NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
State-of-the-art Instruments for Detecting Extraterrestrial LifeIn the coming decades, state-of-the-art spacecraft-based instruments that can detect key components associated with life as we know it on Earth will directly search for extinct or extant extraterrestrial life in our solar system. Advances in our analytical and detection capabilities, especially those based on microscale technologies, will be important in enhancing the abilities of these instruments. Remote sensing investigations of the atmospheres of extrasolar planets could provide evidence of photosynthetic-based life outside our solar system, although less advanced life will remain undetectable by these methods. Finding evidence of extraterrestrial life would have profound consequences both with respect to our understanding of chemical and biological evolution, and whether the biochemistry on Earth is unique in the universe.
Document ID
20030068031
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Bada, Jeffrey L.
(Scripps Institution of Oceanography San Diego, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2003
Publication Information
Publication: PNAS
Volume: 98
Issue: 3
Subject Category
Exobiology
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-4546
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available