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Photo of Johns Hopkins APL’s Camera Reveals Surprise for NASA’s Lucy Mission in First Asteroid Encounter
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Johns Hopkins APL’s Camera Reveals Surprise for NASA’s Lucy Mission in First Asteroid Encounter

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Exoplanets and Astrobiology

Searching for Life across the Universe

APL scientists are providing cutting-edge discoveries and valuable insights about Mars, the ocean worlds of the outer solar system, and the atmospheres of exoplanets, investigating the habitability of these distant worlds.

The age-old question of whether life exists beyond Earth continues to drive exploration. Through missions such as Europa Clipper and Dragonfly, APL is leading the exploration of ocean worlds to understand their chemistries and potential habitability. With liquid-water oceans beneath their icy surfaces, these moons share similarities with the kinds of environments where life may have emerged on Earth. APL researchers have studied the ancient wet environments on Mars to guide future exploration of the potential for past life on the planet. Through missions such as Cassini, New Horizons and Venus Express, APL researchers have studied the evolution of volatile and carbon-based molecules on numerous solar system bodies to apply to studies of rocky exoplanets. They’re using NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes to identify water vapor and clouds on these distant worlds. And they’re helping to plan the next generation of space missions, from landed missions on the ocean worlds of Europa and Enceladus to space-based telescopes that characterize atmosphere-covered rocky planets, all, ultimately, to search for signs of life.

Missions

APL has designed, built and operated more than 70 innovative spacecraft over its six decades of spaceflight experience. Click below to learn about some of the missions that made revolutionary discoveries, and spacecraft that will push the boundaries of exploration and investigate outstanding scientific mysteries.

Learn more about Dragonfly
A silver dronelike rotorcraft flies over a dusty, tan-colored desert with a hazy, warm-colored background

Dragonfly

Dragonfly is a NASA New Frontiers mission that will send a rotorcraft lander to explore the prebiotic chemistry and habitability of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.

Instruments

Scientists and engineers at APL have designed, built and operated more than 300 novel space instruments and methods to conduct cutting-edge research and make groundbreaking discoveries. Click below to learn about some of these instruments and their role in shaping our understanding of space and the solar system.

Learn more about DraGMet
An illustration of the Dragonfly rotorcraft on the dusty surface of Titan, with dark mountains, a hazy atmosphere and the Sun in the background

DraGMet

Mission

Dragonfly

Destinations

Outer Moons
The Dragonfly Geophysics and Meteorology Package (DraGMet) is a suite of geophysical and meteorological sensors to assess conditions on Saturn's moon Titan.

Stories

Go inside APL’s space missions and research, and check out the latest news, features and discoveries from the teams that are probing mysteries from the Sun to the edge of the solar system and beyond.

Three cloud-covered planets circle around a hazy, red star in the middle. Darkness surrounds the rest of the scene.
Aug 17, 2023

Exoplanet Team Wins NASA Award to Search for Habitable Planets

NASA recently announced the selection of seven teams as part of its astrobiology research program, one of which will be led by APL researcher Kevin Stevenson. The team will assess the habitability of rocky exoplanets orbiting red dwarf stars, building on a project started in 2020.
Illustration of three exoplanets orbiting a red star (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
May 1, 2023

NASA’s Webb May Have Spotted Water Vapor Around a Rocky Exoplanet…or Maybe Not?

A new study documenting Webb’s recent observations of a rocky planet around 26 light-years away have caused a waterlogged mystery that’s left researchers uncertain whether they made a groundbreaking discovery or not.
Illustration of a planet and its star on a black background. The planet is large, in the foreground at the center and the star is smaller, in the background at the upper left. The planet has no atmosphere and no clouds. The left quarter of the planet (the side facing the star) is lit, while the rest is in shadow. The star is bright yellowish-white, with no clear features.
Jan 11, 2023

NASA’s Webb Identifies Its First Exoplanet — And It’s the Size of Earth

Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins APL confirmed the discovery of an exoplanet — a planet orbiting another star — orbiting a red dwarf star roughly 41 light-years away — and it’s almost exactly the size of Earth.