Exploration Gear & Tech
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Dew And Frost Do Not Serve As Water Sources For Rock-dwelling Organisms In The Dry Valleys Of Antarctica

by Keith Cowing

Rock-dwelling chlorolichens and cyanobacteria provide most of the total biomass of the ice-free zone of Antarctica, i.e., the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), and yet, the water sources of MDV are […]

Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Sample Return, Status Report

Phenylobacterium ferrooxidans sp. nov., Isolated From A Sub-surface Geothermal Aquifer In Iceland

by Keith Cowing

A novel bacterial strain, HK31-GT, was isolated from a subsurface geothermal aquifer (Hellisheidi, SW-Iceland) and was characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene along with […]

Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release

Drone Radar Reveals Buried Glaciers On Earth, Guiding The Search For Water On Mars

by Keith Cowing

Understanding how to explore hidden glaciers on Mars begins not in a laboratory, but in remote field camps across Alaska and Wyoming.

Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microgravity, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Status Report

Offworld Science Droids: A Review Maps Key Technologies For Small-body Sampling Robots

by Keith Cowing

Unlike planetary rovers operating on the Moon or Mars, robots working on asteroids and comets must interact with surfaces where gravity is extremely weak, terrain is highly irregular, and material […]

Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Tricorder Tech: DIYNAFLUOR: An Affordable DIY Plug-and-Play Nucleic Acid Fluorometer for eDNA Quantification in Resource Limited Settings

by Keith Cowing

Editor’s note: with recent speculation about the potential habitability of other worlds and understanding the processes whereby other biospheres arise and evolve, thought needs to be given to developing sensor […]

Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Identifying Amino Acid Isomers With Mass Spectrometry On Icy Ocean

by Keith Cowing

Enceladus and Europa are compelling targets for astrobiology investigations due to their potentially habitable subsurface oceans connected to the icy surface by geological processes.

Posted inAnalog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

The Lipidome of a Mars Analog Poly-Extreme Community in Atacama Halite Endolith: Chemotaxonomy, Lipid Adaptation, and Implications for the Search for Extraplanetary Biosignatures

by Keith Cowing

We analyzed the lipidome of the endolithic community in halite nodules from Salar Grande in the hyperarid Atacama Desert, which is considered an analog for martian subsurface environments.

Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

In Situ Analytical Chemistry Laboratory for the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor

by Keith Cowing

In this paper, we report a fully automated, end-to-end (sample-in/data-out) capillary electrophoresis system.

Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

As Above, Not So Below: Ion Fractionation In Planetary Analog Ices

by Keith Cowing

The geophysical evolution and astrobiological potential of ocean worlds are indelibly linked to the chemical compositions of their oceans and ice shells.

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