New and exciting activities in the
McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences
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Recent News from MacCenter Fellows
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NASA’s Perseverance Rover uncovers rock
with features that may indicate Mars hosted life
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NASA's Perseverance rover has made an intriguing discovery—a rock with indications that it may have once harbored microbial life billions of years ago.
This vein-filled rock, nicknamed "Cheyava Falls," has intrigued the science team due to its potential insights into past microscopic life on Mars. Analysis conducted by the rover's instruments suggests that this arrowhead-shaped rock exhibits characteristics aligned
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with the definition of a possible indicator of ancient life. The rock shows chemical signatures and structures that could have been formed by life when the explored region of Mars had running water. Further research is needed to validate the potential explanation of ancient life, although the science team continues to explore alternative possibilities.
The discovery at Cheyava Falls was made possible by a number of instruments aboard the rover, including the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL). Senior Research Scientist Scott VanBommel, Staff Scientist Abigail Knight, and postdoctoral research associate John Christian, all affiliated with EEPS and the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, work closely with PIXL as part of the Perseverance Science Team.
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Jupiter’s moon Io, the fourth-largest moon in the solar system, has long fascinated scientists with its volcanic eruptions and sulfur-rich surface. Ryan Ogliore, associate professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis, is leading a group of scientists and engineers in
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developing an exciting robotic space mission to explore Io’s volcanoes the same way a human geologist would: by observing eruptions up close and bringing samples back to the lab.
During a hyperspeed fly-through of an active plume six miles above Io’s surface, a spacecraft would collect half a gram of dust and return the sample to Earth for study in the lab. Ogliore and his colleagues are determining the best materials to be used in the collector by simulating the whole process, from hyperspeed collection to lab analysis.
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McKinnon Lectures this summer
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| William McKinnon, Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, was invited to give two talks this summer.
On June 24, he presented one of the two Axford Lectures at the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society meeting in South Korea. His topic was "Exploration of Kuiper Belt in the 21st Century, What Have We Learned and What is to Come?"
On August 8, he gave a special talk at the St. Louis Planetarium on the Europa Clipper mission.
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2024 Meteoritical Society Meeting
Brussels, Belgium
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The annual Meteoritical Society meeting is always a great place for a WashU Physics ("Fourth Floor") alumni photo! This year, they met in Brussels, Belgium, the hometown of Professor Emerita Ghislaine Crozaz
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Front row, left to right: Conel Alexander, Carnegie; Marc Caffee, Purdue Physics; George Flynn, SUNY Plattsburgh; Ghislaine Crozaz, WashU Professor Emerita; Pierre Haenecour, Univ. of Arizona; Bruce Fegley, WashU; Katharina Lodders, WashU; Peter Hoppe, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry; Ryan Ogliore, WashU; Tim Swindle, Univ. of Arizona; Robert (Bob) Macke, Vatican Observatory
Back row, left to right: Larry Nittler, ASU; Rhonda Stroud, ASU; Mini Wadhwa, ASU
In the back: Giant Wooden Iguanodon
(Photo credit: Scott Parazynski, former astronaut and spouse of Meenakshi Wadhwa)
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MacCenter Fellows in the News
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How We Stacked a Space Shuttle in Downtown L.A.
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St. Louis Astronomical Society August Meeting
Bradley Tsalyuk, Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, California Science Center
Friday, August 16
7:30pm, McDonnell 162
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Compiled and edited by Alison Verbeck. Please send any contributions to alison@wustl.edu.
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