MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 7, Number 25, 26 June 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) NASA DISCOVERS SIGNS OF WATER ON MARS, REPORTS AVAILABLE From The National Academies (USA) 2) MARS--THE WET PLANET? By William Harwood 3) A WET MARS WILL KEEP NASA BUSY By Leonard David 4) METEORITE RESEARCH INDICATES MARS HAD EARTH-LIKE OCEANS Arizona State University release 5) JUNE 28 PRESS CONFERENCE WILL DESCRIBE NEXT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION COMPONENT--ZVEZDA LIVING QUARTERS NASA note N00-27 6) RESEARCHERS PLOT HOW TO REACH MARTIAN WATER By Glen Golightly 7) FROM DUST TO LIFE: SURVIVING THE FIRST BILLION YEARS Symposium announcement 8) MAP SHOWS 900 ASTEROIDS THAT COULD THREATEN EARTH Cornell University release 9) MARTIAN MOISTURE By Vicki Wells 10) WATER DISCOVERY GIVES BOOST TO ASTROBIOLOGY By Daniel Sorid 11) NEXT SPACE STATION COMPONENT PRESSES TOWARD JULY LAUNCH DATE NASA release 00-101 12) ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXOBIOLOGY AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 13) CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS JPL release 14) STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA DISCOVERS SIGNS OF WATER ON MARS, REPORTS AVAILABLE From The National Academies (USA) 21 June 2000 Evidence of liquid water was detected in images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, NASA announced today. Three recent reports from the Space Studies Board evaluate NASA's Mars program and single out the vital role played by water in framing the scientific priorities for the exploration of the Red Planet. Assessment of NASA's Mars Exploration Architecture (http://www.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marsarchmenu.htm) On NASA Mars Sample-Return Mission Options (http://www.nationalacademies.org/ssb/msrmenu.html) Review of NASA's Planned Mars Program (http://www.nationalacademies.org/ssb/marsmenu.html) Another recent report, A Science Strategy for the Exploration of Europa (http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9451.html), discusses the scientific and practical consequences of the existence of water on another celestial body and, in particular, what this could mean for the search for extraterrestrial life. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS--THE WET PLANET? By William Harwood From CBS News 22 June 2000 A NASA satellite has photographed recently carved channels on Mars that indicate liquid water may still flow on or just below the red planet's frigid surface. If true, conditions favorable to life may still exist on the seemingly dead world. "While this clearly doesn't tell us anything about whether life does exist at present or ever has in the past, I think it's the smoking gun that says there's liquid water and Mars meets all of the environmental requirements to support life," said Bruce Jakoski, director of the Center for Astrobiology at the University of Colorado. Get the full story at http://cbsnews.cbs.com/now/story/0,1597,208120- 412,00.shtml. --------------------------------------------------------------------- A WET MARS WILL KEEP NASA BUSY By Leonard David From Space.com 22 June 2000 Scientists see several ramifications arising from new observations that Mars may not be a dried-up and dead world after all. The most immediate issue confronting NASA is a decision to send future spacecraft to Mars to investigate what could be "watering holes" for life... ...Christopher Chyba, the Carl Sagan Chair for the Study of Life in the Universe at the SETI Institute Mountain View, California, said martian springs, if they existed, "would be one of the most exciting discoveries in the history of solar-system exploration." Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_watering_holes _000622.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- METEORITE RESEARCH INDICATES MARS HAD EARTH-LIKE OCEANS Arizona State University release 22 June 2000 Thanks to NASA's unmanned planetary exploration program, evidence of the existence of past oceans on Mars has been accumulating for years, but no one had ever been able to say what the overall chemical composition of those oceans might actually have been like--until now. A recent analysis of the interior of a 1.2 billion-year-old martian meteorite known as the Nakhla Meteorite has shown the presence of water-soluble ions that are thought to have been deposited in cracks by evaporating brine, according to a study by Arizona State University Regents Professor of Chemistry and Geology Carleton Moore, Douglas Sawyer of Scottsdale Community College, ASU graduate student Michael McGehee and Julie Canepa of Los Alamos National Laboratory. The finding, announced in the July issue of the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science, indicates that ancient martian oceans had a chemical composition similar in variety and concentration to Earth