MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 6, Number 41, 13 December 1999. Editors: Dr. David J. Thomas, Biology and Chemistry Division, Lyon College, Batesville, AR 72503-2317, USA. Dthomas@lyon.edu or marsbugs@aol.com 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 from the official Marsbugs web page at http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/marsbugs/ marsbugs.html. 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 from 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) DESKS IN SPACE: STUDENTS DESIGN FURNITURE FOR SPACE STATION University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) release 2) USA TODAY POLL: 72% SAY MARS MISSIONS SHOULD CONTINUE USA Today 3) UA SCIENTISTS DISAPPOINTED WITH MARS PROJECT, LOOK TOWARD FUTURE By Lori Stiles and Janis Leibold 4) RESEARCHERS CHART OUT EARLY LIVES OF PLANETS EARTH-LIKE OBJECTS MAY BE RELATIVELY RARE IN UNIVERSE By Janet Wong 5) EXPOSURE TO HIGH LEVELS OF RADIATION MAY POSE THREAT TO ASTRONAUTS CONSTRUCTING INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION National Academy of Sciences release 6) EL NIÑO'S DRAMATIC IMPACT ON OCEAN BIOLOGY, CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURED BY UNIQUE MONITORING SYSTEM NASA release 99-130 7) ANTARCTICA'S FROZEN SLICE OF LIFE OFFERS CLUES TO LIFE ELSEWHERE NASA Ames Research Center release 99-81AR 8) BACTERIA MAY THRIVE IN ANTARCTIC LAKE--HOLDS IMPLICATIONS FOR SEARCH FOR LIFE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM National Science Foundation release 99-72 9) BROWN GEOLOGIST FINDS EVIDENCE SUPPORTING ANCIENT OCEAN ON MARS Brown University News Service 10) NEW MILLENNIUM PROGRAM SELECTS ADVANCED EARTH-OBSERVING CONCEPT JPL release 11) TERRA EARTH SCIENCE MISSION READY FOR LAUNCH DECEMBER 16 JPL release 12) SPACEHAB TO BUILD FIRST COMMERCIAL HABITAT IN ORBIT SPACEHAB, Inc. release 13) THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL releases 14) MARS POLAR LANDER MISSION STATUS REPORTS JPL releases 15) STARDUST STATUS REPORTS JPL releases ---------------------------------------------------------------- DESKS IN SPACE: STUDENTS DESIGN FURNITURE FOR SPACE STATION University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) release 6 December 1999 Traditional desks don't fly well with astronauts trying to get work done in space, so University of Arkansas researchers and their students have designed work surfaces for use in the International Space Station. Ted Krueger, assistant professor of architecture, Jerry Wall, professor of architecture and David J. Fitts, Flight Crew Support Division of NASA, asked 20 fourth- year students in Krueger's studio to create work surfaces for zero gravity. "As we stay in space for longer periods, human issues of habitability become crucial to the mission," Krueger said. The International Space Station consists of narrow tubes and square boxes--an environment inherently difficult for humans to live in. Issues facing the astronauts include psychological support in the form of meaningful work, cross-cultural integration and social interaction. This translates into a need for socializing places, personal space, a comfortable work environment and space for recreation. The expected stay on the space station will be at least 90 days, and astronauts must function at their best while in orbit. On earth, people can change their environments to suit themselves. But in the space station, with limited mobility and zero gravity, the usual rules don't apply. Krueger and Wall's students focused on portable, personal work surfaces the astronauts could use for eating, working and socializing. But their designs look nothing like regular desks and tables. Desks on Earth hold things, but in space there is no gravity to hold things on a flat surface, Krueger said. However, tables serve other functions. They help people structure their environment and social relationships, give people a common orientation and organize thinking. If two people talk while one is upside down, both parties can miss non- verbal cues, and that may interfere with communication, Krueger said. With these and other functions in mind, the students created models of wearable desks that might be attached to one another to form small or large groups. The group visited the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where they talked with an astronaut, consulted NASA's technical and design staff, visited a full mock-up of the International Space Station that is used for astronaut training and mission planning, and sat in the space shuttle simulator. They learned about issues astronauts face while they live and work in space. The astronaut's description made the experience sound like living inside a robot, Krueger said. The students formed small groups, created computer drawings and sketched their ideas. Then they created workstation prototypes to present to NASA. The prototypes address issues not apparent on earth. "When we take gravity away we see different kinds of things," Krueger said. One team looked at the body's natural movement in zero gravity. They learned from conversations with astronauts that the fetal position was comfortable, so they accounted for this in their design, said team member Frank Graham. Their work surface features a solid, pogo stick-like apparatus that fits in front of the body and is held in place by small bars behind the knees and ankles, said Ladd Garey. Small, table-like surfaces, with screened tops and tiny fans in the middle, can be attached to the top of the pole. The suction fan holds things on the surface. The bottom of the box is a regular surface that someone could use to write on, said team member Sarah Broaddrick. As an added bonus, the astronauts can use a pneumatic pump on the stick to exercise their legs. Astronauts must exercise several hours each day or they lose their muscle mass quickly in zero gravity, said team member Sabine Kruger. Another team, including Chase Garrett, Casey Hargrave, Ethan Hardwick and Scott Wahl, tested their equipment underwater to simulate zero gravity conditions. They created a wearable table with a belt that attaches to the waist with a flexible arm that can move the table in many directions. They adjusted several factors on it after their sub-surface experiences. "Wearing it under water gave us an idea of what it's like to wear the thing in an unfamiliar environment," Garrett said. The third team concerned themselves with ergonomic issues. They created a curved surface that fits against the torso with circular spaces on both the left and right--like a giant eight. A symmetrical table makes it easier to store things, write and eat, said team member Nick Kozlowski. The symmetrical, circular surfaces make the workstations easy to attach to one another in a variety of ways, said Gustavaus Fergusen. The units have seams down the middle and can swivel when attached. They can be joined to form a long, narrow dining table, to create a wide conference table or a table for two. They can also be swiveled to the side or back of the astronaut for different purposes, said Grant Smith. "The astronauts say they don't feel like a community," said Brent Ruple. The flexibility of these workstations allows for plenty of social interaction, he said. Eka Masli, Walter Jennings, Arthur Banks and Marina Skiles created a series of rhombus- or diamond-shaped tiles that can be attached to the leg, either separately or together, to be used as workspaces. The rhombuses will contain a suction fan and a central processing unit; the fan for holding things down, and the CPU so the astronauts can "call" the rhombuses to their aid. The team based their concept on two scientific theories--chaos theory, which says that even random happenings follow certain mathematical models, and flocking, an explanation for how large groups of fish and birds move together. In their design, the rhombi would float around the space station randomly. When an astronaut needed a work surface, he or she would use a signal, "the electrical equivalent of a dog whistle" to signal the rhombi, Jennings said. Then rhombi in the vicinity would flock to the astronaut. Through the rhombi, the group seeks to mitigate some of