MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 5, Number 16, 13 August 1998. Editors: Dr. David Thomas, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844-3051, USA. Marsbugs@aol.com or thoma457@uidaho.edu. Dr. Julian Hiscox, Division of Molecular Biology, IAH Compton Laboratory, Berkshire, RG20 7NN, UK. Julian.Hiscox@bbsrc.ac.uk 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. Article 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 and Word97 files suitable for printing may be obtained via anonymous FTP at ftp.uidaho.edu/pub/mmbb/marsbugs. Also, an official web page is under construction. Currently it is part of http://members.aol.com/marsbugs/dave.html (right now, the page simply points to the FTP site). 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. Astrobiology 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 and astrobiology (life on other planets), the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), ecopoeisis and terraformation, Earth from space, planetary biology, primordial evolution, space physiology, biological life support systems, and human habitation of space and other planets. ------------------------------------------------------------------ INDEX 1) EDITORS' NOTE David Thomas and Julian Hiscox 2) WATER HISTORY, ROCK COMPOSITION AMONG LATEST FINDINGS A YEAR AFTER MARS PATHFINDER JPL release 3) SPECIAL HANDLING REQUIRED FOR SAMPLES FROM SOME SPACE OBJECTS National Academy of Sciences release 4) NASA ESTABLISHES NEAR-EARTH OBJECT PROGRAM OFFICE AT JET PROPULSION LABORATORY NASA release 98-132 5) COMETARY IMPACT WITH EARTH UNLIKELY IN THE NEXT 500,000 YEARS Earle Holland 6) POSSIBLE NEW MARS METEORITE FOUND IN THE SAHARA DESERT JPL release 7) NASA MANAGERS CONSIDER POSTPONING DEPLOYMENT OF MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR ANTENNA JPL release 8) THE SHAPE OF LIFE: HOW DOES THE COMPUTER "KNOW" WHEN IT SEES IT? 9) ARCTIC CRATER EXPEDITION TO SEEK MARS SCIENCE INSIGHTS AND TEST FUTURE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES NASA release 98-105 10) NASA UNVEILS NEW INTERNET SITE FOR FIRE MONITORING BY SATELLITE NASA note N98-40 11) GALILEO EUROPA MISSION STATUS JPL releases 12) THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 13) 1998 MARS SURVEYOR PROJECT STATUS REPORTS John McNamee 14) STARDUST STATUS REPORTS Ken Atkins 15) MARS SOCIETY 2001 ROVER MOBILIZATION SCORES PARTIAL SUCCESS Mars Society release 16) MARS SOCIETY FOUNDING CONVENTION TO BE MAJOR INTERNATIONAL GATHERING Mars Society release 17) ESA 2003 MARS EXPRESS MISSION AT RISK: EUROPEANS NEED TO SPEAK UP Mars Society release 18) LATEST EVIDENCE OF LIFE ON MARS TO BE PRESENTED AT MARS SOCIETY CONFERENCE Mars Society release 19) MARS SOCIETY TO OFFER "HAKLUYT PRIZE" FOR BEST STUDENT LETTER TO WORLD LEADERS Mars Society release 20) ASCB URGES NASA TO CONCENTRATE ON GROUND, NOT SPACE, RESEARCH American Society for Cell Biology ------------------------------------------------------------------ EDITORS' NOTE By David Thomas and Julian Hiscox Some readers of this issue of Marsbugs may have noticed a slight change in our title. This newsletter is now called Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter. With the renewed interest in the possibility of life on other planets and the creation of new astrobiology labs and centers and some of NASA's research facilities, we thought that the name change was appropriate. The scope and content of Marsbugs will remain the same as it has been for the past five years. We apologize for the lateness, and thus the size, of this issue. Dave has recently returned from NASA's Kennedy Space Center where he was on staff for the Space Life Sciences Training Program (SLSTP) and the articles have piled up. In a future issue, we hope to include abstracts from the SLSTP students' projects. Anyway, we should be getting back to a more "regular" publishing schedule soon and we hope you enjoy this issue. ------------------------------------------------------------------ WATER HISTORY, ROCK COMPOSITION AMONG LATEST FINDINGS A YEAR AFTER MARS PATHFINDER JPL release 29 June 1998 A year after the landing of Mars Pathfinder, mission scientists say that data from the spacecraft paint two strikingly different pictures of the role of water on the red planet, and yield surprising conclusions about the composition of rocks at the landing site. "Many of the things that we said last summer during the excitement after the landing have held up well," said Dr. Matthew Golombek, Pathfinder project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA. "But we have now had more time to study the data and are coming up with some new conclusions." Similar to on-going science results from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft currently in orbit around Mars, Pathfinder data suggest that the planet may have been awash in water three billion to 4.5 billion years ago. The immediate vicinity of the Pathfinder landing site, however, appears to have been dry and unchanged for the past two billion years. Several clues from Pathfinder data point to a wet and warm early history on Mars, according to Golombek. Magnetized dust particles and the possible presence of rocks that are conglomerates of smaller rocks, pebbles and soil suggest copious water in the distant past. In addition, the bulk of the landing site appears to have been deposited by large volumes of water, and the hills on the horizon known as Twin Peaks appear to be streamlined islands shaped by water. But Pathfinder images also suggest that the landing site is essentially unchanged since catastrophic flooding sent rocks tumbling across the plain two billion years ago. "Since then this locale has been dry and static," he said. While the area appears to have been untouched by water for eons, wind appears to have been steadily eroding rocks at the landing site. Analysis of Pathfinder images shows that about three to five centimeters (one to two inches) of material has been stripped away from the surface by wind, Golombek noted. "Overall, this site has experienced a net erosion in recent times," said Golombek. "There are other places on Mars that are net 'sinks,' or places where dust ends up being deposited. Amazonis Planitia, for example, probably has about one to two meters (three to six feet) of fine, powdery dust that you would sink into if you stepped on it." Chemical analysis of a number of rocks by the alpha proton X-ray spectrometer (APXS) instrument on Pathfinder's mobile Sojourner rover, meanwhile, reveals an unexpected composition that scientists are still trying to explain. The current assessment of data from this instrument suggests that all of the rocks studied by the rover resemble a type of volcanic rock with a high silicon content known on Earth as andesite, covered with a fine layer of dust. All of the rocks appear to be chemically far different from meteorites discovered on Earth that are believed to have come from Mars. "The APXS tells us that all of these rocks are the same thing with different amounts of dust on them," said Golombek. "But images suggest that there are different types of rocks. We don't yet know how to reconcile this." When molten magma oozes up from a planet's mantle onto the surface of the outer crust, it usually freezes into igneous rock of a type that geologists call basalt. This is typical on the floors of Earth's oceans, as well as on the maria of the Moon and in many regions of Mercury and Venus. By contrast, andesites typically form on Earth in tectonically active regions when magma rises into pockets within the crust, where some of its iron and magnesium- rich components are removed, leaving rock with a higher silicon content. "We don't believe that Mars has had plate tectonics, so these andesites must have formed by a different mechanism," Golombek said. The rocks studied by Pathfinder most closely resemble andesites found in Iceland and the Galapagos Islands, tectonic spreading centers where plates are being pushed apart, said Dr. Joy Crisp, an investigation scientist on the spectrometer experiment at JPL. Andesites from these areas have a different chemical signature from andesites formed at subduction zones, mostly because wet ocean sediments carry more water down into the mantle at the subduction zones. "On Mars, where the water content is probably lower and there is no evidence of subduction, we would expect a closer chemical similarity to Iceland andesites," said Crisp. The Martian rocks may have other origins, however. They could be sedimentary and influenced by water processes; they could be formed by melting processes resulting from a meteor impact; or, a third alternative is that the rocks might be basaltic, but covered