data on dust particles on and over the surface of the Moon. We show that the size distribution of dust on the lunar surface is in a good agreement with the Kolmogorov distribution, which is the size distribution of particles in the case of multiple crushing. We discuss the role of adhesion which has been identified as a significant force in the dust particle launching process. We evaluate the adhesive force for lunar dust particles with taking into account the roughness and adsorbed molecular layers. We show that dust particle launching can be explained if the dust particles rise at a height of about dozens of nanometers owing to some processes. This is enough for the particles to acquire charges sufficient for the dominance of the electrostatic force over the gravitational and adhesive forces. The reasons for the separation of the dust particles from the surface of the Moon are, in particular, their heating by solar radiation and cooling. We consider migration of free protons in regolith from the viewpoint of the photoemission properties of the lunar soil. Finally, we develop a model of dusty plasma system over the Moon and show that it includes charged dust, photoelectrons, and electrons and ions of the solar wind. We determine the distributions of the photoelectrons and find the characteristics of the dust which rise over the lunar regolith. We show that there are no significant constraints on the Moon landing sites for future lunar missions that will study dusty plasmas in the surface layer of the Moon. We discuss also waves in

  11. Characteristic analysis and design of near moon abort trajectory for manned lunar landing mission

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2010-01-01

    The safety of astronauts would be severely threatened if the lunar-landing spacecraft were under an emergency during the near moon phase of flight, which was far from the Earth. For the problem of mission abort caused by the main engine (service propulsion system, SPS) failure during lunar orbit insertion, firstly, the family of trajectories resulted from SPS premature shutdown and corresponding abort trajectories were analyzed; then an algorithm that can be applied to the near moon abort trajectories was proposed using patched-conic technique. The characteristics of the abort trajectory, such as energy consumption and return time of flight, were analyzed and presented. Finally, simulation examples were given to demonstrate various cases of near moon SPS failure. The results of the simulation have validated the approach proposed.

  12. Toward a mineral physics reference model for the Moon's core.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antonangeli, Daniele; Morard, Guillaume; Schmerr, Nicholas C; Komabayashi, Tetsuya; Krisch, Michael; Fiquet, Guillaume; Fei, Yingwei

    2015-03-31

    The physical properties of iron (Fe) at high pressure and high temperature are crucial for understanding the chemical composition, evolution, and dynamics of planetary interiors. Indeed, the inner structures of the telluric planets all share a similar layered nature: a central metallic core composed mostly of iron, surrounded by a silicate mantle, and a thin, chemically differentiated crust. To date, most studies of iron have focused on the hexagonal closed packed (hcp, or ε) phase, as ε-Fe is likely stable across the pressure and temperature conditions of Earth's core. However, at the more moderate pressures characteristic of the cores of smaller planetary bodies, such as the Moon, Mercury, or Mars, iron takes on a face-centered cubic (fcc, or γ) structure. Here we present compressional and shear wave sound velocity and density measurements of γ-Fe at high pressures and high temperatures, which are needed to develop accurate seismic models of planetary interiors. Our results indicate that the seismic velocities proposed for the Moon's inner core by a recent reanalysis of Apollo seismic data are well below those of γ-Fe. Our dataset thus provides strong constraints to seismic models of the lunar core and cores of small telluric planets. This allows us to propose a direct compositional and velocity model for the Moon's core.

  13. Five years of LRO laser altimetry at the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, David E.; Zuber, Maria T.

    After five years of near-continuous operation at the Moon, the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) on LRO continues to collect altimetry, surface roughness, slope and normal reflectance data. LOLA has acquired over 6 billion altimeter measurements, all geodetically controlled to the center-of-mass of the Moon with a radial precision of around 10 cm and an accuracy of about 1 meter. The position of the measurements on the lunar surface is primarily limited by the knowledge of the position of the spacecraft in orbit and in the last few years the LRO orbit accuracy has improved significantly as a result of the accurate gravity model of the Moon developed by the GRAIL Discovery mission. Our present estimate of positional accuracy is less than 10 m rms but is only achievable with a GRAIL gravity model to at least degree and order 600 because of the perturbing gravitational effect of the Moon’s surface features. Significant improvements in the global shape and topography have assisted the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) stereo mapping program, and the identification of potential lunar landing sites for ESA and Russia, particularly in the high-latitude polar regions where 5- and 10-meter average horizontal resolution has been obtained. LOLA’s detailed mapping of these regions has improved the delineation of permanently-shadowed areas and assisted in the understanding of the LEND neutron data, and its relationship to surface slopes. Recently a global, calibrated LOLA normal albedo dataset at 1064 nm has been developed.

  14. Preliminary results of the Moon shadow using ARGO-YBJ detector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang Yungang [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences 19B Yuquan Lu, Shijingshan, Beijing, 100049 (China)], E-mail: wangyg@mail.ihep.ac.cn

    2008-01-15

    ARGO-YBJ is a 'full coverage' air shower detector consisting of Resistive Plate Chambers(RPCs) at the Yangbajing High Altitude Cosmic Ray Laboratory (Tibet, China) at 4300 m a.s.l. (lat=30.11{sup o} N, long=90.53{sup o} E). Using the data collected with a carpet of RPCs (1900 m{sup 2}, about 1/3 of the whole ARGO-YBJ detector), the cosmic ray shadowing effect due to the Moon was studied. The 50% angular resolution is found to be {approx}1.2{sup o} with the Chess-board method and the Moon shadow with a significance of 4.9 {sigma} is found displaced by 0.7{sup o} westward and 0.5{sup o} northward with respect to the expected position by the equi-zenith angle Method.

  15. Quantum Diaries Blog: Is the moon full? Just ask the LHC operators

    CERN Multimedia

    Pauline Gagnon

    2012-01-01

    Corrections to proton orbits in the LHC appear as regular dips in the instantaneous luminosity measured by CMS (beige) and ATLAS (green).   The LHC is so large that the gravitational force exerted by the moon is not the same at all points, which creates small distortions of the tunnel. And the machine is sensitive enough to detect minute deformations created by the small differences in gravitational force across its diameter. Therefore, the orbits of protons in the accelerator have to be adjusted regularly to account for the gravitational effect of the moon. Read more on the Quantum Diaries Blog post.

  16. Mapping and Naming the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitaker, Ewen A.

    2003-12-01

    Preface; Introduction; Part I. First Era: From Prehistoric Images to Archetype Map: 1. Pre-telescopic lunar observations; 2. Early telescopic observations of the Moon; 3. Van Langren (Langrenus) and the birth of selenography; 4. Six more years of sporadic activity; Part II. Second Era: From Archetype to Maturity: 5. 140 years of sporadic activity; 6. A globe, tree rings, and a city; 7. Lunar cartography comes of age; Part III. Third Era: From proliferation to standardisation: 8. Lunar mapping in the Victorian period; 9. Nomenclature gets international attention; Part IV. The Space Age Demands Changes: 10. Setting up guidelines; 11. Planets and satellites set the rules. Appendices 1 - 22.