the stress astronauts experience when working in space. "We're a mediator between geometric systems and random, chaotic behavior," Skiles said. Clay McGill, Matt Galbraith and Cary Blackwelderpair designed a simple work surface that can also function as a space divider. The three built a square surface that connects to two other squares on adjacent sides to form an "L" shape. The two attached squares can pivot up to form three sides of a cube. This can offer astronauts an enclosed work area, where they might perform a difficult task that requires concentration. Multiple surfaces could also be used to create partitions across corridors if necessary. "The students are offering these possibilities to NASA," Krueger said. NASA has to consider all of the physical, spatial, social, psychological and architectural features of the space station's design. A project like this may help direct future efforts. "One of the great initiatives of our time is moving people off the planet," he said. "These students could have an effect on this program." In addition to helping NASA, designing furniture for extreme environments elucidates issues in earth-bound architecture that previously remained obscured. The students now know more about elemental human needs and how to design for those needs, Krueger said. [NOTE: An image supporting this release is available at http://pigtrail.uark.edu/news/dec99/desksinspace2.jpg] ---------------------------------------------------------------- USA TODAY POLL: 72% SAY MARS MISSIONS SHOULD CONTINUE USA Today 6 December 1999 USA Today Poll http://www.usatoday.com/quick/qn1205a.htm Quick question results There have been 25 U.S. and Russian missions to Mars since 1962. Of these, 11 have failed and four did not have complete missions. Should the missions continue? Yes: 72.4% No: 27.6% Total votes: 10891 ---------------------------------------------------------------- UA SCIENTISTS DISAPPOINTED WITH MARS PROJECT, LOOK TOWARD FUTURE By Lori Stiles and Janis Leibold University of Arizona News Services 7 December 1999 UA scientists expressed tremendous disappointment at the apparent loss of the Mars Polar Lander, but minutes after the 12:20 AM window, which was the last best shot to hear from the spacecraft on Tuesday December 7, scientists opened champagne and toasted their colleagues. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) were hoping to initially hear from the lander on Friday, December 3. But as repeated attempts to hear from the lander over the weekend failed, the probability of success diminished significantly. The spacecraft carried a science payload package called MVACS, or the Mars Volatiles and Climate Surveyor. MVACS was to search for water and other gases that filled a once-thick martian atmosphere. UA's Peter Smith and William Boynton are co-investigators on MVACS. Smith's team designed, built and tested the Stereo Surface Imager (SSI) and, with German colleagues, designed and built the Robotic Arm Camera (RAC). Boynton's team designed, built and tested the TEGA, or Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer. Michael Ward, TEGA Team member and applications systems analyst with the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, said the experience was worth it. "If someone said, 'Michael, there's a 10 percent chance this mission will work,' I would have joined the project anyway. You can't buy experience like this." "This has been a real growing experience. It has been an opportunity of a lifetime for me because it is the first time I've helped take a science instrument through the overall process of how an instrument goes from sitting on a bench in Tucson, Arizona to sitting on a lander deck on the surface of Mars. That is an awesome experience." Aileen R. Yingst, a member of the SSI Team and research associate with the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, said yes, the effort was definitely worth it. "Exploring space is extremely rewarding. And we will know better the next time we try to fly, what we should do and shouldn't do. After exhausting all search possibilities, flight engineers will try to figure out, if we don't hear anything, what happened. And when we know what happened, we can make sure it doesn't happen again. "As scientists, of course, we are extremely disappointed. Most of us are, I think, are explorers at heart. "And, I was actually just telling some of the guys as we were walking in here that I couldn't be so desperately disappointed with nicer people. And at least we are all in this together. And that really has been tremendous, working with so many intelligent, committed people. And even if we are disappointed, we will be disappointed together. "But again, this is a risky business. And if this mission helps us have a successful mission the next time, then of course it's worth it." While NASA did not come up with the silver bullet this time, scientists at JPL toasted to future Mars missions in which they are already involved in or working on proposals for missions to explore Mars for 2001, 2003, 2005. "We are always looking forward because of the way our business works we have to work years ahead of time. So the blow is always a little bit softened if you have other things you can be working on, and you can continue to look toward the future," Yingst said. Jim Rice, SSI Team member and research associate with the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, said a space mission like this is not like catching a cab and going around the block. "This is exploration. This is only our fourth landing on Mars. "This business by nature is risky. If you're not prepared to take the risk, then you probably shouldn't be in this business. Nobody wants to lose a spacecraft. People spend years of their lives on these things. But that is part of the territory that you take on when you do this stuff. To think about quitting is unconscionable." ---------------------------------------------------------------- MARS EXPRESS TO LEARN LESSONS FROM POLAR LANDER LOSS From ESA Science News 8 December 1999 "Our hearts go out to our colleagues at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory over the probable loss of Mars Polar Lander," Rudi Schmidt, Mars Express project manager said today. "But risk will always be part of any space mission. We at Mars Express will forge ahead, taking on board all the lessons that we can from the polar lander failure." Mars Polar Lander was due to land near the red planet's south pole last Friday. The spacecraft appeared to be on target and functioning well until entry into the Martian atmosphere when radio contact was lost, as expected, during the descent. Contact, however, was not re-established after touchdown and all attempts to establish it since have failed. NASA will continue attempts for another two weeks, but as time passes, the chances diminish of finding the lander and its two probes intact. Mars Polar Lander was built in line with NASA's "faster, cheaper, better" philosophy that aims to cut the cost of, and increase opportunities for, space exploration. Mars Express, due for launch in June 2003, is also being built more quickly and cheaply than any of ESA's previous comparable planetary missions. "If one does a mission cheap and fast then risk goes up," says Schmidt. "But we are taking steps to reduce it by choosing the simplest possible design, performing a lot of system level testing, using existing designs and hardware, maintaining a conventional quality assurance programme and reducing flexibility and services to the scientific payload." Mars Polar Lander, like Mars Express, is part of an international effort to explore Mars during the first decade of next century. "Its loss may cause a dip in confidence among the many international partners involved in exploration of the red planet. But we must learn from the recent failures and work even harder to safeguard the future missions," says Marcello Coradini, solar system manager at ESA and former chairman of the International Mars Exploration Working Group. ---------------------------------------------------------------- RESEARCHERS CHART OUT EARLY LIVES OF PLANETS EARTH-LIKE OBJECTS MAY BE RELATIVELY RARE IN UNIVERSE By Janet