Independent Review of the
Community Report from the
Biosignature Standards of Evidence
Workshop

Report Series—Committee on Astrobiology and
Planetary Sciences

_____

Committee on Astrobiology and
Planetary Sciences

Space Studies Board

Division on Engineering and
Physical Sciences

Consensus Study Report

NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001

This study is based on work supported by Contract NNH17CB02B/NNH17CB01T with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any agency or organization that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-69045-4
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-69045-5
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/26621

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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Independent Review of the Community Report from the Biosignature Standards of Evidence Workshop: Report Series—Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26621.

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COMMITTEE ON ASTROBIOLOGY AND PLANETARY SCIENCES

MARTHA S. GILMORE, Wesleyan University, Co-Chair

CHRISTOPHER H. HOUSE, The Pennsylvania State University, Co-Chair

ERIK ASPHAUG, University of Arizona

BETHANY L. EHLMANN, California Institute of Technology

KATHERINE H. FREEMAN (NAS), The Pennsylvania State University

ALEXANDER G. HAYES, Cornell University

SARAH M. HÖRST, Johns Hopkins University

EDWIN S. KITE, The University of Chicago

RAMANARAYANAN KRISHNAMURTHY, The Scripps Research Institute

MELISSA A. MCGRATH, SETI Institute

ALISON E. MURRAY, Desert Research Institute

CLIVE R. NEAL, University of Notre Dame

BETH N. ORCUTT, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

MATTHEW PASEK, University of South Florida

KARYN L. ROGERS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

NITA SAHAI, The University of Akron

DAVID J. STEVENSON (NAS), California Institute of Technology

Staff

DANIEL NAGASAWA, Program Officer, Space Studies Board, Interim Study Director

MEGAN CHAMBERLAIN, Senior Program Assistant, Space Studies Board

COLLEEN N. HARTMAN, Director, Space Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board

SPACE STUDIES BOARD

MARGARET G. KIVELSON (NAS), University of California, Los Angeles, Chair

JAMES H. CROCKER (NAE), Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (retired), Vice Chair

ADAM BURROWS (NAS), Princeton University

DANIELA CALZETTI (NAS), University of Massachusetts Amherst

JEFF DOZIER, University of California, Santa Barbara

MELINDA D. DYAR, Mount Holyoke College

ANTONIO ELIAS, Orbital ATK, Inc. (retired)

STEPHEN J. MACKWELL, American Institute of Physics

NELSON PEDREIRO (NAE), Lockheed Martin Corporation

MARK SAUNDERS, Independent Consultant

J. MARSHALL SHEPARD (NAS/NAE), University of Georgia

HOWARD SINGER, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

ERIKA B. WAGNER, Blue Origin, LLC

PAUL D. WOOSTER, Space Exploration Technologies

EDWARD L. WRIGHT (NAS), University of California, Los Angeles

ENDAWOKE YIZENGAW, The Aerospace Corporation

Staff

COLLEEN N. HARTMAN, Director, Space Studies Board

TANJA PILZAK, Manager, Program Operations

CELESTE A. NAYLOR, Information Management Associate

MARGARET A. KNEMEYER, Financial Officer

RADAKA LIGHTFOOT, Financial Associate

Preface

The Space Studies Board (SSB; and its predecessor, the Space Science Board) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has been involved in shaping the United States’ space science policy for 60 years. Through those years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sponsored studies through the SSB, seeking independent, scientific advice on how to craft its planetary science program through both the planetary science decadal surveys and individual reports by ad hoc committees.

In 2012, NASA asked the SSB to appoint and operate an ad hoc committee with the purpose of serving as an independent forum for identifying and discussing issues in astrobiology and planetary science between the research community, the federal government, and the interested public. As a result of this charge, the Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences (CAPS) was organized.

In July 2021, NASA Science Mission Directorate Planetary Science Division leadership requested that CAPS draft a report serving as an independent review of a white paper produced by the Biosignature Standards of Evidence Workshop. The workshop was convened by two of NASA’s Research and Coordination Networks to identify and address issues in the evaluation and communication of biosignature detection claims.

To gather information and discuss the issues, CAPS met four times in 2021 and 2022, virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, on the following dates: November 10-12, 2021, January 26, 2022, February 3-4, 2022, and March 23, 2022. A call for public input was also made by CAPS to gather information from as many stakeholders as possible. The call was announced to the public on February 1, 2022, and closed on February 18, 2022. A completed draft of this report was assembled on March 16, 2022.

The committee would like to thank Vikki Meadows (University of Washington), Heather Graham (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center [GSFC]), Sarah Walker (Arizona State University), Andrew Steele (Carnegie Institute of Washington), Linda Jahnke (NASA Ames Research Center), Jennifer Eigenbrode (NASA GSFC), Yuichiro Ueno (Tokyo Tech), Shawn Domagal-Goldman (NASA GSFC), Jill Tarter (SETI Institute), Mary Voytek (NASA), Giada Arney (NASA GSFC), Sara Seager (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Joel Achenbach (The Washington Post), Marina Koren (The Atlantic), and Ethan Vishniac (AAS Journals) for their presentations to CAPS.

Acknowledgment of Reviewers

This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.

We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Michael Manga (NAS), University of California, Berkeley, and Brian Hynek, University of Colorado Boulder. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.

Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1 INTRODUCTION

2 THE BIOSIGNATURE STANDARDS OF EVIDENCE WORKSHOP

3 COMMUNICATION OF A LIFE DETECTION RESULT

4 RELATIONSHIP TO THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS

APPENDIXES

A Statement of Task

B Acronyms and Abbreviations

C Committee and Staff Biographical Information

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