NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)

University of Colorado, Boulder

Executive Summary

1

Project Reports

Divergence of protein families to provide novel function

Molecular survey of extremophile microbial diversity in hypersaline ecosystems

Origin of multicellularity and complex land-based ecosystem

Biogeochemical cycling and resources on Mars

Geochemical-Microbe Interactions in Chemolithoautotrophic Communities on Earth

Geological Evolution and Habitability of Europa

Laboratory Studies of the Origins of an RNA World

Origins of planetary systems

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

The Historical Character of Astrobiology and Circumventing the Problem of Defining "Life"

The impact of atmospheric particles on life

EPO Reports

Project Reports

Organized by Astrobiology Roadmap Objective

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

• Objective 1.1: Models of formation and evolution of habitable planets (3 reports)

Goal 2: Explore for past or present habitable environments, prebiotic chemistry and signs of life elsewhere in our Solar System

• Objective 2.1: Mars exploration (1 reports)

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

• Objective 3.1: Sources of prebiotic materials and catalysts (1 reports)
• Objective 3.2: Origins and evolution of functional biomolecules (2 reports)
• Objective 3.4: Origins of cellularity and protobiological systems (1 reports)

Goal 4: Understand how past life on Earth interacted with its changing planetary and Solar System environment

• Objective 4.1: Earth's early biosphere (3 reports)
• Objective 4.2: Foundations of complex life (3 reports)
• Objective 4.3: Effects of extraterrestrial events upon the biosphere (2 reports)

Goal 5: Understand the evolutionary mechanisms and environmental limits of life

• Objective 5.1: Environment-dependent, molecular evolution in microorganisms (3 reports)
• Objective 5.2: Co-evolution of microbial communities (3 reports)
• Objective 5.3: Biochemical adaptation to extreme environments (2 reports)

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

• Objective 6.1: Environmental changes and the cycling of elements by the biota, communities, and ecosystems (2 reports)
• Objective 6.2: Adaptation and evolution of life beyond Earth (1 reports)

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

• Objective 7.1: Biosignatures to be sought in Solar System materials (3 reports)
• Objective 7.2: Biosignatures to be sought in nearby planetary systems (2 reports)