It's not just for the love of discovery. Enzymes that survive extreme heat and pressure can force a gene to split and multiply. Yellowstone now charges access fees. John Baross snatches Life In Extremes for the University of Washington. The first person to see the Martians may be James Staley at the University of Washington.
Astrobiology is here .
NASA is here, too. In Black is John Rummel. He's NASA's Planetary Protection Officer for Earth . Rummel works out of Woods Hole, where, in addition to saving the planet from alien microbes, he conducts research on hydrothermal vents using ROVs and Alvin. There may be life on Mars , Europa , Titan , Ganymede , Callisto and Io .