[Astrobiology] Accessing the martian deep subsurface is a long-standing scientific priority for astrobiology, climate reconstruction, and planetary evolution, yet robotic drilling missions have historically been limited by wellbore instability, loss […]
Mars
Posted inMars
Mars Curiosity Rover Finds Evidence Of An Ancient Sandstorm
[NASA] Billions of years ago, an hours-long Martian sandstorm blew so intensely that sand ripples began to climb upon one another as they moved across the surface.
Posted inMars
NASA Awards STRIDE Contracts For Mars Advanced Surface Mobility Technology
NASA has selected seven companies for contract awards under the Mars Exploration Program’s Science Transport and Robotic Innovation for Deployment and Exploration, or STRIDE, initiative to advance next-generation commercial robotic […]
Posted inMars
MEDaL-1 Mars Lander Science Definition Team
[ESA] Join the Science Definition Team (SDT) to help define the Exploration Science Payload for a proposed future Mars lander: MEDaL-1. Full announcement
![(A) Sampling location at the origin of Río Tinto, Spain (modified from García-Moyano et al., 2007). (B) The iron microbialites (white arrow) grew horizontally on a northeast-facing wall. (C) -- [GSA Bulletin]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Iron-microbialites.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inAnalog Studies
Iron Microbialites From An Acidic Martian Analog (Río Tinto, Spain)—Implications For Finding Life On Mars
[GSA Bulletin] The search for life on Mars requires identifying suitable biosignatures detectable by rover missions or in returned samples. To support the progressing astrobiological exploration of Mars, we investigated […]
Posted inMars
Mars Perseverance Rover’s Panoramic View of Broom Point
[NASA] The bright-colored rocks exposed across the slope, running from middle left to middle right of the image, belong to a formation the science team calls the “Broom Point member,” […]
Posted inMars
Perseverance Rover Provides A Record of Ancient Mars Impacts
[NASA] Old rocks exposed on the rim of Jezero Crater preserve a roughly 4-billion-year-old cosmic “weather report” from the solar system’s most dynamic era.
Posted inMars
Water Ice Inside A Martian Crater
[ESA] Like a sprinkle of powdered sugar on a rich red velvet cake, this scene from the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter captures the contrasting colours of bright white water-ice […]
Posted inMars
Hematite Is A Mineralogical Marker Of Ancient Climate Change On Mars
[Science via PubMed] The ancient climate of Mars changed from warm to cold surface conditions. This climate transition is demonstrated by geomorphological evidence but lacks suitable mineralogical indicators.
Posted inMeteorites & Asteroids
20 Years Later: The ALH 84001 Debate in Context with Viking’s Results. Lessons Learned and Portals Opened
[Astrobiology via PubMed] This article is an anecdotal recap of lessons learned from the ALH 84001 debate in light of the historical and recent debate over the Viking results.