MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 7, Number 26, 5 July 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) MANUFACTURING OF FLASHLINE STATION COMPLETED Mars Society release 2) WATER ON MARS: BACK TO THE FUTURE? By Wil Milan 3) MARS MAY HOLD TWICE AS MUCH WATER AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT American Geophysical Union release 00-19 4) MARS EXPRESS: EUROPE TAKES THE LEAD By Daniel Sorid 5) SCIENTISTS URGE CAUTION IN MARS WATER VIEW By Greg Clark 6) MAKING A SPLASH ON MARS From NASA Science News 7) THE ETHICS OF OUTER SPACE ESA release 45-2000 8) GALILEO WILL MAKE FINAL PLUNGE BY 2004 By Bruce Moomaw 9) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXOBIOLOGY AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 10) THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 11) ISS STATUS REPORT JSC release 12) MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS REPORT JPL release 13) STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release --------------------------------------------------------------------- MANUFACTURING OF FLASHLINE STATION COMPLETED Mars Society release 24 June 2000 The manufacturing of the primary structure of the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station has been completed. At the end of May, the fabrication of the structure was behind schedule, causing some concern that it might not be ready in time to ship to the Arctic for construction this summer. However, as a result of an all-out mobilization of extra workers, double shifts, and weekend work from Infracomp, Mesa Fiberglass and a swarm of hardworking volunteers from the Rocky Mountain Mars Society (RMMS) and Pioneer Astronautics, the job has been done! Special citations for service above and beyond anything anyone could hope to ask are due to RMMS volunteers Keith Savage, Dewey Anderson, and Frank Schubert. (Thanks guys!) The last of the 12 dome sections came off the mold June 22, and the test assembly was completed the same day. (A photo of the structure undergoing test assembly at the Mesa Fiberglass factory in Commerce City Colorado can be seen at the Mars Society web site at http://www.marssociety.org.) The structure has now been disassembled and is being prepared for its transportation to the Arctic. Paradrop of the disassembled station on Devon Island is now planned for the first week of July. If the weather holds, construction will then take place over the next three weeks, with Mars simulation activities scheduled to begin before the end of the month. Well done Flashline Team! On to Devon! A complete report on the construction and first season's activities of the Flashline Station will be presented by the crew members returning from the Arctic at the Third International Mars Society Convention, which will be held August 10-13 at Ryerson University, Toronto. [Additional articles on this topic can be found at http://www.msnbc.com/news/427786.asp and http://www.spaceviews.com/2000/07/01a.html] --------------------------------------------------------------------- WATER ON MARS: BACK TO THE FUTURE? By Wil Milan From Space.com 26 June 2000 The scientific world is abuzz with the news of water on Mars, but to many 19th-century astronomers it would not have been news at all. This is the curious tale of science coming full circle, with today's news of water on Mars strangely echoing a "Mars mania" that swept the world in the late 1800's. Arising from a twist of scientific discoveries, misinterpretations and exaggerations, that mania led to one of the oddest media events in history. And it started with news just like we're seeing today--evidence for water on our neighboring planet. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/news/spacehistory/water_mars_history_000626.html . --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS MAY HOLD TWICE AS MUCH WATER AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT American Geophysical Union release 00-19 27 June 2000 The crust of the planet Mars may hold two to three times more water than scientists had previously believed. This finding is based on a study by Dr. Laurie A. Leshin of Arizona State University, comparing the amount of deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, found in a meteorite of martian origin to the amount found in the martian atmosphere. Her report will be published in Geophysical Research Letters on July 15. Deuterium, a heavier form of hydrogen, combines with oxygen to make "heavy" water. In today's thin martian atmosphere, water has a deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio five times higher than is found in water on Earth. Previous research attributed this to the escape of hydrogen from the martian atmosphere over time. Because hydrogen is lighter than deuterium, it escapes more easily, leading to the high relative level of deuterium in the atmosphere of Mars today. Scientists had previously assumed that before the deuterium level was enhanced by the escape of hydrogen, martian water more closely resembled that on Earth, with a comparable ratio of deuterium to hydrogen. In order to reach the current value of five times higher than Earth's water, they calculated that around 90 percent of the water in the martian atmosphere and upper crust had been lost over the planet's history. Leshin compared the deuterium level in the atmosphere with that in a meteorite known as QUE94201, found in Antarctica in 1994 and believed to have been blasted off Mars three million years ago. Tiny water- bearing crystals