Astrobiology 2023/2024

Introduction to exo/astrobiology. Requirements for life as we know it, relevance of carbon and water. Prebiotic chemistry, molecular evolution and cellular life. Fossil evidence on the origin of life. Extremophiles and life perspectives beyond Earth. The terrestrial analogues of Mars, Europa and Enceladus. Surface and sub-surface habitability. Space as an extreme environment. Astrobiological experiments in low earth orbit, and in cis-lunar orbit.