Latest Astrobiology Stories
PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is driving toward a flat rock with pale veins that may hold clues to a wet history on the Red Planet. If the rock meets rover engineers' approval when Curiosity rolls up to it in coming days, it will become the first to be drilled for a sample during the Mars Science Laboratory mission. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The size of a car, Curiosity is inside Mars' Gale...
John P. Millis, Ph.D. for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online In this installment of our new podcast series Your Universe Today, redOrbit’s resident astronomer Dr. John Millis spoke with Dr. Eric Mamajek from the University of Rochester about the possibility of finding life beyond Earth. This is the final interview in a three-part series on the topic. If you haven’t already, be sure to listen to part 1 “How Planets Form” and part 2 “Planet Hunting.” Click here to stream...
FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology Researchers at the Centre of Astrobiology have identified microorganisms that live inside salt deposits in the acidic and ferrous environment of the Tinto River in Huelva, Spain. The extreme conditions of these microniches appear to be similar to those of the salt deposits on Mars and Jupiter's moon, Europa. This possibility should be borne in mind on missions operating in these places, such as Curiosity. The high doses of radiation,...
[ Planet Hunting: Your Universe Today Podcasts ] April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Astronomers searching for extraterrestrial life have begun to consider exomoons, or those likely orbiting planets outside our solar system, and new research has found that they are just as likely to support life as exoplanets. René Heller of Germany's Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam and Rory Barnes of the University of Washington and the NASA Astrobiology Institute...
Students will interact with astronomers at AAS meeting in Long Beach today. LONG BEACH, Calif., Jan. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hundreds of Southern California middle- and high-school students will enjoy an out-of-this-world experience today when they drop in on the American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting now under way at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. At 11:30 a.m. PST they'll hear from NASA flight director Bobak Ferdowsi, known...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity used its brush to clear away dust from part of a flat rock on Monday, marking the first time that the rover had used that particular tool, officials at the US space agency have announced. The Dust Removal Tool, which NASA officials describe as “a motorized, wire-bristle brush designed to prepare selected rock surfaces for enhanced inspection by the rover's science instruments,” is one...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Volunteers affiliated with an Oxford University citizen astronomy project have discovered more than a dozen new potential planets orbiting in the habitable zones of other stars, officials from the UK-based educational institution announced on Monday. "Volunteers from the Planethunters.org website, part of the Oxford-led Zooniverse project, have discovered 15 new planet candidates orbiting in the habitable zones of other stars,"...
NASA Mission status report After imaging during the holidays, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity resumed driving Jan. 3 and pulled within arm's reach of a sinuous rock feature called "Snake River." Snake River is a thin curving line of darker rock cutting through flatter rocks and jutting above sand. Curiosity's science team plans to get a closer look at it before proceeding to other nearby rocks. "It's one piece of the puzzle," said the mission's project scientist, John Grotzinger of...
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Mars has been a planet of interest for as long as humans have been going into space. And space scientists for nearly as long have dreamed of one day being able to walk on the surface of the Martian world. And still, others have dreamed of being able to colonize the planet. However, in its current state, it would be a very inhospitable environment for humans. But what if the Red Planet was a hospitable world? What if there were...
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA-funded researchers analyzing a small meteorite that may be the first discovered from the Martian surface or crust have found it contains 10 times more water than other Martian meteorites from unknown origins. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO ) This new class of meteorite was found in 2011 in the Sahara Desert. Designated Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034, and nicknamed "Black Beauty," it weighs...
Latest Astrobiology Reference Libraries
Image Caption: Artistic concept of a planetary system. Credit: Wikipedia/NASA/JPL-Caltech The term Astronomy encompasses a broad range of topics, including the study of stars, galaxies, and planets. In order to focus on the different areas of study, many subfields of astronomy emerge. One such area is the study of planets known, appropriately, as Planetary Astronomy. Observational Planetary Astronomy Even within the field of Planetary Astronomy, there are several divisions to...
Astrobiology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published monthly by Mary Ann Liebert Inc. It is the official journal of the Astrobiology Society. As of May 2012, the editor-in-chief is Sherry L. Cady, PhD (Portland State University, Department of Geology). Astrobiology is the leading international journal for astronomers, biologists, chemists, geologists, microbiologists, paleontologists, and planetary scientists designed to advance our understanding of life’s origin, evolution, and...
Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 - December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer who pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and science in general. He is less well known for his skepticism. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Sagan attended the University of Chicago, where he received a bachelor's degree (1955) and a master's degree (1956) in physics, before earning his doctorate (1960) in astronomy and astrophysics. He taught at Harvard University...
Xenobiology -- Xenobiology (or exobiology, or astrobiology) is the term for a speculative field within biology which considers the possibility of, and possible nature of, extraterrestrial life. It also necessarily includes the concept of artificial life, since any life form might naturally evolve elsewhere, could conceivably come out of a laboratory using a future technology. It might be difficult to tell whether a truly strange life form had in fact arisen in space, or was designed much...
Panspermia -- Panspermia is a theory (more directly described as a hypothesis, as there is no compelling evidence yet available to support or contradict it) that suggests that the seeds of life are prevalent throughout the universe and life on Earth began by such seeds landing on Earth and propagating. The theory has origins in the ideas of Anaxagoras, a Greek philosopher. An important proponent of the theory was the British astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle. There is some evidence to...
![Curiosity GCMS SAM \](/media/gallery/mars-science-laboratory/thumbs/thumbs_pia16836-br.jpg "Curiosity GCMS SAM \")
![Curiosity NavCam MAHLI \](/media/gallery/mars-science-laboratory/thumbs/thumbs_pia16925_right-br.jpg "Curiosity NavCam MAHLI \")
![Curiosity NavCam MAHLI Mount Sharp \](/media/gallery/mars-science-laboratory/thumbs/thumbs_pia16925_right1-br.jpg "Curiosity NavCam MAHLI Mount Sharp \")