by a silicon-rich weathering coating. "In any event, the presence of andesites on Mars is a surprise, if it is borne out as we study the data further," said Crisp. "Most rocks on Mars are expected to be basalts lower in silicon. If these are in fact andesites, they are probably not very abundant." Pathfinder scientists are looking forward to more data from the Thermal Emission Spectrometer instrument on the Mars Global Surveyor to reveal more about the chemical composition of the planet's surface, especially once the orbiting spacecraft begins its prime circular mapping mission in spring 1999. In other recent Pathfinder science findings, Dr. Steven Metzger of the University of Nevada found direct evidence of gusting winds called "dust devils" in images from Pathfinder's lander. Such dust devils had been seen in some Viking orbiter images and inferred from measurements of atmospheric pressure and winds by other instruments on the Pathfinder lander, but were not spotted in actual surface images until Metzger's discovery. JPL planetary scientist Dr. Diana Blaney has been using data from Pathfinder, other spacecraft missions and ground-based observations to study weathering on Mars. Her work suggests that Mars is uniformly covered by a fine coating of dust formed by an unusual process involving meteor impacts and volcanic gases that add sulfur. NASA's next Mars missions, the 1998 Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander, are in testing now for launch in December and January, respectively. Whereas Pathfinder's science focus was on exploring rocks with its mobile robotic geologist, the Mars Polar Lander will focus on a search for water under the planet's surface, equipped with a robot arm that will dig into the soil at the landing site near the planet's south pole. Launched on December 4, 1996, Pathfinder reached Mars on July 4, 1997, directly entering the planet's atmosphere and bouncing on inflated airbags as a technology demonstration of a new way to deliver a lander and rover to Mars. The lander operated nearly three times its design lifetime of 30 days, while the rover operated 12 times its design lifetime of seven days. During the mission, the spacecraft relayed an unprecedented 2.3 gigabits of data, including 16,500 images from the lander's camera, 550 images from the rover camera, 16 chemical analyses of rocks and soil, and 8.5 million measurements of atmospheric pressure, temperature and wind. Mars Pathfinder was designed, built and operated by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. ------------------------------------------------------------------ SPECIAL HANDLING REQUIRED FOR SAMPLES FROM SOME SPACE OBJECTS National Academy of Sciences release 17 July 1998 NASA is planning several missions in the next decade to collect samples from a variety of small solar system bodies and planetary satellites. At the request of the agency, a task force of the National Research Council surveyed the potential for microscopic life existing on moons, asteroids, comets, and cosmic dust, and determined that a few cases may pose enough risk of contaminating Earth to require special handling procedures when the samples are brought home. To establish its risk criteria, the task force first looked at the range of conditions under which life can propagate. These conditions include the presence of water and organic compounds, availability of energy sources, suitable temperatures, and protection from radiation. The group also considered conditions under which life can be dormant. And, they considered the possibility that materials containing life forms could have been transported to objects from elsewhere in the solar system--for example, on a meteorite. Although the chances of encountering life forms are extremely low, samples meeting the task force's criteria would require strict containment procedures modeled on those recommended for samples brought back from Mars, as outlined in a 1997 Research Council report. These procedures include quarantine, screening, and otherwise treating the materials as if they were biohazards until proved safe. Of the space objects considered in the report, two of Jupiter's moons--Europa and Ganymede--offer the greatest potential of harboring microscopic life. Europa is the prime candidate among the objects studied for the possibility of past or present life based on evidence from the Voyager and Galileo space probes of an ocean beneath the moon's icy crust. Because Ganymede may once have had an ocean as well, caution in handling samples taken from there is also warranted. Sufficient temperatures for the existence of life and protection from radiation may also be present given the moons' positions orbiting Jupiter. In addition, samples from certain types of asteroids--the P- and D-types found in the outer parts of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter--merit strict procedures as a precaution because so little is known about their origin and composition. The task force recommended that dust particles collected near Europa, Ganymede, and these asteroids be approached with the same caution. The report notes cases in which no special handling or containment procedures are necessary because these objects have been determined to be lifeless or because their conditions preclude the presence of life. These objects include the Earth's moon, new comets, and cosmic dust exposed to sterilizing radiation in space. However, the report calls for scrutiny in any case where a lack of complete data cannot eliminate all risks. To reduce uncertainties in these cases, the task force recommended creating a database that charts the capacity of earthly microbes to survive extreme temperatures and radiation similar to those found in space. Such data could help determine the levels needed to sterilize samples. NASA funded the study. The National Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. It is a private, non-profit institution that provides science and technology advice under a congressional charter. A task force roster follows. Copies of Evaluating the Biological Potential in Returned Samples from Planetary Satellites and Small Solar System Bodies: Framework for Decision Making will be available in August from the National Academy Press for an estimated $40.00 (prepaid) plus shipping charges of $4.00 for the first copy and $.50 for each additional copy; telephone (202) 334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242. Reporters may obtain a pre-publication copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above). ------------------------------------------------------------------ NASA ESTABLISHES NEAR-EARTH OBJECT PROGRAM OFFICE AT JET PROPULSION LABORATORY NASA release 98-132 14 July 1998 A new program office to coordinate NASA-sponsored efforts to detect, track and characterize potentially hazardous asteroids and comets that could approach Earth will be established at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA. NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office will focus on the goal of locating at least 90 percent of the estimated 2,000 asteroids and comets that approach the Earth and are larger than about 2/3-mile (about 1 kilometer) in diameter, by the end of the next decade. "These are objects that are difficult to detect because of their relatively small size, but are large enough to cause global effects if one hit the Earth," said Dr. Donald K. Yeomans of JPL, who will head the new program office. "Finding a majority of this population will require the efforts of researchers at several NASA centers, at universities and at observatories across the country, and will require the participation by the international astronomy community as well." "We determined that, in order to achieve our goals, we need a more formal focusing of our near-Earth object tracking efforts and related communications with the supporting research community," said Dr. B. Carl Pilcher, science director for Solar System Exploration in NASA's Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters. "I want to emphasize that science research solicitations and resulting peer reviews, international coordination, and strategic planning regarding future missions will remain the responsibilities of NASA Headquarters." In addition to managing the detection and cataloging of near-Earth objects, the new NASA office will be responsible for facilitating communications between the astronomical community and the public should any potentially hazardous objects be discovered as a result of the program, Pilcher said. JPL was selected to host the program office because of its expertise in precisely tracking the positions and predicted paths of asteroids and comets. No significant additional staff hiring at JPL is expected at this time. A fact sheet describing NASA's research and spacecraft missions related to asteroids and comets is available on the Internet at the following address: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/facts/HTML/FS-023-HQ.