MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 6, Number 23, 6 August 1999. Editors: Dr. David J. Thomas, Biology and Chemistry Division, Lyon College, Batesville, AR 72503-2317, USA. Marsbugs@aol.com or dthomas@lyon.edu Dr. Julian A. Hiscox, School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AJ, United Kingdom. J.A.Hiscox@reading.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. While we cannot copyright our mailing list, our readers would appreciate it if others would not send unsolicited e-mail using the Marsbugs mailing list. The editors do not condone "spamming" of our subscribers. Persons who have information that may be of interest to subscribers of Marsbugs should send that information to the editors. 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 Adobe Acrobat PDF files suitable for printing may be obtained at the official Marsbugs web page (http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/marsbugs/marsbugs.htm l). 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS 1) NEW EVIDENCE OF LIFE ON MARS? By Michael Ray Taylor 2) NEW UNC-CH STUDY EXPLAINS VARIATIONS IN ONSET OF ICE AGES University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill release 3) A WORKSHOP ON MARS EXPLORATION UN release 4) NOAA SEEKS TO SAVE CORAL REEFS NOAA release 99-054 5) POSSIBLE HYDROCARBON SEAS ON SATURN'S MOON TITAN Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory release NR-99-07-03 6) MEDICAL BENEFITS FOR ALL FROM SPACE EXPERIMENTS--WORKSHOP ON LIFE SCIENCES ACTIVITIES AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION UN release 7) EXTRASOLAR GIANT PLANET IN EARTH-LIKE ORBIT--DISCOVERY FROM A LONG-TERM PROJECT AT LA SILLA European Southern Observatory release 12/99 8) JPL INFRARED CAMERA MONITORS HUGE, STINKY FLOWER JPL release 9) NEARBY SUPERNOVA MAY HAVE CAUSED MINI-EXTINCTION, SCIENTISTS SAY University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign release 10) ICE-COVERED ANTARCTIC LAKE MAY HARBOR UNKNOWN LIFE National Science Foundation release 11) TOUCAN*: A BIOLOGIST'S CONTRIBUTION TO SETI By Mauro J. Cavalcanti 12) BEAGLE 2 WINS SUPPORT FROM UK GOVERNMENT From ESA Science News 13) SATELLITE DATA USED TO CHARACTERIZE URBAN ENVIRONMENT NOAA release 99-055 14) MARS SURVEYOR 98 MISSION STATUS JPL release 15) MARS GLOBAL SUVEYOR STATUS REPORT JPL release 16) NEW MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES By Ron Baalke 17) THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL releases 18) STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release 19) MARS WEEK AT MIT! Conference announcement ---------------------------------------------------------------- NEW EVIDENCE OF LIFE ON MARS? By Michael Ray Taylor 21 July 1999 New evidence of fossilized bacteria found in two Martian meteorites was presented Tuesday at an astrobiology conference in Denver. David McKay, co-leader of the NASA team that in 1996 claimed to have found fossilized life in a Martian meteorite, presented new images of purported Martian fossils, including the first ever taken with a traditional light microscope, during the conference's keynote speech. In March, team co-leader Everett Gibson revealed electron microscope images of purported fossilized bacteria in the Martian meteorites Nakhla and Shergotty. Get the full story at http://www.discovery.com/news/archive/news990721/brief1.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- NEW UNC-CH STUDY EXPLAINS VARIATIONS IN ONSET OF ICE AGES University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill release 22 July 1999 Slippery winter sidewalks may inconvenience and endanger pedestrians, but they are small (frozen) potatoes compared to what our animal skin-clad ancestors faced. During the last ice age, which peaked some 18,000 years ago for example, ice in what's now New York City lay as much as a mile thick. On average, ice ages occur about every 100,000 years, and the next one should begin with plenty of notice in about 60,000 years, says Dr. Jose Rial, professor of geophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill so not to worry. But the timing is not exact, Rial says, and he believes he has figured out why. In a paper appearing in the 23 June 1999 issue of the journal Science, the scientist explains that long-term climate change is more complicated than recent analysts believed. His new work appears to confirm a theory proposed in the 1920s by Serbian astronomer-mathematician Milutin Milankovitch and widely held until called into question during the past three decades. "The earth circles the sun every year in an orbit that becomes either more elliptical or less elliptical over tens of thousands of years," Rial says. "Variations in the orbit over time chiefly account for the ice ages as differing amounts of sunlight warm the planet." Scientists can date those Northern Hemisphere glacial periods fairly precisely by drilling into the sea floor and measuring the amount of "heavy" oxygen present in sediment layers, he says. More heavy oxygen--oxygen containing two additional neutrons in its nucleus compared with standard oxygen-- corresponds to colder temperatures. That the geologic record shows ice ages occur every 80,000 to 120,000 years has confounded researchers who felt such astronomically controlled events should occur on a more precise schedule, Rial says. Some suggested it was changes in the plane of the earth's orbit rather than its shape that spawned the glaciers. Periodic dipping into a dust ring that also circles the sun might have shaded and chilled the planet instead, they said. Rial, who believed Milankovitch was correct, mathematically re- analyzed records showing when ice ages occurred during the past million years and compared them with the earth's known orbits during those years. He discovered that the variable, roughly 100,000-year cycle was the result of a combination of the effects of other cycles and found the process to be equivalent to the way radio engineers "frequency modulate" signals to generate FM radio and television broadcasts. In simpler terms, the clock-like precision of the timing of ice ages still occurs but over a much longer span. The seemingly irregular duration from one ice age to the next eventually can be predicted if one takes into account astronomical events such as changes in the orbit's shape, the earth's tilting on its axis and the gravitational effects of other planets. "Understanding the climate of the recent geological past is important because finding out how Earth's environment has transformed heat from the sun into climate variations can help predict future global climate change," Rial says. "Eventually this kind of work will teach us how the whole climate system works not only over very long time scales, but also perhaps over very short spans of 50 to 100 years, which are what concern us." The long-term effect of changing the global climate by burning fossil fuels, for example, remains to be determined but are likely to be dramatic and possibly catastrophic for humans, he says. Note: Rial can be reached at 919-966-4553. His e-mail address is jose_rial@unc.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------- A WORKSHOP ON MARS EXPLORATION UN release 26 July 1999 International cooperation is essential for the future exploration of Mars, according to leading scientists meeting at a special workshop at UNISPACE III, in Vienna. Representatives from leading space agencies presented their part of a multinational information-gathering program, which will dispatch between them, 15 missions to Mars in the next 10 years. Apart from the Mars Global Surveyor, which is currently mapping the planet, the United States has the Mars Polar Lander and Mars Climate Orbiter approaching the planet this year and another orbiter and lander due to touch down with a small rover in 2001. The European Space Agency (ESA) will be sending its "Mars Express" with an orbiter and lander in 2003. One of its experiments will be to find out whether the "stream-bed" images on Mars were actually formed by water or by seismic activity. The "Mars Express" will be complemented by the Japanese Mars Mission, "Nozumi", which will be there at the same time to investigate the upper regions of the Martian atmosphere. In this year of enormous investment in space instrumentation, there will be the launch of the international "Samples Return" campaign which is a joint USA, French, Italian project to pick up and drill for samples from the surface and sub-surface of the planet, returning the first samples to Earth for analysis in 2008. There will be further joint missions in 2005, 2007 and 2009 which will include the launch of the "Netlander" program, a series of four identical landers which will be placed on pre- designated points on the surface of Mars to see how the planet differs from one geographical area to another. This series of joint, international missions, instigated by the Mars Exploration Group, will ensure that global interest in Mars is maintained by a continuous flow of information incorporating new knowledge and results of recent research. Following the array of experiments and data collection over the next decade there should be enough information to reveal whether there is water, carbons and/or organics on the planet and whether there was once life on Mars. However, it was stated by one of the speakers that the information gathered will beg further questions. In today's workshop, a question was posed about the contamination by material from Mars brought to Earth and conversely, contamination of Mars by material or humans from Earth. Dr. Dan Cleese, Chief Scientist for Mars Exploration for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA, said that a procedure has to be agreed internationally to quarantine the samples that will be returned to Earth. Dr. Richard Bonneville of the French Space Agency (CNES) said that there are more bacteria on the human body than human cells so that fact will be taken into consideration before a Mars settlement is designed. Nevertheless, according to Dr. Cleese, there could be a human mission to Mars between 2010 and 2020. Other highlights The "workshop on telemedicine" identified telemedcine as one of the key benefits of satellite technology. Participants at the workshop stressed the following key points. 