  17. Titan the earth-like moon

    CERN Document Server

    Coustenis, Athena

    1999-01-01

    This is the first book to deal with Titan, one of the most mysterious bodies in the solar system. The largest satellite of the giant planet Saturn, Titan is itself larger than the planet Mercury, and is unique in being the only known moon with a thick atmosphere. In addition, its atmosphere bears a startling resemblance to the Earth's, but is much colder.The American and European space agencies, NASA and ESA, have recently combined efforts to send a huge robot spacecraft to orbit Saturn and land on Titan. This book provides the background to this, the greatest deep space venture of our time, a

  18. Thermal expansion and thermal stress in the moon and terrestrial planets - Clues to early thermal history

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solomon, S. C.; Chaiken, J.

    1976-01-01

    The paper discusses how features of the surface geology of the moon and also Mars and Mercury impose constraints on the volumetric expansion or contraction of a planet and consequently provide a test of thermal history models. The moon has changed very little in volume over the last 3.8 b.y. Thermal models satisfying this constraint involve early heating and perhaps melting of the outer 200 km of the moon and an initially cold interior. Mercury has contracted by about 2 km in radius since emplacement of its present surface, so core formation must predate that surface. A hot initial temperature distribution is implied.

  19. Evidence for aquaporin-mediated water transport in nematocytes of the jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marino, Angela; Morabito, Rossana; La Spada, Giuseppina; Adragna, Norma C; Lauf, Peter K

    2011-01-01

    Nematocytes, the stinging cells of Cnidarians, have a cytoplasm confined to a thin rim. The main cell body is occupied by an organoid, the nematocyst, containing the stinging tubule and venom. Exposed to hypotonic shock, nematocytes initially swell during an osmotic phase (OP) and then undergo regulatory volume decrease (RVD) driven by K(+), Cl(-) and obligatory water extrusion mechanisms. The purpose of this report is to characterize the OP. Nematocytes were isolated by the NaSCN/Ca(2+) method from tentacles of the jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca, collected in the Strait of Messina, Italy. Isolated nematocytes were subjected to hyposmotic shock in 65% artificial seawater (ASW) for 15 min. The selective aquaporin water channel inhibitor HgCl(2) (0.1-25 μM) applied prior to osmotic shock prevented the OP and thus RVD. These effects were attenuated in the presence of 1mM dithiothreitol (DTT), a mercaptide bond reducing agent. AgNO(3) (1 μM) and TEA (tetraethylammonium, 100 μM), also reported to inhibit water transport, did not alter the OP but significantly diminished RVD, suggesting different modes of action for the inhibitors tested. Based on estimates of the nematocyte surface area and volume, and OP duration, a relative water permeability of ~10(-7) cm/sec was calculated and the number of putative aquaporin molecules mediating the OP was estimated. This water permeability is 3-4 orders of magnitude lower in comparison to higher order animals and may constitute an evolutionary advantage for Cnidarian survival. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  20. Changing inclination of earth satellites using the gravity of the moon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karla de Souza Torres

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available We analyze the problem of the orbital control of an Earth's satellite using the gravity of the Moon. The main objective is to study a technique to decrease the fuel consumption of a plane change maneuver to be performed in a satellite that is in orbit around the Earth. The main idea of this approach is to send the satellite to the Moon using a single-impulsive maneuver, use the gravity field of the Moon to make the desired plane change of the trajectory, and then return the satellite to its nominal semimajor axis and eccentricity using a bi-impulsive Hohmann-type maneuver. The satellite is assumed to start in a Keplerian orbit in the plane of the lunar orbit around the Earth and the goal is to put it in a similar orbit that differs from the initial orbit only by the inclination. A description of the close-approach maneuver is made in the three-dimensional space. Analytical equations based on the patched conics approach are used to calculate the variation in velocity, angular momentum, energy, and inclination of the satellite. Then, several simulations are made to evaluate the savings involved. The time required by those transfers is also calculated and shown.

  1. GO JUP POS GLL TRAJECTORY MOON CENTERED COORDS V1.0

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This data set contains Galileo trajectory data in moon (Amalthea, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto) centered coordinates for all of the near satellite encounters....

  2. A rapidly progressing, deadly disease ofActias selene(Indian moon ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    2015-07-08

    Jul 8, 2015 ... moon moth) larvae associated with a mixed bacterial and baculoviral infection. J. Biosci. ... assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spec- ... The two smallest larvae are first instar, the middle-sized larva is the.

  3. The Moons of Jupiter / Journey to the Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Litwak, J.; Chatzichristou, E.

    2017-09-01

    The Moons of Jupiter/ Journey to the Stars uses the arts, most particularly theatre arts to inspire curiosity about science education. Using characters which include famous scientists as well as mythological figures, the project provokes thought and offers opportunity for discovery. The play and the subsequent creative teaching tools are accessible to scientists, artists and lay people in an out of the classroom.

  4. The focusing effect of P-wave in the Moon's and Earth's low-velocity core. Analytical solution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fatyanov, A. G.; Burmin, V. Yu

    2018-04-01

    The important aspect in the study of the structure of the interiors of planets is the question of the presence and state of core inside them. While for the Earth this task was solved long ago, the question of whether the core of the Moon is in a liquid or solid state up to the present is debatable up to present. If the core of the Moon is liquid, then the velocity of longitudinal waves in it should be lower than in the surrounding mantle. If the core is solid, then most likely, the velocity of longitudinal waves in it is higher than in the mantle. Numerical calculations of the wave field allow us to identify the criteria for drawing conclusions about the state of the lunar core. In this paper we consider the problem of constructing an analytical solution for wave fields in a layered sphere of arbitrary radius. A stable analytic solution is obtained for the wave fields of longitudinal waves in a three-layer sphere. Calculations of the total wave fields and rays for simplified models of the Earth and the Moon with real parameters are presented. The analytical solution and the ray pattern showed that the low-velocity cores of the Earth and the Moon possess the properties of a collecting lens. This leads to the emergence of a wave field focusing area. As a result, focused waves of considerable amplitude appear on the surface of the Earth and the Moon. In the Earth case, they appear before the first PKP-wave arrival. These are so-called "precursors", which continue in the subsequent arrivals of waves. At the same time, for the simplified model of the Earth, the maximum amplitude growth is observed in the 147-degree region. For the Moon model, the maximum amplitude growth is around 180°.

  5. Peculiarities of the Moon variations of the neutron and meson components of cosmic rays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Naskidashvili, B.D.; Shatashvili, L.Kh.

