[ArianeGroup] Following a successful vibration test campaign designed to validate its mechanical resistance to the stresses of launch and the journey to Mars, the Front Shield for Rosalind Franklin has […]
Desert Worlds
Posted inMars
New Evidence Suggests Vast Hidden Magma Systems Inside Mars
[University of Oxford] Researchers from the University of Oxford have uncovered evidence that Mars once hosted enormous, Earth-like magmatic systems deep beneath its surface – despite the planet lacking the […]
Posted inMars
Fifty Years after Viking: The Promise of Solar System Microbiology and Microbial Ecology
[Astrobiology via PubMed] The ambiguity of the Viking lander life-detection experiments left microbiology and microbial ecology out of space missions for 50 years. However, this was largely because the scientific […]
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Perseverance Astrobiology Droid Has Completed A Martian Marathon
[NASA] On June 14, 2026, Mars Perseverance rover completed a Martian “marathon” by surpassing 26.2 miles (42.195 kilometers) of travel. The day before, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped this view […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware
Organic Carbon Detected In The Bright Angel Formation On Mars
In September of last year, NASA announced that its Perseverance rover discovered a potential biosignature, which is a substance or structure that might have a biological origin.
Posted inAnalog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return
Lipid Biomarkers In Microbialites From A Maar Lake: An Astrobiological Study Of Biomarker Preservation under Mars Analog Conditions
Lipids constitute resistant biomarkers that have been proposed as pacemakers in the search for possible microbial life-forms in Mars’ past.
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Thermal And Rotational Effects Of Giant Impacts During Terrestrial Planet Accretion
Terrestrial planets likely experienced one or more giant impacts during their formation that inflicted large thermal, chemical, and rotational perturbations.
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Ecophysiological Study Of Green Microalgae Isolated From The Grit Crust Of The Atacama Desert
Terrestrial algae play a critical, yet often overlooked, role in the functioning of biological soil crusts (biocrusts), which are considered microecosystems, particularly in extreme environments.
Posted inMars
Energy-Limited Radiolytic Habitability in the Shallow Martian Subsurface: Implications for ExoMars Rosalind Franklin and Tianwen-3
The surface of Mars is sterilized by ionizing radiation and pervasive oxidants; its shallow subsurface, shielded from ultraviolet light and the most reactive oxidation, may instead preserve habitable conditions.
Posted inMars
Turbulence-coupled Electrodynamics Of The Martian Year 34 Global Dust Storm On Mar
We studied the electrodynamic environment during the Martian year 34 (MY 34) global dust storm using data from the Mars Climate Database v.6.1. Our physics-based approach looked at triboelectric charging, […]