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Astrobiology is a scientific field within the life and environmental sciences that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe by investigating its deterministic conditions and contingent events. As a discipline, astrobiology is founded on the premise that life may exist beyond Earth.
Extraterrestrial life or alien life is life which may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected. Such life might range from simple forms such as prokaryotes to intelligent beings, possibly bringing forth civilizations that might be far more advanced than humanity. The Drake equation speculates about the existence of sapient life elsewhere in the universe. The science of extraterrestrial life is known as astrobiology.
The Fermi paradox is the discrepancy between the lack of conclusive evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life and the apparently high likelihood of its existence. As a 2015 article put it, "If life is so easy, someone from somewhere must have come calling by now."
Panspermia is the hypothesis that life exists throughout the Universe, distributed by space dust, meteoroids, asteroids, comets, and planetoids, as well as by spacecraft carrying unintended contamination by microorganisms. Panspermia is a fringe theory with little support amongst mainstream scientists. Critics argue that it does not answer the question of the origin of life but merely places it on another celestial body. It is also criticized because it cannot be tested experimentally.
Harold (Hal) Masursky was an American astrogeologist.
George Wetherill was a physicist and geologist and the director emeritus of the department of terrestrial magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, DC, US.
In space exploration, in situ resource utilization (ISRU) is the practice of collection, processing, storing and use of materials found or manufactured on other astronomical objects that replace materials that would otherwise be brought from Earth.
David Stewart McKay was chief scientist for astrobiology at the Johnson Space Center. During the Apollo program, McKay provided geology training to the first men to walk on the Moon in the late 1960s. McKay was the first author of a scientific paper postulating past life on Mars on the basis of evidence in Martian meteorite ALH 84001, which had been found in Antarctica. This paper has become one of the most heavily cited papers in planetary science. The NASA Astrobiology Institute was founded partially as a result of community interest in this paper and related topics. He was a native of Titusville, Pennsylvania.
The habitability of natural satellites describes the study of a moon's potential to provide habitats for life, though is not an indicator that it harbors it. Natural satellites are expected to outnumber planets by a large margin and the study is therefore important to astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial life. There are, nevertheless, significant environmental variables specific to moons.
Extraterrestrial material refers to natural objects now on Earth that originated in outer space. Such materials include cosmic dust and meteorites, as well as samples brought to Earth by sample return missions from the Moon, asteroids and comets, as well as solar wind particles.
Charles Cockell is a British astrobiologist who is professor of astrobiology in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh and co-director of the UK Centre for Astrobiology.
David Morrison is an American astronomer, a senior scientist at the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Morrison is the former director of the Carl Sagan Center for Study of Life in the Universe at the SETI Institute and of the NASA Lunar Science Institute. He is the past Director of Space at NASA Ames. Morrison is credited as a founder of the multi-disciplinary field of astrobiology. Morrison is best known for his work in risk assessment of near Earth objects such as asteroids and comets. Asteroid 2410 Morrison was named in his honor. Morrison is also known for his "Ask an Astrobiologist" series on NASA's website where he provides answers to questions submitted by the public. He has published 12 books and over 150 papers primarily on planetary science, astrobiology and near Earth objects.
Interplanetary contamination refers to biological contamination of a planetary body by a space probe or spacecraft, either deliberate or unintentional.
Eberhard Grün is a German planetary scientist who specialized in cosmic dust research. He is an active emeritus at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK), Heidelberg (Germany), research associate at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) in Boulder (Colorado), and was a professor at the University of Heidelberg until his retirement in 2007. Eberhard Grün has had a leading role in international cosmic dust science for over 40 years.
Planetary science is the scientific study of planets, celestial bodies and planetary systems and the processes of their formation. It studies objects ranging in size from micrometeoroids to gas giants, aiming to determine their composition, dynamics, formation, interrelations and history. It is a strongly interdisciplinary field, which originally grew from astronomy and Earth science, and now incorporates many disciplines, including planetary geology, cosmochemistry, atmospheric science, physics, oceanography, hydrology, theoretical planetary science, glaciology, and exoplanetology. Allied disciplines include space physics, when concerned with the effects of the Sun on the bodies of the Solar System, and astrobiology.
The Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is) is a UK-registered not-for-profit company, whose objectives are education and research into the challenges of Interstellar Travel. It pioneered small-scale laser sail interstellar probes and missions to interstellar objects. Several of its principals were involved in the 100 Year Starship winning team originated by NASA and DARPA.
