Space Stories: Newly Discovered Volcano on Mars, Universe’s Missing Matter Found, and Congress Expects a NASA Nominee

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—Georgia Tech: “Volcano ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ Could Help Date Mars — and its Habitability“

Georgia Tech scientists have uncovered evidence that a mountain on the rim of Jezero Crater — where NASA’s Perseverance Rover is currently collecting samples for possible return to Earth — is likely a volcano. Called Jezero Mons, it is nearly half the size of the crater itself and could add critical clues to the habitability and volcanism of Mars, transforming how we understand Mars’ geologic history. The study, “Evidence for a composite volcano on the rim Jezero crater on Mars,” was published this May in the Nature-family journal Communications Earth & Environment, and underscores how much we have left to learn about one of the most well-studied regions of Mars.

—Caltech: “Missing Matter in Universe Found“

Due to its diffuse nature, roughly half of ordinary matter in the universe went unaccounted for and had been considered “missing”—until now. In a new study in Nature Astronomy, a team of astronomers at Caltech and the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) has, for the first time, directly detected and accounted for all the missing matter. To do this, the team used brief, bright radio flashes in the distant cosmos, called fast radio bursts (FRBs), to illuminate the matter lying between the FRBs and us. “The FRBs shine through the fog of the intergalactic medium, and by precisely measuring how the light slows down, we can weigh that fog, even when it’s too faint to see,” says Liam Connor, assistant professor at Harvard and lead author of the study, who performed much of the work while a Caltech research assistant professor working with Vikram Ravi, assistant professor of astronomy at Caltech.

—Space News: “Members of Congress Want White House to Quickly Nominate New NASA Administrator“

Members of the House and Senate called in the White House to promptly offer a new candidate for NASA administrator after the surprise withdrawal of Jared Isaacman’s nomination. In briefings organized by the Aerospace Industries Association June16, representatives of House and Senate delegations to the Paris Air Show said it was critical that the agency get permanent leadership as it deals with potential significant cuts to its budget in the coming fiscal year.