MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 7, Number 12, 31 March 2000. Editors: Dr. David J. Thomas, Biology and Chemistry Division, Lyon College, Batesville, AR 72503-2317, USA. 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 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) HEAVEN'S OBSERVER Interview by Hazel Muir 2) MARS PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT OUTLINES ROUTE TO SUCCESS NASA release 00-46 3) NEW MARS MANAGEMENT AND FLIGHT PROJECTS OFFICES CREATED JPL release 4) PRIVATELY-BACKED MANNED FLIGHT TO SAVE MIR SPACE STATION IS SET FOR HISTORIC IN-ORBIT DOCKING ON APRIL 6 MirCorp release 5) VOLCANIC GASES COULD BE SOURCE FOR ORIGINS OF LIFE ON EARTH & MARS By Tony Fitzpatrick 6) PLANET HUNTERS ON TRAIL OF WORLDS SMALLER THAN SATURN NASA release 00-47 7) LEADING CANCER INSTITUTE TESTS NOVEL MONITORING TECHNIQUE JPL release 8) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 9) THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 10) STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release --------------------------------------------------------------------- HEAVEN'S OBSERVER Interview by Hazel Muir from New Scientist (http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinion_22315.html) 25 March 2000 Is the Vatican Observatory training missionaries for Mars? Is it part of a conspiracy to hide evidence of UFOs? Or is it the Pope's way of saying sorry for the persecution of Galileo? No way, says Guy Consolmagno, a former NASA astronomer who now works there. It's a regular scientific establishment, funded out of the Vatican's vast wealth and therefore, paradoxically, free to do genuine research. But then Consolmagno is also a Jesuit whose new book is a mission to set the record straight. Hazel Muir asked him whether despite the Pontiff's attempts to apologize for the Church's many injustices, religion could ever really coexist with science. First, the burning question. Is a Vatican-funded observatory the Pope's way of saying sorry for the Galileo affair? I suppose so, if you meant Pope Leo XIII, who founded the modern observatory in 1891. But there were astronomers working for the papacy, for instance in reforming the calendar, long before Galileo. And it's more than just a PR exercise on behalf of the Catholic Church. It's also a PR exercise for science directed at all the churches. The Vatican Observatory exists to show the world that science and religion can coexist. I feel the real audience is not scientists--I think most scientists understand the role of science and religion very well--but religious people, who tend to be very suspicious of science. So in a way I feel myself to be an ambassador of science to religious people. Do you ever discuss science with the Pope personally? No, although the director of the observatory does, and the Pope also likes to have informal conversations in Polish with a priest at the observatory called Michael Heller, who works on cosmology. The Pope is interested in science. He was a university professor before he became a bishop, and he just likes to know what's going on out of an intellectual curiosity. He never intervenes in the running of the observatory. It sounds as if the Pope is fairly science-literate. Yet it took him a long time to accept that evolution is "more than just a hypothesis". Why? Every time the Pope opens his mouth, the rest of the world says: "Gee, it's about time." They don't recognize that a similar statement was made fifty or a hundred or two hundred years earlier. People's preconceptions about the Church are so rigid that the more the Church tries to convince people it is modern, the more people say that just shows how backwards the Church was before. It's a game you can't win. What can you tell us about the Galileo trial that's new? I don't think Galileo's trial was religious persecution--Galileo was never accused of heresy. He had promised not to teach or promote the Copernican system. He was asked not to do that because it was going to lead to unrest and conflict. But twenty years later he broke his promise and wrote about the Copernican system in his book. That doesn't sound particularly Earth-shattering... My pet theory, which I could not prove to save my life, is that he got caught out on this technicality because he was trapped in a geopolitical struggle. It was during the height of the Thirty Years' War in Europe. His benefactor in Florence was secretly supporting the French against Spain. But Spain had the support of Rome. The Spaniards had a lot of power, and troops in Italy. And I think the Church picked on Galileo as an easy target. Remember, in those days the Church was also a government, a world power that had territory to protect. The Pope has apologized again for the Church's past injustices--he previously apologized for the Galileo affair in the early 1990s. But what's the point of asking forgiveness for something when the wronged party has been dead for four centuries? It's not for them, but for us... because sin hurts the sinner. And we are hurt. We're a human church, and so a broken church. Ask any shrink (or priest who hears confessions) and they'll tell you that admitting you made a mistake is the first, and hardest, part of learning to heal. It would be nice if people saw in this act of humility that their idea of a triumphalistic, arrogant Church is incomplete. Time doesn't matter; it's never too late. God is outside of space and time. It's God we've offended, and to God we offer contrition. What does the outside world make of the Vatican Observatory? A fairly major newspaper in Chicago once described us as the Pope's astrologers, and they think we set the date of Easter every year. Of course, the Vatican Observatory was formally founded to work out the reform of the calendar in 1582, which did set the date of Easter, but that doesn't mean we have to observe the Moon every year and change things around. Then there is the host of a late-night radio show in America who's convinced that