How do we contend with the truly alien? Most strategies for biosignature detection rely upon finding features known to be associated with terrestrial life, such as particular classes of molecules, but…

This is a $5,775,239 grant for research awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to Georgetown University, a private, non-profit university located in Washington, D.C. The grant is focused on developing "truly agnostic" approaches to biosignature detection that do not rely on the features associated with terrestrial life. The goal is to advance various unconventional life detection concepts, integrating theoretical and experimental work, to help synthesize, prioritize, and strengthen the search for life on future space missions. This grant is not associated with a set-aside contract vehicle. Georgetown University has a significant track record of federal contract and grant awards, showcasing its research expertise across scientific domains like neuroscience, cancer biology, and planetary science.

How do we contend with the truly alien? Most strategies for biosignature detection rely upon finding features known to be associated with terrestrial life, such as particular classes of molecules, but life may be vastly different on other worlds. This work will further develop several truly agnostic approaches, none of which presuppose a particular molecular framework. Some of these areas will involve new lines of inquiry that can be accomplished using instrumentation that is either high heritage or on a path toward high TRL. Others will necessitate the design of completely new analytical techniques. Our NAI will not only advance each of these agnostic detection concepts separately but also join these traditionally fragmented efforts in a unified research program, one that draws lessons from our operational experiences in planetary exploration thus far. We will bring together theoreticians and experimentalists as an incubator for new agnostic life detection approaches, create a common training set of biotic and abiotic test substrates, establish likelihoods and thresholds with probabilistic models, and develop a broader formulation of the ladder of life. In the process, we will merge the broad and narrow ends of the life detection spectrum into a collective dialogue one that will help US synthesize, prioritize, evaluate, and strengthen the search for life on future space missions.