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------ COMETARY IMPACT WITH EARTH UNLIKELY IN THE NEXT 500,000 YEARS By Earle Holland, Ohio State University 31 July 1998 Contrary to Hollywood's latest predictions, it is highly unlikely that a comet will rain death and destruction on the earth during the next half-million years, according to a new study. Two Ohio State University astronomers reported in Astrophysical Journal Letters that a new review of the motions of thousands of nearby stars failed to show any rogue stars capable of pulling comets out of their orbits and into the earth's path. Jay Frogel and Andrew Gould, professor and associate professor of astronomy at Ohio State, were looking for evidence of the so-called "death star" scenario where a passing star might alter the current orbits of comets near our solar system and send them our way. There is ample evidence both on earth and on other planets, they say, that shows comets and asteroids have impacted with devastating results. Two new movies--"Deep Impact" and "Armageddon"--depend on this premise for their drama. Frogel's interest, however, was spurred by geological evidence of such past impacts, he says, and not by the new movies. He and Gould turned to a relatively new resource to conduct their search--the HIPPARCOS catalogue. In 1989, the European Space Agency launched the HIPPARCOS satellite with its mission to accurately measure the location and motion of more than 120,000 stars. Astronomers believe a massive cloud of comets--the Oort Cloud--lies as much as 100,000 AU out from the sun, surrounding our solar system. (An AU is the distance between the earth and the sun--approximately 93 million miles.) If a star passed through that cloud, its gravitational field might nudge a comet out of orbit and towards the earth. Frogel and Gould looked in the HIPPARCOS Catalogue specifically for stars with near zero proper motion--stars that were either coming directly in our direction, or moving directly away. Any star that had already passed would appear to be moving directly away. "For all intents and purposes, you should just see a star that appeared not to be moving at all," Gould said. The one potential candidate the researchers did find turned out to be a star previously identified by other scientists. They failed also to find evidence of stars that may have already passed nearby. Gould's analysis of the HIPPARCOS catalogue showed that it should be sensitive enough to detect zero proper motion of any stars brighter than 8th magnitude. Eighth magnitude stars appear about 25 times fainter than those visible to the naked eye. Gould said that these bright stars are important candidates for the death star scenario. "They're bright either because they are close by or because of their size," he said. The larger the star, the greater it's gravitational effect might be on nearby comets. "We showed that theoretically, about 96 percent of the possible damaging events (the passing of such stars) should show up in the HIPPARCOS catalogue," Gould said. They had defined a "damaging event" as a star passing within 20,000 AU of the sun. Frogel and Gould are cautious with their predictions--"We can't guarantee that a comet won't hit the earth next year." Their analysis of the catalogue, however, makes it "unlikely that a major (comet) shower will occur in the next half-million years." Gould said, "The chance that a big enough star to cause significant damage would go through (our region) in the next 10 million years is extremely small." Frogel said he and Gould are confident about their analysis of the HIPPARCOS catalogue. The next step would be to seek a "death star" candidate among stars that were too faint to be included in HIPPARCOS. Another satellite--GAIA--has been proposed by ESA, which would measure the motions of 50 million objects, including stars as faint as 15th magnitude. If approved, GAIA would be launched no sooner than the year 2009. Some support for this research came from the National Science Foundation. ------------------------------------------------------------------ POSSIBLE NEW MARS METEORITE FOUND IN THE SAHARA DESERT JPL release 4 August 1998 At the 61st Meteoritical Society Meeting held in Dublin, Ireland last week, an announcement was made by Jutta Zipfel that a new Mars meteorite was recovered from the Sahara Desert. If confirmed, this would bring the total number of Mars meteorites to 13. The last recovery of a Mars meteorite was QUE 94201 from the Antarctic in 1994, and the last recovery of a Mars meteorite outside of the Antarctic was from Zagami, Nigeria in 1962. The new Mars meteorite weighs about 2kg and is owned by a private collector, who was not identified. The Sahara meteorite has been tentatively classified as a shergotite, the most common type of Mars meteorite. Detailed analysis is currently underway by European scientists. Current news and updates on the meteorite will be maintained on my Mars Meteorite home page. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/snc ------------------------------------------------------------------ NASA MANAGERS CONSIDER POSTPONING DEPLOYMENT OF MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR ANTENNA JPL release 10 August 1998 Concern over the deployment mechanism for the high-gain communication antenna on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has caused NASA managers to consider postponing the antenna's deployment in order to maximize the probability of mission success. The project team is studying a postponement of up to nine months in the antenna deployment, which currently is scheduled to take place in March 1999. The spacecraft, now in orbit around Mars, uses the undeployed high-gain antenna to communicate with Earth, but the entire spacecraft must be turned to point the antenna toward Earth during each communication session. "We have not made any decisions yet, but we want to take a conservative approach in order to protect the mission as fully as possible," said Glenn E. Cunningham, Mars Global Surveyor project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA. "A delay in the antenna deployment would reduce the flow of imagery and science data somewhat, but we have some ideas about how to compensate for that." Launched in November 1996 and in Mars orbit since September 1997, Mars Global Surveyor carries a dish-shaped high-gain antenna that is to be deployed on a 2-meter-long (6.6-foot) boom for the global mapping portion of the mission. The antenna is stowed during launch and the early orbital phase at Mars so that the exhaust plume from the spacecraft's main engine does not contaminate it. The mission plan calls for the antenna boom to be deployed following the final use of the main engine next spring, at the completion of the spacecraft's orbit-shaping aerobraking activity. During deployment, the boom is pushed outward by a powerful spring. A damper mechanism cushions the force of the spring and limits the speed of the deployment, somewhat like an automobile shock absorber or the piston-like automatic closer on a screen door. In recent months, however, engineers have become aware of problems with similar damper devices on deployable structures such as solar panels on other spacecraft. New data suggest that, in the vacuum of space, air bubbles may develop in the viscous fluid inside the damper. This may allow the boom to move through a considerable range of motion at a high speed before any cushioning effect begins to occur. "To the best of our knowledge, we could deploy the antenna boom without any adverse effect," said Cunningham. "However, the forces that the damper and the boom would be subjected to as a result of the bubble formation are close enough to the maximum force that they are designed to withstand that we want to take a cautious approach in evaluating the deployment." In a worst-case scenario, damage resulting from damper failure could render the spacecraft unable to communicate with Earth. "The advantage of deploying the high-gain antenna is that we can then use its gimbals to point the antenna at Earth to send data at the same time science instruments are pointed at Mars acquiring science data," said Cunningham. "Until we deploy the antenna, we must store data on the spacecraft's onboard recorder and then turn the entire spacecraft periodically to transmit data to Earth." A similar approach was used on NASA's Magellan spacecraft, which