NASA Astrobiology

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A volcanically active planet is shown in closeup at the left side of the image with glowing eruptions and lines of lava on the surface. To the right and in the distance is a faint blue glowing ball representing the more massive planet in the system.

Sixteen frames from Voyager 1's flyby of Jupiter in 1979 were merged to create this image. Jupiter's Great Red Spot is visible in the center. Jupiter's moon Europa can be seen in the foreground at the bottom left of the image.

The frame is a horizontal rainbow of color on a grid. Shadows of molecules can be seen through the light as well as the jagged peaks and troughs of spectral lines.

Fizzy Super Earths and Lava Worlds“Fizzy Super-Earths: Impacts of Magma Composition on the Bulk Density and Structure of Lava Worlds.” in The Astrophysical Journal.01/03

Identifying Hydrothermal Activity on Icy Ocean Worlds“Ethene-ethanol ratios as potential indicators of hydrothermal activity at Enceladus, Europa, and other icy ocean worlds.” In Icarus.02/03

NASA Raman Spectroscopic Database"The NASA Raman spectroscopic database: Ramdb version 1.00.” In Icarus.03/03

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March 2024Chapter 8: Searching for Life Beyond Earth

Chou, L., Grefenstette, N., Borges, S., Caro, T., Catalano, E., Harman, C. E., … Young, A. (2024). Chapter 8: Searching for Life Beyond Earth. Astrobiology, 24(S1), S–164–S–185. doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0104

Chapter 2: What Is Life?

Colón-Santos, S., Vázquez-Salazar, A., Adams, A., Campillo-Balderas, J. A., Hernández-Morales, R., Jácome, R., … Trubl, G. (2024). Chapter 2: What Is Life? Astrobiology, 24(S1), S–40–S–56. doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0116

Chapter 9: Life as We Don't Know It

Grefenstette, N., Chou, L., Colón-Santos, S., Fisher, T. M., Mierzejewski, V., Nural, C., … Weng, M. M. (2024). Chapter 9: Life as We Don't Know It. Astrobiology, 24(S1), S–186–S–201. doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0103

How to identify cell material in a single ice grain emitted from Enceladus or Europa

Klenner, F., Bönigk, J., Napoleoni, M., Hillier, J., Khawaja, N., Olsson-Francis, K., … Postberg, F. (2024). How to identify cell material in a single ice grain emitted from Enceladus or Europa. Science Advances, 10(12), None. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adl0849

Chapter 10: Planetary Protection—History, Science, and the Future

McKaig, J., Caro, T., Burton, D., Tavares, F., & Vidaurri, M. (2024). Chapter 10: Planetary Protection—History, Science, and the Future. Astrobiology, 24(S1), S–202–S–215. doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0112

Immunoanalytical Detection of Conserved Peptides: Refining the Universe of Biomarker Targets in Planetary Exploration

Mustieles-Del-Ser, P., Ruano-Gallego, D., & Parro, V. (2024). Immunoanalytical Detection of Conserved Peptides: Refining the Universe of Biomarker Targets in Planetary Exploration. Analytical Chemistry, 96(12), 4764–4773. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.3c04165

Aspects of the biological carbon cycle in a ca. 3.42-billion-year-old marine ecosystem

Reinhardt, M., Thiel, V., Duda, J-P., Hofmann, A., Bajnai, D., Goetz, W., … Drake, H. (2024). Aspects of the biological carbon cycle in a ca. 3.42-billion-year-old marine ecosystem. Precambrian Research, 402, 107289. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2024.107289

Chapter 4: A Geological and Chemical Context for the Origins of Life on Early Earth

Rodriguez, L. E., Altair, T., Hermis, N. Y., Jia, T. Z., Roche, T. P., Steller, L. H., & Weber, J. M. (2024). Chapter 4: A Geological and Chemical Context for the Origins of Life on Early Earth. Astrobiology, 24(S1), S–76–S–106. doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0139

Parent Volatile Outgassing Associations in Cometary Nuclei: Synthesizing Rosetta Measurements and Ground-based Observations

Saki, M., Bodewits, D., Bonev, B. P., Dello Russo, N., Luspay-Kuti, A., Noonan, J. W., … Shou, Y. (2024). Parent Volatile Outgassing Associations in Cometary Nuclei: Synthesizing Rosetta Measurements and Ground-based Observations. The Planetary Science Journal, 5(3), 70. doi:10.3847/psj/ad118f

Chapter 1: The Astrobiology Primer 3.0

Schaible, M. J., Szeinbaum, N., Bozdag, G. O., Chou, L., Grefenstette, N., Colón-Santos, S., … Young, A. (2024). Chapter 1: The Astrobiology Primer 3.0. Astrobiology, 24(S1), S–4–S–39. doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0129

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