MARSBUGS: The Electronic Exobiology Newsletter Volume 3, Number 4, 17th June, 1996. Co-editors: David Thomas, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83843, USA, thoma457@uidaho.edu. Julian Hiscox, Microbiology Department, BBRB 17, Room 361, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294-2170, USA, Julian_hiscox@micro.microbio.uab.edu. MARSBUGS is published on a weekly to quarterly basis as warranted by the number of articles and announcements. Copyright exists with the co-editors, except for specific articles, in which instance copyright exists with the author/authors. E-mail subscriptions are free, and may be obtained by contacting either of the editors. Contributions are welcome, and should be submitted to either of the two editors. Contributions should include a short biographical statement about the author(s) along with the author(s)' correspondence address. Subscribers are advised to make appropriate inquiries before joining societies, ordering goods etc. INDEX 1) SPACE COMMERCIALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATIONS HIGHLIGHT SHUTTLE MISSION STS-77 NASA Release 96-83 2) SPACE STATION AIR PURIFICATION SYSTEM COMPLETES MAJOR TEST NASA Release 96-96 3) MARS PATHFINDER STATUS Tony Spear 4) MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS Glenn Cunningham 5) MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR DONS ITS SCIENCE PAYLOAD JPL Press Release 6) CHEMICAL MEASUREMENTS OF COMET HYAKUTAKE SUGGEST A NEW CLASS OF COMETS NASA Release 96-108 7) NASA ROBOT MAY ENHANCE BRAIN SURGERY NASA Release 96-110 8) CALL FOR PAPERS--THE CASE FOR MARS VI 9) OBJECTIVE OF THE CASE FOR MARS VI Tom Meyer 10) SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY FOR EDUCATORS [concurrent with CFM VI] 11) WHAT'S NEW ON THE CASE FOR MARS WEB SITE? 12) THE CASE FOR MARS VI REGISTRATION AND PRESENTATION RESPONSE FORM ----------------------------------------------------------- SPACE COMMERCIALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATIONS HIGHLIGHT SHUTTLE MISSION STS-77 NASA Release 96-83 [Sorry, but this comes a little late. --eds.] NASA's fourth Shuttle mission of 1996 is devoted to the continuing effort to help open the commercial space frontier. During the flight, designated STS-77, Endeavour and a six-person crew will perform microgravity research aboard the commercially owned and operated SPACEHAB Module. Endevour's crew also will deploy and retrieve a research satellite and perform rendezvous operations with a test satellite. Launch of Endeavour is currently targeted for May 16, 1996 at approximately 6:32 a.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39-B. The STS-77 mission is forecast to last 10 days, 0 hours, 37 minutes. The actual STS-77 flight duration will be determined by power consumption and the amount of cryogenic fuel available to support Endeavour's electrical power system depending on how close to the target launch date Endeavour actually begins its mission. Mission Control in Houston will closely monitor power consumption along with cryo reserves. Shuttle managers will have the option of shortening the mission one day if necessary. An on-time launch and full 10-day mission duration will result in a landing on May 26 at 7:09 a.m. EDT at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, FL. The STS-77 crew is commanded by John Casper, making his fourth Shuttle flight. The pilot for the mission, Curt Brown, is making his third flight. There are four mission specialists assigned to the flight. Andrew Thomas, serving as Mission Specialist-1, is making his first flight. Mission Specialist-2 is Dan Bursch is making his third flight. Mario Runco, serving as Mission Specialist-3, also is making his third flight. Mission Specialist-4 is Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau, who is flying in space for the second time. Over 90 percent of the payloads aboard Endeavour are being sponsored by NASA's Office of Space Access and Technology, Washington, DC, through its Commercial Space Centers and their industrial affiliates. Primary payloads include experiments flying aboard the pressurized, commercially-developed SPACEHAB Module, the Inflatable Antenna Experiment to be deployed aboard the free-flying Spartan-207 carrier spacecraft, and a suite of four technology experiments known as "TEAMS," in the Shuttle's payload bay. Additionally, secondary experiments on the flight will include a "Brilliant Eyes" cryo-cooling experiment, a facility for examining the effect of microgravity on small aquatic creatures, and a small facility for examining the microgravity effects on simple living systems. In 1990 NASA contracted SPACEHAB, Inc. for the lease of their SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratories for a series of flights. STS-77 marks the fourth flight of the SPACEHAB under this contract. The SPACEHAB single module will be carrying nearly 3,000 pounds of experiments and support equipment for 12 commercial space product development payloads in the areas of biotechnology, electronic materials, polymers and agriculture as well as several experiments for other NASA payload organizations. One of these, the Commercial Float Zone Facility (CFZF) has been developed through international collaboration between the U.S., Canada and Germany. It will heat various samples of electronic and semi-conductor material through the float zone technique. Another facility on SPACEHAB will be the Space Experiment Facility (SEF), which will grow crystals by vapor diffusion. This experiment is expected