The fractured, young surfaces on confirmed ocean worlds such as Europa and Enceladus suggest that ocean-bearing moons with relatively thin overlying ice shells should be easy to identify. Hence, the […]
Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Posted inCaves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Lake Eridania On Mars
Mars once hosted a lake larger than any on Earth. The broken-down and dried-up remnants of this ancient lakebed are shown here in amazing detail by ESA’s Mars Express. This […]
Posted inEnceladus, Icy Worlds, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
NIAC 2020 Phase II Selection: Enceladus Vent Explorer
Enceladus Vent Explorer (EVE) is a robotic mission to enter an Enceladus. Her mission objective is to collect samples of ocean water that could contain intact organisms (i.e., cells) to […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Understanding the Role of Layered Minerals in the Emergence and Preservation of Proto-Proteins and Detection of Traces of Early Life
The origin of life remains one of the most profound mysteries in science. Over millennia, theories have evolved, yet the question persists: How did life emerge from inanimate matter?
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Scottish And Irish Rocks Confirmed As Being A Rare Record Of Snowball Earth
The study, published in the Journal of the Geological Society of London, found that the Port Askaig Formation, composed of layers of rock up to 1.1km thick, was likely laid […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Dwellers In The Deep: Biological Consequences Of Dark Oxygen
The striking recent putative detection of “dark oxygen” (dark O2) sources on the abyssal ocean floor in the Pacific at ∼4 km depth raises the intriguing scenario that complex (i.e., […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ultraviolet Technology To Prepare For The Habitable Worlds Observatory
We present here the current state of a collection of promising ultraviolet technologies in preparation for the Habitable Worlds Observatory.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Climate Regimes Across The Habitable Zone: A Comparison Of Synchronous Rocky M- And K-dwarf Planets
M- and K-dwarf stars make up 86% of the stellar population and host many promising astronomical targets for detecting habitable climates in the near future. Of the two, M dwarfs […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Orbital Biosignature Survey: A Bright Blue Coccolithophore Bloom In The Barents Sea
When summer arrives at high northern latitudes, peripheral seas to the Arctic Ocean lose some of their ice cover and bask in long daylight hours. That’s when phytoplankton—microscopic plant-like organisms […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Rocks Collected On Mars Hold The Key to Water and Perhaps Life. Bring Them Back To Earth.
Over the course of nearly five months in 2022, NASA’s Perseverance rover collected rock samples from Mars that could rewrite the history of water on the Red Planet and even […]