    1979-01-01

    Lunar variations of the neutron component of cosmic rays have been investigated individually for groups of stations of the northern hemisphere of the Earth and for groups of stations of the southern hemisphere. A dependence has been found of the amplitude and phase of the first harmonic of lunar variations in the intensity of neutron and meson components of cosmic rays on the geocentric distance of the Moon and on the epoch of solar activity. The amplitudes and phases of lunar variations were determined by the Chapman-Miller method. According to the data on the meson component of cosmic rays obtained by the Nagoya station (Japan), the amplitudes of the first harmonic of lunar daily variations point to the fact that as the Moon approaches the Earth the tidal effects do not exceed the effects of lunar gravitational forces when the Moon is at apogee

  6. Life sciences on the moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horneck, G.

    Despite of the fact that the lunar environment lacks essential prerequisites for supporting life, lunar missions offer new and promising opportunities to the life sciences community. Among the disciplines of interest are exobiology, radiation biology, ecology and human physiology. In exobiology, the Moon offers an ideal platform for studies related to the understanding of the principles, leading to the origin, evolution and distribution of life. These include the analysis of lunar samples and meteorites in relatively pristine conditions, radioastronomical search for other planetary systems or Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI), and studies on the role of radiation in evolutionary processes and on the environmental limits for life. For radiation biology, the Moon provides an unique laboratory with built-in sources for optical as well as ionising radiation to investigate the biological importance of the various components of cosmic and solar radiation. Before establishing a lunar base, precursor missions will provide a characterisation of the radiation field, determination of depth dose distributions in different absorbers, the installation of a solar flare alert system, and a qualification of the biological efficiency of the mixed radiation environment. One of the most challenging projects falls into the domain of ecology with the establishment for the first time of an artificial ecosystem on a celestial body beyond the Earth. From this venture, a better understanding of the dynamics regulating our terrestrial biosphere is expected. It will also serve as a precursor of bioregenerative life support systems for a lunar base. The establishment of a lunar base with eventually long-term human presence will raise various problems in the fields of human physiology and health care, psychology and sociology. Protection guidelines for living in this hostile environment have to be established.

  7. Lunar orbiter photographic atlas of the near side of the Moon

    CERN Document Server

    Byrne, Charles

    2005-01-01

    In 1967, Lunar Orbiter Mission 4 sent back to Earth a superb series of photographs of the surface of the Moon. Using 21st century computer techniques, Charles Byrne - previously System Engineer of the Apollo Program for Lunar Orbiter Photography - has removed the scanning artifacts and transmission imperfections to produce a most comprehensive and beautifully detailed set of images of the lunar surface. To help practical astronomers, all the photographs are systematically related to an Earth-based view. The book has been organized to make it easy for astronomers to use, enabling ground-based images and views to be compared with the Orbiter photographs. Every astronomer - amateur and professional - who is interested in the Moon will want this book in his library!.

  8. The lunar nodal tide and the distance to tne Moon during the Precambrian era

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, J. C. G.; Zahnle, K. J.

    1986-01-01

    The origin and early evolution of life on Earth occurred under physical and chemical conditions distinctly different from those of the present day. The broad goal of this research program is to characterize these conditions. One aspect involves the dynamics of the Earth-Moon system, the distance of the Moon from the Earth, and the length of the day. These have evolved during the course of Earth history as a result of the dissipation of tidal energy. As the moon has receded the amplitude of oceanic tides has decreased while the increasing length of the day should have influenced climate and the circulation of atmosphere and ocean. A 23.3 year periodicity preserved in a 2500 million year old banded iron-formation was interpreted as reflecting the climatic influence of the lunar nodal tide. The corresponding lunar distance would then have been approx. 52 Earth radii. The influence of the lunar nodal tide is also apparent in rocks with an age of 680 million years B.P. The derived value for lunar distance 2500 million years ago is the only datum on the dynamics of the Earth-Moon system during the Precambrian era of Earth history. The implied development of Precambrian tidal friction is in accord with more recent paleontological evidence as well as the long term stability of the lunar orbit.

  9. Indigenous abundances of siderophile elements in the lunar highlands: implications for the origin of the Moon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Delano, J.W.; Ringwood, A.E.

    1978-01-01

    Substantial indigeneous abundances of siderophile elements have been found to be present in the lunar highlands. The abundances of 13 siderophile elements in the parental magma were estimated by using a simple model. It is shown that metal/silicate fractionation within the Moon cannot have been the cause of the siderophile element abundances in the parental highlands magma and primitive, low-Ti mare basalts. The relative abundances of the indigenous siderophile elements in highlands and mare samples seem, instead, to be the result of complex processes which operated prior to the Moon's accretion. The abundances of the relatively involatile, siderophile elements in the parental highlands magma are strikingly similar to the abundances observed in terrestrial oceanic tholeiites. Furthermore, the abundances of the relatively volatile, siderophile elements in the parental highlands magma are also systematically related to the corresponding abundances in terrestrial oceanic tholeiites. In fact, the parental magma of the lunar highlands can be essentially regarded as having been a volatile-depleted terrestrial oceanic tholeite. The origin of the moon is discussed in the context of the results. The probability that depletion of siderophile elements occurred in an earlier generation of differentiated planetesimals similar to those which formed the basaltic achondrites, stony-irons, and irons is examined but can be dismissed on several grounds. It seems that the uniquely terrestrial 'siderophile signature' within the Moon can be explained only if the Moon was derived from the Earth's mantle subsequent to core-formation. (Auth.)

  10. Science on a Sphere: Moon and Mercury Interactive Spherical Display using iclickers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherman, S. B.; Gillis-Davis, J. J.; Pilger, E.; Au, C.; Platt, N.

    2010-12-01

    Using data from the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission to Mercury and data from Clementine, Lunar Orbiter, Lunar Prospector, as well as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission we are creating multimedia applications for the Magic Planet and Science on a Sphere (hence forth we will use SOS to denote both display types) for Mercury and the Moon, respectively. Presenting the data on this innovative and stimulating medium captures the interest, stimulates curiosity, and inspires scientific learning in children, as well as general audiences. In order to maximize the learning potential of the SOS we are constructing animated, interactive presentations which incorporate audience participation using iclickers. The interactive nature of the presentations accommodates a variety of audiences’ knowledge levels and the presentations can be adapted in real-time accordingly. The focus of the presentations are either geared toward addressing misconceptions, such as why we have seasons and phases of the Moon, or general education, for example, an interactive game where the audience’s iclicker responses control the direction of their own Moon mission while they learn about conditions on the Moon along the way. The iclickers are used as assessment tools as well as a means for the audience to control the direction of the application. As an assessment tool audience members can make predictions and answer questions using the iclicker, such as the time a full moon rises. In this manner we will be able to evaluate learning gains. In addition, the audience can use the iclickers to vote on what they want to do next. Having control over the direction of the application increases the audiences’ involvement. Both uses of the iclickers engage the audience and they become active participants rather than passive observers. An undergraduate from Leeward Community College, and a high school student from Campbell High School, are actively

  11. JUICE: A European Mission to Jupiter and its Icy Moons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grasset, Olivier; Witasse, Olivier; Barabash, Stas; Brandt, Pontus; Bruzzone, Lorenzo; Bunce, Emma; Cecconi, Baptiste; Cavalié, Thibault; Cimo, Giuseppe; Coustenis, Athena; Cremonese, Gabriele; Dougherty, Michele; Fletcher, Leigh N.; Gladstone, Randy; Gurvits, Leonid; Hartogh, Paul; Hoffmann, Holger; Hussmann, Hauke; Iess, Luciano; Jaumann, Ralf; Kasaba, Yasumasa; Kaspi, Yohai; Krupp, Norbert; Langevin, Yves; Mueller-Wodarg, Ingo; Palumbo, Pasquale; Piccioni, Giuseppe; Plaut, Jeffrey; Poulet, Francois; Roatsch, Thomas; Retherford, Kurt D.; Rothkaehl, Hanna; Stevenson, David J.; Tosi, Federico; Van Hoolst, Tim; Wahlund, Jan-Erik; Wurz, Peter; Altobelli, Nicolas; Accomazzo, A.; Boutonnet, Arnaud; Erd, Christian; Vallat, Claire

