What do molecular fossils tell us about early microbial evolution? How can the study of contemporary microbes or geochemical samples inform us of past events? The work of the staff in this Branch also provides the conceptual basis and measurement criteria for future spacecraft missions to other solar system bodies such as Mars, Titan, and comets, in search of answers to such fundamental questions in non-terrestrial settings.
Astrobiology shares with other space related science programs a broad range of research interests. Astrobiology encompasses the understanding of biology as a planetary phenomenon. This includes how planetary processes give rise to life, how they sustain or inhibit life, and how life can emerge as an important planetary process; how astrophysical processes give rise to planets elsewhere, what the actual distribution of planets is, and whether there are habitable planets outside of our solar system; a determination of whether life exists elsewhere and how to search for and identify it; what the ultimate environmental limits of life are, whether Earth's biota represent only a subset of the full diversity of life, and the future of Earth's biota in space.
The mission of the NASA Astrobiology Institute is to further our understanding of these profound questions by:
carrying out, supporting and catalyzing collaborative interdisciplinary research;
training the next generation of astrobiology researchers; providing scientific and technical leadership on astrobiology investigations for current and future space missions;
exploring new approaches using modern information technology to conduct interdisciplinary and collaborative research amongst widely-distributed investigators;
supporting outreach by providing scientific content for K-12 education programs, teaching undergraduate classes, and communicating directly with the public
But I don't think you're going to convince him. The Dawkins link couldn't convince him.