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7 Leveraging Partnerships
Pages 144-154

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From page 144...
... Given the lack of business case in searching for life in the universe, however, the resources of the commercial sector can seem out of reach. The committee encountered two examples of nontraditional partnerships and collaborations that are successfully leveraging commercial sector technologies and capabilities and that have the potential to benefit the field of astrobiology or are actively doing so.
From page 145...
... The Demo first demo is internal with FDL staff and external advisors/coaches Document Phase Week 7 Document Draft Preparation of formal 20 minute presentation, including solution demo and draft paper -- presentation to senior NASA scientists and FDL staff Week 8 Presentations Teams fine-tune "TED Talk" style presentation and demo of their work, and prepare final draft of a paper -- presentation to review panel of NASA scientists and corporate/academic AI experts at FDL closing event NOTE: The Frontier Development Lab is an intensive 8-week project bringing together industry experts, experienced researchers, and early career scientists to solve problems in planetary science and astronomy using artificial technology and machine learning methods. SOURCE: Cabrol et al.
From page 146...
... There is potential in such a partnership model not only to better connect industry opportunities with government science, but also to forge connections between individual researchers and industry partners, or even sponsors. As mission technologies become increasingly complex, the nascent technologies required to accomplish mission goals are increasingly likely to exist outside of the space sector.
From page 147...
... Since 1993, private philanthropic endeavors have kept the search alive -- allowing the creation of the Allen Telescope Array in Hat Creek, California, and piggyback searches on the giant Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico. Interest is once again growing in the search for technosignatures (Harp et al.
From page 148...
... . Although these funds are being allocated more slowly than initially anticipated, Breakthrough Initiatives has already made significant contributions to projects such as Automated Planet Finder at Lick Observatory and the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.4 The funds are being spread across a range of activities -- from radio searches for extraterrestrial intelligence (Breakthrough Listen)
From page 149...
... Given the public interest in astrobiology, the search for life, and the search for life's origins on Earth, there may be potential for a similar arrangement in which a nonprofit foundation could identify and manage private and/or commercial partnerships, raise funds, and administer research, educational, and training programs in astrobiology while ensuring that the mission of NASA's Astrobiology Program is preserved and amplified. The proliferation of opportunities for furthering astrobiological research from the commercial sector, increasing numbers of high-risk, high-payoff philanthropic investments in astrobiology, and new partnership models create an environment in which there is little reason for NASA's Astrobiology Program not to participate.
From page 150...
... A coordinated space- and ground-based strategy for detecting exoplanet biosignatures, informed by a systems science approach, would be useful to make the best use of both of these powerful avenues. Recently, NSF and NASA acknowledged a shortage of high-precision radial velocity spectrometers capable of determining lower mass bounds for Earth-size exoplanets and available for follow-on observations in support of NASA missions such as Kepler and TESS.
From page 151...
... are anticipated to have high precision radial velocity spectrometers capable of determining the masses of transiting Earth-like exoplanets discovered by space telescopes. The addition of a coronagraph to either could allow direct imaging of the closest Earth-like planet, Proxima Centauri b, in the mid-2020s, well before any direct imaging mission recommended by the 2020 astronomy and astrophysics decadal survey could begin development.
From page 152...
... Such a steady funding steam would be the most efficient approach to supporting the development and construction of a direct-imaging space telescope capable of searching hundreds of nearby stars for possibly habitable exoEarths. Several models for how such an international body might be structured, organized, and funded exist; relevant examples include the following: • CERN,5 the European Organization for Nuclear Research, with 22 member nations, unites the worldwide community of researchers in the field of elementary-particle physics by the provision of state-of-the-art accelerators and ancillary facilities; • International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)
From page 153...
... 2018. "NASA Briefing: Planetary Science & Astrobiology." Presentation to the Committee on an Astrobiology Science Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe, January 16.


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