The Search for Life's Origins -- Copyright -- Foreword -- Contents -- Executive Summary -- OVERVIEW -- THE COSMIC HISTORY OF THE BIOGENIC ELEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS -- EARLY PLANETARY ENVIRONMENTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR CHEMICAL EVOLUTION AND THE ORIGIN OF LIFE -- THE ORIGIN OF LIFE -- THE EVOLUTION OF CELLULAR AND MULTICELLULAR LIFE -- SEARCH FOR LIFE OUTSIDE THE SOLAR SYSTEM -- MAJOR RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS -- Recommendations Requiring Flight Opportunities -- Mars -- Comets and Asteroids -- Titan and the Giant Outer Planets -- The Interstellar Medium and Cosmic Dust Particles -- Recommendations Requiring Ground-Based Studies -- Chemical Evolution and the Origin of Life -- Mars-Related Studies -- Studies Related to Comets and Asteroids -- Studies Related to Titan and the Giant Outer Planets -- Studies Related to the Interstellar Medium and Dust -- Studies Related to the Search for Life Outside the Solar System -- SPACE SCIENCE PROGRAM AND POLICY ISSUES -- 1 Overview -- 2 The Cosmic History of the Biogenic Elements and Compounds -- INTRODUCTION -- SYSTEMATIC STUDIES OF INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS -- COMPLEX MOLECULES -- STAR-FORMING REGIONS AND THE SUBMILLIMETER SPECTRAL RANGE -- GRAIN INTERRELATIONSHIPS -- INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY AND ASTRONOMY -- GRAIN INTERACTIONS -- Future Investigations -- ASTEROIDS -- Future Investigations -- METEORITES -- Future Investigations -- COMETS AND INTERPLANETARY DUST PARTICLES -- Comets -- Interplanetary Dust Particles -- Future Investigations -- 3 Early Planetary Environments: Implications for Chemical Evolution and the Origin of Life -- INTRODUCTION -- THE OUTER PLANETS -- THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS -- Earth -- Accretion by Impacts -- Tectonics and the Development of Earth's Early Atmosphere and Hydrosphere -- Impacts and Their Influence on Environmental Conditions for the Origin Maintenance of Life -- Mars -- Aqueous Environments.

Differences between Mars and Earth -- Large Impacts on Mars -- Prospects for Chemical Evolution and the Origin of Life on Mars -- 4 The Origin of Life -- 5 The Evolution of Cellular and Multicellular Life -- INTRODUCTION -- Metabolic Diversity -- PRIORITY CONSIDERATIONS -- 6 Search for Life outside the Solar System -- INTRODUCTION -- APPROACHES TO THE DETECTION OF LIFE OUTSIDE THE SOLAR SYSTEM -- SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES -- MEASUREMENT REQUIREMENTS -- Detecting Extrasolar Planets -- Indirect Detection -- Direct Detection -- Studying Nebulae and Disks -- Spectroscopic Analyses of Planetary Atmospheres -- Searching for Extraterrestrial Technologies -- Technologies That Generate Electromagnetic Signals -- Technologies That Do Not Generate Electromagnetic Signals -- Available Measurement Accuracies -- 7 Major Research Recommendations -- RECOMMENDATIONS REQUIRING FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES -- Mars -- Comets and Asteroids -- Titan and the Giant Outer Planets -- The Interstellar Medium and Cosmic Dust Particles -- RECOMMENDATIONS REQUIRING GROUND-BASED STUDIES -- Chemical Evolution and the Origin of Life -- Mars-Related Studies -- Studies Related to Comets and Asteroids -- Studies Related to Titan and the Giant Outer Planets -- Studies Related to the Interstellar Medium and Dust -- Studies Related to the Search for Life outside the Solar System -- 8 Space Science Program and Policy Issues -- ACCESS TO MISSIONS -- MEASURES TO ENHANCE RESEARCH IN CHEMICAL EVOLUTION AND PLANETARY BIOLOGY -- References -- Glossary -- Appendix -- COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND RESOURCES -- List of Members -- Index.