orbited Venus from 1990 to 1994. The project team is considering postponing the antenna deployment until after the landing of another spacecraft, the Mars Polar Lander, which will reach Mars in December 1999. Mars Polar Lander carries an experiment called the Deep Space 2 microprobes, which will penetrate the soil of Mars in search of subsurface water. Deep Space 2 relies on Global Surveyor as its only possible communication link with Earth. If the high-gain antenna is not deployed when Mars Global Surveyor begins its prime mapping mission next March, Cunningham said that small gaps would exist in coverage of the Martian surface by the spacecraft's camera and other instruments, due to the periods when the spacecraft is turned to communicate with Earth. Those gaps could be filled in later in the orbital mission. The project team is not yet certain how a postponed deployment would affect the total amount of data returned by the spacecraft. An initial estimate for the first 30 days of the global mapping mission found that it could return approximately 40 percent of the data that could be sent with a fully articulated antenna. However, the data return rate could be improved by strategies such as using larger ground antennas on Earth so that the spacecraft could transmit data more quickly, Cunningham noted. A final decision on the antenna deployment will not be made until a review scheduled for February 3, 1999 is held, before the spacecraft's prime mapping mission begins the following month. Mars Global Surveyor is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology. The spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO. ------------------------------------------------------------------ THE SHAPE OF LIFE: HOW DOES THE COMPUTER "KNOW" WHEN IT SEES IT? [source unknown] 11 June 1998 Artificial Intelligence employed in searching for extraterrestrial organisms and designing new pharmaceuticals. Looks may not be everything, but they may indicate whether something was alive-- here, or on Mars. To find out if looks and shape can be a signature of life, Dr. David Noever at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center plans to conduct what may be one of the world's largest computations. Noever is developing "Book of Life" technology to identify and classify the tiniest life forms found on Earth and in samples from Mars. The project recently started under a grant from NASA's Advanced Concepts Office in Washington. When a Mars surface sampler returns in the next century (right), what will be the best way to sort through the soil and rocks and identify possible organisms? Noever has also been recognized for his inventive use of artificial intelligence to develop new drugs in response to the medical challenges posed by leukemia, E. coli and HIV, among other important diseases. Discover magazine's July issue, in its annual Discover Awards for innovative technology, selected Noever's In Virtuo program as the top computer software product. "Artificial intelligence is the main link between these projects," said Noever, a research scientist specializing in biotechnology in the Space Sciences Laboratory at NASA/Marshall. "The computer is the engine that solves problems depending on what kind of fuel-- that is, what kind of questions - that you put into it." Remembering the morph man The idea of recognizing life when you see it may seem obvious, but its scientific grounding only dates back to Professor D'Arcy Thompson of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and his 1917 book On Growth and Form. "He's the original morph man," said Noever, referring to Thompson and the image morphing process used to create special effects in movies like Terminator 2 and The Mask. Now recognized as the world's first biomathematician, Thompson applied the concepts of mathematics to the differences of form he observed in various living things (left; links to larger image). He introduced the idea of systematically studying organisms by their geometric shape and found that changes of shape between species could be visualized by altering mathematical functions. In the days before computer imaging technology, though, Thompson could only draw figures by hand like the ones here. "Biological shape now ranks as one of at least four principal criteria in analyzing the origin of astrobiological samples," Noever said, citing the importance of Thompson's contribution to astrobiology. The unusual suspects Noever plans to use shape to identify life forms just as a detective uses fingerprints to identify suspects. But sifting through the lineup of possible forms is an unprecedented task, even for computers. In fact, Noever expects it will take the largest computation ever. "Looking for life forms in Mars rocks means analyzing microfossils--like potential nanometer-size bacteria [image at right]--so small that 50,000 could fit across the width of a single strand of human hair," Noever explained. From the 12 known meteorites believed to have made their way to Earth from Mars, Noever figures that about 20 kg (44 lbs.--as much as three mid-size bowling balls) of material are suitable for searching. Examining these "small" samples of Mars rocks by microscope would be like scouring a desert on foot in search of an occasional dry bone. Making the task more challenging, many things that are not life forms appear lifelike, while many true life forms appear to be non-life. Buying or creating a single computer to conduct the search is out of the question since at least 100 million images will have to be stored digitally and scanned, and classifying these images will require 10,000 times the computing power it took to produce the animated feature film Toy Story, one of the current standards in supercomputing. Instead, Noever--working together with Dr. Subbiah Baskaran, a visiting scientist from the University of Vienna Institute for Molecular Biotechnology, and Helen Matsos of NASA/Marshall--plans to borrow a few thousand computers to build what might be called the first D'Arcy Machine, a computer dedicated to classifying images for tell-tale biological shapes. Before considering extraterrestrial sources of life, however, the technology must be in place for an extensive classification of the only life forms we know--life on Earth. With a little help from my friends Named after the original morph man, the D'Arcy Machine will borrow processing power from volunteer computers connected to the Internet around the world to perform the giant task. "We hope to get young scientists from elementary school through college to help us with the search by linking their computers to the D'Arcy Machine," said Noever. Noever and his colleagues plan to develop the "Book of Life" technology using neural networks and evolvable hardware-- rewriteable computer chips capable of learning multiple patterns or images as they process information. Testing the system's image recognition ability and cataloging life forms from Earth will be the first of three project phases. One of the Allan Hills meteorites (links to larger image) after section was cut off for examination. Studying large specimens at high magnifications will be like scouring a desert by hand in search of fossil fragments. "In Phase One, we will construct image-based family trees of living forms as distinct from inorganic shape features," said Noever, who plans to feed the new machine at least 100,000 images to get it started. The goal for this phase is peer-reviewed publication and presentation at the 1998 conference "On Growth and Form" highlighting scientific progress in the 50 years since D'Arcy Thompson's death. In the second phase, the D'Arcy Machine will use trained neural networks from Phase One while being re-trained to simultaneously acquire and classify new, often ambiguous images. Noever and his colleagues will also throw the machine some curve balls with artificial data to test its performance. The goal of the third phase is for the D'Arcy machine to automatically acquire and classify images with minimal human supervision. At this stage, the machine will be equipped for future search scenarios, including the examination of meteorites found on Earth and lunar or interplanetary samples retrieved from new space missions. A lab assistant that doesn't get tired "The most exciting aspect of artificial intelligence is the way it can be applied to so many different problems," Noever said, such as his work on the In Virtuo program which Discover magazine has selected as the top computer software innovation the year. This software grew from earlier work funded by NASA's biotechnology research program to investigate the structures of proteins. Whereas traditional methods of searching for drugs, or searching for life on Mars for that matter, require scientists to labor through a lengthy process of trial and error, artificial intelligence software evolves as it searches. Noever likes to compare it to solving Rubik's Cube. A supercomputer randomly working all possible solutions would take about a billion years to get the right answer. In 1983, a Los Angeles high school student set the world's record at just under 23 seconds. If a random search takes too long, then teaching a computer to see patterns like a human might interpret them becomes the challenge to AI. