New brine processor increases water recycling on International Space Station

NASA’s newest technology demonstration, which launched on Northrop Grumman’s 15th commercial resupply services mission, is designed to improve water recycling on the International Space Station and boost the efficiency of water recycling for the Artemis generation. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-03-brine-processor-recycling-international-space-1.html…

Dark streaks on Mars may be caused by salts and melting ice

Researchers at the SETI Institute say that unusual dark streaks on sun-facing slopes on Mars, debated about for years, may be small landslides caused by a combination of salts and melting ice just below the surface. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-dark-streaks-melting-ice-recurring-slope-lineae…

Scientists Say They Have Come Up With a Potential Way To Make Oxygen On Mars

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNN: In a high-stakes mission that could take five years to complete, NASA wants to land astronauts on Mars in the 2030s. Transporting enough oxygen and fuel on a spacecraft to sustain the mission for anywhere near that length of time, however, isn’t currently viable. The way NASA plans to address this problem is…

Engineers Are Building Huge Salt Caves To Store Huge Amounts of Hydrogen

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Popular Mechanics: Scientists are going back to the salt mines, literally, to find a revolutionary new way to store large quantities of hydrogen for energy. Proponents say this could be a step toward unlocking hydrogen for renewables — something that could change the energy landscape if it were resolved. “The project would initially have…

Does Jupiter’s moon Europa have geysers? If so, what’s their source?

If watery plumes do burst from Europa’s surface, they might originate not in the moon’s underground ocean, but instead in pockets of brine trapped in the moon’s crust. If that’s so, it could be a source of frustration for those who want to probe Europa’s ocean for possible life. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/jupiter-moon-europa-plumes-salty-water-in-crust…

Potential plumes on Europa could come from water in the crust

Plumes of water vapor that may be venting into space from Jupiter’s moon Europa could come from within the icy crust itself, according to new research. A model outlines a process for brine, or salt-enriched water, moving around within the moon’s shell and eventually forming pockets of water—even more concentrated with salt—that could erupt. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-11-potential-plumes-europa-crust.html…

Radar reveals 3 more subsurface polar lakes on Mars

Scientists with the European Space Agency say that the Mars Express orbiter has found evidence of three more salty lakes below Mars’ south pole. The discovery comes two years after the first lake was detected in 2018. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/3-more-subsurface-lakes-mars-south-pole…