oceans. "We have concluded that we have extracted salts that were originally present in martian water," said Moore. "The salts we found mimic the salts in Earth's ocean fairly closely." Moore, who is the director of the ASU Meteorite Center, decided to examine the ion content of martian meteorites in ASU's sizable meteorite collection, when he noticed an oddity in chemical analyses done by Canepa, then a graduate student at ASU, 15 years ago. "She studied chlorine and sulfur in basalts from all over the solar system, including the moon, the Earth, and the meteorites. At the time, we didn't realize that some of the meteorite basalts came from Mars. Then one day I realized that some of the meteorites were high in chlorine and some were low in chlorine. When I checked on it, it turned out that all the high chlorine meteorites were martian meteorites and the low chlorine meteorites were all asteroidal." Then the now-famous study of martian meteorite ALH48001 helped Moore make a second connection: "When the study of this meteorite revealed not just possible evidence of life but also the presence of salts, I said to myself 'Aha! Perhaps our meteorites' chlorine is the remains of salt that had gotten into the meteorites.' If this was so, it would most likely be from salt water that had leaked in through cracks in the martian rock the meteorites came from." Moore chose the Nakhla meteorite to test, since it had the highest chlorine content of all those in the survey. Nakhla is named for El- Nakhla in northern Egypt, where it was found following a meteorite shower in 1911. "We had a very nice piece of the Nakhla meteorite, about the size of a golf ball so that there was a clean, uncontaminated interior for us to study," Moore said. Sawyer and McGehee prepared the meteorite and carefully drilled into its interior so to get a convincingly uncontaminated sample. Using an ion chromatograph first on the sample and then on water to which the sample was exposed later, Moore tested for chlorine in both. The results showed that a high percentage of the element present was water-soluble and therefore had probably originated from a water solution--from salt water. "Then we tested for the other elements and we found the highest concentrations of negative ions were chloride, sulfate, fluoride, and a little dissolved silica, and in positive ions, sodium, magnesium and calcium," Moore said. "The elements in highest abundance were sodium and chloride--like the salt water on Earth. In ocean water, these are the predominant ionic elements. We are interpreting the elements that we have extracted as having come from an early martian ocean." The only significant difference Moore found between the ionic elements found in the martian rock and those found in Earth ocean water was the abundance of calcium, which was significantly higher in the Nakhla meteorite than in sea water. Moore points out, however, that the lower calcium concentration in seawater may be due to the mineral being removed biologically by plants, corals and shellfish. When the Nakhla meteorite left Mars 1.2 billion years ago, life on Earth had not yet evolved to these higher forms (shells only appear in the fossil record about 600 million years ago). To Moore, the finding is interesting because it implies not just a chemical similarity between the planets that may improve the likelihood of finding life on Mars, but also because it provides a window of sorts into the Earth's own past. "There was apparently a uniformity between the planets. The inference that the early martian ocean was very similar to our current ocean also implies that the early Earth's ocean may have been very similar to what it is today. This is a clue to what it might have been." Photos are available at http://clasdean.la.asu.edu/news/images/marsocean/. Contact: James Hathaway, (480) 965-6375, Hathaway@asu.edu --------------------------------------------------------------------- JUNE 28 PRESS CONFERENCE WILL DESCRIBE NEXT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION COMPONENT--ZVEZDA LIVING QUARTERS NASA note N00-27 23 June 2000 A news conference will be held at 2:00 PM EDT Wednesday, June 28, at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, to provide an overview of the next International Space Station (ISS) component, the Zvezda Service Module, scheduled to launch in July. The briefing will be carried live on NASA Television, and reporters at other NASA centers may participate. The Russian-provided Zvezda will be the station's early crew quarters and provide key life support, propulsion, navigation, communications and other equipment. It is tentatively planned for launch aboard a Russian Proton rocket between July 10 and 12 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. A final launch date for Zvezda is expected to be announced following a General Designer's Review meeting of Russian and United States ISS managers to be held in Moscow