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ARCTIC CRATER EXPEDITION TO SEEK MARS SCIENCE INSIGHTS AND TEST FUTURE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES NASA release 98-105 16 June 1998 NASA scientists soon will explore a barren Arctic meteorite impact crater to attempt to learn more about Mars and its early history, while testing technologies useful for future robotic and human exploration of the planet. From June 22 to July 26, a 20-member science team from NASA and several other research organizations will explore the Haughton Impact Crater and its surroundings on Devon Island in the Arctic Circle. Scientists consider the site a potential Mars analog because many of its geologic features, such as the crater's ice-rich terrain, its ancient lake sediments and nearby networks of small valleys, resemble those reported at the surface of Mars. The site may shed light in particular on the early history of Mars, when the planet's climate may have been wetter and warmer. "The cold, relatively dry, windy and unvegetated environment at the Haughton site is milder and wetter than present-day Mars, but it may give us an idea of what early Mars was like and how some of its surface features were formed," said Principal Investigator Dr. Pascal Lee of NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. During the expedition, Dr. Omead Amidi and other engineers from Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, will conduct field tests of an experimental, robotic helicopter. "The mission provides a great opportunity to demonstrate the feasibility and the value of robotic aircraft for mapping and surveying applications," Amidi said. Carnegie Mellon's small, 160-pound autonomous helicopter has vision-based stability and position control, as well as an onboard navigation computer, laser rangefinder and video system for site mapping. More information about the unpiloted helicopter may be found at the following website. http://www.ri.cmu.edu/project/chopper In addition to the tests with the autonomous helicopter, scientists also will conduct experiments with a ground-penetrating radar system, a field spectrometer, drilling equipment and a stereo camera. The radar system will be deployed in an attempt to map ground-ice and other subsurface conditions within and outside the crater's 12- mile (20-kilometer) diameter. "The ability to find underground ice, both for human consumption and geologic studies, will be critical in the exploration of Mars," said Dr. Aaron Zent of Ames, Dr. Lee's post-doctoral research advisor. Scientists will use a field spectrometer to determine the site's reflective qualities and better understand the crater's compositional evolution. In another experiment, scientists will use a portable drill to obtain core samples from ten feet deep in the frozen ground. Core samples of sediments from a lake that once occupied the crater will provide information about local climate evolution. Since the use of liquid drilling lubricants might be precluded on Mars, none will be used in this test. A portable stereo camera system previously used by Carnegie Mellon's Nomad rover during its unprecedented 133-mile wheeled trek through Chile's Atacama Desert last summer will provide high- resolution images of the site, and produce images for a 360 degree photo-realistic virtual reality project being developed by Ames' Intelligent Mechanisms Group. Using laptop computer systems and "mobile workstations" developed by Ames' Intelligent Mobile Technologies Team, scientists will communicate with other field team members and send live images via a wireless link. Team members will operate from a base camp on a terrace of the Haughton River within the crater's perimeter and explore the site with All-Terrain Vehicles. Supplies will be brought in by Twin Otter airplane, while a helicopter will aid exploration of remote sites. As part of the expedition's educational outreach program, the following website will be updated regularly with new data and images as available: http://www.arctic-mars.org The total cost of the project is $80,000. NASA is partially funding the project through a National Research Council grant. Additional support is provided by Ames Research Center; NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX; the Geological Survey of Canada; the Polar Continental Shelf Project of Canada; the Nunavut Research Institute, Canada; the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University; NovAtel Communications, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; and the National Geographic Society. ------------------------------------------------------------------ NASA UNVEILS NEW INTERNET SITE FOR FIRE MONITORING BY SATELLITE NASA note N98-40 9 June 1998 In an effort to provide up-to-date information about current fire situations around the globe to the public and scientific communities, NASA today unveiled a new presence on the World Wide Web that provides an up-to-date synopsis of current information about fires and their effect on global climate change. This web site features revealing animation depicting wildfires across the globe. The new Web site at URL http://modarch.gsfc.nasa.gov/fire_atlas/fires.html provides recent imagery, analysis of data from the early and mid- 1990s, and a synthesis of a range of satellite information resources that are currently available about terrestrial fires and future global fire monitoring capabilities. The Web site draws upon satellite resources from several U.S. agencies and international partners and is intended to serve the needs of the scientific community and the general public. The recent fires in Mexico and Brazil, and last summer's fires in Indonesia, have heightened public awareness of the importance of natural and human-induced wildfire as a contributor both to regional pollution and global change. Nearly 175 million acres of forest and grasslands are burned each year worldwide. Using data from satellite sensors, aircraft, and ground-based initiatives, scientists are working to develop a new global fire-monitoring program that will enable them to better understand the many implications of this growing problem. Specifically, efforts are underway to quantify the total area of forests and grasslands burned each year and to more accurately estimate the amount of resultant emission products. These newer and better data will facilitate development of more robust computer models that will enhance scientists' abilities to predict how biomass burning will impact climate, the environment and air quality. Since no single satellite or instrument provides optimal characteristics for fire monitoring, data are currently used from several satellite systems. Each system has different capabilities in terms of spatial resolution, sensitivity/saturation level, spectral frequency, overpass time and repeat frequency. ------------------------------------------------------------------ GALILEO EUROPA MISSION STATUS JPL releases June 17, 1998 The Galileo spacecraft is operating normally as it continues to process and send to Earth images and science information gathered during its latest Europa flyby, which took place late last month. The spacecraft successfully fired its thrusters to adjust its flight path on June 5, and performed routine propulsion system maintenance on June 10. Galileo is sending to Earth data that had been stored on its onboard tape recorder, including a picture of a previously unexplored region of Europa. The region appears mottled or blotchy, which may indicate there are contaminants in the ice. Two observations by the near-infrared spectrometer will provide information on materials within two regions of Europa's leading side. The leading side is located in front as Europa orbits Jupiter, and its position protects it from contamination by charged particles, called plasma, which rotate with Jupiter's magnetic field. These charged particles affect Europa's trailing side as magnetic field lines sweep past Europa. This week, the instruments that measure magnetic fields and charged particles are providing portions of a high-time-resolution recording of the environment surrounding Europa. This includes measurements of dust, charged particles, and the strength of electric and magnetic fields. 