to yield large, defect-free crystals that are important for electronic applications and remote sensing. In addition to the SPACEHAB module, the Goddard Space Flight Center's deployable Spartan 207 is another one of the primary payloads on this flight and the most ambitious Spartan mission to date. It will deploy and test the Inflatable Antenna Experiment (IAE). The IAE experiment is meant to lay the groundwork for future technology development in inflatable space structures and will be launched and inflated like a balloon on orbit. The experiment will validate the deployment (inflation) and performance of a large inflatable antenna during a ninety- minute mission. The antenna structure then will be jettisoned and the Spartan spacecraft recovered at mission end. Inside Endeavour's cargo bay will be four experiments called Technology Experiments for Advancing Missions in Space (TEAMS): The Global Positioning System (GPS) Attitude and Navigation Experiment (GANE) will determine to what accuracy the GPS system can supply attitude information to a space vehicle; the Vented Tank Resupply Experiment (VTRE) will test improved methods for in-space refueling; the Liquid Metal Thermal Experiment (LMTE), which will evaluate the performance of liquid metal heat pipes in microgravity conditions, and the Passive Aerodynamically Stabilized Magnetically Damped Satellite (PAMS) payload will be a technology demonstration of the principle of aerodynamic stabilization in the upper atmosphere of low-Earth orbit. Cameras on the Shuttle will record the PAMS satellite as it is deployed. Later during the mission the Shuttle will rendezvous with the satellite on two separate days and will point the PAMS measuring system, while cameras aboard the Shuttle record the satellite's movements. The Brilliant Eyes Ten Kelvin Sorption Cryocooler Experiment (BETSCE) carries an instrument that can quickly cool infrared and other sensors to near absolute zero using the evaporation of hydrogen. BETSCE is a technology demonstration experiment to show that cryocoolers of this type, called "sorption coolers," can operate in the absence of gravity. Sorption coolers have essentially no vibration, are very efficient at these cold temperatures, and can operate reliably for over 10 years. NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, Washington, DC, is responsible for two experiments. The two experiments are the Aquatic Research Facility (ARF), and the Biological Research In a Canister (BRIC). The ARF is a joint Canadian Space Agency/NASA project and will be making its first flight into space on Endeavour. The ARF allows sophisticated investigations with a wide range of small aquatic species. The facility will permit scientists to investigate the process of fertilization, embryo formation and development of calcified tissue and feeding behaviors of small aquatic organisms while in microgravity. The BRIC payload has flown several times. The focus on this flight will be on the tobacco hornworm during its metamorphosis period. This study will examine the synthesis of protein necessary to form muscle. Analysis will be made using the hemolymph (blood), flight muscle, intersegmental muscles and cuticle of the insect. This study will clarify the mechanism(s) behind one endocrine system in insects which may aid in research on endocrine systems in general, including those of humans when subject to microgravity effects. ------------------------------------------------------------ SPACE STATION AIR PURIFICATION SYSTEM COMPLETES MAJOR TEST NASA Release 96-96 The system that will purify the air aboard the International Space Station recently passed a major test at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL. The month-long test evaluated the system's ability to control carbon dioxide, oxygen and air pressure inside the Station's living and laboratory quarters. Simulating the breathing activity of a crew of four, engineers injected carbon dioxide and water vapor, and removed oxygen from the school bus-size, 6,200-cubic-foot test module throughout the 30-day test to evaluate an air purification system. "The test provided an excellent demonstration of the capability for maintaining cabin air composition using control procedures to be used onboard the Space Station," said Jay Perry, test principal investigator and life support engineer of Marshall's Thermal and Life Support Division. "Throughout the test, the system operated in a fully- automated fashion and its components responded very well to the simulated human breathing," explained Perry. The test was the fifth in a series begun in 1987. The test also featured operation of the carbon dioxide removal system at reduced levels to save power. The test system operated at full power levels during the 53-minute daytime portion of the orbit and at lower levels during the 37-minute nighttime orbit, just as planned for Space Station. The nitrogen and oxygen composition of the atmosphere was controlled by signals from an air composition monitor, and special computer software very similar to that planned for use on the Space Station was developed for automated control during the test. The Atmosphere Revitalization Subsystem demonstrated the capability of providing a healthy working environment for the crew and achieved a power savings of up to 200 watts over previous operating modes. These savings are significant and represent additional electrical power available for science experiments onboard the Space Station, Perry said. Additional testing is planned to determine the