Origin and Evolution of Life on Terrestrial Planets

A. Brack (1) , G. Horneck (2) , C. S. Cockell (3) , A. Bérces , N. K. Belisheva , Carlos Eiroa (4) , Thomas Henning (5) , Tom Herbst (5) , Lisa Kaltenegger (6) , Alain Léger , Réne Liseau (7) , Helmut Lammer (8) , Franck Selsis (9, 10, 11, 12) , Charles Beichman (13) , William Danchi (14) , Malcolm Fridlund (15) , Jonathan Lunine (16) , Francesco Paresce (17) , Alan Penny (18) , Andreas Quirrenbach (19) , Huub Röttgering (20) , Jean Schneider (21) , Daphne Stam (22) , Giovanna Tinetti (23) , Glenn J. White (18, 24)

1 CBM - Centre de biophysique moléculaire
2 DLR - Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt
3 PSSRI - Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute [Milton Keynes]
4 UAM - Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
5 MPIA - Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie
6 CfA - Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
7 Department of Radio and Space Science [Göteborg]
8 IWF - Space Research Institute of Austrian Academy of Sciences
9 LAB - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux [Pessac]
10 OASU - Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers
11 UB - Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1
12 L3AB - Laboratoire d'astrodynamique, d'astrophysique et d'aéronomie de bordeaux
13 NExScI - NASA ExoPlanet Science Institute
14 GSFC - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
15 RSSD - Research and Scientific Support Department, ESTEC
16 LPL - Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson]
17 INAF - Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica
18 RAL - STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
19 LSW - Landessternwarte Königstuhl [ZAH]
20 Leiden Observatory [Leiden]
21 OBSPM - Observatoire de Paris - Site de Meudon
22 SRON - SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
23 UCL - University College of London [London]
24 Department of Physics and Astronomy [Milton Keynes]

The ultimate goal of terrestrial planet-finding missions is not only to discover terrestrial exoplanets inside the habitable zone (HZ) of their host stars but also to address the major question as to whether life may have evolved on a habitable Earth-like exoplanet outside our Solar System. We note that the chemical evolution that finally led to the origin of life on Earth must be studied if we hope to understand the principles of how life might evolve on other terrestrial planets in the Universe. This is not just an anthropocentric point of view: the basic ingredients of terrestrial life, that is, reduced carbon-based molecules and liquid H2O, have very specific properties. We discuss the origin of life from the chemical evolution of its precursors to the earliest life-forms and the biological implications of the stellar radiation and energetic particle environments. Likewise, the study of the biological evolution that has generated the various life-forms on Earth provides clues toward the understanding of the interconnectedness of life with its environment.

Domaines: Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]; Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]

A. Brack, G. Horneck, C. S. Cockell, A. Bérces, N. K. Belisheva, et al.. Origin and Evolution of Life on Terrestrial Planets. Astrobiology, 2010, 10, pp.69-76. ⟨10.1089/AST.2009.0374⟩. ⟨hal-00522617⟩