CG Project P
Lead Research Organisation:
The Open University
Department Name: Physical Sciences
Abstract
The martian surface environment has evolved dramatically during the history of the planet. The recently found meterotie NWA 7034 originates from a period not sampled by other martian meteorites (approx 2 billion years ago) and records a complex history of formation. detailed mineralogical and isotopic investigation offers a unique opportunity to understand a key phase in mars history.
Planned Impact
For general summary of impact see JeS form for ST/L000776/1.
Specifically, the PDRA will be trained in advanced analytical techniques (especially NanoSIMS, FIB-SEM), building upon and extending the expertise they developed as part of their PhD studies.
The science questions this project addresses have a direct bearing on the question of whether Life ever existed on mars. This is one of the most important scientific questions to the wider public, and therefore as this project will provide an important contributions to this topic it will be of great interest to the general public as well as large sections of the academic community. The PDRA will be encouraged to participate in the extensive outreach activities that the Open University already participates in within this area, and to develop new opportunities.
The Open University has a global track record in public engagement activities. Within DPS staff are encouraged to become STEM Ambassadors and training is available to enable public engagement activities with the public, school (including educators) via STEMnet and the OU.
Specifically, the PDRA will be trained in advanced analytical techniques (especially NanoSIMS, FIB-SEM), building upon and extending the expertise they developed as part of their PhD studies.
The science questions this project addresses have a direct bearing on the question of whether Life ever existed on mars. This is one of the most important scientific questions to the wider public, and therefore as this project will provide an important contributions to this topic it will be of great interest to the general public as well as large sections of the academic community. The PDRA will be encouraged to participate in the extensive outreach activities that the Open University already participates in within this area, and to develop new opportunities.
The Open University has a global track record in public engagement activities. Within DPS staff are encouraged to become STEM Ambassadors and training is available to enable public engagement activities with the public, school (including educators) via STEMnet and the OU.
Organisations
Publications
Downes H
(2015)
Isotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen in ureilitic fragments of the Almahata Sitta meteorite
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Downes H.
(2014)
Origin of Carbon in Ureilite Meteorites: A Step Combustion Study of Fragments of Almahata Sitta
in 77th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society
Giesting P
(2015)
Igneous and shock processes affecting chassignite amphibole evaluated using chlorine/water partitioning and hydrogen isotopes
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Grady M. M.
(2014)
The Mantle, Crust and Atmosphere of Mars as Illuminated by the Light Element Geochemistry of NWA 7034
in 45th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
Melwani Daswani M
(2016)
Alteration minerals, fluids, and gases on early Mars: Predictions from 1-D flow geochemical modeling of mineral assemblages in meteorite ALH 84001
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Steele A.
(2014)
Evidence of Hydrothermal Organic Synthesis on Mars from Analysis of the Tissint Meteorite
in 77th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society
Steer E. D.
(2016)
Acidic Weathering Generated from Shocked Sulphide Breakdown
in 79th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society
| Description | Main finding is that the martian meteorite NWA 7034 contains nitrogen and argon associated with the martian atmosphere |
| Exploitation Route | The findings have been the base for a PhD studentship and for a new project in the CG submitted at the beginning of February |
| Sectors | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | 1) The findings have been used in public lectures and talks to schools 2) development of the FINESSE system employed to analyse martian meteorites has led to improvements in measurement of nitrogen and noble gas abundances in extraterrestrial materials. The student, Feargus Abernethy, who trained on the system has become expert in its operation, and he is now funded as a Project Officer to run FINESSE. He is currently part-supported by the STFC grant, but mainly by ESA contract funds that were won because of the excellence of both the system and Dr Abernethy. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Education |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | EuroCares |
| Amount | € 1,500,000 (EUR) |
| Organisation | European Commission |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | 01/2015 |
| End | 12/2018 |
| Description | PROSPA |
| Amount | € 300,000 (EUR) |
| Organisation | ESA - ESTEC |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Start | 03/2016 |
| End | 02/2018 |
| Title | Noble gas analysis by FINESSE |
| Description | By interfacing a noble-gas type mass spectrometer and laser to the current FINESSE system, we are now able to analyse the abundance and isotopic composition of nanogram amounts of noble gases and nitrogen with high precision. This is an internationally unique facility. |
| Type Of Technology | New/Improved Technique/Technology |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Impact | The technical performance of the new FINESSE system has been instrumental in us gaining contracts from ESA as part of their Lunar Exploration programme. |
| Description | Conversation pieces |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The OU was one of the first universities to support the daily news blog The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/uk). The site has the tag-line "Academic rigour, journalistic flair": academic specialists write the articles, which are edited for readability. This is the opposite from most news sites, in which journalists write the articles, relying on specialists to provide a quote. Five of the CoIs on the CG have written 61 articles in the past two years, which have been read a total of 1.5 million times; an additional 4 PDRA and 3 PhD students have written a further 13 articles, attracting 380,000 views. Every article is accompanied by the text 'X receives funding from the STFC'. One of the CoIs (Grady) has a column on the site, which is syndicated to the US and Australian editions of the news site, gaining a wider coverage for the articles. At the current rate of growth of the site, it is anticipated that there is likely to be at least one article per week from CG staff, their PDRA and students, gaining a global coverage for their research. Updated in March 2017: the PI alone has had more than a million reads of her articles |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016 |
| URL | https://theconversation.com/uk |
| Description | Public Lectures |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The PI, MMG, has given between about 30 public lectures, talks and school visits each year since forever. Following the successful Rosetta mission, she has given around 50 such presentations a year, leading to animated discussions about comets and other extraterrestrial bodies, the value of space exploration as an incentive for studying science and engineering, technological developments and spin outs from space missions and the cost of space exploration when weighed against other calls on the public purse. At almost every lecture, MMG receives additional invitations to give talks. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017 |
| Description | Royal Society Summer Exhibition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Royal Society Summer Exhibition takes place over 7 days in central London. In 2014, we led a consortium of institutions to produce an exhibit about comets and the Rosetta mission, and also were a partner in an exhibition about GAIA. In 2015, we again led a consortium exhibition about Rosetta and comets. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2016 |