← LeaderboardsInvestigatorsiAttributed = a PI's even-split share of each grant — a $1M grant with 2 PIs counts $500K each.
Blue Marble Space
Clayton, DE
$18,792,542
Total funding
23
Grants
Funding over time
peak $11.4M · FY2014–22$20M$15M$10M$5M$0
'14
'15
'16
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
Funding mix
By agency
NASA$18,089,711 · 21
NSF$702,831 · 2
By mechanism
—$18,792,542 · 23
Investigators at Blue Marble Space
InvestigatorsiAttributed = a PI's even-split share of each grant — a $1M grant with 2 PIs counts $500K each.
Exposure= the full size of every grant they're on ($1M each).
Rising Stars
First grant in the last 5 yrs
Not enough data
Emerging Leaders
6–10 yrs in
Not enough data
All-Time
Most funded here, all years
Not enough data
Largest grants
THE CURRENT EXTENSION CONTINUES THE OFFER OF A FRAMEWORK TO COST-EFFECTIVELY INTEGRATE RESEARCH USING A SUITE OF MODEL ORGANISMS TO TARGET COMPLEMENTARY QUESTIONS IN HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT BY PROVIDING TO NASA POST-BACHELOR APPRENTICE SCIENTISTS THE NEXT GENERATION OF SPACE BIOLOGY LEADERS TRAINED AS ONLY BLUE MARBLE SPACE CAN IN LABORATORY AND SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE IN EFFECTIVE SCIENCE COMMUNICATION AND IN THE BROADER ETHICS RELATED TO THEIR WORK. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVES OF THIS EXTENSION ARE TO CONTINUE OUR SUCCESSFUL WORK IN IDENTIFYING AND IN THE PROCESS LOWERING THE COST IN IDENTIFYING QUANTITATIVELY THE EFFECT OF SPACEFLIGHT ENVIRONMENT ON MODEL ORGANISMS AND HOW THEY TRANSLATE TO THE HUMAN. THIS IS ACHIEVED BY PROVIDING A COST-EFFECTIVE TALENT POOL AND LOW OVERHEAD (BLUE MARBLE SPACE (BMS) HAS A 10% FIXED OVERHEAD RATE) COMMUNICATE AND INTEGRATE RESEARCH FINDINGS WITH THE AMES SPACE BIOLOGY COMMUNITY BY FACILITATING INTERLABORATORY COMMUNICATION SPEAR-HEADED BY BMS POST-BACHELOR APPRENTICE SCIENTISTS (THEREAFTER: POST-BACS) AND CONTINUING THE TRAINING OF THESE POST-BACS IN EFFECTIVE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION AND ETHICS SKILLS. MORE SPECIFICALLY THIS EXTENSION WILL CONTINUE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COST-EFFECTIVE INTEGRATED SCIENTIFIC FRAMEWORK FURTHERING NASA S RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL NEEDS. IN PARTICULAR: OBJECTIVE 1: INVESTIGATE THE LOSS OF SKELETAL FUNCTION AT THE MOLECULAR PHYSIOLOGICAL AND CELLULAR LEVEL UNDER SPACEFLIGHT CONDITIONS AND DEVELOP COUNTER MEASURES. OBJECTIVE 2: INVESTIGATE CELL REGENERATION MECHANISMS UNDER SPACEFLIGHT CONDITIONS. OBJECTIVE 3: INVESTIGATE IMMUNE SYSTEM ADAPTATION TO SPACEFLIGHT. OBJECTIVE 4: INVESTIGATE CARDIOVASCULAR AND VASCULAR ADAPTATION TO SPACEFLIGHT. OBJECTIVE 5: INVESTIGATE EUKARYOTIC CELL ADAPTATION TO RADIATION EXPOSURE UNDER SPACEFLIGHT CONDITIONS. OBJECTIVE 6: INVESTIGATE ORGAN AND ORGANISM DEVELOPMENT UNDER SPACEFLIGHT CONDITIONS. OBJECTIVE 7: INVESTIGATE ORGAN AND ORGANISM DEVELOPMENT UNDER SPACEFLIGHT CONDITIONS. EXAMINE MICROBIAL DISPERSAL USING NASA BALLOONS AIRCRAFT AND THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.$6,405,047
