Xenology

Astrobiology is an interdisciplinary field of scientific study that aims to answer fundamental questions about the origin, distribution and evolution of life in the universe. Its scope includes the origin and evolution of life on Earth, the search for extraterrestrial life, and the future prospects for life in the universe. Astrobiology is founded on the premise that life may exist beyond Earth, and posits that studying how life arose and developed on Earth may inform our search for life elsewhere. Astrobiology is closely related to (but distinct from) exobiology: by definition, exobiology is focused on the study of life beyond Earth, including human spaceflight and the prospects for human exploration of other planets. Research in astrobiology builds on interdisciplinary collaborations between experts in disciplines such as astronomy, astrochemistry, the Earth sciences, and the life and environmental sciences. The scope of the research includes exploration of potentially habitable environments in our Solar System, the discovery and characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets, elucidating conditions on the early Earth that may have given rise to life, the origin and evolution of terrestrail life, an the identification of biosignatures that may enable us to detect life elsewhere.