Related papers: Enabling Ice Core Science on Mars and Ocean Worlds
Polar ice cores play a central role in studies of the earth's climate system through natural archives. A pressing issue is the analysis of the oldest, highly thinned ice core sections, where the identification of paleoclimate signals is…
Recent papers by Ansari et al. (2024, Science Advances 10, eadn4650) and Richardson et al. (2025, arXiv eprint 2504.01455) have suggested that global warming of the Martian surface ('terraforming') by 35 K to sustain local habitats above…
Motility is a ubiquitous feature of microbial life on Earth, and is widely regarded as a promising biosignature candidate. In the search for motile organisms, it is therefore valuable to have rough estimates for the number of such microbes…
The springtime sublimation process of Mars' southern seasonal polar CO$_2$ ice cap features dark fan-shaped deposits appearing on the top of the thawing ice sheet. The fan material likely originates from the surface below the ice sheet,…
The decline of Mars' global magnetic field some 3.8-4.1 billion years ago is thought to reflect the demise of the dynamo that operated in its liquid core. The dynamo was probably powered by planetary cooling and so its termination is…
The Martian climate is governed by an annual cycle, that results in the condensation of CO$_{2}$ ice during winter, up to a meter thick at the pole and thousands of kilometers in extension. Water and dust may be trapped during the…
Exploration of terrestrial planets such as Mars are conducted using orbiters, landers and rovers. Cameras and instruments onboard orbiters have enabled global mapping of Mars at low spatial resolution. Landers and rovers such as the Mars…
We introduce a novel concept, the minimal molecular surface (MMS), as a new paradigm for the theoretical modeling of biomolecule-solvent interfaces. When a less polar macromolecule is immersed in a polar environment, the surface free energy…
Planetary Climate Models (PCMs) are developed to explore planetary climates other than the Earth. Therefore, the methods implemented need to be suitable for a large diversity of conditions. Every planet with a significant atmosphere has…
The search for evidence of past life on Mars presents a tremendous challenge that requires the usage of very advanced robotic technologies to overcome it. Current digital microscopic imagers and spectrometers used for astrobiological…
Sedimentary deposits characterized by the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover provide evidence that Gale crater, Mars intermittently hosted a fluvio-lacustrine environment during the Hesperian. However, estimates of the CO2 content of…
We describe how meteors recorded at the Earth can be used to partly reconstruct the meteoroid environments of the planets if a large sample (i.e. millions of orbits at a minimum) is available. The process involves selecting from the…
$\text{CO}_{\text{2}}$ ice clouds are important for polar energy balance and the carbon dioxide cycle on Mars. However, uncertainties remain regarding their physical and radiative properties, which control how polar $\text{CO}_{\text{2}}$…
We report new laboratory studies of the radiation-induced destruction of glycine-containing ices for a range of temperatures and compositions that allow extrapolation to Martian conditions. In-situ infrared spectroscopy was used to study…
The search for extraterrestrial life has long been a primary focus of scientific exploration, driven by rapid advancements in technology and our understanding of the universe. The discovery of water on Mars has sparked significant interest,…
Colloidal Solids (COLIS) is a state-of-the-art light scattering setup developed for experiments onboard the International Space Station (ISS). COLIS allows for probing the structure and dynamics of soft matter systems on a wide range of…
We use a 3D general circulation model to compare the primitive Martian hydrological cycle in "warm and wet" and "cold and icy" scenarios. In the warm and wet scenario, an anomalously high solar flux or intense greenhouse warming…
The search for signatures of life beyond Earth has been a major goal of space research and astrobiology for decades. The combination of expanded knowledge on Solar System bodies from past missions and advancements in in-situ detection…
The polarimetry of the light scattered by planetary surfaces is a powerful tool to provide constraints on their microstructure. To improve the interpretation of polarimetric data from icy surfaces, we have developed the POLarimeter for ICE…
Seismic measurements are an important tool for exploration of planetary interiors, but may not be included in missions due to perceived complexity in placement of sensitive instruments on the surface. To help address this concern, we assess…