Blue Marble Space
United States
2022-03-03
YSP 2022 - Project led by Drs. Rios and Shkolyar-Neveu
When applying, please skip Work Opportunity Tax Credit Assessment question.
Project title: Helping define false positive and true negative signs of life for future NASA life-detection missions
Description: Detecting true signs of extraterrestrial life will be based on our understanding of what life is and how it interacts with its environment. The NASA Center for Life Detection (CLD) aims to support the planning of missions that will seek evidence of life beyond Earth. The CLD is currently developing tools for members of the astrobiology community to formulate their knowledge, research, and expertise for mission planning. One such tool, the Life Detection Knowledge Base (LDKB), is an online repository of signs of life, or biosignatures, organized according to a unique framework that is intended to guide testing and evaluation of in situ and remote biosignatures. The YSP Research Associate(s) will have the opportunity to work with the CLD team to (1) learn about the tool’s unique structure and usage, and (2) contribute content to it based on review and analysis of relevant scientific literature. The CLD is specifically looking to enhance LDKB content that will help with the identification of false positives and true negatives for future life detection missions to diverse Solar System targets (i.e., Titan, ocean worlds). The YSP will be able to choose topics for investigation and content development based on their interests. Applicants with an interest in any of the following fields will be best aligned for this internship and are highly encouraged to apply: Meteoritic analyses, astrochemistry, Titan chemistry, ocean worlds, prebiotic chemistry, and the origin of life.
Multiple positions available.
Skills sought: Junior or Senior standing in any major of science that has had general and organic chemistry and some biochemistry or molecular biology coursework. The internship requires a strong curiosity about astrobiology, life detection, and/or NASA missions, as well as basic experience with reviewing scientific literature or a willingness to learn.
Skills acquired through the internship: Learning how to quickly become familiar with the state of the art of a discipline while using the newly launched Life Detection Knowledge Base tool to support NASA mission planning. Develop a familiarity with the scientific literature to understand true vs. false signs of life
When applying, please skip Work Opportunity Tax Credit Assessment question.