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE PURPOSE OF CLD/RS IS TO CONDUCT RESEARCH TO BUILD CRITICAL KNOWLEDGE THAT IS PRESENTLY LACKING DEVELOP TOOLS THAT RECAST AND ORGANIZE EXISTING AND EMERGING KNOWLEDGE IN A WAY THAT FACILITATES ITS USE IN MISSION PLANNING AND SUPPORT THE TECH$2,916,387
· FY2022 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
LAVA TUBE CAVES OFFER PROTECTION FROM SURFACE HAZARDS AND MAY BE AMONG THE FEW HUMAN- OR ROBOT- ACCESSIBLE LOCATIONS ON OTHER PLANETS THAT COULD PRESERVE EVIDENCE OF MICROBIAL LIFE. THEY YIELD ACCESS TO THE SUBSURFACE AND ARE NATURAL SETTINGS WHERE BIOLOGY IS PROTECTED FROM ENVIRONMENTAL EXTREMES (SURFACE RADIATION THERMAL VARIATIONS) GEOLOGIC HISTORY IS EXPOSED AND PRESERVED AND SUBSURFACE RESOURCES (H20 LIQUID AND SOLID) MAY BE ACCESSIBLE. IT IS AN AUSTERE ENVIRONMENT FOR MICROBIAL LIFE WITH DRAMATIC CHANGES IN LIGHT MOVING INWARD FROM THE CAVE ENTRANCE. WE WILL CONDUCT TERRESTRIAL FIELD CAMPAIGNS IN WHICH WE COMPARE GROUND-TRUTH DATA COLLECTED FROM THE CAVE ENVIRONMENTS WITH MEASUREMENTS CONDUCTED USING A ROVER SCIENCE PLATFORM. THESE ACTIVITIES WILL BE COMBINED WITH INPUT FROM A REMOTELY LOCATED MISSION TEAM WHO WILL PROCESS OPERATIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC DATA COLLECTED BY THE ROVER AND ITS PAYLOAD. THIS WILL PROVIDE US WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO TEST THE PERFORMANCE AND CAPABILITIES OF THE ROBOTIC SYSTEM UNDER OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS AND CONDUCT FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH ON CAVE ASTROBIOLOGY.$2,231,227
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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.$1,863,336
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
A NEW ERA OF SPACEFLIGHT HAS BEGUN. THE SUCCESSFUL MAIDEN FLIGHT OF THE ORION TEST CAPSULE AND THE COMPLETION OF THE RODENT RESEARCH AND FRUIT FLY LA$1,221,727
· FY2015 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
HABITABILITY IS CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUSTAINED PRESENCE OF LIQUID WATER. THE CHEMICAL REACTION OF WATER AND ROCK REPRESENT A POSSIBLE CONTINUO$563,838
· FY2015 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE PROPOSED WORK SPANS A FIVE YEAR TIMELINE 2016-2020, AND BEGINS WITH THE CONTINUATION OF THE NASA AND THE NAVAJO NATION PARTNERSHIP. EACH YEAR, EI$480,492
· FY2016 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
