Abstract
The first part of this chapter contains a brief history of some of the key events leading to initiation of NASA’s Astrobiology program in the late 1990s. The perspective taken is than of a non-specialist and emphasis is placed on policy issues rather than key scientific discoveries. A basic conclusion that can be drawn from the circumstances surrounding the initiation of the program is that a combination of scientific results in diverse fields, combined with advanced planning by scientific community and NASA, enabled prompt exploitation of a political opportunity. The second part of this chapter concerns the findings and recommendations contained in a recent scientific and programmatic assessment of NASA’s activities in the general area of astrobiology. The basic conclusion of this study is guarded optimism that the program is on track.
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Notes and References
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Smith, D.H. (2004). Astrobiology in the United States. In: Ehrenfreund, P., et al. Astrobiology: Future Perspectives. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 305. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2305-7_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2305-7_18
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