Regolith is the unconsolidated, heterogeneous layer of fragmented mineral and rock material that overlies coherent bedrock on planetary surfaces, including Earth, the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and other solid bodies. As a substance, it comprises varying proportions of rock fragments, mineral grains, dust, ice, and, on some planets, secondary alteration products such as clays or salts. Regolith forms primarily through mechanical and chemical weathering, impact comminution, and volcanic or sedimentary processes, and its physical properties—such as grain size distribution, porosity, cohesion, and volatile content—critically influence surface-atmosphere interactions, geotechnical behavior, resource potential, and the performance of in situ exploration and construction activities.
You're on the fourth human mission to Mars, and you've been tasked with establishing the first self-sustaining food crop on a Martian settlement. You're nervous because you're using a new type of fungi called beneficial fungi, ...
Space Exploration
May 25, 2026
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Using MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) on board the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team of researchers led by former MPIA (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany) Ph.D. student Sebastian Zieba (Center ...
Astronomy
May 4, 2026
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410
You're in the lab analyzing Martian regolith samples within your cozy Mars habitat serving on the fifth human mission to Mars. The power within the habitat has been flowing flawlessly thanks to the MARS-MES (Mars Atmospheric ...
Space Exploration
Apr 29, 2026
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As space agencies and private companies look toward a sustained human presence on the moon, a fundamental challenge centers on how to build strong, durable infrastructure without hauling every material from Earth. New research ...
Space Exploration
Apr 23, 2026
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40
NASA's Curiosity rover has identified seven new organic compounds on the planet Mars, according to new research published in Nature Communications.
Astrobiology
Apr 23, 2026
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63
Between the Artemis Program, the ESA's Moon Village, and the Sino-Russian International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), the next step in space exploration is clear: we're going back to the moon, and this time, to stay! This ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 20, 2026
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Noticeable change on Mars often takes millions of years—but the European Space Agency's Mars Express has captured a blanket of dark ash creeping across the planet in just decades.
Astronomy
Apr 15, 2026
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36
The lunar south pole looks chaotic from orbit. Craters heaped upon craters, ancient basins, scarps and slopes tumbling in every direction, it is without doubt, one of the most geologically complicated terrains in the inner ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 15, 2026
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11
Elements essential to life, such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur, were "delivered" to Earth and the moon during the early stages of the solar system via asteroids and comets impacting their surfaces. These ...
Astrobiology
Apr 10, 2026
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32
The closest planet to our sun, Mercury, experiences extreme temperature variations. Since the planet has no atmosphere to speak of, it is in a constant cycle where one side is extremely hot and the other extremely cold. On ...
Space Exploration
Apr 9, 2026
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