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To simulate conditions on the giant asteroid Vesta that would occur after meteoroids strike the surface for a study published in October 2024, scientists used the Dirty Under-vacuum Simulation Testbed for Icy Environments, or DUSTIE, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. They were exploring the potential origins of deep channels, or gullies, on the surface of Vesta, which lies in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. By rapidly reducing the air pressure surrounding samples of liquid, they mimicked the environment around fluid that comes to the surface.

Exposed to vacuum conditions, pure water froze instantly. But salty fluids hung around longer, continuing to flow before freezing.