Astrobiology (general)
Kepler's Dozen" 13 Stories About Distant Worlds That Really Exist 
For centuries, humans have pondered what life on other planets beyond our solar system might be like. With the launch of the Kepler spacecraft in 2009 we now have evidence for the widespread existence of such planets.
Extrasolar Planets
Kepler Mission Manager Update
Following the apparent failure of reaction wheel 4 on May 11, 2013, engineers were successful at transitioning the spacecraft from a Thruster-Controlled Safe Mode to Point Rest State at approximately 3:30 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, May 15, 2013. The spacecraft has remained safe and stable in this attitude and is no longer considered to be in a critical situation.
Genomics and Cell Biology
The Antiquity of Metalloenzymes
Astrobiologists funded in part by the NASA Astrobiology Institute have uncovered new information about the role of metalloenzymes in the origins of life. Metalloenzymes are enzymes where metals act as a co-factor or are incorporated as part of the molecule. Phylogenetic analysis of metalloenzymes involved in chemiosmosis suggests that they may have been present in the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) of life on Earth.
Mars
Mars Icebreaker Life Mission
Missions to Mars have only scratched its surface. To go deeper, scientists are proposing a spacecraft that can drill into the Red Planet to potentially find signs of life.
Daily Science News
Astrobiology Daily News 18 May 2013
- KOI-127b: a very low-albedo, Saturn-mass transiting planet around a metal rich solar-like star, astro-ph
- The effect of rotation and tidal heating on the thermal lightcurves of Super Mercuries, astro-ph
- Lucky Imaging of transiting planet host stars with LuckyCam, astro-ph
- The future of the Sun: an evolved solar twin revealed by CoRoT, astro-ph
Daily Science News
Astrobiology Daily News 15 May 2013
- Deep fracture fluids isolated in the crust since the Precambrian era, Nature
- An Understanding of the Shoulder of Giants: Jovian Planets around Late K Dwarf Stars and the Trend with Stellar Mass, astro-ph
- Evidence for Microbial Carbon and Sulfur Cycling in Deeply Buried Ridge Flank Basalt, Science
Origin & Evolution of Life
Untangling The Tree of Life on Earth
Two recent high-profile phylogenetic studies reached conflicting conclusions about whether snail's closest relatives are bivalves or an enigmatic group called tusk shells. Vanderbilt phylogeneticists suggest that the cause of this conflict is that the three groups diverged rapidly a long time ago. Credit: Antonis Rokas, Vanderbilt University
Daily Science News
Astrobiology Daily News 14 May 2013
- Characterizing Exoplanets in the Visible and Infrared: A Spectrometer Concept for the EChO Space Mission, astro-ph
- Seed particle formation for silicate dust condensation by SiO nucleation, astro-ph
- TAU: A 1D radiative transfer code for transmission spectroscopy of extrasolar planet atmospheres, astro-ph
Education and Outreach
Celebrate One Year of Virtual Discovery and Exploration with S.A.G.A.N.
Are we alone in the universe? How did life begin? Will the human civilization expand out into the solar system and beyond? How can we act as curators of our home planet to achieve long-term sustainability? As astrobiologists we recognize these scientific and societal questions as some of the greatest of our time.
More top stories from May.
Recent Releases
Calendar
- 22 May: NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot to Visit Marshall Space Flight Center, Meet with Media
- 22 May: International Space Station Program, Science Briefing
- 22 May: NASA Space Station SOcial
- 22 May: NASA Advisory Council Audit Finance and Analysis Committee Meeting
- 22 May: Massachusetts Students Speak Live With Orbiting NASA Astronaut
- 22 May: Media Invited to See Rotating Chair Used to Prevent Air, Space Sickness
- 23 May: 2013 International Space Development Conference
- 23 May: NASA, Bigelow to Discuss Private Sector Human Space Exploration and Development
- 24 May: NASA ARC: All Hands with NASA Administrator, Friday, May 24, 2013
- 24 May: NASA Administrator Visits Ames Research Center, Meets Media
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