Astrobiology (general): June 2008

The Australian Centre for Astrobiology has, after a period of transition, moved its headquarters from Macquarie University to the University of New South Wales (UNSW), also in Sydney. Its new web address is http://aca.unsw.edu.au. Its Director remains Prof Prof. Malcolm Walter (malcolm.walter@unsw.edu.au). The new Deputy Director is Prof. Brett Neilan (b.neilan@unsw.edu.au) whose research interests include the molecular biology and functional microbiology of stromatolite systems, and the toxins of cyanobacteria.

Overview:

The 2008 Summer School program will be focussed on the exploration of icy worlds orbiting the giant planets of our Solar System. These satellites are important astrobiology targets in the exploration plans of space agencies as refl ected in the successes of the Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn.