2007 Annual Science Report
Astrobiology Roadmap Objective 4.3 Reports Reporting | JUL 2006 – JUN 2007
Roadmap Objective 4.3—Effects of extraterrestrial events upon the biosphere
Project Reports
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Module 1: The Building Blocks of Life
Module 1 concerns the study of Astrochemistry and how it may have contributed to the development of living systems.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2 4.3 -
Module 2: Formation and Evolution of Habitable Worlds
Current ideas concerning the origin of life require both complex organic chemistry capable of extracting energy from the environment through metabolic processes, and environments such as planets conducive to reproductive strategies that promote evolution.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.3 -
Evolution of Atmospheric O2, Climate, and Biosphere (Ohmoto)
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 4.1 4.3 5.1 5.2 6.1 7.1 -
Habitable Planets
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 2.1 4.1 4.3 -
Genomic Record of the Earth’s Early Biosphere (Hedges)
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 4.2 4.3 -
Prebiotic Organics From Space
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.1 3.4 4.3 7.1 7.2 -
Investigations of Modern Analogues of Precambrian Microbial Ecosystems
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 4.3 6.1 -
FMARS Long Duration Mission: A Simulation of Manned Mars Exploration in an Analogue Environment, Devon Island, Canada
The FMARS Long Duration Mission (FXI-LDM) is an unprecedented Mars exploration simulation in the Mars analogue environment of the Canadian High Arctic. Six crewmembers spent four months under strict simulation conditions (limited water use, constrained diet, high-latency communications, no outside activity without simulated life-support equipment, etc.) conducting field research in and around Haughton Crater, a 39 million year old impact structure.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 4.3 5.3 -
Rise of Oxygen, Modern Analogs for Anoxic Oceans, and Effect of Early Life on Soil Development
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.1 4.3 6.1 7.1 7.2 -
The Impact of Atmospheric Particles on Life
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 2.2 4.3 -
Towards a Cometary Taxonomy Based on Organic Composition
This research is targeted on building a new taxonomy for comets based on their parent volatile compositions, especially organics. This taxonomy is crucial for understanding the role of each taxonomic group in delivering prebiotic organics and water to early Earth. During this reporting period, we identified the first comet of Kuiper belt origin belonging to the “organics-depleted” class (joining two Oort cloud comets of similar composition).
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.1 4.1 4.3