The NASA online discussion session on the Astrobiology Roadmap continues this week.
This morning there was a web chat on "Early Evolution of Life and the Biosphere", which is being followed up by an ongoing online discussion on the questions posed and soliciting ideas for priorities in research direction.
The questions being discussed are:
- How has the exponential growth in our discovery and understanding of exoplanets impacted the kinds of questions and information we extract from the early Earth record?
- Are there problems you think are vital to understanding the early evolution of life and the biosphere that have not yet been articulated by NASA?
- What types of approaches are needed to answer mechanistic questions about the early evolution of life and the biosphere, and which specific approaches are most helpful for particular types of questions?
It is critical that there be community input to these discussions.
The questions posed and ideas suggested will be factored into the current and immediate discussion on the future priorities for research in Astrobiology.
It is particularly important the junior researchers provide their perspective on what are the interesting and important questions do explore.