Arsenic-based life and Astrobiology

It’s been some time since the controvertial announcement that “arsenic-based life” had been discovered on planet Earth. With time, however, the less-sensational reality of the discovery has been made more clear, and I think it is sensible to review the current state of the research as it relates to the biochemistry of life and the idea of […]

Liberating Ares in commercial rocket fray

The NewSpace rocket environment is growing from a band of determined forerunners to a healthy platoon. Salvaging what they could from NASA’s cancelled Ares I rocket, industry giant ATK (responsible for building Space Shuttle’s solid rocket boosters, a critical component in the Ares rocket design,) has teamed up with Eurpoean company Astrium (of Ariane 5 fame) […]

Titan eclipses Mars

Titan has eclipsed Mars. Not literally, mind you, but conceptually. With active surficial geology the likes of which are known only to Earth, and considering the recent discovery of possible biochemical signatures of alien life, to me Titan has become the most interesting exploration destination in the solar system. Take the above image, for starters. Whereas […]

Target: Titan & Silicon-based life

Move over, Mars. According to new imagery from the Cassini spacecraft and new research recently published in the Journal of Cosmology, Saturn’s moon Titan may be the hottest exploration ticket in the Solar System. Up until only five years ago, the massive moon Titan was one of the last great mysteries in our neighborhood of planets. Itself […]