capability of the various subsystems to remove other trace contaminants. The air purification hardware is scheduled to be launched to the U.S. Laboratory Module in 1998. Marshall is conducting a variety of air purification tests in support of the Space Station Program Office. -------------------------------------------------- MARS PATHFINDER STATUS Tony Spear, Mars Pathfinder Project Manager [The following article was extracted from the May 1996 issue of The Martian Chronicle, also available at the following URL: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mars/MARTIANCHRONICLE/] As we go to press in this Issue 6 of The Martian Chronicle, the fully assembled Mars Pathfinder flight system has just successfully completed an "acoustic vibration" test which uses sound waves to simulate the launch environment. It is also being readied for what is called a thermal/vacuum test: we put the flight system into a large 25 foot chamber and pump the air out of the chamber to simulate the vacuum of space in cruise, while shining infrared lights on the flight system to simulate the intense sunlight in interplanetary space. In fact, you can now see a live picture of the spacecraft being tested in the 25 foot vacuum chamber! After this test, we put the flight system into its surface configuration with the lander open and the rover off the lander, communicating with the lander through its radio link. We again pump down the chamber, but this time to Mars surface atmospheric pressure and cycle the flight system through hot and cold temperatures to simulate Mars day and night cycles. Before, during and after each of these cruise and surface environmental tests, we do system electrical testing of the flight system to ensure the proper operation of all the systems. After all of this, in August, we partially disassemble the flight system to ship it to the Eastern Test Range in Florida for launch preparations. All is going well for launch on December 2, 1996! ---------------------------------------------------------------- MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS Glenn Cunningham, Mars Global Surveyor Project Manager [The following article was extracted from the May 1996 issue of The Martian Chronicle, also available at the following URL: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mars/MARTIANCHRONICLE/] All activities of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) project are moving along well toward launch in early November. The spacecraft assembly is nearly complete at the Lockheed Martin facility in Denver, Colorado, and has the spacecraft has begun its first fully integrated system electrical testing. All but two of the science instruments have been installed, and the remaining ones are due in May. As is the case with many spacecraft, the mass of the assembled hardware always seems to be a little more than is predicted by the design documents. Such is the case with the MGS spacecraft. A considerable effort has been applied by the project team over the last few months to reduce the spacecraft mass and to find ways to change to mission plan to be able to accept a little heavier spacecraft and still be able to meet mission objectives. After all the studies were complete, and the mass of the all the spacecraft assemblies had been reassessed, we agreed on a 1060-kg upper limit total launch mass and slipped the opening of the launch period on day to open on November 6th. Some of the spacecraft's thermal blankets are the only remaining items yet to be weighed, but all indications are good that the mass limit will be met. The end-to-end tests that assure compatibility between the flight operations system (which will be responsible for "flying" or controlling the spacecraft after launch) and the spacecraft itself are now underway, and the results are looking good. The two remaining science instruments, the Thermal Emission Spectrometer and the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, suffered minor setbacks during their final acceptance testing, and both required some reworking before final testing and delivery. The required rework is underway and is progressing well. ------------------------------------------------------------ MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR DONS ITS SCIENCE PAYLOAD JPL Press Release All six science instruments comprising the scientific payload of NASA's new Mars Global Surveyor orbiter have been integrated on the nearly complete spacecraft, which is in development at Lockheed Martin Astronautics Corp.'s Denver facility. The last of the instruments -- the thermal emission spectrometer -- arrived at Lockheed Martin on May 28, completing Surveyor's suite of equipment to study the surface, atmosphere and interior of Mars over a full Martian year, the equivalent of about 687 Earth days. "The instruments have been installed on the payload platform and have undergone initial power-on testing to make sure all of the electrical connections are working," said Glenn Cunningham, Mars Global Surveyor project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "The spacecraft has been moved from the assembly area to Lockheed Martin's Space Simulation Laboratory, where environmental qualification testing will be completed." During this phase of testing, Surveyor is being subjected to simulations of the harsh conditions of launch, Cunningham said. After completing those tests, the spacecraft will undergo two weeks of testing in simulations that will replicate the environment of space -- extremely cold temperatures and