Annual report 2002

Annual report of the Cosmic Materials Space Research Group for 2002, from the yearbook Űrtevékenység Magyarországon (Space Activities in Hungary).

ELTE Faculty of Science / MTA Geonomy Committee – Cosmic Materials Space Research Group
Address: 1117 Budapest, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/a, Hungary

Source: Űrtevékenység Magyarországon 2002 (Space Activities in Hungary), yearbook. Publisher: MANT, Budapest.

Researchers

Programme organiser and head of the research group: Bérczi Szaniszló, associate professor.

Hunveyor groups

Our activities and results

The space research activity of our group belongs to space physics among the main directions of the Space Research Scientific Council, and to astrophysics in the NASA database. We have four working groups, active in the following fields of research and education.

• Lunar rocks and meteorites group: Using petrographic microscopy, geochemistry with an electron microprobe and other methods of materials analysis, we study materials originating from various bodies of the Solar System. A key research area is the evolution of the Solar System and its bodies.
• Planetology group: It studies the geomorphology of Solar System bodies and deals with questions of surface mapping. A key research area is the evolution of the Solar System and its bodies.
• Hunveyor group: In this experimental, educational space-probe building programme, launched in 1997, we combine robotics with instrumented planetary geology and work on various forms of space-research education. Hunveyor probes are being built in four workshops: in Budapest, Pécs, Szombathely and Székesfehérvár.
• Space research and geometry group. It applies the methods of geometry and computer graphics to the development of Hunveyor, to the creation of interactive spatial-representation programs, and to the conceptual expression and animated visualisation of motions in cosmic space and of the spatial activities related to three-dimensional modelling of a space station in space research.

Lunar rocks, meteorites and the evolution of celestial bodies

In 2002 our space research group had important sets of cosmic material on loan: NASA’s petrographic thin-section and mounted-disc set of lunar rocks (7th international loan agreement with the NASA Johnson Space Center) and the collection of Antarctic meteorite thin sections of the Japanese National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR). This year we also supplemented them with a third sample group, thin sections of Hungarian meteorites, and a fourth, consisting of samples from the Earth’s crust and mantle. We wrote several summary papers on the study of cosmic materials. One group of them deals with the evolution of chondritic bodies (first stage: heating, with metamorphism in the texture of the chondritic rock; second stage: partial melting and migration of the melts); the other deals with the comparative study of NASA lunar rocks, NIPR Antarctic meteorite breccias and industrial materials (ceramics), which we present in the education section.

Geomorphology and planetology

In 2002 we studied the atmospheres of Solar System bodies and how the atmosphere interacts with the surfaces of those bodies. We continued our lecture series within the planetology course announced by the Department of Physical Geography of the ELTE Faculty of Science. Members of the group also took part individually, with several papers, in the LPI/NASA LPSC conference.

This year’s summary work on the atmospheres of planetary bodies was prepared for our atlas series presenting the Solar System. Its fourth volume is the Atlas of Planetary Atmospheres, which presents the atmospheres of the planets. We know most details about the atmosphere of the Earth and about the atmospheric circulation of Jupiter. Our volume outlines the main atmospheric and surface interactions and gives comparative tables of the layering and main state parameters of the atmospheres known so far. This volume of our atlas series on Solar System materials is also well suited for use in secondary and higher education.

We continued our work on the topic initiated by Horváth András, the research of the Martian dark spots (DDS). Using the new MGS images, we were able to subject the sequence of transformations of the DDS to a longer time-series analysis, and we also examined the seasonal and yearly recurring DDS patterns. (The DDS are spots forming in the frozen layer deposited on dark dunes; they appear at the end of winter and the beginning of spring and remain observable until summer in the polar regions of Mars.) The neutron measurements of Mars Odyssey confirmed our assumption that, besides carbon-dioxide ice, water ice must also be present in the frozen layer. The DDS-MSO hypothesis of the working group led by Gánti Tibor interprets the formation of the spots as the vital activity of Martian surface organisms (MSO). Our DDS results were presented at the 33rd LPSC in Houston, at the EGS conference in Nice, and at the Planetology Microsymposium of the Vernadsky Institute and Brown University in Moscow.