Technosignature or technomarker is any measurable property or effect that provides scientific evidence of past or present technology. Technosignatures are analogous to biosignatures, which signal the presence of life, whether intelligent or not. Some authors prefer to exclude radio transmissions from the definition, but such restrictive usage is not widespread. Jill Tarter has proposed that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) be renamed "the search for technosignatures". Various types of technosignatures, such as radiation leakage from megascale astroengineering installations such as Dyson spheres, the light from an extraterrestrial ecumenopolis, or Shkadov thrusters with the power to alter the orbits of stars around the Galactic Center, may be detectable with hypertelescopes. Some examples of technosignatures are described in Paul Davies's 2010 book The Eerie Silence, although the terms "technosignature" and "technomarker" do not appear in the book.
The Tanpopo mission is an orbital astrobiology experiment investigating the potential interplanetary transfer of life, organic compounds, and possible terrestrial particles in the low Earth orbit. The purpose is to assess the panspermia hypothesis and the possibility of natural interplanetary transport of microbial life as well as prebiotic organic compounds.
Katherine Helen Joy is a Reader in Earth Sciences at the University of Manchester. Joy has studied lunar samples from the Apollo program as part of her research on meteorites and lunar science.
The UK Centre for Astrobiology was set up at the University of Edinburgh in 2011 by Charles Cockell. It was set up as a UK node, formally affiliated as an international partner with the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) alongside other national nodes until the NAI's dissolution in 2019. It was established as a virtual centre to sit at the interdisciplinary boundary of planetary sciences/astronomy and biological/earth sciences investigating numerous aspects of life in the universe, specifically 'how habitable worlds form in the Universe and how life emerges, proliferates and leaves traces on these worlds' as well as engaging in work on the robotic and human exploration of space and in space ethics, philosophy and governance.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Crawford, Prof. Ian Andrew" . Who's Who (online Oxford University Press ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. 2017. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U258281.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ Joy, Katherine Helen (2007). Studies in lunar geology and geochemistry using sample analysis and remote sensing measurements. ucl.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University College London (University of London). OCLC 890146048. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.445898.
- 1 2 3 Professor Ian Crawford. Birkbeck College. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ↑ "Ian Crawford Publications" . Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ↑ Crawford, I.A. (ed.) "Expanding Worldviews: Astrobiology, Big History and Cosmic Perspectives", Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, Vol. 58, Springer (2021) doi : 10.1007/978-3-030-70482-7
- ↑ Who Speaks for Humanity? The Need for a Single Political Voice In: Astrobiology: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy , ed. O.A. Chon Torres et al., Scrivener Publishing, pp. 313-338, (2021)
- ↑ "The Lunar Surface as a Recorder of Astrophysical Processes", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (Vol. 379A, 20190562, 2021)
- ↑ Crawford, I.A., "Widening Perspectives: The Intellectual and Social Benefits of Astrobiology (Regardless of Whether Extraterrestrial Life is Discovered or Not)"], International Journal of Astrobiology (Vol. 17, pp. 57-60, 2018) arXiv : 1703.06239
- ↑ "The Long-Term Scientific Benefits of a Space Economy", Space Policy (Vol. 37, pp. 58–61, 2016).arXiv : 1607.04901
- ↑ Lunar Resources: A Review Progress in Physical Geography (Vol. 39, pp. 137–167, 2015). arXiv : 1410.6865
- ↑ Crawford, Ian A. (2015). "Interplanetary Federalism: Maximising the Chances of Extraterrestrial Peace, Diversity and Liberty" (PDF). The Meaning of Liberty Beyond Earth. Space and Society. pp. 199–218. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-09567-7_13. ISBN 978-3-319-09566-0. ISSN 2199-3882. S2CID 150863252.
- ↑ Crawford, I.A., "Avoiding Intellectual Stagnation: The Starship as an Expander of Minds", Journal of the British Interplanetary Society , 67, 253-257, 2014 arXiv : 1501.04249
- ↑ Crawford, Ian A.; Joy, Katherine H. (2014). "Lunar exploration: opening a window into the history and evolution of the inner Solar System". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 372 (2024): 20130315. arXiv: 1408.2587 . doi:10.1098/rsta.2013.0315. ISSN 1364-503X. PMC 4128274 . PMID 25114318.
- ↑ Crawford, I.A. et al., "Back to the Moon: The Scientific Rationale for Resuming Lunar Surface Exploration", Planetary and Space Science, 74, 3-14, 2012 arXiv : 1206.0749
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