illumination on one side of the spacecraft by the Sun -- to assure that Surveyor's temperature control design is adequate for its 10-month journey to Mars and two years in orbit around the planet. Mars Global Surveyor carries six of the eight instruments that were flown on the Mars Observer spacecraft, which was lost in August 1993. The instruments include: a thermal emission spectrometer, designed to analyze infrared radiation from the surface of Mars; a Mars orbiter laser altimeter, which will measure the height of Martian surface features; and a magnetometer and electron reflectometer, which will search for evidence of current and ancient magnetic fields. Also onboard the spacecraft are a Mars orbiter camera, which will take high resolution photographs of the planet and provide daily global weather maps, and an ultra stable oscillator that will be used along with Surveyor's telecommunications system to map variations in the gravity field of Mars and study its atmosphere. Mars Global Surveyor also will carry a Mars relay radio system that will be used to support the Russian Mars '96 mission, planned for launch in late 1996. The relay system will periodically receive and relay data from instrument packages deployed to the Martian surface by the Russian Space Agency. Of the six science instruments onboard the spacecraft, four -- the camera, laser altimeter, electron reflectometer and thermal emission spectrometer -- will be carried on the spacecraft's nadir panel, along with the relay system. Mars Global Surveyor will orbit the planet in a low altitude, nearly circular orbit over the poles of the planet, keeping its nadir panel continuously pointed at the surface. The spacecraft will complete one orbit around Mars about every two hours. As the weeks pass, Surveyor will create a global portrait of Mars, capturing the planet's ancient cratered plains, huge canyon system, massive volcanoes, gigantic channels and frozen polar caps. Surveyor's science instruments have been provided by the following institutions: Hughes Santa Barbara Remote Sensing Inc., Goleta, CA, and Arizona State University, Tempe, provided the thermal emission spectrometer; NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, provided the laser altimeter and magnetometer; the University of California, Berkeley, and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, the French space agency, provided the electron reflectometer; Malin Space Science Systems Inc., San Diego, CA, furnished the Mars orbiter camera; Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, MD, provided the ultra stable oscillator; and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales furnished the Mars relay radio system. Mars Global Surveyor will be shipped from Denver to Cape Canaveral, FL, in mid-August, where it will be fueled, integrated with the third stage booster of a Delta II expendable launch vehicle and readied for launch on Nov. 6. Surveyor will arrive at Mars in September 1997 and spend approximately five months aerobraking through the Martian atmosphere to lower itself into the final mapping orbit. Global mapping operations will begin in March 1998, allowing scientists to obtain the first extensive record of Mars' surface, atmosphere and interior. Mars Global Surveyor is the first of a decade-long program of robotic missions to Mars, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHEMICAL MEASUREMENTS OF COMET HYAKUTAKE SUGGEST A NEW CLASS OF COMETS NASA Release 96-108 Astronomers observing the close approach of Comet Hyakutake to the Earth in March discovered large quantities of the gases ethane and methane in the comet. This is the first time these or other molecules classified as "saturated hydrocarbons" have been found in a comet, strongly suggesting that at least two basic types of comets inhabit the Solar System. This conclusion also has potentially profound implications for scientific theories that describe the primordial conditions that led to the formation of the Sun and the planets. The discovery by a team of NASA and university researchers using the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, were published in Science. Ethane has never before been detected in comets or in interstellar matter, the ultimate source material from which the Solar System was formed. Yet, comet investigators found levels of ethane in Comet Hyakutake that are about 1,000 times greater than can be explained if the molecules were formed by normal physical processes within the gases of the primordial solar nebula, the birth cloud of the Solar System. "The discovery of ethane was a blinding surprise," according to research team leader Dr. Michael J. Mumma of the Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Physics at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. The spectral lines, or identifying signature of ethane gas, "were so bright they seemed to leap off the computer screen when we got the first observation," Mumma said. The discoveries were made on March 24, 1996, with the three-meter diameter telescope of the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility atop Mauna Kea. The investigators used a state-of- the-art instrument known as a high-resolution infrared spectrometer. The device was cooled to about minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit to achieve the needed sensitivity to infrared light, which has a longer wavelength than red light and cannot be seen with the human eye. The unexpected ethane discovery came as the observers searched for evidence of molecules