2004 Annual Science Report
Astrobiology Roadmap Objective 7.1 Reports Reporting | JUL 2003 – JUN 2004
Roadmap Objective 7.1—Biosignatures to be sought in Solar System materials
Project Reports
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Biosignatures in Chemosynthetic and Photosynthetic Systems
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 4.1 5.1 5.2 6.1 7.1 7.2 -
Autonomous Sensor Networks for Hydrology Research
Co-I Kim Binsted has started a collaboration with Chris McKay (Ames NAI team) by submitting a proposal to develop a system of autonomous sensor networks in the Arctic for hydrology research. Autonomous sensor networks are desirable for conducting research on Earth, and essential on other planets. In remote locations with extreme environments, it is expensive and often hazardous to retrieve data manually.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 6.1 7.1 -
Subsurface Biospheres
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 4.3 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2 -
An Astronomical Search for the Essential Ingredients for Life: Placing Our Habitable System in Context. Progress Report
Module 1: Building Blocks of Life
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 3.1 4.1 4.3 7.1 7.2 -
Planetary Biology, Evolution and Intelligence
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.2 2.1 2.2 3.1 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2 -
Building a Habitable Planet: The Geological Record
Research continued in the following six areas: late Archean — early Paleoproterozoic hydrocarbon biomarker molecules, early Archean sulfur isotopes, metamorphism of early Archean biosignatures, nutrient availability (N, P) in Archean oceans, geochronology of a late Archean flood basalt province, and diamond drilling of astrobiologically significant Archean and early Proterozoic sedimentary horizons in the Pilbara Craton of Australia.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 4.2 7.1 -
Molecular Survey of Extremophile Microbial Diversity in Hypersaline Ecosystems
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.4 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 7.1 7.2 -
Prebiotic Chemical and Isotopic Evolution on Earth
Sulfur fractionated by enzymatic catalysis has been harvested in the laboratory from living cultures of sulfur-metabolizing microbes and analyzed for 32S-33S-34S.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2 4.1 6.1 7.1 -
Electrochemical Isotope Effects With Applications to Stable Isotope Fractionation in Transition Metals
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 4.1 4.2 6.1 7.1 -
Prebiotic Molecular Selection and Organization
Life emerged on Earth as a geochemical process, the consequence of ancient interactions among rocks, water, and gases.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2 3.4 7.1 -
Development Advanced Methods for the in Situ Analysis of Complex Organics in Small Bodies in the Solar System
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 7.1 -
Miniature Mass Spectrometer Development
The NAI has allowed us to collaborate with Steven Smith at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to expand development of a miniature mass-spectrometer that is well suited for measuring liquid water directly.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 7.1 -
Climate Model for Extrasolar Terrestrial Planets
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 5.1 7.1 -
Post Doc Recruitment – Water and Its Relation to Life in the Universe
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 4.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2 -
Biosignatures and Abiosignatures
Rare samples from the Upper Oligocene Enspel Formation in Germany have previously been shown to contain exceptionally well-preserved bacterial fossils.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.2 4.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 7.1 7.2 -
Prebiotic Organics From Space
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.1 3.4 4.3 7.1 7.2 -
Astrobiotechnology
The development of new technology to carry out in situ experiments to address astrobiological questions is an important goal of NAI, underscored this year by the formation of an Astrobiotechnology Focus Group.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 3.1 3.2 4.2 7.1 -
Recognition of Theoretical Environments on Mars
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 7.1 -
UH NAI Visiting Faculty Scholars Program
The University of Hawaii (UH)-NAI has established a Visiting Faculty Scholars program that brings external collaborators to work with local researchers.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.3 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2 -
Re-Tracing Steps Towards a Habitable World: The Biogeochemical Evolution of Sulfur on the Early Earth.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.1 4.1 4.3 5.2 5.3 6.2 7.1 7.2 -
Searching for Ancestral Sequences
A major objective of Astrobiology is to search for signs of life in the Solar System and beyond. While remote sensing of biological signatures is a major target for identifying promising sites for future missions, direct analysis of samples for the presence of biomarkers of interest will continue to be an important area for technology development.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 7.1 7.2 -
The Historical Character of Astrobiology and Circumventing the Problem of Defining “Life”
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 7.1