Alaska Archives

Silhouetted against the blue sky, a drone carrying a ground-penetrating radar instrument lifts off from Galena Creek Rock Glacier in Wyoming. -- Jack W. Holt

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release

Drone Radar Reveals Buried Glaciers On Earth, Guiding The Search For Water On Mars

by Keith CowingMay 1, 2026May 1, 2026

Understanding how to explore hidden glaciers on Mars begins not in a laboratory, but in remote field camps across Alaska and Wyoming.

Dr. Robyn Barbato, a senior research microbiologist and leader of ERDC-CRREL’s soil microbiology team, coring permafrost samples in the Permafrost Tunnel in Fox, Alaska.

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release

CRREL Researchers Discover New Microbe Species Frozen In Alaskan Permafrost

by Keith CowingFebruary 12, 2026February 12, 2026

Research microbiologists at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) recently discovered 26 new species of microorganisms.

Lander prototype during field tests at Matanuska Glacier, Alaska (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report

Europa Astrobiology Lander Mission Concept: Autonomous Surface Sampling

by Keith CowingMay 27, 2025May 27, 2025

Europa, a moon of Jupiter, is a high-priority target for space exploration because of its potential to harbor life. A landed mission concept to collect and analyze samples for signs […]

The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes encompass 25 squares miles in Alaska’s Kobuk Valley National Park. With a new NASA grant, Southwest Research Institute will identify and characterize life and its biosignatures in frozen sand dunes to offer insight into how microbial life could form in similarly harsh environments on other worlds. -- Credit Southwest Research Institute

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars, Press Release, Titan

Using Sand Dunes On Earth To Study Sand Dunes On Mars

by Keith CowingMarch 12, 2025March 12, 2025

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has received a three-year, $2,999,998 million grant from NASA to identify and characterize life and its biosignatures in frozen sand dunes in Alaska, under conditions similar […]

Enceladus, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

NASA’s SWIM Robot on Glacial Ice in Alaska

by Keith CowingNovember 25, 2024November 25, 2024

A model of a tiny, wedge-shaped robot designed to explore subsurface oceans of icy moons, right, sits beside a large waterproof capsule containing electronics and sensors for testing below glacial […]

Schematic deposit model showing formation of hydrothermal Fe- and Mn-oxide deposits at depth along faults during the Neogene (∼8.5–4.8 Ma) from ascending hydrothermal fluids driven by frictional heating and other fault-related processes; the deposits may have experienced minor uplift along faults during the Neogene and Quaternary, and variably exposed as seafloor outcrops predominantly by sediment slumping, rock falls, and other gravity-driven processes. Hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts formed at the seabed on all rock outcrops predominantly from dissolved and colloidal phases in ambient bottom seawater characterized by elements such as Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, REY, Sc, and others; the Fe-Mn crusts and sediments also acquired minor contributions from distal hydrothermal fluids characterized by Hg, As, and others, mostly volatile elements, which were incorporated into the crusts by sorption process on the framework Fe and Mn oxides and in the sediments by organic matter and Fe and Mn oxides—these low-temperature fluids have continued through the Quaternary. It is unknown whether the deep-seated hydrothermal deposits continued to form post-Neogene, which could be determined by additional dating. The base map cross-section is from Nikishin et al. (2021). larger image. -- USGS

Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return

Marine Mineral Formations in the Arctic Ocean Challenge Existing Geologic Theories

by Keith CowingNovember 13, 2024November 13, 2024

A new study from USGS describes a previously unknown process of marine mineral formation in the Arctic Ocean, driven by frictional heating along tectonic faults rather than by hydrothermal activity.

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release

Astrobiology Away Team: NASA ORCAA Field Work In Alaska

by Keith CowingAugust 13, 2024August 13, 2024

A group of researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and other institutions spent two weeks on a glacier in Alaska in July 2023 for a project called ORCAA (Ocean Worlds […]