Astrobiology: Life in the Universe

NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)


  1. Now showing: Year 2008 projects that addressed Astrobiology Roadmap Objectives 1.1, 6.2

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

    Objective 1.1: Models of formation and evolution of habitable planets

    Untitled

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 4.1

    Landforms made by groundwater discharge on Mars and Earth

    TEAM: CAL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    1. From Molecular Clouds to Habitable Planetary Systems

    TEAM: CIW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1

    2. Extraterrestrial Materials: Origin and Evolution of Organic Matter and Water in the Solar System

    TEAM: CIW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 3.1

    A search for primordial water from deep in the Earth's mantle

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 4.1

    A Self-Perpetuating Catalyst for the Production of Organics in Protostellar Nebulae

    TEAM: GSFC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 3.1

    Abiotic Nitrogen Cycling

    TEAM: SETI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 3.1

    Assessing the likelihood of supernova impact of protoplanetary disks

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Bally project

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Chemical Models of Nebular Processes

    TEAM: GSFC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Climate, Habitability, and the Atmosphere on early Mars

    TEAM: CAL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 3.1, 6.1, 7.1, 7.2

    Dynamical Evolution of Astroid Belt and the Parent Bodies of Iron Meteorites

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Early oceans on Mars

    TEAM: CAL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1

    Effects of stellar flares on atmospheres of habitable planets

    TEAM: VPL-UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 4.3, 7.2

    Evolution of a Habitable Planet (Brantley)

    TEAM: PSU / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Evolution of the interior and its consequences for water on Mars

    TEAM: CAL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1

    Expanding the List of Target Stars for Next Generation SETI Searches

    TEAM: SETI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 4.3, 6.2, 7.2

    Fingerprinting Late Additions to the Earth and Moon via the Study of Highly Siderophile Elements in Lunar Impact Melt Rocks

    TEAM: GSFC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Formation and Detection of Hot-Earth Objects in Systems with Close-in Jupiters

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2

    Formation and the Prospects of the Detection of Habitable Planets in Extreme Planetary Systems

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Formation of Planetesimals in a Dynamically Evolving Nebula

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Habitable Planets

    TEAM: ARC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 4.3

    Hydrodynamic Escape from Planetary Atmospheres

    TEAM: VPL-UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 3.1

    Isotopic fingerprints of past life and surface conditions on Mars

    TEAM: CAL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 7.1

    Isotopic Signatures of Methane and Higher Hydrocarbon Gases from Precambrian Shield Sites: A Model for Abiogenic Polymerization of Hydrocarbons

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2, 6.1, 7.1, 7.2

    Modeling Early Atmospheric Composition and Climate

    TEAM: PSU / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 4.1

    Modeling Early Earth Environments

    TEAM: VPL-UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 7.2

    Module 2: Formation of Habitable Planetary Systems

    TEAM: UA / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 3.1

    Module 3: Nature of Planetary Systems

    TEAM: UA / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2

    Origin and Activation Mechanism of Main Belt Comets

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Origin and Evolution of Organics

    TEAM: GSFC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 3.1

    Origin and Evolution of Organics in Planetary Systems

    TEAM: GSFC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 3.1, 3.2

    Origin of Irregular Satellites

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Planet Formation and Dynamical Modeling

    TEAM: VPL-UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 3.1, 4.3

    Planet Formation and Dynamical Modeling

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 3.1, 6.2

    Planetary Habitability

    TEAM: VPL-UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 4.1, 5.3, 6.1, 7.2

    Planetary Surface and Interior Models and Super Earths

    TEAM: VPL-UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 4.1, 5.2, 6.1, 7.2

    Planetary-Scale Transition from Abiotic to Biotic Nitrogen Cycle

    TEAM: SETI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 3.2, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1

    Prebiotic Organics from Space

    TEAM: ARC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.4, 4.3, 7.1, 7.2

    PSARC (Sigurdsson report)

    TEAM: PSU / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2

    Radiolytic oxidation of sulfide minerals as a source of sulfate and hydrogen to sustain microbial metabolism

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 3.3, 4.1, 5.1, 5.3, 6.2

    Research Activities in the Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory

    TEAM: GSFC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 7.1

    Sediment-buried basement deep biosphere

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 3.3, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2

    Star and Planet Formation

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Sulfur biogeochemistry of the Early Earth

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 7.1, 7.2

    The delivery of short-lived radionucleides to the solar system

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 4.3

    The High Lakes Project (HLP)

    TEAM: SETI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 4.1, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1

    Training for Oxygen: Peroxy in Rocks, Early Life and the Evolution of the Atmosphere

    TEAM: SETI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 7.2

    Variable Young Stellar Objects Survey (VYSOS)

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2

    VPL Climate and Radiative Transfer Models

    TEAM: VPL-UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2

    VPL Model Interfaces and the Community Tool

    TEAM: VPL-UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 4.1, 7.2

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

    Objective 6.2: Adaptation and evolution of life beyond Earth

    5. Life in Extreme Environments

    TEAM: CIW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 5.1, 5.3, 6.2, 7.1

    7. Astrobiotechnology

    TEAM: CIW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 5.3, 6.2, 7.1

    Design, construction and testing of a Cavity-Ring Down Spectrometer for determination of the concentration and isotopic composition of methane

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 2.2, 3.3, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2

    Environmental genomics reveals a single species ecosystem deep within the Earth.

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.2

    Examination of the Microbial Diversity Found in Ice Cores (Brenchley)

    TEAM: PSU / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1

    Expanding the List of Target Stars for Next Generation SETI Searches

    TEAM: SETI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 4.3, 6.2, 7.2

    Genome-Genome Integration: Symbiosis, genetic assimilation, and evolutionary innovation

    TEAM: MBL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1, 5.2, 6.2

    Genomics of sulfidic cave extremophiles (Supplement to NNA04CC06A)

    TEAM: PSU / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1, 5.3, 6.2

    Icelandic subglacial lakes

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 4.1, 5.3, 6.2

    Identifying microbial life at crustal rock-water interfaces

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2, 7.2

    Interplanetary Pioneers

    TEAM: ARC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.3, 6.2

    Mars Forward Contamination Studies Utilizing a Mars Environmental Simulation Chamber

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 3.2, 3.3, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1

    Microbial Communities and Activities in the Deep Marine Subsurface

    TEAM: MBL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2

    Planet Formation and Dynamical Modeling

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 3.1, 6.2

    Radiolytic oxidation of sulfide minerals as a source of sulfate and hydrogen to sustain microbial metabolism

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 3.3, 4.1, 5.1, 5.3, 6.2

    Sediment-buried basement deep biosphere

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 3.3, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2

    The Diversity of the Original Prebiotic Soup: Re-Analyzing the Original Miller-Urey Spark Discharge Experiments

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2

    The High Lakes Project (HLP)

    TEAM: SETI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 4.1, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1

    The Virtual Planetary Laboratory – The Life Modules - Photosynthesis

    TEAM: VPL-UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1, 6.1, 6.2, 7.2