In situ sampling missions to detect biosignatures on ocean worlds requires thorough sample preparation to manage the expected chemical complexity of such environments. Proposed instruments must be capable of automatic […]
We developed a prototype instrument called the Standoff Biofinder, which can quickly locate biological material in a 500 cm2 area from a 2 m standoff distance with a detection time […]
The Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 has recommended that NASA realize a large IR/optical/UV space telescope optimized for high-contrast imaging and spectroscopy of ∼25 exo-Earths and transformative general […]
This work introduces a novel approach for Titan exploration based on soft morphing aerial robots leveraging the use of flexible adaptive materials. The controlled deformation of the multirotor arms, actuated […]
Exoplanet characterization missions planned for the future will soon enable searches for life beyond our solar system. Critical to the search will be the development of life detection strategies that […]
Sulfate and iron oxide deposits in Río Tinto (Southwestern Spain) are a terrestrial analog of early martian hematite-rich regions. Understanding the distribution and drivers of microbial life in iron-rich environments […]
The Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) is a micro-focus X-ray fluorescence spectrometer mounted on the robotic arm of NASA’s Perseverance rover.
Editor’s note: according to the ESO website: “The ELT will revolutionise the study of planets outside our Solar System. It will allow us to obtain direct images of some of […]
The Cassini mission provided evidence for a global subsurface ocean and ongoing hydrothermal activity on Enceladus, based on results from Cassini’s mass spectrometers. Laboratory simulations of hydrothermal conditions on icy […]
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), […]