    2016-10-01

    JUICE - JUpiter ICy moons Explorer - is the first large mission in the ESA Cosmic Vision programme [1]. The implementation phase started in July 2015. JUICE will arrive at Jupiter in October 2029, and will spend 3 years characterizing the Jovian system, the planet itself, its giant magnetosphere, and the giant icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. JUICE will then orbit Ganymede.The first goal of JUICE is to explore the habitable zone around Jupiter [2]. Ganymede is a high-priority target because it provides a unique laboratory for analyzing the nature, evolution and habitability of icy worlds, including the characteristics of subsurface oceans, and because it possesses unique magnetic fields and plasma interactions with the environment. On Europa, the focus will be on recently active zones, where the composition, surface and subsurface features (including putative water reservoirs) will be characterized. Callisto will be explored as a witness of the early Solar System.JUICE will also explore the Jupiter system as an archetype of gas giants. The circulation, meteorology, chemistry and structure of the Jovian atmosphere will be studied from the cloud tops to the thermosphere and ionosphere. JUICE will investigate the 3D properties of the magnetodisc, and study the coupling processes within the magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere. The mission also focuses on characterizing the processes that influence surface and space environments of the moons.The payload consists of 10 instruments plus a ground-based experiment (PRIDE) to better constrain the S/C position. A remote sensing package includes imaging (JANUS) and spectral-imaging capabilities from UV to sub-mm wavelengths (UVS, MAJIS, SWI). A geophysical package consists of a laser altimeter (GALA) and a radar sounder (RIME) for exploring the moons, and a radio science experiment (3GM) to probe the atmospheres and to determine the gravity fields. The in situ package comprises a suite to study plasma and

  12. Effect of alkaloids derived from jellyfish (Aeginura sp.) on the intestinal histopathology and relative percentage survival (RPS) of tiger grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) infected by Vibrio harveyi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andayani, S.; Fajar, M.; Rahman, M. F.

    2018-04-01

    The purposes of this research were to determine the effect of alkaloid jellyfish compounds on intestinal histopathology of tiger grouper and to determine the best doses to the relative percent survival (RPS) of tiger grouper. The method of this research was descriptive with completely randomized design. The treatment of active alkaloid compound on feed was investigated for 28 days. The fish were then challenged with Vibrio harveyi at 105 CFU/cell for 7 days. Alkaloids were added to the feed with the doses (g alkaloid/kg feed) of 0 (control); A = 0.5; B = 0.75; C = 1.0; and D = 1.25. The intestinal histopathology and RPS were observed. The best RPS was found at a treatment of C with the value of 100 %.

  13. Searching for alien artifacts on the moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davies, P. C. W.; Wagner, R. V.

    2013-08-01

    The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has a low probability of success, but it would have a high impact if successful. Therefore it makes sense to widen the search as much as possible within the confines of the modest budget and limited resources currently available. To date, SETI has been dominated by the paradigm of seeking deliberately beamed radio messages. However, indirect evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence could come from any incontrovertible signatures of non-human technology. Existing searchable databases from astronomy, biology, earth and planetary sciences all offer low-cost opportunities to seek a footprint of extraterrestrial technology. In this paper we take as a case study one particular new and rapidly-expanding database: the photographic mapping of the Moon's surface by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to 0.5 m resolution. Although there is only a tiny probability that alien technology would have left traces on the moon in the form of an artifact or surface modification of lunar features, this location has the virtue of being close, and of preserving traces for an immense duration. Systematic scrutiny of the LRO photographic images is being routinely conducted anyway for planetary science purposes, and this program could readily be expanded and outsourced at little extra cost to accommodate SETI goals, after the fashion of the SETI@home and Galaxy Zoo projects.

  14. Observation of the Moon shadow using a new reconstruction technique in the CLUE experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dokoutchaeva, V.; Kartashov, D.; Malakhov, N.; Menzione, A.; Smogailov, E.; Marsella, G.; Bartoli, B.; Bastieri, D.; Cresti, M.; Sartori, G.; Sbarra, C.; Saggion, A.; Mariotti, M.; Biral, R.; Pegna, R.; Rosso, F.; Ciocci, M. A.; Scribano, A.; Paoletti, R.; Turini, N.; Stammerra, A.; Liello, F.

    2001-01-01

    The CLUE experiment, located in La Palma island at 2200 m a.s.l., is an array of 3 x 3 telescope, detecting the UV (190-230 nm) Cerenkov light produced by atmospheric showers. Due to the higher atmospheric absorption in the UV range than in the visible one, CLUE cannot apply existing algorithms normally used in IACT experiments to determine primary cosmic ray direction. In this paper it is presented a new method developed by CLUE. The algorithm performances were evaluated using simulated showers. CLUE experiment collected data in the last two years pointing to AGN sources and to Moon. The preliminary results obtained using the new technique on Crab Nebula and on Markarian 421 were presented in a previous paper. Here, it is presented the preliminary observation of Moon Shadow employing the new method. As described in the paper, it is expected in a near future improvements on AGN sources and on Moon Shadow measurement

  15. Observation of the Moon shadow using a new reconstruction technique in the CLUE experiment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dokoutchaeva, V.; Kartashov, D.; Malakhov, N.; Menzione, A.; Smogailov, E. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Pisa (Italy); Marsella, G. [Lecce Univ., Lecce (Italy). Dipt. di Fisica; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Lecce (Italy); Bartoli, B. [Naples Univ., Naples (Italy). Dipt. di Fisica; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Naples (Italy); Bastieri, D.; Cresti, M.; Sartori, G.; Sbarra, C.; Saggion, A.; Mariotti, M. [Padua Univ., Padua (Italy). Dipt. di Fisica; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Padua (Italy); Biral, R.; Pegna, R.; Rosso, F. [Pisa Univ., Pisa (Italy). Dipt. di Fisica; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Pisa (Italy); Ciocci, M. A.; Scribano, A.; Paoletti, R.; Turini, N. [Siena Univ., Siena (Italy). Dipt. di Fisica; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Siena (Italy); Stammerra, A. [Turin Univ., Turin (Italy). Dipt. di Fisica; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Turin (Italy); Liello, F. [Trieste Univ., Trieste (Italy). Dipt. di Fisica; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Trieste (Italy)

    2001-10-01

    The CLUE experiment, located in La Palma island at 2200 m a.s.l., is an array of 3 x 3 telescope, detecting the UV (190-230 nm) Cerenkov light produced by atmospheric showers. Due to the higher atmospheric absorption in the UV range than in the visible one, CLUE cannot apply existing algorithms normally used in IACT experiments to determine primary cosmic ray direction. In this paper it is presented a new method developed by CLUE. The algorithm performances were evaluated using simulated showers. CLUE experiment collected data in the last two years pointing to AGN sources and to Moon. The preliminary results obtained using the new technique on Crab Nebula and on Markarian 421 were presented in a previous paper. Here, it is presented the preliminary observation of Moon Shadow employing the new method. As described in the paper, it is expected in a near future improvements on AGN sources and on Moon Shadow measurement.

