The Arctic is cold and hostile to life, yet it is home to a large number of microorganisms whose activity has a significant impact on life on our planet.
Southwest Research Institute is leading two “Precursor Science Investigations for Europa” (PSIE) teams to understand critical topics in advance of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to the Jupiter moon. Both projects […]
Dwarf planets Eris and Makemake have surfaces bearing methane ice of unknown origin. D/H ratios were recently determined from James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations of Eris and Makemake, giving […]
A team co-led by Southwest Research Institute found evidence for hydrothermal or metamorphic activity within the icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake, located in the Kuiper Belt. Methane detected on […]
The unmanned underwater vehicle Ran has gone missing under a glacier in Antarctica. The vehicle, owned by the University of Gothenburg, is one of three similar in the whole world […]
Craters are probes of planetary surface and interior properties. Here we measure depths, widths, and spacing of circumferential ring-graben surrounding the two largest multiring impact structures on Europa, Tyre and […]
Editor’s note: it goes without saying that the exploration of the oceans of Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede and other worlds will guide the development of these future missions. As you read […]
For decades, science fiction authors have imagined scenarios in which life thrives on the harsh surfaces of Mars or our Moon, or in the oceans below the icy surfaces of […]
Supraglacial environments mainly consist of four main types of habitats for microbes and viruses, including snow, ice, meltwater, and cryoconites (the granular sediment on glacier surfaces).
The Saturnian moon Enceladus presents a unique opportunity to sample the contents of a subsurface liquid water ocean in situ via the continuous plume formed over its south polar terrain […]
