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Kepler's Search for "Alien Earths" Covered by CNN
NASA’s Kepler mission, which will search for Earth-like planets in our galaxy, launches next week. CNN.com has the full story, including a special video interview with the mission’s Principal Investigator, Bill Borucki.
February 25, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Examining a SLIce of the Arctic
NASA-funded researchers have trekked to the arctic island of Svalbard in order to study how life survives in ice. Their research is also helping scientists develop new methods for detecting the presence of ice-dwelling organisms. The SLIce project will help astrobiologists understand how to identify life in surface ice on Earth in preparation for future missions to search for life on other planets, like Mars.
Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]
January 5, 2009 / Written by: Henry Bortman
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ENDURANCE: Follow the Blog
Scientists have brought the ENDURANCE underwater vehicle to Lake Bonney, a perpetually ice-covered salt lake located in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys. ENDURANCE, an autonomous vehicle designed to swim untethered under ice, will spend a month creating three-dimensional maps of the underwater environment. It also will collect data on the environmental conditions and take samples of microbial life. If all goes well, in the future NASA could send a similar probe to explore the ocean on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.
Read the daily blog entries written by scientists in...
Source: [Link]
December 16, 2008 / Written by: Leslie Mullen
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Exploring Europa on Earth
A liquid ocean may lie hidden beneath the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Astrobiologists theorize that hydrothermal vents at the bottom of this ocean could provide all of the ingredients needed to support life – much like the hydrothermal vents at the bottom of Earth’s oceans. Exploring such habitats on Europa won’t be as easy as it is on our own planet, which is why NASA-funded engineers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution plan to practice on Earth first.Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]
December 8, 2008 / Written by: Henry Bortman
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Jill Tarter Receives TED Prize
Please join in congratulating Jill Tarter, Director of the SETI Institute’s Center for SETI Research, and holder of the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI, for her award of the prestigious TED Prize. The TED Prize, an initiative of the TED Conference, is awarded annually and grants three extraordinary individuals a wish to change the world, one hundred thousand dollars, and support in making the wish come true. Jill and the other two recipients, undersea exploration pioneer Sylvia Earle and economist, musician, and social reformer Maestro and Dr. Jose Antonio...
November 25, 2008 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Cliffbot goes Climbing
From Astrobiology Magazine, European Edition is a story about a rover that can scale the steep sides of cliffs and craters. Developed by a group of NASA engineers, this three-rover system, modeled on tether-aided human climbing, could make such locations on Mars accessible for future exploration.Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]
November 3, 2008 / Written by: Henry Bortman
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New 2008 NASA Astrobiology Roadmap Available
The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap provides guidance for research and technology development across the NASA enterprises that encompass the space, Earth, and biological sciences. The ongoing development of astrobiology roadmaps embodies the contributions of diverse scientists and technologists from government, universities, and private institutions. The Roadmap addresses three basic questions: how does life begin and evolve, does life exist elsewhere in the universe, and what is the future of life on Earth and beyond? Seven Science Goals outline the following key domains of investigation: understanding the nature and distribution of habitable environments in the universe, exploring for habitable...
September 23, 2008 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
