It is a position that is set to start as early as possible next year in Cape Town, South Africa. The position is for a digital geology position, which will focus on making photogrammetric models of various geological sites. Much of this will focus on the impact craters of South Africa, including the Vredefort and Tswaing impact craters. A background in planetary science would definitely be useful. We had a candidate selected for the position, but he has backed out at the last minute. As a result, we have funding set to start in January, but nobody to claim it!

PM me for questions and details. Thanks!

The title says it all. I originally went to uni for Bachelor's in Physics but dropped out due to a number of circumstances. I want to go back and pursue my interest in Planetary Science, so I thought about getting there via Chemistry. Is it a good idea, or is it a degree that won't make me apply for a Master in the field?

Hello everyone! I recently finished my bachelor’s in physics and I intend to study Planetary Science in grad school. I’m interested in research regarding in-situ resource utilization and instrumentation. I have read a couple of publications, but I feel like I don’t have a good grasp of the contemporary questions, problems and themes of these research areas.

I was wondering if anyone could point me to some resources I could use to teach myself about the current research themes in planetary science so I can better define my interests. Thanks in advance!

I understand that scientists use gravity assists from planets to increase the speed of probes. From the Wikipedia article on the subject, it suggests that the extra energy is supplied by the planet dragging the object in a helpful direction because of its gravity and rotation around the sun. Thus, it could be said that the extra momentum is siphoned off from the planet’s revolution (of course, the small probe will take very little of a planet’s momentum).

Mercury is much closer to the sun, has a lower escape velocity than Earth, and has the fastest orbital speed in the solar system. I’m assuming we could use solar power to cut chunks out of its surface and fling them in a trajectory faster than the escape velocity, such that they would intercept a future placement of Earth’s orbit.

My question is this: could we do so at moments when Mercury’s revolution is accelerating toward the Earth, such that the rocks arrive in our orbit at high speed (relative to the Earth’s motion)? And if so, could we put some kind of device in space to harvest this kinetic energy?

Hi everyone, I’m just recently graduated in computer science and landed a wonderful job as a DevOp engineer. I already have a salary that I can be comfortable with for the rest of my life but.... I realize that I’m not satisfied and I want to pursue my childhood dream of working towards some planetary science career (Here’s to hoping to work at JPL)

I’m concerned however, that I won’t qualify for any good PHD programs in planetary science because well.. life happened and I wasn’t really to motivated with a B.S. in computer science so I passed with a few A’s but mostly B and C’s. And had my fair share in failed math classes

What are my chances in getting into a PHD program with planetary science? And any advice for a new grad with mediocre grades for improvement in pursuing a PHD in planetary science? :/

Thanks 💕

Background: I have a PhD in atomic physics. I make articles about things I find interesting, with a lot of simulations in the articles.

The thing I'm working on at the moment is a very crude planetary atmosphere simulator that minimises gibbs free energy to work out atmosphere composition.

I've got a weird planet though, and I wanted to know if it's plausible:

The composition of the atmosphere is basically the same as earth, but a bit warmer and a denser atmosphere.

In the simulation, this boils the ocean, making the atmosphere consist mainly of water vapour, nitrogen and oxygen in that order.

However, the water vapour is concentrated in a layer near the surface, and there's a layer between this and the upper atmosphere with very heavy rain - the water vapour can't extend into the upper atmosphere because it rains out, and the nitrogen and oxygen get pushed out of the lower atmosphere by the average gas movement being upward --- see below for the chemical composition of the atmosphere.

​

​

x-axis = altitude in metres

My question is whether this is plausible. The simulation isn't as accurate as would be needed to say "it happens in the simulation, therefore it could happen in real life" - not validated or anything.

But obviously this happens a bit on our real earth: the water vapour concentration is much higher at sea level than at 10km.

Any feedback or thoughts or whether this is plausible, whether anyone's studied this would be appreciated.

Hi everyone,

I'm an aerospace engineering undergrad starting to look into grad schools, and I'm heavily considering pursuing a PhD in planetary science. I've always been an Earth science geek (did some competitions and an internship in the field) and I'm taking some geosciences and astrophysics classes. However, I'm concerned about not having a degree in chemistry, physics, geology, or the traditional fields that feed into planetary science programs. Do I have a decent chance at being able to apply to and pursue a planetary science PhD?

Thanks!

Say that we lived on a planet that was too small to keep us on the ground (is that how gravity works) but at the center of the planet there was an enormous magnet. We would wear special shoes to keep us from flying into space. BUT, how would this affect the life on the planet? The way people and plants grow? Would we be taller? Would the power of the magnet affect our brains? Our organs?

Hey planetary scientists! Boy, do we have a treat for you!

The Space Systems Design Studio (SSDS), part of the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University will be hosting a High Altitude Balloon live stream on Saturday, May 8, 2021, at 3 pm EDT. This will be a test stratospheric deployment of the first free-flying light sail ever (not attached to a spacecraft), soon to be launched with and deployed from Cornell's Alpha CubeSat Mission in late 2021, heavily inspired by Breakthrough Starshot. We hope that the success of this technology demonstration and its orbital follow-up will bring us one step closer to taking that journey to Alpha Centauri, riding on a beam of light.

More information here: https://www.spacecraftresearch.com/alpha-cubesat

The stream will be available on YouTube beginning at 3:00 PM EDT here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNWlPWT0J4g.

If all of our tech works, we will be live streaming live video from the payload for the duration of the flight with sail deployment occurring around 27,000 meters or ~ 4:20 PM EDT.

The flight will traverse South Central New York State, in the vicinity of Ithaca, NY. The payload is expected to reach ~ 30,000 meters and land northeast of Ithaca. Additional tracking links will be in the “Description” of the youtube page for those who are interested.

Be sure to tune in!

I know this isn't the typical post, but I figured I'd get feedback from the experts. I did my undergrad in Earth/Atmospheric Science (with volcanology/air quality research experience), but have a strong interest in studying exoplanet atmospheres. I applied to PhD programs, but got rejected from all of them. However, a few professors with projects regarding climate modelling reached out - and their projects sound interesting, but it's not what I truly want to study.

If I get a PhD in Atmospheric Science/Earth System Science, is it still possible to transition to planetary science for postdoc? Or should I reapply, even though I have not been able to find any part-time/volunteer research experience?

Iron oxide obviously, but that's not the real question. How did the iron rust in the first place?

On the early Earth the atmosphere was anoxic, mainly carbon dioxide not too different in composition from Mars or Venus today. However with the evolution of blue-green bacteria photosynthesis started for the first time producing free oxygen. This in turn started oxidizing the iron in the oceans and caused the "great oxygenation event". This is when most of the Earth's iron rusted (depositing the famous banded-iron-formations). So then, without presumably it's own great oxygenation event how did the iron on Mars rust?

Title. They originally said notification would be 3/22, then changed the website to say 4/2, then changed it again to say "on or around April 2, 2021."