  16. Ancient igneous intrusions and early expansion of the Moon revealed by GRAIL gravity gradiometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrews-Hanna, Jeffrey C; Asmar, Sami W; Head, James W; Kiefer, Walter S; Konopliv, Alexander S; Lemoine, Frank G; Matsuyama, Isamu; Mazarico, Erwan; McGovern, Patrick J; Melosh, H Jay; Neumann, Gregory A; Nimmo, Francis; Phillips, Roger J; Smith, David E; Solomon, Sean C; Taylor, G Jeffrey; Wieczorek, Mark A; Williams, James G; Zuber, Maria T

    2013-02-08

    The earliest history of the Moon is poorly preserved in the surface geologic record due to the high flux of impactors, but aspects of that history may be preserved in subsurface structures. Application of gravity gradiometry to observations by the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission results in the identification of a population of linear gravity anomalies with lengths of hundreds of kilometers. Inversion of the gravity anomalies indicates elongated positive-density anomalies that are interpreted to be ancient vertical tabular intrusions or dikes formed by magmatism in combination with extension of the lithosphere. Crosscutting relationships support a pre-Nectarian to Nectarian age, preceding the end of the heavy bombardment of the Moon. The distribution, orientation, and dimensions of the intrusions indicate a globally isotropic extensional stress state arising from an increase in the Moon's radius by 0.6 to 4.9 kilometers early in lunar history, consistent with predictions of thermal models.

  17. Complex explosive volcanic activity on the Moon within Oppenheimer crater, Icarus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennett, Kristen A; Horgan, Briony H N; Gaddis, Lisa R.; Greenhagen, Benjamin T; Allen, Carlton C.; Hayne, Paul O; Bell, James F III; Paige, David A.

    2016-01-01

    Oppenheimer Crater is a floor-fractured crater located within the South Pole-Aitken basin on the Moon, and exhibits more than a dozen localized pyroclastic deposits associated with the fractures. Localized pyroclastic volcanism on the Moon is thought to form as a result of intermittently explosive Vulcanian eruptions under low effusion rates, in contrast to the higher-effusion rate, Hawaiian-style fire fountaining inferred to form larger regional deposits. We use Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera images and Diviner Radiometer mid-infrared data, Chandrayaan-1 orbiter Moon Mineralogy Mapper near-infrared spectra, and Clementine orbiter Ultraviolet/Visible camera images to test the hypothesis that the pyroclastic deposits in Oppenheimer crater were emplaced via Vulcanian activity by constraining their composition and mineralogy. Mineralogically, we find that the deposits are variable mixtures of orthopyroxene and minor clinopyroxene sourced from the crater floor, juvenile clinopyroxene, and juvenile iron-rich glass, and that the mineralogy of the pyroclastics varies both across the Oppenheimer deposits as a whole and within individual deposits. We observe similar variability in the inferred iron content of pyroclastic glasses, and note in particular that the northwest deposit, associated with Oppenheimer U crater, contains the most iron-rich volcanic glass thus far identified on the Moon, which could be a useful future resource. We propose that this variability in mineralogy indicates variability in eruption style, and that it cannot be explained by a simple Vulcanian eruption. A Vulcanian eruption should cause significant country rock to be incorporated into the pyroclastic deposit; however, large areas within many of the deposits exhibit spectra consistent with high abundances of juvenile phases and very little floor material. Thus, we propose that at least the most recent portion of these deposits must have erupted via a Strombolian or more continuous fire

  18. Shallow Lunar Seismic Activity and the Current Stress State of the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watters, Thomas R.; Weber, Renee C.; Collins, Geoffrey C.; Johnson, Catherine L.

    2017-01-01

    A vast, global network of more than 3200 lobate thrust fault scarps has been revealed in high resolution Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) images. The fault scarps are very young, less than 50 Ma, based on their small scale and crisp appearance, crosscutting relations with small-diameter impact craters, and rates of infilling of associated small, shallow graben and may be actively forming today. The population of young thrust fault scarps provides a window into the recent stress state of the Moon and offers insight into the origin of global lunar stresses. The distribution of orientations of the fault scarps is non-random, inconsistent with isotropic stresses from late-stage global contraction as the sole source of stress. Modeling shows that tidal stresses contribute significantly to the current stress state of the lunar crust. Tidal stresses (orbital recession and diurnal tides) superimposed on stresses from global contraction result in non-isotropic compressional stress and may produce thrust faults consistent with lobate scarp orientations. At any particular point on the lunar surface, peak compressive stress will be reached at a certain time in the diurnal cycle. Coseismic slip events on currently active thrust faults are expected to be triggered when peak stresses are reached. Analysis of the timing of the 28 the shallow moonquakes recorded by the Apollo seismic network shows that 19 indeed occur when the Moon is closer to apogee, while only 9 shallow events occur when the Moon is closer to perigee. Here we report efforts to refine the model for the current stress state of the Moon by investigating the contribution of polar wander. Progress on relocating the epicentral locations of the shallow moonquakes using an algorithm designed for sparse networks is also reported.

  19. New `Moons' of Saturn May Be Transient Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    1996-01-01

    ADONIS Observes Pandora, S/1995 S6 and Others How many moons has Saturn, the second-largest planet in the solar system ? Until recently, the best answer was eighteen, ranging from innermost Pan that circles the planet 75,000 km above the cloud tops in a little less than 14 hours, to distant Phoebe , 13 million km away in a reverse (`retrograde') 550-day orbit [1]. Now the situation is less clear. New observations have become available which raise some questions about the actual number and nature of small `moons' near this planet. In particular, there is now evidence that some of the recent sightings may in fact refer to temporary condensations of material (dust clouds) in the inner rings rather than solid bodies. Most of these observations have been made with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), but important supplementary data [2] was also obtained with the high-resolution ADONIS camera at the ESO 3.6-m telescope. When the Sun and Earth Cross the Plane of the Rings Saturn is surrounded by a spectacular ring system in which a large number of small (probably cm- to m-size) icy bodies are moving. Soon after the invention of the telescope in the early 17th century, it was found to consist of an inner B- and an outer A-ring, separated by the dark `Cassini division'. The faint F-ring was discovered further out by the Pioneer 11 spacecraft in 1979; it is separated from the A-ring by the 3000-km wide `Pioneer division'. All of these rings are very flat and quite thin. They are apparently no more than 2 kilometres thick in a global sense, and probably much less locally (10 - 100 metres). They all lie in the same plane which is inclined by 26.7 degrees, relative to the planet's orbital plane. One revolution of Saturn around the Sun lasts 29.455 years and twice during each orbital period, i.e. once about every 15 years, the Sun is situated exactly in this ring plane. This happened most recently on November 19, 1995. Astronomers refer to these relatively rare events as solar

  20. GO JUP POS MOONS TRAJ JUPITER CENTERED COORDINATES V1.0

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This data set contains the System III (1965.0) trajectory and Sun and Earth phase angles of Galileo and selected Jovian moons when Galileo was inside 30 Jupiter...