10 August 1998 The Galileo spacecraft is operating normally, processing and transmitting to Earth pictures and other science information stored on its onboard tape recorder. The playback of data was interrupted briefly yesterday for regular maintenance on the spacecraft's propulsion system. The spacecraft performed a scheduled flight path correction maneuver on July 31, to ensure that Galileo is aimed correctly as it heads toward its next Europa flyby on September 26. This week's transmission of science data includes two pictures of Europa taken by the spacecraft's camera--one showing very rugged terrain east of the Tyre Macula region, and the other depicting a region of unexplored mottled, or blotchy, terrain. The near- infrared mapping spectrometer is returning several observations that help describe Europa's surface composition on a global and regional scale, and enable scientists to identify non- ice surface components. Information gathered also covers variations in temperature and composition across Jupiter's cloud belts and cloud zones. This batch of data comes from Galileo's Europa flyby in late May. Most of the data from the spacecraft's Europa encounter in late July were lost because an anomaly put Galileo in a safing mode. Now that the situation has been corrected, scientists are playing back the remaining data from July. As an unexpected bonus, because the tape recorder has a reduced amount of July data to play back, it has more time to transmit additional data from the May flyby. The Galileo Europa Mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. ------------------------------------------------------------------ THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 10-16 August 1998 Galileo spends this week returning to Earth science data captured during the spacecraft's flyby of Jupiter's moon Europa in late May. The data was left intact during Galileo's most recent passage through the heart of the Jupiter system, in mid-July, when a spacecraft anomaly halted all encounter activities. Science teams will take advantage of the existing transmission time to fill in gaps in existing data sets caused by previous transmission problems, or by the fact that there is typically not enough transmission time from one encounter to the next to return all of the valuable data stored on the tape recorder. In this week's playback schedule, the near-infrared mapping spectrometer returns the final observation in a series of three designed to provide high spatial resolution information on the non-ice components of Europa's surface. The remainder of the week is spent returning observations of Io performed by the spacecraft camera. The first is designed to provide information on the size and age of sulfur grains on Io's surface. The next four were taken while Jupiter eclipsed Io from the sun. They are designed to allow scientists to study the changes in Io's surface temperature as the eclipse progresses. For more information on the Galileo spacecraft and its mission to Jupiter, please visit the Galileo home page. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1998 MARS SURVEYOR PROJECT STATUS REPORTS By John McNamee, Mars Surveyor 98 project manager 10 July 1998 Orbiter integration and test activities are proceeding on schedule. The root cause of the damaged bearing in the Pressure Modulator infrared Radiometer (PMIRR) instrument optical chopper assembly has been traced to an out-of-spec housing. Repair and requalification efforts are in process. Chopper reinstallation on PMIRR is scheduled for July 27. The Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) flight instrument and the repaired flight meteorology mast were installed on the lander on July 6-7 and functional tests were accomplished successfully. This completes the lander flight science payload delivery. Landed thermal balance testing is on schedule for July 19. Assessment of the damaged Medium Gain Antenna (MGA) at Boeing indicates that the MGA can be repaired with no loss of performance. Delivery of the repaired MGA to Lockheed Martin is scheduled for August 5. 17 July 1998 Orbiter integration and test activities are proceeding on schedule. The Mars Color Imager (MARCI) has been calibrated and reinstalled on the orbiter. Optical chopper assembly reinstallation on the Pressure Modular infrared Radiometer (PMIRR) is scheduled for July 27. The orbiter pre-ship review is scheduled for August 14. Another incident occurred on the lander spacecraft during integration and test activities. A technician incorrectly mated a power source to the launch umbilical (T0) data line. Preliminary analysis indicates that no damage occurred, however more detailed analysis and testing is underway to confirm that is the case. The Project has ordered a stand down on further test activities until an internal review on July 17 provides the approval to proceed with power on testing of the lander. Other actions implemented in response to incidents which have occurred in recent weeks follow: 1) Quality assurance and test conductor staffing on the floor during all lander and orbiter test operations will be increased, 2) Project Manager approval will be required for any individual working in excess of 20 hours overtime, 3) Test Department refresher training will be conducted, 4) Project test requirements will be scrubbed and reduced to the essentials required for shipment to the Cape and launch. The start of landed thermal balance testing has been rescheduled for July 22. 7 August 1998 Orbiter integration and test activities continue to proceed on schedule. Testing of the repaired optical chopper assembly for the Pressure Modulator infrared Radiometer (PMIRR) instrument is complete and the chopper is scheduled for reinstallation on PMIRR on August 7. Lander thermal balance testing was completed very successfully on August 2 validating the passive thermal control approach. Actual thermal performance was within 3 degrees C of predicts. Cruise thermal vacuum testing is scheduled for August 30. For more information on the Mars Surveyor 98 mission, please visit our website. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ STARDUST STATUS REPORTS By Ken Atkins, STARDUST project manager 12 June 1998 Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO) activities: This week marks the first full-fledged test of the flight system's components all working together. The Stardust Team completed part I of what we are calling System Performance Test (SPT) #1. In part one, we aimed at testing the spacecraft's reception of command sequences and its proper, correct response during the launch phase of the mission. This test included the command sequencing and data responses for lift-off, separation from the launch vehicle, de-spin after separation from the launch rocket, deployment of solar arrays and the proper attitude control functioning. It's great to report the test was very successful and completed in less time than scheduled. We will now be engaged in making some changes and reconfiguring for part II of this very important test series. As you've noticed, if you've been following the action through our TV Cam in the environmentally-controlled clean room, we have re- opened the spacecraft to permit the reinstallation of the flight Command & Data Handling (C&DH) unit and the Power Control Assembly (PCA). These key units have been getting some rework done on electronics while their nearly identical "understudies" have been on the spacecraft. STARDUST will be in this state for about two weeks as C&DH and PCA complete some retesting and are installed. Then part II of the System Performance Test will be done. STARDUST team members participated in another planning session with the launch vehicle folks at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. These meetings are crucial to ensuring a smooth flow of activity next fall when we take STARDUST to the Cape to meet its Boeing Delta rocket. As familiarization and training for that exciting time, the team participated in the successful launch of a Norwegian communication satellite aboard a Delta. More than 220,000 names have been collected so far for the second microchip. In case you're wondering, the names will be electronically etched onto a fingernail-size silicon chip at JPL's Microdevices Laboratory. Writing on the microchip is so small that about 80 letters would equal the width of a human hair. Once inscribed, the names can be read only with the aid of an electron microscope. We hope to exhibit the names in a major museum after the comet sample returns to Earth. 