CHIRAL MOLECULES ARE LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN IMPORTANT EARLY IN THE HISTORY OF LIFE ON EARTH BECAUSE BIOLOGICAL POLYMERS (E.G. PROTEINS AND NUCLEIC ACIDS) ARE HOMOCHIRAL: THEIR MONOMERS CONSIST OF ONLY ONE OF THE TWO POSSIBLE ENANTIOMERS. HOWEVER NATURALLY OCCURRINGCOMMON ABIOTIC SYNTHETIC PROCESSES THAT TAKE PLACE TODAY OR IN THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM WERE GENERALLY ASSUMED TO PRODUCE ONLY RACEMIC MIXTURES WHICH ARE EQUAL AMOUNTS OF ENANTIOMERS. THE FACT THAT LIFE ON EARTH HAS STRICT HOMOCHIRALITY MIGHT IMPLY THAT VERY EARLY THERE WERE UBIQUITOUS AND DETERMINING PHYSICAL FORCES THAT DIRECTED THE DIRECTION OF ENANTIOMER EXCESSES IN ORGANIC BIOPOLYMERS (E.G. THEY PREFERENTIALLY AIDED THE SYNTHESIS OF "L" AMINO ACIDS AND "D" SUGARS). HOWEVER THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF EXPERIMENTS THAT ATTEMPT TO CREATE ENANTIOMER EXCESSES BEGIN WITH PRE-MADE (PRE-SYNTHESIZED) PAIRS OF ENANTIOMERS E.G. THE SLIGHT PREFERENTIAL DESTRUCTION OF ONE ENANTIOMER BY RIGHT OR LEFT CIRCULARLY POLARIZED LIGHT (FLORES BONNER AND MASSEY 1977 JACS). LIKEWISE RESEARCH ON COMBINED MAGNETISM PLUS RADIATION (PHOTO-MAGNETIC) EFFECTS HAS SO FAR BEEN APPLIED (MOSTLY THEORETICALLY) TO INORGANIC COMPLEXES (ALSO ASSUMING PRE-EXISTING ENANTIOMERS) RESULTING IN THE PRODUCTION OF VERY SMALL (~ 10-4) EXCESSES BETWEEN ENANTIOMERS (RIKKEN AND RAUPACH 2000 NATURE). HOWEVER WE PROPOSE THAT PHOTO-MAGNETIC EFFECTS DURING ACTUAL SYNTHETIC REACTIONS (FORMOSE-LIKE REACTIONS) MIGHT BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SIGNIFICANT ENANTIOMER EXCESSES. THE PRODUCTS OF THESE REACTIONS WOULD BE BIOLOGICALLY RELEVANT ORGANIC COMPOUNDS: SUCH REACTIONS MAY HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANT ON THE EARLY EARTH AND OTHER SOLAR SYSTEM BODIES. PRELIMINARY RESULTS GIVE HINTS OF THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS PROPOSED WORK WOULD UTILIZE LABORATORY SIMULATIONS ORGANIC ANALYSES AND COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY (MAGNETIC EFFECTS ON ORGANIC COMPOUNDS) TO INVESTIGATE THE SCENARIO THAT RADIATION AND MAGNETISM MAY HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE EARLY GENERATION OF ENANTIOMER EXCESSES LIKELY REQUIRED FOR SUBSEQUENT LIFE. THE MAJOR ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES WILL INCLUDE CHIRAL ANALYSES BY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHYMASS SPECTROMETRY (GC-MS) LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY-MS AND POLARIMETRY. EQUIPMENT FOR SIMULATION EXPERIMENTS WILL INCLUDE LAMPS AND MAGNETS OF VARIOUS INTENSITIES. THE GOALS OF THIS PROPOSAL ARE HIGHLY RELEVANT TO THOSE OF NASA AND THE EXOBIOLOGY PROGRAM. ONE OF THE EMPHASES OF THE EXOBIOLOGY PROGRAM IS "PREBIOTIC EVOLUTION": ..."A MAJOR OBJECTIVE IS DETERMINING WHAT CHEMICAL SYSTEMS COULD HAVE SERVED AS PRECURSORS OF METABOLIC AND REPLICATING SYSTEMS ON EARTH AND ELSEWHERE ...". IT IS VERY POSSIBLE THAT PREBIOTIC HOMOCHIRALITY OR AT LEAST SIGNIFICANT ENANTIOMER EXCESSES MIGHT HAVE BEEN A NECESSARY PRECURSOR OF NUCLEIC