"I don't know much about "dark" matter, but does it give new hopes for astrobiology?"
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Exploring the Living Universe: Origin, Evolution and Distribution of Life in the Solar System
Project Investigators:
Other Project Members
James Allen (Collaborator)Alice Baldridge (Graduate Student)Carl Bauer (Collaborator)Don Crampton (Graduate Student)Brad Bebout (Collaborator)Robert Blankenship (Co-Investigator)Gretchen Benedix (Postdoc)Marina Cosarinsky (Graduate Student)Philip Christensen (Co-Investigator)George Cooper (Collaborator)John Cronin (Co-Investigator)David Des Marais (Collaborator)Thomas Dowling (Co-Investigator)James Elser (Co-Investigator)William Fagan (Co-Investigator)Jack Farmer (Project Investigator)James Farquhar (Collaborator)Wayne Frasch (Collaborator)Ferran Garcia-Pichel (Co-Investigator)Gerald Gogarten (Collaborator)Darcy Gentleman (Graduate Student)Ronald Greeley (Co-Investigator)Victoria Hamilton (Postdoc)John Holloway (Co-Investigator)Paul Knauth (Co-Investigator)David Kring (Co-Investigator)Vanessa Lancaster (Graduate Student)Laurie Leshin (Co-Investigator)Thomas Moore (Collaborator)John Moreau (Collaborator)Jeffry Moersch (Collaborator)David Nelson (Research Scientist)Peggy O'Day (Co-Investigator)Beverly Pierson (Collaborator)Sandra Pizzarello (Collaborator)Gary Plumley (Collaborator)Jason Raymond (Graduate Student)Christophor Rick (Student)Steve Ruff (Postdoc)Steve Scotnicki (Graduate Student)Thomas Sharp (Co-Investigator)Carol Tang (Co-Investigator)Mark Thiemens (Collaborator)Cindy Van Dover (Collaborator)Hebe Vanegas-Farfano (Graduate Student)Kenneth Voglesonger (Graduate Student)Teri Williams (Graduate Student)Astrobiology Roadmap Objectives:
- Objective 1: Determine whether the atmosphere of the early Earth, hydrothermal or exogenous matter were significant sources of organic matter.
- Objective 2: Develop and test plausible pathways by which ancient counterparts of membrane systems, proteins and nucleic acid were synthesized from simpler precursors and assembled into protocells.
- Objective 3: Replicating, catalytic systems capable of evolution, and construct laboratory models of metabolism in primitive living systems.
- Objective 4: Expand and interpret the genomic database of a select group of key microorganisms in order to reveal the history and dynamics of evolution.
- Objective 5: Describe the sequences of causes and effects associated with the development of Earth's early biosphere and the global environment.
- Objective 6: Define how ecophysiological processes structure microbial communities, influence their adaptation and evolution, and affect their detection on other planets.
- Objective 7: Identify the environmental limits for by examining biological adaptations to extremes in environmental conditions.
- Objective 8: Search for evidence of ancient climates, extinct life and potential habitats for extant life on Mars.
- Objective 9: Determine the presence of life's chemical precursors and potential habitats for life in the outer solar system.
- Objective 12: Define climatological and geological effects upon the limits of habitable zones around the Sun and other stars to help define the frequency of habitable planets in the universe.
Project Progress
ASU’s commitment to establish a new, cutting edge ion probe facility on campus (Geology Dept.) was met last Fall. The new instrument contributed to the discovery of aqueous alteration processes in carbonaceous meteorites (Co-I Leshin and Post-doc Benedix), which provides an important context for understanding extraterrestrial pre-biotic chemistry. This discovery advanced our goal to determine the nature of conditions on the parent bodies of carbonaceous meteorites.
Another part of the ASU commitment to Astrobiology was met this year with the hire of geomicrobiologist Ferran Garcia-Pichel who represents an important interdisciplinary bridge between Geology, Chemistry and Biology/Microbiology.
Our goal to understand the origin and evolution of photosynthesis (Co-I Blankenship) was advanced this past year with the development of a model system for early cells constructed using an artificial reaction center and an ATP-synthase enzyme incorporated in a liposome. The model successfully carried out high rates light-driven ATP synthesis.
Our goal to understand the potential of hydrothermal environments to produce complex pre-biotic organic compounds (Co-I’s Holloway and O’Day; grad student Vogelsonger) paid off this year with the synthesis of metastable methanol under seafloor hydrothermal conditions, a process predicted by current thermodynamic models.
The Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), presently mapping from Mars orbit discovered several deposits of coarsely crystalline (“specular”) hematite (Fe-oxide) which only forms on Earth in the presence of abundant water and usually at elevated temperatures (Co-I Christensen, et al.). This marks an important step in defining potential landing sites for future landed missions for Astrobiology. Remote sensing analog studies for Mars were carried out in Death Valley (Co-I Farmer and Postdoc Moersch) and revealed that a spatial resolution of ~100 m/pixel is required to detect evaporite minerals (carbonates and sulfates) using mid-IR. TES maps at 3 km/pixel, indicating the need to fly higher spatial resolution instruments in the future.Field Expeditions
NameColorado Plateau of Norther Arizona - ASUDates1999 -LocationDescriptionNameYellowstone National Park hot-springs - ASUDates1999 -LocationDescriptionNameDeath Valley - ASUDates1999 -LocationDescriptionNameMono Basin - ASUDates1999 -LocationDescriptionNameMeteor Crater, Arizona - ASUDates-LocationDescriptionNameCuatro Cienegas Basin - ASUDates-LocationDescriptionNameGreat Barrier Reef (Heron Island) Australia - ASUDates-LocationDescriptionPublications
- Editor: Wendy Dolci
- NASA Official: Wendy Dolci
- Last Updated November 23, 2009
