SpaceX deploys NASA's Europa Clipper after launch, signal acquired! - YouTube - Space.com - astrobiology Part II

The Europa Clipper spacecraft was built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.It is controlled by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory-California Institute of Technology.Europa Clipper called home and executed its roll program.

Blastoff! SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches Europa Clipper to Jupiter's ocean moon - YouTube - Space.com - astrobiology

The Europa Clipper spacecraft will ascertain whether Jupiter's moon Europa is habitable.

Is There Life On Jupiter’s Moons? | The Moon | BBC Earth Science - YouTube - astrobiology,planetary science

The Voyager spacecraft explored the ice giants Saturn and Jupiter,discovering the first ever volcanic activity outside of Earth on Jupiter's moon Io.Later,the Galileo spacecraft studied Jupiter's moon Europa,revealing that it's surface is covered by ridges and cracks,the strongest evidence of an ocean beneath its icy crust.The Juno spacecraft,launched in 2011 and arriving at Jupiter in 2016,made recent flybys of Jupiter's moons Ganymede,Europa and Io from 2021 to 2024.Juno's mission has been extended to 2025.Where there are heat and water,there may be extraterrestrial life.

Mars Perseverance rover's new 'Comet Geyser' sample 'great for biosignature studies' - YouTube - NASA JPL-Caltech - astrobiology

with Samantha Gwizd,Geologist,Science Operations,Mars Perseverance Rover

OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission Overview (Official NASA Briefing) - planetary science

Webb Telescope detects 'never before seen in space' molecule in awesome Orion Nebula view - astrobiology

Scientists discover ingredients for life on Saturn moon - CBS News - astrobiology

Massive flare on Proxima Centauri could spell bad news for any alien life - Astronomy magazine - astrobiology

Massive flare on Proxima Centauri could spell bad news for any alien: Astronomers just measured the largest flare ever from Proxima Centauri, humanity's closest neighboring star. These flares could be bad news for life trying to develop on a planet orbiting the star.

Asteroid Ryugu samples found to contain uracil, a key component of RNA - Astronomy magazine - astrobiology

Asteroid Ryugu samples found to contain uracil, a key component of RNA: The discovery adds weight to the theory that basic organic molecules may have arrived on Earth from outer space.

Scientists grow first plants in lunar soil - Discover magazine - Astrobiology

Scientists grow first plants in lunar soil: Although the plants showed signs of stress, the fact they grew at all is good news for future long-term, off-world missions.

Megatsunami swept over Mars after devastating asteroid strike - Astronomy magazine - planetary science/astrobiology

Megatsunami swept over Mars after devastating asteroid strike: Mars' 68-mile-wide (110 km) Pohl Crater was carved out by an asteroid much like the giant Chicxulub impactor that heralded the end of the dinosaurs.

AbSciCon 2019 - Day 1 - Sara Walker

1.4. ASTROBIO - Life on Earth - University of Edinburgh - Professor Charles Cockell

1.3. ASTROBIO - What is Life? - University of Edinburgh - Professor Charles Cockell

Astrophysics:New Explorer Mission Selected

NASA has selected as its next Explorer mission the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe,Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx).The longest-running series of NASA missions,the Astrophysics Explorer Program began with Explorer I in 1958 and ran through the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) in 1989,until now it has totaled more than 90 missions to its credit.Explorer provides frequent,low-cost access to space in support of the Astrophysics and Heliophysics programs in NASA's Science Mission Directorate.*
According to NASA,SPHEREx addresses two basic questions:
1.how the universe evolved;and
2.how common the ingredients for life are in the Milky Way.It will probe the nature of physics that drove cosmic inflation in the early universe;determine the properties of interstellar ices,a key reservoir for water and biogenic material in the early phases of star and planet formation;and the cosmic history of galaxy formation.
SPHEREx will study the sky in both optical and near-infrared wavelengths,gathering data on over 300 million galaxies and more than 100 million stars,as well as our own Milky Way.Surveying the entire sky every six months,it will create the highest resolution colour all-sky map to date,in 96 colour bands.In the process of its work,the satellite will identify targets for further study by such missions as the James Webb Space Telescope and Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope.In the Milky Way,it will seek out water and organic molecules in stellar nurseries,where stars are born of gas and dust,as well as in planetary disks around stars,where new planets may form.*
Ball Aerospace,a subsidiary of Ball Corporation,is building the spacecraft and integrating the mission.James Bock of Caltech is principal investigator and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is mission manager.The spacecraft is slated for a 2023 launch.*
Ball Corporation,perhaps best known for its former line of canning jars,provides innovative,sustainable packaging solutions for beverage,personal care and household products customers;as well as aerospace and other technology and services primarily for the U.S. Government,the company says.*
Ball Corporation (BLL)

