In 2015, NASA’s Astrobiology Program within the Planetary Science Division formed the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS), a NASA research coordination network dedicated to the study of planetary habitability. The goals of NExSS are to investigate the diversity of exoplanets and to learn how their history, geology, and climate interact to create the conditions for life. NExSS investigators also strive to put planets into an architectural context – as solar systems are built over the eons through dynamical processes and sculpted by stars. Based on our understanding of our own solar system and habitable planet Earth, researchers in the network aim to identify where habitable niches are most likely to occur and which planets are most likely to be habitable. Leveraging current NASA investments in research and missions, NExSS accelerates the discovery and characterization of other potentially life-bearing worlds in the galaxy, using a systems science approach.

Assessment of NASA’s NExSS Research Coordination Network

In 2023, NASA released the findings of an assessment of the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) that examines the first six years of operation of the first NASA Research Coordination Network (RCN). Results of the assessment help guide activities to enhance the productivity of existing, and future, NASA RCNs.

Organizational Structure

Current co-Leads:

• Ofer Cohen, University of Massachusetts Lowell
• Hilairy Hartnett, University of Washington
• Linda Sohl, Columbia University