The Origin, Evolution
and Distribution
of Life in the Solar System
The NASA
Astrobiology Institute (NAI)
provides funding for ASU's Astrobiology Program. "The Origin, Evolution
and Distribution of Life in the Solar System" is ASU's contribution
to the Astrobiology
Roadmap objectives.
Primary
areas of research are providing exciting interdisciplinary training
opportunities for Astrobiology students at all levels (undergraduate,
graduate and post-doctoral).The primary areas of research are broken
down into three major categories:
1.
Prebiotic Chemistry and the Origin of Living Systems
2.
Evolution and the Fossil Record
3.
Exploring for Life in the Solar System
Part
of ASU's effort is to train students in Astrobiology by involving them
in cutting-edge research in the field. July
1, 2000 - June 30, 2001 was the third year of ASU's Astrobiology Program.
During
this time substantial progress was achieved in meeting research and
educational goals. Work involved a team of some eighty-five research
co-investigators (Co-I's), collaborators and students located at seventeen
institutions, and resulted in twenty-two publications in first tier
peer-reviewed journals, and six additional publications still in press.
The following
briefly highlights a few of the many major achievements of the ASU Astrobiology
research team this past year:
-
evidence
found in a Martian meteorite indicates the potential for 2-3 times
more water in Mars crust than previously thought;
-
the
synthesis of methanol under simulated seafloor hydrothermal conditions;
-
the
discovery of novel photosynthetic organisms and molecular phylogenies
which trace the orgins of photosynthetic genes;
-
a
new type of microfossil biosignature discovered;
-
a
robust model for the Archean oceans which suggests it was hypersaline;
-
discoveries
of probable microbial biosignatures in subsurface hydrothermal
deposits;
-
the
first detection of aqueous mineral deposits (pecular hematite)
on the surface of Mars by mid-infrared remote sensing methods;
-
a
list of high priority Mars 2003 landing sites presented to mission
planners;
-
standards
were derived for the geological mapping of Europa.
More detailed
information about research projects and results are found on the ASU
Major Research Categories page.