ACIDS. IN LABORATORY MODEL SYSTEMS NUCLEIC ACID POLYMERS DO NOT FORM TO A SIGNIFICANT EXTENT IF THEIR MONOMER BUILDING BLOCKS ARE RACEMIC E.G. G. JOYCE ET AL. 1984 PNAS. SUCH RESULTS MIGHT IMPLY THAT REPLICATING MOLECULES (AS WE KNOW THEM) REQUIRED NEAR-HOMOCHIRAL BUILDING BLOCKS. OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH MAY AT LEAST REVEAL A POSSIBLE MECHANISM OF CREATING ENANTIOMER EXCESSES IN SUCH PRECURSORS DURING THE ACTUAL SYNTHESIS OF COMPOUNDS FROM REALISTIC AND WIDELY AVAILABLE PREBIOTIC MOLECULES.$472,993
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Collaborative Research: Biochemical, Genetic, Metabolic and Isotopic Constraints on an Ancient Thiobiosphere$470,080
· FY2017 · BIO
21-EXO21-0055 EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF METHANE PRODUCTION RATES BY AUTOTROPHIC METHANOGENS IN SERPENTINIZING$453,668
· FY2022 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES RNA WORLD THEORIES POSIT THAT RIBONUCLEIC ACID (RNA) STRANDS PLAYED A MUCH LARGER ROLE IN ANCIENT BIOLOGY THAN THEY DO NOW, ACTI$280,391
· FY2015 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
HABITABILITY IS CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUSTAINED PRESENCE OF LIQUID WATER. THE DETECTION OF SERPENTINE MINERALS ON THE SURFACE OF MARS, AND OF$241,588
· FY2014 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Collaborative Research: Establishing a Network and Framework for Informal STEM Education for Youth in Native Communities$232,751
· FY2022 · EDU
LIPIDS ARE ORGANIC MOLECULES OF GREAT INTEREST FOR FUTURE ASTROBIOLOGICAL PLANETARY EXPLORATION TO THE MOON MARS AND ICY WORLDS. LIPIDS ARE ESSENTIAL TO LIFE AS WE KNOW IT AND LIKELY ALSO TO PUTATIVE EXTRATERRESTRIAL ORGANISMS. LIPIDS ARE ALSO SYNTHESIZED ABIOTICALLY AND ARE HYPOTHESIZED TO BE PRESENT ON THE MOON. LABORATORY CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUES ARE WELL ESTABLISHED BUT ARE LABORIOUS OPERATOR DEPENDENT AND REQUIRE LARGE VOLUMES OF CONSUMABLES PRECLUDING IN SITU ANALYSIS. OUR SOLUTION IS TO DEVELOP AN AUTONOMOUS MINIATURIZED FLUIDIC SYSTEM INTEGRATING LAB TECHNIQUES FOR LIPID ANALYSIS WHILE MINIMIZING REAGENT VOLUMES AND CONCENTRATING ORGANICS FOR ANALYSIS THEREBY INCREASING SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIOS BY ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. THIS SYSTEM FOR FUTURE ASTROBIOLOGICAL AND LIFE-DETECTION MISSIONS (EITHER IN SITU OR SAMPLE RETURN) WILL EXTRACT LIPID ORGANICS FROM (ICY) REGOLITH USING (1) A FLUIDIC SAMPLE PROCESSOR MADE OF INERT MATERIALS COMPATIBLE WITH ORGANIC SOLVENTS AND (2) A MACHINE-LEARNING SYSTEM TO SELECT PROCESSING STEPS AND PARAMETERS TO MAXIMIZE LIPID YIELD. OUR TEAM OF ARC EARLY-CAREER ASTROBIOLOGISTS AND ENGINEERS WILL ADVANCE A BENCHTOP BREADBOARD FROM TRL 2 TO 4 OVER A 2-YEAR TIMEFRAME USING A MODIFIED SCRUM MANAGEMENT APPROACH. PARTNERS AT SHELL