10 July 1998 Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO) activities: The Lockheed Martin Team completed the close out and loading of the spacecraft into the shipping container for move to the Multiple Test Facility (MTF) on schedule--July 11!! This signals a major step in readying the ship for flight. In the MTF it will be subjected to the vacuum, thermal and other environments it will experience in actual flight to the comet. This literal "spin, shake, and bake" is intended to unmask any weak spots in Stardust's flight readiness. The move to the MTF is like the "roll out" before first flight tests of new airplanes. With the vehicle now assembled, the team is now anticipating a chance to see how designs and manufacturing will work all together in the crucible of space. It is an exciting time. Certainly for those visiting this site regularly, you have been able to follow the action on the vidicam of the dedicated folks in the "bunny suits" as they have carefully brought all the pieces together. We know Stardust is "alive" in the protective, air- filled comfort of the "room-temperature" high bay. Now we're moving the camera with the ship to chronicle the adventures in the tougher regime of environmental and thermal test. So, stay tuned. We announced with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund that all 58,214 names from the Vietnam Memorial would be added to the second microchip as a tribute to those who fell in America's longest war. Approximately 2,500,000 people visit "The Wall" each year, making it the most-visited memorial in Washington D.C. The full text of the press release is available by clicking on "Stardust in the News" under the "What's New" beacon on the homepage (http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news27.html). We are now at more than 600,000 "passengers" for the Wild-2 ride! 24 July 1998 Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO) activities: This week's focus has been on opening up the spacecraft to make some adjustments to the navigation camera circuitry and to trouble- shoot some flight software on the Command & Data Handling (CDH) unit. The navigation camera has been adjusted and reinstalled. The software issue has been isolated and resolution should not delay reclosing the spacecraft within the allocated time. This activity explains why you're seeing the spacecraft looking a bit "disheveled" in the video cam pictures here on the web-site. Preparations also continued on getting Stardust ready for the upcoming tests in the thermal-vacuum facility. This set of tests will expose Stardust to the full range of heat and cold expected in space. All the subsystems will be operated and evaluated against their design specifications. Also, the team is planning a test sequence for the so-called fault-protection safeguards. In this activity, faults are deliberately induced to cause the spacecraft's back-up systems to rush to the rescue. It's very important to have a solid set of backups so the spacecraft can take care of any emergencies far from home. It's like putting those candles in your backpack even though you expect your gas lantern to work just fine on the camping trip. And, remember, we're going to have Stardust "on the road" a long time. Such testing ensures that problems, if they exist, can be found on the ground and fixed before November's shipment to Cape Canaveral for launch on February 6. 7 August 1998 Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO) activities: This week's focus was on solar array and high gain antenna installation, moving to the rotation fixture, and performing "aliveness" and functional testing. It was very clear to those of you watching the action on the webcam lots of things were occurring. Some very impressive views were available as the ATLO team moved around and worked STARDUST through its paces. Part A of the second system performance test (SPT) was successfully completed including checkout of the launch sequences, Navigation Camera imaging (windowed) and the sample return capsule (SRC) deployment sequences. The latter was done in the horizontal position in the very clean glove box enclosure. The careful handling when we open the SRC is necessary to ensure we keep the aerogel surfaces very clean when the actual flight collector is installed later this year. The opening of the SRC and the deployment of the ATLO test unit collector showed the SRC responded appropriately to the sequence of commands sent through the computer. This underscores our confidence the system will do exactly the same when it is at the comet and we place the action under full control of the on-board computer. After the horizontal SRC testing, the spacecraft was moved to the acoustic chamber to prepare for checking its capability to ride the vibration of the launch rocket. The flight system continues to show no hardware functional problems going into environmental test. The millionth name was received this week for the second microchip, and a press release announcing the milestone generated a number of media responses. Now 1,010,518 names have been collected so far for the second microchip. Combined with the first microchip (136,237), STARDUST has a total of 1,146,755 names. Welcome aboard! For more information on the STARDUST mission--the first ever comet sample return mission--please visit the STARDUST home page. http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov ------------------------------------------------------------------ MARS SOCIETY 2001 ROVER MOBILIZATION SCORES PARTIAL SUCCESS Mars Society release 18 June 1998 As a result of tandem mobilizations by the Mars Society and the Planetary Society, the Senate VA-HUD-IA Appropriations Committee voted June 11 to restore $20 million in badly needed funds to support the NASA's 2001 robotic Mars lander mission. For the past two weeks, the Mars Society had been mobilizing its membership to send e-mails to Senate VA-HUD-IA Appropriations Committee Chairman, Kit Bond, as well as other congressional and administration officials demanding that the full $60 million in committed funds cut from the mission be restored. Simultaneously, the Planetary Society mobilized its membership to send postcards. The $20 million restored to the mission is still not enough to allow the Athena rover to fly in 2001, but it represents a turning of the tide. Both the funds and the political support manifested to get them should be enough to stop further implosion of the mission, which was seriously threatened. Experienced political observers expressed surprise that any additional funds were obtained at all. Let's show them some more surprises. Thanks to all the members of the Mars Society who joined the mobilization with your e-mail. You had a real effect! Keep writing! There's a lot more where that $20 million came from. We need full funding to allow a robust robotic Mars exploration program to go forward, including a rover mission in 2001. We need equal funding of $150 million per year to NASA's Human Exploration and Development of Space Initiative to start developing the technology for human Mars exploration. Save the robotic Mars exploration program. Start the human exploration program. Send these gentlemen your message! President Bill Clinton - president@whitehouse.gov Vice President Al Gore - vice.president@whitehouse.gov NASA Administrator Dan Goldin - dgoldin@mail.hq.nasa.gov Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) - senatorlott@lott.senate.gov Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) - georgia6@mail.house.gov Senator Christopher Bond, Chairman VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Subcommittee - kit_bond@bond.senate.gov Representative Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Chairman VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Subcommittee - c/o dave.lesstrang@mail.house.gov Full details of the situation with the Mars Program are available in Mars Special Bulletin # 2, which is posted on the Mars Society website at http://www.marssociety.org, or our no-frames site at, http://nw.net/mars and in New Mars, the Mars Society electronic journal. ------------------------------------------------------------------ MARS SOCIETY FOUNDING CONVENTION TO BE MAJOR INTERNATIONAL GATHERING Mars Society release 18 June 1998 Registrations and abstracts for participating or speaking at the Mars Society Founding Convention continue to pour in from all over the world. At this time, conference participants include members from the US, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Rumania, Greece, Japan, China, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Egypt, Israel, and Mozambique. The opening of Mars to humanity and the ensuing creation of a new