The search for life in the solar system and beyond has to date been governed by a model based on what we know about life on Earth (terran life). Most of NASA's mission planning is focused on locations where liquid water is possible and emphasizes searches for structures that resemble cells in terran organisms. It is possible, however, that life exists that is based on chemical reactions that do not involve carbon compounds, that occurs in solvents other than water, or that involves oxidation-reduction reactions without oxygen gas. To assist NASA incorporate this possibility in its efforts to search for life, the NRC was asked to carry out a study to evaluate whether nonstandard biochemistry might support life in solar system and conceivable extrasolar environments, and to define areas to guide research in this area. This book presents an exploration of a limited set of hypothetical chemistries of life, a review of current knowledge concerning key questions or hypotheses about nonterran life, and suggestions for future research.
Table of Contents |
skim chapter | |
|---|---|---|
| Front Matter | i-xvi | |
| Executive Summary | 1-4 | |
| 1 Introduction | 5-10 | |
| 2 A Sketch of the Chemistry Behind Known Carbon-based Life on Earth | 11-28 | |
| 3 Pushing the Boundaries of Life | 29-42 | |
| 4 Alternatives to Terran Biochemistry in Water | 43-52 | |
| 5 Origin of Life | 53-68 | |
| 6 Why Water? Toward More Exotic Habitats | 69-79 | |
| 7 Life Detection and Biomarkers | 80-83 | |
| 8 Conclusions and Recommendations | 84-88 | |
| Appendix A Glossary | 89-96 | |
| Appendix B Biographies of Committee Members and Staff | 97-100 | |
The National Academies Press and the Transportation Research Board have partnered with Copyright Clearance Center to offer a variety of options for reusing our content. You may request permission to:
For most Academic and Educational uses no royalties will be charged although you are required to obtain a license and comply with the license terms and conditions.
Click here to obtain permission forThe Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems.
For information on how to request permission to translate our work and for any other rights related query please click here.
For questions about using the Copyright.com service, please contact:
Copyright Clearance Center
22 Rosewood Drive
Danvers, MA 01923
Tel (toll free): 855/239-3415 (select option 1)
E-mail: info@copyright.com
Web: https://www.copyright.com
Loading stats for The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems...
Finding similar items...