in the meteorite were analyzed by Leshin on the ion microprobe instrument at the University of California at Los Angeles. These crystals contain hydrogen from the martian interior, which was not affected by atmospheric escape. They revealed a smaller percentage of deuterium than current martian atmospheric measurements. But instead of this ancient water demonstrating the same deuterium- to-hydrogen ratio as Earth water, as had been assumed, Leshin's research shows that Mars had a deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio nearly double that of Earth before any atmospheric escape could have occurred. Leshin suggests that this could have resulted from loss of hydrogen very early in martian history as a result of extreme ultraviolet radiation from the young Sun, a mechanism different than the current escape process. Alternatively, she writes, it could imply that comets, which share the same deuterium to hydrogen ration as martian interior water, supplied most of the water found on Mars today. Since martian water originally contained higher deuterium levels than previously thought, Leshin concludes that the martian atmosphere has lost two to three times less water through the eons in order to arrive at the isotope's current atmospheric level. That water should still exist today on Mars, she says, located within the planet's crust. In fact, evidence from this and previous research on martian meteorites supports the idea that a significant martian groundwater reservoir currently exists. Just how much water is there on Mars? Leshin cautions that her research does not provide the answer to that question, only that these latest findings suggest that there remains up to three times more water in the martian crust than previously thought. Future missions to Mars will have to study the martian soil, both in place and by returning samples to Earth, to arrive at a meaningful estimate of the actual amount of water remaining there. Notes: The paper, "Insights into martian water reservoirs from analyses of martian meteorite QUE94201," will appear in the journal, Geophysical Research Letters, volume 27, number 14 (July 15, 2000). The author is Laurie A. Leshin, Department of Geology and Center for Meteorite Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. For further information on the science in this paper, journalists may contact Dr. Leshin at ASU. Her office phone is (480) 965-0796; e- mail: laurie.leshin@asu.edu. [Additional articles on this topic can be found at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_hiding_000628. html and http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0006/28moremarswater/] --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS EXPRESS: EUROPE TAKES THE LEAD By Daniel Sorid From Space.com 28 June 2000 A $200 million European mission just three years from launch may well take the next giant step in the hunt for water on Mars. The European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft should give scientists the best idea yet of where to find water on the Red Planet today. That information could aid follow-up spacecraft in targeting the places most likely to find life, as well as the resources that could provide future human missions with air to breathe, water to drink and fuel for the return trip home. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/esa_mars_express_00 0628.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- SCIENTISTS URGE CAUTION IN MARS WATER VIEW By Greg Clark From Space.com 29 June 2000 Amid the excitement caused by last week's announcement that water may have been active on the surface of Mars in the very recent past, top planetary geologists are stressing that the conclusions are still very much speculative. While water could be responsible for the striking gully-like features seen in recent pictures from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, there are other explanations, the scientists said. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/water_caution_00062 9.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MAKING A SPLASH ON MARS From NASA Science News 29 June 2000 On a planet that's colder than Antarctica and where water boils at ten degrees above freezing, how could liquid water ever exist? Scientists say a dash of salt might help. Last week when scientists revealed dramatic new pictures of flood-like gullies on Mars, the big surprise wasn't that the Red Planet might harbor water. Researchers have known for years that water exists there. There are trace quantities of water vapor in Mars' atmosphere and substantial amounts of water ice at the martian poles. There may even be enough frozen water beneath Mars' surface to fill a large ocean if melted. What was amazing is that water may be present as a liquid very near the planet's surface and occasionally on top of the surface when underground deposits burst forth for a brief flash flood. "We have conditions on Mars that seem to forbid liquid water very close to the surface," said Michael Carr of the USGS at the June 22, 2000, NASA press conference. "At high latitudes [where the gullies are located], the temperatures are 70 to 100 degrees centigrade below freezing. It's incredibly cold. We expect the ground to be frozen 3 to 6 km deep." The low temperature of Mars conspires with the planet's thin atmosphere (it's 100 times thinner than Earth's) to make water possible in only two forms: solid ice and gaseous vapor. A cup of liquid water transported Star Trek-style to the surface of Mars would instantly