Papers by Bethany Theiling
2023 IEEE Aerospace Conference
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Astrobiology
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, Dec 1, 2018
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Astrobiology, 2021
The field of prebiotic chemistry has demonstrated that complex organic chemical systems that exhi... more The field of prebiotic chemistry has demonstrated that complex organic chemical systems that exhibit various life-like properties can be produced abiotically in the laboratory. Understanding these chemical systems is important for astrobiology and life detection since we do not know the extent to which prebiotic chemistry might exist or have existed on other worlds. Nor do we know what signatures are diagnostic of an extant or "failed" prebiotic system. On Earth, biology has suppressed most abiotic organic chemistry and overprints geologic records of prebiotic chemistry; therefore, it is difficult to validate whether chemical signatures from future planetary missions are remnant or extant prebiotic systems. The "biosignature threshold" between whether a chemical signature is more likely to be produced by abiotic versus biotic chemistry on a given world could vary significantly, depending on the particular environment, and could change over time, especially if life were to emerge and diversify on that world. To interpret organic signatures detected during a planetary mission, we advocate for (1) gaining a more complete understanding of prebiotic/abiotic chemical possibilities in diverse planetary environments and (2) involving experimental prebiotic samples as analogues when generating comparison libraries for "life-detection" mission instruments.
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Bulletin of the AAS, 2021
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arXiv: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, 2018
For the first time in human history, we will soon be able to apply the scientific method to the q... more For the first time in human history, we will soon be able to apply the scientific method to the question "Are We Alone?" The rapid advance of exoplanet discovery, planetary systems science, and telescope technology will soon allow scientists to search for life beyond our Solar System through direct observation of extrasolar planets. This endeavor will occur alongside searches for habitable environments and signs of life within our Solar System. While the searches are thematically related and will inform each other, they will require separate observational techniques. The search for life on exoplanets holds potential through the great diversity of worlds to be explored beyond our Solar System. However, there are also unique challenges related to the relatively limited data this search will obtain on any individual world. This white paper reviews the scientific community's ability to use data from future telescopes to search for life on exoplanets. This material summariz...
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2008 Joint Meeting of …, 2008
2008 Joint Meeting of The Geological Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, America... more 2008 Joint Meeting of The Geological Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies with the Gulf Coast Section of SEPM. Paper No. 301-20, ...
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Bulletin of the AAS, 2021
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Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs
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Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences
A machine learning approach for analyzing data from the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) ins... more A machine learning approach for analyzing data from the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) instrument has been developed in order to improve the accuracy and efficiency of this analysis and serves as a case study for the use of machine learning tools for space missions. MOMA is part of the science payload aboard the ExoMars rover, Rosalind Franklin, currently planned to land on Mars in 2023. Most NASA robotic space missions return only one thing: data. Remote planetary missions continue to produce more data as mission ambitions and instrument capabilities grow, yet the investigations are still limited by available bandwidth to transmit data back to Earth. To maximize the value of each bit, instruments need to be highly selective about which data are prioritized for return to Earth, as compression and transmission of the full data volume is often not feasible. The fundamental goal is to enable the concept of science autonomy, where instruments perform selected onboard science data...
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Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Mar 1, 2021
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, Dec 1, 2019
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, Dec 1, 2019
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Bulletin of the AAS, 2021
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Papers by Bethany Theiling