NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)

Indiana University, Bloomington

Executive Summary

Untitled

Project Reports

Design and Assembly of a Cavity-Ring Down Spectrometer for determination of concentration and isotopic composition of methane in gases

Experimental Study of Radiolytic Oxidation of Pyrite: Implications for Mars-relevant Crustal Processes

Laser fluorometry for remote detection of oxygenic phototrophs on Earth and, potentially, on Mars.

Microbial and biogeochemical characterization of terrestrial analogue sites for life in the subsurface of Mars.

Origins and signatures of biogenic hydrocarbons - controls on the transition from abiogenic geochemistry to biotic systems in the deep subsurface and identification of signature for life

Synergism, evolution, and functional ecogenomics of deep-subsurface microbial communities based on molecular analyses

Understanding Mars subsurface methane hydrates and brines and potentials for microbial habitats

EPO Reports

IPTAI EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH EFFORTS, JULY 2005 - JUNE 2006: Course Development

IPTAI EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH EFFORTS, JULY 2005 - JUNE 2006: Public Outreach

IPTAI EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH EFFORTS, JULY 2005 - JUNE 2006: Professional Development

Project Reports

Organized by Astrobiology Roadmap Objective

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. (1 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. (4 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. (5 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. (8 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. (14 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. (8 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. (6 reports)