WILL CONSULT ON OPTIMAL LIPID-EXTRACTION TECHNIQUES FROM ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES. COUPLING THE BREADBOARD TO FLIGHT-HERITAGE ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION AT GSFC S PLANETARY ENVIRONMENT LABORATORY WILL PROVIDE AN ULTIMATE DIRT TO DATA DEMONSTRATION. OUR SUCCESS STRATEGY LEVERAGES THREE AREAS OF ARC EXPERTISE: (1) PROVEN DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF SPACEFLIGHT AQUEOUS MICROFLUIDIC PLATFORMS (2) GOLD STANDARD LIPID BIOMARKER LABORATORY ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES DEVELOPED AND REFINED OVER 50 YEARS AND (3) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING SUITABLE FOR IN-THE-LOOP ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF ROBOTIC ANALYTICAL SYSTEMS.$169,662
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
EVIDENCE FOR FLUVIAL FEATURES AND STANDING LIQUID WATER INDICATE THAT MARS WAS A WARMER AND WETTER PLACE IN ITS PAST HOWEVER CLIMATE MODELS HAVE HISTORICALLY BEEN UNABLE TO PRODUCE CONDITIONS TO YIELD A WARM EARLY MARS UNDER THE FAINT YOUNG SUN. SOME MODELS INVOKE THICK GREENHOUSE ATMOSPHERES TO PRODUCE CONTINUOUSLY WARM CONDITIONS WHILE OTHERS ARGUE THAT IMPACTS DURING THE LATE HEAVY BOMBARDMENT CAUSED TRANSIENT WARMING ON AN OTHERWISE COLD MARS. A THIRD OPTION SUGGESTS THAT EARLY MARS EXPERIENCED CLIMATE LIMIT CYCLES BETWEEN SHORT PERIODS OF WARMTH AND PROLONGED PERIODS OF GLACIATION DUE TO MODULATION OF GREENHOUSE WARMING BY THE CARBONATE-SILICATE CYCLE. ASPECTS OF ALL THESE MODELS MAY HAVE OPERATED DURING MARS' HISTORY: THE NOACHIAN EXPERIENCED HEAVY IMPACTS AND LARGE-SCALE VOLCANIC ACTIVITY WITH THE EARLIEST SIGNS OF FLUVIAL FEATURES WHILE THE HESPERIAN WAS LESS GEOLOGICALLY ACTIVE AND INDICATES EVIDENCE OF STANDING LIQUID WATER. THIS RESEARCH WILL INVESTIGATE THE CONFLUENCE OF AVAILABLE HYPOTHESES FOR WARMING EARLY MARS WITH AN ENSEMBLE MODELING APPROACH TO THE EVOLUTION OF CLIMATE ACROSS THE PLANET S GEOLOGICAL HISTORY. METHODS THIS RESEARCH WILL CALCULATE OBSERVATIONALLY-CONSISTENT TRAJECTORIES FOR THE CLIMATE HISTORY OF MARS USING AN OPTIMIZED ENSEMBLE OF ENERGY BALANCE MODEL (EBM) CLIMATE CALCULATIONS. THIS EBM HAS BEEN USED IN PREVIOUS STUDIES OF PLANETARY HABITABILITY TO IDENTIFY THE CONTRIBUTION OF FACTORS SUCH AS INCIDENT STELLAR FLUX VOLCANIC OUTGASSING RATE PLANETARY OBLIQUITY GREENHOUSE GAS INVENTORY AND ATMOSPHERIC MASS LOSS. THIS STUDY WILL EXAMINE THE CONFLUENCE OF ALL THESE FACTORS TO THE HISTORY OF LIQUID WATER ON MARS BY USING AN OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM THAT ITERATIVELY IMPROVES AN ENSEMBLE OF EBM SIMULATIONS WITH CONSTRAINTS BASED UPON KEY CHARACTERISTICS DURING THE NOACHIAN HESPERIAN AND AMAZONIAN. CANDIDATE TRAJECTORIES WILL BE EVALUATED AGAINST GENERAL CIRCULATION MODEL (GCM) CALCULATIONS TO ASSESS THE ROBUSTNESS OF THE EBM APPROACH. THE RESULTS