NASA Selects Science Teams For Astrobiology Institute
- From: baalke@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 17:25:40 -0700 (PDT)
Oct. 02, 2008
Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@xxxxxxxx
Michael Mewhinney
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-3937
michael.s.mewhinney@xxxxxxxx
RELEASE: 08-252
NASA SELECTS SCIENCE TEAMS FOR ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA has awarded five-year grants, averaging
$7 million each, to 10 research teams from across the country to
study the origins, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the
universe.
The interdisciplinary teams will become new members of the NASA
Astrobiology Institute, located at NASA's Ames Research Center at
Moffett Field, Calif. Teams from the University of Hawaii in
Honolulu; Arizona State University in Tempe; the Carnegie Institution
of Washington; Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pa.;
the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta; and Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., have been selected as members.
Teams from Ames, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Md.,
and two teams led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
Calif., also have been selected.
"The research of these new teams reflects the increasing maturity of
astrobiology," said NASA Astrobiology Institute Director Carl Pilcher
of Ames. "They are focused on fundamental questions of life in the
universe, but their work has implications for all of science. The
research of these teams, together with that of the four continuing
institute teams, will bridge the basic science of astrobiology to
NASA's current and planned space exploration missions."
The University of Hawaii will investigate the origin, history, and
distribution of water and its relation to life in the universe.
Arizona State University will develop new, more refined criteria to
guide the search for life by characterizing life's elemental
requirements. This will be developed by a "follow the elements"
strategy for investigating habitability in extraterrestrial
environments.
Carnegie Institution of Washington will conduct a wide range of
research. They will focus on life's chemical and physical evolution,
from the interstellar medium, through planetary systems, to the
emergence and detection of life.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will conduct a multifaceted, highly
integrated, program of interdisciplinary research on setting the
stage for life. This will focus on the origins of relevant molecules
and habitable environments, and on the processes by which chemical
evolution leads to life.
Pennsylvania State University will develop novel approaches to
detecting and characterizing life. Investigations will include
indicators or signatures of life in mission-relevant ecosystems and
ancient rocks, and evaluating the potential for these signatures in
extraterrestrial settings.
The Georgia Institute of Technology will pursue the scientific goal
of
rewinding the tape of life to before the last universal common
ancestor of all living organisms. This could shed light on the nature
of protein synthesis by the earliest living systems.
Ames will conduct a program of integrative, mission-enabling research
to investigate the creation and distribution of early habitable
environments in emerging planetary systems. Goddard will evaluate the
possible role of organic material from space in the origin of life on
Earth, and advance understanding of organics on other worlds.
The first of two JPL teams will be devoted to an interdisciplinary
investigation of chemistry on Saturn's moon Titan. The team will
focus on Titan's physical environment to provide a basis for
understanding the chemistry of early Earth, which was the precursor
for life. The second JPL team will investigate the habitability of
icy worlds, such as Titan, and Saturn moons Europa and Enceladus.
They also will investigate how life could be detected in such
environments and begin to define related instrumentation for future
missions.
"The new teams provide a superb foundation for the institute as it
enters its second decade," said Jim Green, Planetary Science Division
director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "They bring together the
many disciplines necessary for a comprehensive interdisciplinary
approach to studying life in the universe."
The new members join four continuing teams led by Montana State
University in Bozeman, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
Cambridge, the University of Washington in Seattle, and the
University of Wisconsin in Madison.
For more information about the NASA Astrobiology Institute, its new
teams, and NASA's astrobiology program, visit:
http://astrobiology.nasa.gov
-end-
.
- Prev by Date: MRO HiRISE Images - October 1, 2008
- Next by Date: Cassini Update - October 2, 2008
- Previous by thread: MRO HiRISE Images - October 1, 2008
- Next by thread: Cassini Update - October 2, 2008
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
