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"Ames Research Center: Linking our Origins to our Future"Our research traces a path from interstellar materials to inhabited worlds and beyond. We examine how protoplanetary disks evolve and form terrestrial planets, the evolutionary paths of habitable planets, and how external factors (e.g., orbital eccentricity) and internal factors (atmospheric circulation) affect habitability. We trace, spectroscopically and chemically, the evolution of organic molecules from the interstellar medium onto habitable bodies. We examine how membranes might form under prebiotic planetary conditions. We evolve proteins capable of sustaining early metabolism, such as synthesis of biopolymers and transport of ions across membranes. We estimate the frequency of finding a functional prebiotic protein that formed spontaneously. We characterize the formation of diagnostic microbial biosignatures in rock-hosted ecosystems in ophiolite springs as an analog for subsurface life within our solar system, and photosynthetic microbial mats as biota that could be detected on extrasolar planets. We develop quantitative models that simulate energy relationships, biogeochemical cycling, trace gas exchange, and biodiversity. We examine the effects of climate variability on a vegetation-rich biosphere over intermediate time scales, using South American ecosystems as a model. We address natural transport of life beyond its planet of origin, such as on a meteorite, where survivors must withstand radiation, desiccation, and time in transit. We fly organisms and ecosystems in low Earth orbit to test their resistance to space. The Ames E&PO program disseminates these themes to national- and international-scale audiences through partnerships with the California Academy of Sciences, Yellow stone National Park, New York Hall of Science, and several K-14 educational organizations.
Document ID
20050182133
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
DesMarais, David J.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2005
Subject Category
Space Sciences (General)
Meeting Information
Meeting: NAI 2005 Biennial Meeting of the NASA Astrobiology Institute
Location: Boulder, CO
Country: United States
Start Date: April 10, 2005
End Date: April 14, 2005
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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