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Searching for Life Across Space and Time: Proceedings of a Workshop (2017)

Chapter: Appendix B: Workshop Agenda

« Previous: Appendix A: Statement of Task
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Searching for Life Across Space and Time: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24860.
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B

Workshop Agenda

DECEMBER 5, 2016

8:30 a.m. Welcome

Michael Moloney, Director, Space Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board

8:35 Introduction to the Workshop

Jim Kasting, Workshop Planning Committee Chair

Session 1: Setting the Stage
Moderator: Jim Kasting, Penn State University
8:40 How Likely Is It that Life Exists off the Earth?

John Baross, University of Washington

9:15 Current Understanding of the Environmental Limits of Life and Life’s Interactions with Its Environment

Tori Hoehler, NASA Ames

9:50 Is Life a Cosmic Imperative: How Did Thermodynamics Force Life into Existence?

Eric Smith, Santa Fe Institute

10:25 Break
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Searching for Life Across Space and Time: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24860.
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Session 2: Habitable Environments in the Solar System
Moderators: Bethany Ehlmann, Caltech and Britney Schmidt, Georgia Tech
11:00 Habitable Environments on Present and Ancient Mars

John Grotzinger, Caltech

11:35 Habitable Environments on Ocean Worlds

Kevin Hand, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

12:10 p.m. Planning for the Exploration of Mars and Ocean Worlds

Ellen Stofan, NASA

12:30 Lunch (Poster Viewing Opportunity)
Session 3: Exoplanets
Moderators: David Des Marais, NASA Ames and Dimitar Sasselov, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
2:00 Current State of Knowledge of Exoplanets and Their Habitability

Vikki Meadows, University of Washington

2:35 Extrasolar Biosignatures: Thinking Out of the Box

William Bains, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

3:10 Break (Poster Viewing Opportunity)
3:30 Technology Needs to Discover Earth 2.0

Nick Siegler, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

4:05 Prospects for Ground-Based Characterization of Proxima Centauri b

Matteo Brogi, University of Colorado, Boulder

4:40 General Discussion: Practical Biosignatures that Can Be Exploited to Search for Life In Situ in the Solar System and from Afar on Extrasolar Worlds

Moderator: Gary Blackwood, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Searching for Life Across Space and Time: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24860.
×
Session 4: Poster Session
5:30 Small Bites, and Reception in Atrium
8:30 Adjourn for the Day
DECEMBER 6, 2016
Session 5: Life Detection Techniques
Moderators: Gary Ruvkun, Harvard Medical School and John Baross, University of Washington
8:30 a.m. Life Detection: 40 Years after Viking

Ben Clark, Space Science Institute

9:05 Signatures of Life as We Know It

Gary Ruvkun, Massachusetts General Hospital

9:40 Signatures of Life as We Don’t Know It

Steve Benner, the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution

10:15 Break: Poster Viewing Opportunity
Session 6: Instrumentation
Moderators: Phil Neches, Teradata Corporation and Nilton Renno, University of Michigan
10:45 In Situ Life Detection in the Context of Plume Fly Thru Missions

Morgan Cable, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

11:15 Life Detection Capabilities of LUVOIR and HabEx

Shawn Domagal-Goldman, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

11:45 In Situ Detection of Organics on Mars

Jen Eigenbrode, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

12:15 p.m. Instructions for Afternoon Breakout Groups

Jim Kasting, Workshop Planning Committee Chair

12:25 Lunch (Poster Viewing Opportunity)
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Searching for Life Across Space and Time: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24860.
×
Session 7: Future Directions
2:00 Breakout Groups
Focus Question: How Could Targeted Research Over the Next 5-10 Years Help Advance the State of the Art for Life Detection, Including Instrumentation and Precursor Research
Discussion Topics:
  1. In Situ Detection of Life as We Know It
  2. In Situ Detection of Life as We Don’t Know It
  3. Remote Detection of Life as We Know It
  4. Remote Detection of Life as We Don’t Know It
Moderators:
  1. Nita Sahai and Tanja Bosak
  2. Mark Thiemens and Steve Benner
  3. Vikki Meadows and Sushil Atreya
  4. William Bains and John Baross
3:15 Break (Poster Viewing Opportunity)
Session Moderators to Collect Thoughts in Preparation for Report Back to the Group
4:00 Report Back from Breakout Group
General Discussion
Moderator: John Grunsfeld, NASA (retired)
Session 8: Conclusions
5:30 Summary of Key Points Raised During the Workshop and Concluding Remarks

Jim Kasting, Workshop Planning Committee Chair

6:00 Workshop Adjourned
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Searching for Life Across Space and Time: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24860.
×
Page 90
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Searching for Life Across Space and Time: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24860.
×
Page 91
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Searching for Life Across Space and Time: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24860.
×
Page 92
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Searching for Life Across Space and Time: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24860.
×
Page 93
Next: Appendix C: Workshop Participants »
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The search for life is one of the most active fields in space science and involves a wide variety of scientific disciplines, including planetary science, astronomy and astrophysics, chemistry, biology, chemistry, and geoscience. In December 2016, the Space Studies Board hosted a workshop to explore the possibility of habitable environments in the solar system and in exoplanets, techniques for detecting life, and the instrumentation used. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

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