Project Grant NNA15BB01A

FPDS BASE DESCRIPTION MULTIPLE YEAR AWARD & INCREMENTAL FUNDING FOR YEARS ONE TO FIVE. THIS PROPOSAL IS ENTITLED "CHANGING PLANETARY ENVIRONMENTS AND THE FINGERPRINTS OF LIFE." THIS IS AWARDED IN RESPONSE TO COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT NOTICE (CAN) NO. NNH13ZDA017C NASA ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE) CYCLE SEVEN (7). THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR IS DR. NATHALIE A. CABROL WITH SETI INSTITUTE (SETI). PROJECT SUMMARY: THE SETI INSTITUTE (SI) TEAM PROPOSES A RESEARCH PROGRAM THAT WILL DEVELOP A ROADMAP TO BIOSIGNATURE EXPLORATION IN SUPPORT OF NASA'S DECADAL PLAN FOR THE SEARCH FOR LIFE ON MARS. THE EARLIEST OPPORTUNITY FOR NASA TO SEARCH FOR ANCIENT TRACES OF LIFE ON MARS WILL BE 2020 WHEN A CURIOSITY-CLASS ROVER IS EXPECTED TO EXPLORE ANCIENT HABITABLE ENVIRONMENTS AND CACHE A LIMITED NUMBER OF SAMPLES. CACHING SAMPLES IS HIGH-COST AND HIGH RISK AND THE SINGLE MOST COMPELLING QUESTION TO ASK IN SUPPORT OF SUCH A MISSION IS: HOW DO WE IDENTIFY AND CACHE THE MOST VALUABLE SAMPLES? THE SI MAKES THIS QUESTION THE INTELLECTUAL FOCUS OF IT RESEARCH PROGRAM. FOUR RESEARCH AREAS STUDY THE ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF THIS CENTRAL QUESTION. WITHIN THEM FOCUS AREAS REGROUP INVESTIGATIONS THAT SYNERGISTICALLY TACKLE KEY ASPECTS OF EARLY MARS HABITABILITY TAPHONOMIC WINDOWS AND BIOSIGNATURE POTENTIAL THEIR PRESERVATION POTENTIAL AND THEIR DETECTABILITY. RESEARCH IS PERFORMED THROUGH AN INTEGRATED EXPLORATION OF EVER-INCREASING RESOLUTION THAT CORRELATES MEASUREMENT FROM MEGASCALE TO MOLECULAR SCALE AND ENVISIONS EACH ESSENTIAL COMPONENT THROUGH THE UNIQUE PRISM OF THE RAPIDLY CHANGING EARLY MARTIAN ENVIRONMENT. ULTIMATELY IT PRODUCES GUIDING PRINCIPLES TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHERE TO RESEARCH WHAT TO SEARCH FOR AND HOW TO SEARCH.THE RESEARCH PROGRAM PROPOSED BY THE SI TEAM IS TIMELY NEEDED AND WILL DIRECTLY SUPPORT A DECADE OF SEARCHES FOR LIFE ON MARS THAT MAY CULMINATE WITH A MARS SAMPLE RETURN MISSION.SCIENTIFICALLY WE WILL CHARACTERIZE TERRESTRIAL ANALOGS TO ENVIRONMENTS AND BIOGEOMATERIALS CONSIDERED OF HIGH-PRIORITY TO THE SEARCH FOR TRACES OF ANCIENT LIFE ON MARS AND WILL INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF CHANGING EARLY MARS CONDITIONS ON THE PRESERVATION OF BIOSIGNATURES. INVESTIGATING THE PHYSICAL BIMOLECULAR AND METABOLIC RECORDS OF LIFE IN THESE ENVIRONMENTS OUR RESEARCH PROGRAM WILL DEFINE THEIR HABITABILITY POTENTIAL TAPHONOMIC WINDOWS POTENTIAL FOR BIOSIGNATURES AND THEIR PRESERVATION POTENTIAL.EXCELLENCE IN ASTROBIOLOGY MARS TAPHONOMY WORLD-CLASS LEADERSHIP IN THE EXPLORATION OF MARS ANALOGS DEEP INVOLVEMENT IN MARS MISSIONS AND PROGRAMMATIC DECISIONS AND ACCESS TO EXCEPTIONAL FIELD LABORATORY AND INSTRUMENT ASSETS UNIQUELY POSITION THE SI TEAM TO BRING TO THE NAI THE MEANS OF PROVIDING CRITICAL EXPLORATION GUIDELINES TO SUPPORT THE SEARCH FOR LIFE THE MARS.