on June 26. The June 28 briefing will provide information about Zvezda's capabilities and the International Space Station's activities prior to and following the launch, including the rendezvous and docking with the new module. Briefing participants will include: * Jim Van Laak, ISS Manager of Mission Integration and Operations * Kirk Shireman, ISS Manager for Russian Elements * Mark Ferring, Lead ISS Flight Director * Yuri Malenchenko, Mission Specialist, Shuttle Mission STS-106 Media planning to attend the briefing at Johnson should contact the Johnson newsroom at 281/483-5111 to arrange accreditation no later than 1:00 PM EDT Tuesday, June 27. NASA TV may be accessed through GE2, transponder 9C. The frequency is 3880 MHz, with an orbital position of 85 degrees West Longitude and audio at 6.8 MHz. This is a full transponder service and is operational 24 hours a day. --------------------------------------------------------------------- RESEARCHERS PLOT HOW TO REACH MARTIAN WATER By Glen Golightly From Space.com 23 June 2000 Deep in the heart of oil country here, computer models and remote sensing have just about replaced the old-time wildcatters who could "sniff" oil in the ground. But it might take a Space Age wildcatter to tap into any water on the martian surface, speculated Johnson Space Center (JSC) scientists Thursday afternoon... ...Robotic rovers, depending on their size and abilities, may be able to sample the debris at the bottom of slopes, said astronaut and planetary scientist Tom Jones. "What you really want to get to is the source, and if they’re all up on canyon walls where an aquifer is exposed, it just strikes me that’s going to be a very tough thing for robots to do," Jones said. "That undone work would be one of the first priorities that people would do when they got there." Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/wildcatting_000623. html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM DUST TO LIFE: SURVIVING THE FIRST BILLION YEARS Symposium announcement 23 June 2000 A scientific workshop in conjunction with Universe 2000 The 112th Annual Meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Pasadena Civic Center, July 17-19, 2000 Goals: To foster interdisciplinary discussion on critical questions regarding the emergence of living systems under the physical conditions of the early Solar System. The participants will be comprised of leading astrobiologists and scientists from all disciplines who wish to broaden their research goals to embrace astrobiology. The format will include presentation and ample discussion; contributed papers will be in the form of posters and short discussion contributions. Participants include: Lou Allamendola, Tom Ayres, John Bally, Chas Beichman, Mike Bicay, Chris Chyba, Pamela Conrad, Dave DesMarais, Eric Gaidos, Gene McDonald, Dave Morrison, Lynn Rothschild, Woody Sullivan, Peter Ward, Alycia Weinberger, Kevin Zahnle. Scientific program Plenary Session: From Telescopes to Microscopes--Astrobiology Across the Disciplines. A panel discussion of leading astrobiologists from different disciplines. Ample time for audience interaction is planned and the news media are invited. Session I: The Onset of Life--Ingredients, Energetics, Organizing Mechanisms Session II: Surviving the First Ten Million Years Session III: Surviving the First One Billion Years Session IV: Future Prospects: Surviving the Next Fifteen Years Astrobiology Symposium Fees (includes Universe 2000 Expo & Symposium proceedings): ASP-Member: $229 Non ASP-Member: $279 Student (no proceedings): $110 For more information, go the ASP home page at http://www.aspsky.org. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MAP SHOWS 900 ASTEROIDS THAT COULD THREATEN EARTH Cornell University release 25 June 2000 A new study portrays the paths of asteroids in the inner solar system as a vast Los Angeles-style traffic system crisscrossed with superhighways along which are hurtling huge, rocky projectiles. And in the middle of the highway network, on a possible collision path, is the planet Earth. The study estimates that an armada of asteroids, 900 strong, all a kilometer in diameter or larger, present a potential hazard to life on Earth. Some pass within a few moon distances of Earth every year. "Sometime in the future, one of these objects could conceivably run into the Earth," warns astronomy researcher William Bottke at Cornell University. "One kilometer (about 0.6 mile) in size is thought to be a magic number, because it has been estimated that these asteroids are capable of wreaking global devastation if they hit the Earth." Bottke is lead researcher on a U.S.