ID: ESP_077210_2140 date: 15 January 2023 altitude: 291 km NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona larger image

Martian Geology: Possible Evidence Of Glacial Processes

by Keith CowingAugust 13, 2026August 13, 2026

At the southern section of the floor of an impact crater is this stunning lobate (tongue-shaped) debris apron with surface banding showing high sinuosity.

Graphic depiction of the Interworld Slingshot Resource Surveys concept. Pablo Sobron

Missions & Hardware

Planetary Recon: Interworld Slingshot Resource Surveys

by Keith CowingAugust 13, 2026August 13, 2026

[NASA] This proposal explores a new class of reconnaissance spacecraft that map minerals from orbit using Raman spectroscopy during high-speed flybys–without landing, sample return, or extended dwell. Editor’s note: for […]

Dense bands of blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, swirled around the waters of Pyramid Lake in October 2024. This western Nevada lake experiences similar blooms on an almost-yearly basis. The proliferation of single-celled, photosynthetic organisms in autumn 2024 became one of the most active bloom events seen in years, according to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Water Quality Program. -- NASA Larger Image

Biosignatures & Paleobiology

Orbital Biosignature Assay: Pyramid Lake in Bloom

by Keith CowingAugust 13, 2026August 23, 2026

[NASA] The OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on the Landsat 9 satellite acquired this natural-color image of the bloom in October 2024. One day earlier, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe noted […]

An electron-microscope image of a microbe (Bacillus infernus) found 2,700 meters (8,860 feet) underground in Virginia. From Boone et al., 1995 (https://doi.org/10.1099/00207713-45-3-441).

Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments

Could Earthquakes Sustain Yellowstone’s Underground Life?

by Keith CowingAugust 11, 2026August 11, 2026

[USGS] When you think of earthquakes, “life-sustaining” might not be the phrase that immediately jumps to mind. If you haven’t experienced the destruction of an earthquake yourself, you’ve certainly seen […]

The Eastern Portion of Cerberus Fossae ID: ESP_039187_1915 date: 5 December 2014 altitude: 278 km NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona larger image

Mars

Getting A Closer Look Into Cerberus Fossae On Mars

by Keith CowingAugust 10, 2026August 10, 2026

[NASA/JPL/UA] Visible in this observation is a section of Cerberus Fossae (width approximately 250 meters), which are comprised of a series of rifts present located in Elysium Planitia just north […]

ID: ESP_077213_1985 date: 15 January 2023 altitude: 283 km NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona larger image

Mars

Subsurface Sediment Mobilization On Mars

by Keith CowingAugust 9, 2026August 9, 2026

[NASA/JPL/UA] This image covers a pie-like feature that thought to be the result of subsurface sediment mobilization.

View of the Hindsight application: drive panel synchronization (A) ensures consistent arrangement of data sources. The playhead (B) is accessible across the drive panel, tying all visualizations to the same timestamp. The fault in question is highlighted across data in red via the fault overlay (C). -- [cs.HC]

Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

Hindsight: Similarity-Based Analytics For Mars Rover Drive Retrieval

by Keith CowingAugust 6, 2026August 7, 2026

[cs.HC] While Mars rover operators plan drives across hazardous Martian terrain and diagnose unexpected faults, the necessary information is distributed across separate systems and often reconstructed through manual correlation and […]

Pluto

New Horizons Finds Evidence Of Recent Liquid On Pluto’s Surface

by Keith CowingAugust 5, 2026August 5, 2026

[NASA] “Pluto never stops surprising us,” said Alan Stern, principal investigator of New Horizons and lead study author from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. “In addition to suggesting […]

Lava World Recon: Juno Measures Subsurface Temperature Of Io

by Keith CowingAugust 2, 2026August 2, 2026

[SwRI] NASA’s Juno mission has made the first direct measurements of the temperature below the surface of Jupiter’s moon Io, which reveal significant heating in the upper few feet of […]