the Vatican Observatory is part of a conspiracy to hide evidence of UFOs. And another newspaper claims we're training missionaries to send to Mars. What do you really do? I am in charge of the meteorite collection, one of the largest in the world. It came from a private collector, the Marquis de Mauroy, who was probably the premier meteorite collector in Europe in the 19th century. His widow inherited it, and when she died she donated it to the Vatican. It was exciting to be put in charge. Most of the research I'd done in meteorites before then was theoretical--it was incredibly inspiring to see the rocks that actually came from the places I'd always been interested in. Most astronomers think they study stars or planets, but really all they study is photons. I have actual specimens from places in outer space. What are your current research interests? My biggest research interest right now is understanding the physical structure of meteorites, in particular why the gas and dust they formed from in the solar nebula compacted into solid rock. It's a hint to an important process we haven't really completely understood that was fundamental in the formation of planets. The other thing I'm working on in a much less intense way is observations of the Kuiper Belt objects. These are the guys, perhaps 100 kilometers or so across, that are out beyond Pluto, which some people think are pristine examples of early Solar System material. I suspect there's no such thing as a pristine example of the early Solar System. The intense radiation in space has probably altered their surface material. We're beginning to see hints that this has given them two different colors, a grayish and a reddish version. You joined the Jesuits after 15 years in mainstream science. What prompted the move? I had first thought of entering the Jesuits much earlier, while I was still in my first year at university, mostly to get away from problems. I was 18 years old in a country that was going mad with Vietnam, drugs and drinking. I was completely uninterested in that. I was a nerd, and I wanted to study. I'd always been a practicing Catholic, although pretty much a mechanical one. So I thought of entering the Jesuits as a way of running away from those other people. What dissuaded you at the time? I asked the Jesuits what they thought, and they told me to go to my room and ask God if this is what I wanted to do. I felt very foolish but I did what they suggested. I sat on the floor, stared at the ceiling waiting for a voice from heaven, and nothing came. But while I was sitting there I asked myself: "What actually does a priest do for a living?" A priest works with people with problems--just like the sorts of people I was trying to run away from. So I realized that in fact what I should be doing with my life was to take advantage of the things I could do well. It was only many years later--having had a lot of success as a scientist, having had a good income and having dated someone for five years--that I found myself willing to become a Jesuit in full knowledge of what I would miss. Was it easy "coming out"? By becoming publicly religious I've given a lot of scientists the freedom to talk about their own religion. I also find that scientists ask me about problems with their marriages and a lot of other very personal things. Vatican astronomers also adjudicate political fights in the scientific community. That's probably because we have an absolutely independent source of funding--no one is competing with us for our money and we're not competing with them. Do scientists react differently to you now because you work for the Vatican? Much to my embarrassment, yes. Before I became a Jesuit, a lot of people in my field knew me very well without ever knowing that I was particularly religious. It surprised me how many of them started to ask me profound questions about the meaning of the Universe, the issues that we all wonder about late at night. I had no idea what the answers were the previous year, so why would I know them now? What is the difference between working at the Vatican and, say, working for NASA? First of all, there's tremendous freedom. I am given the freedom to work on what I find interesting, without it being tied to any particular politician's ideas of what's in the national interest this week. I'm also given the freedom to work over a very long term. I don't have to worry about budget cycles, so I don't have to apply for grants, I don't have to sit on committees and I don't have to justify my work year in and year out. When I was being supported by NASA, I was limited to what NASA would agree to fund. Now I can look at realms of science that are high risk--you don't know if there's going to be a scientific benefit at the end of it or not. I do the science now for the sheer fun of it. You say you're free to choose your field. But would you be allowed to work on the big bang? Well, it's funny you should mention the big bang because, of course, the first big bang theory was proposed by a priest, Georges Lemaître. And we do in fact have a fellow at the observatory who's doing mathematical cosmology work on the big bang. In general, there's no conflict. The Galileo affair was unique and contrary to the history of the Catholic Church, which has always supported scholarship, and founded universities. It recognizes that the material world is a valid thing to study because it's the creation of God. How would the Church react if astronomers discovered life elsewhere? I'm perfectly happy if it turns out that there are dozens and dozens or millions of intelligent species out there, each with their own little religions. I'll be fascinated to see how God has dealt with them. The discovery of life elsewhere in the Universe is the sort of thing that the Church has happily accepted the possibility of, going back to the earliest of days. You can find debates in the Middle Ages about the possibility of other worlds. To insist that God couldn't have made other worlds or other creatures, that would be heresy. God can do anything God wants. What do you think an extraterrestrial would be like? I think you have to remember that they're going to be made out of the same atoms as us, they're going to follow the same laws of physics and, I feel, the same laws of philosophy. I'm not sure that there are any aliens in the Universe because I'm not sure that I could call an ET an alien. I don't see what would make them alien at all. I think they'd be, if not our brothers and sisters, then at least our cousins in the Universe. Further reading Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist, McGraw-Hill, $24.95, ISBN 007135428X. