Astrobiologist Laurie Barge and her team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, are working to recognize life on other planets by studying the origins of life here on Earth. Nicholas Hud is the Director of the NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution (CCE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. "But understanding the conditions that are required for life's origin can help narrow down the places that we think life could exist.". OSIRIS -REx & the Origin of Life Dr. Jason Dworkin (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) : Asteroids are remnants of the early solar system. Obviously, OSIRIS-REx is visiting one of these objects and it’s not just visiting any old asteroid; it’s visiting a really appropriate one for these questions about astrobiology because it’s a class of asteroid which we believe is associated with a type of meteorite called carbonaceous chondrites, which are amongst the most richest meteorites in terms of their carbon abundance, and also their molecular complexity. Bill Dunford, Beyond Our Solar System Poster - Version C. Perseverance has about 146 million miles (235 million kilometers) left to reach its destination. They also removed the oxygen from the mixture because, unlike today, early Earth had very little oxygen in its ocean. They are leftover pieces as the solar system was forming, and around the same time that life was forming on the early earth or other bodies. These studies cross disciplines, from prebiotic chemistry to astrophysics, and are relevant to fields that cover the breadth of research funded by the NASA Astrobiology Program. Of course, one is we have some instruments on board the spacecraft which will give us a global look at the asteroid. The issue covers current understanding in a variety of topics, as well as unsolved problems and challenges as researchers address the question, “Can the origins of life be demonstrated or understood experimentally?”. It seems to me that all theories of the origin of life face two major hurdles. Sounds of Space. Site Manager: Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus, for example, could have hydrothermal vents in oceans beneath their icy crusts. It’s just hard to overstate the power the scientific power you get out of this this is why missions like OSIRIS-REx are just so powerful it’s because mission gives you a legacy that just extends on into the future and never really ends. Okay, so you can afford to do analyses of the return samples that would never happen on the spacecraft. Dworkin: Like Lego blocks, amino acids build on one another to form proteins, which make up all living things. Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI) To trace the origins of the Earth and life in the Universe, scientists need to study planet formation and evolution, including the material around stars where planets form. NASA Official: "We don't have concrete evidence of life elsewhere yet," said Barge. The journal Chemical Reviews has published a thematic issue dedicated to ‘Chemical Evolution and the Origins of Life,’ which provides a resource concerning the current state-of-the-art in origins research. The green rust reacted with small amounts of oxygen that the team injected into the solution, producing the amino acid alanine and the alpha hydroxy acid lactate. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. One of the huge advantages of a sample return mission is that when you get the sample back to the Earth you’ve effectively added all the world’s analytical instruments to the payload of your spacecraft. So, for fun, here is a LEGO version of the spacecraft: it has articulated solar arrays, a sample return canister and this three-meter long arm, and at the end of this is sort of like an old, car air filter but, of course, a bespoke design for this mission and for this asteroid, to collect a sample of material and bring it back to earth by touching the surface of the asteroid, collecting at least 60 grams, and as much as two kilograms of material; then, go up and measure the mass of the material, and then stow it in the sample return canister and bring it back to earth. Dr. Scott Sandford (NASA Ames Research Center): Their research focuses on how the building blocks of life form in hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. Asteroids are remnants of the early solar system. Social Media Lead: "We've shown that in geological conditions similar to early Earth, and maybe to other planets, we can form amino acids and alpha hydroxy acids from a simple reaction under mild conditions that would have existed on the seafloor," said Barge. Kristen Erickson They tested their hypothesis by heating the solution to 158 degrees Fahrenheit (70 degrees Celsius) — the same temperature found near a hydrothermal vent — and adjusting the pH to mimic the alkaline environment. Professor Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy speaks at a Story Collider event at the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering. Currently, NASA is the only agency in the United States funding origin of life research, with some private money coming from the likes of the Simons Foundation and the Templeton Foundation. Science Writer: Exoplanets — worlds beyond our reach but still within the realm of our telescopes — may have signatures of life in their atmospheres that could be revealed in the future. Introduction: Chemical Evolution and the Origins of Life, Chemistry of Abiotic Nucleotide Synthesis, Prebiotic Astrochemistry and the Formation of Molecules of Astrobiological Interest in Interstellar Clouds and Protostellar Disks, Prebiotic Peptides: Molecular Hubs in the Origin of Life, Prebiotic Syntheses of Noncanonical Nucleosides and Nucleotides, Promiscuous Ribozymes and Their Proposed Role in Prebiotic Evolution, Root of the Tree: The Significance, Evolution, and Origins of the Ribosome, The Search for Chiral Asymmetry as a Potential Biosignature in our Solar System, Thermodynamics of Prebiotic Phosphorylation. 60 grams of sample is a bounty. The issue includes numerous contributions from researchers supported by the NASA Astrobiology Program, with Nicholas Hud (Georgia Institute of Technology) and Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy (Scripps Research Institute) serving as editors. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. The team additionally used the mineral iron hydroxide, or "green rust," which was abundant on early Earth. Barge's creation of amino acids and alpha hydroxy acids in the lab is the culmination of nine years of research into the origins of life. , which built on the foundational work of co-author and JPL chemist Michael Russell, NASA's Perseverance Rover Is Midway to Mars, Juno Data Indicates 'Sprites' or 'Elves' Frolic in Jupiter's Atmosphere, NASA Scientists Discover ‘Weird' Molecule in Titan's Atmosphere, NASA's OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Goes for Early Stow of Asteroid Sample, New NASA Posters Feature Cosmic Frights for Halloween, NASA's SOFIA Discovers Water on Sunlit Surface of Moon. NASA Emerging Worlds Program, NASA Astrobiology Institute. To re-create hydrothermal vents in the lab, the team made their own miniature seafloors by filling beakers with mixtures that mimic Earth's primordial ocean. When these chimneys interact with the seawater around them, they create an environment that is in constant flux, which is necessary for life to evolve and change.

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