It sounds like science fiction, but the theory of panspermia, in which life can naturally transfer between planets, is considered a serious hypothesis by planetary scientists. The suggestion that life […]
Panspermia
Posted inMissions & Hardware, Panspermia, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Sample Return, Status Report
NASA Policy Directive: NPD 8020.7G Biological Contamination Control for Outbound and Inbound Planetary Spacecraft
NPD 8020.7GEffective Date: February 19, 1999Expiration Date: February 19, 2018 Subject: Biological Contamination Control for Outbound and Inbound PlanetarySpacecraft (Revalidated 05/17/13 w/change 1)
Posted inMissions & Hardware, Panspermia, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Policy, Sample Return, Status Report
NASA Policy Instruction NASA Policy on Planetary Protection Requirements for Human Extraterrestrial Missions – NPI 8020.7 – NPD 8020.7G
In May 2012, the Planetary Protection Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) Science Committee formulated a recommendation that NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) be developed for planetary protection on human […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Impact events, Moon, Panspermia, Press Release
Building Blocks of Early Earth Survived Collision That Created Our Moon
Unexpected new findings by a University of Maryland team of geochemists show that some portions of the Earth’s mantle (the rocky layer between Earth’s metallic core and crust) formed when […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Panspermia, Press Release
NASA Identifies Carbon-rich Molecules in Meteors as the “Origin of Life”
Tons, perhaps tens of tons, of carbon molecules in dust particles and meteorites fall on Earth daily. Meteorites are especially valuable to astronomers because they provide relatively big chunks of […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Panspermia, Status Report
Doubts About ALH84001: The JSC Mars Meteorite Team Responds
Editor’s note: the following is a response provided to SpaceRef by the JSC Mars Meteorite Team (David McKay, Kathie Thomas-Keptra, and Everett Gibson) regarding a paper “Magnetite morphology and life […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Panspermia, Press Release
New Analysis of Meteorite Shows Key Ingredients for Life on Earth May Have Been Delivered by Comets
An object that fell to Earth more than 136 years ago has revealed new clues about the origin of meteorites in space and new information about how life may have […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Panspermia
4 Years Later … The Case For Life On Mars Withstands Criticism, Gains Support
The editors of Precambrian Research and the team that startled the scientific world in August 1996 with evidence they had found in a Martian meteorite indicating that life once existed […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Panspermia
British Researchers Try to Challenge Evidence of Mars Meteorite Fossils – But Don’t Make Their Case
In 1996 the world held its breath for a moment as David McKay and Everett Gibson from NASA’s Johnson Space Center revealed evidence which they felt pointed to the distinct […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Panspermia, Press Release
Doubt cast on life on Mars – University of Greenwich Reproduces Chemical Structures Found In Meteorites
The complex chemical structures found in a meteorite from Mars, which scientists in 1996 hailed as possible evidence of past life on the planet, can be reproduced quite simply in […]