Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences

New research led by Peter Buhler from the Planetary Science Institute proposes that a carbon-dioxide ice cap may have acted as an insulating layer on Mars, allowing rivers and a large lake to form in the planet’s southern highlands. DEEPS Professor James Head commented, "Peter Buhler has done a magnificent job of exploring the implications of possible massive atmospheric collapse and CO2 ice accumulation in the south circumpolar region at a critical early time in the history of Mars."

The endeavour to leverage mycotecture – called the Mycotecture Off Planet Structures at Destination project – has recently been awarded a Phase III contract with NASA, meaning it will receive the funding necessary to continue. The mycotechnology has the support of prominent NASA figures such as DEEPS Professor Jim Head, who once trained astronauts for the Apollo lunar exploration programme, and Apollo 15 commander David Scott.

A new paper published earlier this year by alumn Benjamin Boatwright PhD’22 and Professor James Head PhD’69 proposes new refinement to current imagining technologies using a method they call “shape-from-shading.”

In a recent study published in the PLanetary Science Journal, researchers describe an odd surface feature that supports the presence of underground caves termed subsurface voids. DEEPS professor and study co-author James Head indicated that the relatively low lunar gravity likely allowed big bubbles of gas to form in magma, leaving behind subsurface voids.

China’s Chang’e-6 lunar module returned to Earth on Tuesday, June 25th, with the first ever samples retrieved from the far side of the moon. Professor James Head spoke with CNN about the significance of these samples and their importance for the international research community, saying "It’s a gold mine… a treasure chest.”

Professor Jim Head commented on China's Chang'e-6 Moon-lander samples, saying, "Obtaining dates and compositional information from the many hundreds of fragments sampled by the Chang’e-6 drill and scoop is like a having treasure chest full of critical parts of lunar history, and will very likely revolutionize our view of the entire Moon."