{"id":6470,"date":"2013-07-21T15:07:28","date_gmt":"2013-07-21T22:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planets.ucla.edu\/?p=6470"},"modified":"2021-01-18T01:36:11","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T09:36:11","slug":"undergraduate-raquel-nuno-searches-for-water-on-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/planets.ucla.edu\/?p=6470","title":{"rendered":"Undergraduate Raquel Nuno searches for water on Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When Raquel Nuno isn\u2019t hunting for atmospheric water vapor on Mars, she\u2019s constructing a massive super computer in the basement of UCLA\u2019s Geology building.\u00a0 Nuno, a recent UCLA graduate with an interest in planetary science, analyzes data collected by NASA\u2019s two Viking spacecraft that orbited Mars from 1976-1980.\u00a0 She hopes to pinpoint areas where excess water vapor in the Martian atmosphere might trigger the formation of Recurring Slope Lineae, mysterious dark streaks that appear on crater rims and canyon walls during the warmest Martian seasons.\u00a0\u00a0 These features, first observed by NASA\u2019s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2010, may indicate the presence of flowing liquid water beneath Mars\u2019 surface.\u00a0 \u201cWe think Recurring Slope Lineae could mean there is current hydrological activity on Mars,\u201d said Nuno.\u00a0 \u201cThe question we are trying to answer is: where is this water coming from?\u201d To locate potential water sources, Nuno and her advisor, Professor David Paige, have been looking for areas on Mars where the water content in the air is higher than average.\u00a0 Nuno presented her results during a talk at the American Astronomical Society\u2019s Division of Planetary Science meeting in Reno, NV in October of 2012.<\/p>\n

Nuno, who moved to the United States from Portugal at age eleven, is the first person in her family to earn a college degree.\u00a0 Her unlikely path to planetary science began when she joined the United States Air Force out of high school, working as a medical laboratory technologist.\u00a0 While in the military, Nuno took classes at six different colleges and universities before enrolling as an undergraduate student at UCLA, her \u201cfavorite so far.\u201d\u00a0 Nuno hopes to pursue a career in academia and she hopes to inspire the next generation of scientists and researchers through teaching.\u00a0 \u201cTeachers were very important in shaping my interests and career goals,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cI would like to have that sort of positive impact on other students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Raquel Nuno isn\u2019t hunting for atmospheric water vapor on Mars, she\u2019s constructing a massive super computer in the basement of UCLA\u2019s Geology building.\u00a0 Nuno, a recent UCLA graduate with an interest in planetary science, analyzes data collected by NASA\u2019s two Viking spacecraft that orbited Mars from 1976-1980.\u00a0 She hopes to pinpoint areas where excess … <\/p>\n

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