Researcher Lands Space Study Money
by January 11, 2010 12:00 am 54 views
University of Arkansas scientist Vincent Chevrier has been awarded more than $500,000 by NASA.
The money, which will be given over a five-year period, was awarded after Chevrier, assistant research professor in the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, conducted preliminary studies in a planetary environmental simulation chamber to show that it could be done. The UA will match half of NASA’s funding, bringing the total to about $750,000.
Chevrier will use the money to simulate conditions found on Saturn’s moon Titan to help better understand the origins of the liquids found on its surface and in its atmosphere. Titan is the only satellite in the solar system that has a substantial atmosphere.
“Our results will put strong constraints on the stability and behavior of liquid volatiles, and thus on the formation of pools and lakes on Titan, and help identify their source,” Chevrier said in a news release. “This will improve understanding of the formation of complex organic molecules in the atmosphere.”