freeze or boil (depending on the local combination of temperature and pressure). Researchers think that the water which carved the martian gullies probably boiled explosively soon after it erupted from underground. "The air pressure is so low on Mars that even in the most favorable spots, where the pressure is higher than average, liquid water is restricted to the range 0 to 10°C," says Bob Haberle of the NASA/Ames Research Center. "Fresh water on Mars begins to boil at 10°C. Here on Earth we can have water anywhere between 0 and 100°C--that range is reduced by a factor of ten on Mars." If the thought of boiling water at 10°C seems bizarre, simply consult a high-altitude cookbook for a reality check. On mountaintops where the air pressure is low, water boils at a lower temperature than it does at sea level. (At 9000 ft a "three-minute" boiled egg takes about five minutes to fully cook!) Mars simply takes the principles of high-altitude cooking to an extreme. Although any liquid water exposed to Mars' low-pressure atmosphere is likely to boil, vapor is not the most important repository of martian H2O. If all the vapor in the present-day atmosphere rained down on one spot, it would barely fill a small pond. On the other hand, the martian poles contain lots of water in the form of a solid. The north polar cap, composed primarily of water ice, is 1200 km across and up to 3 km thick in some places. The water volume there is about 4% of the Earth's south polar ice sheet. Even more water ice is thought lie deep underground. So, the big question is not whether water exists on Mars--it does--but rather is there liquid water despite the planet being so cold? The prospects for life on Mars, both human and martian, hinge on the answer. "First of all, you have to remember that the average atmospheric pressure on Mars is very close to the triple point of water," explains Richard Hoover, an astrobiologist at the Marshall Space Flight Center. "You only have to increase the pressure a little bit to make liquid water possible." The "triple point" is the combination of pressure (6.1 millibars) and temperature (0.01 °C) at which water can exist simultaneously in all three states: a solid, a liquid and a gas. On Earth, our experience with the triple point is usually limited to ice skating. The temperature of ice on a skating rink is just a fraction of a degree from the triple point. A little bit of pressure on the solid ice can cause it to transform to a liquid. The weight of a skater applied to the ice along the blade of the skate therefore creates a thin layer of liquid water that lubricates the blade and makes gliding possible. "That's the average," says Haberle, "so some places will have pressures that are higher than 6.1 millibars and others will be lower. If we look at sites on Mars where the pressure is a bit higher, that's where water can theoretically exist as a liquid." The triple point of water--a martian coincidence? The atmospheric surface pressure on Mars is remarkably close to the triple point pressure 6.1 millibars. Is that a coincidence? Some scientists think not. If the global pressure were higher and liquid water was widespread on Mars's surface, CO2 in the atmosphere would dissolve in water and react with silicate rocks, trapping atmospheric carbon dioxide in carbonate minerals. This process would thin out the atmosphere until the pressure dropped below the triple point. Thus, the martian atmosphere could be self-limiting in this respect. Haberle has developed a sophisticated climate model for Mars based in part on Mars Global Surveyor topography data. A simple version of the model is the basis for daily martian weather forecasts at the Ames Mars Today web site. "I used the model to look for regions that meet the minimum requirements for liquid water--above the triple point and below the boiling point," explained Haberle. "According to the model, the highest surface pressure, 12.4 millibars, occurs at the bottom of the Hellas Basin (a low-lying area created by an ancient asteroid strike). The problem is that the boiling temperature there is only 10°C. It can't get very hot or the water will boil away." Evaporation of water in contact with Mars' dry atmosphere is also a problem, says Haberle. "Liquid water can be stable against freezing and stable against boiling, but unstable with respect to evaporation. The situation is analogous to Earth's oceans. Liquid water on the surface does not freeze... or boil, yet it can evaporate if the atmosphere is not saturated with water vapor. "There are 5 five distinct regions where we might sometimes find surface water: in the Amazonis, Chryse and Elysium Planitia, in the Hellas Basin and the Argyre Basin. Together they comprise about 30% of the planet's surface. That's not to say that liquid water really does exist in those places, just that it could." Conditions would be favorable for liquid water only during the martian day. The temperature falls precipitously at night, so any liquid would re-freeze. At the Viking lander sites, for example, instruments registered temperatures as high as -17°C in the air and 27°C in the soil on sunlit summer days. After sunset, thermometer readings plunged back to -60°C or below. Follow the salt... "One thing we have to be careful of is our everyday experience that water always freezes at zero degrees," noted Hoover. "It doesn't. Water containing dissolved salts freezes at a significantly lower temperature. Don Juan Pond in Antarctica is a good example. It's a high salinity pond with