Away Team Archives

Location of Drill Sites (numbered photographs). Sites 3, 4A, 4B, and 4C are located within commercial plantations, Sites 5A and 5B on open grassland, Site 1 in the hairpin turn of a mining road. Site 2 next to a parking lot of the paved R40 road. -- (BASE – Barberton Archean Surface Environments)

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Fossils & Paleontology, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

Operational Report: Drilling In The Moodies Group of the Barberton Greenstone Belt (BASE – Barberton Archean Surface Environments)

by Keith CowingJune 25, 2024June 25, 2024

The BASE (Barberton Archean Surface Environments) scientific drilling project focused on recovering unweathered continuous core through strata of the Paleoarchean Moodies Group (ca. 3.2 Ga), central Barberton Greenstone Belt (BGB), […]

An artistic picture taken by ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet on the highlight of day five of CAVES training 2011.Taken on September 20, 2011 Credits: ESA / T. Pesquet larger image

Astrogeology, Away Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, People Of Astrobiology, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

ESA Away Team Training In Sardinian Caves

by Keith CowingJune 24, 2024June 24, 2024

ESA’s cave training prepares astronauts to work as an international team in real exploration conditions. Sending astronauts underground to survive and explore Sardinian caves in Italy for almost a week […]

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Courses, Education and Outreach, Status Report

Amity Mission for Analogue Space Expedition (AMASE-2024)

by Keith CowingJune 19, 2024June 19, 2024

Amity Centre of Excellence in Astrobiology, Amity University Mumbai would like to welcome you to the upcoming Amity Mission for Analogue Space Expedition (AMASE-2024).

Field emission scanning electron microscopy images of “Grotta Catanese I” (GC) samples. Representative FESEM images of the studied samples, depicting A Actinobacteria-like coccoid (with 1-μm diameter) and rod-shaped cells with spiny ornamentation (GC1_1A); B filaments with hairy ornamentation, intermingled with coccoid cells (GC1_1A); and C, D clusters of the diatom Orthoseira roeseana and Humidophila (GC1_2) -- Microbial Ecology via PubMed

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Status Report

First Insights Into The Bacterial Diversity of Mount Etna Volcanic Caves

by Keith CowingJune 13, 2024June 13, 2024

While microbial communities in limestone caves across the world are relatively understood, knowledge of the microbial composition in lava tubes is lagging behind. These caves are found in volcanic regions […]

NASA astronaut Andre Douglas wears AR (Augmented Reality) display technology NASA ID: jsc2024e036523 Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel larger image

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Moon, People Of Astrobiology, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Tricorder Tech: Artemis Augmented Reality Away Team Field Test

by Keith CowingJune 11, 2024June 11, 2024

Editor’s note: Right now NASA is planning the spacesuit and sensor technology needed for astronauts to operate during prolonged AwayTeam sorties to study astrogeology on the lunar surface. While the […]

Term-map analysis results by VOSviewer depicting three major emerging clusters in astrobiology research with different levels of interconnection among terms. The top 300 linkages are represented. A term’s importance is indicated by the size of the circle. -- Life

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrobiology (general), Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Ceres, Enceladus, Europa, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Life Support Systems, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Mimas, Missions & Hardware, Origin & Evolution of Life, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Space Life Science, Status Report, Titan, Tricorders & Sensors, Triton, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Marine Science Can Contribute to the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life

by Keith CowingJune 9, 2024June 9, 2024

Abstract: Life on our planet likely evolved in the ocean, and thus exo-oceans are key habitats to search for extraterrestrial life. We conducted a data-driven bibliographic survey on the astrobiology […]

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins uses tongs to pick up a geologic sample while wearing the Joint AR (Joint Augmented Reality Visual Informatics System) display during an advanced technology run in the San Francisco Volcanic Field in Northern Arizona on May 21, 2024. -- NASA/Josh Valcarcel NASA ID: jsc2024e036521 Date Created:2024-05-21 larger image

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, People Of Astrobiology, Status Report

Tricorder Tech: Artemis Away Team Field Test

by Keith CowingJune 9, 2024June 9, 2024

Part of the Greenland Ice sheet with blackened ice caused by algae. CREDIT Shunan Feng

Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

Giant Viruses Have Been Found On Greenland’s Ice Sheet

by Keith CowingJune 5, 2024June 5, 2024

Every spring when the sun rises in the Arctic after months of darkness, life returns. The polar bears pop up from their winter lairs, the arctic tern soar back from […]

Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Life Support Systems, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

EVA Swab Tool to Support Planetary Protection and Astrobiology Evaluations

by Keith CowingJune 1, 2024June 1, 2024

When we send humans to search for life on other planets, we’ll need to know what we brought with us versus what may already be there.

The largest of the four seamounts recently discovered by Schmidt Ocean Institute experts is 2,681 meters tall, covers 450 square kilometers, and sits 1,150 meters below the surface. It was discovered during a mapping transit from Costa Rica to Chile in January 2024. -- Schmidt Ocean Institute

Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Water World Exploration: Four New Seamounts Discovered On Earth

by Keith CowingJune 1, 2024June 1, 2024

The crew of Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor (too) discovered four underwater mountains — the tallest of which is over 1.5 miles high — on a January transit from […]