Date sent: Wed, 18 Jun 97 19:14:18 UT From: "Dr. Julian Hiscox" To: "Hiscox, Julian" Subject: Marsbugs. Volume 4. June 1997. MARSBUGS: The Electronic Exobiology Newsletter Volume 4, June, 1997. Editors: David Thomas, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844-3051, USA, thoma457@uidaho.edu or Marsbugs@aol.com. Julian Hiscox, Division of Molecular Biology, IAH Compton Laboratory, Berkshire, RG20 7NN, UK. Julian.Hiscox@bbsrc.ac.uk or Marsbug@msn.com MARSBUGS is published on a weekly to quarterly basis as warranted by the number of articles and announcements. Copyright of this compilation exists with the 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. Back issues may be obtained via anonymous FTP at: ftp.uidaho.edu/pub/mmbb/marsbugs. The purpose of this newsletter is to provide a channel of information for scientists, educators and other persons interested in exobiology and related fields. This newsletter is not intended to replace peer-reviewed journals, but to supplement them. We, the editors, envision MARSBUGS as a medium in which people can informally present ideas for investigation, questions about exobiology, and announcements of upcoming events. Exobiology is still a relatively young field, and new ideas may come out of the most unexpected places. Subjects may include, but are not limited to: exobiology proper (life on other planets), the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), ecopoeisis/ terraformation, Earth from space, planetary biology, primordial evolution, space physiology, biological life support systems, and human habitation of space and other planets. ----------------------------------------------------------------- (1) NEWS ROUND UP. (2). BOOK REVIEWS-FOCUSING ON MARS. (3). PUBLICATIONS WATCH. _______________________________________ (1). NEWS ROUND UP. The European Space Agency (ESA) is considering a project to explore the Martian surface as part of its Horizon 2000 programme. Due to a favourable alignment of the planets the launch window is in 2003. The cost of the mission is around $170 million and was made possible through the merger of two previous missions, FIRST (an orbiting infra-red observatory) and Plank (which will investigate the cosmic background radiation). ESA appears to be undergoing some fiscal tightening, and this might put the Mars mission in jeopardy. However, both the Cassini/Huygens joint mission with NASA is still on, as is Rosetta, which will rendezvous with a comet. On the subject of rendezvous, Japan's Institute of Space and Astronomical Science (ISAS) is planning a sample return mission to Nereus, a near-Earth asteroid, which is almost 1 km in diameter. The $200 million mission is scheduled for launch in 2002, with the space craft taking 20 months to reach Nereus. NASA intends to contribute a 1 kg robotic rover. One of the highlights of the mission will be the return of 1 to 5 grams of material back to Earth for analysis. New technologies on this mission will include an ion thruster as the main propulsion unit. Prior to this ion thrusters have only been used for station keeping on satellites and various Russian space platforms. NASA plans its first ion thruster demonstration flight in 1998 as part of its New Millennium Programme. ESA is planing a similar technology demonstrator using solar electric propulsion, due to be launched in 2010. The first component of the $30 billion International Space Station will be launched in June 1998 according to NASA - requiring an additional expense of $150-$200 million due to delays in Russia. This component (the Functional Cargo Block) will now have to incorporate some features of the Russian-built service module which is to provide command and control functions for the station. The launch of this module is delayed until the end of 1998. The case for ancient life on Mars based upon the interpretation of data gathered from the SNC meteorite ALH84001 may have taken a step backwards with the publication of a letter in Nature by Scott et al. (see below). They interpret their results to suggest that the carbonates in ALH84001 did not form at low temperatures, but instead crystallised from shock-melted material. They conclude that this result weakens arguments that these