NASA Astrobiology Institute
A Compendium of the Science of its Newest Teams: Year 2003

Preface

The NASA Astrobiology Institute is proud to introduce the twelve Teams selected from proposals submitted in response to the 2003 Cooperative Agreement Notice:

• Ames Research Center
• Carnegie Institution of Washington
• Goddard Space Flight Center
• Indiana University
• Marine Biological Laboratory
• Pennsylvania State University
• SETI Institute
• University of Arizona
• University of California , Berkeley
• University of California , Los Angeles
• University of Colorado , Boulder
• University of Hawaii , Manoa

These Teams join those chosen in 2001:

• Michigan State University
• University of Rhode Island
• University of Washington
• Virtual Planetary Laboratory

to comprise the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI). The NAI makes available in this volume the research plans of the 12 selected proposals as a way to familiarize each Team with the research being conducted by the NAI as a whole, and to stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration amongst its Members, and the broader scientific community. The present volume is the third in a series, with previous volumes produced following the selection of NAI Teams in 1998 and 2001.

The NAI released its third Cooperative Agreement Notice on December 6 th , 2002 . In response, 44 Notices of Intent were received and, by the due date of March 6, 35 complete proposals had been submitted. Approximately 700 individual researchers were associated with the proposals, representing 237 institutions. An external Review Panel was assembled to review the proposals, which represented scientific expertise across the full scope of astrobiology. The 40-member Review Panel was Chaired by Dr. Antonio Lazcano. The entire Panel met June 3-6, 2003 in Washington D.C. to discuss and review the proposals. A smaller Executive Committee, composed of members of the Review Panel, met subsequently to develop a series of selection scenarios which were then sent forth as recommendations to the NAI and the NASA Selecting Official Dr. Edward J. Weiler, Associate Administrator for Space Science.

The three selection criteria used were 1) Science and technical merit, 2) Plans for strengthening the Astrobiology community, and 3) Relevance to the Astrobiology Roadmap. The research emphasis of each new Team is indicated in Figure 1, where the individual projects of each Team are assigned to particular Astrobiology Roadmap Goals. Please do use this as a guide, as we invite you to explore the exciting research of the Third Generation NASA Astrobiology Institute.

Download Proposal Book ( 41.92 MB)

Figure 1. Summary of the research projects being conducted by the twelve newest Teams of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, categorized by Astrobiology Roadmap Goal.