May. In collaboration with Prof. Elena Vorobyova of Moscow State University, they proposed to conduct an in-situ study of permafrost as a microbial habitat. NASA photo by Clifford Schlecht. Now that Siberia's brief summer is about to end, it's time for Hoover and Gilichinsky to go hunting for small game. To understand where to look, Hoover and Prof. Elena A. Vorobyova will study the microbial content of permafrost and the structure of the interface between the soil and ice. This research is important to astrobiology for the development of techniques that could be used in exploring Mars, Europa, Callisto, Io, comets, asteroids, and other icy worlds of our solar system.
Astrobiology is the study of the origin, distribution and limitations of life in the cosmos.
A major element of the NASA Astrobiology Program is studying how life, in the form of microbes, survives on Earth under extreme conditions. These microbes are called extremophiles. A cross-section of permafrost shows an ice wedge hiding just below the surface. The active layer is soil that will thaw in summer and refreeze in winter. Below that is permafrost - soil which is too deep for the warmth of a brief summer to reach.