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT OUTLINES ROUTE TO SUCCESS NASA release 00-46 28 March 2000 An in-depth review of NASA's Mars exploration program, released today, found significant flaws in formulation and execution led to the failures of recent missions, and provides recommendations for future exploration of Mars. NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin appointed Thomas Young, a seasoned space-industry executive, to independently assess current and future Mars programs. The Mars Program Independent Assessment Team (MPIAT) started work on January 7, 2000, and delivered its final report to the Agency in mid-March. "I congratulate Tom Young and his team for a superb report," Goldin said today. "They have rigorously scrutinized both successful and unsuccessful missions, shining a searchlight into every corner of the incredibly complex endeavor of deep space exploration. He and his team have delivered an extraordinary report and I thank them on behalf of NASA and the American people." "Speaking for the team, I would like to express my appreciation for the spirit of cooperation that we enjoyed at NASA Headquarters, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and at Lockheed Martin," Young said. "The managers, scientists and engineers we spoke with were candid and frank in their presentations and in their answers to our questions. Everyone worked toward the same goal: finding ways to make the Mars program successful. "One of the things we kept in mind during the course of our review is that in the conduct of space missions, you get only one strike, not three. Even if thousands of functions are carried out flawlessly, just one mistake can be catastrophic to a mission," Young said. "Our review confirmed that mistakes can be prevented by applying experienced oversight, sufficient testing, and independent analysis." The team's charter was to review and analyze successes and failures of recent missions to determine why some succeeded and some failed; examine the relationship between and among NASA Headquarters, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the California Institute of Technology and industry partners; assess the involvement of scientists; identify lessons learned from successes and failures; review the Mars Surveyor Program to assure lessons learned are utilized; oversee Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 failure reviews; and evaluate the risk management process. The report concluded the most probable cause of the failure was the generation of spurious signals when the lander legs were deployed during descent. The spurious signals gave a false indication that the spacecraft had landed, resulting in a premature shutdown of the engines and the destruction of the lander when it crashed on Mars. Without any entry, descent and landing telemetry data, there is no way to know whether the lander reached the terminal descent propulsion phase. If it did reach this phase, it is almost certain that premature engine shutdown occurred, the report concluded. NASA's Office of Space Science will develop an integrated strategic response to the findings and recommendations of the report. NASA Chief Engineer W. Brian Keegan also will coordinate an integrated Agency response to the recent reviews of NASA program management practices. In addition, today, Dr. Edward Weiler, the Associate Administrator for Space Science, announced the cancellation of the planned Mars 2001 lander awaiting his approval of a new overall Mars "architecture" plan. Weiler also will make management changes in the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters and work with the California Institute of Technology to institute effective change at JPL, clearly articulating lines of authority, clarifying roles and improving communication between all organizations involved. In that regard, Weiler today appointed Scott Hubbard as the Mars Program Director at NASA Headquarters. Hubbard is now Associate Director for Astrobiology and Space Programs, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. The MPIAT report findings included: * Mars exploration is an important national goal that should continue. * Deep space exploration is inherently challenging, but the risks are manageable and acceptable. * NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and U.S. industry have the unique capabilities required to conduct successful planetary and deep space missions. * NASA's "faster, better, cheaper" approach, properly applied, should be continued as an effective means of guiding program implementation. * There were significant flaws in the formulation and execution of the Mars program, but all of the problems uncovered are correctable in a timely manner to allow a comprehensive Mars exploration program to continue successfully. The MPIAT report found common characteristics among both successful and unsuccessful missions: * Experienced project management or mentoring is essential. * Project management must be responsible and accountable for all aspects of mission success. * Unique constraints of deep space missions demand adequate margins. * Appropriate application of institutional expertise is critical for mission success. * A thorough test and verification program is essential for mission success. * Effective risk identification and management are critical to assure successful missions. * Institutional management must be accountable for policies and procedures that assure a high level of success. * Institutional management must assure project implementation consistent with required policies and procedures. * Telemetry coverage of critical events is necessary for analysis and ability to incorporate information in follow-on projects. * If not ready, do not launch. The Mars reports are available at one of the following URL's: http://www.nasa.gov/newsinfo/marsreports.html http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/marsreports/marsreports.html http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/releases/h00-46.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW MARS MANAGEMENT AND FLIGHT PROJECTS OFFICES CREATED JPL release 28 March 2000 A new office devoted to management of future Mars missions is being formed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, along with another new office that will oversee the implementation of space science flight projects, JPL Director Dr. Edward C. Stone announced today. Stone said the changes are being made to provide strengthened institutional support for implementing JPL's space science missions, and to bring added focus to the Laboratory's management of exploratory missions to Mars planned for coming years. "The formation of these offices is directly responsive to the recommendations of the Young investigation report," said Stone, referring to the newly released findings of the Mars Program Independent Assessment Team, led by Thomas Young. The heads of both new offices will report directly to the director of JPL. A new manager for the Mars Program Office is expected to be named in about a week, Stone said. A new JPL Space Science Flight Projects Directorate, to be headed by Thomas R. Gavin, will manage the implementation of space science projects, including those of the Mars Program. Gavin, currently deputy director of JPL's Space and Earth Sciences Programs Directorate, was previously spacecraft system manager for the Cassini mission, now en route to Saturn. Gavin's other experience at JPL includes management responsibility for the quality assurance and mission reliability of the Galileo mission, currently orbiting Jupiter. His newly formed directorate will be responsible for all non-Earth orbiting flight missions. Under the Laboratory's previous management structure, these projects were carried out under the Space and Earth Sciences Program Directorate. Mission operations management for space science missions will be the responsibility of JPL's Telecommunications and Mission Operations Directorate, headed by Gael Squibb. Previously, operations for Mars missions and a few others were managed by the Space and Earth Sciences Directorate. Now, the Telecommunications and Mission Operations Directorate, which also manages NASA's Deep Space Network, will be responsible for all deep space missions in flight, Stone said. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. -------------------------------------------------------------------- PRIVATELY-BACKED MANNED FLIGHT TO SAVE MIR SPACE STATION IS SET FOR HISTORIC IN-ORBIT DOCKING ON APRIL 6 MirCorp release 28 March 2000 A privately financed manned space flight to reactivate the Mir station and open it for commercial use will blast off on April 4, delivering its cosmonaut crew to the orbital facility two days later. MirCorp, the private company that holds a lease agreement for commercial operation of the Russian-built and owned station, today confirmed the timeline of this historic flight. "The April 6 docking will fulfill MirCorp's promise to reactivate Mir--preparing it for commercial operations that are expected to range from industrial production and scientific experimentation to space tourism and in-orbit advertising," MirCorp President Jeffrey Manber said. "Mir will be the only real conduit to manned space commercialization for many years to come." Mir has been unoccupied since 1999, and Russia would have been forced to allow the massive space station to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere if MirCorp had not provided private financing to maintain it. Two Russian cosmonauts are to be launched April 4 from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard a Soyuz transport spacecraft, and will spend two days orbiting the Earth as they "catch up" to the Mir station. The Soyuz docking with Mir on April 6 will deliver the cosmonauts for a stay of more than 40 days on the station--during which they will bring Mir to a fully operational status. A live television broadcast is to provide real-time images of the Soyuz/Mir docking on April 6 and of the cosmonauts' entry into the Mir station. Holland-based MirCorp was formed earlier this year to operate as the direct link between commercial users of Mir and the space station's Russian operators. MirCorp acts as a facilitator, beginning with the establishment of business conditions for Mir's use and continuing through successful completion of a user's activity on board the station. The company signed a first-of-its-kind commercial lease agreement for Mir in February with RSC Energia, the Russian space systems manufacturer that built and operates the space station. Shareholders in MirCorp include RSC Energia and venture capital firms. The lead investor is the venture capital firm of Gold & Appel. RSC Energia is the majority shareholder in MirCorp. The April manned mission is crucial to Mir's future, according to Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, a telecom and Internet entrepreneur who is one of the key investors in MirCorp. "Mir's successful reactivation will enable the current investors to continue their backing for the project, and will allow MirCorp to seek additional funding on the capital market for long-term commercial operations on Mir," he said. Dr. Kathuria said MirCorp has retained the services of McKinsey & Co., one of the world's top consulting firms, to develop commercial revenue