branch of human civilization should be done by all of humanity, but it fact it only will be done by those nations who choose to participate. Mars exploration need not be, and should not be, the sole responsibility of Americans. The Pathfinder mission cost $175 million. Holland could have afforded to do it. You don't need to be a superpower to do Mars exploration. If you think that your nation should not consign itself to the sidelines of history; if you think that your people should have accomplishments celebrated in newspapers and not just museums; if you feel that your country and culture holds things that are precious that should be passed on as part of the heritage of humanity's New World, then it is your responsibility to do whatever you can to get your country involved in Mars exploration, either on its own or teamed with others. We need Mars Society chapters in every country. The Mars Society Founding Convention will occur at the campus of the University of Colorado in Boulder, August 13-16, 1998. Abstracts for talk on all subjects (scientific, engineering, or social) bearing on the exploration or settlement of Mars are requested, and can be submitted via e-mail to mzubrin@aol.com. The deadline for abstracts is June 30, 1998. For further information about the conference, see the Mars Society web site at www.nw.net/mars. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ESA 2003 MARS EXPRESS MISSION AT RISK: EUROPEANS NEED TO SPEAK UP Mars Society release 18 June 1998 Due to cost overruns in other science programs, The European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express mission appears to be at risk. According to the June 15 issue of Space News, ESA is now debating whether to fund the mission, which would fly both an orbiter and a lander to Mars in 2003 at an expected combined cost to ESA of $165 million. The ESA Science Program Committee, headed by John Credland, is expected to make its decision by November. "The committee is going to have to decide what it really wants before the end of the year," Credland told Space News. "Mars Express is not yet funded and we still don't know how to fund it." The Mars Express orbiter and lander are important scientific spacecraft supporting the search for water and life on Mars. In addition, the orbiter is needed to provide a communication link to support a possible NASA or NASA/French Mars Sample Return mission in 2005. Neither ESA nor any European country has ever flown a mission to Mars (or any other planet.). Every time such a mission has been proposed, it has been displaced for funding by other scientific or non-scientific priorities. It's been over three decades since the first successful United States and Soviet interplanetary missions. The time is long overdue for Europe to get involved in the exploration of Mars. Europeans and others who want to make sure that Europe's first Mars exploration mission is not aborted again need to speak up. ESA has more than enough money to fly Mars Express; it just needs to give it priority. Send e-mails expressing your concern to: Antonio Rodota Director General European Space Agency 8-10 rue Mario Nikis 75738 Paris CEDEX 15 France arodota@hq.esa.fr Roger Bonnet Director of scientific Programs, ESA rbonnet@hq.esa.fr John Credland Head Science Projects Department, ESA jcredland@ewo.esa.int Jane Mellors ESA US Office 955 Lenfant Plz SW Suite 7800 Washington, DC 20024-2119 jmellors@ewo.esa.int ------------------------------------------------------------------ LATEST EVIDENCE OF LIFE ON MARS TO BE PRESENTED AT MARS SOCIETY CONFERENCE Mars Society release 18 June 1998 Dr. Everett Gibson, one of the co-leaders of the team including David McKay, Kathie Thomas-Keprta, Chris Romanek, and Richard Zare, which, in August 1996, stunned the world with their findings of evidence for past life on Mars in meteorite ALH84001, has requested and been granted a one-hour plenary talk at the Mars Society Founding Convention to present the latest findings of his team. The team has continued to work, and has developed new and important data that goes well beyond that presented in August 1996. Dr. Gibson will present the team's latest findings to the conference and also present a rebuttal to several criticisms that have recently been raised of the team's conclusion that the most likely explanation for the phenomenon in ALH84001 is life. It should be a very interesting talk. It could be historic. ------------------------------------------------------------------ MARS SOCIETY TO OFFER "HAKLUYT PRIZE" FOR BEST STUDENT LETTER TO WORLD LEADERS Mars Society release 18 June 1998 In order to stimulate useful, meritorious, and vitally important activity among young people, the Mars Society has announced that it will award the "Hakluyt Prize" for the best letter or group of letters written by a student to world political leaders making the case for initiating a humans-to-Mars program. To be eligible, contestants must be students or cadets in secondary school or college between the ages of 12 and 22. All letters to be considered must be sent either via stamped mail and/or e-mail to relevant world leaders, such as Presidents, Prime Ministers, Science Ministers, Space Agency Administrators, and elected representatives. The more leaders reached by a given contestant, the better. Copies of the letter with a list of the addresses to which it was sent should be forwarded to mzubrin@aol.com , or via stamped mail to Hakluyt Prize, Mars Society, Box 273, Indian Hills, CO 80454 USA. An English translation should be provided for letters written in a language other than English. The winner of the contest will receive a trophy and an all- expenses-paid trip to the Mars Society Founding Convention in Boulder Colorado this August. To be considered for this year's Hakluyt Prize, entries must be received by July 20, 1998. Entries received after July 20 will be considered for next year's Hakluyt Prize. The Hakluyt Prize is named after Richard Hakluyt, the brilliant pamphleteer, whose writings, addressed to Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Francis Walsingham, and other influentials in Tudor England convinced that country's power elite to make the policy decisions that led to the establishment of the first British colonies in North America. If not for Richard Hakluyt, the United States probably would not exist. If there is to be a human civilization on Mars in the future, there needs to be another Hakluyt today. Maybe that person is someone you know. Maybe that person is you. Start writing! The future is counting on you. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ASCB URGES NASA TO CONCENTRATE ON GROUND, NOT SPACE, RESEARCH American Society for Cell Biology 9 July 1998 A Blue Ribbon Committee of the American Society for Cell Biology has issued a review of NASA's life sciences program. The Committee was appointed by ASCB President Elizabeth Blackburn of the University of California, San Francisco and its recommendations were passed unanimously by the Society's governing Council. The Society recognizes the importance of land based research in such areas of interest to NASA as plant biology, cell and developmental biology of the vestibular system, environmental sciences, and evolutionary biology including investigations into the origins of life. However, the report is sharply critical of much ongoing and proposed NASA space-based research on these topics. The report underscores the greater standard of scientific interest that should be satisfied to justify the exorbitant and difficult-to-control nature of research in space. Specifically, the Society calls for the abandonment of the space- based crystallography program, claiming that "no serious contributions to knowledge of protein structure or to drug discovery or design have yet been made in space." The report explains "the International Space Station should mainly be a platform to study astronaut physiology and most basic research relating to how plants develop, how gravity is detected by living systems, or how life originates and evolves should be ground- based." The Blue Ribbon Committee was chaired by former ASCB President, Donald Brown, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and included Ursula Goodenough of Washington University, Steven Harrison of Harvard University, Anthony Mahowald of the University of Chicago, Elliot Meyerowitz of California Institute of Technology, Christopher Somerville of Stanford University and the Carnegie Institution, and Andrew Staehelin of the University of Colorado. The full text of the report is available at http://www.faseb.org/ascb/pubpol/nasareport.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ End Marsbugs Vol. 5, No. 16