Astrobiology The Quest for the Conditions of Life
How did life originate in the universe? How did it all start after the creation of matter and the formation of elements in the stars? What are the pathways from the first organic molecules in space to the evolution of complex life forms on Earth and perha
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Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York Barcelona Hong Kong London Milan Paris Tokyo
Physics and Astronomy
ONLINE LIBRARY
http://www.springer.de/phys/
Gerda Horneck Christa Baumstark-Khan (Eds.)
Astrobiology The Quest for the Conditions of Life
With 133 Figures Including 39 Color Figures
i
Springer
Dr. Gerda Horneck Dr. Christa Baumstark-Khan DLR lnstitut fur Luft- und Raumfahrtmedizin Linder Hohe 51147 KOln, Germany e-mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Cover picture: An artist's view of the DARWIN mission of the European Space Agency. DARWIN will search for the signature of habitable or life-bearing planets around nearby stars from 2012 onwards. See also the contribution by B.H. Foing in this volume. (Courtesy by ESA and ALCATEL)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data. Astrobiology: the quest for the conditions of lifel Gerda Horneck, Christa Baumstark-Khan, eds. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 3540421017 (alk. paper) 1. Life-Origin. 2. Exobiology. I. Horneck, G. (Gerda) II. Baumstark-Khan, C. (Christa) QH325.A78 2001 576.8'3-dc21 2001049849 e-ISBN-13 :978-3-642-59381-9
ISBN-13 :978-3-642-63957-9 DOl: 10.1007/978-3-642-59381-9
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9,1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York a member of BertelsmannSpringer Science+Business Media GmbH http://www.springer.de © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2002 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 15t edition 2002
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Typesetting: camera-ready copies by the editors Cover design: Erich Kirchner, Heidelberg Printed on acid-free paper
SPIN 10792081
54/3141/ba
54 3210
Preface
This book guides the reader into the fascinating world of the newly emerging science of astrobiology. Its central focus is directed towards questions that have intrigued humans for a long time: Where do we come from? What is life? Are we alone in the Universe? They are jointly tackled by scientists converging from widely different fields, reaching from astrophysics to molecular biology and from planetology to ecology, among others. This spilling beyond the boundaries of classical sciences opens completely new opportunities for research, a state described by some contemporaries as the "Astrobiology Revo
