NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)

Letter from the Director

It is my pleasure to submit the NAI Annual Report covering the period July 2005-June 2006. This was a challenging year, during which the Institute began responding to a 50% Astrobiology Program budget cut while continuing to produce ground-breaking research results.

The NAI released its fourth Cooperative Agreement Notice (CAN-4), soliciting proposals to replace four NAI teams whose 5-year Cooperative Agreements were concluding. Although proposals were received and reviewed, and the reviews distributed to the proposers, the Astrobiology Program budget cut led to a deferral of any selections. The result was a contraction...

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Project Reports

Organized by Astrobiology Roadmap Objective (2003 Version)

Goal 0:

• Objective 0.0: This activity does not fit one of the above categories (50 reports)

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

• Objective 1: Determine whether the atmosphere of the early Earth, hydrothermal or exogenous matter were significant sources of organic matter. (77 reports)

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

• 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. (50 reports)

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

• Objective 3: Replicating, catalytic systems capable of evolution, and construct laboratory models of metabolism in primitive living systems. (72 reports)

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

• 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. (97 reports)

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

• Objective 5: Describe the sequences of causes and effects associated with the development of Earth's early biosphere and the global environment. (114 reports)

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

• Objective 6: Define how ecophysiological processes structure microbial communities, influence their adaptation and evolution, and affect their detection on other planets. (57 reports)

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

• Objective 7: Identify the environmental limits for by examining biological adaptations to extremes in environmental conditions. (54 reports)

Goal 0:

• Objective NAI1: carrying out, supporting and catalyzing collaborative interdisciplinary research (50 reports)
• Objective NAI2: training the next generation of astrobiology researchers (50 reports)
• Objective NAI3: providing scientific and technical leadership on astrobiology investigations for current and future space missions (50 reports)
• Objective NAI4: exploring new approaches using modern information technology to conduct interdisciplinary and collaborative research amongst widely-distributed investigators (50 reports)
• Objective NAI5: supporting outreach by providing scientific content for K-12 education programs, teaching undergraduate classes, and communicating directly with the public (50 reports)

Project Reports

Organized by Team

• Carnegie Institution of Washington
• Indiana University, Bloomington
• Marine Biological Laboratory
• Michigan State University
• NASA Ames Research Center
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Pennsylvania State University
• SETI Institute
• University of Arizona
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of Colorado, Boulder
• University of Hawaii
• University of Washington
• Virtual Planetary Laboratory (JPL/CalTech)