1 the Venus Life Equation Hypothesis Paper, Submitted to Astrobiology
The Venus Life Equation Hypothesis Paper, Submitted to Astrobiology Noam R. Izenberg* (noam.izenberg@jhuapl.edu, 443-778-7918, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), Laurel, Maryland, USA. ORCID: 0000-0003-1629-6478) Co-Authors D. M. Gentry, diana.gentry@nasa.gov, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA D J. Smith, david.j.smith-3@nasa.gov, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA M. S. Gilmore, mgilmore@wesleyan.edu, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA D. H. Grinspoon, grinspoon@psi.edu, Planetary Science Institute, Washington, DC, USA M. A. Bullock, bullock@stcnet.com, Science and Technology Corp., Boulder, CO, USA P. J. Boston, penelope.j.boston@nasa.gov, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA G. P. Słowik, grzegslowik@o2.pl, Institute of Materials and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zielona Góra, Poland *Corresponding author. Keywords: Venus, Astrobiology, Clouds, Habitability, Extremophiles, Evolution 1 Abstract Ancient Venus and Earth may have been similar in crucial ways for the development of life, such as liquid water oceans, land-ocean interfaces, favorable chemical ingredients and energy pathways. If life ever developed on, or was transported to, early Venus from elsewhere, it might have thrived, expanded and then survived the changes that have led to an inhospitable surface on Venus today. The Venus cloud layer may provide a refugium for extant life that persisted from an earlier more habitable surface environment. We introduce the Venus Life Equation - a theory and evidence- based approach to calculate the probability of extant life on Venus, L, using three primary factors of life: Origination, Robustness, and Continuity, or L = O • R • C.
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