Top

Published in:

2021 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

56. Astrobiology: An Overview

Authors : Louisa J. Preston, Lynn J. Rothschild

Published in: Handbook of Bioastronautics

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe, and so has life at its core. It asks some of humanities most profound questions: Where does life come from? Where is it going? Are we alone?

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

previous chapter Japan

next chapter Human Space Flight Mishaps and Incidents: An Overview

Abramov O, Mojzsis SJ (2009) Microbial habitability of the hadean earth during the late heavy bombardment. Nature 459(7245):419–422. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08015CrossRef

Allwood AC, Grotzinger JP, Knoll AH, Burch IW, Anderson MS, Coleman ML, Kanik I (2009) Controls on development and diversity of early Archean stromatolites. Proc Natl Acad Sci 106(24):9548–9555. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0903323106CrossRef

Amils R, Ellis-Evans C, Hinghofer-Szalkay HG (2007a) Life in extreme environments, 1st edn. Springer, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6285-8CrossRef

Amils R, González-Toril E, Fernández-Remolar D, Gómez F, Aguilera Á, Rodríguez N, Malki M et al (2007b) Extreme environments as Mars terrestrial analogs: the Rio Tinto case. Planet Space Sci 55(3):370–381. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PSS.2006.02.006CrossRef

Ashcroft F, Hutchison G (2001) Life at the extremes: the science of survival. BMJ 322(7283):437. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.322.7283.437CrossRef

Awramik SM, Schopf JW, Walter MR (1983) Filamentous fossil bacteria from the Archean of Western Australia. Precambrian Res 20(2–4):357–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-9268(83)90081-5CrossRef

Battista JR (1997) Against all odds: the survival strategies of Deinococcus Radiodurans. Annu Rev Microbiol 51:203–224. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.micro.51.1.203CrossRef

Becerra A, Delaye L, Islas S, Lazcano A (2007) The very early stages of biological evolution and the nature of the last common ancestor of the three major cell domains. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 38. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.38.091206.095825

Benner SA, Ricardo A, Carrigan MA (2004) Is there a common chemical model for life in the universe? Curr Opin Chem Biol 8(6):672–689. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CBPA.2004.10.003CrossRef

Bieler A, Tzou C-Y, Balsiger H, Le Roy L, Rubin M, Schuhmann M, Gasc S et al (2017) Organics in comet 67P – a first comparative analysis of mass spectra from ROSINA–DFMS, COSAC and Ptolemy. Mon Not R Astron Soc 469(Suppl_2):S130–S141. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx1415CrossRef

Blochl E, Rachel R, Burggraf S, Hafenbradl D, Jannasch HW, Stetter KO (1997) Pyrolobus fumarii, gen. and sp. nov., represents a novel Group of Archaea, extending the upper temperature limit for life to 113 degrees C. Extremophiles 1(1):14–21CrossRef

Brown RH, Soderblom LA, Soderblom JM, Clark RN, Jaumann R, Barnes JW, Sotin C, Buratti B, Baines KH, Nicholson PD (2008) The identification of liquid ethane in Titan’s Ontario lacus. Nature 454(July):607CrossRef

Campbell NA, Reece JB (2002) Biology (ed: Benjamin Cummings), 6th edn. New York

Carpenter EJ, Lin S, Capone DG (2000) Bacterial activity in south pole snow. Appl Environ Microbiol 66(10):4514–4517CrossRef

Carter J, Poulet F, Bibring J-P, Murchie S (2010) Detection of hydrated silicates in crustal outcrops in the Northern Plains of Mars. Science (New York) 328(5986):1682–1686. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1189013CrossRef

Cockell CS (1999) Life on Venus. Planet Space Sci 47(12):1487–1501. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0032-0633(99)00036-7CrossRef

Cockell C (2015) Astrobiology: understanding life in the universe. Wiley Blackwell, 472 pp. ISBN: 978-1-118-91333-8

Cousins CR, Crawford IA (2011) Volcano-ice interaction as a microbial habitat on earth and Mars. Astrobiology 11(7):695–710. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2010.0550CrossRef

Dalton JB, Mogul R, Kagawa HK, Chan SL, Jamieson CS (2003) Near-infrared detection of potential evidence for microscopic organisms on Europa. Astrobiology 3(3):505–529. https://doi.org/10.1089/153110703322610618CrossRef

