Astrobiology: Life in the Universe

NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)


  1. Now showing: Year 2006 projects that addressed Astrobiology Roadmap Objective 1.1

  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

    A 1-D Climate Model for Extrasolar Terrestrial Planets

    TEAM: VPL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 7.2

    Causes of mass extinctions: testing impact models

    TEAM: UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 4.3

    Characterization of Terrestrial Planets From Disk-Averaged Spectra: Earths Around Other Stars

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

    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, 2.1, 4.1, 7.1

    D/H Studies - Origin of Earth's Water

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Database of Molecular Spectroscopy to Support Extrasolar Planet Modeling

    TEAM: VPL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 7.2

    Delivery of organic materials to planets

    TEAM: UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 3.1

    Disks and Dips

    TEAM: UCLA / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2

    Dynamics of comets, asteroids, and planets

    TEAM: UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 4.3

    Early accretion of asteroids and protoplanets

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Early Oceans on Mars

    TEAM: CAL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 4.1, 7.1, 7.2

    Evaluation of Habitable Environments on Mars

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1

    Evolution of a Habitable Planet (Brantley)

    TEAM: PSU / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Evolution of a Habitable Planet (Kump)

    TEAM: PSU / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.2, 6.1

    Evolution of Atmospheric O2, Climate, and Biosphere (Ohmoto)

    TEAM: PSU / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 4.1, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 7.1

    Evolution of the interior and its consequences for water on Mars

    TEAM: CAL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Extrasolar Planetary Systems and the Potential for Terrestrial Planets

    TEAM: UCLA / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Extraterrestrial Organics

    TEAM: UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.2, 3.1, 4.1, 4.3

    Formation of Planetesimals in a Dynamically Evolving Nebula

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Habitability and Water Delivery in Binary-Planetary Systems

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Habitable Planets

    TEAM: ARC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 4.1, 4.3

    Horizontal Gene Transfer in the Evolution of Early Branching Eukaryotes

    TEAM: MBL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 3.2, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2

    Interaction between the atmosphere and water on Mars

    TEAM: CAL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Isotopic fingerprints of past life and surface conditions on Mars

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

    Isotopic Studies of the Precambrian Earth and Element Cycling Processes (Pitt)

    TEAM: PSU / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 4.1, 6.1

    Keck Cosmochemistry Laboratory

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2

    Likelihood of a supernova impact on the young solar system

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Model Synthesis and Architecture

    TEAM: VPL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 4.1, 4.3, 7.2

    Modeling Terrestrial Planet Formation and Composition

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

    Module 2: Formation and Evolution of Habitable Worlds

    TEAM: UA / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Module 3: Nature of Planetary Systems

    TEAM: UA / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2

    Numerical Simulations of Planetary Dynamics

    TEAM: GSFC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Origin and Evolution of Organics in Planetary Systems

    TEAM: GSFC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 3.1

    Origin and Evolution of Organics in Planetary Systems

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

    Origins and signatures of biogenic hydrocarbons - controls on the transition from abiogenic geochemistry to biotic systems in the deep subsurface and identification of signature for life

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

    Planet Formation in OB Associations

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

    Planetary Biology, Evolution, and Intelligence

    TEAM: SETI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1

    Planetary Habitability and Life Detection (Sigurdsson)

    TEAM: PSU / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2

    Prebiotic Organics from Space

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

    Project 1. From Molecular Clouds to Habitable Planetary Systems

    TEAM: CIW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 3.1, 7.2

    Project 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

    Re-tracing Steps Towards a Habitable World: The Biogeochemical Evolution of Sulfur on the Early Earth.

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 4.1, 4.2, 5.3, 7.1

    Recognition of Theoretical Environments on Mars

    TEAM: MBL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1

    Relationship between hydrogeology and microbiology at active springs

    TEAM: CAL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 4.2, 5.2, 7.1

    RNA activities relevant to ribocytes

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 6.2

    Summary of Activities in the Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory

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

    Terrestrial analog study: Sierra Madera impact structure, Texas

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 4.3

    TES and THEMIS study of Proposed Paleolake Basins within the Aeolis Quadrangle of Mars

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1

    TES/THEMIS study of Valles Marineris, Mars

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1

    The Abiotic Planetary Model: The Upper and Lower Boundary Condition on the Atmosphere

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

    The Generalized Terrestrial Planet Photochemical Model

    TEAM: VPL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 7.2

    The History of Evolution of Surface Water on Mars

    TEAM: CAL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1

    The impact of atmospheric particles on life

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 4.3

    Understanding the Earth's Early Environment

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

    Variable Young Stellar Objects Survey

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1

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Change the project list by adding or removing a year. Click a year to add, click the [x] to remove.

  • 2003
  • 2004
  • 2005
  • 2006 [x]
  • 2007
  • 2008

  • Change the project list by adding or removing a roadmap objective. Click an objective to add, click the [x] to remove.

  • 1.1 [x]
  • 1.2 Indirect and direct astronomical observations of extrasolar habitable planets
  • 2.1 Mars exploration
  • 2.2 Outer Solar System exploration
  • 3.1 Sources of prebiotic materials and catalysts
  • 3.2 Origins and evolution of functional biomolecules
  • 3.3 Origins of energy transduction
  • 3.4 Origins of cellularity and protobiological systems
  • 4.1 Earth's early biosphere
  • 4.2 Foundations of complex life
  • 5.1 Environment-dependent, molecular evolution in microorganisms
  • 5.2 Co-evolution of microbial communities
  • 5.3 Biochemical adaptation to extreme environments
  • 6.1 Environmental changes and the cycling of elements by the biota, communities, and ecosystems
  • 6.2 Adaptation and evolution of life beyond Earth
  • 7.1 Biosignatures to be sought in Solar System materials
  • 7.2 Biosignatures to be sought in nearby planetary systems

  • Change the project list by adding or removing a team. Click a team to add, click the [x] to remove.

  • Carnegie Institution of Washington
  • Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Marine Biological Laboratory
  • 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 Washington
  • Virtual Planetary Laboratory (JPL/CalTech)