-French team that has discovered the spatial and size distribution of a large group of asteroids called NEAs (for near-Earth asteroids), a vast system of orbiting rocks in inner space, ranging in size from mere specks to more than 64 kilometers (40 miles) in diameter. The astronomers believe the results of their observational and computer-based study will better quantify the likelihood of future catastrophic collisions with Earth. The survey also is expected to help observational astronomers in improving their search for hard-to-find asteroids that might pose a threat to the planet. The team's report, "Understanding the Distribution of Near-Earth Asteroids," appears in the June 23 issue of the journal Science. The authors, besides Cornell's Bottke, are astronomers with the Spacewatch group at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and at the Observatoire de la Cte d'Azur in Nice, France. Calculating which, if any, of the 900 asteroids identified in the study could hit the Earth is tricky, says Bottke. "The problem is that fewer than half of these Earth-threatening asteroids have been discovered so far. Of those we have found, we can accurately predict whether they will strike the Earth over the next hundred years or so, but we can't project out several thousands of years. So it's possible some of these asteroids eventually will move onto an Earth- collision trajectory. It's a dangerous place out there." The new predictions for the distribution of NEAs in the inner solar system, say the astronomers, imply that 40 percent of the kilometer- or-larger asteroids near Earth already have been discovered. The remaining 60 percent, however, might be more difficult to find, says Bottke. "Most of these asteroids are too far from Earth to be easily detected or are located in regions of the sky that are challenging for astronomers to survey." The study's authors refer to their survey as a "NEA treasure map" indicating in which orbits most NEAs spend their time. The researchers say the new estimate of the number of large asteroids is about half of that predicted by similar types of analyses reported in the past decade and is slightly larger than an estimate published recently in the journal Nature. For many decades there has been good evidence that most of the small chunks of rocky or iron material that slam into the Earth's atmosphere daily are chips off old blocks of asteroids. Most of the asteroids in the solar system revolve around the sun on independent orbits, corralled between Mars and Jupiter in a formation known as the main belt. Occasionally, two of these asteroids--some of them hundreds of miles in diameter--slam into each other at great speed, causing chunks of all sizes to be blasted off the surfaces. Most of this material continues to orbit the sun in the main belt. But sometimes the newly formed asteroids migrate to unstable regions of the asteroid belt known as resonances, areas where the tiny gravitational kicks produced by nearby planets such as Mars, Jupiter or Saturn can significantly change asteroid orbits. In some cases, these changes are enough to swing asteroids into a possible future collision path with the Earth. To find the location of these potentially threatening and hard-to- find projectiles, the researchers used the results of the Spacewatch group's 10-year search for asteroids in the solar system during which it has discovered about 100 NEAs. The problem is that this tally is only a small fraction of the predicted number of NEAs. Using a statistical technique to compensate for the big gaps, Spacewatch astronomers were able to calculate the total number of NEAs but not their approximate location. To obtain the orbits of the undetected NEAs, Spacewatch astronomers combined their NEA population estimates with theoretical models, produced by the Cornell and Nice researchers, which show how asteroids in the main belt are transported to the near-Earth environment. Other authors of the study were Robert Jedicke of the University of Arizona and Alessandro Morbidelli, Jean-Marc Petit and Brett Gladman of the Observatoire de la Cte d'Azur. NASA and the European Space Agency funded the study. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARTIAN MOISTURE By Vicki Wells From BBC News 26 June 2000 NASA scientists interpreting images from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, currently orbiting Mars, believe that they have observed evidence of water oozing from the martian surface. These latest results come after a succession of failed missions to the Red Planet, and stimulate the future of martian exploration. Geological features of the martian surface provide ample evidence that water flowed freely billions of years ago, but it was thought that the martian atmosphere was too thin to retain water on the surface today. However, the evidence supporting "water" evidence photographed by the Mars Global Surveyor appears several kilometers below the average surface level, in the bottom of deep canyons and craters. Get the full story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/skyatnight/news.shtml. [The BBC also has a special Mars web site at