strategies, find additional strategic partners and define traditional and non-traditional revenue sources. The Mir space station entered service in 1986, and has been visited by more than 100 cosmonauts and astronauts from countries that include Russia, the U.S., France, Germany, Japan, Austria, the United Kingdom, Syria, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Kazakhstan. It is an unparalleled orbital facility built over a decade through the assembly of individually launched modules. The massive multi-purpose platform offers more than 400 cubic meters of interior work area. The station is pressurized and temperature controlled, providing shirtsleeve working conditions for crewmembers on board. More information on MirCorp and its plans to operate Mir as a commercial space station can be found on the company's web site at www.mirstation.com. MirCorp Einsteingebouw Einsteindreff 109-113 P.O. Box 9907 3506 GX-Utrecht, Netherlands E-mail: info@mirstation.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLCANIC GASES COULD BE SOURCE FOR ORIGINS OF LIFE ON EARTH & MARS By Tony Fitzpatrick 28 March 2000 Geologists at Washington University in St. Louis have developed new theoretical calculations on how life might have arisen on Earth, Mars and other celestial bodies from volcanic gases. Analyzing ash, lava and magma chemical compositions from nine representative volcanoes around the world, geologists Everett L. Shock, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University, and Mikhail Y. Zolotov, Ph.D., senior research scientist, describe a scenario where initial volcanic gases spewing from the Earth as hot as 1,200° Celsius cool down to a relatively low temperature of between 150-300°C. Shock and Zolotov have shown that, in this temperature range, environmental and chemical conditions are ripe for basic hydrocarbons--a wide range of carbon-based compounds essential for life--to form from the hydrogen and carbon monoxide present in the volcanic gases. They say that a naturally occurring catalytic reaction, similar to a famous industrial process called Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, involves the iron compound magnetite as catalyst, and is an essential part of the process. For decades researchers observing volcanic rocks have detected a fine film of organics on mineral surfaces of the rocks. This led to endless speculation about the source of the organic film. Many thought that the organic compounds were stable parts of the Earth's mantle brought up over time through volcanic activity. The other perspective was that the organic mixtures condensed and coalesced in volcanic gases during eruptions. The calculations show that the latter process is more likely. Conditions favorable for hydrocarbon synthesis also may be favorable for other life ingredients, such as amino acids and complex organic polymers, leading, perhaps, to self- replicating RNA molecules and eventually to all sorts of cells and diverse organisms. The calculations take into consideration temperatures, gas composition, oxidation states of the gases and geophysical conditions of the individual volcanoes. They are valuable as a framework for researchers to set up experiments and test results, and they should be integral in analyzing martian meteorites. They could, in fact, help settle a dispute over whether the controversial analysis of a martian meteorite in 1996--which bore evidence of the same kinds of organics found in many terrestrial volcanic lava, magma and ash samples--is indicative of fossil evidence or else a similar non- biologic pathway that Shock and Zolotov describe. The calculations show not only that life can arise from the gaseous crucible of present day terrestrial volcanoes, but that it was even more likely to have developed billions of years ago on early Earth, Mars and Jupiter's satellite, Europa. There is a solid body of evidence that shows the temperature of magma then would have been about 200°C hotter than now and that the atmosphere would have been less oxidized. The Shock/Zolotov calculations show that higher initial temperatures of spewing volcanic gases are more favorable for organic synthesis, once the gases dilute and cool to the hydrocarbon-forming zone of 150-300°C. "These conditions might have contributed to the production of organic compounds required for the emergence of life," says Shock, who first rose to prominence in the "Origins of Life" debate in 1992 when he performed calculations that showed life could have first emerged chemosynthetically--without sunlight--at hot water vents on the ocean floor. "Our work began with an eye toward understanding the hydrocarbons found in Martian meteorites, but we soon realized that there are plenty of gas compositions from Earth's volcanoes, and we thought we should study the full range of possibilities. So, with this paper we analyzed the hard physical evidence from the Earth, and, from that, we think we can extrapolate to Mars. "The calculations prove what can happen thermodynamically, but not necessarily what will happen. Developing them is an important first step in understanding this process. For the first time, we now have a quantified temperature zone in which hydrocarbons can form, and a framework to understand what conditions lead to hydrocarbon formation from volcanic gas. There have been a number of experiments in this area over the years, but not a framework to better understand the process. Misha's (Zolotov's) calculations predict what kinds of chemical clues one should see based on the organic compounds that are present." Approachable processes Zolotov gathered data from volcanoes ranging from Mt. St. Helen's [Washington State] and Iceland's Surtsey to Sicily's Mount Aetna and Hawaii's Kilauea. All of the volcanoes arose from different geological settings and produced initial gas temperatures of varying ranges. "The calculations show that there is a potential for hydrocarbons to form during the cooling process, and that this condition also is promising