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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Origin and Evolution of Organics in Planetary Systems
Exogenous organic material and water were delivered to Earth in great amounts during the late heavy bombardment, and small amounts arrive even today. Intact examples abound in meteorite collections and their analysis provides a key window on source regions within 5 AU of the young sun. Major mass flux also arrived from beyond 5 AU, and this source can be evaluated by measuring the organic composition of comets. The central research question of the NAI GSFC Team is: Did delivery of exogenous organics and water enable the emergence and evolution of life?
The research of the team is organized into four main areas:
- Establish the taxonomy of icy planetesimals and their potential for delivering pre-biotic organics and water to the young Earth and other planets
- Investigate processes affecting the origin and evolution of organics in planetary systems
- Analyze the formation, distribution, abundance, and isotopic composition of complex organics in authentic extraterrestrial samples and advanced laboratory simulations
- Develop analytical protocols and techniques for in situ analysis of complex organics on planetary missions
- NASA selects new NAI teams through a competitive peer review process. The October 2, 2008 press release announces the fifth round of team selections since the Institute’s founding in 1998. Following selection, NASA executes 5-year Cooperative Agreements with each team's institution. It is expected that the newly-announced teams will begin their terms in early 2009.
- Press Release: NASA Selects New Science Teams for the NAI
- University of Hawaii
- Arizona State University
- Carnegie Institution of Washington
- Pennsylvania State University
- NASA Ames Research Center
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Icy Worlds
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Titan
