The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap

The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap provides guidance for research and technology development across the
NASA enterprises that encompass the space, Earth, and biological sciences. The ongoing development of astrobiology
roadmaps embodies the contributions of diverse scientists and technologists from government, universities,
and private institutions. The Roadmap addresses three basic questions: how does life begin and evolve,
does life exist elsewhere in the universe, and what is the future of life on Earth and beyond? Seven Science
Goals outline the following key domains of investigation: understanding the nature and distribution of habitable
environments in the universe, exploring for habitable environments and life in our own Solar System, understanding
the emergence of life, determining how early life on Earth interacted and evolved with its changing
environment, understanding the evolutionary mechanisms and environmental limits of life, determining
the principles that will shape life in the future, and recognizing signatures of life on other worlds and on early
Earth.