Mariam Naseem | From the Arctic to the Lab: How studies on Earth inform our Search for Habitability on Icy Ocean Worlds
Foresight Institute’s Space Group
From the Arctic to the Lab: How studies on Earth inform our Search for Habitability on Icy Ocean Worlds
Bio: Mariam Naseem is a Polar & Planetary Science Researcher and Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland, College Park where she investigates geological processes on icy ocean worlds through terrestrial analogs. Prior to commencing her Ph.D., Mariam worked with the Industry Relations team at the Canadian Space Agency to support Canadian space companies with business development engagements. Mariam has also served as a Research Fellow at the Open Lunar Foundation contributing to an open communication architecture for the Moon, and as a policy researcher at Arizona State University’s Space Governance Lab, analyzing technologies and policies with a focus on emerging space nations.
Abstract: Icy moons in the outer solar system, like Europa and Enceladus, appear to host potentially habitable subsurface liquid water oceans beneath kilometers of ice. Missions to these icy satellites, like Europa Clipper, will study Europa’s surface and near-surface ice structures using remote sensing techniques, including radar, to infer geological processes happening in the interior. Mission concepts like Enceladus Orbilander propose to sample plumes erupting at Enceladus for potential biosignatures. This talk will focus on how analog studies on Earth can inform the interpretation of data from missions to ocean worlds. It will highlight a ground-penetrating radar investigation in the Arctic with implications for Europa Clipper and lab work using a Cryovolcanism Simulator with implications for Enceladus Orbilander.
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