NASA's Astrobiology Roadmap

Because Astrobiology is such an interdisciplinary field, requiring input from a vast array of scientific areas, NASA decided to put together a document that outlines concepts and research "pathways" to help organize this still emerging field. It was first published in 2003, but is scheduled for regular updates to accommodate new discoveries. A large part of the Roadmap, and of Astrobiology in general, is dedicated to understanding the origin of life. Indeed, if scientists aren't sure as to how life originated on Earth, or what conditions are necessary (besides the mere presence of liquid water) for the emergence of life, how will they know what to look for on other planets, short of the presence of living creatures (or their obvious remains) in existence at the moment of exploration? Therefore, origin of life research, as well as research studying the evolution of life, is at the core of astrobiological initiatives.