Astrobiology: Life in the Universe

NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)


  1. Now showing: Year 2007 projects that addressed Astrobiology Roadmap Objective 7.2

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

    Objective 7.2: Biosignatures to be sought in nearby planetary systems

    Abiotic Experiments & Hydrocarbon Yielding Water/Mineral Reactions

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 7.1, 7.2

    Adaptation to salinity in microbial communities

    TEAM: CAL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 3.2, 4.1, 5.3, 7.2

    Biosignatures in chemosynthetic and photosynthetic systems

    TEAM: ARC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 7.1, 7.2

    BioSignatures of Earth and Earth-like Planets

    TEAM: GSFC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 7.2

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

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 7.1, 7.2

    Ecosystem to Biosphere Modeling

    TEAM: ARC / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1, 5.3, 6.1, 7.2

    Evolution of abiotic environments to ecosystems

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2

    High-temperature, High-pressure Microcosms to Study the Bio-molecular Basis for the Upper Temperature Limits to Life

    TEAM: CIW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 7.2

    Hydrology and microbiology of active springs

    TEAM: CAL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 5.2, 5.3, 7.2

    Iron and sulfur-based biospheres and their biosignatures

    TEAM: CAL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 7.2

    Iron Oxidation - Shaping the Past and Present Environments

    TEAM: MBL / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 7.2

    Modeling Early Atmospheric Composition and Climate (Kasting)

    TEAM: PSU / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1, 7.2

    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, 7.2

    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 6. Molecular and Isotopic Biosignatures

    TEAM: CIW / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2

    Retentostat Studies of Subsurface Sulfate Reducing Bacterium

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2

    Rise of Oxygen, Modern Analogs for Anoxic Oceans, and Effect of early life on soil development

    TEAM: PSU / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 4.1, 4.3, 6.1, 7.1, 7.2

    Saline Lakes and Gypsum Dunes in the Rio Grande Rift System as Analogues for Sulfate Deposits on Mars

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 2.2, 7.1, 7.2

    Stability of methane hydrates in the presence of high salinity brines on Mars

    TEAM: IPTAI / ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 7.1, 7.2