Space research and geometry

Our working group prepared a summary work in our mini-atlas series under the title Space Research and Geometry. In it we present important details of two branches of geometry related to space research: celestial coordinate systems, which we also give numerically for the case of the spacecraft that landed on Mars, and the “crystallographic geometry” of space-station construction. This second part introduces readers to the basics of building a spatial mosaic system that is suitable for creating spherical celestial bodies and for building a three-dimensional crystallographic structure. The second part also uses the methods of interactive computer graphics. The drawings and programs produced with Mathematica can be used for orientation in cosmic space and for designing three-dimensional shapes and structures that connect to each other in space. We have also produced international and domestic publications on this topic.

International cooperation

We reported on our work at several international and domestic conferences. The two most important were the 33rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston and the 27th Symposium on Antarctic Meteorites in Tokyo. Our research group presented 15 papers (NASA) and 3 papers (NIPR) there, respectively. International contacts of our research group:

• Department of Antarctic Meteorites, National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo (Japan)
• Planetary Materials Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (USA)
• Yamaguchi University, Dept. of Chemistry and Earth Science, Yamaguchi (Japan)
• Babeș–Bolyai University, Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár), Transylvania, Romania
• Astrobiology Institute (Madrid, Spain)

Other activities

We presented our cosmic-material collections in several lectures at the University of Szeged, the University of Pécs, the Berzsenyi Dániel College, the Székesfehérvár faculty of the Budapest Polytechnic named after Kandó Kálmán, and in several other towns of the country, also for interested members of the public. The doors are open to colleagues at the Tuesday-evening meetings of the Evolution of Matter Working Committee, and new university students are likewise welcome to join the Youth Space Research Group that builds the Hunveyor space probe.

