Planet biology Archives

Astronauts and Explorers, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Conferences and Meetings, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Life Support Systems, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Microgravity, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Plant Biology, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering

Limits of Terrestrial Life and the Probability of Growth on Mars (Virtual Meeting)

by Keith CowingMay 20, 2026May 20, 2026

Committee on Planetary Protection (CoPP) (Virtual Meeting June 1-2, 2026)June 1 – 2, 2026 This meeting is to provide information to NASA so it can develop a prioritized list of […]

Representation of metadata factors grouped as environmental factors, operational constraints, experimental design, and assay type for dataset GLDS-37. We exclude the metadata categories that were not populated for this dataset. -- Studies in History and Philosophy of Science

Life Support Systems, Microgravity, Plant Biology, Space Agriculture, Space Life Science, Status Report

Understanding The ‘Spaceflight Treatment’ In Plant Space Biology: Experimental Practices, Metadata Workflows, And Data Re-analysis

by Keith CowingDecember 28, 2025December 28, 2025

The boundaries between targeted interventions, background factors, and confounders are concerns in all biological experimentation.

Harvesting Lettuce at Kennedy Space Center Space Systems Processing Facility Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Life Support Systems, Plant Biology, Press Release, Space Agriculture, Space Life Science, Space Stations

Harvesting Lettuce For A Space Station Study

by Keith CowingMay 2, 2025May 2, 2025

Inside a laboratory in the Space Systems Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a payload implementation team member harvests ‘Outredgeous’ romaine lettuce growing in the Advanced Plant […]

NASA astronaut and Expedition 65 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei harvests plants growing in petri plates inside the Veggie facility for the APEX-7 (Advanced Plant Experiment-07) space botany study. iss065e147928 (June 26, 2021) -- NASA

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Life Support Systems, Plant Biology, Radiation, Space Agriculture, Status Report

Telomere Dynamics and Oxidative Stress in Arabidopsis in the Space Radiation Environment (APEX-12)

by Keith CowingApril 11, 2025April 11, 2025

The APEX-12 spaceflight investigation is poised to unlock crucial insights into the effects of space radiation on genome integrity, telomere length, and telomerase activity via Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) accumulation […]

Pan-phylum syntenic plot including Anthoceros angustus (not chromosomal scale assembly). Ribbons colored in reference to Leiosporoceros dussii. The chromosomes were drawn in proportion to physical lengths, not by syntenic block size as shown in Fig. 1. -- Nature Plants

Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Plant Biology, Press Release

Hornwort Genomes Provide Clues On How Plants Moved From Water To Land On Earth

by Keith CowingJanuary 7, 2025January 7, 2025

Over 450 million years ago, plants began the epic transition from water to dry land. Among the first pioneers were the ancestors of humble hornworts, a group of small, unassuming […]

The incident spectral fluxes, fp (λ; Ts, asp) for a range of stellar temperatures

Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Plant Biology, Status Report

Thermodynamic Limits On Oxygenic Photosynthesis Around M-dwarf Stars: Generalized Models And Strategies For Optimization

by Keith CowingSeptember 25, 2023September 25, 2023

We explore the feasibility and potential characteristics of photosynthetic light-harvesting on exo-planets orbiting in the habitable zone of low mass stars (<1 M⊙).

Missions & Hardware, Plant Biology, Press Release, Space Agriculture, Space Life Science, Space Stations

XROOTS Offworld Dwarf Tomatoes Update

by Keith CowingFebruary 12, 2023March 25, 2023

Red Dwarf Tomatoes were grown without soil using hydroponic and aeroponic nourishing techniques to demonstrate space agricultural methods to sustain crews on long term space flights farther away from Earth […]

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microgravity, Plant Biology, Press Release, Space Agriculture, Space Life Science, Space Stations

Plant Actin Cytoskeleton And Microgravity

by Keith CowingJanuary 5, 2023

The cytoskeleton is a network of thread-like proteins in plant and animal cells that carries out key functions in many biological processes.

Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, Space Life Science, Space Stations

Collecting Microbe Samples Around The Veggie Space Botany facility On ISS

by Keith CowingSeptember 14, 2022March 25, 2023

Expedition 67 Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti from ESA (European Space Agency) collects microbe samples from around the Veggie space botany facility in the International Space Station’s Columbus laboratory module for […]

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Life Support Systems, Moon, Plant Biology, Press Release, Space Agriculture

Scientists Grow Plants in Lunar Soil

by Keith CowingMay 13, 2022March 25, 2023

In the early days of the space age, the Apollo astronauts took part in a visionary plan: Bring samples of the lunar surface material, known as regolith, back to Earth […]