Introduction to Astrobiology
The term Astrobiology is used to describe the make up and origin of life. The different aspects of Astrobiology are organized by natural compounds combined to create a new organism, how life is affected by its surrounding environment, and whether life has expanded past our planet Earth. At its most basic, Astrobiology searches for climates suitable for life to exist and evolve. Given terrestrial examples, we know that life can be found at extremes of temperature, pressure, salinity, and radiation of several types, including ionizing radiation. These extreme environments are far from the relatively temperate realm in which we humans dwell. What, then, is a habitable world? How did it get to be that way? How long has it been habitable? How long will it remain that way? (2)
Picture - Terraformed Mars