liquid water at temperatures as low as - 24°C." "Salts have the potential to significantly lower the freezing point of water," agrees Steve Clifford of the Lunar and Planetary Institute. "Indeed, there are some combinations of salts that can lower the freezing point by as much as 60°C. However, thermodynamic and chemical stability arguments (arising from work by Benton Clark) suggest that, on Mars, the most potent freezing point-depressing brines are likely to be based on NaCl (common table salt)." A recent analysis of a martian meteorite by Arizona State University scientists suggests that ancient martian oceans--if they existed-- contained a mix of salts similar to those in Earth's oceans today. That wasn't the first clue that Mars was salty, though. In 1976 the two Viking landers analyzed martian soil and found that it probably contained 10 to 20 percent salts. martian rocks, like those on Earth, react to form salt and clay minerals when exposed to water. On our planet this process gives rise to a variety of brines in the western salt lakes of North America. The detailed chemistry of the brines depends on the composition of local rocks. ...and go with the flow Another way to help keep water liquid--on Mars or Earth--is to keep it moving. "If you know a hard freeze is coming where you live, what's the first thing you do?" asks Hoover. "You turn your faucets on a little to let water trickle out. This way your pipes won't freeze." The same principle applies on Mars where salty water could be moving through subterranean aquifers. "Ice is a crystal," explains Hoover, "and it's harder to form crystals when the water is flowing." Last year, Hoover visited the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska to search for cold-loving microorganisms living in and around the ice. "I chose the Matanuska Glacier to visit because it's accessible and has dark rock in contact with ice," says Hoover. "The sun shining on the rock causes the ice to melt. There are pools of liquid water where microorganisms grow in abundance. There is something very interesting and exciting about this picture of me taking samples from the edge of a moulin (a water-carved crevasse). Most of what we see is ice and the air temperature is below freezing, yet there is liquid water pouring out of the glacier. How is that possible? The water had broken free further back up the glacier where sunlit rocks melted the ice. Then it flowed beneath the ice until it broke through a hole in the wall of the ice. Everything the liquid water came in contact with was freezing, yet the moving water did not freeze. "I have also seen liquid water running from snow melting on dark rocks heated by sunlight in Antarctica, even though the air temperature was below -20°C." There are many places on Earth where liquid water and ice co-exist in sub-zero conditions, says Hoover. The most famous example is Lake Vostok, an expanse of water roughly the size of lake Ontario lying 4 km beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. The ice sheet acts as a blanket, shielding the lake from Mars-like temperatures at the surface. Will explorers one day discover oases like Lake Vostok beneath icy terrain on Mars? No one knows. But instead of "Follow the Water," the mantra of future colonists on the red planet might well be "Follow the Salt." JPL manages the Mars Global Surveyor Mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Malin Space Science Systems built and operates the camera system. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. JPL's industrial partner is Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO, which developed and operates the spacecraft. [For more information on this story see http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast29jun_1m.htm] --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ETHICS OF OUTER SPACE ESA release 45-2000 30 June 2000 ESA and UNESCO have prepared a joint report on the ethics of space. It will be presented to the media on 10 July in Paris by Professor Alain Pompidou, former Member of the European Parliament, and Antonio Rodotà, ESA's Director General. In 1998 the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST)--the UNESCO body charged with studying the social and ethical implications of the applications of science and technology chaired by Mrs. Vigdis Finnbogadottir, former President of Iceland (1980-1996)--set up a special group to examine ethical issues related to the exploration of extra-atmospheric space. In the same spirit, in December of that year the Director General of ESA, Mr. Antonio Rodotà (who inspired the initiative), and Mr. Federico Mayor, the Director General of UNESCO, created a working group on the ethics of extra-atmospheric space. This multi- disciplinary group was tasked with preparing a report on the ethical implications of space activities. Its work was coordinated by Professor Alain Pompidou, former MEP and a member of the French government's "Conseil Economique et Social". ESA and UNESCO are now publishing this report, which draws on the experience and knowledge of international experts from the United Nations, national space agencies and industry. On Monday, 10 July 2000 the report will be presented to the media at ESA Headquarters in Paris during a press conference starting at 18:30. The report examines the ethical problems posed by the utilization of outer space. Topics such as life in space--whether manned space flight, the search for life in space or the return of samples from other celestial bodies--space