[NASA]. Dragonfly will explore sites of interest around Titan’s equatorial regions and collect samples of surface material for analysis inside DraMS, the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer.
Tricorders & Sensors
The Ultraviolet Spectrograph on ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer Mission (JUICE-UVS)
[astro-ph.EP] A mix of internal and external radiation shielding plates are used, with those on the instrument electronics plus spectrograph sections shown here in gold color. Ultra-pure filtered dry N2 […]
Determining The “Biosignature Threshold” For Life Detection On Biotic, Abiotic, or Prebiotic Worlds.
[Astrobiology (Journal) via PubMed] The field of prebiotic chemistry has demonstrated that complex organic chemical systems that exhibit various life-like properties can be produced abiotically in the laboratory.
New UC Riverside Lab Focuses on Cutting Edge Astrobiology Tools
[UC Riverside] The Planetary Geochemistry and Astrobiology Laboratory is led by Assistant Professor Fabian Klenner, a new faculty member in UCR’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. His research focuses […]
Offworld Astrogeology Training In Iceland
Iceland’s diverse volcanic terrain is an excellent stand-in for lunar and planetary processes and provides an ideal environment in which to simulate surface science operations. Editor’s note: when it comes […]
Microorganisms Actively Shape Earth’s Ocean Floor
[MARUM]. In August 2023, the German research vessel METEOR set sail on Expedition M192 to the Greek island of Milos with Dr. Solveig Bühring as the chief scientist. The mission […]
TricorderTech: PerkinElmer Partners With eXXpedition Using Advanced FTIR Spectroscopy
[PerkinElmer], a global leader in analytical solutions that drive human and environmental health, today announced a partnership with eXXpedition, the all-women global sailing research organization dedicated to investigating the causes […]
Offworld Science Training: From Lava Fields To Antarctica, Students Pave The Way For Artemis Moon Missions
[University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa] The Artemis missions will return human beings to the surface of the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. This next generation […]
Mineral Biosignature Identification From Raman Spectroscopy Using Machine Learning
[PNAS] Biosignature detection remains a key challenge in astrobiology, yet robust mineral biosignatures remain limited. Raman spectroscopy is increasingly applied in planetary exploration, but its high-dimensional spectral information has not […]
Tricorder Tech: Ground Truth For The DAVINCI Venus Mission
Checking the mineral composition of some weathered rocks with the ASD TerraSpec Halo Mineral Identifier which serves as a tricorder in this activity. These samples become the “ground truth” for […]