Dartnell LR, Desorgher L, Ward JM, Coates AJ (2007) Modelling the surface and subsurface Martian radiation environment: implications for astrobiology. Geophys Res Lett 34(2). https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL027494

Domagal-Goldman SD, Wright KE, Adamala K, de la Rubia LA, Bond J, Dartnell LR, Goldman AD et al (2016) The astrobiology primer v2.0. Astrobiology 16(8):561–653. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2015.1460CrossRef

Eigenbrode JL, Summons RE, Steele A, Freissinet C, Millan M, Navarro-González R, Sutter B et al (2018) Organic matter preserved in 3-billion-year-old mudstones at Gale crater, Mars. Science 360(6393):1096–1101. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aas9185CrossRef

Ellis-Evans JC, Wynn-Williams D (1996) A great Lake under the ice. Nature 381(6584):644–645. https://doi.org/10.1038/381644a0CrossRef

Fastook JL, Head JW (2015) Glaciation in the late Noachian icy highlands: ice accumulation, distribution, flow rates, basal melting, and top-down melting rates and patterns. Planet Space Sci 106(February):82–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PSS.2014.11.028CrossRef

Fernández-Remolar DC, Morris RV, Gruener JE, Amils R, Knoll AH (2005) The Río Tinto Basin, Spain: mineralogy, sedimentary Geobiology, and implications for interpretation of outcrop rocks at Meridiani Planum, Mars. Earth Planet Sci Lett 240(1):149–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2005.09.043CrossRef

Fortes AD (2000) Exobiological implications of a possible Ammonia–Water Ocean inside titan. Icarus 146(2):444–452. https://doi.org/10.1006/ICAR.2000.6400CrossRef

Gaucher EA, Kratzer JT, Randall RN (2010) Deep phylogeny – how a tree can help characterize early life on earth. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2(1):a002238. https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a002238CrossRef

Gendrin A (2005) Sulfates in Martian layered terrains: the OMEGA/Mars express view. Science 307(5715):1587–1591. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1109087CrossRef

Gladman B, Dones L, Levison HF, Burns JA (2005) Impact seeding and reseeding in the inner solar system. Astrobiology 5(4):483–496. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2005.5.483CrossRef

Grimm SL, Demory B-O, Gillon M, Dorn C, Agol E, Burdanov A, Delrez L et al (2018) The nature of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets. A&A 613:A68CrossRef

Grotzinger JP, Arvidson RE, Bell JF, Calvin W, Clark BC, Fike DA, Golombek M et al (2005) Stratigraphy and sedimentology of a dry to wet Eolian depositional system, Burns formation, Meridiani Planum, Mars. Earth Planet Sci Lett 240(1):11–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2005.09.039CrossRef

Hashimoto T, Kunieda T (2017) DNA protection protein, a novel mechanism of radiation tolerance: lessons from tardigrades. Life (Basel, Switzerland) 7(2):26. https://doi.org/10.3390/life7020026CrossRef

Joyce GF (1994) Foreward. In: Deamer DW, Fleischaker GR (eds) Origins of life: the central concepts. Jones & Bartlett, Boston, pp xi–xii

Kargel JS, Kaye JZ, Head JW, Marion GM, Sassen R, Crowley JK, Ballesteros OP, Grant SA, Hogenboom DL (2000) Europa’s crust and ocean: origin, composition, and the prospects for life. Icarus 148(1):226–265. https://doi.org/10.1006/ICAR.2000.6471CrossRef

Kelley DS, Karson JA, Blackman DK, Fruh-Green GL, Butterfield DA, Lilley MD, Olson EJ et al (2001) An off-Axis hydrothermal vent field near the mid-Atlantic ridge at 30 degrees N. Nature 412(6843):145–149. https://doi.org/10.1038/35084000CrossRef

Kivelson MG, Khurana KK, Russell CT, Volwerk M, Walker RJ, Zimmer C (2000) Galileo magnetometer measurements: a stronger case for a Subsurface Ocean at Europa. Science 289(5483):1340–1343. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.289.5483.1340CrossRef

Klein HP, Lederberg J, Rich A (1972) Biological experiments: the Viking Mars Lander. Icarus 16(1):139–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/0019-1035(72)90141-8CrossRef

Léveillé R (2010) A half-century of terrestrial analog studies: from craters on the moon to searching for life on Mars. Planet Space Sci 58(4):631–638. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PSS.2009.04.001CrossRef