Wong University of Toronto 8 December 1999 Interaction between massive planets and the disks of gas and dust from which they formed are vital in determining the shape of planetary systems, suggest two former U of T researchers. In a paper to be published in the December 9 issue of Nature, Philip Armitage and Brad Hansen, formerly of U of T's Canadian Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, studied how early planet formation triggered the formation of other planets in developing solar systems. "We're suggesting that it's the mass of the disk that influences the formation of planetary systems," says Armitage. "If the disk is lightweight, planet formation occurs fairly slowly--over 10 million years or so--and the result could look something like our own solar system. For a heavyweight disk, more violent processes can occur more quickly and lead to a very different- looking system of planets." Using computer simulations, the researchers tested how a massive planet the size of Jupiter would interact with a massive disk, 10 times larger than the disk thought to have given rise to our own solar system. They found the extra gravitational force from the planet would cause parts of the disk to collapse and fragment into other planets. The resulting planets would also be gigantic, but would be mostly gaseous rather than solid like that of Earth. According to Armitage and Hansen, their research indicates that there is an upper limit to the amount by which planets can grow. If the planets formed close together, the planetary system would become violently unstable--some planets would be ejected from the system and the remaining ones would be left with eccentric orbits. "The paper provides a new way to understand how multiple planets could form in a relatively short space of time, roughly the first million years after the birth of the solar system," says Hansen. "The rapid creation of additional planets will result in competition during planet growth and so may explain why there appears to be a maximum mass for planets around other stars." Whether habitable Earth-like planets can form and survive in such harsh environments and allow life to develop and grow remains unknown, say the researchers. "This work, along with other theoretical explanations of planetary systems, suggests that planet formation can sometimes involve violent and chaotic processes that are different from those of our own early solar system," says Armitage. "We now know that the existence of planets themselves are common. However, conditions suitable for forming habitable planets--at least ones like the Earth--could still be rare." Armitage is currently completing post-doctoral work at the Max- Planck-Institut for Astrophysik in Germany. Hansen is a Hubble post-doctoral fellow at Princeton University in the United States. [Janet Wong is a news services officer for the Department of Public Affairs.] ---------------------------------------------------------------- EXPOSURE TO HIGH LEVELS OF RADIATION MAY POSE THREAT TO ASTRONAUTS CONSTRUCTING INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION National Academy of Sciences release 9 December 1999 As U.S. astronauts and Russian cosmonauts build the International Space Station, NASA should consider taking further measures to limit their exposure to radiation that sporadically occurs around the station, says a new report from a committee of the National Academies' National Research Council. Construction plans call for approximately 43 shuttle flights and more than 1,500 hours of activity outside the orbiting station, most of which will occur during the peak phase of the sun's 11-year activity cycle when intense solar storms can cause increased levels of radiation. "An unofficial NASA flight rule specifies that changes in flight plans must be based on current data that reflect the weather immediately around the space station," said committee chair George Siscoe, research professor of astronomy and space physics, Center for Space Physics, Boston University, MA. "Information about the size and shape of a solar storm and data on its occurrence, intensity, and duration can be retrieved from other sources, but under current guidelines, this information could not be used by flight directors to take immediate action. These rules unnecessarily restrain ground-based flight directors because other valid data could be used to assist in avoiding radiation exposure." NASA should use existing equipment and models that produce real- time data on the intensity and geographical size and shape of solar storms, the report says. This is one of the most important projects that the agency can implement early in order to have an impact on reducing an astronaut's risk of radiation exposure during construction of the space station. Construction began in 1998 and is expected to be completed by 2004. This time frame coincides with the peak in the 11-year activity cycle of the sun, which can include severe solar storms that emit streams of high- energy, electrically charged particles in the space station's path. This peak cycle also is combining with the station's orbit around the Earth, adding a new element of risk. Because of a change in plans, the orbit now cuts through high-latitude radiation environments that are sometimes quite harsh though not life-threatening even in worst- case estimates. NASA originally planned a different orbiting pattern for the space station, but an agreement in 1993 to partner with the Russian Space Agency in constructing and maintaining the station altered those plans. A new pattern, closer to where Russia's abandoned Mir space station is orbiting, was chosen to accommodate Russian launch capabilities. Data collectors An electron dosimeter, which can help determine the intensity of radiation exposure by measuring the number of electrons around the space station, should be installed on the spacecraft as soon as possible, the report says. This piece of equipment can warn astronauts working outside the spacecraft of increases in radiation levels and prompt them sooner to return to safety inside. Key NASA and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) managers also should meet to consider ways to provide real-time radiation data and to formulate a plan for transmitting such data to radiation risk managers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. NOAA's Space Environment Center collects space-weather data generated from government satellites. These data are provided to NASA's Space Radiation Analysis Group at the Johnson Space Center and made available to radiation risk managers. The safety of astronauts would be improved if these weather observations were to be used in models that accurately predict the weather immediately around the space station, the report says. Some capability to model and predict the space environment already exists, but NOAA is still in the process of implementing these models. Of more significance is the current policy of not providing "tailored" support to any other government units. The report recommends that the policy be changed to allow NASA to receive specific data that are not available from other sources. The report also proposes revitalizing NASA's existing Radiation Coordination Team by elevating the group to a higher level within the agency. This task force would be responsible for managing the agency's radiation plan and would answer directly to high-ranking officials at NASA headquarters. Exposure levels While these radiation events are not immediately life threatening, astronauts may be exposed to single doses of radiation that are the equivalent of several hundred chest X- rays. These levels would put them in danger of exceeding short- term limits for overall exposure and increase their chances of developing cancer later in life. In addition to health consequences, exposure to dangerous levels of radiation could interrupt a shuttle mission, impact future flight schedules, and alter crew rotations. The study was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The National Research Council is the principal operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. It is a private, nonprofit institution that provides independent advice on science and technology issues under a congressional charter. The full report is available for online viewing at http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9725.