The introductory station to the Astrobiology Walk presents the timeline of the cosmic progression towards life, from the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago to the present. Each station in this exhibit describes a different epoch. You can identify the station by its distinctive 3D iconic object.
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Did you know that we are made of star stuff? This station explains how atoms and molecules that are essential for life are formed in the cosmic cycle of stellar birth and death and in outer space.
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How are complex organic molecules "manufactured" and incorporated into stars and planetary systems? This station describes the chemical processes that occur during star and planet formation. Tiny dust grains play an important role in this evolution.
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Visit this station to learn how our Earth was formed and how it acquired its Moon. Learn how NASA astronauts helped to reveal Earth's early history by landing on the moon.
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Do you know how Earth has evolved since its formation to arrive at its current habitable condition, wet and teeming life? Did Earth always have a water ocean? Did Earth and other planets in the Solar System follow the same orbits in the past?
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Comets and asteroids offer more than a spectacular sight in the sky. They hold secrets of the early Solar System. Rich in water and organic materials, they may even carry building blocks of life. Come touch a 3D model of a comet's core visited by a NASA spacecraft.
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Do you know that life on Earth uses left-handed amino acids to build proteins? Did meteorites deliver these left-handed ingredients to the early Earth? Learn how scientists analyze meteorites and the building blocks of life that they have found.
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This station describes one of Earth's major environmental changes- the Great Oxidation Event, which mamde multicellular life possible. You can touch rocks that were formed more than 2.3 billion years ago by some of Earth's oldest life. Also discover how life can survive in extreme conditions
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Find out how scientists search for signs of life in other places in the Solar System. Where do they target their searches? Why has NASA sent several rovers to investigate Mars? Come and touch a globe of Mars to explore what its surface is like and see where NASA landed its rovers.
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Astronomers have discovered many exoplanets in the past decade, and the number is increasing. But scientists have yet to find another Earth-like habitable planet. Learn how scientists plan to pursue the planet quest with future space observatories and techniques.
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