Exoplanet Characterization and the Search for Life (2009)
Kasting, J., Traub, W., Roberge, A., Leger, A., Schwartz, A., Wooten, A., ...
Over 300 extrasolar planets (exoplanets) have been detected orbiting nearby stars. We now hope to conduct a census of all planets around nearby stars and to characterize their atmospheres and...
What makes a planet habitable? (2009)
Lammer, H, Bredehöft, J, Coustenis, A, Khodachenko, M, Kaltenegger, L, Grasset, O, ...
Siegert, M.J., Behar, A., Bentley, M., Blake, D., Christoffersen, P., Cockell, C., ...
Antarctic subglacial lakes have, over the past few years, been hypothesised to house unique forms of life and hold detailed sedimentary records of past climate change. Testing this hypothesis...
Cockell, C., Brack, A., Wynn-Williams, D. D., Baglioni, P., Brandstatter, F., Demets, R., ...
We launched a cryptoendolithic habitat, made of a gneissic impactite inoculated with Chroococcidiopsis sp., into Earth orbit. After orbiting the Earth for 16 days, the rock entered the Earth's...
Weinstein, S., Pane, D., Warren-Rhodes, K., Cockell, C., Ernst, L. A., Minkley, E., ...
We have integrated a biomarker detection system with a rover for the search for sparse life in extreme environments. The system incorporated a pulsed fluorescence imager, a reagent sprayer, and a...
Osinski, G. R., Lee, P., Spray, J. G., Parnell, J., Lim, D. S. S., Bunch, T. E., ...
The Haughton impact structure has been the focus of systematic, multi-disciplinary field and laboratory research activities over the past several years. Regional geological mapping has refined the...
Effects of a Simulated Martian UV Flux on the Cyanobacterium, Chroococcidiopsis sp. 029 (2005)
Cockell, C., Schuerger, A. C., Billi, D., Friedmann, E. I., Panitz, C.
Dried monolayers of Chroococcidiopsis sp. 029, a desiccation-tolerant, endolithic cyanobacterium, were exposed to a simulated martian-surface UV and visible light flux, which may also approximate to...
Dohm, J. M., Cabrol, N. A., Grin, E. A., Moersch, J., Chong Diaz, G., Cockell, C., ...
The Life in the Atacama-2004 project, which included geological, morphological, and mineralogical mapping through combined satellite, field-based, and microscopic perspectives and long-range roving,...
Spectroscopic results from the Life in the Atacama (LITA) project 2004 field season (2005)
Piatek, J. L., Moersch, J. E., Wyatt, M., Rampe, M., Cabrol, N. A., Wettergreen, D. S., ...
Analysis of spectroscopy datasets from rover field tests in the Atacama Desert (Chile), focusing on the composition of the surface and identification of potential habitats for life.
Weinstein, S., Pane, D., Warren-Rhodes, K., Cockell, C., Ernst, L. A., Minkley, E., ...
We deployed our fluorescence imaging system which detects fluorescence signals from sparse microorganisms and biofilms on Carnegie Mellon University’s autonomous rover Zoë. The results of the 2004...
Cabrol, N. A., Wettergree, D. S., Whittaker, R., Grin, E. A., Moersch, J. E., Chong-Diaz, G., ...
LITA develops and field tests a long-range automated rover and a science payload to search for microbial life in the Atacama. The Atacama’s evolution provides a unique training ground for designing...
A Planetary Park system for Mars (2004)
The increasing robotic exploration of Mars and eventual human exploration and settlement of that planet threatens to have a significant environmental impact on scientifically important sites and...
Ecology - Widespread colonization by polar hypoliths (2004)
High-latitude polar deserts are among the most extreme environments on Earth. Here we describe a large and previously unappreciated habitat for photosynthetic life under opaque rocks in the Arctic...
Astrobiological instrumentation for Mars – the only way is down (2002)
Ellery, A., Kolb, C., Lammer, H., Parnell, J., Edwards, H., Richter, L., ...
In this paper, in this edition of the Journal commemorating the life and work of David Wynn-Williams, we consider approaches to the astrobiological investigation of Mars. We provide a brief account...
Mars is an awful place to live (2002)
Some believe that the planet Mars holds promise as a new home for humankind and that it could become the focus of a large scale colonisation effort at some undefined point in the future. In this...