OF THIS CLIMATE MODEL OPTIMIZATION WILL PROVIDE SEVERAL TRAJECTORIES FOR HOW THESE QUANTITIES HAVE CHANGED WITH TIME OVER THE HISTORY OF MARS FROM THE NOACHIAN TO THE PRESENT. RELEVANCE THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH IS RELEVANT TO NASA'S HABITABLE WORLDS PROGRAM AS A THEORETICAL STUDY OF PLAUSIBLE CLIMATE TRAJECTORIES TO EXPLAIN THE PAST PRESENCE OF SURFACE LIQUID WATER ON MARS. THE RESULTS OF THIS RESEARCH WILL CONSTRAIN "THE ASTROBIOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF PAST OR PRESENT ENVIRONMENTS ON OR IN THE MARTIAN SURFACE OR SUBSURFACE" (E.4-1) BY USING AN OPTIMIZED ENSEMBLE OF CLIMATE MODEL SIMULATIONS CONSTRAINED BY OBSERVATIONS. THE SCOPE OF THIS RESEARCH FOCUSES ON THE HABITABILITY OF EARLY MARS SO THIS PROPOSAL IS NOT RELEVANT TO THE EMERGING WORLDS PROGRAM THE EXOBIOLOGY PROGRAM OR ANY EXISTING DATA ANALYSIS PROGRAMS.$155,548
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
21-EXO21-0058 THE LIFE SPAN OF THE BIOSPHERE EXTENDED$152,592
· FY2022 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
WHEN TAKEN ILL IT IS A QUICK TRIP TO THE PHARMACY THAT PUTS YOU ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY...UNLESS YOU ARE IN SPACE. FOR SHORT MISSIONS IT IS FEASIBLE FOR AN ASTRONAUT TO CARRY A FEW GENERAL MEDICINES. MED KITS ON THE ISS FOR EXAMPLE INCLUDE SMAL$122,929
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
CARBONACEOUS CHONDRITES MAY HAVE PLAYED AN ESSENTIAL ROLE IN DELIVERING ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, SUCH AS NITROGEN HETEROCYCLES AND AMINO ACIDS, THAT MAY HA$99,000
· FY2014 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE CITRIC ACID CYCLE IS CENTRAL TO CELLULAR METABOLISM. IT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROCESSING CHEMICAL ENERGY AND USING INTERMEDIARY METABOLITES AS SYNTHETIC PRECURSORS FOR BIO-MOLECULAR BUILDING BLOCKS. IT IS THOUGHT THAT CYCLES RELATED TO THAT OF THE CITRIC ACID CYCLE MAY HAVE SPAWNED A PRIMITIVE METABOLISM. A FUNDAMENTAL GOAL IN THE STUDY OF THE ORIGIN OF LIFE IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW METABOLISM EMERGED IN THE PREBIOTIC ENVIRONMENT. THIS PROPOSAL IS ROOTED IN THE SEARCH TO EXPLAIN THE PREBIOTIC ORIGIN OF METABOLIC INTERMEDIATES IN A CITRIC ACID CYCLE-TYPE PREDECESSOR. THE PROPOSAL FOLLOWS ON A RECENT REPORT ON THE DETECTION OF MANY (NON-ENZYMATIC) CITRIC ACID CYCLE INTERMEDIATES IN CARBONACEOUS METEORITES AND SIMULTANEOUSLY THE LABORATORY DEMONSTRATION THAT PYRUVATE (A CITRIC ACID CYCLE PRECURSOR) LEADS TO THE FORMATION OF SEVERAL OF THESE KEY COMPOUNDS WITHOUT ENZYMES. HOWEVER THE CHEMICAL MECHANISMS OF HOW SUCH ABIOTIC REACTIONS PROCEED ARE LARGELY UNKNOWN. THE PROPOSED WORK INVOLVES DETAILED LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS AND WILL (1) ATTEMPT TO ELUCIDATE THE CHEMICAL MECHANISMS OF PYRUVATE CHEMISTRY THAT LEAD TO OXALOACETATE