Dataset acquisitions devised specifically for robotic planetary exploration are key for the advancement, evaluation, and validation of novel perception, localization, and navigation methods in representative environments.
Desert Worlds
Posted inAnalog Studies, Astrogeology, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Mars, Press Release
Prospecting the First Chilean Martian Simulants From the Atacama Desert for ISRU and Potential Applications
Martian simulants are an essential part of in situ resource utilization (ISRU) technology development and testing, and aid in providing new astrobiology insights regarding Mars’s past habitability.
Posted inAstrogeology, Desert Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs
Desert Planet Orbital Recon: MRO Images Mars InSight Lander to Study Dust Movement
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) caught a glimpse of the agency’s retired InSight lander recently, documenting the accumulation of dust on the spacecraft’s solar panels. In the new image taken […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Sample Return, Status Report
Living Microbes Discovered In Earth’s Driest Desert
The Atacama Desert, which runs along the Pacific Coast in Chile, is the driest place on the planet and, largely because of that aridity, hostile to most living things. Not […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report
Away Team Droid Tech: ReachBot Field Tests in a Mojave Desert Lava Tube as a Martian Analog
ReachBot is a robot concept for the planetary exploration of caves and lava tubes, which are often inaccessible with traditional robot locomotion methods.
Posted inAstrogeology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Science Fiction, Status Report
Orbital View Of A Desert World: No, This Is Not Sietch Tabr On Arrakis
This is not Sietch Tabr On Arrakis. It is the Rihat Structure, also known as the Eye of the Sahara – on our home world, Earth.
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Gravitational Biology, Life Support Systems, Mars, Plant Biology, Radiation, Space Agriculture, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering
The Extremotolerant Desert Moss Syntrichia caninervis Is A Promising Pioneer Plant For Colonizing Extraterrestrial Environments
Many plans to establish human settlements on other planets focus on adapting crops to growth in controlled environments. However, these settlements will also require pioneer plants that can grow in […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Life Support Systems, Microbiology & Virology, Plant Biology, Press Release, Space Agriculture
How Soil Microbes Survive In Harsh Desert Environments
Prolonged droughts followed by sudden bursts of rainfall – how do desert soil bacteria manage to survive such harsh conditions?
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report
Novel Endolithic Bacteria Of phylum Chloroflexota Reveal A Myriad Of Potential Survival Strategies In The Antarctic Desert
The ice-free McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica are dominated by nutrient-poor mineral soil and rocky outcrops. The principal habitat for microorganisms is within rocks (endolithic).
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Fossils & Paleontology, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Deep Within An Inhospitable Desert Is A Window To The First Life On Earth
CU Boulder geologist Brian Hynek has helped to document what may be a unique kind of ecosystem on Earth—and a possible window into the earliest stages of life on this […]