Imaging & Spectroscopy Archives

Astrobiologist Dale Andersen prepares to dive under the ice at Lake Untersee, Antarctica

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Dale Andersen's Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors, Video, Audio, Webcasts, Podcasts, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Video: Cold Warriors: Diving for Science in Antarctica

by Keith CowingJune 27, 2013June 12, 2026

Its a place few people have seen or even imagined, and distant from familiar, everyday surroundings. The weather can be as harsh as the terrain at times with winds and […]

Called the “Genesis Rock,” this lunar sample of unbrecciated anorthosite collected during the Apollo 15 mission was thought to be a piece of the moon’s primordial crust. In a paper published online Feb. 17 in Nature Geoscience, a University of Michigan researcher and his colleagues report that traces of water were found in the rock. Photo courtesy of NASA/Johnson Space Center.

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Moon, Press Release

Water on the Moon: It’s Been There All Along

by Keith CowingMay 24, 2013June 13, 2024

Traces of water have been detected within the crystalline structure of mineral samples from the lunar highland upper crust obtained during the Apollo missions, according to a University of Michigan […]

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Hubble Finds Dead Stars 'Polluted' with Planet Debris

by Keith CowingMay 9, 2013September 19, 2025

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has found the building blocks for Earth-sized planets in an unlikely place: the atmospheres of a pair of burned-out stars called white dwarfs.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Citizen Science / Open Science, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Traffic Jam of Moons in Habitable Zones

by Keith CowingJanuary 7, 2013June 13, 2024

Volunteers from the Planethunters.org website, part of the Oxford University-led Zooniverse project, have discovered 15 new planet candidates orbiting in the habitable zones of other stars.

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has returned data that indicate ice may make up as much as 22 percent of the surface material in a crater located on the moon’s south pole.

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Moon, Press Release

NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Reveals Ice Content in Shackleton Crater on the Moon

by Keith CowingJune 20, 2012June 13, 2024

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has returned data that indicate ice may make up as much as 22 percent of the surface material in a crater located on the […]

This image of the large conical stromatolites in Lake Untersee was made using a Nikon D3s with a Nikkor 14-24mm lens inside a Subal Housing. Lighting was provided by two Sea & Sea YS-250 Pro strobes in manual mode. Credit: Dale T. Andersen

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Dale Andersen's Field Reports, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Field Reports: Lake Untersee, Antarctica (Gigapixel Panorama) 7 March 2012

by Keith CowingMarch 7, 2012January 11, 2026

Three and a half billion years ago our planet was quite different and Earth’s earliest biosphere was dominated by microbial communities – complex multicellular organisms were not to evolve for […]

Meteorites contain a large variety of nucleobases, an essential building block of DNA. (Artist concept credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith)

Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

NASA Research Shows DNA Building Blocks Can Be Made in Space

by Keith CowingAugust 9, 2011April 13, 2024

NASA-funded researchers have found more evidence meteorites can carry DNA components created in space.

Meteor approaches Earth - Astrobiology.com

Astrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

Carnegie: Meteorites – Tool Kits for Creating Life on Earth

by Keith CowingAugust 8, 2011April 13, 2024

Meteorites hold a record of the chemicals that existed in the early solar system and that may have been a crucial source of the organic compounds that gave rise to […]

Astrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Left-handed Isovaline and Life on Earth

by Keith CowingJanuary 19, 2011April 13, 2024

NASA scientists analyzing the dust of meteorites have discovered new clues to a long-standing mystery about how life works on its most basic, molecular level. “We found more support for […]

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Moon, Press Release

Caltech Team Finds Evidence of Water in Moon Minerals

by Keith CowingJuly 21, 2010June 13, 2024

That dry, dusty Moon overhead? Seems it isn’t quite as dry as it’s long been thought to be. Although you won’t find oceans, lakes, or even a shallow puddle on […]