for amino acids to develop," Zolotov says. "The process is not very efficient today. For instance, at Kilauea, the hydrogen and carbon monoxide amounts of the gases are no more than 2 percent. But it still is a steady source for hydrocarbons to form." As for the origins of life--on Earth, at least--there are two basic competing views: one suggests that life was brought here by comet or meteorite impacts or interplanetary dust; the other that life was generated here, either at the ocean floor, through a lightning spark that touched off an atmosphere that produced organic compounds in watery environments, or in volcanic gases. All scenarios involve organic compounds. "Unlike spark discharge scenarios, the processes we are pursuing to study the origins of life, here, or on Mars, are normal, daily geological processes. The volcanic gas scenario is one of the most approachable," says Shock. "The evidence is readily accessible, and we know we can extrapolate from evidence here to Mars and other bodies without much ambiguity." Shock and Zolotov published their results in the January 2000 issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research. The National Science Foundation and NASA supported their work. To receive a copy of "A Thermodynamic Assessment of the Potential Synthesis of Condensed Hydrocarbons During Cooling and Dilution of Volcanic Gases," contact Mikhail Y. Zolotov at the Washington University Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, (314) 935-7435, or by e-mail at zolotov@zonvark.wustl.edu. Contact: Washington University in St. Louis Tony Fitzpatrick (314) 935-5272 tony_fitzpatrick@aismail.wustl.edu http://wupa.wustl.edu/nai/feature/2000/Mar00-gases.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- PLANET HUNTERS ON TRAIL OF WORLDS SMALLER THAN SATURN NASA release 00-47 29 March 2000 Planet-hunting astronomers have crossed an important threshold in planet detection, with the discovery of two planets that may be smaller in mass than Saturn. Of the 30 extrasolar planets around Sun-like stars detected previously, all have been the size of Jupiter or larger. The existence of these Saturn-sized candidates suggests that many stars harbor smaller planets, in addition to the Jupiter- sized ones. Finding Saturn-sized planets reinforces the theory that planets form by a snowball effect of growth from small ones to large, in a star-encircling dust disk. The 20-year-old theory predicts there should be more [small] planets than large planets, and this is a trend the researchers are beginning to see in their data. "It's like looking at a beach from a distance," explained Geoff Marcy of the University of California at Berkeley. "Previously we only saw the large boulders, which were Jupiter- sized planets or larger. Now we are seeing the 'rocks,' Saturn- sized planets or smaller. We still don't have the capability of detecting Earth-like planets, which would be equivalent to seeing pebbles on the beach." Jupiter alone is three times the mass of Saturn. This has left the nagging possibility open that some of the extrasolar planets might really be stillborn stars, called brown dwarfs, which would form like stars through the collapse of a gas cloud. But now researchers are better assured these "Jupiters" are only the tip of the iceberg, and there are many more planets to be found that are the mass of Saturn or smaller. "Now we are confident we are seeing a distinctly different population of bodies that formed out of dust disks like the disks Hubble Space Telescope has imaged around stars," said Marcy. The discovery was made by planet-sleuths Marcy, Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Steve Vogt of the University of California, Santa Cruz, using the mighty Keck telescope in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. They discovered a planet at least 80 percent the mass of Saturn orbiting 3.8 million miles from the star HD46375, 109 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros, and a planet 70 percent the mass of Saturn orbiting 32.5 million miles around the star 79 Ceti (also known as HD16141), located 117 light-years away in the constellation Cetus. These planets are very close to their stars and so have short orbits. They whirl around their parent stars with periods of 3.02 days and 75 days respectively. This allowed for their relatively rapid discovery. The astronomers detected the small wobble of a star caused by the gravitational tug of the unseen planets. For the past five years Marcy and Butler have used this technique successfully to catalog 21 extrasolar planets. Boosted by the light-gathering power of Keck, they have steadily increased the precision of their measurements so they can look for the gravitational effects of ever-smaller bodies. In this latest detection, the change in a star's velocity-- rhythmically moving toward and then away from Earth--is only 36 feet per second, a little faster than a human sprints. The Saturn-mass planets are presumably gas giants, made mostly of primordial hydrogen and helium, rather than the rocky material Earth is made of. They are so close to their parent stars they are extremely hot, and are not abodes for life as we know it. The planet orbiting 79 Ceti has an average temperature of 1530°F (830°C). The planet orbiting HD46375 has an average temperature of 2070°F (1130°C). They probably formed at a farther distance from the star, where they could accumulate cool gas, and then migrated into their present orbits. Along the way they would have disrupted the orbits of any smaller terrestrial planets like Earth. These "marauding" gas giants seem more the rule than the exception among the planets surveyed so far, because Marcy and Butler's detection technique favors finding massive planets in short-period orbits. This seems to be the case for approximately six percent of the stars surveyed so far. Their research is part of a multi-year project to look for wobbles among 1,100 stars within 300 light-years of Earth. NASA and the National Science