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Astrobiology: Search for Biosignatures in Our Solar System and Beyond

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Astrobiology: Search for Biosignatures in Our Solar System and Beyond ASTROBIOLOGY: SEARCH FOR BIOSIGNATURES IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION DECEMBER 4, 2013 Serial No. 113–57 Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://science.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 86–895PDF WASHINGTON : 2013 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HON. LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas, Chair DANA ROHRABACHER, California EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas RALPH M. HALL, Texas ZOE LOFGREN, California F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois Wisconsin DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas ERIC SWALWELL, California PAUL C. BROUN, Georgia DAN MAFFEI, New York STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi ALAN GRAYSON, Florida MO BROOKS, Alabama JOSEPH KENNEDY III, Massachusetts RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois SCOTT PETERS, California LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana DEREK KILMER, Washington STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas AMI BERA, California BILL POSEY, Florida ELIZABETH ESTY, Connecticut CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming MARC VEASEY, Texas DAVID SCHWEIKERT, Arizona JULIA BROWNLEY, California THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky MARK TAKANO, California KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota ROBIN KELLY, Illinois JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma RANDY WEBER, Texas CHRIS STEWART, Utah CHRIS COLLINS, New York (II) C O N T E N T S December 4, 2013 Page Witness List ............................................................................................................. 2 Hearing Charter ...................................................................................................... 3 Opening Statements Statement by Representative Lamar S. Smith, Chairman, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ..................... 7 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 8 Statement by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking Minority Mem- ber, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Rep- resentatives ........................................................................................................... 8 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 9 Witnesses: Dr. Mary Voytek, Senior Scientist for Astrobiology, Planetary Science Divi- sion, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 10 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 13 Dr. Sara Seager, Class of 1941 Professor of Physics and Planetary Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 18 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 20 Dr. Steven Dick, Baruch S. Blumberg Chair of Astrobiology, John W. Kluge Center, Library of Congress Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 27 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 29 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 35 Appendix I: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions Dr. Mary Voytek, Senior Scientist for Astrobiology, Planetary Science Divi- sion, National Aeronautics and Space Administration ..................................... 58 Dr. Sara Seager, Class of 1941 Professor of Physics and Planetary Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology .............................................................. 70 Dr. Steven Dick, Baruch S. Blumberg Chair of Astrobiology, John W. Kluge Center, Library of Congress ................................................................................ 75 (III) ASTROBIOLOGY: SEARCH FOR BIOSIGNATURES IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2013 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY, Washington, D.C. The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:05 a.m., in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Lamar Smith [Chairman of the Committee] presiding. (1) 2 3 4 5 6 7 Chairman SMITH. The Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- nology will come to order. Welcome to today’s hearing titled ‘‘Astrobiology: the Search for Biosignatures in our Solar System and Beyond.’’ I will recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement and then recog- nize the Ranking Member. The search for exoplanets and Earth-like planets is a relatively new but inspiring area of space exploration. Scientists are discov- ering solar systems in our own galaxy that we never knew existed. As we learn more about these new worlds, reasonable questions to ask are: what can we find on these planets? Do the atmospheres of these planets provide biosignatures that would indicate the pres- ence of some form of rudimentary life? And what would be the im- plications of such a discovery? The discovery of even microbes on another planet would be the most newsworthy story in decades. It could affect the way we view our place in the universe and it could create increased interest in the core disciplines of astrobiology including chemistry, physics, ge- ology and biology. The United States has pioneered the field of astrobiology and continues to lead the world in this type of research. The publication of scientific findings illustrates the field’s growth and growing pop- ularity in the past 20 years. A sample of professional papers published in Science magazine between 1995 and 2013 shows significant growth in the field of astrobiology. For example, in 1995, fewer than 50 papers were pub- lished on astrobiology. By 2012, that number had increased to more than 500. In 1995, fewer than 500 scientific reports cited astrobiology, but by 2012, it was almost 12,000. Astrobiologists study the atmospheres of planets to determine whether or not some of these newly discovered planets possess pos- sible signs of life such as microbes or some form of vegetation. Sci- entists believe that such planets would produce certain gases in their atmospheres. For example, when examined from a distance, Earth’s atmosphere contains large amounts of oxygen. When looked at through a large infrared telescope, the biosignature would be de- tectable from a distant point in space. Using the infrared camera on the Hubble Space Telescope, two teams of scientists from the University of Maryland, NASA’s God- dard Space Flight Center, and the Space Science Telescope Insti- tute announced just yesterday that they had found signatures of water in the atmospheres of five exoplanets. The planets are simi- lar to what are called hot Jupiters, too large and gaseous to contain any form of known life. However, the techniques used in this case are also being used to examine the atmospheres of other planets. Future telescopes, including the James Webb Space Telescope, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey satellite, and the Wide Field In- frared Survey Telescope will help us discover more about the atmospheres of exoplanets and whether or not microbes or other forms of life could exist there. I look forward to hearing how research in astrobiology continues to expand this fascinating frontier. That concludes my opening statement. [The prepared statement of Mr. Smith follows:] 8 PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN LAMAR S. SMITH Chairman Smith: Good morning. The search for exoplanets and Earth-like planets is a relatively new but inspiring area of space exploration. Scientists are discovering solar systems in our own galaxy that we never knew existed. As we learn more about these new worlds, reasonable questions to ask are: What could we find on these worlds? Do the atmospheres of these worlds provide biosigna- tures that would indicate the presence of some form of rudimentary life? And what would be the implications of such a discovery? The discovery of even microbes on another planet would be the most newsworthy story in decades. It could affect the way we view our place in the universe. It could create increased interest in the core disciplines that fall under the umbrella of astrobiology, including chemistry, physics, geology and biology. The United States pioneered the field of astrobiology and continues to lead the world in this type of research. The publication of scientific findings illustrates the field’s growth and growing popularity in the past 20 years. A sample of professional papers published in Science magazine between 1995 and 2013 shows significant growth in the field of astrobiology. In 1995, fewer than 50 papers were published on astrobiology. By 2012, that number had increased to more than 500. In 1995, fewer than 500 scientific reports cited astrobiology, but by 2012, it was almost 12,000. Astrobiologists study the atmospheres of planets to determine whether or not some of these newly discovered planets possess possible signs of life, such as mi- crobes or some form of vegetation.
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