The rocket lifts off on a blast of bright white and yellow to the left of frame. Smoke pours over the ground. A water tower and a few other structures are visible to the right amidst the smoke. The scene appears against a deep blue sky.The sun sets in the center of the frame over the sea. A large research vessel is in the foreground to the right, almost in silhouette. Land can be seen on the distant horizon to the left.Astrobiology is the study of life's origins and the potential for life in the Universe.A closeup of a section of the cover image for Issue 9. This image is cropped to show a series of planets into the distance that represent disciplines of astrobiology (Geology, Oceanography, Microbiology, Chemistry, Biology and Atmospheric Science, etc.)
Europa Clipper Begins Journey to Jupiter’s Icy MoonLift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Oct. 14, 202401/04
The Making of Our Alien EarthThe Undersea Volcanoes of Santorini, Greece02/04
Request for Information (RFI): Development of NASA-DARES 2025: The NASA Decadal Astrobiology Research and Exploration StrategyResponse Date: February 4, 202503/04
Astrobiology, Issue #9: Becoming an AstrobiologistA new issue of the Astrobiology Graphic History is now available!04/04
NextPrevious
Go Explore
Latest NewsDiscover All News
A comic book style illustration shows Clipper swooping down from the top right toward Europa. An image of Jupiter from the Juno mission is in the background. Europa is hand drawn and a cutaway at the surface shows the ocean underneath.
NASA’s New Edition of Graphic Novel Features Europa ClipperNov. 1, 2024
Artist's impression of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA’s Hubble, Webb Probe Surprisingly Smooth Disk Around Vega (NASA)Nov. 1, 2024
The back of the rover is seen in the bottom right of the image with tracks leading off into the distance. The tracks look like dark, deep trenches in the loose regolith. They wind back and forth and disappear into the horizon.
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Looks Back While Climbing Slippery Slope (NASA)Oct. 29, 2024
Artist impression of the Chandra Telescope is in orbit around Earth.
Planets Beware: NASA Unburies Danger Zones of Star Cluster (NASA)Oct. 28, 2024
NASA's digital Europa Clipper poster is available at: https://europa.nasa.gov/resources/173/europa-clipper-journey-to-an-ocean-world-poster/
Europa Trek: NASA Offers a New Guided Tour of Jupiter’s Ocean Moon (NASA)Oct. 23, 2024
This image shows two lines of tracks left by the rover as it traversed a section of Mars. The tracks twist away into the distance, disappearing over a ridge. In the light, the image appears to have a yellowish tint with a dusty dissolve over the distance.
Just Keep Roving (NASA)Oct. 17, 2024
Upcoming Events/Funding Opportunities
All EventsExplore All EventsAll FundingExplore All Funding
Date
Title
Location
November 072024
PCE3 Seminar Series
Webcast
November 082024
NASA Astrobiology Town Hall: NASA Decadal Astrobiology Research & Exploration Strategy
Webcast
November 13–162024
Exoplanets in our Backyard III
Louisville, KY, US
November 19–232024
Planetary Protection Metagenomics in Spaceflight Workshop
NASA Ames in Mountain View, California, US
December 09–142024
American Geophysical Union 2024 (AGU24)
Washington, D.C., US
Application deadline
Details
Type
January 172025
Heliophysics Citizen Science Investigations (NASA)
Research
January 282025
Integrated Water Field Campaign (NASA)
Research
January 312025
Habitable Worlds (NASA)
Research
January 312025
NASA Astrophysics Research and Analysis
Research
February 142025
NASA Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences 2024 (ROSES-2024)
Research
Astrobiology Field SitesResearch LocationsExplore Field Sites in More DetailExplore
Illustration of the Perseverance rover arriving on Mars.
NASA MISSIONSMars 2020

NASA's Mars 2020 mission is the next step in NASA's long-term robotic exploration of Mars. The rover Perseverance will provide important data relevant to astrobiology research, along with a vast amount of geological information about the landing site and the planet at large that will help put the astrobiological data into context.

Perseverance will not be looking for organisms living on Mars today. However, the rover will collect data that could be used to identify biosignatures of ancient microbial life.

What really sets this mission apart is that Perseverance will be collecting a suite of samples to be returned to Earth via a Mars Sample Return mission. The opportunity to bring back samples from another planet will allow our researchers to interrogate them with all of the sophistication and thoroughness that Earth-based instrumentation provides.

Learn more