1) Medical education, as well as diagnosis and treatment, is a key aspect of telemedicine. In fact telemedicine always has a tele-education factor. 2) Question of jurisdiction and liability of specialists not registered in the country in which they have given a remote diagnosis, is yet to be resolved. 3) Patient, not doctor must retain control over access and use in electronic patient records, recorded on smart cards containing the whole medical history of the patient. The "workshop on space debris" arrived at three recommendations. 1) United Nations should continue its work on space debris. 2) The entire international space faring community should apply debris minimization measures uniformly and consistently. 3) Studies should be continued on future possible solutions to reduce the population of on-orbit debris. The "workshop on geospatial data access" heard calls for: 1) Global spatial data infrastructure backed by international standards, guidelines and policies to support global economic growth and its social and environmental objectives. 2) Adoption of common standards and protocols in the testing of technology for disaster management. 3) Cooperation and sharing of infrastructure between agencies in relation to problems such as poverty, disasters, desertification and deforestation. The workshop on a blue planet, green planet recommended that: 1) The establishment of one or several homogenous databases of the Earth's surface data over the next 20 years to understand how the land cover has changed and how it will change based on indisputable information; 2) The use of these databases for weather and climate forecasting; 3) The introduction of a methodology using these databases together with historical data to identify critical areas of change. The workshop on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) demonstrated how navigation and positioning technology can help solve problems of regional and global significance and concluded that: 1) International cooperation both at the political and technical levels is needed for the successful implementation of satellite navigation and positioning technology; 2) It is the intention, particularly of the world civil aviation community, to achieve full compatibility and inter-operation ability of regional satellite navigation systems throughout the implementation process; 3) A public-private partnership approach is the way forward for the development of service and infrastructure; 4) To increase the awareness of GNSS benefits to developing nations, the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) should consider the expansion of the UN Space Applications Program to include support for relevant training in conjunction with other international institutions; 5) Public and private sector frequency spectrum experts within the GNSS community should urge their governments to adopt a common approach to spectrum issues, bearing in mind that Satellite Navigation services require protected frequency bands. The a workshop on observations of near earth objects (NEOS) pointed out that: 1) There are innumerable advantages of using small observatories for the confirmation of NEOs; 2) Good public communication and international coordination are needed to take advantage of world-wide observation efforts; 3) Information plays a major role in evaluating both the risks and the consequences of impacts and enables the selection of the most appropriate reaction means; 4) Spacecraft need to visit asteroids as the resolution of earthbound telescopes is not sufficient to find out the essential information they hold about the history of the Solar System; 5) The research of NEOs should be regarded as a service for Humankind. The workshop on small satellites at the service of developing countries recommended that: 1) It is easier and cheaper for countries to combine resources than work in isolation; 2) Therefore, countries should consider ways of international cooperation in preparing their space plans; 3) In designing constellations of small satellites it is important to take into account the individual circumstances of countries; 4) Small satellite design offers a valuable means for learning all the techniques associated with developing, manufacturing, testing and operating a spacecraft. ---------------------------------------------------------------- NOAA SEEKS TO SAVE CORAL REEFS NOAA release 99-054 28 July 1999 The Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is taking a leading role in using satellites to monitor the health of coral reefs around the world, the agency announced today. "Several initiatives resulted from a recent workshop that NOAA co-sponsored," said NOAA oceanographer Al Strong, who coordinated the workshop. "One is to use existing data from sources such as NOAA weather satellites, Landsat, the Space Shuttle, and the SPOT satellite to establish data sets that can be used as a baseline for studying coral health. Using existing data also avoids costs involved with launching new satellites." The workshop, which addressed coral health and explored the use of satellites to monitor coral health, was held in Honolulu last month. Experts from around the world also stressed the need to gain access to and use declassified military data to create a detailed, uniform set of coral reef maps that can be used to study changes in corals over time. Coral reefs are home to about a million fish and other species. Coral reefs also attract divers and other tourists to tropical coasts. This recreation and travel supports a significant tourism industry dependent on clean waters and healthy coral reefs. Reefs provide billions of dollars in annual revenues to countries such as the United States, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, and Egypt. In recent years, scientists have documented coral mortality at levels far greater than previously. This mass mortality of corals is largely attributed to widespread coral bleaching associated with the 1997-1998 El Niño and large-scale epidemics of coral disease. "NOAA satellites carry remote sensing tools to monitor coral bleaching, and we are looking for other ways to monitor coral health," said NOAA Administrator D. James Baker. "Bleaching can be a sign that the coral is being stressed by a number of factors, including pollution, sedimentation, high light levels, reduced water levels, or changes in salinity. NOAA's Hot Spot tracking system uses satellite data to identify areas of the ocean that are conducive to bleaching. It can provide an early warning of coral bleaching events. NOAA is also developing a long-term data stewardship program so that scientists will have easy access to baseline coral reef data generations from now. " NOAA is also continuing its work with scientists and managers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to learn more about the 1998 bleaching event in the context of Australia's 25 years of research on the Great Barrier Reef. NOAA is also working with Australian climate modelers to develop improved projections of where coral bleaching will occur in the next few decades and the extent to which it will destroy reefs as we know them. The workshop was sponsored by NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service; NOAA's Coastal Services Center; and the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management, based in the Philippines. For more information, and for the workshop's recommendations for action, visit the web site at http://www.csc.noaa.gov/coral_reefs/index.html. ---------------------------------------------------------------- POSSIBLE HYDROCARBON SEAS ON SATURN'S MOON TITAN Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory release NR-99-07-03 28 July 1999 The best images ever taken of Saturn's mysterious moon Titan reveal a complex surface that may be home to icy landforms and frigid hydrocarbon seas. Astrophysicists from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the University of California campuses at Los Angeles and Berkeley captured the images using a special technique on the world's largest telescope. According to Livermore astrophysicist Claire Max, these images from the Keck telescope are sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope, and show dark regions that may be seas of liquid hydrocarbons, as well as bright regions that may be ice- and-rock continents or highlands. The results appear this month in the planetary-science journal Icarus. The science team used a special observing technique known as "speckle interferometry" to obtain the high-resolution images of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. At 3,200 miles in diameter, Titan is larger than the planet Mercury and is the only body in the solar system with a nitrogen-rich atmosphere like the Earth's. Of course, located 900 million miles from the Sun, Titan is much colder than Earth, with a surface temperature of minus 180° Celsius (-290°F). Observing Titan is extremely difficult. High in Titan's atmosphere, ultraviolet light changes methane gases into a thick smog-like organic haze that hides Titan's surface. When the Voyager spacecraft passed by in 1980, it saw only the orange- brown top of Titan's smoggy skies. Infrared light can penetrate the smog to see Titan's surface. Unfortunately, Titan is so far away that conventional telescopes see only a fuzzy blob because the image is blurred by Earth's atmosphere. Even the Hubble Space Telescope lacks sufficient resolution, especially in infra-red light, to see much detail, though both Hubble and ground-based studies have shown that Titan has a complex surface. "With the tremendous power of the Keck Telescope we are able to map surface features 150 miles in size on a moon that is more than 800 million miles from Earth. I find this tremendously exciting to think about," Max said. The Livermore-UC group, including Livermore astrophysicsts Bruce Macintosh and Claire Max, planetary scientist Seran Gibbard, engineer Don Gavel, and UC Berkeley Professor Imke de Pater, studied Titan using the 10-meter Keck I telescope, the world's largest, on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The blurring of the Earth's atmosphere was overcome using "speckle interferometry," a technique whereby hundreds of short snapshots, each fast enough to freeze the atmospheric turbulence, are computer-processed together. UCLA Professor Andrea Ghez was a pioneer in applying this technique to infra-red astronomy. Livermore scientists developed a version of speckle interferometry to image manmade satellites during the height of the Cold War; it was adapted to astronomical use by Laboratory engineer Don Gavel. "Speckle imaging is limited to bright, compact objects; Titan qualifies perfectly," Gavel said. Livermore's Gibbard worked with Chris McKay at NASA's Ames Research Center and Eliot Young of the Southwest Research Institute to convert these images into a map of surface features. The researchers removed light scattered in Titan's atmosphere to produce an image uncontaminated by haze. "These models give the first quantitative map of Titan's surface. The bright region shaped somewhat like a rubber duck seems to be made of a mixture of rock and ice," Gibbard said. A kidney-shaped region near the left edge of that image is made of an extremely dark material. Scientists have long suggested that ethane smog could condense and rain onto Titan's surface as a black liquid. "The dark material could be a sea of liquid methane, ethane, or other hydrocarbons," Macintosh said. "It's one of the darkest things in the solar system. It could also be solid organic material." Either possibility is exciting to scientists. If it is a sea, it represents the only such open body of liquid known beyond planet Earth. Whether the material is liquid or solid, the breakdown and re-assembly of complex organic molecules on Titan is similar to the complex chemistry that took place on Earth before life evolved. In some ways Titan is closer to the pre- biotic Earth than any other place in the solar system. Currently en route to Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft built by NASA and the European Space Agency is scheduled to land the Huygens probe on Titan in 2004. Ground-based studies such as the Keck observations will help predict whether the probe will land on a solid surface or splash into an extra-terrestrial sea. Image captions [Image 1: http://www.llnl.gov/PAO/photos/Titan1cap.html] A near-infrared image of Titan's surface obtained from speckle images taken with the Keck telescope. The brightest regions reflect about 15 percent of incoming light; the dark region in the lower left reflects essentially no light, indicating that it is probably dark organic material, either liquid methane and ethane or a more complex solid. Credit: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. [Image 2: http://www.llnl.gov/PAO/photos/Titan2cap.html] For comparison purposes, an image of Titan taken with conventional techniques under excellent conditions shows no detail. Credit: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. ---------------------------------------------------------------- MEDICAL BENEFITS FOR ALL FROM SPACE EXPERIMENTS--WORKSHOP ON LIFE SCIENCES ACTIVITIES AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION UN release 29 July 1999 The outcome of Life Sciences experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) will rapidly increase diagnostic techniques and treatment of life threatening diseases, according to scientists at UNISPACE III, presenting their anticipated results from using micro-gravity and other space techniques. Alan Mortimer from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) illustrated how experiments in space facilitate better understanding of neuroscience, cardiovascular physiology, psychology, muscle atrophy and loss of bone density. He said the collaboration between national space agencies is essential to quickly develop the laboratories on ISS otherwise it would take three years to build just one facility. The cooperation between the Strategic Planning Life Sciences Working Group, incorporating the European Space Agency (ESA), National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA), French Space Agency (CNES) and the National Space Program of Germany, allows the sharing of methodologies, information and receipt of results from any of the member countries' experiments on board the ISS. The future of Life Sciences research in space depends on this kind of enhanced international and interdisciplinary cooperation together with scientific excellence. The representative from Boeing Corporation, Wayne Esser, opened his address by saying, "ISS is a bridge to the future for research and development". He said there was a need for space agencies to promote public interest in the commercialization of the Space Station and lend support to potential commercial users. Consequently, the development of terrestrial applications from the "spin-offs" of space technology will perpetuate interest in the ISS and largely contribute to the growth of Life Sciences research in space in the next century. It was made clear that the role of industry in the research consortia is indisputable together with governmental and non- profit research institutions. According to Mr. Esser, hardware on the ISS for space biology and medical research is already 95% complete. However, results from the ISS will not be available for at least another 3-4 years. One of the proposals to emerge from the workshop was that research access to the ISS should be made available to countries not contributing to the ISS. In addition, technology transfer and enhanced information flow, not only between ISS users but also to developing nations, should be examined closely to fully maximize the potential of the ISS. One participant suggested that Space Agencies design a flow chart of information from the ISS through to the national research laboratories of developing countries. Another suggestion was for a research facility of a developing nation to nominate an experiment through an ISS- participating Space Agency that they would like conducted on the Space Station. As research for space development is initially land-based, it was also suggested that developing countries could participate in this earth-bound work in order eventually to establish a foothold on the International Space Station. Other highlights The five-day workshop on space law in the 21st century arrived at the following conclusions and recommendations. 1) UN Space Treaties are a solid legal framework for further legislation made necessary by rapid technological development. 2) Private enterprise should be integrated into the legislative process. 3) If space activities are to be for the benefit of all humankind then international cooperation and technology transfer have to be strengthened. 4) International Institute of Space Law (IISL) should draft a "Magna Carta" as a general compendium of all space law. 5) Commercial interest and national security considerations should be harmonized. 6) Radio frequencies should be allocated more effectively to a wider user community. 7) Users of international communication resources should create an international telecommunications fund to help developing countries. 8) Public interest has to be defined in the light of the privatization of former space-related public companies. 9) United Nations Principles on Remote Sensing should be elaborated on and renewed. 