http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/mars/] --------------------------------------------------------------------- WATER DISCOVERY GIVES BOOST TO ASTROBIOLOGY By Daniel Sorid From Space.com 26 June 2000 The discovery of signs of liquid water near the surface of Mars has given a boost to the already hot field of astrobiology--the study of issues related to possible life in the universe. Scientists have long believed that the materials that led to life on Earth also exist, or previously existed, on Mars. These ingredients include carbon, certain minerals, liquid water and energy. The findings announced Thursday--evidence of water seeping to Mars' surface in recently cut gullies--bridge a gap in the beliefs of astrobiologists, taking them from strong suspicion to near certainty about the existence of liquid water on Mars. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/mars_astrobiology_000626.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEXT SPACE STATION COMPONENT PRESSES TOWARD JULY LAUNCH DATE NASA release 00-101 26 June 2000 Following a General Designer's Review meeting in Moscow today, NASA and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency announced that plans remain on track for the launch of the Zvezda service module on July 12 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The addition of this module sets the stage for the launch of other ISS components undergoing final testing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Zvezda launch will follow the launch of a second modified Russian Proton rocket on July 5 carrying a Russian military communications satellite to orbit. A definitive liftoff time will be known closer to the launch date following detailed trajectory analysis by Russian experts. This analysis will be based on optimum lighting conditions for docking to the ISS while the two spacecraft are over Russian ground communications stations. Following joint meetings in Moscow, including a General Designer's Review and a Joint Program Review, it was agreed that Zvezda (Russian word for Star) - the early living quarters for crews aboard the station - is ready to begin final preparations for launch on a Proton rocket fitted with modified second and third-stage engines, which have been in redesign and testing for the last five years. The 42,000-pound Zvezda is 43 feet long (13 meters) and has a solar array wingspan of 97.5 feet (30 meters). It provides the early living quarters for astronauts and cosmonauts and contains the life support system; electrical power distribution; data processing system; flight control system; and propulsion. The module contains three pressurized compartments and four docking ports. While many of these systems will be supplemented or replaced by later U.S. station components, Zvezda always will remain the structural and functional center of the Russian segment of the International Space Station. Following Zvezda's launch and 14 days of free flight, the ISS will rendezvous and dock with its newest module using an automatic docking system, propellant and thrusters in the Zarya control module. The next several components of the ISS are on track to meet their launch dates and include a small truss segment that will serve as the support structure for other station hardware; the first set of solar arrays; the United States Destiny laboratory; the Canadian built space station robot arm and several truss segments that will serve as the station's backbone for external hardware, experiments and solar arrays. Contacts: Debra Rahn Headquarters, Washington, DC June 26, 2000 (Phone: 202/358-1638) Eileen Hawley Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX (Phone: 281/483-5111) --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXOBIOLOGY AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 26 June 2000 Astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation articles online http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s1.html ABC News and Associated Press, 2000. Another wet planet? ABC News. L. David, 2000. A wet Mars will keep NASA busy. Space.com. J. D. Farmer, 1996. Optimization of an '05 sample return for Mars exopaleontology. NASA Ames Research Center. J. D. Famer, D. J. Des Marais and R. Greeley, 1996. Exopaleontology at the Pathfinder landing site. NASA Ames Research Center. G. Golightly, 2000. Researchers plot how to reach martian water. Space.com. M. Guillen, ABC News and Associated Press, 2000. A wet red planet? ABC News. W. Harwood, 2000. Mars--the wet planet? CBS News. K. P. Kissel, 1998. No signs of life. ABC News. D. Sorid, 2000. Water discovery gives boost to astrobiology. Space.com. V. Wells, 2000. Martian moisture. BBC Online. Articles on the biology of extreme environments (on Earth) http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s2.html American Geophysical Union, 1994. Researchers seek origin of deep subsurface bacteria. Earth in Space, 7(3):6-8. W. P. Armstrong, 1997. Desert varnish