Abstracts of the General Meeting of the NASA Astrobiology Institute. April 10-12, 2001. Washington, D.C., USA.

Abstract

A is an exciting new discipline devoted to the study of life on Earth and elsewhere in the Universe—its origin, evolution, distribution, and future. This new area of multidisciplinary study is bringing together the physical and biological sciences to address some of the most fundamental questions of the natural world. The laws of physics appear to hold universally based on astronomical and other observations obtained over many years of study. Similarly, geologists assume that the underlying mechanisms that drive geology on Earth are the same on other planetary bodies. Biologists too have recently come to realize that the study of life itself cannot be fully understood unless viewed from a larger perspective than just our own Earth, prompting them to ask some of the most fundamental questions in all of Science: How did living systems emerge? How do habitable worlds form and how do they evolve? Does life exist elsewhere than on Earth? What are the potentials for survival and adaptation beyond our home planet? These questions are too large, however, to be answered by biologists alone. They require astronomers and physicists to describe the formation of life’s chemical precursors, to discover new planets, and to determine their habitability; chemists to understand the transition from molecular interaction to life itself; geologists to search for evidence of water and key minerals on other planets; paleontologists and evolutionary molecular biologists to look for and comprehend the earliest forms of life, as well as climatologists, planetary scientists, and researchers from nearly every field of science. And, of course, they require biologists to trace the evolution of life on Earth, to define the very limits which organisms can survive, and to understand the capacity of terrestrial life to adapt to the conditions of space. Together, these researchers and others, comprise the new discipline which is astrobiology. In 1998 NASA, recognizing the significance of this new area of research, established the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI). Serving as one of the major mechanisms by which NASA funds research in this field, the NAI is currently composed of 15 Lead Research Teams1, which together represent over 700 investigators across the United States. Their research spans the questions outlined in the Astrobiology Roadmap Report, which defines the direction and major objectives for this new field. Lead Team research is supported by NASA through Cooperative Agreements with Ames Research Center, the NASA Center selected to focus on astrobiology, for 5 year periods with the opportunity to recompete for renewal. The next Cooperative Agreement Notice is expected to be announced in early 2002. The NAI also has partnerships with, at present, three international astrobiology organizations; the Centro de Astrobiologia (Spain), the United Kingdom Astrobiology Forum and Network, and the Australian Centre for Astrobiology. The overarching shared goal of the NAI and its members is the conduct of excellent and innovative research in astrobiology, with an emphasis on collaborative work, both within and among its Teams. Focus Groups are an example of NAI’s collaborative infrastructure. Through proposals approved by the NAI, Focus Groups are formed to stimulate new areas of research, promote longdistance collaborations, and contribute to astrobiology space missions. They promote the cooperation of scientists both from several Teams and from scientists not in the NAI to join together for a project of mutual interest. At present, six Focus Groups are chartered. The NAI Mars and NAI Europa Focus Groups concentrate on specific planetary exploration objectives. The NAI Mission to Early Earth, NAI Mixed Microbial Ecogenomics, NAI EvoGenomics, and NAI Astromaterials Focus Groups each address innovative and interdisciplinary efforts formed around a specific topic judged to be of particular significance for advancing the field of astrobiology. All individual members of the NAI are invited, every other year, to attend a science conference to present and discuss new research. The following abstracts represent the papers presented and displayed at the Year 2001 Meeting of the Institute, which was held April 10–12 at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, one of the Lead Team Institutions of the NAI.