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- EL NIÑO'S DRAMATIC IMPACT ON OCEAN BIOLOGY, CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURED BY UNIQUE MONITORING SYSTEM NASA release 99-130 9 December 1999 The 1997-98 El Niño/La Niña had an unprecedented roller-coaster effect on the oceanic food chain across a vast swath of the Pacific, plunging chlorophyll levels to the lowest ever recorded in December 1997 and spawning the largest bloom of microscopic algae ever seen in the region the following summer. According to new results published in the December 10 issue of the journal Science, El Niño also dramatically reduced the amount of carbon dioxide normally released into the atmosphere by the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Data from an array of instruments on buoys, ships and in space, including NASA's Sea-viewing Wide Field-of- View Sensor (SeaWiFS), gave researchers an unprecedented view into the extreme biological effects of this El Niño/La Niña event. "With SeaWiFS in orbit, we were able to see for the first time not only the vast size and intensity of the ocean's biological rebound from El Niño, but also the unbelievable speed of that recovery," said Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, MD) oceanographer Dr. Gene Feldman, a co-author of the study. SeaWiFS provides daily views of the world's oceans and land masses. Over the past decade scientists have been able to observe the development and progression of El Niño warmings, and consequent changes in upwelling of nutrient-rich ocean waters, thanks to data continuously collected in the Pacific by the buoys of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Tropical Atmosphere Ocean array. In 1996 new biological and chemical sensors were added to some of these buoys by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), allowing researchers for the first time to directly and continuously monitor biological productivity and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the region. The launch of SeaWiFS in 1997 added yet another ocean- monitoring tool capable of detecting subtle changes in ocean color that are directly related to the concentration of chlorophyll, a prime indicator of biological activity in ocean waters. The largest reservoir of chlorophyll in the ocean is in the phytoplankton (a microscopic form of algae), which forms the base of the oceanic food chain. "This is the first time we've ever had a set of biological measurements from moored instruments and satellites during an intense El Niño, and we've never seen such low chlorophyll concentrations," said MBARI biological oceanographer Francisco Chavez, lead author of the study. It was the buoy measurements and SeaWiFS data that revealed surprisingly low and then high levels of chlorophyll coinciding with El Niño's strongest phase and the recovery period and transition to La Nina cooling. When the warm-water layer produced by El Niño extended to its greatest depths and the upwelling of nutrients necessary for phytoplankton growth virtually ceased, chlorophyll values plummeted. The researchers were again surprised in mid-1998 when chlorophyll levels skyrocketed, revealing the largest phytoplankton bloom, in area, ever observed in the equatorial Pacific. In their published results, the researchers suggest that elevated iron concentrations stimulated this intense bloom, a result of the increased upwelling associated with La Niña. El Niño also drastically reduced the amount of carbon dioxide this ocean region adds to the atmosphere. Unlike most parts of the world's oceans, the equatorial Pacific is normally a major contributor to atmospheric carbon dioxide due to the carbon- dioxide-rich deep ocean waters brought to the surface here and the relatively low levels of biological activity. The researchers calculate that the amount of carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere by the equatorial Pacific during the year of El Niño conditions was 700 million metric tons of carbon less than the previous year. This is equivalent to half of the United States' total annual carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning. SeaWiFS images of the 1997-98 El Nino are available at http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/imagewall/elnino/elninoimpact.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- ANTARCTICA'S FROZEN SLICE OF LIFE OFFERS CLUES TO LIFE ELSEWHERE NASA Ames Research Center release 99-81AR 9 December 1999 Scientists have discovered a microbial world hidden deep beneath the frozen Antarctic ice that could help them learn more about how life can survive under extreme conditions on other planets or moons. Their findings are featured in a research paper co- authored by Dr. Chris McKay, a planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, which will be published in the December 10 issue of Science magazine. Co-authored by a multi-disciplinary science team, the research paper entitled "Geomicrobiology of Subglacial Ice Above Lake Vostok, Antarctica," analyzes the ice above Lake Vostok, a huge freshwater lake buried deep below the East Antarctic ice sheet. "Microbes within the liquid water habitat of Lake Vostok may shed light on the viability of life in similar harsh environments beyond Earth, such as in the frozen ocean subsurface on Jupiter's moon, Europa," McKay said. Galileo spacecraft results imply that a subsurface ocean could exist on Europa. The research team tested samples from the ice 3,590 meters below Vostok Station, and found diverse colonies of microbes. Scientists say this is significant because the lake has been isolated from the usual sources of atmospheric-derived energy, such as photosynthesis, for millions of years. "How the bacteria get energy (to survive) is an important question," McKay said. "The lake could be an analog to sub-ice Europa or subsurface Mars where conditions are similar. " Scientists believe ice is a good environment for primitive bacteria. The bacteria need less food because it's cold, and its metabolism slows down, somewhat like a hibernating bear's. Another finding was that DNA extracted from the microbes present in the team's Lake Vostok sample indicated the presence of only a few subgroups of known bacteria, coupled with low overall microbial diversity. "It's what you'd expect, not teeming with rich life," McKay said. The team also found signs of bacterial life in the ice core and detected metabolic activity in some of the bacteria by measuring the bacteria's respiration rates during incubation. Scientists said the sampled Vostok glacier ice also suggested that the lake water derived from a mixture of melted ice from both glacial and interglacial periods, deposited there approximately one million years ago. Although the thickness of the ice on Europa is not known, scientists think that tidal forces could form cracks extending to the surface. Under the thin ice, conditions may be similar to the conditions at Lake Vostok. "If a similar ice layer is present under the surface of Europa's icy oceans, it may also harbor life," said McKay. The research team included the paper's lead author, Dr. John Priscu, and others from the departments of Biology, Earth Science and Physics at Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. Other researchers were from the department of Geology, the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL and the U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA. ---------------------------------------------------------------- BACTERIA MAY THRIVE IN ANTARCTIC LAKE--HOLDS IMPLICATIONS FOR SEARCH FOR LIFE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM National Science Foundation release 99-72 9 December 1999 Two separate investigations of ice drilled at Lake Vostok, a suspected body of subglacial water deep in the Antarctic interior, indicate that bacteria may live thousands of meters below the ice sheet. The findings by two National Science Foundation-funded researchers are scheduled for publication in the