OOIR: Observatory of International Research

Papers

(The TQCC of Astrobiology is 8. The table below lists those papers that are above that threshold based on CrossRef citation counts [max. 250 papers]. The publications cover those that have been published in the past four years, i.e., from 2021-09-01 to 2025-09-01.)

Article	Citations
Spore Survival During Abrasive Saltation on Mars: A Comment on Bak et al.	87
Chapter 10: Planetary Protection—History, Science, and the Future	57
Extremophiles in Earth's Deep Seas: A View Toward Life in Exo-Oceans	48
Hydrothermal Regeneration of Ammonium as a Basin-Scale Driver of Primary Productivity	47
Life Detection and Microbial Biomarker Profiling with Signs of Life Detector-Life Detector Chip During a Mars Drilling Simulation Campaign in the Hyperarid Core of the Atacama Desert	42
Novel Chimeric Amino Acid-Fatty Alcohol Ester Amphiphiles Self-Assemble into Stable Primitive Membranes in Diverse Geological Settings	38
Deoxyribonucleic Acid Extraction from Mars Analog Soils and Their Characterization with Solid-State Nanopores	37
Ultraviolet Resistance of Microorganisms Isolated from Uranium-Rich Minerals from Perus, Brazil	37
Self-Shielding Enhanced Organics Synthesis in an Early Reduced Earth’s Atmosphere	35
Proteomic Insights into Psychrophile Growth in Perchlorate-Amended Subzero Conditions: Implications for Martian Life Detection	35
Scientific Targets of Tanpopo: Astrobiology Exposure and Micrometeoroid Capture Experiments at the Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility of the International Space Station	33
Traces of Bacterial Contribution to Calcite Weathering Detected by Statistical Characterizations of Surface Microtopography	32
What Would an Alien Amino Acid Alphabet Look Like and Why?	31
Magma Ocean Evolution of the TRAPPIST-1 Planets	30
Exobiology of the Venusian Clouds: New Insights into Habitability through Terrestrial Models and Methods of Detection	29
Protective Effects of Halite to Vacuum and Vacuum-Ultraviolet Radiation: A Potential Scenario During a Young Sun Superflare	28
Boron as a Hypothetical Participant in the Prebiological Enantiomeric Enrichment	27
Sharp Rise in Cosmic Ray Irradiation of Organisms on Earth Caused by a Nearby SN Shockwave Passage	27
An Accounting of Contamination Control Requirements, Implementation, and Verification of the Sample Tubes for the Mars 2020 Mission and Future Return Sample Science	27
The Venus Life Equation	26
Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (LITMS) Instrument Field and Laboratory Tests as Part of the ARADS Field Campaigns	25
Challenges and Opportunities in Using Amino Acids to Decode Carbonaceous Chondrite and Asteroid Parent Body Processes	24
The Call for a New Definition of Biosignature	24
Eta-Earth Revisited I: A Formula for Estimating the Maximum Number of Earth-Like Habitats	23
Mesoarchean Microbial Cd, Ba, and Ni Cycling: Evidence for Photosynthesis in Pongola Group Stromatolites through Novel Stable Isotopes and High-Resolution Trace Element Maps	23

