NASA’s Astrobiology Program is conducting comprehensive research to understand the origins of life on Earth, and by extension, in the cosmos. This includes studying the formation and position of Earth in the habitable zone, the chemical evolution of life, and using sophisticated telescopes to explore exoplanets for potential biosignatures. These efforts will enhance our ability to answer the question “Are we alone?” in the universe.
Where do we begin?
To chart the course of life in the cosmos, we might start with the first cells, moving and burning energy – perhaps in a hollow on Earth’s freshly minted surface, or a superheated vent at the bottom of an ancient sea.
But a true understanding of life, on Earth or some other world, likely will require us to unravel even earlier beginnings: the ignition of stars with their freight of life’s building blocks, the formation of planets from protoplanetary disks, the energy, and chemistry of surfaces and atmospheres.
With more than 5,000 exoplanets confirmed, and likely billions more in our Milky Way galaxy, possible places where other life might reside have skyrocketed in recent years. And with more sophisticated telescopes scanning the sky and in development, we have better tools than ever to understand these distant worlds.
To seek answers to that age-old question “Are we alone?” with these new tools, what do we need to know?
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