NAI
2016 Annual Science Report
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Icy Worlds
Reporting | JAN 2016 – DEC 2016
Executive Summary
In this interdisciplinary research we conduct a highly synergistic combination of experimental, theoretical, and field-based lines of inquiry focused on answering a single compelling question in astrobiology: How can geochemical disequilibria drive the emergence of metabolism and ultimately generate observable signatures on icy worlds?
Astrobiology at water-rock interfaces found on icy bodies (e.g., Europa, Enceladus and Ganymede) in our Solar System (and beyond) is the unifying theme for the proposed research. Several of the icy moons in our Solar System have subsurface oceans that, combined, contain many times the volume of liquid water on Earth. All of these icy worlds may host or may have once hosted water-rock interfaces generating energy from geochemical gradients. Our highly interdisciplinary team of researchers will be working together to examine bio-geochemical/-geophysical interactions taking place between rock/water/ice interfaces in these environments to better understand and constrain ... Continue reading.
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Isik Kanik
NAI, ASTEP, ASTID, Exobiology -
TEAM Active Dates:
1/2015 - 12/2019 CAN 7 -
Team Website:
https://icyworlds.jpl.nasa.gov/ -
Members:
36 (See All) - Visit Team Page
Project Reports
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Inv 4 – Observable Chemical Signatures on Icy Worlds: A Window Into Habitability of Subsurface Oceans
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.2 -
Inv 3 – Planetary Disequilibria: Characterizing Ocean Worlds and Implications for Habitability
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 2.2 3.1 4.2 6.2 7.1 7.2 -
Inv 2 – From Geochemistry to Biochemistry
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2 3.3 4.1 7.1 -
Inv 1 – Geochemical Reactor: Energy Production at Water-Rock Interfaces
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 4.1
Publications
- There are no publications for this team in the 2016 annual report.
2016 Teams
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Georgia Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
NASA Ames Research Center
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Icy Worlds
SETI Institute
University of California, Riverside
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Montana, Missoula
University of Southern California
University of Wisconsin
VPL at University of Washington