December 10 issue of Science. Two research teams, led by David M. Karl from the University of Hawaii and John C. Priscu of Montana State University, examined fragments of ice taken from roughly 3,600 meters (11,700 feet) below the surface--about 120 meters (393 feet) above the interface of ice and suspected water. Both teams found bacteria in "accreted" ice, or ice believed to be refrozen lake water. The teams conclude that a potentially large and diverse population of bacteria may be present in the lake. If so, these bacteria answers an intriguing scientific question about whether an extremely cold, dark environment which is cut off from a ready supply of nutrients can support life. The DNA analysis by Priscu's team indicates that although the bacteria have been isolated for millions of years, they are biologically similar to known organisms. "Our research shows us that the microbial world has few limits on our planet," said Priscu. He added that Lake Vostok "is one of the last unexplored oases for life" on Earth. The teams also conclude microbes could thrive in other, similarly hostile, places in the solar system. Lake Vostok is thought to be an analog to Europa, a frozen moon of Jupiter. Priscu notes in his paper that the Galileo spacecraft found evidence that liquid water exists under an icy crust on the Jovian moon. "Similar to ice above Lake Vostok, this ice may retain evidence for any life, if present, in the Europan ocean," he writes. Evidence from radar mapping and other sources indicates that under several thousand meters of ice, liquid water may exist in Lake Vostok, possibly warmed by the pressure of the ice above or by thermal features below. The lake is roughly the size of Lake Ontario in North America. Vostok Station--a Russian scientific outpost, which once recorded the lowest temperature on earth (-126.9°F/-89.9°C)--is located on the ice above 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. Drilling was deliberately stopped to prevent introducing materials that would contaminate the water. Karl notes at least one outstanding question about Lake Vostok: whether the ice in which the bacteria were found is sufficiently similar to the water in the lake to allow scientists to conclude that a similar population--or even larger, more diverse one-- might thrive in the suspected liquid water. Delegates from several nations, including a U.S. delegation sponsored by NSF, met in England last September to decide whether and how to explore the suspected lake without contaminating it. No firm proposal has yet been accepted to accomplish that. "We don't know what's in Lake Vostok, and we may never know, if we don't get the contamination issues solved," Karl said. While the current findings may prove the existence of life in the lake, there are other scientific reasons to explore the lake itself. Ice cores have helped scientists assemble a climate record stretching back more than 400,000 years. Sediment samples from the bottom of Lake Vostok could extend that record to cover millions of years. "There are other, compelling reasons to go into the lake," Karl concluded. IMAGE CAPTION: [http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/press/99/pr9972.htm] Microscopic images of bacteria found in melt samples taken from ice thought to be refrozen from the waters of Lake Vostok. All photos are courtesy of David M. Karl, et al. ---------------------------------------------------------------- BROWN GEOLOGIST FINDS EVIDENCE SUPPORTING ANCIENT OCEAN ON MARS Brown University News Service 9 December 1999 James Head, a Brown University planetary geologist, is the lead investigator on a team of scientists that has found evidence supporting the presence of an ancient ocean on Mars. The team received topographical data from the unmanned Mars Global Surveyor that they say is consistent with a former ocean. In an article to be published in Science magazine December 10, 1999, Brown University planetary geologist James Head and five colleagues present topographical measurements which they say are consistent with an ocean that dried up hundreds of millions of years ago. The measurements were taken by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, an instrument aboard the unmanned spacecraft Mars Global Surveyor which is circling the planet. Head's team set out to test the hypotheses of scientists who suggested the possibility of oceans on Mars in 1989 and 1991. The team used data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, which beamed a pulsing laser to Mars' surface. Scientists measured the time it took for the laser to return to the satellite; the laser traveled a shorter length of time from mountain peaks and longer from craters. MOLA is the first instrument to provide scientists the information required to construct a topographic map of the entire surface of the planet. For years, scientists have known about channels in which water once flowed into the northern lowlands on the surface of Mars. "The question is whether it collected in large standing bodies," Head said. "This is the first time we could get instruments to comprehensively test these ideas." According to Head, the team has found four types of quantitative evidence that points to the possible ancient ocean: * The elevation of a particular contact (the border between two geological units, such as where one type of surface meets another) is nearly a level surface, which might indicate an ancient shoreline. * The topography is smoother below this possible ancient shoreline than above it, consistent with smoothing by sedimentation. * The volume of the area below this possible shoreline is within the range of previous estimates of water on Mars. * A series of terraces exists parallel to the possible shoreline, consistent with the possibility of receding shorelines. The results "should make all of us think more seriously about the possibility of the presence of large-scale standing bodies of water on Mars, big lakes and oceans," Head said. "We can't think of anything else to explain these things. They merit much closer scrutiny." Head's team concludes that further tests are necessary, including analysis of meteorites from Mars and of landing sites, checking for the presence of salts that may be related to former oceans. The importance of determining whether there were ancient oceans --and life--on Mars is that scientists may be able to learn more about long-term climate change and why climate changed on Mars, which has relevance to the future of the Earth, Head said. Head is available for interviews at (401) 863-2526. Color images are available through the News Service [at http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/1999-00/99- 060g.html]. Image captions Possible configuration of ancient oceans on Mars: Topographic portrayal of the surface of Mars derived from Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data. In the images below, areas of high elevation are white, intermediate elevations are brown, and lower elevations are green. The blue areas represent the region that would have been occupied by an ocean earlier in martian history, according to the hypothesis of Parker and co-workers. Recent data from the Mars Global Surveyor Mission MOLA experiment show that the ancient shoreline proposed by Parker and colleagues (located at the edge of the blue area) lies close to the flat line expected if it were indeed an ancient shoreline. The surface below this line is also smoother at all scales than above, consistent with sedimentation from an ancient ocean smoothing topography below sea level. [Image 1] In this topographic portrayal of Mars, above, the northern lowlands are occupied by an ocean (blue) whose shoreline is placed at the position of Contact 2, the line that Parker and co-workers interpreted as an ancient shoreline. Thus, this view shows Mars as it might have looked mid-way through its history according to the oceans hypothesis. The Tharsis region, with numerous very large shield volcanoes is seen in the central part of the globe. In the upper right, many channels flow into the northern lowlands at Chryse Planitia. Credit: NASA Mars Global Surveyor Project; MOLA Team. Rendering by Peter Neivert, Brown