A model of a tiny, wedge-shaped robot designed to explore subsurface oceans of icy moons, right, sits beside a large waterproof capsule containing electronics and sensors for testing below glacial […]
Enceladus
Posted inEnceladus, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
NASA’s SWIM Submersible Droid Prototypes
Two prototypes for a NASA mission concept called SWIM (short for Sensing With Independent Micro-swimmers) are arranged beside a much smaller nonfunctioning model representing the final envisioned size of the […]
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
Tricorder Tech: Chemistry Modeling Software Used To Detect Conditions For Microbial Life On Icy Worlds
Southwest Research Institute is working to expand software normally used to model electrolytes and predict corrosion and turn it into a tool that can help determine whether ice-covered worlds have […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Enceladus, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ocean Weather Systems On Icy Moons With Application To Enceladus
We explore ocean circulation on a rotating icy moon driven by temperature gradients imposed at its upper surface due to the suppression of the freezing point of water with pressure, […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Dale Andersen's Field Reports, Enceladus, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Dale Andersen’s Astrobiology Antarctic Status Report: 14 November 2024: The Plumes of Enceladus
Keith’s note: Astrobiologist Dale Andersen is back in Antarctica at Lake Untersee in October-December 2024 for another field season of research (preview). Dale’s work is coordinated through the SETI Institute. We’ll be posting […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Distinguishing Potential Organic Biosignatures on Ocean Worlds from Abiotic Geochemical Products using Thermodynamic Calculations
The search for life in our solar system often involves efforts to detect organic molecules, which have been found on many extraterrestrial bodies, including planets, moons, meteorites, comets, and asteroids. […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Enceladus, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Modifications Of SPH Towards Three-dimensional Simulations Of An Icy Moon With Internal Ocean
There are some traces of the existence of internal ocean in some icy moons, such as the vapor plumes of Europa and Enceladus. This implies a region of liquid water […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Icy Worlds, Status Report
Sealing Europa’s Vents By Vapor Deposition: An Order Of Magnitude Study
Fractures and vents in the ice crust of Europa, exposing the sub-surface ocean to the vacuum, might be responsible for the generation of planetary-scale water-vapor plumes.
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Simulated View of Thermal Emissions from Europa
Scientists based this image on a model of data from NASA’s Galileo mission and data from an instrument on NASA’s Cassini mission that studied warm regions of Saturn’s moon Enceladus […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Io, Jupiter, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Neptune, Saturn, Status Report, Titan, Uranus
Sulfur in the Giant Planets, their Moons, and Extrasolar Gas Giant Planets
We review sulfur chemistry of the gas giant planets and their moons where sulfur compounds are observed. The major S-bearing gas in the upper atmospheres of the giant planets is […]