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 2024Venus cloud sample return concept for astrobiology

Agrawal, R., Seager, S., Petkowski, J. J., Carr, C. E., Buchanan, W. P., Bywaters, K., … Zacny, K. (2024). Venus cloud sample return concept for astrobiology. Advances in Space Research. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2024.03.065

Asteroids were born bigger: An implication of surface mass ablation during gas-assisted implantation into the asteroid belt

Ribeiro De Sousa, R., Izidoro, A., Deienno, R., & Dasgupta, R. (2024). Asteroids were born bigger: An implication of surface mass ablation during gas-assisted implantation into the asteroid belt. Icarus, 410, 115910. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115910

The Geochemical Potential for Metabolic Processes on the Sub-Neptune Exoplanet K2-18b

Glein, C. R. (2024). The Geochemical Potential for Metabolic Processes on the Sub-Neptune Exoplanet K2-18b. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 964(2), L19. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ad3079

Oxygen production from dissociation of Europa’s water-ice surface

Szalay, J. R., Allegrini, F., Ebert, R. W., Bagenal, F., Bolton, S. J., Fatemi, S., … Wilson, R. J. (2024). Oxygen production from dissociation of Europa’s water-ice surface. Nature Astronomy. doi:10.1038/s41550-024-02206-x

Ferns as facilitators of community recovery following biotic upheaval

Azevedo-Schmidt, L., Currano, E. D., Dunn, R. E., Gjieli, E., Pittermann, J., Sessa, E., & Gill, J. L. (2024). Ferns as facilitators of community recovery following biotic upheaval. BioScience. doi:10.1093/biosci/biae022

Considerations for Detecting Organic Indicators of Metabolism on Enceladus

Barge, L. M., & Fournier, G. P. (2024). Considerations for Detecting Organic Indicators of Metabolism on Enceladus. Astrobiology, 24(3), 328–338. doi:10.1089/ast.2023.0074

Chapter 5: Major Biological Innovations in the History of Life on Earth

Bozdag, G. O., Szeinbaum, N., Conlin, P. L., Chen, K., Fos, S. M., Garcia, A., … Trubl, G. (2024). Chapter 5: Major Biological Innovations in the History of Life on Earth. Astrobiology, 24(S1), S–107–S–123. doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0119

Chapter 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

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