Foundation support the project. Images, illustrations, animations and additional background information associated with this release are available on the internet at http://origins.stsci.edu/news/2000/01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- LEADING CANCER INSTITUTE TESTS NOVEL MONITORING TECHNIQUE JPL release 30 March 2000 A cancer detection technique that uses an advanced sensor developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, is being tested by the prestigious Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, for its use in monitoring the effectiveness of cancer treatment in patients. The sensor is part of a device called the BioScan System (tm), developed by OmniCorder Technologies, Inc., Stony Brook, NY. OmniCorder has been developing and testing the system for three years and received Food and Drug Administration clearance to market it in December. "Since we announced the BioScan System's clearance by the FDA, we have been inundated with requests to install and test the unit in clinics and hospitals across the country and overseas for a variety of cancer as well as other disease applications," said OmniCorder president and CEO Mark Fauci. "We selected the Dana-Farber site because we feel that this center could best help us to have the largest and most immediate impact on improving cancer treatment." The application at Dana-Farber is different from those that have been tested at other sites. The BioScan System (tm) has been used to locate and confirm the presence of a cancerous breast lesion by detecting the cancer's ability to recruit new blood supply--one of the hallmarks of a malignant lesion. The goal of the Dana-Farber research is to evaluate the BioScan System's ability to monitor biological effects of cancer treatment and to help physicians detect treatment-induced changes in cancerous lesions of the breast, skin and other organs. Armed with this information, they can better determine effectiveness of the treatments. Dana-Farber is testing several new classes of anti-cancer products, including some--called antiangiogenesis factors--specifically designed to limit cancer growth by inhibiting its blood supply. (Angiogenesis is the formation and differention of blood vessels.) The BioScan System (tm) was designed to detect minute changes in blood supply to cancerous lesions and may help doctors measure precisely any decrease in blood supply to the cancer caused by these new treatments. "Current technologies to monitor the effects of cancer treatment might miss important biologic and clinical effects, especially of newer treatment strategies such as antiangiogenesis approaches and drugs to induce differentiation," said Dr. George D. Demetri, medical director, Center for Sarcoma and Bone Oncology, Department of Adult Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston. Drs. Demetri and Milos Janicek, from Dana-Farber's diagnostic oncoradiology division, will be co-principal investigators in the study. "The technology harnessed by BioScan--if it proves what we hope it will--has the potential to provide this ability for researchers and clinicians who might otherwise miss subtle yet important effects of new drugs," Demetri said. "By doing so, it could have a substantial effect on developing new therapeutic approaches to cancer, such as directing researchers to optimize biologically active doses and even reducing the time it takes to demonstrate a drug's efficacy for FDA registration. It will be important to correlate the findings of this technology with clinical outcomes. With this type of tool, it is conceivable that once a drug has been approved, the same technology would allow us to monitor and individualize cancer treatment on a patient-by-patient basis." OmniCorder is exclusively licensed by JPL to use the sensor technology, called Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector, and also holds licenses from other organizations. OmniCorder is a leading developer of non-invasive infrared disease detection systems. The JPL sensor has also been used in terrestrial applications, such as locating hot spots during fires, and it has potential uses for search and rescue, spotting faulty welds and blockages, and volcano observation. It also will fly sometime in the next several months on a small space technology research vehicle mission to detect the severity of radiation in the Van Allen Belt. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 31 March 2000 Links to the following articles have been added to The Astrobiology, Extreme Environments and Terraformation Index at http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology.h tml. Astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation articles online (http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_articl es1.html) L. Becker, B. Popp, T. Rust and J. L. Bada, 1999. The origin of organic matter in the martian meteorite ALH84001. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 167(1-2):71-79. M. Chown, 1996. Seeds, soup and the the meaning of life. New Scientist. M. Chown, 1997. In the dark. New Scientist. J. Cohen, 1991. How to design an alien. New Scientist, 132(1800):18. P. Cohen, 1996. NASA gets ready to fend off martians. New Scientist. P. Cohen, 1998. An alien diet. New Scientist. M. J. Fogg. Artesian basins on Mars: implications for colonizing, the search for life, and terraforming. New Mars. B. Frankie. [Terraforming] The risk of delay. New Mars. E. K. Gibson, Jr., D. S. McKay, K. Thomas-Keprta, F. Westall, and C. A. Romanek. How do the properties of ALH84001 compare with the accepted criteria for evidence of ancient life? New Mars. J. Gribbin, 1991. Is there anyone out there? New Scientist, 130(1770):29. R. P. Harvey. Formation of carbonates in ALH84001 by impact metasomatism: cooking with gas. New Mars. J. Hecht, 1998. You can look but you can't touch. New Scientist. N. Henbest and H. Couper, 1989. Life and the universe. New Scientist, 121(1656):1 J. A. Hiscox, H. G. M. Edwards and D. Wynn-Williams. A