  1. Interior properties of the inner Saturnian moons from space astrometry data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lainey, Valery; Noyelles, Benoît; Cooper, Nick; Murray, Carl; Park, Ryan; Rambaux, Nicolas

    2018-04-01

    During thirteen years in orbit around Saturn before its final plunge, the Cassini spacecraft provided more than ten thousand astrometric measurements. Such large amounts of accurate data enable the search for extremely faint signals in the orbital motion of the moons. Among those, the detection of the dynamical feedback of the rotation of the inner moons of Saturn on their respective orbits becomes possible. Using all the currently available astrometric data associated with Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Janus and Epimetheus, we provide a detailed analysis of the ISS data, with special emphasis on their statistical behavior and source of biases. Then, we try quantifying the physical librations of Prometheus, Pandora, Epimetheus and Janus from the monitoring of their orbits. Last, we show how introducing measurements directly derived from imaging can provide tighter constraints on these quantities.

  2. The lunar crust - A product of heterogeneous accretion or differentiation of a homogeneous moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brett, R.

    1973-01-01

    The outer portion of the moon (including the aluminum-rich crust and the source regions of mare basalts) was either accreted heterogeneously or was the product of widespread differentiation of an originally homogeneous source. Existing evidence for and against each of these two models is reviewed. It is concluded that the accretionary model presents more problems than it solves, and the model involving differentiation of an originally homogeneous moon is considered to be more plausible. A hypothesis for the formation of mare basalts is advanced.

  3. The moon as a stepping stone for a spacefaring civilization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Multhaup, K.

    2008-09-01

    After Columbia In early 2004, U.S. president George Bush introduced the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE). Conceived in the aftermath of the Columbia tragedy, it called for NASA to first return astronauts to the moon by 2020 and then send crews to Mars and beyond thereafter. Bush's plan has once again enlivened the long-lasting discussion of manned spaceflight vs. robotic exploration. Also, the plan to use the moon as a stepping stone has come under scrutiny and is being debated. Alternate approaches minimizing or deleting manned lunar exploration in the frame of the VSE were proposed. Fig. 1 A composite manned spacecraft departing Earth orbit en route to the moon. Image: NASA. In order to assess the value of us going back to the moon, it is necessary to debate without bias the meaning of human spaceflight in general and to discuss the role of science in future efforts. Lunar disenchantment Whithin the scientific community, manned exploration programs are put into question time and again. It is demanded that in light of supposedly immense costs any endeavour concerning this matter shall be justified by an indisputable scientific return — and in current debates, scientific value is not recognized in such a way that funding appears well-invested. It is lamented that funds are drawn from what is considered real science. In the past, robotic exploration has opended our eyes to the many wonders of the solar system. Through the eyes of Cassini , Mars Express, and other successful spacecraft, we have seen exotic landscapes—yet on second sight, some appeared all too familiar. BepiColombo will fly to Mercury to unravel its mysteries and the Jovian system may receive a new earthly visitor in the not too distant future. By means of machines like Spirit and Opportunity, we have roamed the surfaces of Mars—without actually ever setting foot there. Therefore, the question is often asked, "Why send crews?" Fig. 2 The upcoming Lunar Reconnisance Orbiter (LRO) as it circles

  4. Eclipse journeys to the dark side of the Moon

    CERN Document Server

    Close, Frank

    2017-01-01

    On August 21st, over one hundred million people will gather across the USA to witness the most-watched total solar eclipse in history. Eclipse: Journeys to the Dark Side of the Moon, by popular science author Frank Close, describes the spellbinding allure of this beautiful natural phenomenon. The book explains why eclipses happen, reveals their role in history, literature and myth, and introduces us to eclipse chasers, who travel with ecstatic fervor to some of the most inaccessible places on the globe. The book also includes the author's quest to solve a 3000-year-old mystery: how did the moon move backward during a total solar eclipse, as claimed in the Book of Joshua? Eclipse is also the story of how a teacher inspired the author, aged eight, to pursue a career in science and a love affair with eclipses that has taken him to a war zone in the Western Sahara, the South Pacific, and the African bush. The tale comes full circle with another eight-year old boy - the author's grandson - at the 2017 great Americ...

  5. Astrobiology Results from ILEWG EuroMoonMars Analogue Field Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foing, Bernard H.

    We give an update on the astrobiology results from a series of field research campaigns (ILEWG EuroMoonMars) in the extreme environment of the Utah desert. These are relevant to prepare future lunar landers and polar sample return missions, interpret Moon-Mars data (eg SMART1, LRO, Mars Express, MRO, MER, MSL), study habitability and astrobiology in Moon-Mars environments, or to test human-robotic surface EVA or base operations. In the frame of ILEWG EuroMoonMars campaigns (2009 to 2013) we deployed at Mars Desert Research station near Hanksville Utah, a suite of instruments and techniques [0, 1, 2, 9-11] including sample collection, context imaging from re-mote to local and microscale, drilling, spectrometers and life sensors. We analyzed how geological and geo-chemical evolution affected local parameters (mineralogy, organics content, environment variations) and the habitability and signature of organics and biota. Results: Among the important findings are the diversity in the composition of soil samples even when collected in close proximity, the low abundances of detectable PAHs and amino acids and the presence of biota of all three domains of life with significant heterogeneity. An extraordinary variety of putative extremophiles was observed [3,4,9]. A dominant factor seems to be soil porosity and lower clay-sized particle content [6-8]. A protocol was developed for sterile sampling, contamination issues, and the diagnostics of biodiversity via PCR and DGGE analysis in soils and rocks samples [10, 11]. We compare the 2009 campaign results [0-9] to new measurements from 2010-2013 campaigns relevant to: comparison between remote sensing and in-situ measurements; the study of minerals; the detection of organics and signs of life. We acknowledge team members and supporting institutes: B.H. Foing (1, 2, 6), C. Stoker (3), P. Ehrenfreund (4, 5), I. Rammos (2), L. Rodrigues (2), A. Svendsen (2), D. Oltheten (2), I. Schlacht (2), K. Nebergall (6), M. Battler (6, 7), H

  6. Core-Mantle Partitioning of Volatile Elements and the Origin of Volatile Elements in Earth and Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Righter, K.; Pando, K.; Danielson, L.; Nickodem, K.

    2014-01-01

    Depletions of siderophile elements in mantles have placed constraints on the conditions on core segregation and differentiation in bodies such as Earth, Earth's Moon, Mars, and asteroid 4 Vesta. Among the siderophile elements there are a sub-set that are also volatile (volatile siderophile elements or VSE; Ga, Ge, In, As, Sb, Sn, Bi, Zn, Cu, Cd), and thus can help to constrain the origin of volatile elements in these bodies, and in particular the Earth and Moon. One of the fundamental observations of the geochemistry of the Moon is the overall depletion of volatile elements relative to the Earth, but a satisfactory explanation has remained elusive. Hypotheses for Earth include addition during accretion and core formation and mobilized into the metallic core, multiple stage origin, or addition after the core formed. Any explanation for volatile elements in the Earth's mantle must also be linked to an explanation of these elements in the lunar mantle. New metal-silicate partitioning data will be applied to the origin of volatile elements in both the Earth and Moon, and will evaluate theories for exogenous versus endogenous origin of volatile elements.

