Ad Astra Volume 14 Number 1 2002

ON THE COVER: A sentient life form stands in the sea from whence its ancestors arose to embrace a living universe. Artwork: Keith Cowing/SpaceRef.com

Featured Articles:

• 10
  Astrobiology at T+5 Years
  The NASA Astrobiology Institute’s search for extraterrestrial locales where life may be found.
• By Baruch S. Blumberg and Keith Cowing
• 12
  The NASA Astrobiology Institute: Reaching Within and Beyond
  Terrestrial investigations as a construct to inform and focus on likely sources of extraterrestrial life.
  By Rosalind A Grymes, Ph.D.
• 19
  Finding Those Pale Blue Dots
  Finding terrestrial worlds using the latest science.
  By Jeff Foust
• 24
  How Do You Build a Tricorder?
  Future remote sensing technologies and their application.
  By Keith Cowing and Greg Schmidt
• 28
  A Sense of Place
  Planetary Protection: the perils and protocols in obtaining viable research subjects.
  By John D. Rummel and Margaret S. Race
• 32
  Life in Extreme Environments
  Extrapolating what may be encountered in space by studying extremophiles on Earth.
  By Lynn Rothschild, Ph.D.