Would we know an alien life form if we saw one? How do we push beyond our own preconceived notions and current understanding of extraterrestrial life? How does studying deep-sea hydrothermal vents help us devise ways to find forms of life unlike our own? To learn more about efforts in detecting life outside of our own planet, join leading NASA scientists from the agency’s Astrobiology Program and NASA-funded researchers for this pre-conference media workshop.

A key component of NASA’s science strategy for exploring space includes a robust astrobiology discipline, and its relationship to understanding life's potential origin and distribution in the Universe.

In this three-hour workshop for credentialed media/press and science writers, hosted by NASA, experts will report on key focus areas surrounding the detection of life in in our own extreme environments, beyond our world, and beyond our own solar system. Plenty of time will be provided for questions and discussion.

Journalists and science writers will have an opportunity to learn about such developments as:

• Detecting evidence of life on the early Earth

• Exploring life in deep-sea hydrothermal vents

• Detecting life on Mars/instrument development

• Detecting life on Mars: Exomars 2020

• Detecting life on ocean worlds

• Agnostic biosignatures – what are they?

• Detecting evidence of habitability and life on exoplanets

Confirmed experts include:

• Mary Voytek, Senior Scientist, NASA Astrobiology Program

• Lindsay Hays, Deputy Program Scientist, NASA Astrobiology Program, Ames Research Center

• Chris German, Senior Scientist, Geology & Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

• Britney Schmidt, Planetary Scientist, Georgia Institute of Technology and Europa Clipper science team member.

• Sarah Johnson, Planetary Scientist, Georgetown University

• Giada Arney, Planetary Research Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

• Stephanie Getty, Planetary Research Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

• Abby Allwood, Planetary Scientist, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab

• Frances Westall, French National Centre for Scientific Research

*This press workshop is sponsored by NASA. Must provide media credentials to attend.

**Registration to AbSciCon 2019 is not required. However, it will not be live streamed.

NASA Astrobiology Media Workshop - "Life Detection: How Do We Do It?"