Maher KA, Stevenson DJ (1988) Impact frustration of the origin of life. Nature 331(6157):612–614. https://doi.org/10.1038/331612a0CrossRef

McCord TB, Hansen GB, Fanale FP, Carlson RW, Matson DL, Johnson TV, Smythe WD et al (1998) Salts on Europa’s surface detected by Galileo’s near infrared mapping spectrometer. Science 280(5367):1242–1245. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.280.5367.1242CrossRef

Navarro-González R, Rainey FA, Molina P, Bagaley DR, Hollen BJ, de la Rosa J, Small AM et al (2003) Mars-like soils in the Atacama Desert, Chile, and the dry limit of microbial life. Science 302(5647):1018–1021. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1089143CrossRef

Ojha L, Wilhelm MB, Murchie SL, McEwen AS, Wray JJ, Hanley J, Massé M, Chojnacki M (2015) Spectral evidence for hydrated salts in recurring slope Lineae on Mars. Nat Geosci 8(September):829CrossRef

Oliver JD, Perry RS (2006) Definitely life but not definitively. Origins Life Evol Biosph 36:515–521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11084-006-9035-4CrossRef

Pollard W, Omelon C, Andersen D, McKay C (1999) Perennial spring occurrence in the expedition fiord area of Western Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian high Arctic. Can J Earth Sci 36(1):105–120. https://doi.org/10.1139/e98-097CrossRef

Porco CC, Helfenstein P, Thomas PC, Ingersoll AP, Wisdom J, West R, Neukum G et al (2006) Cassini observes the active south pole of Enceladus. Science 311(5766):1393–1401. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1123013CrossRef

Postberg F, Schmidt J, Hillier J, Kempf S, Srama R (2011) A salt-water reservoir as the source of a compositionally stratified plume on Enceladus. Nature 474(June):620CrossRef

Postberg F, Khawaja N, Abel B, Choblet G, Glein CR, Gudipati MS, Henderson BL et al (2018) Macromolecular organic compounds from the depths of Enceladus. Nature 558(7711):564–568. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0246-4CrossRef

Preston LJ, Dartnell LR (2014) Planetary habitability: lessons learned from terrestrial analogues. Int J Astrobiol 13(1):81–98. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1473550413000396CrossRef

Preston LJ, Genge MJ (2010) The Rhynie Chert, Scotland, and the search for life on Mars. Astrobiology 10(5):549–560. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2008.0321CrossRef

Preston LJ, Benedix GK, Genge MJ, Sephton MA (2008) A multidisciplinary study of silica sinter deposits with applications to silica identification and detection of fossil life on Mars. Icarus 198(2):331–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2008.08.006

Preston LJ, Izawa MRM, Banerjee NR (2011a) Infrared spectroscopic characterization of organic matter associated with microbial bioalteration textures in basaltic glass. Astrobiology 11(7):585–599. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2010.0604

Preston LJ, Shuster J, Fernández-Remolar D, Banerjee NR, Osinski GR, Southam G (2011b) The preservation and degradation of filamentous Bacteria and biomolecules within Iron oxide deposits at Rio Tinto, Spain. Geobiology 9(3):233–249. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-4669.2011.00275.x

Preston LJ, Barber, SJ, Grady MM and the CAFE Team (2013) CAFE: the catalogue of planetary analogues. https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/gsp/The_Catalogue_of_Planetary_Analogues.pdf

Preston LJ, Melim LA, Polyak VJ, Asmerom Y, Southam G (2014) Infrared spectroscopic biosignatures from hidden cave, New Mexico: possible applications for remote life detection. Geomicrobiol J 31(10):929–941. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490451.2014.913096

Preston LJ, Johnson D, Cockell CS, Grady MM (2015) Fourier transform infrared spectral detection of life in polar subsurface environments and its application to Mars exploration. Appl Spectrosc 69(9):1059–1065. https://doi.org/10.1366/14-07843

Rennó NO, Bos BJ, Catling D, Clark BC, Drube L, Fisher D, Goetz W, Hviid SF, Keller HU, Kok JF, Kounaves SP, Leer K, Lemmon M, Madsen MB, Markiewicz WJ, Marshall J, McKay C, Mehta M, Smith M, Zorzano MP, Smith PH, Stoker C, Young SMM (2009) Possible physical and thermodynamical evidence for liquid water at the Phoenix landing site. J Geophys Res Planets 114. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JE003362

