NASA, University Researchers Discuss Search for Extraterrestrial Life

On Tuesday at 2 pm Eastern Time, researchers from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and professors from prominent universities, will reveal some of their efforts to discover the possibility of life in outer space. 

Among the topics, they will discuss the search for evidence of habitability and life on Mars. They will also reveal plans for exploring the habitability of Europa and Enceladus — the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, respectively — that have been identified as the best contenders for sustaining life. They will also discuss the progress in identifying signs of habitability on exoplanets.

Participants include John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for Science at NASA Headquarters; Vikki Meadows, professor of astronomy and principal investigator at the University of Washington's Virtual Planetary Laboratory; Britney Schmidt, assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology and principal investigator for the NASA-funded project Sub-Ice Marine and Planetary Analog Ecosystems; and Alexis Templeton, associate professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado-Boulder, and principal investigator for the NASA Astrobiology Institute Rock-Powered Life team. 

The briefing will be held during the 2015 Astrobiology Science Conference in Chicago June 15-19 in Salon A5 of the Hilton Downtown Chicago, located at 720 South Michigan Avenue. Those not in Chicago who are interested in watching the briefing and conference sessions online at can do so online at http://ac.arc.nasa.gov/abscicon