Category Astronomy/Space

Searching for life on other celestial bodies, or at the very least the necessary components to support it, has been fascinating scientists and enthusiasts for centuries. While planets are the obvious choice, their moons can also harbor the chemical ingredients for life.

Saturn is orbited by 146 moons, with Enceladus being the sixth largest at approximately 500km in diameter. This small, icy moon is characterized by its highly reflective white surface and geyser-like jets releasing ice and water vapor hundreds of kilometers into space from its south pole.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft identified these jets in 2005, before going on to sample them in 2008, 2009 and 2015...

The first life on Earth formed four billion years ago, as microbes living in pools and seas: what if the same thing happened on Mars? If it did, how would we prove it? Scientists hoping to identify fossil evidence of ancient Martian microbial life have now found a way to test their hypothesis, proving they can detect the fossils of microbes in gypsum samples that are a close analogy to sulfate rocks on Mars.

“Our findings provide a methodological framework for detecting biosignatures in Martian sulfate minerals, potentially guiding future Mars exploration missions,” said Youcef Sellam, Ph.D. student at the Physics Institute, University of Bern, and first author of the article in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences.

“Our laser ablation ionization ma...

Is NASA still Moonbound, or will the next giant leap mean skipping straight to Mars?

Speculation is mounting that the Trump administration may scale back or cancel NASA’s Artemis missions following the departure of a key official and Boeing’s plans to lay off hundreds of employees working on its lunar rocket.

Late Wednesday, NASA abruptly announced the retirement of longtime associate administrator Jim Free, effective Saturday.

No reason was given for Free’s departure after his 30-year rise to NASA’s top civil-service position...