UArizona launches Arizona Astrobiology Center to unlock the mysteries of life in the universe

Oct. 20, 2023
The center will bring together students and faculty from across campus and disciplines to unravel the enigma of life's beginnings and our place in the cosmos.

NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin

The University of Arizona on Tuesday announced the opening of the Arizona Astrobiology Center, which brings together more than 40 faculty members from four colleges and 13 disciplines to conduct cutting-edge astrobiological research, train diverse future leaders and encourage collaborative dialogue with communities about the existence, origin and evolution of life in the universe.

The Arizona Astrobiology Center will include faculty and researchers from the OSIRIS-REx mission, which ventured to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu to collect a sample. The asteroid contains material left over from the dawn of the solar system, so scientists expect to learn about how asteroids in the early solar system could have seeded life on Earth. Bennu is seen here ejecting particles from its surface on Jan. 19, 2019.