10) For scientific and research purposes a data archive, based on the "Principle of Openness", should be established and maintained for at least a hundred years. 11) Development of global navigation systems has led to a need to investigate issues of liability, reliability, quality and access. 12) Due to explosive growth in space activities there is a need for an adequate international regulatory framework. The "workshop on clean and inexhaustible space solar power" recommended: 1) Encouraging organizations around the world to further investigate the technical and economical feasibility of Space Solar Power (SSP) and to perform demonstrations on the ground and in space that can validate necessary technological advances and engender global familiarity with SSP. 2) Promoting individual market analyses by all countries of their future needs for electricity and the prospects for meeting that demand by using clean renewable energy sources, including SSP. 3) Stimulating international collaboration and cooperation, involving both developed and developing countries, to find a global solution for the use of SSP. 4) Requiring that the United Nations create an international office to address the Workshop's recommendations. The "workshop on developing indigenous earth observation industrial capabilities in developing countries" proposed that: 1) The creation of a national geospatial infrastructure be accorded the same level of support as other elements of national infrastructure such as transportation networks and health care. 2) Governments look to indigenous industry to support government requirements, to better extract knowledge from data and add local understanding and to identify and develop new markets. 3) Governments foster an environment in which private industry can operate and develop international partnerships. The "workshop on intellectual property and space activities" recommended that the committee on the peaceful uses of outer space (COPUOS): 1) Continue its efforts to establish a legal framework which will allow space activities in the 21st Century to harmonize with the basic principles of promoting progress in science and useful arts as well as taking advantage of space benefits for all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development and on the other hand, provide for sufficient legal protection for guaranteeing an adequate return on investment. 2) Take, as soon as possible, regulatory actions to ensure applicability of Intellectual Property on activities in Outer Space. 3) Draft and recommend space regulations in close coordination with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The "workshop on education" stressed: 1) The importance of developing awareness about basic science in order to increase the spread of science education. 2) That students from developing countries should be given the opportunity to follow Masters courses and do research studies abroad. 3) A significant contribution by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) is needed to enhance education in developing countries. The "workshop on the industrial utilization of the international space station" noted that: 1) Frequent access to space is needed in order to produce success. 2) Public participation in the International Space Station (ISS) program needs to be promoted. 3) Exploitation of the ISS demands efficiency--anything that can be done commercially should be done. The "session on international standardization for space systems" noted that: 1) Developing countries benefit from space activities through international standardization. 2) The concept of Open Standardization allows smaller organizations to benefit from "off the shelf" products. 3) Space programs and services benefit from common experiment designs, spacecraft interfaces, ground stations and product qualification methods. 4) The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) should formally endorse open standards to give developing countries access to space. ---------------------------------------------------------------- EXTRASOLAR GIANT PLANET IN EARTH-LIKE ORBIT--DISCOVERY FROM A LONG-TERM PROJECT AT LA SILLA European Southern Observatory release 12/99 (http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-1999/pr-12-99.html) 29 July 1999 A new extrasolar planet has been found at the ESO La Silla Observatory as a companion to iota Horologii (iota Hor). This 5.4-mag solar-type star is located at a distance of 56 light- years and is just visible to the unaided eye in the southern constellation Horologium (The Pendulum Clock). The discovery is the result of a long-term survey of forty solar-type stars that was begun in November 1992. It is based on highly accurate measurements of stellar radial velocities, i.e. the speed with which a star moves along the line of sight. The presence of a planet in orbit around a star is inferred from observed, regular changes of this velocity, as the host star and its planet revolve around a common center of gravity. Since in all cases the star is much heavier than the planet, the resulting velocity variations of the star are always quite small. The team that found the new planet, now designated iota Hor b, consists of Martin Kuerster, Michael Endl and Sebastian Els (ESO-Chile), Artie P. Hatzes and William D. Cochran (University of Texas, Austin, USA), and Stefan Doebereiner and Konrad Dennerl (Max-Planck-Institut fuer extraterrestrische Physik, Garching, Germany). Iodine cell provides very accurate velocity measurements Iota Hor b represents the first discovery of an extrasolar planet with an ESO instrument [1]. The finding is based on data obtained with ESO's highest-resolution spectrograph, the Coude Echelle Spectrometer (CES) at the 1.4-m Coude Auxiliary Telescope (CAT). While this telescope has recently been decommissioned, the CES instrument is now coupled via an optical fiber link to the larger ESO 3.6-m telescope, thus permitting the continuation of this survey. The high-precision radial velocity measurements that are necessary for a study of this type were achieved by means of a special calibration technique. It incorporates an iodine gas absorption cell and sophisticated data modelling. The cell is used like an optical filter that adds its own absorption features to the absorption line spectrum of the star. When the radial velocity of a star changes, the wavelength of its spectral lines will shift according to the Doppler effect. They are then seen to move, relative to those of the iodine spectrum. Because of the relative nature of this measurement, the shift and hence the star's velocity change can be measured with a precision that is much higher than what the mechanical/optical stability of the spectrograph would otherwise allow. This particular technique is currently being applied by several research groups in the world and has led to most of the recent extra-solar planet discoveries. The new planet and its orbit [ESO PR Photo 32a/99] ESO PR Photo [ESO PR Photo 32b/99] ESO PR Photo 32a/99 32b/99 [Preview - JPEG: 527 x 400 pix - [Preview - JPEG: 523 x 400 pix - 68k] 76k] [Normal - JPEG: 1053 x 800 pix - [Normal - JPEG: 1045 x 800 pix - 144k] 144k] Caption to ESO PR Photo 32a/99: Radial velocity measurements (with individual errors shown as bars) of the 5.4-mag solar-type star iota Hor over a period of nearly six years. The thin line indicates the variation that is caused by the new planet (as a best-fit Keplerian orbit). Caption to ESO PR Photo 32b/99: The combined radial velocity variations of iota Hor vrs. orbital phase of the newly discovered planet. The planet is in front of the star near phase 0.22 when the velocity is smallest and on the other side at phase 0.82. The orbital period is 320 days. For the star iota Hor, a measurement precision of about ± 17 m/sec (± 61 km/hour) was achieved. This is a very high accuracy in astronomical terms and it enabled the astronomers to detect radial velocity variations with an amplitude of ± 67 m/sec (or 134 m/sec peak-to-peak), cf. ESO PR Photos 32a/99 and 32b/99. Five and a half years of monitoring and 95 individual spectra with exposure times between 15 and 30 minutes eventually revealed the presence of a planetary companion. Iota Hor b has an orbital period of 320 days. From this period, the known mass of the central star (1.03 solar masses) and the amplitude of the velocity changes, a mass of at least 2.26 times that of planet Jupiter is deduced for the planet. It revolves around the host star in a somewhat elongated orbit (the eccentricity is 0.16). If it were located in our own solar system, this orbit would stretch from just outside the orbit of Venus (at 117 million km or 0.78 Astronomical Units from the Sun) to just outside the orbit of the Earth (the point farthest from the Sun, at 162 million km or 1.08 Astronomical Units) The new giant planet is thus moving in an orbit not unlike that of the Earth. In fact, of all the planets discovered so far, the orbit of iota Hor b is the most Earth-like. Also, with a spectral type of G0 V, its host star is quite similar to the Sun (G2 V). Iota Hor b is, however, at least 720 times more massive than the Earth and it is probably more similar to planet Jupiter in our own