  7. Moon Trek: NASA's New Online Portal for Lunar Mapping and Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Day, B. H.; Law, E. S.

    2016-11-01

    This presentation introduces Moon Trek, a new name for a major new release of NASA's Lunar Mapping and Modeling Portal (LMMP). The new Trek interface provides greatly improved navigation, 3D visualization, performance, and reliability.

  8. California State Waters Map Series: offshore of Half Moon Bay, California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cochrane, Guy R.; Dartnell, Peter; Greene, H. Gary; Johnson, Samuel Y.; Golden, Nadine E.; Hartwell, Stephen R.; Dieter, Bryan E.; Manson, Michael W.; Sliter, Ray W.; Ross, Stephanie L.; Watt, Janet T.; Endris, Charles A.; Kvitek, Rikk G.; Phillips, Eleyne L.; Erdey, Mercedes D.; Chin, John L.; Bretz, Carrie K.

    2014-01-01

    In 2007, the California Ocean Protection Council initiated the California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP), designed to create a comprehensive seafloor map of high-resolution bathymetry, marine benthic habitats, and geology within the 3-nautical-mile limit of California’s State Waters. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection, integration, interpretation, and visualization of swath sonar data, acoustic backscatter, seafloor video, seafloor photography, high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles, and bottom-sediment sampling data. The map products display seafloor morphology and character, identify potential marine benthic habitats, and illustrate both the surficial seafloor geology and shallow (to about 100 m) subsurface geology. The Offshore of Half Moon Bay map area is located in northern California, on the Pacific coast of the San Francisco Peninsula about 40 kilometers south of the Golden Gate. The city of Half Moon Bay, which is situated on the east side of the Half Moon Bay embayment, is the nearest significant onshore cultural center in the map area, with a population of about 11,000. The Pillar Point Harbor at the north edge of Half Moon Bay offers a protected landing for boats and provides other marine infrastructure. The map area lies offshore of the Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the northwest-trending Coast Ranges that run roughly parallel to the San Andreas Fault Zone. The Santa Cruz Mountains lie between the San Andreas Fault Zone and the San Gregorio Fault system. The flat coastal area, which is the most recent of numerous marine terraces, was formed by wave erosion about 105 thousand years ago. The higher elevation of this same terrace west of the Half Moon Bay Airport is caused by uplift on the Seal Cove Fault, a splay of the San Gregorio Fault Zone. Although originally incised into the rising terrain horizontally, the ancient terrace surface has been gently folded into a northwest-plunging syncline by

  9. Fuel optimization for low-thrust Earth-Moon transfer via indirect optimal control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez-Palau, Daniel; Epenoy, Richard

    2018-02-01

    The problem of designing low-energy transfers between the Earth and the Moon has attracted recently a major interest from the scientific community. In this paper, an indirect optimal control approach is used to determine minimum-fuel low-thrust transfers between a low Earth orbit and a Lunar orbit in the Sun-Earth-Moon Bicircular Restricted Four-Body Problem. First, the optimal control problem is formulated and its necessary optimality conditions are derived from Pontryagin's Maximum Principle. Then, two different solution methods are proposed to overcome the numerical difficulties arising from the huge sensitivity of the problem's state and costate equations. The first one consists in the use of continuation techniques. The second one is based on a massive exploration of the set of unknown variables appearing in the optimality conditions. The dimension of the search space is reduced by considering adapted variables leading to a reduction of the computational time. The trajectories found are classified in several families according to their shape, transfer duration and fuel expenditure. Finally, an analysis based on the dynamical structure provided by the invariant manifolds of the two underlying Circular Restricted Three-Body Problems, Earth-Moon and Sun-Earth is presented leading to a physical interpretation of the different families of trajectories.

  10. Moessbauer study of the firing technology of the moon-white Jun porcelain in Chinese Yuan Dynasty

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Songhua

    1994-01-01

    The moon-white Jun porcelain glaze contains Fe 2 O 3 , Fe 3 O 4 and structural iron. The firing atmosphere of ancient Jun kilns was modestly reductive. The firing temperature was slightly above 1250 C. The glaze color appears moon-white, and is related to the low concentration of Fe 2+ . The coordination numbers of Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ are both 4. (orig.)

  11. Taking the moon's internal temperature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duba, A.G.

    1976-01-01

    LLL geophysicists were instrumental in resolving a serious discrepancy between lunar magnetic-field data and melting studies of lunar basalts brought back from the Moon by Apollo astronauts. Estimates of the subsurface temperatures, based on lunar electrical conductivity measurements and laboratory experiments, were hundreds of degrees below those given by models using known melting points of various minerals. The work uncovered a basic flaw in previous measurements. New measurements under more realistic conditions brought the electrical-conductivity temperature estimates into agreement with temperatures derived from melting experiments. This same work also contributed to in situ coal gasification studies; to ERDA's dry, hot-rock geothermal effort; and to a program of monitoring for seismic evidence of clandestine nuclear testing. 4 figures

  12. The origin of water in the primitive Moon as revealed by the lunar highlands samples

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnes, Jessica J.; Tartèse, Romain; Anand, Mahesh; McCubbin, Francis M.; Franchi, Ian A.; Starkey, Natalie A.; Russell, Sara S.

    2014-03-01

    The recent discoveries of hydrogen (H) bearing species on the lunar surface and in samples derived from the lunar interior have necessitated a paradigm shift in our understanding of the water inventory of the Moon, which was previously considered to be a ‘bone-dry’ planetary body. Most sample-based studies have focused on assessing the water contents of the younger mare basalts and pyroclastic glasses, which are partial-melting products of the lunar mantle. In contrast, little attention has been paid to the inventory and source(s) of water in the lunar highlands rocks which are some of the oldest and most pristine materials available for laboratory investigations, and that have the potential to reveal the original history of water in the Earth-Moon system. Here, we report in-situ measurements of hydroxyl (OH) content and H isotopic composition of the mineral apatite from four lunar highlands samples (two norites, a troctolite, and a granite clast) collected during the Apollo missions. Apart from troctolite in which the measured OH contents in apatite are close to our analytical detection limit and its H isotopic composition appears to be severely compromised by secondary processes, we have measured up to ˜2200 ppm OH in the granite clast with a weighted average δD of ˜ -105±130‰, and up to ˜3400 ppm OH in the two norites (77215 and 78235) with weighted average δD values of -281±49‰ and -27±98‰, respectively. The apatites in the granite clast and the norites are characterised by higher OH contents than have been reported so far for highlands samples, and have H isotopic compositions similar to those of terrestrial materials and some carbonaceous chondrites, providing one of the strongest pieces of evidence yet for a common origin for water in the Earth-Moon system. In addition, the presence of water, of terrestrial affinity, in some samples of the earliest-formed lunar crust suggests that either primordial terrestrial water survived the aftermath

  13. ILEWG EuroMoonMars Research, Technology, and Field Simulation Campaigns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foing, B. H.; Lillo, A.; Evellin, P.; Kołodziejczyk, A.; Heinicke, C.; Harasymczuk, M.; Authier, L.; Blanc, A.; Chahla, C.; Tomic, A.; Mirino, M.; Schlacht, I.; Hettrich, S.; Pacher, T.; Maller, L.; Decadi, A.; Villa-Massone, J.; Preusterink, J.; Neklesa, A.; Barzilay, A.; Volkova, T.

