The research of the NASA Ames team consists of three Modules, each of which has well defined tasks but that integrates into the other two. The ultimate goal is to move beyond identifying particular molecules, ions, or radicals present in astronomical objects to understanding their place in the dynamics of the chemical evolution of different astrophysical environments, with particular attention to the formation sites of new planetary systems and our own Solar System.
This team is structured as an integrated, coherent program of astrochemical experiments, quantum chemical computations, disk modeling, and observations of astronomical sources. The NAI Ames team seeks a greater understanding of chemical processes at every stage in the evolution of organic chemical complexity, from quiescent regions of dense molecular clouds, through all stages of cloud collapse, protostellar disk, and planet formation, and ultimately to the materials that rain down on planets, and understanding how these depend on environmental parameters like the ambient radiation field and the abundance of H 2O. However, processes involving a wider range of astrophysically-relevant molecules on relevant minerals and ices have been largely unexplored. Studies of the role of surface chemistry on astrophysically relevant solids have just begun, with laboratory work investigating surface reactions of atoms and simple molecules. From this work it is clear that ices play important roles not only as repositories of reactants, but also as structures that mediate the reactions that occur on and in them. For the past thirty years, laboratories around the world have simulated UV photochemistry and cosmic-ray bombardment processes on interstellar and Solar System ice analogs that reveal the central role these ices play in the astrobiology and astrochemistry in star and planet-forming regions. Within molecular clouds, the birthplace of stars and planets, most of these elements are frozen onto small, cold dust grains where they are processed into more complex molecules by UV photons, cosmic rays, and catalytic surface reactions. Once in the ISM, the ejecta are modified by physical and chemical processes such as UV and cosmic ray irradiation, gas-phase reactions, accretion and reaction on grain surfaces, and shock waves. Apart from H, the evolution of these biogenic elements starts with their nucleosynthesis in stars and ejection into the interstellar medium ( ISM).
Life on Earth is tied to the abiotic formation and chemical history of compounds based mainly on the elements C, H, N, O, S, and P. The Evolution of Prebiotic Chemical Complexity and the Organic Inventory of Protoplanetary Disks and Primordial Planets If you find any errors on this page contact Al Globus.You are viewing an emeritus team. Please credit photos to NASA Ames Research Center. Multiple two-cylinder colonies aimed toward the sun. Interior view looking out through large windows.Įclipse of the sun with view of clouds and vegetation. The Bernal Sphere is a point design with a spherical living area.Īgricultural modules in cutaway view (multiple toroids).Įxterior view of a double cylinder colony. These have been scanned and are available here as small, medium, large, and publication quality jpeg images. Three space colony summer studies were conducted at NASA Ames in the 1970s. Space Colony Artwork 1970s Space Colony Art from the 1970s
0 kommentar(er)