MALATE FUMARATE AND OTHER CITRIC ACID CYCLE COMPOUNDS AND (2) PERFORM QUANTITATIVE ANALYSES OF THE CORRESPONDING METEORITIC COMPOUNDS. METEORITIC ANALYSES WILL ALSO INCLUDE SEARCHES FOR (AND QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF) INTERMEDIATES IN THE FORMATION OF THE ABOVE COMPOUNDS. IF THE MOLECULAR AND ABUNDANCE PROFILES OF THIS SUITE OF METEORITIC COMPOUNDS ARE CONSISTENT WITH LABORATORY PYRUVATE CHEMISTRY THE RESULTS WOULD LEND EVIDENCE TO THE SUGGESTION THAT EARLY IN THE HISTORY OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM PYRUVATE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SEVERAL (CURRENTLY KNOWN) METABOLIC INTERMEDIATES. BY FOLLOWING THE TIME-COURSE OF ISOTOPE-LABELED LABORATORY REACTIONS THE STEADY STATE ABUNDANCES OF THE COMPOUNDS CAN ALSO BE ASSESSED E.G. COULD RELATIVELY FRAGILE COMPOUNDS SUCH AS OXALOACETATE HAVE PERSISTENT LONG ENOUGH ON THE ANCIENT EARTH FOR INCORPORATION INTO PROTO-CELLS? THIS PROPOSAL WILL INVOLVE BOTH SYNTHETIC AND ANALYTICAL EXPERIMENTATION TO INVESTIGATE THE SCENARIO THAT PYRUVATE MAY HAVE BEEN THE PRECURSOR OF KEY METABOLIC INTERMEDIATES ON THE EARLY EARTH AS WELL AS EXTRATERRESTRIAL SETTINGS. THE MAJOR ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES WILL BE GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY (GC-MS) LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY-MS AND NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (NMR). GC-ISOTOPE RATIO MASS SPECTROMETRY (GC-IRMS) WILL BE USED FOR COMPOUND-SPECIFIC ISOTOPE (13C) ANALYSIS IN YEAR THREE OF THE PROPOSAL. RELEVANCE OF PROPOSED WORK: INCLUDED IN NASA'S STRATEGIC PLAN IS THE OBJECTIVE OF UNDERSTANDING HOW LIFE BEGINS AND EVOLVES. CARBONACEOUS METEORITES PROVIDE THE ONLY RECORD YET AVAILABLE FOR THE LABORATORY STUDY OF A WIDE RANGE OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS THAT WERE PRESENT ON (DELIVERED TO) THE EARLY PLANETS. ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN ANCIENT EXTRATERRESTRIAL BODIES ARE INDICATORS OF CHEMICAL PROCESSES THAT OCCURRED BEFORE THE DAWN OF LIFE AND POSSIBLY LEAD TO LIFE ITSELF. BY STUDYING CARBONACEOUS METEORITES AND THE FATE OF THEIR ORGANIC COMPOUNDS WE START TO UNDERSTAND THE APPARENTLY GENERAL PROCESS OF CHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF MOLECULES FROM INTERSTELLAR SPACE TO THEIR INCORPORATION INTO PLANETESIMALS I.E. OTHER SOLAR SYSTEMS. THIS INCREASES OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROCESSES IN THE DISTANT PAST (AND TODAY) THAT LEAD TO LIFE THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE.$98,000
· FY2017 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE ORBITAL HABITABLE ZONE ORBITAL HZ DESCRIBES A PLANETS ABILITY TO SUSTAIN LIQUID WATER ON ITS SURFACE AS A FUNCTION OF ITS ECCENTRICITY, OBLIQUITY$70,950
· FY2015 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration