What are we?

Where do we come from?

Are we alone?

Sometimes it is the simplest questions that go unanswered.

NASA, in a bid to answer one or all of these questions, recently announced that it would provide $50 million worth of funding to seven research teams nationwide to study the origins, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. The teams specialize in astrobiology.

The research will not only serve to supplement NASA’s larger space exploration projects in search of extraterrestrial life, but it will also attempt to answer fundamental questions regarding the origins and aggregation of human life on the planet.

Though at first glance, NASA’s project might sound like an extravagant attempt to solve an impossible problem, I believe that it is a necessary step in the right direction.

Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters, confirmed that the latest funding will supplement the current space exploration programs, along with the proposed Mars 2020 program. “With the Curiosity rover characterizing the potential habitability of Mars, the Kepler mission discovering new planets outside our solar system, and Mars 2020 on the horizon, these research teams will provide the critical interdisciplinary expertise to help interpret data from these missions and future astrobiology-focused missions,” he said.

To put this quote into perspective, understand that there are two vital steps in the scientific process — collecting data and analyzing it. The problem is that there is huge disparity between the two. Given a large enough sample of data, numerous, and even contrasting, conclusions can be drawn from it, unless you know exactly what you are looking for.

Think about when your ear phones get hopelessly entangled. Untangling them can be an excruciating process, unless you find the right first knot to start with.  

This directly relates to NASA’s most recent research funding and how it can help other programs.

The goal of Curiosity, the Kepler mission and the proposed Mars 2020 is to extract viable geological, atmospheric and biological data pertinent to answering questions regarding the existence of life on Mars and elsewhere in the universe. To optimally analyze this data, we first need to understand the basics of what constitutes life and how it can aggregate in different environments — questions that the planned astrobiology research hopes to answer.

The Curiosity mission cost $2.5 billion, the Keplar mission approximately $600 million and the estimated cost for Mars 2020 is around $1.9 billion. 

These mammoth prices are a testament to the massive financial and human investment we have made so far in our quest to answer one of life’s most fundamental questions: Is there anyone else out there? 

The planned astrobiological research project is vital in meeting the end-goals of the work we have started with these programs, and in that sense, its existence and price tag are more than justified. 

Another beneficial aspect of investing in scientific research is its inherent inter-connectedness. Much like the domino effect, scientific research in one field might lead to advancements in another field or kick-start a completely new area of science. 

As researchers study how life originated on our planet and the biology of organisms that manage to exist in the harshest of environments, the discoveries they make could provide solutions to relevant problems that we presently face.  

For example, one of the teams receiving funding under the project will research to unlock the secrets of life’s transitions from small “units” conducting simple chemical reactions to self-organizing, self-reproducing, energy-gathering systems that range in complexity from single cells to ecosystems. Basically, they want to study how life started from  a single cell (an unseeable dot) and aggregated to form the animals and plants we see around us today.

This holistic study of biological systems might prove to be invaluable in our attempts to design sustainable ecosystems, reduce waste and tackle global warming. 

The possibilities are endless because under the planned project, scientists will endeavor to uncover some of the most basic truths that have eluded us.

The potential benefits that we could reap from this are a mouth-watering prospect and worth the financial and opportunity cost.

Lastly, at its very core, the question of whether life exits anywhere other than Earth, is one that fascinates each and every one of us.

For the average person this question of whether we are alone might be too overwhelming to even think about, yet I am convinced that we have and will continue to obsess over it.

I find it a little spooky that NASA’s announcement of their new project came three weeks before the release of Christopher Nolan’s latest biopic, “Interstellar,” which depicts mankind on the verge of extinction, on a mission to find a place to exist beyond our galaxy.

I imagine many will flock to the theatres to watch this movie because they are curious for an answer.

An answer that someone, in a laboratory somewhere, is working relentlessly to uncover.

Shivam is a senior in Engineering. He can be reached at [email protected].