University. [Image 2] In this topographic portrayal of Mars, above, giant channels emerge from the Tharsis region (left), Valles Marineris (bottom), and the ancient heavily cratered terrain (right), and flow down slope into the northern lowlands in Chryse Planitia (center). The ancient shoreline proposed by Parker and co- workers is at the position where the channels change from heavy scouring of the background terrain into smooth terrain typical of the northern lowlands, suggesting that they once flowed into a standing body of water, or ocean, as portrayed in the blue area here. Credit: NASA Mars Global Surveyor Project; MOLA Team. Rendering by Peter Neivert, Brown University. ---------------------------------------------------------------- NEW MILLENNIUM PROGRAM SELECTS ADVANCED EARTH-OBSERVING CONCEPT JPL release 10 December 1999 NASA will flight-test an instrument using new technologies to measure elements of Earth's atmosphere and to support space research aimed at reducing risks from severe weather. This measurement concept, known as the Geostationary Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer, has been selected as the next Earth- observing mission under NASA's New Millennium Program. The mission--known as Earth Observing 3--will test advanced technologies for measuring temperature, water vapor, wind and chemical composition with high resolution, in space and over time. Such sophisticated measurements have the potential for revolutionary improvements in weather observation and prediction, by providing unique observations of the spectral properties of clouds and the transport of pollutants in the atmosphere. "In 2003, this space flight demonstration will involve genuinely revolutionary measurement approaches that will have a major impact on Earth system science," said Dr. Ghassem Asrar, associate administrator for Earth science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. "The eventual incorporation of this technology on geostationary weather satellites would provide up-to-the- minute information, never before available, on active severe weather systems, such as hurricanes and tornadoes. "These observations will help improve the accuracy of the current three-day weather forecasts and extend the duration of forecasts up to five days during the next decade," Asrar said. Managed by NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, the mission uses an advanced imaging spectrometer based on breakthrough technologies such as a large-area focal-plane array, new data-readout and signal-processing electronics, and passive thermal switching. Today's geostationary satellites observe Earth, its atmosphere and oceans in only a few selected spectral bands. This new instrument will improve observational capabilities to several hundred spectral bands that will provide both additional and more detailed information. NASA selected this concept from four finalist ideas culled from 24 proposals submitted in response to a NASA research announcement released in September 1997. The theme for the solicitation was to test innovative approaches for observing Earth's surface and atmosphere from positions outside low-Earth orbits, with an emphasis on advanced measurement concepts and technologies. The selection process was carried out by NASA Headquarters, and included evaluations of each concept study by external peer reviewers. The total NASA cost of the mission, including contribution to launch, is expected to be approximately $105 million. The first Earth-orbiting mission under the New Millennium Program, Earth Observing 1, is scheduled for launch in spring of 2000. Managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, that mission will demonstrate an advanced land-imager system and hyperspectral imaging technologies that may eventually replace the current measurement approach used by Landsat satellites. Further information on the Earth Observing 1 mission is available on the internet at http://eo1.gsfc.nasa.gov/NUwww/miscPages/home.html. Created in 1994, the New Millennium Program is designed to identify, develop and flight-validate advanced technologies that can lower costs and enable critical performance of future science missions in the 21st century. The program is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science and Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. Further information on the New Millennium program is available at http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov. Information about NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, dedicated to understanding how human-induced and natural changes affect the Earth's total environmental system, is available at URL http://www.earth.nasa.gov. ---------------------------------------------------------------- TERRA EARTH SCIENCE MISSION READY FOR LAUNCH DECEMBER 16 JPL release 9 December 1999 The launch of NASA's Earth-observing Terra satellite, bearing state-of-the-art instruments to study interactions between the land, atmosphere, ocean and life on the planet, is set for Thursday, December 16 from Space Launch Complex 3 East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS rocket. The launch window is 25 minutes in duration extending from 10:33 to 10:58 AM PST (1:33 to 1:58 PM EST). Terra, managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, is the NASA flagship mission in a new series of spacecraft dedicated to the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Terra carries five sophisticated sets of instruments with measurement and accuracy capabilities never before flown. See http://eos- am.gsfc.nasa.gov for details on the mission. Terra takes a global approach to data collection that will enable scientists to study the interaction among the four spheres of the Earth system--the oceans, lands, atmosphere and biosphere. Long-term weather and climate prediction requires the collection of better data over longer periods to understand the links between these spheres. Among the instruments are two managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: *The JPL-built Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR) will improve our understanding of the Earth's ecology and climate by studying how changes in the amounts, types, and distribution of clouds, airborne particulates, and surface covers can affect our climate. For more information, go to http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov. *The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and reflection Radiometer (ASTER), a joint U.S.-Japanese instrument, will produce detailed global, regional and local image maps of land surface temperature, reflectance and elevation and other characteristics. ASTER is the only high-spatial-resolution instrument on Terra, and the instrument's ability to serve as a "zoom lens" for the other instruments will be particularly important for land studies, detecting surface changes, and for calibrating instruments. See http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov for more information. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. ---------------------------------------------------------------- SPACEHAB TO BUILD FIRST COMMERCIAL HABITAT IN ORBIT SPACEHAB, Inc. release 10 December 1999 Enterprise™ module and space station internet media company will take space commerce to new heights. SPACEHAB, Inc. today announced an historic agreement with RSC Energia of Korolev, Russia, to establish the first permanent commercial presence in space. SPACEHAB and Energia will build a pressurized module, named Enterprise, which will be attached to the International Space Station (ISS). Enterprise will be manned and dedicated to servicing a myriad of commercial mass markets on Earth. "Among our new businesses will be the first independent commercial television and Internet Web-site broadcasts from space," said Dr. Shelley Harrison, SPACEHAB's Chairman. "We will also expand our highly successful S*T*A*R*S space and science education program from the Space Shuttle to Enterprise, targeting millions of youngsters around the world." "SPACEHAB will provide a unique blend of space-originated news, information, education, entertainment programming and business advertising and promotion, broadcasting from Enterprise to Earth TV and Internet links as it orbits the Earth every 90 minutes," said Dr. Harrison. SPACEHAB is the first company to own and operate commercial space habitation modules, flown on NASA Space Shuttles to increase pressurized volume in which astronauts can live and work. U.S. Senator John Glenn performed research in a SPACEHAB Research Module upon his return to space in October 1998 aboard the Shuttle Discovery. (Glenn's flight was SPACEHAB's fifth Shuttle research mission.) SPACEHAB Logistics Modules supported seven critical resupply missions to the Russian space station Mir and the first resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). RSC (Rocket Space Corporation) Energia is the leading Russian corporation in manned space operations, spacecraft, space stations, launch vehicles, communications satellites, R&D, manufacturing and launch operations, with experience from Sputnik to Mir and now the ISS. The new pressurized space module Enterprise, which will be attached to the Russian portion of the ISS, will house a broadcast station and a research laboratory in which company- sponsored microgravity experiments targeting new biotech and advanced materials products and processes will be conducted. SPACEHAB officials estimate that it will cost approximately $100 million to develop Enterprise and establish the space media company. SPACEHAB will raise private financing for its portion of this endeavor. Energia will construct Enterprise and coordinate with the Russian Space Agency (RSA). RSA will provide launch services and other resources to the enterprise. "Our long-term strategic partners Daimler Chrysler Aerospace (DASA) and Mitsubishi Corporation are highly supportive of this initiative," said Dr. Harrison. "SPACEHAB's initiative begins to fulfill the International Partners' objective of commercializing the ISS," commented DASA President Mr. Josef Kind. "Enterprise is an historic project--the first commercial real estate in orbit," said SPACEHAB President David Rossi. "This partnership is the first big step off Planet Earth for private enterprise in space, independent of government funding, " he said. "The ISS partners have endorsed greater commercial participation in the space station. As a private company with 15 years of experience working in manned space and partners and customers around the world, we are committed to making space commerce a reality." SPACEHAB, with its Johnson Engineering and Astrotech subsidiaries, is the world's leading provider of commercial payload processing services for manned and unmanned payloads. The Company also supports NASA astronaut training at the Johnson Space Center. For more information: Linda Billings Media Relations SPACEHAB, Inc. (202) 488-3500, xt. 201 billings@hqspacehab.com Martin Gitlin Financial Relations Board (212) 661-8030 ---------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL releases 6-12 December 1999 Galileo continues to orbit Jupiter with a bounty of science information and images stored safely on its onboard tape recorder. The science data were acquired during the spacecraft's latest venture, an extremely close flyby of Jupiter's fiery moon Io performed on Thanksgiving. During the flyby, the spacecraft passed within 300 kilometers (186 miles) of Io's south polar regions. That is about the same altitude at which the Space Shuttle orbits around the Earth! The Thanksgiving flyby also provided a unique view of Jupiter's icy moon Europa. The flyby geometry was such that the spacecraft was able to see the hemisphere of Europa that faces Jupiter. Given Jupiter's size and brightness, observations of this hemisphere are difficult, if not impossible, to perform from Earth... or by Galileo, until now. Throughout December, the science information on the tape recorder will be retrieved, processed, and packaged, and then transmitted to Earth. This process is known as data playback, and is interrupted once this week so the spacecraft can perform a standard gyroscope performance test. This week's playback schedule returns data acquired by nine of Galileo's instruments: the Solid-State Imaging camera (SSI), the Photopolarimeter Radiometer (PPR), the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS), and the suite of Fields and Particles instruments--the Dust Detector, Energetic Particle Detector, Heavy Ion Counter, Magnetometer, Plasma Detector, and Plasma Wave instrument. First on the playback schedule is a portion of an observation returned by SSI. The observation consists of a 12-image global mosaic of Europa. The second observation is returned by PPR and contains a polarimetry map of Europa's surface. These polarimetry measurements will allow scientists to study Europa's surface texture and thermal properties, and in particular, to look for evidence supporting the existence of liquid water. NIMS follows on the playback schedule with the return of two spectral scans of Europa's surface. One captures an equatorial region of Europa, while the other is global in scale. The Fields and Particles instruments round out this week's data return by returning portions of a 3-hour high-resolution recording of the Io plasma torus. Originally planned to be 6 hours and 40 minutes long, the recording was truncated when the spacecraft entered safe mode during the observation. The flight team members here on Earth were able to bring the spacecraft out of safing just four minutes after the closest approach to Io, allowing Galileo to complete more than half of its planned observations. The Io torus is a region of intense plasma and radiation activity. The recording gathered data from 6 Jupiter radii (429,000 kilometers or 267,000 miles) above Jupiter's cloud tops down to an altitude of 5 Jupiter radii (357,000 kilometers or 222,000 miles), making it the third deepest recording of Galileo's entire mission to date. The data acquired during the recording will be used to understand the structure and dynamics of plasma, dust, and electric and magnetic fields in the torus region. The data will also be important for understanding the overall dynamics of the Jovian magnetosphere. 13-19 December 1999 Galileo continues to return images and other science information acquired during a flyby of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io on November 25. Observations taken during this flyby are stored on Galileo's onboard tape recorder, and are being played back to Earth throughout December. Galileo passes the halfway point of this orbit as it flies through apojove on Wednesday, December 15. Apojove is the point at which the spacecraft is farthest from Jupiter in a given orbit. With this week's playback, Galileo starts a second pass through the observations stored on the tape recorder. This pass allows replay of data lost in transmission to Earth, reprocessing of data using different parameters, or return of additional new data. Playback is interrupted twice this week. On Tuesday, the spacecraft performs a flight path adjustment. On Saturday, the spacecraft performs standard maintenance on its tape recorder. The Solid-State Imaging camera returns three observations of Io this week. The Emakong Patera volcanic region is returned in the first observation. Scientists hope to see active lava flowing from the hot Emakong caldera. The second observation contains two unnamed giant volcanic calderas in Io's northern hemisphere. The Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer also returns an observation of these two features. Finally, the camera returns some portions of a color mosaic of the Culann volcanic region. For more information on the Galileo spacecraft and its mission to Jupiter, please visit the Galileo home page at one of the following URL's: http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo http://galileo.ivv.nasa.gov ---------------------------------------------------------------- MARS POLAR LANDER MISSION STATUS REPORTS JPL releases December 5, 1999 Mission controllers for NASA's Mars Polar Lander have revised their strategy as they continue trying to make contact with the spacecraft. "We're nearing the point where we've used up our final silver bullets," said the mission's project manager, Richard