and lichen crust: microscopic organisms color desert rocks. Desert USA. Human Genome Program, 1999. Superbug survives radiation, eats waste. Human Genome News, 10(1-2). R. Landheim, C. P. McKay, E. I. Friedmann and D. Andersen, in progress. Hypolithic algae at Johnson Canyon: Death Valley sample collection of March 5-7, 1997. Center for Mars Exploration. R. Monastersky, 1997. Deep dwellers--microbes thrive far below ground. Science News, 151(13). National Science Foundation, 1996. Witch's brew of weird bugs. Frontiers. National Science Foundation, 1997. Bizarre life forms thrive beneath Earth's surface. Frontiers. Articles on human space exploration and the microgravity environment J. E. Finn, M. H. Kliss and K. R. Sridhar, 1999. ISRU technologies for Mars life support. NASA Ames Research Center. R. M. Wheeler, C. L. Mackowiak, G. W. Stutte, J. C. Sager, N. C. Yorio, L. M. Ruffe, R. E. Fortson, T. W. Dreschel, W. M. Knott and K. A. Corey, 1996. NASA's biomass production chamber: a testbed for bioregenerative life-support studies. Advances in Space Research, 18(4-5):214-224. --------------------------------------------------------------------- CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS JPL release 15-21 June 2000 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Madrid tracking station on Wednesday, 06/21. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating as expected. The speed of the spacecraft can be viewed on the "Where is Cassini Now?" web page at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/today/. Maintenance of the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) instrument was accomplished by turning on the Infrared Optics decontamination heaters for a 24 hour period following Trajectory Correction Maneuver-14. Updated flight software and Instrument Expanded Blocks (IEBs) for the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) and VIMS instruments were loaded on board. CAPS actuator and flight software checkouts were performed. VIMS dark frame collection, internal calibration, and flight software checkout were begun. The Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem (AACS) completed a reaction wheel unload. Development for the Cruise 21 background sequence continues; C21 is currently in the Sequence Integration and Validation (SI&V) phase. A review of the Tour Phase requirements and design of the Spacecraft Office was conducted. Feedback from the review board was positive. This is the first of a series of requirements and design reviews at the Office and Team level to be conducted through September. Mission Planning has begun the formal coordination of engineering and science activities in the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) and Probe Relay critical sequences. An Orbiter Science Operations Working Team (OSOWT) telecon was held to continue the science integration process for the Jupiter Subphase. This telecon finalized the resolution of conflicts that existed in Phase F (Jupiter closest approach +15d to JCA +72d), and began the science integration process for the C25 portion of the Jupiter Subphase (JCA +72 days to JCA +120 days). Version D7.2 of the Mission Sequence System (MSS) software was approved for delivery to operations. Installation has begun and will completed by the end of the week. Major changes in this delivery include updates to the Pointing Design Tool, engineering and science sequence modules, the MSS Tool Launcher, and a number of flight rules. The Cassini web site has been added to the space link directory on the Universe Today web site. Universe Today provides space exploration and astronomy news in an overview format with links to sites where more detail may be found. The goal of this site is to build a comprehensive directory of space links for educators, students, and space buffs. The Cassini link may be found by going to http://www.universetoday.com and clicking on "Space Links." After selecting "Missions", the Cassini Home Page can be selected from the alphabetical listing. Representatives from the web site eHobbies.com videotaped presentations made by Cassini Radio Science team members. The URL is http://www.eHobbies.com/tv_default.asp. --------------------------------------------------------------------- STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release June 23, 2000 There were three Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking passes the past week as Stardust completed the navigation tracks for post Trajectory Correction Maneuver #3 (TCM-3). We are back to normal cruise activities. All subsystems onboard the spacecraft are performing normally. Flight sequence SC019 is now the active sequence. Sequence SC020 is in the process of being built, and will uplinked to the spacecraft on July 10. The Dust Flux Project Meeting at the University of Chicago will take place on 22-23 June. 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 25.