AS PART OF NASA S NEW PROGRAMMATIC INFRASTRUCTURE IN SUPPORT OF THE ASTROBIOLOGY PROGRAM WE ARE PROPOSING A RESEARCH COORDINATION NETWORK FOR OCEAN WORLDS (NOW). THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF NOW IS ADVANCING COMPARATIVE STUDIES TO CHARACTERIZE EARTH AND OTHER OCEAN WORLDS ACROSS THEIR INTERIORS OCEANS AND CRYOSPHERES INVESTIGATE THEIR HABITABILITY SEARCH FOR BIOSIGNATURES AND UNDERSTAND LIFE IN RELEVANT OCEAN WORLD ANALOGUES AND BEYOND. THIS GOAL WILL BE ACHIEVED BY COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION ACROSS A VIRTUAL NETWORK OF SCIENTISTS THAT ARE SUPPORTED BY NASA TO CONDUCT DIVERSE RESEARCH RANGING FROM OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM OCEAN WORLDS TO THE OCEANS AND CRYOSPHERE OF EARTH WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR ASTROBIOLOGY. NOW WILL BE LED BY AN INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM TO FOSTER INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THESE FIELDS OF INQUIRY AND ADVANCE TECHNICAL CONCEPTS FOR ASSESSMENT OF HABITABILITY AND BIOSIGNATURE DETECTION IN REMOTELY SENSED AND IN SITU STUDIES. THIS RESEARCH COORDINATION NETWORK WILL ENHANCE COLLABORATION AND COMMUNICATION ACROSS DISCIPLINES AND INSTITUTIONS AT THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVELS TO ADVANCE OCEAN WORLDS ASTROBIOLOGY RESEARCH. NOW WILL MEET TWSC PROGRAM GOALS IN THAT IT WILL (I) INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF INVESTIGATORS THROUGH ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC/TECHNICAL TRAINING (II) INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF INVESTIGATORS THROUGH THE OPEN EXCHANGE OF IDEAS AND (III) EXPOSE INVESTIGATORS TO NEW SUBJECT AREAS. THROUGH THESE SYNERGISTIC PROGRAMMATIC EFFORTS NOW WILL FOSTER CREATIVE INSIGHTS THAT WILL FEED FORWARD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW OCEAN WORLDS AND EARTH OBSERVATIONAL MISSIONS. NOW WILL ADVANCE THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF NASA S PLANETARY SCIENCE AND EARTH SCIENCE DIVISIONS BY ADDRESSING THE POTENTIAL FOR LIFE ELSEWHERE AND STUDYING PLANET EARTH FROM SPACE TO ADVANCE SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE IN REMOTE (OCEAN CRYOSPHERE) ENVIRONMENTS AND TO MEET SOCIETAL NEEDS.