Astrobiology

Astrobiology studies the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe, including whether life exists beyond Earth.

Origin of life: The transition from nonliving chemistry to the first living systems on Earth. It addresses how life began, one of astrobiology's central questions.
Mars 2020: NASA's Mars rover mission that landed Perseverance in Jezero Crater in 2021. Perseverance searches for signs of ancient microbial life and collects samples for possible return.
Atmospheric biosignature: A chemical or physical feature in a planetary atmosphere that may indicate biological activity. Atmospheric gases can preserve detectable evidence of life on distant planets.
Fermi paradox: The tension between the apparent abundance of potentially habitable worlds and the absence of confirmed extraterrestrial civilizations. It asks why a universe with many possible habitats shows no confirmed signs of technological civilizations.
Habitability: The capacity of an environment to support life as understood from known biology. It frames which environments astrobiologists investigate for possible life.
Europa Clipper: A NASA mission launched in 2024 to investigate Jupiter's moon Europa and its potential habitability. Its instruments will examine an ocean world regarded as a candidate habitat.
Chemical disequilibrium: A state in which interacting chemicals persist away from thermodynamic equilibrium. Persistent disequilibrium can signal active processes, though biology is not its only cause.
Drake equation: A framework for estimating the number of detectable civilizations in the Milky Way from several uncertain factors. Its unknown terms expose how little is known about life's frequency and longevity.
Extremophile: An organism that thrives in environmental conditions considered extreme by human standards. Earth's extremophiles reveal how far life can persist beyond familiar conditions.
Dragonfly (spacecraft): A NASA rotorcraft mission planned to explore Saturn's moon Titan. Titan's organic chemistry offers a natural laboratory for studying prebiotic processes.

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