debris, Earth monitoring and the public image of space exploration are analyzed in the report. "Ethics is a fundamental aspect of human society. For those who are involved in space activities, ignoring this debate is not an option," said Antonio Rodotà. "At the European Space Agency we are committed to ensuring that the ethics of space science and technology will be considered in our decisions and in our programs", he added. For further information please contact: Géraldine Naja ESA, Strategy and Business Development Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7532 Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690 UNESCO press service Tel: +33(0)1.4568.1744 Fax: +33(0)1.4568.5652 [Additional articles on this topic can be found at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ethics-00a.html] --------------------------------------------------------------------- GALILEO WILL MAKE FINAL PLUNGE BY 2004 By Bruce Moomaw From Space.com 3 July 2000 Despite all the incredible travails of the early parts of its career- -delays of 8 years in its launch and 11 years in its arrival at Jupiter, the failure of its high-gain antenna that reduced its data rate 10,000-fold (until frantic and revolutionary work by ground engineers raised it back by a factor of 100), the sticky tape recorder that almost ruined the remainder of the mission--the Galileo spacecraft, since it actually arrived in orbit around Jupiter 4-1/2 years ago, has shown remarkable and stubborn staying power... ...NASA is faced with a problem. Clearly, at some point in the reasonably near future, Galileo really will break down, either from radiation or simple old age. And after it loses its ability to maneuver, many things could ultimately happen to it, depending on how its orbit is affected by the complex gravitational tuggings of Jupiter's four big moons... ...it's very important to avoid even small risks of biologically contaminating Europa...NASA should reduce the chance that any one spacecraft will inject even one germ into Europa's ocean to less than one in 10,000... ...the only way to minimize any chance that Galileo might do so is to deliberately arrange for it, at the end of its mission, to either escape from Jupiter completely...or crash into Jupiter itself or one of its other moons... Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/galileo- 00k1.html. [Additional articles on this topic can be found at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/321831.asp http://www.chron.com/cgi- bin/auth/story.mpl/content/interactive/space/news/2000/20000701.html http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/2000b/070300c.htm http://www.spacedaily.com/news/galileo-00k1.html http://www.spaceviews.com/2000/07/02a.html] --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXOBIOLOGY AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 5 July 2000 Astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation articles online http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s1.html American Geophysical Union, 2000. Mars could harbor more water than previously thought. Spaceflight Now. Associated Press, 2000. Experts contemplate Galileo's doom. MSNBC. T. Breen, 2000. Officials look at options to 'crash' Galileo. Florida Today. A. Bridges, 2000. Mars hides much more water, study suggests. Space.com. G. Clark, 2000. Scientists urge caution in Mars water view. Space.com. M. Fordahl, 2000. Science panel supports eventual suicide for Galileo spacecraft. Houston Chronicle. W. Milan, 2000. Water on Mars: back to the future? Space.com. B. Moomaw, 2000. Galileo will make the final plunge by 2004. Space.com. [Includes discussion of terrestrial bio-contamination of Europa.] SpaceViews, 2000. Panel endorses "suicide" plan for Galileo mission. SpaceViews. Articles on human space exploration and the microgravity environment http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s3.html National Research Council, 2000. Methods for Developing Spacecraft Water Exposure Guidelines. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. National Research Council, 2000. Microgravity Research in Support of Technologies for the Human Exploration and Development of Space and Planetary Bodies. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 3-9 July 2000 Galileo continues to return data acquired during the spacecraft's February 22 flyby of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io. This was the lowest-altitude flyby of Io ever, with the Galileo spacecraft passing only 198 kilometers (123 miles) above the surface. By comparison, during the recent STS-101 mission, the Space Shuttle flew 320 kilometers (200 miles) above the Earth's surface. Data playback is interrupted three times this week. On Wednesday and Thursday, the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) performs instrument calibrations. On Friday, the spacecraft performs a small turn to keep its radio antenna pointed towards Earth. Three observations are returned this week by the Solid-State Imaging camera (SSI) and one is returned by NIMS. The first SSI observation contains part of a color mosaic of the Prometheus volcanic region. SSI then returns portions of a 12-frame mosaic covering the Camaxtli Patera hot spot and nearby regions to the west, including the Chaac Patera region. NIMS also returns data from the Camaxtli hot spot. The Chaac Patera coverage in the SSI mosaic will be combined with an earlier high-resolution observation to produce stereo views of this region. The third observation returned by