NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)

Letter from the Director

Astrobiology thrives. This was strikingly obvious at the NAI 2005 “all hands” meeting of the Astrobiology Institute, hosted by the University of Colorado NAI Team, in Boulder, last March. A majority of the 500 participants were young astrobiologists who are making important experimental, observational, and theoretical contributions towards understanding how life originates and evolves, here and elsewhere. The sessions were lively and comfortably multidisciplinary in a way that was not seen in the early days of the Institute.

This year, these and the other achievements of the NASA Astrobiology Institute are made available in...

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Project Reports

Organized by Astrobiology Roadmap Objective (2003 Version)

Goal 1: Understand the nature and distribution of habitable environments in the Universe

• Objective 1.1: Models of formation and evolution of habitable planets (41 reports)
• Objective 1.2: Indirect and direct astronomical observations of extrasolar habitable planets (27 reports)

Goal 2: Explore for past or present habitable environments, prebiotic chemistry and signs of life elsewhere in our Solar System

• Objective 2.1: Mars exploration (30 reports)
• Objective 2.2: Outer Solar System exploration (22 reports)

Goal 3: Understand how life originates from cosmic and planetary precursors

• Objective 3.1: Sources of prebiotic materials and catalysts (42 reports)
• Objective 3.2: Origins and evolution of functional biomolecules (18 reports)
• Objective 3.3: Origins of energy transduction (9 reports)
• Objective 3.4: Origins of cellularity and protobiological systems (9 reports)

Goal 4: Understand how past life on Earth interacted with its changing planetary and Solar System environment

• Objective 4.1: Earth's early biosphere (41 reports)
• Objective 4.2: Foundations of complex life (30 reports)
• Objective 4.3: Effects of extraterrestrial events upon the biosphere (20 reports)

Goal 5: Understand the evolutionary mechanisms and environmental limits of life

• Objective 5.1: Environment-dependent, molecular evolution in microorganisms (33 reports)
• Objective 5.2: Co-evolution of microbial communities (29 reports)
• Objective 5.3: Biochemical adaptation to extreme environments (45 reports)

Goal 6: Understand the principles that will shape the future of life, both on Earth and beyond

• Objective 6.1: Environmental changes and the cycling of elements by the biota, communities, and ecosystems (39 reports)
• Objective 6.2: Adaptation and evolution of life beyond Earth (24 reports)

Goal 7: Determine how to recognize signatures of life on other worlds and on early Earth

• Objective 7.1: Biosignatures to be sought in Solar System materials (27 reports)
• Objective 7.2: Biosignatures to be sought in nearby planetary systems (35 reports)

Goal 0:

• Objective NAI1: carrying out, supporting and catalyzing collaborative interdisciplinary research (16 reports)
• Objective NAI2: training the next generation of astrobiology researchers (13 reports)
• Objective NAI3: providing scientific and technical leadership on astrobiology investigations for current and future space missions (7 reports)
• Objective NAI4: exploring new approaches using modern information technology to conduct interdisciplinary and collaborative research amongst widely-distributed investigators (14 reports)
• Objective NAI5: supporting outreach by providing scientific content for K-12 education programs, teaching undergraduate classes, and communicating directly with the public (11 reports)

Project Reports

Organized by Team

• Carnegie Institution of Washington
• Indiana University, Bloomington
• Marine Biological Laboratory
• Michigan State University
• NASA Ames Research Center
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Pennsylvania State University
• SETI Institute
• University of Arizona
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of Colorado, Boulder
• University of Hawaii
• University of Rhode Island
• University of Washington
• Virtual Planetary Laboratory (JPL/CalTech)