The world of biology is filled with labs where living creatures are cultured and studied, where the dynamics of life are explored and analyzed to learn about behavior, reproduction, structure, growth and so much more. In the field of astrobiology, however, you don't see much lab biology -- especially when it comes to …
Continue reading "Joining the Microscope and the Telescope in the Search for Life Beyond Earth"
Last month, the European Space Agency's Gaia mission released the most accurate catalogue to date of positions and motions for a staggering 1.3 billion stars. Let’s do a few comparisons so we can be suitably amazed. The total number of stars you can see without a telescope is less than 10,000. This includes visible stars …
Continue reading "Know Thy Star, Know Thy Planet: How Gaia is Helping Nail Down Planet Sizes"
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket transporting the TESS satellite lifts off from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, April 18, 2018. The space telescope will survey almost the entire sky, staring at the brightest, closest stars in an effort to find any planets that might be …
The European Space Agency (ESA) has approved the ARIEL space mission—the world's first dedicated exoplanet atmosphere sniffer— to fly in 2028. ARIEL stands for the “Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-Survey mission.” It is a space telescope that can detect which atoms and molecules are present in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. The mission was …
A quick update on a recent column about whether our "golden age" of space science and discovery was in peril because of cost overruns and Trump administration budget priorities that emphasized human space travel over science. The 2018 omnibus spending bill that was passed Wednesday night by the House of Representatives and Thursday night …
“You can feel what it’s like on Venus here on Earth,” said Kevin McGouldrick from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. “Heat a hot plate until it glows red, place your palm on its surface and then run over that hand with a truck.” The surface of Venus …
Continue reading "To Understand Habitability, We Need to Return to Venus"
Huge escarpments of quite pure water ice have been found in the Southern Highlands of Mars -- accessible enough that astronauts might some day be able to turn the ice into water, hydrogen and oxygen. Some of these deposits are more than 100 meters thick and begin only a meter or two below the …
Continue reading "The Mars Water Story Gets Ever More Interesting"
Unmanned missions to planets and moons and asteroids in our solar system have been some of NASA's most successful efforts in recent years, with completed or on-going ventures to Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, the asteroid Bennu, our moon, Pluto, Mercury and bodies around them all. On deck are a funded mission to Europa, another to Mars …
Continue reading "Two Tempting Reprise Missions: Explore Titan or Bring Back a Piece of A Comet"
As the Cassini mission embarks on its final dive this Friday into Saturn, it will continue taking photos all the way down (or as far as it remains operations.) We've grown accustomed to seeing remarkable images for the mission and the planet, but clearly the show is not over, and perhaps far from it. …
Continue reading "Cassini Nearing the End, Still Working Hard"
Reading about some of the views coming from the man recently nominated to become NASA's Administrator, Rep. James Bridenstine of Oklahoma, I heard the sound of a door closing. Other doors will surely be opened if he is confirmed by the Senate, but that shutting door happens to be to the gateway to a realm …
Continue reading "Is That the Foundation of NASA I Feel Shifting?"
Many Worlds 