solar system. While the radial velocity technique described above only determines a minimum value for the planet's mass, an analysis of the velocity with which the star turns around its own axis suggests that the true mass of iota Hor b is unlikely to be much higher. A difficult case Natural phenomena with periods near one solar year always present a particular challenge to astronomers. This is one of the reasons why it has been necessary to observe the iota Hor system for such a long time to be absolutely sure about the present result. First, special care must be taken to verify that the radial velocity variations found in the data are not an artefact of the Earth's movement around the Sun. In any case, the effect of this movement on the measurements must be accurately accounted for; it reaches about ± 30 km/sec over one year, i.e. much larger than the effect of the new planet. In the present case of iota Hor, this was thoroughly tested and any residual influence of the Earth's motion can be excluded. A second complication arises from the fact that for Earth-bound telescopes, the visibility of a particular star changes in the course of the year. This creates `windows of opportunity', i.e. certain times when a given star can best be observed. That leads to a tendency to observe and re-observe the star when the planet is in the same part of its orbit. The full variation in radial velocity will therefore only be revealed after a sufficiently long time span has elapsed, covering several revolutions of the planet around the central star. More planets in the iota Hor system? The comparatively high scatter of the data points from the best fitting radial velocity curve presents an additional puzzle. While the accuracy of these measurements was determined as ± 17 m/sec (for other, similar stars, with and without known planets, an even higher precision of ± 14 m/sec was found with the same instrument), the scatter of the measurements around the mean velocity curve is higher, about ± 27 m/sec. This indicates that the discovered planet cannot be the whole story. There are two possible explanations for this additional variability. Either there is a second planet with another period in the same system, or activity on the surface of the star causes slight changes in its spectrum, influencing the velocity measurements. There are in fact indications that iota Hor is more active than the Sun, hence making the second explanation quite plausible. If so, it appears that the new planet is orbiting around a relatively young star, since such stars are typically more active than older ones like the Sun. Follow-up observations One of the next steps during the investigation of iota Hor will therefore be to get clues to its age. In any case, it is important to learn more about the properties of planetary orbits around young stars, in order to improve the theory of star and planet formation. After an upgrade to a spectral resolution more than twice as high as before, and with the larger light collecting power of the ESO 3.6-m telescope at its disposal, the CES spectrograph is now ready to perform direct measurements of the spectral instabilities that might cause the additional radial velocity variations in iota Hor. This project is high on the list of the discoverers. However, they will also follow-up the other explanation - a second planet. Longer series of measurements may reveal additional companions in orbits with longer or shorter periods of revolution. Observations of iota Hor will therefore be continued for several more years. Due to its rather complex radial velocity variations, iota Hor may thus soon become one of the better studied stars in the southern sky. Note [1] Extrasolar Planets are also being found with the 1.2-m Swiss telescope at La Silla. An early success was described in ESO PR 18/98. ---------------------------------------------------------------- JPL INFRARED CAMERA MONITORS HUGE, STINKY FLOWER JPL release 30 July 1999 NASA/JPL astronomers are demonstrating their flower power by using an infrared camera to monitor temperature changes as the world's largest, smelliest flower blooms at The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in Pasadena, CA. A live Internet webcam shows the flower as observed by the infrared camera, installed temporarily at the Huntington Gardens, at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/flower. The flower, expected to bloom over the next few days, is the dark, vertical structure in the center of the image, with other objects and people seen around it. The flower, Amorphophallus titanum, also known as the "corpse flower," is the largest and most odorous in the world. When the flower blooms, it emits a very foul smell comparable to the stench of rotting flesh. In addition, as it blooms, the flower's temperature rises. Because infrared photography is ideal for measuring temperature variations, a blossoming relationship developed between JPL astronomers and botanists at Huntington Gardens. Flowers of this type, which are native to the rainforests in Sumatra, Indonesia, have blossomed only 10 times previously in the United States. The specimen on display at Huntington is nearly 1.8 meters (6 feet) tall; the tallest ever observed measured 3 meters (10 feet) tall. The infrared camera is operated by astronomers with NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), an orbiting observatory scheduled for launch in 2001 on a mission to study the early universe and hunt for planets hidden in dust debris around nearby stars; heat emitted by dust-shrouded planets can be seen in the infrared. JPL manages SIRTF for NASA. At the Huntington Botanical Gardens, visitors of all ages are flocking to see the flower bloom and catch a whiff of its unique odor, and JPL's infrared camera monitor enables them to witness the temperature fluctuations. Additional information on the flower is available at the Huntington web site at http://www.huntington.org. Additional information on the Space Infrared Telescope Facility is available at http://sirtf.caltech.edu/. JPL manages SIRTF for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. ---------------------------------------------------------------- NEARBY SUPERNOVA MAY HAVE CAUSED MINI-EXTINCTION, SCIENTISTS SAY University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign release 1 August 1999 The recent discovery of the rare radioactive isotope iron-60 in deep-sea sediments could be the telltale sign of a killer supernova, a University of Illinois researcher says. "A nearby supernova would bathe our planet in high-energy particles -- cosmic rays--with potentially disastrous effects," said Brian Fields, a visiting professor of astronomy at the U of I. "Increased cosmic-ray bombardment could have affected Earth's biosphere by enhancing the penetration of harmful solar ultraviolet radiation and by increasing the global cloud cover, leading to a 'cosmic-ray winter' and a mini-extinction." In a paper scheduled to appear in New Astronomy, Fields and colleague John Ellis, a theoretical physicist at CERN, claim the measured iron-60 abundance cannot be explained by known sources, but could be the radioactive ashes of a supernova--the explosion of a massive star. This cataclysmic explosion occurred 100 light-years from Earth about 5 million years ago, Fields and Ellis estimate. The scientists based their analysis upon iron-60 data collected by a German team led by Gunther Korschinek of the Technical University of Munich. "If these data are confirmed, together with their extraterrestrial origin, the implications are profound," Fields said. "They would constitute the first direct evidence that a supernova occurred near Earth in the fairly recent geologic past, with detectable effects on our planet." Those effects include a huge increase in global cloud cover and a dramatic decrease in the protective ozone layer. "A correlation has been observed between solar activity--namely the sunspot cycle--and the extent of Earth's cloud cover," Fields said. "Some researchers believe this correlation is due to modulation of the normal cosmic-ray flux observed today, caused by variations in the solar wind." The enhanced cosmic-ray bombardment from a nearby supernova could create a large increase in global cloud cover, Fields said, significantly reducing Earth's surface temperature and triggering a cosmic-ray winter that could last for thousands of years. Besides global cooling, an increased cosmic-ray flux would produce additional stratospheric nitric oxide that could deplete the ozone and expose the biosphere to the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation. "There is fossil evidence for a couple of mini-extinctions during the Cenozoic Era," Fields said. "One occurred about 13 million years ago; the other occurred about three million years ago. Marine animal families near the bottom of the food chain-- such as zooplankton and echinoids--were impacted the most. The pattern of extinction is consistent with a major reduction in marine photosynthesis." The supernova origin of the observed iron-60 would be confirmed by finding additional radioactive nuclei, such as plutonium-244. "This would open up a whole new era of supernova studies using deep-ocean sediments as