carbonates could contain the remains of fossilised remnants of biogenic activity. It should be noted that their results are in contrast to those of McKay et al. 1996 (Science 273:924-931) and also those of Romanek et al. 1994 (Nature 372:655-657). A rather good article detailing the investigation of ALH84001 written by British researchers can be found in this quarter's Science Spectra (see below). ______________________________________ (2). BOOK REVIEWS. Title: The Planet Mars Author: William Sheehan Publisher: The University of Arizona Press ISBN: 0-8165-1641-3 Year: 1996 Pages: 270 Illustrations: Half-tone photographs, diagrams and drawings Title: Evolution of hydrothermal ecosystems on Earth (and Mars?) Editors: Gregory R. Bock and Jamie A. Goode Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 0-471-96509 X Year: 1996 Pages: 334 Illustrations: Half-tone photographs, diagrams and drawings This summer will herald our return to Mars after a twenty year absence since the Viking Landers first touched down on the Martian surface. Within the next few years several more NASA, ESA and NASDA Mars missions are on the cards, including perhaps a sample return mission. Up until the Mariner probes of the 1960's data about Mars was gathered using observational and spectrographic studies. What has been lacking in the literature about Mars is a book that details this history of Martian exploration, fortunately such a book is now available. The University of Arizona Press, well known for its internationally acclaimed space science series has published The Planet Mars written by William Sheehan. Most popular books on Mars begin with the usual brief summary of the history of mankind's relationship with the planet, ranging from ancient Greek mythology to Lowell's dying Martian civilisations. Prior to Sheehan's book the finest detailed introduction to the ancient and "modern" mythology of Mars I have read was written by Svante Arrhenius in his book The Destinies of the Stars published in 1918. From the out set Sheehan's book is an excellent read and is divided into fifteen chapters plus four appendices containing data about Mars and its moons, in addition to a very useful selected bibliography. The back cover of Sheehan's book ends with the question raised by the investigation of ALH84001 that ancient life was once present on Mars. This hypothesis was not a new one and for many years scientists have proposed that if early Mars and early Earth had similar climates, then life may also have arisen on Mars. This brings me to the second book which is the proceedings of a Ciba Symposium chaired by Malcolm Walter. The title of the book reflects the name of the symposium, Evolution of hydrothermal ecosystems on Earth (and Mars?). This symposium brought together biologists and geologists to focus their attention on the question about looking for traces of life on Mars, and if the book is anything to go by they had an excellent and productive meeting. Understanding the origin of life on Earth is beset with many problems. From the fossil record we know that quite complex unicellular life forms, resembling bacteria, were around 3.5 billion years ago, and there is evidence to suggest that biogenic activity was present 3.8 billion years ago. Unfortunately because the Earth is geologically active through the mechanisms of plate tectonics and volcanism, any trace of life before these time points has been eradicated. This is where Mars provides a unique opportunity. Unlike the Earth, much of the surface of Mars has remained relatively quiescent for 3.8 billion years or so (apart from bombardment by meteorites), in addition Mars is believed to be a one plate planet, so there are no active volcanoes (although there are some extinct ones). Therefore if life arose on Mars much as it did on the Earth, then traces of these stages might be preserved. Evolution of hydrothermal ecosystems on Earth (and Mars?) describes how hydrothermal systems both support life and can be seen as contenders for the origin of life. The book also describes the characterisation of these systems on the Earth and then applies this knowledge to how we can go about looking for such ecosystems on Mars using remote sensing technologies. The chapters are well written and contain an excellent list of references. As with many Ciba Foundation conference proceedings each chapter ends with the discussion that ensued after the presentation - these are an excellent way to provide more in depth commentary on the particular topic. The book is well illustrated throughout with half-tone photographs and diagrams. I found the book immensely informative and those interested with the search for life on Mars will find the book an absolute must. ______________________________________________ (3). PUBLICATIONS WATCH. Chyba and Sagan. 