The Southwest Research Institute-led Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft has successfully completed its initial commissioning following the October 14, 2024, launch. Scheduled to arrive in the Jovian […]
Europa Clipper
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
Europa Clipper Thermal Imaging System Views Mars In Infrared
On its recent swing by Mars, NASA’s Europa Clipper took the opportunity to capture infrared images of the Red Planet. The data will help mission scientists calibrate the spacecraft’s thermal […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, NASA Astrobiology Program, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The NOW NASA Decadal Astrobiology Research and Exploration Strategy NASA-DARES White Paper
Ocean Worlds Exploration and the Search For LifeAuthors: NOW Co-Leads & Steering Committee
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Callisto, Cryobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ice Planet Exploration: A Dataset Of Antarctic Ecosystems In Ice-free Lands
Astrobiology.com Editor’s note: Recently the Fram2 mission took four astronaut explorers on an orbital path that covered both of our planet’s polar regions. This was the fist human mission to […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Surface Deposition Of Icy Dust Entrained In Europa’s Plumes
Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter, features complex surface characteristics shaped by tidal forces and interactions with its subsurface ocean, making it a key target for astrobiology research.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Press Release
Europa Clipper’s First Camera Test In Space
Soon after NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft launched toward Jupiter’s icy moon on Oct. 14, 2024, the mission team powered on each of the science instruments for a series of test […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Identifying Signatures Of Past And Present Cryovolcanism On Europa
Europa, the most visibly active icy moon of Jupiter, is a prime target for the search for life in the outer solar system.
Posted inAstrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release
Europa Clipper Astrobiology Explorer Prepares For A Mars Gravity Assist
On March 1, NASA’s Europa Clipper will streak just 550 miles (884 kilometers) above the surface of Mars for what’s known as a gravity assist — a maneuver to bend […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Callisto, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Callisto Is Very Likely an Ocean World
More pocked with craters than any other object in our solar system, Jupiter’s outermost and second-biggest Galilean moon, Callisto, appears geologically unremarkable. In the 1990s, however, NASA’s Galileo spacecraft captured […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Europa, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Europa Clipper Captures Images of Stars En Route to Jupiter
Three months after its launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency’s Europa Clipper has another 1.6 billion miles (2.6 billion kilometers) to go before it reaches Jupiter’s […]