of methyl alcohol, a known constituent of other comets. However, "the emissions of methyl alcohol that we first looked at were much weaker than expected, so we decided to search for other signatures of the alcohol," said research team member Dr. Michael A. DiSanti of the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC. "But after reprogramming the spectrometer, instead of detecting methyl alcohol, we discovered ethane." Further observations and analysis showed that ethane and methane each constitute about one percent of the frozen gases in Comet Hyakutake. (The astronomers measured radiation from gases released from their frozen state as the solid nucleus--or "dirty iceball"-- of the comet was warmed by the Sun.) "Comets that are rich in ethane must have experienced very different conditions during their birth than comets that do not contain it," Mumma said. One theory is that ethane- rich comets formed in the warmer region near the primitive Saturn and Jupiter, while those without it formed farther away from the young Sun, near the primitive Uranus and Neptune. Another possibility is that cometary ices formed even earlier, in different layers of the original interstellar gas and dust cloud that led to the solar nebula. An even more challenging concept is that the vast sphere of comets that are believed to surround the Solar System, called the Oort Cloud, may contain comets that formed from different solar nebula -- that is, stars other than the Sun. Chemical and physical processes may have been at work in any scenario, altering the properties of the material that now makes up the comet's ice. The discovery of ethane in Comet Hyakutake will spur scientists to go back and review measurements of other comets to see if unusual blips in their data contain hints of ethane. "For example, we're going to go back and look at Comet Halley data again," Mumma said. Similar measurements of Comet Hale-Bopp, which will pass closely by Earth in March and April 1997, are scheduled for June, he added. As a comparison to comets, there are three major categories of asteroids. Some of the rocky bodies now considered to be asteroids may in fact be dead nuclei of short-period comets. Both ethane and methane occur naturally on Earth and some other planets, and in certain meteorites, including the Murchison meteorite that fell on Australia in September 1969. While ethane is much less common than methane in the planets, it is almost equally abundant to methane in both Comet Hyakutake and in the Murchison meteorite, the researchers note. "Therefore, it is possible that the gases found in the Murchison meteorite and those found in the comet had a common origin," according to Dr. Marina Fomenkova of the University of California at San Diego. "However, the diversity of organic material in primitive meteorites and in comets shows that they formed under a wide range of conditions," she cautions. Science team members including Drs. Karen Magee-Sauer, Rowan College of New Jersey, Neil Dello Russo and David X. Xie of the Goddard Space Flight Center, and Charles Kaminski of the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility office, Hilo, Hawaii, are continuing to investigate the questions raised by the cometary ethane discovery. "This is the type of finding that makes a person excited to be a planetary scientist," Mumma said. "It may open a new window on our understanding of comets and their role in shaping the world in which we live." --------------------------------------------------------------- NASA ROBOT MAY ENHANCE BRAIN SURGERY NASA Release 96-110 A simple robot that can "learn" the physical characteristics of the brain soon may give surgeons finer control of surgical instruments during delicate brain operations. In a new procedure being developed at NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA, a robotic probe will "learn" the brain's characteristics by using neural net software, which is the same type of software technology that helps focus camcorders. The probe, equipped with a tiny pressure sensor, will enter the brain, gently locating the edges of tumors while preventing damage to critical arteries. "Potentially, the robot will be able to 'feel' brain structures better than any human surgeon, making slow, very precise movements during an operation," said principal investigator Dr. Robert W. Mah of the NeuroEngineering Group at Ames. Brain tumors typically have a different density than normal brain tissue. This difference allows neurosurgeons to find the tumor's edge through experience. "NASA's Neurosurgical Computational Medicine Testbed is a unique and essential element in our goal to improve the safety, accuracy and efficiency of neurosurgery," said Dr. Russell J. Andrews of the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System and clinical associate professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University. "This collaboration is a good start toward meeting that goal." Mah has worked with Andrews since 1994 to develop the smart robot. The probes used on the robot are much smaller than standard probes, and should further reduce potential brain damage. During standard brain surgery, the surgeon uses a magnetic resonance image to guide placement of the probe in the brain. The physician samples the tumor by inserting a biopsy probe through an opening in the skull. "A probe can be as large as 0.2 inches in diameter," Mah said. "As it enters the brain, there may be injury to brain tissue. If an artery is damaged as the doctor inserts the probe, the