a telescope," Fields said. ---------------------------------------------------------------- ICE-COVERED ANTARCTIC LAKE MAY HARBOR UNKNOWN LIFE National Science Foundation release 3 August 1999 Microbes entirely unknown to science may exist in liquid water in Lake Vostok, thousands of meters beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. That possibility is one of several intriguing mysteries that justify undertaking the logistical challenges of exploring the lake, according to a new report from a workshop funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The report, "Lake Vostok: A Curiosity or a Focus for Interdisciplinary Study," concludes that the lake "may represent a unique region for detailed scientific investigation" for several reasons. Among them is the possibility that conditions under the ice may approximate those on Europa, a frozen moon of Jupiter, and so may indicate whether life may be able to exist in harsh conditions elsewhere in the solar system. The report represents the conclusions reached by scientists from a variety of fields who met in Washington D.C. last November. The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University and the University of Hawaii jointly organized the meeting. Lake Vostok is roughly the size of Lake Ontario in the United States. Vostok Station--a Russian scientific outpost, which once recorded the lowest temperature on earth (-126.9° Fahrenheit)--is located in the vicinity of the lake. As part of a joint U.S., French and Russian research project, Russian teams have drilled down into the ice covering the lake, producing the world's deepest ice core. But drilling was deliberately stopped roughly 120 meters above where the ice and liquid water meet to prevent possible contamination. The report concludes that Lake Vostok merits further scientific investigation, including devising a way to drill through the ice sheet to reach the water--and lake-bottom sediments--without contaminating them. The report notes that that there are several reasons other than the possibility of discovering unknown forms of life for exploring the lake. Water below the ice, which has been cut off from the outside world for hundreds of thousands of years, may have a unique chemical composition. There may also be an active tectonic rift below the lake, which may be warming its waters. Or sediments at the lake bottom may contain a record of ancient climate conditions. Robin E. Bell, a geophysicist and a co-editor of the report, says it "illustrates the emerging importance of the lake for understanding the processes which may have triggered the evolutionary explosion on earth and perhaps on other planets as well as deciphering the geologic history of Antarctica." NSF's Office of Polar Programs, through the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP), coordinates all U.S. scientific research on the continent. NSF will send a delegation of U.S. scientists to represent the consensus of opinion contained in the report at a meeting of the international Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), scheduled for September in Cambridge, England. At that meeting, scientists will discuss the scientific objectives of sub-glacial lake exploration and will examine the logistical and engineering requirements for exploring the lake. The SCAR meeting also will assess the risk of contamination posed by various exploration techniques and will consider a schedule for accomplishing the scientific goal of exploring the lake. For copies of the report, in PDF and Postscript formats, see http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/vostok/ [IMAGE CAPTION: Vostok Station, http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/press/99/pr9947.htm ] Photo courtesy of Jean Robert Petit of Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de l'Environnement, CNRS Grenoble, France. Please contact him for high-resolution versions, at petit@glaciog.ujf-grenoble.fr . ---------------------------------------------------------------- TOUCAN*: A BIOLOGIST'S CONTRIBUTION TO SETI By Mauro J. Cavalcanti 3 August 1999 I am pleased to announce the release of the Toucan* ("Toucan- Star") home page, a biologist's contribution to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Toucan* is my personal contribution, as a biologist, to SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence). By using techniques within the field of radioastronomy, the goal of SETI research is to detect signals of intelligent extraterrestrial lifeforms that may exist elsewhere in the universe. Despite some opinions to the contrary, I believe that the Biological Sciences in general and Evolutionary Biology in particular can offer significant insights to guide this search, and that the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life and intelligence should start with the sound knowledge of the evolution and diversity of life here on Earth. The homepage derives its name from Tucana, a Southern Hemisphere constellation so denominated by J. Bayer in his Uranometria (ca. 1603), where he also named the constellation of Phoenix, that sits near Tucana and has been chosen to name one of worlds's leading SETI projects (Project Phoenix, operated by the SETI Institute). Perhaps more than any other bird, the toucan best symbolizes the sheer biodiversity of the American tropics where I live--and also where major SETI initiatives are much needed. Besides links to other web sites dedicated to SETI, and extrasolar planets, and bioastronomy research, Toucan* provides links to a number of relevant documents covering these issues and ready-to-use software and programming libraries useful to SETI research, available for download locally or elsewhere. A comprehensive list of bibliographic references on SETI and exobiology, including about three hundred entries as of July 12th, 1999, is also available. The URL for the Toucan* page is http://www.angelfire.com/mi/SETI. Suggestions, constructive criticisms, and contributions are always welcome. If you send me an e-mail request, I will keep posting to you announcements of all significant recent additions and improvements to the page. Mauro J. Cavalcanti Associate Researcher Setor de Paleovertebrados Departamento de Geologia e Paleontologia Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro/UFRJ Quinta da Boa Vista, 20940-040, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BRASIL E-mail: maurobio@acd.ufrj.br Home page: http://read.at/digitax/personal.html Biographical Statement: Born in 14 January, 1960 in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil; BSc Biological Sciences, MSc Information Science, PhD Zoology, all by Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ); interest areas include biological morphometrics, bioinformatics, evolutionary biology, bioastronomy, and amateur astronomy (with emphasis on the moon, NEO's, and Southern Hemisphere variable stars). ---------------------------------------------------------------- BEAGLE 2 WINS SUPPORT FROM UK GOVERNMENT From ESA Science News (http://sci.esa.int) 4 August 1999 The announcement of an extra £5 million of UK government money for the Mars Express lander, Beagle 2, puts the project firmly on track to secure full funding from a mixture of public and private sources. When announcing the extra finance at the Science Museum in London yesterday morning, the UK science minister, Lord Sainsbury, described Beagle 2 as "world class science". "It will demonstrate a remarkable public/private partnership and will bring scientists and industrialists into a closer relationship," he said. Colin Pillinger, professor of planetary sciences at The Open University and the driving force behind the Beagle 2 project said, "The signal Lord Sainsbury has sent today is that the government's behind us. This gives us the chance to go to others and say 'will you commit'." ESA selected Beagle 2 for its 2003 mission to Mars, Mars Express, on condition that the technical feasibility of the lander, and a finance package and development plan to build and deliver it respecting the time schedule, can be demonstrated by November. Before finally approving the lander, ESA and its industrial partners will conduct a detailed review of its design, development and cost estimates. "Current indications are very positive that the Beagle teams will meet all of the ESA requirements to get a ticket to Mars in 2003," says Con McCarthy, Principle Lander System Engineer for Beagle 2 at ESA's technical center, ESTEC in the Netherlands. Beagle 2 will separate from Mars Express just before the spacecraft goes into orbit at the end of 2003. The lander will descend to the Martian surface from where it will take measurements of the atmosphere, the surface and the interior of rocks. One of its major aims will be to determine whether life exists or has ever existed on Mars. An image supporting this article is available at http://sci.esa.int/story.cfm?TypeID=1&ContentID=6231&Storytype=2 2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- SATELLITE DATA USED TO CHARACTERIZE URBAN ENVIRONMENT NOAA release 99-055 4 August 1999 NOAA scientists are now using satellite data to characterize urban areas to help researchers assess global climate change and determine