Cook of JPL, after Sunday night's unsuccessful attempt to communicate with the spacecraft. Engineers will try to contact the lander again on Tuesday, December 7 at 12:20 AM Pacific Standard Time, by directing Mars Polar Lander to use its UHF radio to communicate through a relay system onboard NASA's currently-orbiting Mars Global Surveyor. Most of the attempts to receive a signal from the lander over the past few days have used its medium gain antenna. "Our probability of success will diminish significantly after this next attempt," Cook said, "but the team is still exploring all possibilities for establishing comunications with the lander." Controllers are preparing a set of computer commands to have the lander conduct a full sky search for Earth within the next couple of days. 7 December 1999, 1:45 AM PST Mission controllers for NASA's Mars Polar Lander acknowledge that they hold out very little hope of communicating with the spacecraft, but they vow to learn from the experience and continue exploring the Red Planet. "The Mars Polar Lander flight team played its last ace," said the lander's project manager Richard Cook of JPL following an unsuccessful attempt early Tuesday morning to get the lander to talk to Earth via NASA's currently orbiting Mars Global Surveyor. Cook said the team will continue trying to communicate with the lander for another two weeks or so, but that expectations for success are remote. Nonetheless, Cook praised the flight team for its heroic attempts to contact the spacecraft, even sleeping on the floors of their offices at times. "We're certainly disappointed, but we're extremely determined to recover from this and go on." The next communication attempt will take place late Tuesday afternoon, when a 46-meter (about 150-foot) antenna at Stanford University, Stanford, CA, will listen for a signal from the lander's UHF antenna. Engineers will command the spacecraft to use its medium-gain antenna on Wednesday to begin a scan of the entire sky. During the scan, the antenna is being asked to bend and stretch in every possible direction, in essence "craning its neck" in an effort to be heard by mission controllers on Earth. Engineers are also considering a plan to command Mars Global Surveyor to fly over the landing site for Mars Polar Lander in coming weeks and take pictures of the area in hopes of spotting the spacecraft. The Deep Space 2 microprobes that accompanied Mars Polar Lander have also been silent, and project manager Sarah Gavit said she couldn't envision any failure scenario in which the batteries could still hold a charge after four days on Mars. "Just getting the probes to the launch pad was a measure of success," Gavit said, pointing out that as part of NASA's New Millennium program, the probes were designed to develop and test new technologies in preparation for future missions. Review boards will be set up within JPL and at NASA to study the cause of the apparent loss and explore ways to prevent a recurrence. "What we're trying to do is very, very difficult," Cook said. "We hope people, and children in particular, will see from this experience that the mark of a great person, or group of people, is the ability to persevere in the face of adversity." 8 December 1999, 4:00 PM PST Commands were sent in the blind this afternoon to the Mars Polar Lander, in an attempt to establish communications with the spacecraft. The commands were intended to be received through the low-gain antenna on the lander, and instructed the spacecraft to perform "big sweep" of the sky with its medium- gain antenna and send a signal to Earth. The Deep Space Network was waiting to hear a signal from the spacecraft if the lander was executing the "big sweep" commands. After about one hour of listening, no signal was detected from the lander. Early tomorrow morning, the same "big sweep" test will be performed again. December 10, 1999 Flight controllers for Mars Polar Lander continued their attempts to communicate with the spacecraft yesterday and today so that they can be certain they have exhausted all possibilities before they conclude their search. While a recovery is still a possibility, the likelihood of hearing from the lander is considered remote at this point. Yesterday morning at about 2:45 AM PST, the team sent commands to begin a lengthy "big sweep" during which the lander uses its steerable medium-gain antenna to scan across the sky. Presumably, it would eventually scan across the area where Earth is and the Deep Space Network would hear its carrier wave signal. Other communication attempts took place today at 3:00 and 6:00 PM PST with the 46-meter (about 150-foot) antenna at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, which listened for a signal from the lander's UHF antenna. An earlier attempt by Stanford that had been scheduled for Tuesday was postponed when the Stanford antenna experienced mechanical problems. The "big sweep" will conclude tonight. Engineers will then begin a process of sending commands to the spacecraft to switch to back-up hardware and will then repeat some of the communications attempts they have already tried. Mission planners are also working to implement a plan to use Mars Global Surveyor to take pictures of the landing site for Mars Polar Lander starting sometime next week in hopes of spotting the spacecraft or parachute. Review boards will be set up within JPL and at NASA to study the cause of the apparent loss and explore ways to prevent a recurrence. Mars Polar Lander web site: http://marslander.jpl.nasa.gov Mars Polar Lander is part of a series of missions in a long-term program of Mars exploration managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL's industrial partner is Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. ---------------------------------------------------------------- STARDUST STATUS REPORTS JPL releases 3 December 1999 There was only one scheduled Deep Space Network (DSN) pass in the past week, and all spacecraft subsystems performing normally. Approximately five hours prior to the scheduled start of the DSN pass, a PACI (Payload Attitude Control Interface) reset occurred. The last time a PACI reset occurred was on July 30 and the spacecraft entered Safe Mode as a result. A Flight Software (FSW) patch was developed and installed in late August. This patch successfully re-enabled the PACI and prevented the spacecraft from entering Safe Mode as expected. Although the root cause of the resets has not been found data is still being collected to help determine the cause. The second part of flight sequence 12 was successfully retransmitted to the spacecraft and is now active waiting for its start time on December 22. Sequence SC011 is the active sequence. Sequence SC012 is on-board and part one is waiting to start its execution on December 6. 10 December 1999 There were two scheduled Deep Space Network (DSN) passes this week with all subsystems performance remaining normal. An additional three Payload Attitude Control Interface (PACI) resets occurred. The first on November 29, the second on December 3, and the third on December 5. As with the previous resets the patch worked flawlessly. Sequence SC012 started successfully on Monday and the first DSN pass on Tuesday was used to install a new file that will provide for faster telemetry for uplink verification at low data rates. When the data rates are 100 bits per second (bps) or lower, it can take up to thirty minutes to verify that the spacecraft received an uplink. The nominal data for this sequence and the upcoming sequences is 40 bps. The new file will produce the verification telemetry at a faster rate and downlink the information to the ground on a priority basis. Sequence SC012 is the active sequence. The kickoff meeting for sequence SC013 was held on Tuesday. During this sequence the Deep Space Maneuver (DSM) will be performed. Education and Outreach Team supported the Stardust exhibit at the Planetary Society sponsored, Planetfest '99 in Pasadena, California. The event was held in conjunction with the Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 landing operations. 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------- End Marsbugs Vol. 6, No. 41