Tag Archives: astrobiology

Geology and astrobiology of McLaughlin Crater

Posted on April 10, 2019 by rburnham

[Editor’s note: From a paper by Joseph Michalski and seven co-authors recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.] The Geology and Astrobiology of McLaughlin Crater, Mars: An Ancient Lacustrine Basin Containing Turbidites, Mudstones, and Serpentinites • McLaughlin crater contained … Continue reading →

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Can organisms survive on Mars, and can we identify them?

Posted on March 26, 2019 by rburnham

Earth is a very special planet. It is the only celestial body in the Solar System on which we know life exists. Could there be life on other planets or moons? Mars is always the first to be mentioned in … Continue reading →

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ExoMars 2020: Window into rover’s search for Mars life

Posted on September 5, 2017 by rburnham

Anyone interested in the scientific exploration of Mars and the search for life on the Red Planet will want to read a special issue of the journal Astrobiology. This collection of papers includes one dedicated to the objectives of ESA’s … Continue reading →

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Lakes in Noctis Labyrinthus: ancient habitable environments?

Posted on February 9, 2016 by rburnham

Groundwater circulation beneath a massive tectonic rift zone located along the flanks of some the Solar System’s largest volcanic plateaus resulted in the formation more than 3 billion years ago of some the deepest basins on Mars, according to a … Continue reading →

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Antarctic fungi survive Martian conditions for 18 months on ISS

Posted on January 29, 2016 by rburnham

European scientists have gathered tiny fungi that take shelter in Antarctic rocks and sent them to the International Space Station. After 18 months on board in conditions similar to those on Mars, more than 60% of their cells remained intact, … Continue reading →

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Antarctic Dry Valleys reveal limits to life?

Posted on January 20, 2016 by rburnham

Failure to find active microbes in coldest Antarctic soils has implications for search for life on Mars. It took Jackie Goordial over 1000 petri dishes before she was ready to accept what she was seeing. Or not seeing. Goordial, a … Continue reading →

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Scientists detect impact glass on Martian surface

Posted on June 8, 2015 by rburnham

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has detected deposits of glass within impact craters on Mars. Though formed in the searing heat of a violent impact, such deposits might provide a delicate window into the possibility of past life on the … Continue reading →

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Honing search methods to find Mars life

Posted on May 15, 2015 by rburnham

For centuries, people have imagined the possibility of life on Mars, but probes have so far uncovered no life at all. Yet Mars does have evidence that a prime condition for life once may have existed there: water. “There has … Continue reading →

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Is carbon in Mars meteorite Tissint biological?

Posted on December 3, 2014 by rburnham

Did Mars ever have life? Does it still? A meteorite from Mars has reignited the old debate. An international team that includes scientists from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne has published a paper in the scientific journal Meteoritics and … Continue reading →

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Nakhla meteorite: newly found mineral features

Posted on August 20, 2014 by rburnham

A new ovoid structure discovered in the Nakhla Martian meteorite is made of nanocrystalline iron-rich clay, contains a variety of minerals, and shows evidence of undergoing a past shock event from impact, with resulting melting of the permafrost and mixing … Continue reading →

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