NAI
2011 Annual Science Report
Reporting | SEP 2010 – AUG 2011
Letter from the Director: 2011 NAI Annual Report
We are very pleased to release the NAI 2011 Annual Report covering the period from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. This year marked an auspicious milestone for the Astrobiology Program as a whole and a number of new initiatives for the NAI. The milestone was the 50th anniversary of the Exobiology/Astrobiology Program, celebrated in Washington, DC at a Symposium featuring talks by James Lovelock, Lynn Margulis, Steve Squyres, and former NASA Administrator Dan Goldin. Archived video recordings of several of the talks and panels are available here.
NAI’s new initiatives for the year (including the last ...
Continue reading.This Year At a Glance
14
Teams
188
Project Reports
1017
Publications
71
Field Sites
Breakdown of Top Journal Publications
- 27Science
- 15PNAS
- 25Nature
Team Reports
- Arizona State University
- Carnegie Institution of Washington
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Montana State University
- NASA Ames Research Center
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Icy Worlds
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Titan
- Pennsylvania State University
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- University of Hawaii, Manoa
- University of Wisconsin
- VPL at University of Washington
Browse by Roadmap Objectives
Based on the 2008 Astrobiology Roadmap- Goal 1
- 1.1Formation and evolution of habitable planets.
- 1.2Indirect and direct astronomical observations of extrasolar habitable planets.
- Goal 2
- 2.1Mars exploration.
- 2.2Outer Solar System exploration
- Goal 3
- 3.1Sources of prebiotic materials and catalysts
- 3.2Origins and evolution of functional biomolecules
- 3.3Origins of energy transduction
- 3.4Origins of cellularity and protobiological systems
- Goal 4
- 4.1Earth's early biosphere.
- 4.2Production of complex life.
- 4.3Effects of extraterrestrial events upon the biosphere
- Goal 5
- 5.1Environment-dependent, molecular evolution in microorganisms
- 5.2Co-evolution of microbial communities
- 5.3Biochemical adaptation to extreme environments
- Goal 6
- 6.1Effects of environmental changes on microbial ecosystems
- 6.2Adaptation and evolution of life beyond Earth
- Goal 7
- 7.1Biosignatures to be sought in Solar System materials
- 7.2Biosignatures to be sought in nearby planetary systems