return to Utopia? New Mars. B. Jakosky, 1996. Warm havens for life on Mars. New Scientist. R. Lewis, 1997. Scientists debate RNA's role at the beginning of life on Earth. The Scientist, 11(7). R. Lewis, 1998. New center expands origin of life studies. The Scientist, 12(17). D. S. McKay. Evidence for ancient life in Mars meteorites: lessons learned. New Mars. J. Mullins, 1996. Other worlds, other lives... New Scientist. S. Nadis, 1994. Mars the final frontier. New Scientist, 141(1911):28. New Mars, 1998. The quantity of life. New Mars. B. Matthews, 1996. Climate engineering. A. J. S. Rayl and E. Russo, 1999. AAAS roundup. The Scientist, 13(4). A. J. S. Rayl, 1999. Multiple disciplines, imagination, and the big picture. The Scientist, 13(7). N. Sankaran, 1994. Private funding keeps hunt for E.T.'s alive. The Scientist, 8(10). J. M. Saxton, I. C. Lyon and G. Turner, 1998. Correlated chemical and isotopic zoning in carbonates in the martian meteorite ALH84001. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 160(3-4):811- 822. G. Schilling, 1998. Martian conspiracy theorists lose face. New Scientist. R. S. Slotnick, 2000. Extremophilic terraforming. American Scientist. A. H. Treiman. Ancient life in Allan Hills 84001? Status of some current controversies. New Mars. S. Veggeberg, 1992. Origins-of-life research rescued from scientific fringe. The Scientist, 6(21). G. Walker, 1996. Still alive after all these years? New Scientist. B. Weitze, 1999. Methane makers might make it on Mars. New Mars. Articles on the biology of extreme environments (on Earth) (http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_articl es2.html) R. T. Anderson, F. H. Chapelle and D. R. Lovley, 1998. Evidence against hydrogen-based microbial ecosystems in basalt aquifers. Science, 281(5379):976-977. J. F. Banfield, W. W. Barker, S. A. Welch and A. Taunton, 1999. Biological impact on mineral dissolution: Application of the lichen model to understanding mineral weathering in the rhizosphere. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 96(7):3404-3411. D. Falk, 1999. Mars on Earth. New Scientist. M. R. Fisk, S. J. Giovannoni and I. H. Thorseth, 1998. Alteration of oceanic volcanic glass: textural evidence of microbial activity. Science, 281(5379):978-980. J. Hecht and D. Concar, 1996. Earth oddities tell their tale. New Scientist. J. Knight, 1998. On thin ice. New Scientist. New Mars, 1998. Life in the rocks on the rocks? New Mars. L. O'Hanlon, 1995. Low life could be at home on Mars. New Scientist. S. Paine, 1998. The intraterrestrials. New Scientist. ScienceWeek, 1999. A continuing feud concerning nanobacteria. ScienceWeek. Articles on human space exploration and the microgravity environment (http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_articl es3.html) R. Clymer. We want to go! Self-selected crews for Mars exploration. New Mars. A. J. S. Rayl, 1999. Microgravity and gene expression: early results point to relationship. The Scientist, 13(18). R. Taylor, 1997. 2011: A Mars odyssey. New Scientist. M. Ward, 1998. Tube travel. New Scientist. Do you know of an online article that would be of interest to astrobiologists? Please notify Dave Thomas by e-mail at dthomas@lyon.edu. Articles must be accessible to the general public (no subscriptions needed for online access). --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 27 March - 2 April 2000 Galileo continues to return valuable science data stored on its onboard tape recorder. The data were acquired during the spacecraft's 198-kilometer (123-mile) altitude flyby of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io on February 22, 2000. Until recently, that was an altitude seldom ventured in in the history of deep space navigation. However, it is now about the same altitude at which the NEAR- Shoemaker spacecraft is orbiting around the Eros asteroid. Amazing! Galileo salutes the NEAR-Shoemaker team. Galileo's playback schedule includes data from six observations. Four of the observations are returned by the Solid-State Imaging camera (SSI), while the remaining two are returned by the Near- Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS). Playback is interrupted once this week. On Monday, the spacecraft performs a standard gyroscope performance test. First to be returned to Earth are portions of SSI's 5-color observation of Tvashtar Catena. Tvashtar Catena is a chain of giant calderas found in Io's northern hemisphere. One of these calderas was seen to be erupting a curtain of lava 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) high and 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) long during an observation made in November 1999. SSI then returns portions of mosaics of the Zal and Shamshu volcanic regions. The observations were made while the regions were near Io's terminator (the line dividing day from night). The oblique lighting near the terminator provides conditions that are optimal for studying the topography of the regions. Finally, SSI returns part of a mosaic of Io's south polar region. NIMS enters the playback picture with its own view of the Tvashtar Catena chain of calderas. NIMS closes out this week's playback with the return of a regional scan of Io's surface. The scan will provide context information for other high-resolution observations. 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release 24 March 2000 There were two Deep Space Network (DSN) passes during the past week. All subsystems onboard the spacecraft are performing normally. Recorded engineering and Navigation Camera images were played backed, and flight sequence SC016 was transmitted to the spacecraft. The NASA/JPL Solar System Educators Program (SSEP), being supported by the Stardust Outreach team, commenced at JPL and will extend into next week. Also, Stardust supported a student outreach internship program, explaining how to describe Stardust to education institutions and the general public. 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, Volume 7, Number 12