LPL Newsletter

April 1, 2024

James Webb Space Telescope captures the end of planet formation
This artist's illustration depicts how the gas leaving the nascent planet-forming disk might look. Such gas dispersal can also happen around supermassive black holes, however, the physics may not be the same as those discussed here.ESO/M. Kornmesser
Research led by LPL graduate student Naman Bajaj and also featuring graduate student Chengyan Xie uses JWST images to determine how much time planets have to form a disk of gas and dust around a star. The team used JWST data to obtain the first image of a wind blowing from
a dispersing protoplanetary disk.

NASA announced last week the instrument packages selected for the
Artemis III mission that will return astronauts to the surface of the Moon. 
 
The Artemis III lunar environment monitoring stations will include a seismometer package led by LPL Assistant Research Professor Angela Marusiak with the support of co-investigators Veronica Bray (Associate Research Professor) and Daniella DellaGiustina (Assistant Professor).

The seismometers were developed in a program led by Professor DellaGiustina.

Loathed by scientists, loved by nature: Sulfur and the origin of life
LPL Assistant Professor Sukrit Ranjan is first author on a publication that shines a spotlight on sulfur, which has proved surprisingly resistant to scientific efforts seeking to understand its role in the origin of life.

The University of Arizona, NASA, and Lockheed Martin have won the Robert J. Collier Trophy for their work on the OSIRIS-REx mission. The Collier Trophy, awarded by the National Aeronautic Association, is one of the most prestigious honors in aviation, recognizing the performance, efficiency and
safety of air or space vehicles.

Tune in to this recent episode of Science Friday to hear LPL professor Dante Lauretta describe expectations and discoveries from the OSIRIS-REx mission and asteroid Bennu.

Pebble plucked from surface of asteroid Bennu by OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has landed at UArizona's Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum
Tucked inside a clear container protected by a metal casing, the pebble collected from asteroid Bennu by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is one of only three places in the world to display an extraterrestrial rock sample collected in space, other than the moon.Chris Richards/University Communications
The museum is one of only three places in the world to display an extraterrestrial rock sample collected in space, other than the Moon. Sample curation specialists at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston carefully selected a specimen suitable for public display.
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