【摘要】 天体生物学旨在研究宇宙演化背景下生命的起源、演化、分布和未来.天体生物学研究始于20世纪中期,已在生命起源、生命与环境协同演化、宜居环境、地外生命探测、生命星际传输、行星开发和保护等方面获得了一系列新发现和新认识,深刻改变了人们对生命和宜居环境的理解.天体生物学是一门交叉性和探索性很强的学科,其发展不仅推动了生命科学、地球科学、行星科学、空间科学、天文学等不同学科的交叉融合,也增强了科研人员与工程技术人员、科学家与公众之间的对话和沟通.近年来,我国探月工程取得了举世瞩目的成就,酝酿中的火星、木星等深空探测旨在探索浩瀚宇宙,给我国的天体生物学研究提出了更高要求.本文综述了国内外天体生物学的研究现状、主要方向、关键科学问题和研究进展等,并对我国的天体生物学研究提出了若干建议.更多还原

【Abstract】 Astrobiology concerns with the origin, evolution, habitability, and future of life on Earth and elsewhere in the context of cosmic evolution. More than 50 years after the emergence of the science of Astrobiology, mankind has made tremendous progress in understanding the origin of life, co-evolution of life and Earth environments, planetary habitability, life detection, and planetary protection and exploration. The multidisciplinary nature of Astrobiology has stimulated interdisciplinary collaborations between Life Sciences, Earth and Planetary Sciences, and Space Sciences. The search for extraterrestrial life in the solar system and beyond is the driving force behind the exploration of the universe. Earth is the only known planet on which life has been developed; therefore, the formation and evolution of habitable environments as well as life on Earth are of great interest to astrobiologists. Studies regarding prebiotic chemistry and early Earth planetary environments could lead to a better understanding of the emergence of life. The tolerance of microorganisms towards planetary field analogue extreme environments on Earth provides great insights into the physical and chemical boundaries of life. The requirements for life on Earth and its environmental limits further provide useful information to assess the habitability of other bodies within our solar system(such as Mars, Jupiter’s moon Europa, and Saturn’s moon Enceladus)and beyond. Recent exploration has suggested that ancient Mars had experienced periods of warmer climate with liquid water on the surface and that at least five planetary objects in our solar system(such as Europa and Enceladus) contain subsurface oceans. Till now, more than four thousand exoplanets have been discovered, which holds the promise to identify and characterize potentially Earth-like habitable worlds beyond our solar system. Here, we review the history of and major advances that built Astrobiology, with emphases on the origin and early evolution of life on Earth, the formation and evolution of habitable planets, the search for life in the universe, the propagation of life in space, and the planetary exploration and protection. Recently, China launched a long-term strategy on deep space exploration, which provides a great opportunity to develop Astrobiology. We provide here perspectives on the development of Astrobiology in China,including the development of China Astrobiology roadmap and strategies for deep space exploration, the establishment of the Astrobiology Society of China, the corresponding higher education system, and the public education.更多还原