    2017-10-01

    ILEWG developed since 2008, "EuroMoonMars" pilot research with a Robotic Test Bench (ExoGeoLab) and a Mobile Laboratory Habitat (ExoHab) at ESTEC. Field campaigns were e.g. in ESTEC, EAC, at Utah MDRS, Eifel, and LunAres base at Pila Poland in 2017.

  14. Additive Manufacturing: An Enabling Technology for the MoonBEAM 6U CubeSat Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopkins, R. C.; Hickman, R. R.; Cavender, D. P.; Dominquez, A.; Schnell, A. R.; Baysinger, M.; Capizzo, P.; Garcia, J.; Fabisinski, L. L.

    2017-01-01

    The Advanced Concepts Office at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center completed a mission concept study for the Moon Burst Energetics All-sky Monitor (MoonBEAM). The goal of the concept study was to show the enabling aspects that additive manufacturing can provide to CubeSats. In addition to using the additively manufactured tanks as part of the spacecraft structure, the main propulsion system uses a green propellant, which is denser than hydrazine. Momentum unloading is achieved with electric microthrusters, eliminating much of the propellant plumbing. The science mission, requirements, and spacecraft design are described.

  15. An Overview of the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) Mission, Environments, and Materials Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Dave

    2012-01-01

    Congress authorized NASA's Prometheus Project in February 2003, with the first Prometheus mission slated to explore the icy moons of Jupiter with the following main objectives: (1) Develop a nuclear reactor that would provide unprecedented levels of power and show that it could be processed safely and operated reliably in space for long-duration. (2) Explore the three icy moons of Jupiter -- Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa -- and return science data that would meet the scientific goals as set forth in the Decadal Survey Report of the National Academy of Sciences.

  16. Endogenous Lunar Volatiles: Insights into the Abundances of Volatiles in the Moon from Lunar Apatite

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCubbin, Francis

    2016-01-01

    At the time of publication of New Views of the Moon, it was thought that the Moon was bone dry with less than about 1 ppb H2O. However in 2007, initial reports at the 38th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference speculated that H-species were present in both apatites and pyroclastic volcanic lunar glasses. These early reports were later confirmed through peer-review, which motivated many subsequent studies on magmatic volatiles in and on the Moon within the last decade. Some of these studies have cast into question the post-Apollo view of lunar formation, the distribution and sources of volatiles in the Earth-Moon system, and the thermal and magmatic evolution of the Moon. The mineral apatite has been one of the pillars of this new field of study, and it will be the primary focus of this abstract. Although apatite has been used both to understand the abundances of volatiles in lunar systems as well as the isotopic compositions of those volatiles, the focus here will be on the abundances of F, Cl, and H2O. This work demonstrates the utility of apatite in advancing our understanding of lunar volatiles, hence apatite should be among the topics covered in the endogenous lunar volatile chapter in NVM II. Truncated ternary plot of apatite X-site occupancy (mol%) from highlands apatite and mare basalt apatite plotted on the relative volatile abundance diagram from. The solid black lines delineate fields of relative abundances of F, Cl, and H2O (on a weight basis) in the melt from which the apatite crystallized. The diagram was constructed using available apatite/melt partitioning data for fluorine, chlorine, and hydroxyl.

  17. Water and cheese from the lunar desert: Abundances and accessibility of H, C, and N on the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haskin, L. A.

    1992-01-01

    The Moon has been underrated as a source of H, N, C, and other elements essential to support life and to provide fuel for rockets. There is enough of these elements in each cubic meter of typical lunar soil to provide a substantial lunch for two, if converted to edible forms. The average amount of C per square meter of the lunar surface to a depth of 2 m is some 35 percent of the average amount per square meter tied up in living organisms on Earth. The water equivalent of H in the upper 2 m of the regolith averages at least 1.3 million liters per square kilometer. Mining of H from a small fraction of the regolith would provide all the rocket fuel needed for thousands of years. These elements can be removed from the soil by heating it to high temperature. Some favor the unproven resources of Phobos, Deimos, or near-Earth asteroids instead of the Moon as a source of extraterrestrial material for use in space, or Mars over the Moon as a site for habitation, partly on the basis that the chemical elements needed for life support and propellant are readily abundant on those bodies, but not on the Moon. Well, the Moon is not as barren of H, C, and N as is commonly perceived. In fact, the elements needed for life support and for rocket fuel are plentiful there, although the ore grades are low. Furthermore, the proximity of the Moon and consequent lower cost of transportation and shorter trip and communication times favor that body as the logical site for early acquisition of resources and extraterrestrial living.

  18. Contraction or expansion of the Moon's crust during magma ocean freezing?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elkins-Tanton, Linda T; Bercovici, David

    2014-09-13

    The lack of contraction features on the Moon has been used to argue that the Moon underwent limited secular cooling, and thus had a relatively cool initial state. A cool early state in turn limits the depth of the lunar magma ocean. Recent GRAIL gravity measurements, however, suggest that dikes were emplaced in the lower crust, requiring global lunar expansion. Starting from the magma ocean state, we show that solidification of the lunar magma ocean would most likely result in expansion of the young lunar crust, and that viscous relaxation of the crust would prevent early tectonic features of contraction or expansion from being recorded permanently. The most likely process for creating the expansion recorded by the dikes is melting during cumulate overturn of the newly solidified lunar mantle. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  19. A Free-Return Earth-Moon Cycler Orbit for an Interplanetary Cruise Ship

    Science.gov (United States)

    Genova, Anthony L.; Aldrin, Buzz

    2015-01-01

    A periodic circumlunar orbit is presented that can be used by an interplanetary cruise ship for regular travel between Earth and the Moon. This Earth-Moon cycler orbit was revealed by introducing solar gravity and modest phasing maneuvers (average of 39 m/s per month) which yields close-Earth encounters every 7 or 10 days. Lunar encounters occur every 26 days and offer the chance for a smaller craft to depart the cycler and enter lunar orbit, or head for a Lagrange point (e.g., EM-L2 halo orbit), distant retrograde orbit (DRO), or interplanetary destination such as a near-Earth object (NEO) or Mars. Additionally, return-to-Earth abort options are available from many points along the cycling trajectory.

  20. A 3-D Virtual Reality Model of the Sun and the Moon for E-Learning at Elementary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Koun-Tem; Lin, Ching-Ling; Wang, Sheng-Min

    2010-01-01

    The relative positions of the sun, moon, and earth, their movements, and their relationships are abstract and difficult to understand astronomical concepts in elementary school science. This study proposes a three-dimensional (3-D) virtual reality (VR) model named the "Sun and Moon System." This e-learning resource was designed by…