ROVs/Submersibles/Diving Archives

Polymetallic nodules, also called manganese nodules, on the floor of the Pacific Ocean; surprising new research suggests deep sea rocks are capable of producing oxygen without help from plants or the sun. Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Geomar Bilddatenbank/ROV KIEL 6000, GEOMAR

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Origin & Evolution of Life, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Oxygen Produced In The Deep Sea Raises Questions About Extraterrestrial Life

by Keith CowingAugust 27, 2024August 27, 2024

Over 12,000 feet below the surface of the sea, in a region of the Pacific Ocean known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), million-year-old rocks cover the seafloor. These rocks may […]

Enceladus, Icy Worlds, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

NIAC 2020 Phase II Selection: Enceladus Vent Explorer

by Keith CowingAugust 19, 2024August 17, 2024

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 […]

Polymetallic nodules on the seafloor -- NOAA

Atmospheres, 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

by Keith CowingAugust 15, 2024August 15, 2024

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., […]

A high-temperature hydrothermal vent field discovered on Puy des Folles Seamount on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, at approximately 2,000 meters (6,562 feet) in depth, during the In Search of Hydrothermal Lost Cities expedition. Image courtesy of Schmidt Ocean Institute.

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Status Report, Video, Audio, Webcasts, Podcasts, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Webinar: “Origins of Life: The Lost City and Icy Worlds”

by Keith CowingAugust 12, 2024August 12, 2024

Date: August 12, 2024 Join the NASA Astrobiology Science Communication Guild for a presentation on a project in partnership with NASA Science Activation SCoPE to turn data from an expedition […]

A visualization of the underside of Dotson Ice Shelf showing mysterious tear drop shaped areas of melting.Credit: Filip Stedt/University of Gothenburg

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ice Planet Update: Mysterious Patterns Revealed Under An Antarctic Ice Shelf

by Keith CowingAugust 3, 2024August 3, 2024

An international research team deployed the uncrewed submersible ‘Ran’ underneath 350 m thick ice. They got back the very first detailed maps of the underside of a glacier, revealing clues […]

MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ocean World Dynamics: Deep Sea Weather

by Keith CowingAugust 2, 2024August 2, 2024

The seafloor is the final destination for all sorts of particles, like sand, mud, organic carbon that provides food for seafloor organisms, and even pollutants.

A sea pig walks among some clams found at the bottom of the ocean floor near the methane seep. -- Stockton University

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Deep-Sea Discovery Could Help Find Alien Life

by Keith CowingAugust 1, 2024August 1, 2024

Lauren Seyler believes the search for alien life in the universe begins much closer to home — on the bottom of the ocean.

ALVIN takes water samples from a hydrothermal vent producing black “smoke.” The water is black because it contains particulate metal sulfides. These precipitate when the hot fluids mix with cold seawater. (Photo by HOV ALVIN/Woods Hole Oceanographic/Mandy Joye)

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Away Team Update: Exploring Hydrothermal Vents In The Gulf Of California

by Keith CowingJuly 29, 2024July 29, 2024

When Samantha Joye and her fellow researchers once again set sail into the Gulf of California, they weren’t sure what to expect.

NASA’s Perseverance rover discovered “leopard spots” on a reddish rock nicknamed “Cheyava Falls” in Mars’ Jezero Crater in July 2024. Scientists think the spots may indicate that, billions of years ago, the chemical reactions in this rock could have supported microbial life; other explanations are being considered. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return

Mars Perseverance Rover Imagery Of A Rock With Possible Biosignatures

by Keith CowingJuly 25, 2024July 30, 2024

Editor’s note: I will make this simple: did NASA find evidence of life on Mars? No. Did NASA find an interesting rock feature that might signal or indicate that there […]

Polymetallic nodule. CREDIT Franz Geiger/Northwestern University

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Deep-ocean Floor Produces Its Own Oxygen

by Keith CowingJuly 22, 2024July 22, 2024

An international team of researchers, including a Northwestern University chemist, has discovered that metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor produce oxygen — 13,000 feet below the surface.