patient could bleed to death," Mah said. In contrast, during the robotic neural net procedure, the speed and maximum pressure are controlled by a "smart" computer program that continues to learn as it gains more experience. If it hits an artery, the probe will stop before it penetrates. If the computer stops the probe, the surgeon can decide what to do next. "Besides having robotic computer control, we have miniaturized everything. Instead of a probe that is almost 0.2 inches in diameter, all we need is a probe about one-third that size," Mah said. "That minimizes brain damage, too." A biopsy needle extracts a tissue sample through the probe. Ames is developing robotic telepresence surgery to deal with medical emergencies that may occur during long-duration human space flights. "On a long-duration mission, there likely won't be a medical specialist on board to deal with a specific surgical problem," Mah said. "A surgeon on Earth could control the surgery by issuing high-level commands, such as 'start surgery' or 'take sample' to the robot. The computerized robot would go as far as it could within safe limits. Then it would wait for the next command from Earth." During early tests, scientists used tofu, a food made from soybeans that has a consistency very similar to brain tissue, to model tissue types. "These tests were used to teach the neural net software what are normal brain tissues and arteries and what are not," Mah said. The software learns to distinguish tumors from normal brain tissue by remembering the pressure signatures or profiles for each kind of tissue, and then making a model. Using traditional computer programming to do the brain modeling job is not practical. "It is very difficult to model the human brain. A human computer programmer would have to mathematically model each patient and each kind of tissue," Mah added. A modified form of the brain surgery robot could be used for other kinds of surgery. "It could be used in the kinds of surgery that can use 'smart' sensors. Besides pressure sensors, there are sensors that can detect temperature, acidity and the amounts of various kinds of chemicals," he said. In addition to the brain surgery project, the Ames NeuroEngineering Laboratory is developing other forms of software with potential uses such as balancing the centrifuge on the International Space Station, balancing airborne astronomical telescopes, emergency aircraft propulsion control and eliminating atmospheric distortion from astronomical telescopes. Images of the robot are available on the Internet via the Ames Public Affairs Home Page. The URL is: http://ccf.arc.nasa.gov/dx ------------------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR PAPERS--THE CASE FOR MARS VI The University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado U.S.A. July 17-20, 1996 The Case for Mars is an international conference to explore the potential for colonization of Mars. This program is dedicated to the definition of innovative national and international programs for the exploration of Mars. The main objective of this conference will be to demonstrate the feasibility of inaugurating a program of human exploration of Mars at a reasonable cost, and to allow its continuation at a sustainable level of funding. Workshops at the Conference will focus on ways to mount an initial mission to be assembled over an 8-year period for a total cost of $32B (U.S.). Of this, $16B would be the U.S. contribution with an additional $16B being provided by other countries and sources. Strong international participation in this workshop will be encouraged. Papers are invited that are responsive to the goal of reducing program costs. Topics may include but are not limited to, the rationale, innovative technologies and strategies, and management and organizational approaches, and international cooperation. Other aspects of the conference will include: a Viking retrospective, the last 20 years, and plans and proposals for the next 20 years of Mars exploration including Mars Pathfinder, Mars Surveyor, Mars 96, Discovery Mars proposals, Mars in NASA strategic plans, and mission plans of Russia, ESA and Japan. Papers may be offered on the scientific, technological, social, economic and policy aspects of robotic and human missions to Mars including the following specific areas: * Precursor Missions: Mars Pathfinder, Mars Surveyor, Mars96 * Robotics, remotely operated vehicles, and telescience * Mars bases, resource utilization, and energy systems * Spacecraft, rockets and advanced propulsion * Life support and medical issues * Terraforming, including biological techniques * How the Shuttle and Space Station can be supportive of Mars objectives * Education and amateur missions and experiments As a special opportunity, the Challenger Center will be holding its Educators Conference in the same time frame in Boulder on the topic of Mars. Educators will be invited to attend the Case for Mars VI, and materials and reading lists will be available for any participants who wish prepare in advance. The program will consist of invited international papers and panels as well as contributed oral and poster papers. Please send titles as soon as possible. Abstracts for papers must be received no later than June 21, 1996. Please indicate preference for poster or oral presentation. Attendance will be limited and pre-registration is recommended. Abstracts sent by electronic mail are preferred. Case for Mars VI P.O. Box 4877 Boulder, CO 80306 USA (303) 494-8144 (303) 494-8446 (FAX) marscase@colorado.edu (papers and abstracts) meyertr@colorado.edu (regular mail) http://spot.colorado.edu/~marscase/home.html (home page) Sponsored by: The American Astronautical Society, and the CU Space Interest Group. Organized by: The Boulder Center for Science and Policy Program Committee: Penelope Boston (Complex Systems), Roger Bourke (JPL), Geoffrey Briggs (Ames), Benton Clark (LMA), Leonard David (SDR&I), Mike Duke (JSC), Carter Emmart (NCAR), Lou Friedman (Planetary Society), Larry Lemke (Ames), Christopher P. McKay (Ames), Tom Meyer (CU/BCSP), Barbara Sprungman (SDR&I), Carol Stoker (Ames), Steve Welch (Complex Systems), Robert Zubrin (Pioneer Astronautics). -------------------------------------------------------------- OBJECTIVE OF THE CASE FOR MARS VI Tom Meyer The Case for Mars VI is set for July 17-20, 1996 in Boulder. The main objective of this conference will be to demonstrate the feasibility of inaugurating a program of human exploration of Mars at a reasonable cost. Papers are invited that are responsive to the goal of reducing program costs. Topics may include but are not limited to, the rationale, innovative technologies and strategies, and management and organizational approaches, and international cooperation. Papers on other Mars exploration topics are also welcome. In many respects the goal of this conference is similar to that of Case for Mars II in 1984 where the effort was to demonstrate that human missions were feasible with current technology. A decade later this has now become generally accepted, but to many in Congress, the Administration and even the space community itself, the cost is perceived as prohibitive. Thus the challenge before us now is to repeat this exercise using the best technologies, strategies and innovative methods to show convincingly that a program can be undertaken for a reasonable cost. During the second half of the decade of the 80's, partly as a result of ideas carried back by participants of the Case for Mars, interest in human exploration of Mars was sparked throughout the nation and the world; it was even embraced by Presidents Reagan and Bush. But major factors also weighed in against it. When in 1989 President Bush charged NASA with the 90-Day Study on the Feasibility of Human Exploration of the Moon and Mars, the program became immediately dogged by huge, albeit informal, cost estimates on the order of $400 billion. In the same time frame, one of the strongest motivations for maintaining U.S. prowess in space suddenly ended with the end of the Cold War. Simultaneously the ever spiraling Federal debt made programs of such a magnitude seem increasingly unrealistic. It is in this context that we will hold the next Case for Mars Conference. Our challenge is not only to make a compelling case for human exploration of Mars, but to show we can undertake this for a reasonable cost. The conference workshops will focus on designing an initial mission to be assembled over an 8-year period for a total cost of no more than $32 billion. Of this, $16 billion would be the U.S. contribution with an additional $16 billion being provided by other countries and sources. Strong international participation in this workshop will be encouraged. For the U.S. this represents an outlay of only $2 billion per year, an amount comparable to that being spent to establish the International Space Station. According to OMB, even $2 billion a year is very unlikely to come from new appropriations under this Administration. Thus we will need to either find savings through innovation elsewhere, or reassess spending priorities for other programs. In pursuing the goal of the workshop, attendees will need to be cognizant of the unique roles and opportunities for humans on Mars. We are already confident that we can develop outposts that are self-sufficient in the production of air, water, food and fuel using known indigenous resources. Secondly, there are vast opportunities for scientific research on Mars that will warrant research outposts comparable to those of Antarctica including habitats and laboratory facilities, capabilities for field research, global mobility, long stay times and repeat visits, and with extensive teleoperation and robotics support. Third, the survival systems developed for Mars are a critical technology that will become the basis for developing Mars as a new territory for future human settlements. And fourth, in our farthest hopes, Mars holds the prospect that its planetary environment can one day be modified to allow crops to be grown in the open and to become more clement for human habitation. The human exploration of Mars is a unique adventure of the human spirit and a manifestation of the most primary urge of our species to grow and expand outward. It is precisely because of human involvement and for the sake of human opportunity that this undertaking will garner great public support. Without humans, the space program will not long endure. --------------------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY FOR EDUCATORS The Challenger Center will be holding its 1996 Professional Development Conference for Educators on July 19-22, 1996 in Westminster, Colorado (near Boulder/Denver). Challenger Center Conference attendees will have the option of arriving early and attending the Case for Mars VI conference July 17-20 including selected sessions on the overlapping days. Mars, The Moon & More: EdVentures in Simulation A Professional Development Experience For Innovative Educators July 19 - 22, 1996 Westminster, Colorado (near