Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

There are so many stars and planets in the universe that it's both marshy and mysterious. As humans gaze at the night sky, a fundamental question arises: Are we alone? Astrobiology is the science that studies the possibilities of life outside of Earth and is based on this question. Researchers who study how life first arose here and search for life elsewhere — in other words, astrobiologists — are at the forefront of this quest.

The Origins of Astrobiology

The field of Astrobiology arose in the 1950s in response to the burgeoning space exploration. In the 1960's, when the first images of Mars appeared, scientists hoped to find life elsewhere in the universe. Since then, the job of astrobiology has grown to include all the forms of life, not just on distant exoplanets, but in all the world's oceans, where it lies deep within them. Researchers examine conditions favorable to life on th;e Earth and then use models to predict where else life may emerge in the cosmos.

The Recipe for Life:

What Astrobiologists Look For:

The former are used by astrobiologists to decide on where they may have life.

The essential ingredients they look for include:

Liquid Water:
Finding water is critical when searching for extraterrestrial life, of course, as every known life form depends on water. Such chemical reactions require liquid water, and it's a prime target for exploration.

Essential Chemicals:
Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur are the building blocks of life — as we know it. If — if — and that's a big if — these elements are there, the odds of life are suddenly that much more.

It's marshy and mysterious and full with stars and planets to infinity. As humans gaze at the night sky, a fundamental question arises:

Are we alone?

This question is the basis of astrobiology, the science that attempts to answer the question whether there is life on Earth. At the forefront of this quest, and researching how life first arose here and searching for life elsewhere (that is, astrobiologists) are researchers.

The Origins of Astrobiology

The emergence of Astrobiology in the 1950's came out of the now burgeoning space exploration of the past decades. Even the first images of Mars taken in the 1960s was a matter of scientists hoping to find life elsewhere in the universe. Since then, astrobiology's job has expanded to encompass all the forms of life — not just on exoplanets but in all the world's oceans, where they are buried deep. Then, using models, they attempt to state where life might start to appear in the cosmos, given that there is some kind of function on the Earth.

The Recipe for Life:

What Astrobiologists Look For

Astrobiologists use the former to decide where on Earth they might have life.

The essential ingredients they look for include:

Liquid Water:
Of course finding water is critical when searching for extraterrestrial life, every known life form depends on water. But getting to those chemical reactions, and it's a prime target for exploration, requires liquid water.

Essential Chemicals:
These are all building blocks of life — as we know it — and they are carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous, and sulfur. If, and that's a big if, these ingredients are there, the odds jump terribly.

To Find Life and the Implications:

If extraterrestrials exist they would change everything because it would alter our views of the universe and our place within it. Whether we find simple microbes on a distant moon or evidence of intelligent life in another galaxy, such a discovery would answer the age-old question:

Are we alone? Our approach to planetary protection, space exploration and the care of ecosystems both on Earth and away from it would be questioned as it would also raise new questions about our responsibilities in the cosmos.

Conclusion:
Astrobiology is humanity wanting to know the universe and our place in it. Over time, astrobiologists work inwards through exploring the conditions for life in our solar system and beyond, inching closer to one of mankind's greatest discoveries of all time. Scouring for extraterrestrial life is a lot more than science—its drama, as the search itself is a quest of curiosity and wonder with the heart of discovery that has always propelled human endeavor.