The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap

Abstract

The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap provides guidance for research and technology development across the NASA enterprises that encompass the space, Earth, and biological sciences. The ongoing development of astrobiology roadmaps embodies the contributions of diverse scientists and technologists from government, universities, and private institutions. The Roadmap addresses three basic questions: how does life begin and evolve, does life exist elsewhere in the universe, and what is the future of life on Earth and beyond? Seven Science Goals outline the following key domains of investigation: understanding the nature and distribution of habitable environments in the universe, exploring for habitable environments and life in our own Solar System, understanding the emergence of life, determining how early life on Earth interacted and evolved with its changing environment, understanding the evolutionary mechanisms and environmental limits of life, determining the principles that will shape life in the future, and recognizing signatures of life on other worlds and on early Earth. For each of these goals, Science Objectives outline more specific high priority efforts for the next three to five years. These eighteen objectives are being integrated with NASA strategic planning.

Kinetic Models of the Prebiotic Replication of dsRNA under Thermal Cycling Conditions

“…A more complete understanding of prebiotic chemistry has been the recent goal of important agencies, the European Cooperation on Science and Technology, (Von Kiedrowski, 2007) and NASA's Astrobiology Institute (Des Marais et al, 2008). Systems chemistry has been a useful approach to uncovering clues about the chemical evolution of life on Earth and elsewhere.…”

Our changing view of Mars

“…Furthermore, a habitable environment must provide liquid water as a solvent capable of supporting complex biochemistry, the energy sources needed to sustain metabolism, and environmental conditions that allow for the assembly, persistence, and function of complex structures and biomolecules. 9,10 Extremes of temperature, pH, radiation, and salinity can preclude habitability, even if liquid water is present.…”

“…A rover scheduled for launch in 2020 will carry a payload capable of identifying potential biosignaturessubstances, patterns, or objects whose origin specifically requires a biological agent. 9 Those signatures might be chemical (organic or inorganic) or morphological (rock or mineral structures) in form. The rover's instruments will inspect rock interiors and measure the textures, chemistry, and mineralogy at the micrometer scale using imagers, laser spectroscopy, x-ray fluorescence, and UV Raman spectroscopy.…”

Size differences of the post-anoxia, biotic recovery brachiopod, Dyoros sp., in Hughes Creek Shale (Carboniferous), Richardson County, Nebraska.

“…The current guidelines for NASA-supported studies of this type are the Astrobiology Roadmap (Des Marais et al, 2008). This paper addresses GOAL4 -"Understand how life on Earth and its planetary environment have co-evolved through geological time.…”