Publications

• Balogh Zs., Bordás F., Bérczi Sz., Diósy T., Hegyi S., Imrek Gy., Kabai S., Keresztesi M. (2002): Manipulator Arms and Measurements with them on Hunveyor College Lander: Soil Hardness Measurements in the Test Terrain Surrounding the Lander. In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII, Abstract #1085, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).
• Bérczi Sz., Diósy T., Tóth Sz., Hegyi S., Imrek Gy., Kovács Zs., Cech V., Müller-Bodó E., Roskó F., Szentpétery L., Hudoba Gy. (2002): Space Simulator in Space Science Education in Hungary (1): A Hunveyor Type Planetary Surface Operations Simulator. In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII, Abstract #1496, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).
• Bérczi Sz., Gál-Sólymos K., Kubovics I., Puskás Z. (2002): Layered Texture of Kaba CV3 Chondrite. 65th Meteoritical Society Annual Meeting, Abstract #5028, Los Angeles, July 2002.
• Bérczi Sz., Holba Á., Lukács B. (2002): Topology of van Schmus–Wood Sequence by its Projection onto the Urey–Craig Field: Thermal Evolution of Chondrites Followed by Statistical Studies. 65th Meteoritical Society Annual Meeting, Abstract #5170, Los Angeles, July 2002.
• Bérczi Sz., Józsa S., Szakmány Gy., Dimén A., Deák F., Kubovics I., Puskás Z., Unger Z. (2002): How We Used NASA Lunar Set in Planetary and Materials Science Studies: From Basaltic TTT Diagrams of Lunar Basalts to Cellular Automata Transformations of Textures. In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII, Abstract #1024, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).
• Földi T., Bérczi Sz., Ezer R., Palásthi E., Hegyi S. (2002): Measuring Electrostatic Processes in the Dust: Modelling the Lunar Dust and Solar Radiation Interaction Which Generates a Levitating Electrically Charged Dust Cloud above the Surface of the Moon. 27th NIPR Symposium on Antarctic Meteorites, Tokyo, pp. 27–28.
• Földi T., Bérczi Sz., Palásthi E. (2002): Time Dependent Dust Size Spectrometry (DUSIS) Experiment: Applications in Interplanetary Space and in Planetary Atmospheres/Surfaces on Hunveyor. 65th Meteoritical Society Annual Meeting, Abstract #5058, Los Angeles, July 2002.
• Gánti T., Horváth A., Bérczi Sz., Gesztesi A., Szathmáry E. (2002): Defrosting and Melting, Not Defrosting Alone. In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII, Abstract #1221, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).
• Hargitai H., Bérczi Sz., Varga T., Szabó Sóki L., Maros G. (2002): Video and Hypermedia Education Online: Solar System Materials. 65th Meteoritical Society Annual Meeting, Abstract #5052, Los Angeles, July 2002.
• Hargitai H., Kereszturi A., Sik A., Varga T., Bérczi Sz. (2002): Planetology Group’s Complex Educational Activity at Eötvös University. 27th NIPR Symposium on Antarctic Meteorites, Tokyo, pp. 29–31.
• Hargitai H., Kereszturi A., Sik A., Varga T., Szabó Sóki L., Maros G., Bérczi Sz. (2002): Planetology Group’s Educational Outreach Results in Eötvös University, Hungary. In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII, Abstract #1261, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).
• Hegyi S., Horváth Cs., Németh I., Keresztesi M., Hegyi Á., Kovács Zs., Diósy T., Kabai S., Bérczi Sz. (2002): Solar Panel and Electric Power System of Hunveyor-2 University Lander: Experiments for Various Planetary Insolations. In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII, Abstract #1124, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).
• Hegyi S., Kovács B., Keresztesi M., Bérczi Sz., Cech V. (2002): New Experiments for Search of Large Molecules on Hunveyor Educational Space Probe of Pécs University, Hungary. 65th Meteoritical Society Annual Meeting, Abstract #5179, Los Angeles, July 2002.
• Horváth A., Bérczi Sz., Chicarro A., Gánti T., Gesztesi A., Szathmáry E. (2002): Seasonal Change and Annual Appearance of Biogenic Dark Dune Spots on Mars. EGS XXVII General Assembly, PS-2 Mars exploration programmes, Nice, France, 21–26 April 2002.
• Horváth A., Bérczi Sz., Gánti T., Gesztesi A., Szathmáry E. (2002): The “Inca City” Region of Mars: Testfield for Dark Dune Spots Origin. In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII, Abstract #1109, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).
• Horváth A., Bérczi Sz., Chicarro A., Gánti T., Gesztesi A., Szathmáry E. (2002): Possible Biomarkers on Mars and the Mars Express. EGS XXVII General Assembly, PS-2 Mars exploration programmes, Nice, France, 21–26 April 2002.
• Horváth A., Gánti T., Bérczi Sz., Gesztesi A., Szathmáry E. (2002): “Biogenic” Dark Dune Spots on Mars and Probable Antarctic Analogues. 27th NIPR Symposium on Antarctic Meteorites, Tokyo, pp. 37–39.
• Horváth A., Gánti T., Bérczi Sz., Gesztesi A., Szathmáry E. (2002): Morphological Analysis of the Dark Dune Spots on Mars: New Aspects in Biological Interpretation. In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII, Abstract #1108, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).
• Kabai S., Miyazaki K., Bérczi Sz. (2002): Space Science Education with Mathematica: Interactive Design of Modular Space Station Structures with Computer Algebra: Principles, Functional Units, Motions, Examples. In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII, Abstract #1041, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).
• Lukács B., Bérczi Sz., Kereszturi A. (2002): Brown Dwarfs’ Atmospheres: Possible Analogy for Condensation in the Solar Nebula. In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII, Abstract #1472, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).