NASA's Revolutionary Discoveries On Mars and What They Mean for Manned Exploration

In the past,Mars was basically regarded as a vast red desert with little likelihood of ever having hosted life,let alone presently harbouring it.Now,though,recent observations of Mars by the HiRISE,or High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment,aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter,have changed the picture drastically.A number of scientists gave a press briefing Monday morning on the epochal findings,including Jim Green,Director of Planetary Science at NASA headquarters in Washington;Michael Meyer,Lead Scientist,NASA Mars Exploratory Program;Lujendra Ojha,Georgia Institute of Technology,Atlanta;Mary Beth Wilhelm,NASA Ames Research Center,Moffett Field,California and Georgia Tech;and Alfred McEwen,Principal Investigator,HiRISE,Univrsity of Arizona,Tucson.Also contributing to the NASA Science Update was John Grunsfeld,5-time NASA Astronaut and Associate Administrator.
The scientists indicated that we're starting to put together a much more interesting,dynamic and complex picture of Mars.Our journey to Mars is a science-led mission right now,but it's even more important to send planetary biologists and geologists to Mars.It really is a fascinating planet that once had salty seas,freshwater lakes and snowy peaks,with a water cycle like earth's.Did life arise on Mars once,and can we find out did any survive?Is there life on Mars today?The new data suggests it would be possible there is life today on Mars.Three billion years ago,Mars had an extensive atmosphere;a huge ocean up to a mile deep;but something happened.Mars suffered a major climate change and lost its surface water,yet Mars soils are moist and hydrated,full of water,and there is much more humidity in its atmosphere than was previously believed.Mars is not the dry,arid planet that we thought.Under certain circumstances,liquid water has been found on Mars,the HiRISE data show,in a feature known as Recurring Slope Lineae,which are dark streaks that form in late spring,grow through the summer and disappear in the fall.The broader distribution and more expansive latitudes of the RSL than expected are evidence of flowing water on Mars,as revealed by multiple spacecraft and observations,as set forth in the new article "RSL:Spectral Evidence for Hydrated Salts in RSL on Mars" in Nature Geoscience 28 September 2015.*
An animated sequence of the RSL cycle was shown at the update.HiRISE has observed this in the last four years or so.The RSL form at different times and temperatures and latitudes on Mars.They are seeps of water and seep through the surface layer and darken it.The seeps have been noted in three regions:
1.the southern mid-latitudes;
2.Valles Marineris;
3.Acidalia Planitia.
They occur in craters.The key evidence was missing until now:their chemical identity.This has been ascertained by the CRISM instrument on the MRO.It can observe the surface in various wavelengths;the interaction of light with the surface material indicates if there is any evidence of flowing water.We found that salt crystals composed of salt and chlorine when hydrated show the presence of molecular water in their crystal structure;molecular water is trapped inside the salt structure.The source of the water is either RSLs or some other processes-regardless,these crystals are formed by contemporary flowing water on Mars.These hydrated salts in the slopes means contemporary flowing water is forming them.Pure liquid water is highly unstable on the surface of Mars;but salty water doesn't evaporate as quickly until there is a higher temperature.*
RSLs are formed by flowing liquid briny water on the surface of Mars.The broader implications are:
more habitable conditions on the surface of Mars than previously thought.Further astrobiological and chemical analysis may show the water to be an important resource for human explorers on Mars,decreasing the cost of manned expeditions as a source of drinking water and oxygen.In principal,you could even make solid rocket fuel from the hydrated salt.
On earth,everywhere we find water,there is life.We now have great opportunities to be in the right locations to investigate that.We now are at a point technologically to go there,ask the question,and answer it.With HiRISE,we can make a better,more methodical search for life.Is there an aquifer network on Mars?It's very likely there is life in the Martian subsurface,microbial life.A number of upcoming NASA and ESA/Russia missions will help with our search.*
Mars is looking more and more habitable;the resources are there.A very methodical approach and rigorous scientific program will enable the setting of parameters and the design of manned missions.It is more feasible for missions than ever before.These are huge steps for us to plan the right resources to support human explorers in the future,NASA believes.