Polar / Alpine Expeditions
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Status Report

Active Microbiota Persist in Dry Permafrost and Active Layer from Elephant Head, AntarcticaI

by Keith Cowing

Dry permafrost is a challenging environment for microbial life due to cold, dry, and often oligotrophic conditions. In 2016, Elephant Head, Antarctica, was confirmed as the second site on Earth […]

Posted inAnalog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Away Team Droid Tech: Scientific Exploration of Challenging Planetary Analog Environments with a Team of Legged Robots

by Keith Cowing

The interest in exploring planetary bodies for scientific investigation and in-situ resource utilization is ever-rising. Yet, many sites of interest are inaccessible to state-of-the-art planetary exploration robots because of the […]

Posted inArtemis & Lunar Exploration, Away Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report

Away Team Droid Tech: Robotic Planning Under Uncertainty in Spatiotemporal Environments in Expeditionary Science

by Keith Cowing

In the expeditionary sciences, spatiotemporally varying environments — hydrothermal plumes, algal blooms, lava flows, or animal migrations — are ubiquitous. Mobile robots are uniquely well-suited to study these dynamic, mesoscale […]

Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release

ExoMars Observes Water Frost On The Caldera Floor of the Ceraunius Tholus Volcano

by Keith Cowing

Researchers have discovered frost atop volcanoes near Mars’s equator for the first time – a part of the planet where it was thought impossible for frost to form. The finding […]

Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Preserving Our Home World’s Cryosphere: World Meteorological Organization

by Keith Cowing

Editor’s note: The Astrobiology community is all excited about two missions that wil; explore the ice worlds orbiting Jupiter with a focus of understanding their potential to host habitable – […]

Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Status Report

First Insights Into The Bacterial Diversity of Mount Etna Volcanic Caves

by Keith Cowing

While microbial communities in limestone caves across the world are relatively understood, knowledge of the microbial composition in lava tubes is lagging behind. These caves are found in volcanic regions […]

Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Engineering Astrobiology and Exploration

by Keith Cowing

NASA Astrobiology joins in the 2024 Engineers Week (Feb. 18-24) celebration to recognize the contributions of NASA’s engineers, technicians, and technologists to discovery and innovation.

Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrobiology (general), Astrogeology, Away Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Away Team Training On Earth: ESA’s CAVES Training Course

by Keith Cowing

Astronauts from five space agencies around the world take part in ESA’s CAVES training course– Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and performance Skills.

Gift this article