NASA PROGRAMS AND MISSIONS HAVE BEGUN TO INCLUDE THE SEARCH FOR LIFE AS A PROMINENT OBJECTIVE. YET TRADITIONAL EXPLORATION PARADIGMS HAVE FOCUSED ON A BINARY APPROACH REGARDING THE SELECTION OF PLANETARY SITES OF INTEREST: THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF LIQUID WATER. THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO SUPPORT WORK ON A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION AND INTERPRETATION OF HABITABILITY AND BIOSIGNATURES FOR PLANETARY BODIES WITHIN AND BEYOND THE SOLAR SYSTEM. THIS FRAMEWORK MOVES BEYOND A BINARY CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF LIQUID WATER OR WHETHER A PUTATIVE BIOSIGNATURE IS BIOTIC OR ABIOTIC. INSTEAD THE EFFORT SEEKS TO CHARACTERIZE THE DEGREE OF HABITABILITY OF DIFFERENT PLANETARY ENVIRONMENTS BY CONSIDERING OTHER REQUIREMENTS FOR LIFE AND AIMS TO ASSESS THE ABILITY OF A BIOSPHERE TO PRODUCE DETECTABLE BIOSIGNATURES AFTER CONSIDERING ENERGY LIMITATIONS ON PRODUCTIVITY AS WELL AS BIOSIGNATURE DEGRADATION PROCESSES. BUT HOW WERE THESE BIOSIGNATURES EMPLACED INITIALLY? TO ADDRESS THIS THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO FURTHER SUPPORT RESEARCH ON HOW EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES CAN ALLOW LIFE TO EMERGE AND THEN EXPAND TO DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS? EVOLUTION THAT DRIVES INANIMATE MATTER TO BECOME ANIMATE HAS TO BE OPEN-ENDED I.E. CONTINUALLY PRODUCE NOVEL AND ADAPTIVE FORMS. ALSO ANY FORM OF LIFE THAT CANNOT LIBERATE ITSELF FROM THE INITIAL PREBIOTIC NICHE IS UNLIKELY TO SURVIVE. THUS IN ORDER FOR LIFE TO BECOME A PLANETARY PHENOMENON IT NEEDS TO EVOLVE A MECHANISM TO CONTROL ITS FUNCTIONS IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS WHILE PRESERVING THE MACHINERY OF OPEN-ENDED EVOLUTION. HOW THIS HAPPENS REMAINS LARGELY UNKNOWN. RECENT ADVANCES IN IN VITRO EVOLUTION TECHNIQUES HIGH THROUGHPUT SEQUENCING AND COMPUTATIONAL METHODS OF BIOINFORMATICS AND MOLECULAR MODELING WILL ALLOW US TO EXPLORE THIS ISSUE THROUGH SYSTEMATIC INTEGRATED SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY. THE SCIENTIFIC UNDERPINNING AND CONTEXT THAT ALLOW THIS RESEARCH TO BE PURSUED IN A RIGOROUS AND INFORMED FASHION IS CLEARLY DISPERSED THROUGH A DIVERSITY OF SOURCES AND DISCIPLINES. WITH THIS IN MIND THIS PROPOSAL SEEKS TO FURTHER SUPPORT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CENTER FOR LIFE DETECTION SCIENCE (CLDS) THE PURPOSE OF WHICH WILL BE TO: (I) COMPILE ORGANIZE AND CURATE A LIVING REPOSITORY OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNITY DIALOG RELATING TO LIFE DETECTION SCIENCE; AND (II) IDENTIFY AND RECOMMEND PRIORITY AREAS FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT THAT WILL BEST SUPPORT THE LIFE DETECTION ENDEAVOR. THE ACTIVITY WILL ADOPT AND BUILD ON THE LADDER OF LIFE DETECTION AS ITS BASIC STRUCTURE AND WILL USE THE HYPOTHESIS BROWSER AS THE FUNCTIONAL MEANS OF ORGANIZING INFORMATION AND MAINTAINING AN EVOLVABLE LIVING DOCUMENT.