Astrobiology: Life in the Universe

NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)


  1. Now showing: Year 2006 projects that addressed Astrobiology Roadmap Objective 3.2

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

    Objective 3.2: Origins and evolution of functional biomolecules

    Chemical Investigations of Hydrogen cyanide Polymers and Their Possible Role in the Origin of Protein/Nucleic Acid Based Life (Minard)

    TEAM: PSU / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 3.2, 3.4

    Design and Assembly of a Cavity-Ring Down Spectrometer for determination of concentration and isotopic composition of methane in gases

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2

    Early Metabolic Pathways

    TEAM: ARC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.2, 3.4

    Formation of astrobiologically important molecules in water-rich environments

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 3.2

    From Proto-Metabolism to the RNA World

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 3.2, 5.3

    Horizontal Gene Transfer in the Evolution of Early Branching Eukaryotes

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

    Important Carbon Oxides in the Planetary Atmospheres and Surfaces

    TEAM: UH / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 3.2

    Keck Cosmochemistry Laboratory

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

    Large Scale Circulation and Organic Synthesis in the Primitive Solar Nebula

    TEAM: GSFC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 3.2

    Leigh Project

    TEAM: UW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.2, 3.3, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1

    Module 1: The Building Blocks of Life

    TEAM: UA / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 3.2, 4.3

    Molecular Survey of Microbial Diversity in Hypersaline Ecosystems

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1

    Philosophical Issues in Astrobiology

    TEAM: CUB / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2

    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

    Progress Report for APL Effort in Goddard Center for Astrobiology

    TEAM: GSFC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 7.1

    Project 4. Prebiotic Molecular Selection and Organization

    TEAM: CIW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 4.1, 7.1

    Project 7. Astrobiotechnology

    TEAM: CIW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 4.2, 5.3, 6.2, 7.1

    RNA activities relevant to ribocytes

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