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5 Evolution in the Technology and Programmatic Landscape
Pages 87-100

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From page 87...
... Although the Kepler mission finished its extended phase in 2017, and the follow-on Kepler K2 mission concluded this year, NASA's follow-on space transit photometry telescope -- the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) -- launched successfully on April 18, 2018.
From page 88...
... Using direct imaging of reflected light from the host star, ground-based GSMTs will provide the angular resolution and sensitivity to image reflected-light habitable planets orbiting nearby low-mass main-sequence stars of M- and possibly K-types (see, e.g., Kopparapu et al. 2018, for a means to estimate the number of exoplanets expected to be seen using direct-imaging missions)
From page 89...
... Comparatively modest investments might be sufficient to transform such instruments, including miniaturized mass spectrometers and DNA sequencers (see Box 5.1) for rapid sample analyses, into capable spacecraft hardware able to address astrobiological mission goals and/or ensure compliance with appropriate planetary protection requirements (Box 6.2)
From page 90...
... FIGURE 5.1.1  MinION USB-powered device for single-molecule DNA sequencing. SOURCE: Reproduced with permission © Oxford Nanopore Technologies.
From page 91...
... Finding: The commercial availability of compact, low-power, RNA and DNA sequencing devices could contribute significantly to the robustness of the current portfolio of life detection technologies. Finding: Current technology for DNA amplification and sequencing may be useful for in situ detection of terrestrial contamination and lifeforms that are closely related to terran life, but at present, they are not suf ficiently agnostic to the subunit composition of an informational heteropolymer.
From page 92...
... Such elements identified by the committee include a risk-averse environment that in some cases may stifle the selection of high-risk, high-payoff instrumentation and missions, relaxed specification for proposer-derived success criteria, and the need for innovative instruments and complex sample handling systems. Perhaps even more importantly, the planetary exploration program has remained deeply rooted in the nonbiological sciences dating back to the Apollo sample analysis program and the early Mariner flyby missions to Mars and Mercury.
From page 93...
... Finding: Current NASA instrument evaluation and selection policies favor low risk technologies with, in some cases, potentially low scientific payoff. This inhibits development and selection of potentially game changing life-detection technologies.
From page 94...
... , has been admirably forward thinking with regards to community building, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and cooperation, and facilitating major advances in astrobiology and planetary research. The NASA Astrobiology Program has made valuable investments in training, growth, and diversification of the next generation of astrobiologists through several platforms that target early career scientists, including the Astrobiology Graduate Conference and FameLab.1 From 2012 through 2016, the NASA Astrobiology Program sponsored FameLab competitions across the United States to improve and expand the communication skills of early career scientists.
From page 95...
... These proposals will provide the critical initial characterization of the telescope's performance for exoplanets, as a first step toward habitable-zone planet characterization and biosignature searches with JWST. It is also noteworthy that individual crossdivisional collaborations to study exoplanet environments are being fostered at NASA centers -- for example, the Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.3 One of the major goals of the Astrobiology Program is to advance astrobiology on NASA missions, and while the participation of astrobiologists has enabled significant progress in understanding how JWST and the future Large Ultraviolet/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR)
From page 96...
... . Furthermore, processing of subsurface samples obtained from drill cores needs to avoid significant physical and chemical alteration, including cementation and crosscontamination, before distribution to astrobiology science instruments (e.g., Richter and Senatore 2015)
From page 97...
... 2012. Application of Raman spectroscopy to the study of graphitic carbons in the Earth sciences.
From page 98...
... 2016. "The Need for Laboratory Work to Aid in the Understanding of Exoplanetary Atmospheres." White paper submitted to the NASA Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS)
From page 99...
... 2018. "Mars Subsurface Access: From Sounding to Drilling." White paper submitted to the Committee on an Astrobiology Science Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe.
From page 100...
... 2017. "Exoplanet Biosignatures: Future Directions." White paper submitted to the NASA NExSS Exoplanet Biosignatures Workshop, arXiv:1705.08071.


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