atom probe tomography (APT) tagged posts

Scientists have found a new way to analyze the chemistry of the moon’s soil using a single grain of dust brought back by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972. Their technique can help us learn more about conditions on the surface of the moon and formation of precious resources like water and helium there.

Back in 1972, NASA sent their last team of astronauts to the Moon in the Apollo 17 mission. These astronauts brought some of the Moon back to Earth so scientists could continue to study lunar soil in their labs. Since we haven’t returned to the Moon in almost 50 years, every lunar sample is precious. We need to make them count for researchers now and in the future...

The 11 nano tips used in the study.
Credit: University of Portsmouth

Research led by the University of Portsmouth has identified a new way to improve how we measure the age of planetary evolution in our solar system. The study, published in Nature Communications, uses a new atomic-scale imaging approach to locate and count individual atoms in planetary materials. Directly linking the structure and chemistry of minerals in this way opens up new opportunities to understand the spectacular complexity of planetary samples.

Meteorites provide samples that can be used to measure the timing of major planetary events, including lunar magma ocean crystalisation, Martian volcanism and asteroid bombardment of the inner solar system...