the effect of urbanization on temperature records, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced. Data derived from the Operational Linescan System of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program was originally only used to monitor the global distribution of clouds and cloud top temperatures. However, the data acquired by the visible sensor at night under cloud-free conditions can provide a view of the light emitted from the Earth's surface. This data is capable of identifying urban and rural locations as it identifies the light associated with urban locales. Kevin Gallo, a scientist with NOAA's National Environmental, Satellite, Data, and Information Services, along with other NOAA scientists, has demonstrated that there is an important function for this distinction between urban and rural areas. As a result of this distinction, new analysis is being made on the influence of urbanization on temperature records. Urban development usually results in a dramatic change of the Earth's surface, as natural vegetation is removed and replaced by surfaces such as stone, metal, asphalt and concrete. Urban surfaces generally store and release more heat to the surrounding environment than natural vegetation, which results in increased temperatures observed within the urban environment. Changes in surface features--from natural vegetation to urban surfaces--may therefore result in greater temperatures. Knowledge of the past and present environment where temperatures are observed is important for long-term climate analysis. "We compared vegetation indices and radiant surface temperatures acquired by the AVHRR--a radiometer aboard NOAA polar orbiting satellites--with air temperatures observed for urban and rural locations," explained Gallo. "The satellite data were found to be useful for monitoring the differences observed between urban and rural air temperatures." Using the DMSP-OLS data to determine whether an area is urban or rural is beneficial to assessing the climatic implications of urbanization. The future influence of urban areas on temperature records will likely be obtained from analyses that combine satellite and surface-based data. Further information of the use of satellite-derived data to monitor urban environments can be found at http://research.umbc.edu/~tbenja1//gallo/gallo.html. ---------------------------------------------------------------- MARS SURVEYOR 98 MISSION STATUS JPL release 28 July 1999 Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO) The sequence of commands for executing Trajectory Correction Maneuver #3 (TCM-3) were transmitted to the MCO spacecraft this past Friday, July 23. The spacecraft successfully performed this 3.3 meter/second maneuver at 05:00 PDT on Sunday morning, July 25. Post-burn navigation estimates of the flight path have verified that the maneuver was implemented very accurately, due to some "tuning" of the spacecraft's autopilot based on experience gained from TCM-1 and TCM-2. Simulated animations of TCM-3 are available on our web site at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/images/mcotcm3.html. Following the maneuver, the solar array's two-axis gimbal drive was commanded to reposition the solar array to its cruise orientation, according to standard procedure. During this event the spacecraft's fault protection system detected a possible anomaly in one of the gimbal encoders, which measures angular position (there is one encoder for each of the two gimbal axes). The fault protection system automatically activated the back-up encoder for that axis, and successfully completed repositioning the solar array. Once it was back in cruise configuration, a complete health and status check of the spacecraft was performed, indicating that it was otherwise in excellent health and performing as expected. The flight team is presently evaluated recorded spacecraft telemetry to further assess whether or not the suspect encoder actually experienced a malfunction. Mars Polar Lander (MPL) The MPL spacecraft continued cruise operations last week, with no planned commanding or flight events due to the flight team's focus on accomplishing TCM-3 for Mars Climate Orbiter. For more information on the Mars Surveyor 98 mission, please visit our web site at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98. ---------------------------------------------------------------- MARS GLOBAL SUVEYOR STATUS REPORT JPL release 29 July 1999 Last Orbit Covered by this Report = 1746 Total Orbits = 3428 Total Mapping Orbits = 1746 Recent events The mm005 sequence has finished execution and nominal mapping data collection is currently being performed by the mm006 sequence. The mm006 sequence will run through August 25. The MOLA North/South Pole off-nadir observation sequence has finished execution as of Thursday July 29 15:00 UTC. The spacecraft is currently back in the nominal mapping configuration. A full assessment of the MOLA observations and spacecraft performance will not be available until playback of the recorded telemetry completes on Friday July 30 at 15:30 UTC. Work is in progress on the implementation of the new TES solar array tracking scheme, where the solar arrays are commanded to fixed positions at three different points in the orbit. This change is scheduled for implementation on the spacecraft Tuesday August 10, but could be accelerated a week earlier if development and validation of the new on-board autonomously triggered command scripts continues ahead of schedule. A formal change request has been approved by the project to perform a MAG (Magnetometer) calibration on the spacecraft. This test would be composed of a series of solar array motions on the night side of the orbit and would be used to help characterize the magnetic signature of the spacecraft. Planning for this event is now underway. The third OTM will be performed on either August 11 or 12 (TBD). The ground track repeat cycle has drifted far enough from the desired 59.9-km walk to warrant another orbit correction maneuver. Execution of the OTM at this time will correct the walk in time for Science Campaign B, scheduled from August 20th to the 26th. HGA anomaly The HGA gimbal is currently operational with full redundancy on side-A. The fault protection threshold for HGA stuck gimbal is at 25 seconds (50 counts). Spacecraft health All subsystems continue to report nominal status. Uplinks There have been 18 uplinks to the spacecraft during the last week, including new star catalog and ephemeris files, and instrument command loads. Total command files radiated to the spacecraft since launch is 3817. Upcoming events 1) Implementation of new Solar Array tracking scheme on August 10. 2) OTM-3 on August 11 or 12. ---------------------------------------------------------------- NEW MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES By Ron Baalke 2 August 1999 The following new images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are now available. ? Southern Mars: It's Spring! The images reside on the Mars Global Surveyor web site at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/index.html The image captions are appended below. Mars Global Surveyor was launched in November 1996 and has been in Mars orbit since September 1997. It began its primary mapping mission on March 8, 1999. Mars Global Surveyor is the first mission in a long-term program of Mars exploration known as the Mars Surveyor Program that is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Southern Mars: It's Spring! MGS MOC Release #MOC2-165, 2 August 1999 August 2, 1999, marks the spring equinox for the martian southern hemisphere. It is also the start of autumn for regions north of the equator. Winter in the south has finally come to a close, and the seasonal frosts of the wintertime south polar cap are retreating. Small, local dust storms frequently occur along the margins of the polar cap, as the colder air blowing off the cap moves northward into warmer regions. The Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera obtained the wide- angle camera view of Mars shown here in late July 1999, about 1 week before the start of southern spring. The frosty, retreating south polar cap (white) is seen in the lower quarter of the image, and wisps of dust storm clouds (grayish-orange in this view) occur just above the cap at the lower left. The southernmost of the large Tharsis volcanoes, Arsia Mons, is seen at the upper left. Arsia Mons is about 350 kilometers (~220 miles) across. ---------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL releases 26 July-1 August 1999 Galileo continues playing back pictures and other science information from a second pass through data stored on its onboard tape recorder. These data were acquired during the spacecraft's encounter with Jupiter and the planet's four Galilean moons at the beginning of this month. This second data return opportunity allows the replay of data lost in transmission to Earth, reprocessing of data using different parameters, or return of new additional data. Data playback is interrupted twice this week. On Wednesday, the spacecraft executes a standard gyroscope performance test. On Thursday, it performs a small turn to keep its radio antenna pointed toward