Subject: SR2004 - 'Life on other Earths' (fwd)

From: "Alan Penny <[email-masked]>" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 17:19:52 +0000 (GMT)

Folks,
Alan Rodger said 'thanks' to us for sending this to the SSAP.
Alan
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 16:35:30 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Alan Penny <[email-masked]>" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Cc: [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked],
     [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked],
     [email-masked]
Subject: SR2004 - 'Life on other Earths'

Dear Alan,
Below is an 'exoEarths' input from some exoplanet people for the SR2004.
Regards, Alan
---------------------------------------------------------------

                    Life on other Earths
                    --------------------

  Alan Penny (RAL), Charles Cockell (BAS), Gerry Gilmore (Cambridge),
      Keith Horne (St Andrews), Hugh Jones (Liverpool JMU),
               and George Simnett (Birmingham)

Science
-------

   - Are there other planets like the Earth?

   - Do they have surface conditions suitable for life?

   - Do any show the oxygen tracer of existing life?

   - How does microbial life on our own Earth affect our own
     atmosphere, and how does this match with the atmospheres of
     other Earths?

Activities
----------

This is a 20M pound package of complementary activities building on
UK strengths. (The balance between them is to be defined.)

   - A UK contribution to the technology precursors to ESA's Darwin
     via ESA's Smart-3 (formation flying) and (possibly) NASA's FKSI
     (space infrared interferometry) missions.

   - Robotic search facilities to detect planetary systems and other
     Earths, and other observational and theoretical work on planetary
     systems.

   - A new biological and environmental programme of computer modelling
     studies of the roles and feedbacks of biota with the Earth's
     atmosphere and of laboratory studies to examine biogeochemical
     cycles in primitive photosynthetic organisms. The aim is to
     understand how changes in climate and microbial processes may
     influence our own atmosphere, and thus how they may influence the
     atmospheres of extrasolar Earth-like planets.

Timeliness in 2006-2010
-----------------------

The Darwin (2015) mission will address the first three science
questions. In 2006-2010 the UK could play a major role in the
development of the space technology for Darwin, of value in itself,
and also positioning the UK for a major role in Darwin.

Robonet and other robotic search facilities could find cool Earths at
the time that Eddington and Kepler are finding warm Earths. The other
observational and theoretical work would increase our understanding
of planetary systems.

The biological and environmental work will build on existing work in
allied fields and provide important information for the
interpretation of the Darwin observations of other Earths.

Distinctive
-----------

There is an opportunity now by making a cross-Council programme to
move the UK from its present significant role in these fields into a
world-leading role.

Multi-Council
-------------

This package mainly concerns funding by PPARC and NERC. But for these
fundamental scientific questions links are also already being forged
between PPARC, NERC, BBSRC, EPSRC and UK industry.

Out-reach Potential
-------------------

Enormous, not only in the 'search for life' and 'other Earths', but
also in 'understanding our own Earth'.

Industrial Benefits
-------------------

The development of space formation flying and interferometry will
have technology base in fields useful for commercial space missions,
and the studies of the atmosphere-biota links will have both
biological and environmental prospects.

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