Rivkina EM, Friedmann EI, McKay CP, Gilichinsky DA (2000) Metabolic activity of permafrost Bacteria below the freezing point. Appl Environ Microbiol 66(8):3230–3233. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.66.8.3230-3233.2000

Rothschild LJ (2007) Extremophiles: defining the envelope for the search for life in the universe. In: Planetary systems and the origins of life, Pudritz R.E., Higgs, P., Stone J. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 123–146

Rothschild LJ, Mancinelli RL (2001) Life in extreme environments. Nature 409(SRC):1092–1101

Russell MJ, Nitschke W, Branscomb E (2013) The inevitable journey to being. Philos Trans R Soc Lond Ser B Biol Sci 368(1622):20120254. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0254

Sagan C (1961) The planet Venus. Science 133(3456):849–858. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.133.3456.849

Schulze-Makuch D, Grinspoon DH (2005) Biologically enhanced energy and carbon cycling on titan? Astrobiol SRC-B 5:560–567CrossRef

Schulze-Makuch D, Grinspoon D, Abbas O, Irwin L, Bullock M (2004) Survival strategy for putative phototrophic life in the Venusian atmosphere. Astrobiol SRC-B 4:11–18CrossRef

Schulze-Makuch D, Haque S, de Sousa Antonio MR, Ali D, Hosein R, Song YC, Yang J et al (2011) Microbial life in a liquid Asphalt Desert. Astrobiology 11(3):241–258. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2010.0488

Seckbach J (1999) The Cyanidiophyceae: hot spring acidophilic algae BT-enigmatic microorganisms and life in extreme environments. In: Seckbach J (ed), Enigmatic microorganisms and life in extreme environments. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp 425–435. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4838-2_33

Sharma A, Scott JH, Cody GD, Fogel ML, Hazen RM, Hemley RJ, Huntress WT (2002) Microbial activity at Gigapascal pressures. Science (New York, NY) 295(5559):1514–1516. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1068018

Simoncini E, Russell MJ, Kleidon A (2011) Modeling free energy availability from hadean hydrothermal systems to the first metabolism. Orig Life Evol Biosph 41:529–532. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11084-011-9251-4

Singleton R Jr, Amelunxen RE (1973) Proteins from thermophilic microorganisms. Bacteriol Rev 37(3):320–342CrossRef

Squyres SW, Knoll AH (2005) Sedimentary rocks at Meridiani Planum: origin, diagenesis, and implications for life on Mars. Earth Planet Sci Lett 240(1):1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2005.09.038

Strom RG, Schaber GG, Dawson DD (1994) The global resurfacing of Venus. J Geophys Res Planets 99(E5):10899–10926. https://doi.org/10.1029/94JE00388

Taylor FW, Hunten DM (2014) Venus: atmosphere. Enc Solar Syst 305–322. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-415845-0.00014-1

Theobald DL (2010) A formal test of the theory of universal common ancestry. Nature 465(May):219CrossRef

Ventosa A, de la Haba RR (2014) Alkaliphile. In: Amils R, Gargaud M, Quintanilla JC, Cleaves HJ, Irvine WM, Pinti D, Viso M (eds), Encyclopedia of astrobiology. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, pp 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_52-3

Waite JH Jr, Lewis WS, Magee BA, Lunine JI, McKinnon WB, Glein CR, Mousis O et al (2009) Liquid water on Enceladus from observations of Ammonia and 40Ar in the plume. Nature 460(July):487CrossRef

Westall F (2008) Morphological biosignatures in early terrestrial and extraterrestrial materials. In: Botta O, Bada JL, Gomez-Elvira J, Javaux E, Selsis F, Summons R (eds) Strategies of life detection. Springer US, Boston, pp 95–114. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-77516-6_9

Woese C (1998) The universal ancestor. Proc Natl Acad Sci 95(12):6854–6859. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.12.6854

Womack AM, BJM B, Green JL (2010) Biodiversity and biogeography of the atmosphere. Philos Trans R Soc B: Biol Sci 365(1558):3645–3653. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0283

Title: Astrobiology: An Overview
Authors: Louisa J. Preston
Lynn J. Rothschild
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: Handbook of Bioastronautics
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-12190-1

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-12191-8

Copyright Year: 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12191-8_119

Springer Professional

Abstract

Please log in to get access to your license.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Springer Professional "Technik"

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Premium Partner