On Mars, a relatively pure water ice layer lies beneath several centimeters of dry soil at mid-latitudes. Its widespread presence poleward of 60° latitude was detected by remote neutron spectroscopy […]
Desert Worlds
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Status Report, Titan, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Terrestrial Analogs To Titan For Geophysical Research
Saturn’s moon Titan exhibits remarkable parallels to the Earth in many geophysical and geological processes not found elsewhere in the solar system at the present day.
Posted inAstrogeology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
MarsRetrieval: Benchmarking Vision-Language Models for Planetary-Scale Geospatial Retrieval on Mars
Data-driven approaches like deep learning are rapidly advancing planetary science, particularly in Mars exploration. Despite recent progress, most existing benchmarks remain confined to closed-set supervised visual tasks and do not […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
What Cold-water Geysers On Earth Reveal About The Habitability Of Ocean Worlds
In the eastern Utah desert, carbon-dioxide-saturated water bubbles, sprays and foams from the ground. These cold-water geysers, sometimes called ‘soda pop geysers,’ are a new and reliable Earth-based analog for […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, People Of Astrobiology, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Conceptual Challenges In Astrobiological Analog Environments And Paths Toward Resolution
Analog environments are terrestrial environments that resemble extraterrestrial sites; this concept originated in space sciences for defining methods to study planetary geology, training for missions and testing research instruments.
Posted inAnalog Studies, Astrogeology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report
Orbital Recon: A Decade Of Carbon Dioxide Sublimation At Mars’ South Pole
We’ve monitored the so-called Happy Face Crater in the South Polar region of Mars for over a decade. Two images that we took, one in 2011 and the other in […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report
Ice Planet Recon: Looking For Avalanches At Mars’ North Pole
The North Polar Layered Deposits (NPLD) are large layered deposits of dusty water-ice in the northern polar region of Mars. The layering we see is caused mainly by slight variations […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
Active High-Latitude Dune-Gullies On Mars
Gully and defrosting activity have been visible here along the edge of a dune field, along with blocks of frost. Observations of the same area help us check for repeat […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Status Report
Mars Curiosity Seeks Evidence Of Organics
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4788-4797: Welcome Back from ConjunctionEarth planning date: Friday, Jan. 30, 2026
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Planetary Analog Sites In The Indian Subcontinent And The Indian Ocean: Underexplored Environments Suited For Astrobiological And Space Research
Astrobiology seeks to understand the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the Universe, focusing on habitability beyond Earth.