Earth. Six observations are on this week's data return schedule. One observation was made by the Fields and Particles instruments, three by the Solid-State Imaging camera, one by the Photopolarimeter Radiometer, and one by the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer. All of the observations capture data related to Jupiter's volcanic moon Io. The Fields and Particles instruments return the second half of a two hour observation that was recorded as the spacecraft flew through the Io torus. The torus is a region of intense plasma and radiation activity that is constantly replenished by the volcanic activity on Io. It is a vital part of the dynamics of the Jovian magnetosphere. The observation contains measurements of plasma and magnetic and electric fields within the torus. The Solid-State imaging camera returns observations containing the highest resolution images of Io obtained to date by Galileo. They capture different views of Io at resolutions of 2.6 kilometers (1.6 miles), 1 to 1.5 kilometers (0.6-0.9 miles), and 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) per picture element. The images will also provide science planners with information that will be used in planning future observations of Io. The Photopolarimeter Radiometer observation is one in a series of three that will provide information to help identify and characterize relatively large regions of Io where surface temperatures are higher than their surroundings. In addition, the measurements will provide insight into how different regions of Io's surface retain heat. Finally, the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer returns an observation designed to obtain high-resolution spectral and spatial measurements of Io's surface. These measurements will be used to construct the highest resolution map of Io made to date by the Spectrometer instrument. Previous maps of Io of this type have revealed new hot spots, typically corresponding to changes in volcanic activity. 2-8 August 1999 Data playback is only interrupted once this week as Galileo continues to return images and other science data stored on its onboard tape recorder. The interruption occurs on Monday when the spacecraft performs regular maintenance on its propulsion systems. Just over one week remains before the data are overwritten during Galileo's next encounter with the Jupiter system. The data returned this week are from a second pass through data stored onboard. This second opportunity allows replay of data lost in transmission to Earth, reprocessing of data using different parameters, or return of new additional data. The Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer returns two observations this week. The first contains measurements that will allow scientists to construct the highest resolution near-infrared spectral map of Io made to date by the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer team. The second observation contains high- resolution spectral data of Callisto's surface. These spectral measurements will also allow scientists to identify and study the various materials found on the surfaces of these bodies. The Photopolarimeter Radiometer returns one observation this week. The observation was designed to take a high resolution look at a region near Callisto's equator, and contains measurements of surface brightness temperatures. The temperature measurements will provide information about the density and composition of surface materials. The Solid-State Imaging camera returns several observations this week. The first contains a series of images which will be combined with images to be taken later this year to produce stereo views of Io's surface. The resulting stereo images are expected to have a resolution of 1.4 kilometers (0.87 miles) per picture element. The next several observations returned by the camera team are part of a campaign to monitor Io's plume activity. These observations will allow scientists to compare Io's volcanic activity with magnetosphere measurements made by the Fields and Particles instruments. In addition, the information will be used by science planners during preparation for two close flybys of Io later this year. The camera's final observation of Io occurs while the Jovian moon is in eclipse, just before it emerges from Jupiter's shadow. The observation was designed to gather data on a cloud of sodium with neutral electrical charge that has been found in the vicinity of Io's orbit. The measurements will help scientists identify the source(s) of the cloud. The final observation by the camera team consists of several high-resolution images of dark material found near a ringed structure on Callisto's surface. The information contained in the images will allow scientists to study variations in the appearance of Callisto's surface in hopes of understanding the processes that modify the surface. Stay tuned! Galileo's next encounter is rapidly approaching. For more information on the Galileo spacecraft and its mission to Jupiter, please visit the Galileo home page at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo. ---------------------------------------------------------------- STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release 30 July 1999 The STARDUST spacecraft is healthy with spacecraft operations and telecommunications normal. A new command sequence was completed and successfully radioed to the spacecraft last night. In a communications session with the spacecraft on Saturday, July 24, it was determined that the spacecraft had placed itself in a safe mode the week before and was awaiting new commands from controllers on Earth. The spacecraft was taken out of safe mode during a subsequent communications session on Monday night (July 26) and Tuesday afternoon (July 27). STARDUST had placed itself in a safe mode on July 18 at 03:50 UTC (Saturday at 9:50 PM MDT), and had been turning its antenna to Earth for telecommunications for three hours every 24 hours to receive new commands. The spacecraft's timing of each three-hour attempt to communicate with Earth, however, was based upon the time at which the spacecraft had entered safing. Thus, the spacecraft missed its scheduled communications session on Thursday, July 22, and the Deep Space Network was not listening for STARDUST during the short period of time the spacecraft was making itself available for telecommunications. The communications mismatch was solved when additional Deep Space Network tracking time, donated by other missions, allowed the STARDUST team to keep the telecommunications line open until STARDUST checked in again on Saturday night (July 24). The communications hiatus was related to the spacecraft's current distance from the Sun and the need to leave its solar panels pointed at the Sun most of the time to keep its electrical power supply constant; the resulting geometry requires STARDUST to turn its telecommunications antenna away from Earth except during short communications sessions with controllers. Apparently, the event that triggered the safing event was an error in the Payload Attitude Control Interface (PACI) card in the Command and Data Handling (CDH) subsystem which is still under investigation. The STARDUST Project Principal Investigator, Professor Don Brownlee, participated in the International Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors Conference at Cornell University this week. For more information on the STARDUST mission--the first ever comet sample return mission--please visit the STARDUST home page at http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov. ---------------------------------------------------------------- MARS WEEK AT MIT! Conference announcement 5 August 1999 Calling all Mars fans (and colonists)! Come meet the best Mars scientists and engineers. Hear about the latest results and past, current and future missions. Hosted by Think Mars, October 1-3, 1999. Invited speakers Dr. Chris McKay, Mars Scientist (NASA Ames) Dr. Everett Gibson, Life on Mars (NASA JSC) Dr. Robert Zubrin, Mars Society President Dr. Pascal Lee, Mars Scientist (NASA Ames) Dr. Maria Zuber, Mars Scientist (MIT) Kent Joosten, Human Mars Missions Engineer (NASA JSC) Jennifer Harris, Mars 98 Mission Manager (NASA JPL) Make your reservation now! Space at the meeting and banquet is limited. Registration is required for all events. Affiliated students enter free! http://thinkmars.mit.edu/marsweek.html Schedule Friday October 1, 1999 ? "Students and Space"--an evening reception for students to learn about opportunities in the space industry, and local and national space organizations. Professionals and recent graduates are welcome. Saturday October 2, 1999 ? "All About Mars"--a technical forum with several invited speakers ? "Dinner on Mars"--evening banquet ? Speaker: Dr. Chris McKay, NASA Ames Research Center Sunday, October 3, 1999 ? "Let's talk about Mars"--a workshop with discussions of a variety of Mars-related topics with participation by students, attendees, invited speakers and faculty. ? Presentations by student and professionals on Mars related research and projects. ? NASA Academy Alumni Association 3rd Annual Congress. ---------------------------------------------------------------- End Marsbugs Vol. 6, No. 23