What's Next for astrobiology?

With astrobiology finally established as an interdisciplinary discipline, it is important that the field agrees on what the most important goals and technologies are for the future. To this end, a group of professional astrobiologists, including Sara Walker, recently published a consensus report detailing the goals of the field and what is required to achieve them. This report will feed into the National Academies' two decadal surveys that inform NASA's agenda.

The report emphasizes the utility of systems-level thinking for astrobiology questions, as well as the need to consider planets as an integrated whole and habitability on a continuous spectrum (rather than a binary yes/no). More details can be found in the popular press release and the consensus report.