Exploring Astrobiology with Texas Dark Skies

February 28, 2025

I recently joined Deanna Rose form Texas Dark Skies for a conversation about astrobiology and the ongoing efforts to understand life’s potential beyond Earth. We discussed the distinction — and close connection — between astrobiology and space biology, and how both fields inform NASA’s broader approach to studying life in the universe.

The conversation touched on the scientific value of sample return missions, including the recent OSIRIS-REx findings that revealed all five nucleobases and fourteen of the twenty amino acids used by life on Earth. We talked about what these discoveries mean for understanding prebiotic chemistry across the solar system and how sample return missions, from asteroids to Mars, help calibrate our search for biosignatures and the building blocks of life.

We closed by discussing NASA’s citizen science seed funding program and the growing role of public participation in astrobiology, an encouraging sign of how engagement and discovery can advance together.

It was a thoughtful, wide-ranging conversation about what it means to study life in the universe and how interdisciplinary collaboration continues to shape the field. You can watch the full interview here on YouTube.