Sample Return – Page 38 – My WordPress Site

Allan Hills, 2022-2023. Photo by Julia Marks Peterson, COLDEX.

Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors

Perseverance Astrobiology Droid Crosses An Ancient Martian River Bed To Reach A Science Target

by Keith CowingJune 13, 2024June 13, 2024

"To bridge dilution between environments, we specify mobile “holding pens” (green-rust/iron flocs, silica mats, pumice rafts, and sea-surface microlayer/foam) that concentrate, shuttle, and release prebiotic cargo into shoreline pools." -- Grok via Astrobiology.com

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors

A Novel Methodology for Autonomous Planetary Exploration Using Multi-Robot Teams

by Keith CowingJune 10, 2024June 10, 2024

A representative sample of nine historical events from Table 5. The top row shows nearby (< 4 kpc) events for which a combination of all three mass-distance relations (θE, πE, lens flux) give an unambiguously measured lens mass and distance. The yellow data with error bars shows the best fit result from image-constrained modeling, the blue contours give the posterior distribution (central 39%, 86%, 99%) from pyLIMASS. The middle row shows more distant events (> 4 kpc) for which the estimate of lens mass and distance is still relatively accurate but less precise. The bottom row shows problematic events for which there are degeneracies that remain (MB10328; Vandorou et al. 2025b), or the identification of the lens is dubious (MB11262; Terry et al. 2025b), or the significantly overlapping θE and πE relations result in large errors (OB141760; Rektsini et al. 2025).-- astro-ph.EP

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrobiology (general), Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Ceres, Enceladus, Europa, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Life Support Systems, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Mimas, Missions & Hardware, Origin & Evolution of Life, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Space Life Science, Titan, Tricorders & Sensors, Triton, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Marine Science Can Contribute to the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life

by Keith CowingJune 9, 2024June 9, 2024

Researchers have long been interested in Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, and its icy environment, which harbours lakes, seas, sand dunes and a thick atmosphere full of nitrogen, methane, and complex carbon-based chemistry. Titan share some commonality with the early evolution of our planet and may therefore give researchers clues to the origin of life. Credit NASA-JPL-Space Science Institute

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Sample Return

Sample Return Contamination? Soluble Organic Compounds and Cyanide in Apollo 17 Lunar Samples: Origins and Curation Effects

by Keith CowingJune 9, 2024June 9, 2024

Cumulative flare frequency distribution for M dwarfs plotted as a function of flare energy across spectral types. The red dashed line shows the power-law fit (see Section 3.4). For the M6–M6.5 sample, no fit is shown due to the limited number of flares. -- astro-ph.SR

Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return

NASA Is Exploring Alternative Mars Sample Return Methods

by Keith CowingJune 7, 2024

A directional flux beneath Navicula sp. via raphe grooves is revealed using fluorescent polystyrene beads (0.5 μ m), indicating that tracer particles latched to the ventral raphe move opposite to diatom motion. The thick curve shows the diatom’s trajectory; thin curves show tracer particles’ trajectories. Inset: Schematic illustrates tracer particles latched to mucilage threads that are moving along the ventral raphe. The tracer particle movement reflects internal acto-myosin kinetics. (Scale bar, 20 μm.) -- PNAS via PubMed

Mars, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Sample Return

Thresholds of Temperature and Time for Mars Sample Return: Final Report of the Mars Sample Return Temperature-Time Tiger Team

by Keith CowingMay 31, 2024May 31, 2024

Visual Abstract -- JACS Au via PubMed

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Space Life Science, Tricorders & Sensors

Tricorder Tech: The Limits, Capabilities, and Potential for Life Detection with MinION Sequencing in a Paleochannel Mars Analog

by Keith CowingMay 30, 2024May 30, 2024

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Sample Return

Phobos Photometric Properties From Mars Express HRSC Observations (Comet Capture?)

by Keith CowingMay 30, 2024May 31, 2024

Jupiter's moon Europa is smaller than Earth's moon yet may contain more than twice as much liquid water as all of Earth's oceans combined. Scientists believe that under its icy surface, Europa features a global saltwater ocean, perhaps 40 to 100 miles (60 to 150 kilometers) deep. Further inward, a rocky mantle and metallic core are likely. -- NASA larger image

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors

Tricorder Tech: A.I. / Machine Learning: Adaptive Sampling With PIXL On Mars Perseverance

by Keith CowingMay 24, 2024May 24, 2024

Astrobiology And Life, The Cosmos, The Human Story -- Grok via Astrobiology.com

Analog Studies, Astrogeology, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Offworld Away Team Analog: New Opportunities and Untapped Scientific Potential in Earth’s Abyssal Ocean

by Keith CowingMay 23, 2024May 23, 2024