Denver/Boulder) Optional preconference participation in The Case for Mars VI: July 17-18, 1996 and other selected sessions July 19- 20 Held in cooperation with the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Arizona State University, and Christa McAuliffe Educators Highlights: *Instructional Workshops - Transform your classroom into an "experience center" using innovative techniques that cut across disciplines. -Six-hour multi-disciplinary hands-on workshop using simulation to foster thinking skills and teamwork -- come away with motivational, easy to use activities for the classroom for grades 4-12. -Two-hour workshop on the Aries project (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), a highly-regarded NSF-supported physical science and astronomy curriculum for elementary and middle school students -- learn how to integrate science, math, art, music, reading, social studies and writing in your teaching. *Innovative Curriculum - Challenger Center's Mars City Alpha classroom kit, recipient of Learning Magazine's Teachers' Choice Award -- use design briefs to harness students' imagination in developing a futuristic human settlement on the red planet while teaching problem-solving, teamwork, and critical thinking. *Informative and Inspiring Presentations - Dr. Mary Cleave, Goddard Space Flight Center, "NASA's Mission to Planet Earth"; Dr. Joe Mancusi, internationally known psychologist, "Teaching: Intervening with Grace in the Lives of Children"; National Center for Atmospheric Research; Global Change Institute; Space Science Institute; Plant-it 2000; the Planetary Society's Red Rover Project; Mars Surveyor; and other future NASA Missions. *Network and share ideas with like minded colleagues eager to be at the leading edge of educational innovation. *Earn Continuing Education Units For Registration information call: (800) 98-STARS or watch for details to appear soon on the Challenger Center web page: http://www.challenger.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT'S NEW ON THE CASE FOR MARS WEB SITE? http://spot.colorado.edu/~marscase/ New items on the Case for Mars web site include all available conference information including the General Conference Announcement, Objective of Case for Mars VI, and the Call for Papers. We will soon be posting a list of papers offered and a tentative schedule. Also available are Location and Transportation Information, a Hotel List and a Dormitory Application. Using the online Registration Form you can indicate your intent to attend the conference, or simply update your name for our Mailing List. But note, to qualify for the preconference rate of $95 you need to mail your payment by June 21. Thereafter the rate is $120. The fee for K-12 educators is $25 and for students it is $20. A new feature on the web page is a Mailer that simplifies obtaining conference materials by Email. Available information is shown on a checkoff list. Simply enter an email address (your own or that of another person), check off the items desired, and press the Submit button. Shortly a confirmation will appear indicating that the items have been mailed. Efforts are underway to produce bibliographies and reading lists on key topics for people who wish to become more familiar with the issues relevant to Mars exploration and the Case for Mars. Currently an updated terraforming bibliography is posted and several others are in preparation. ---------------------------------------------------------------- THE CASE FOR MARS VI REGISTRATION AND PRESENTATION RESPONSE FORM Name: Organization: Address: Address: City: State: ZIP: Country: Phone: FAX: Home Page: E-mail: Comments, interests and areas of expertise: Registration The Case for Mars VI, Boulder, Colorado, July 17-20 1996 Conference facilities are limited and advanced registration is recommended. The registration fee is $95 (US) if payment is made by June 21, 1996 or $120 thereafter. Students $20, K-12 Educators $25. Please select one item in each column below: I Plan to Attend Applicable Fee Payment __ Yes __$120 __ Mailed Now __ No __ $95 __ On Arrival __ Undecided __ $25 __ Other __ $20 Please make checks payable to The Case for Mars and mail to: The Case for Mars P.O. Box 4877 Boulder, Colorado 80306 U.S.A. Presentations The conference program will consist of invited papers and panels as well as contributed oral and poster papers. Titles for contributed papers should be sent as soon as possible. Abstracts for papers must be received by June 21, 1996. Abstracts sent by electronic mail are preferred. Please send abstracts to: marscase@colorado.edu I wish to offer a paper for consideration in the program. The Title/Subject is: Please indicate preference for type of presentation: __Oral Presentation, __Poster Paper, __Proceedings Only, __Undecided Workshops Conference workshops are intended for professionals and advanced students. At this meeting the workshops will focus on demonstrating that the human exploration of Mars can be undertaken at a reasonable cost (see Conference Objectives and Call for Papers). I wish attend the workshop, __Yes, __No, __Undecided Please indicate your area of interest or expertise for the workshop topic: For More Information, contact: Tom Meyer The Case for Mars P.O. Box 4877 Boulder, Colorado 80306 U.S.A. (303) 494-8144 (Tele.) (303) 494-8446 (FAX) marscase@colorado.edu (abstracts/papers) meyertr@colorado.edu (regular mail) http://spot.colorado.edu/~marscase/Home.html (home page) ---------------------------------------------------------------- End Marsbugs Vol. 3, No. 4.