Tag Archives: astrobiology

Mars ‘terraforming’ test among NAIC proposals

Posted on June 6, 2014 by rburnham

NASA has selected a dozen proposals for study under Phase I of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program. Among the selected proposals is the Mars Ecopoiesis Test Bed by Eugene Boland (Techshot Inc.). (“Ecopoiesis” is the creation of an … Continue reading →

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Mars meteorite altered by water, has spherules enriched in carbon

Posted on February 27, 2014 by rburnham

A team of scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has found evidence of past water movement throughout a Martian meteorite [Yamato 000593], reviving debate in the scientific community over life … Continue reading →

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Microbes in a cave, eating rock

Posted on December 16, 2011 by rburnham

Life abounds on Earth, where it lives in every possible ecological niche, including deep in the crust. This comes from biology’s reproductive drive plus natural selection’s creativity in matching organisms’ needs with what nature provides. But what about Mars, where … Continue reading →

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Early Martian surface radiation not too strong for life

Posted on October 24, 2011 by rburnham

During the Noachian period (about 4.5 to 3.5 billion years ago), the Martian atmosphere was substantially thicker than it is currently, and the planet had a magnetosphere with a surface field strength about as strong as Earth’s today. Both factors … Continue reading →

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Mars in the Mojave?

Posted on July 26, 2011 by rburnham

Where do you go to order up some Mars on Earth? Several places, actually, such as the Atacama Desert in Peru (which is very dry), the Dry Valleys of Antarctica (dry and cold), and Houghton Island in Canada’s high arctic … Continue reading →

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