Astrobiology

Two Columns

News Items

2009

NASA Scientists Find Clues to a Secret of Life 03.17.2009

Excess of L-amino acids in three meteorites provide clues to origin of life.

Comet Lulin 02.20.2009

Swift UVOT data show that Lulin was shedding nearly 800 gallons of water each second.

Extreme Weather on an Extrasolar Planet 01.28.2009

What would happen if, for a single day, the sun's light and heat were amplified a thousand times?

Extreme Weather on an Extrasolar Planet - GSFC Podcast

Mysterious Methane Gas Found in Mars' Atmosphere - Audio Interview from Science Friday

2008

12.13.2008 - "Confirmed: 1969 Meteorite Brought Genetic Building Blocks from Sapce". The 50th story in Discover Magazine's Top 100 Stories of 2008 was the manuscript "Extraterrestrial nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite" by Zita Martins (Imperial College) which appeared in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. The manuscript describes work performed at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Codes 691 and 699 by Drs. Jason Dworkin and Daniel Glavin in cooperation with eight other authors.

11.20.08 - Press Release NASA selects New Science Teams for the Astrobiology Institute

Michael Mumma/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Origin and Evolution of Organics in Planetary Systems

Exogenous organic material and water were delivered to Earth in great amounts during the late heavy bombardment, and small amounts arrive even today. Intact examples abound in meteorite collections and their analysis provides a key window on source regions within 5 AU of the young sun. Major mass flux also arrived from beyond 5AU, and this source can be evaluated by measuring the organic composition of comets. Investigations of organics in comets are proposed. A comparison of organics in comets and meteorites with those in dense cloud cores and in disks around young stars can then clarify the origin and evolution of such material, and permit extention to other planetary systems. Characterization of organics in exoplanets tests these extentions. Energetic radiation from young stars can process disk material, so their spectra are explored at X-ray through ultraviolet wavelengths and used to guide models of organic evolution in the protoplanetary disk. Extensive laboratory investigations are conducted to test aspects of organic production and processing by energetic particles and radiation. Instrumental protocols are developed to enhance in situ investigations on space flight missions.

11.20.2008 - "Baking the Rover in Not An Option" The next-generation Mars rover will visit the Red Planet to sniff out the smallest traces of organic material - the building blocks of life. Trouble is, the Mars Science Laboratory is made from several kilograms of organic material from Earth. How will mission scientists keep the martian samples clean, and distinguish which molecules are from Mars, and which are from Earth?

10.16.2008 - "Volcanoes May Have Provided Sparks and Chemistry for First Life" In the Astrobiology Top 10 Stories of 2008 was the re-examination of samples from a classic origin-of-life' experiment. The finding is that volcanoes may have played an important role in life's beginnings on Earth. The story, by Jason Dworkin, Daniel Glavin, and four co-authors, appeared in the journal Science in October.

7.17.2008 - "The Earth as an Alien World helps search for Exoplanets"