1997. The early faint sun paradox: Organic shielding of ultraviolet-labile greenhouse gases. SCIENCE. v276. pp.1217-1221. Clarke and Ferris. 1997. Chemical evolution on Titan: Comparisons to the prebiotic earth. ORIGINS OF LIFE AND EVOLUTION OF THE BIOSPHERE. v27, No.1-3, pp.225-248. Davis and McKay. 1996. Origins of life: A comparison of theories and applications to Mars. ORIGINS OF LIFE AND EVOLUTION OF THE BIOSPHERE. v26. pp.61-73. DiGiulio. 1997. The beta-sheets of proteins, the biosynthetic relationships between amino acids, and the origin of the genetic code. ORIGINS OF LIFE AND EVOLUTION OF THE BIOSPHERE, 1996, Vol.26, No.6, pp.589-609. Duncan and Levison. 1997. A disk of scattered icy objects and the origin of Jupiter-family comets. SCIENCE. V276. pp1670-1672. Gaffey. The early solar system. ORIGINS OF LIFE AND EVOLUTION OF THE BIOSPHERE. v27, No.1-3, pp.185-203. Glanz. 1997. Worlds around other stars shake planet birth theory. SCIENCE. v276. pp. 1336-1339. Halyard. 1997. Comparison of proposed internal confinement fusion propulsion systems for interstellar missions. JOURNAL OF THE BRITISH INTERPLANETARY SOCIETY. v.50. pp.129-136. Hiscox. 1997. The Case for Mars by Robert Zubrin - a review? SCIENCE SPECTRA. N9. pp.81-82. Kasting. 1997. Habitable zones around low mass stars and the search for extraterrestrial life. ORIGINS OF LIFE AND EVOLUTION OF THE BIOSPHERE. v27, No.1-3, pp.291-307. Kasting. 1997. Warming early Earth and Mars. SCIENCE. v276. pp1213-1215. Kerr. 1997. Spots confirmed, tiny comets spurned. SCIENCE. v276. pp.1333-1334. Kulkarni. 1997. Brown dwarfs: A possible missing link between stars and planets. SCIENCE. v276. pp.1350-1354. Landis. 1997. Small laser-pushed light sail interstellar probe: A study of parameter variations. JOURNAL OF THE BRITISH INTERPLANETARY SOCIETY. v50. pp.149-154. Lunine. 1997. Physics and chemistry of the solar nebula. ORIGINS OF LIFE AND EVOLUTION OF THE BIOSPHERE. v27, No.1-3, pp.205-224. Luu et al. 1997. A new dynamical class of object in the outer solar system. NATURE. v387. pp.573-575. McKay. 1997. The search for life on Mars. ORIGINS OF LIFE AND EVOLUTION OF THE BIOSPHERE. v27, No.1-3, pp.263-289. McPherson. 1997. Recent advances in the microgravity crystallisation of biological macromolecules. v15. pp.197-200. Normile. 1997. Japanese mission to explore asteroid. SCIENCE. v276. pp.1187-1188. Rubashkin. 1997. Who killed the grand tour? A case study in the politics of funding expensive space science. JOURNAL OF THE BRITISH INTERPLANETARY SOCIETY. v50. pp.177-184. Szathmary. 1997. The first two billion years. NATURE. V387. Pp662-663. Snyder. 1997. The search for interstellar glycine. ORIGINS OF LIFE AND EVOLUTION OF THE BIOSPHERE. v27, No.1-3, pp.115-133. Tielens and Charnley. 1997. Circumstellar and interstellar synthesis of organic molecules. ORIGINS OF LIFE AND EVOLUTION OF THE BIOSPHERE.v27, No.1-3, pp.23-5. Trimble. 1997. Origin of the biologically important elements. ORIGINS OF LIFE AND EVOLUTION OF THE BIOSPHERE. v27, No.1-3, pp.3-21. Wade. 1997. Small launch vehicle payload enhancement using air-breathing propulsion technology. JOURNAL OF THE BRITISH INTERPLANETARY SOCIETY. v.50. pp.123-128. Walter. 1997. One step to Earth. NATURE. v387. pp.453. Whittet. 1997. Is extraterrestrial organic matter relevant to the origin of life on earth? ORIGINS OF LIFE AND EVOLUTION OF THE BIOSPHERE. v27, No.1-3, pp.249-262. Wiegert et al. 1997. An asteroidal companion to the Earth. NATURE. V387. Pp685-686. Wright and Pillinger. 1997. A question of evidence or a question of faith? SCIENCE SPECTRA. N9. pp.26-31. ______________End Marsbugs June 1997._________________