Astrobiological Implications of Interstellar Material in the Solar System	23
Haloferax volcanii Remains Viable and Shows Morphological Changes under Anoxic (CO₂-Enriched) and Hypobaric (2.4 kPa) Atmospheric Conditions	23
Organic Biosignature Degradation in Hydrothermal and Serpentinizing Environments: Implications for Life Detection on Icy Moons and Mars	23
Exploiting the Unique Biology of Caenorhabditis elegans to Launch Neurodegeneration Studies in Space	23
A Review of the “Black Beauty” Martian Regolith Breccia and Its Martian Habitability Record	20
Correction to: Simplified Meteorite Parent Body Alteration of Amino Acids by Hydrothermal Processes (Doi: 10.1089/Ast.2024.0096)	19
Planning the Human Future Beyond Earth with the Prison Population: The Life Beyond Project	19
Duplex Formation and the Origins of Homochirality	18
The New Astronomical Frontier of Interstellar Objects	18
Nitrogen Incorporation in Potassic and Micro- and Meso-Porous Minerals: Potential Biogeochemical Records and Targets for Mars Sampling	17
Strong Evidence that Abiogenesis Is a Rapid Process on Earth Analogs	17
Undecanoic Acid and L-Phenylalanine in Vermiculite: Detection, Characterization, and UV Degradation Studies for Biosignature Identification on Mars	17
Structural Biosignatures—A Category of Potential Biosignatures in the Life Detection Knowledge Base	16
UV Transmission in Prebiotic Environments on Early Earth	16
The Impact of Extreme Low Temperatures on Raman Spectra of Amino Acids Relevant for the Search for Life on Europa	15
An Interview with Dr. Sara Seager	15
Effects of UV and Calcium Perchlorates on Uracil Deposited on Strontium Fluoride Substrates at Mars Pressure and Temperature	15
Using Organic Contaminants to Constrain the Terrestrial Journey of the Martian Meteorite Lafayette	14
Future of the Search for Life: Workshop Report	14
Absorption and Scattering of UV and Visible Light Through Simulated Martian Regoliths and Rock Samples	14
Space Radiation Dosimetry at the Exposure Facility of the International Space Station for the Tanpopo Mission	14
Prebiotic Nucleoside Phosphorylation in a Simulated Deep-Sea Supercritical Carbon Dioxide–Water Two-Phase Environment	14
Measurement of Photochemical Haze Refractive Indices and Hygroscopicity: Influence of CO₂ in CH₄/H₂S/N₂ Mixtures	14
Quantum Dots in Peroxidase-like Chemistry and Formamide-Based Hot Spring Synthesis of Nucleobases	13
Out of Thin Air? Astrobiology and Atmospheric Chemotrophy	13
Final Report of the Mars Sample Return Science Planning Group 2 (MSPG2)	13
Catalytic Synthesis of Polyribonucleic Acid on Prebiotic Rock Glasses	13
Fusarium oxysporumas an Opportunistic Fungal Pathogen onZinnia hybridaPlants Grown on board the International Space Station	12
Bridging Place-Based Astrobiology Education with Genomics, Including Descriptions of Three Novel Bacterial Species Isolated from Mars Analog Sites of Cultural Relevance	12
An Overview of Lipid Biomarkers in Terrestrial Extreme Environments with Relevance for Mars Exploration	12
The Radiation Environment of Ceres and Implications for Surface Sampling	12
Chapter 4: A Geological and Chemical Context for the Origins of Life on Early Earth	12
Determining the “Biosignature Threshold” for Life Detection on Biotic, Abiotic, or Prebiotic Worlds	12
Exoplanet Innovators Interview: Sara Seager Interviews Jim Kasting	12
Planetary Protection Knowledge Gap Closure Enabling Crewed Missions to Mars	12
Spectroscopic Protocol for Biosignature Detection: Arctic Ice Samples as Analogs for Icy Moons	12
Chemical, Thermal, and Radiation Resistance of an Iron Porphyrin: A Model Study of Biosignature Stability	12
Different Scenarios for the Origin and the Subsequent Succession of a Hypothetical Microbial Community in the Cloud Layer of Venus	12
Rosalind Franklin Society Proudly Announces the 2023 Award Recipient for Astrobiology	11
Recommendation on Orbiting Sample Cleanliness	11
Spore Survival During Abrasive Saltation on Mars: A Reply to the Comment by Minns et al.	11
Experimental Identification of Potential Martian Biosignatures in Open and Closed Systems	11
Are Large Sulfur Isotope Variations Biosignatures in an Ancient, Impact-Induced Hydrothermal Mars Analog?	10
Eta-Earth Revisited II: Deriving a Maximum Number of Earth-Like Habitats in the Galactic Disk	10
Humid Evolution of Haze in the Atmosphere of Super-Earths in the Habitable Zone	10
Life Detection Knowledge Base: Assessment Criteria for Potential Biosignatures	10
Venus, an Astrobiology Target	10
Dispersion of Bacteria by Low-Pressure Boiling: Life Detection in Enceladus' Plume Material	10
Introducing the Venus Collection—Papers from the First Workshop on Habitability of the Cloud Layer	10
Rosalind Franklin Society Proudly Announces the 2022 Award Recipient for Astrobiology	9

Recovery of Lipid Biomarkers in Hot Spring Digitate Silica Sinter as Analogs for Potential Biosignatures on Mars: Results from Laboratory and Flight-Like Experiments	9
Simple Lipids Form Stable Higher-Order Structures in Concentrated Sulfuric Acid	9
Considerations for Detecting Organic Indicators of Metabolism on Enceladus	9
Preliminary Planning for Mars Sample Return (MSR) Curation Activities in a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF)	9
Preservation of Extracellular Sheaths Produced by Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria: An Analog for Potential Morphological Biosignatures on Mars	9
Ancient Siliciclastic–Evaporites as Seen by Remote Sensing Instrumentation with Implications for the Rover-Scale Exploration of Sedimentary Environments on Mars	8
A Mission Simulating the Search for Life on Mars with Automated Drilling, Sample Handling, and Life Detection Instruments Performed in the Hyperarid Core of the Atacama Desert, Chile	8
A Bayesian Analysis of the Probability of the Origin of Life Per Site Conducive to Abiogenesis	8
Microbial Motility at the Bottom of North America: Digital Holographic Microscopy and Genomic Motility Signatures in Badwater Spring, Death Valley National Park	8
Integrated Molar Absorptivity of Mid- and Far-Infrared Spectra of Alanine and a Selection of Other Five Amino Acids of Astrobiological Relevance	8
DNA Polymerization in Icy Moon Abyssal Pressure Conditions	8
The Venusian Lower Atmosphere Haze as a Depot for Desiccated Microbial Life: A Proposed Life Cycle for Persistence of the Venusian Aerial Biosphere	8
Astrobiology by Gavriil Tikhov	8
Quantifying the Bioavailable Energy in an Ancient Hydrothermal Vent on Mars and a Modern Earth-Based Analog	8
Mathematical Model of Antibiotic Resistance Determinants' Stability Under Space Flight Conditions	8
Preservation and Distributions of Covalently Bound Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons in Ancient Biogenic Kerogens and Insoluble Organic Macromolecules	8
Preface to Eta-Earth Revisited: How Common Are Earth-like Habitats in the Galaxy?	8
Preservation of Terrestrial Microorganisms and Organics Within Alteration Products of Chondritic Meteorites from the Nullarbor Plain, Australia	8
Building Identity and Community for Early Career Professionals in the Emerging Field of Astrobiology	8
Inducing Homochirality Through Intermediary Catalytic Species: A Stochastic Approach	8
Testing Abiotic Reduction of NAD⁺ Directly Mediated by Iron/Sulfur Minerals	8
Evaluation of Decontamination Potential of Wet Wipes Against Microbial Contamination of Chinese Spacecraft Materials	8
Directional Aspects of Vegetation Linear and Circular Polarization Biosignatures	8
Does Gaia Play Dice? Simple Models of Non-Darwinian Selection	8