| Session Details | |
| Section | PS - Planetary Sciences |
| Session Title | Origin and Evolution of Habitable Planets and Satellites |
| Main Convener | Dr. Yasuhito Sekine (The University of Tokyo, Japan) |
| Co-convener(s) | Dr. Rajmal Jain (Physical Research Laboratory, India) Prof. John Hernlund (Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan) Prof. Akihiko Yamagishi (Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science, Japan) Prof. Feng Tian (Tsinghua University, China) Dr. Steven Vance (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, United States) |
| Session Description | The influx of new data from solar system exploration, the rapid pace of discoveries of exoplanets, and progress in both theories and experiments on planetary formation and evolution potentially allows us to evaluate habitability in the solar system and beyond more concretely than in the past. In parallel to the works on characterization of habitable environments on other planets and satellites, generalization of co-evolution of our planet and life are essential to the search for biomarkers beyond Earth. The assessment of planetary habitability requires breakthroughs as well as integration at the frontiers of life science, Earth science, chemistry, planetary science, and astronomy. This proposed session covers a wide range of topics related to characterization of planetary environments, exploration of life in space, theory and experiments to understand how to build habitable planets and satellites, and co-evolution of Earth and life. In particular, the following topics will be discussed in this section. 1. Origin and distribution of volatiles in protoplanetary disks. 2. Formation and differentiation of terrestrial planets and icy satellites. 3. Prebiotic chemistry in planetary environments and space. 4. Evolution of the atmosphere-ocean system and stability of habitable environments. 5. Exploring habitability on Mars, Europa, Enceladus, Titan, and other solar system bodies. 6. Interactions of the atmosphere-ocean, interior, and life on Earth. 7. Future spacecraft missions and astronomical observations to search for extraterrestrial life. |