SSI consists of color imaging of Io's Amirani 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- ISS STATUS REPORT JSC release 29 June 2000 After a week of comprehensive reviews by program managers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, the next component of the International Space Station (ISS) is poised for launch to provide the early living quarters for the first permanent occupants of the orbital outpost. The Russian Zvezda Service Module was cleared for launch on July 12 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in a General Designer's Review at RSC-Energia in Korolev, Russia on Monday, attended by NASA and Russian space managers and representatives of the European Space Agency, which provided the data management system for the new module. An operations readiness review was completed today at the Johnson Space Center in Houston with Russian space officials participating by videoconference, certifying the readiness of the module and U.S. and Russian flight control teams for the launch, currently scheduled at around 12:56 AM Eastern time on July 12 (4:56 GMT on July 12, 11:56 PM Central time on July 11) atop a modified Russian Proton rocket. A firm launch time will be set next week by Russian flight controllers following a final review of Service Module systems in Baikonur. The July 12 launch is contingent on the successful launch July 5 of a second modified Proton from Baikonur, to place a Russian military communications satellite into orbit. Within a few hours of that launch, Zvezda will be fueled in a special facility at Baikonur and transported by railcar to the hangar housing its Proton rocket. Zvezda is scheduled to be mated to the Proton on July 6 and will be transported to Launch Pad 23 July 7 for final preparations. U.S. and Russian flight controllers, meanwhile, continue to refine procedures and plans for the verification of the health of Zvezda's systems on orbit during the two-week free flight checkout planned for the module prior to the linkup of the ISS with Zvezda. The automatic rendezvous system on the ISS' Zarya module and a nearly identical system on Zvezda will be tested to insure that they will be able to provide navigational data to one another on the distance between the two space craft and the rate of closure during the final phase of rendezvous and docking. Other key systems, including Zvezda's motion control system, its solar arrays and its various telemetry hardware will be checked out prior to docking as well. Within 72 hours after Zvezda is joined to the ISS, flight controllers will reconfigure the data processing path between the Service Module, Zarya and the Unity module, as Zvezda assumes control for the orientation of the Station, any reboost which may be required and primary communication responsibility. Otherwise, the Station continues to operate well and flight controllers are not working any significant technical issues. The International Space Station is in an orbit with a high point of 245 statute miles and a low point of 230 statute miles (394 x 371 kilometers), circling the Earth every 92 minutes. The next Mission Control Center ISS Status Report regarding on-orbit activities will be issued July 6. For further information, please contact the NASA Public Affairs Office at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, 281-483-5111. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS REPORT JPL release 28 June 2000 Launch / Days since Launch = Nov 7, 1996 / 1330 days Start of Mapping / Days since Start of Mapping = April 1, 1999 / 454 days Total Mapping Orbits = 5846 Total Orbits = 7449 Recent events The mm050 and mm051 Solar Conjunction sequences were uplinked successfully and the MOC was turned off by commands in the mm049 sequence. The mm050 sequence became active on 00-175 (6/23/00). We are now in the Solar Conjuction phase of the mission. Spacecraft health All subsystems report nominal health. We are seeing more noise in the downlink signal as the Sun-Earth-Mars angle decreases. This is expected. The Sun-Earth-Mars angle will reach a minimum of 0.87 degrees on 00-183 (7/1/00). The downlink signal will gradually improve with time beyond that date. Uplinks Only one file was uplinked to the spacecraft during the last week. It was the mm051 sequence. Total command files radiated to the spacecraft since launch is 4717. Upcoming events We expect to return to normal spacecraft configuration and beta- supplement command sequences starting with the mm052 sequence on 00- 195 (7/13/00). Until then, we will monitor spacecraft health and the actual vs. predicted timing of orbital events. The spacecraft attempts to contact Earth during three of the twelve orbits each day during the Solar Conjunction period. When the downlink signal is good, we receive engineering telemetry and the actual Mars equator crossing time for that orbit. We compare the actual equator crossing time with the predicted equator crossing time to determine the accuracy with which we placed spacecraft maneuvers. We expect the accuracy of our orbital timing to degrade with time. Tracking the rate at which the timing degrades will help us ensure the spacecraft health during the next few weeks. We are prepared to cancel or rebuild stored sequences if timing degradation reaches unacceptable levels. Presently our predictions deviate from actual orbit timing by less than six seconds. This is well within the established parameters (Gee, I sound like Data). Once the spacecraft emerges from Solar Conjunction and we are able to obtain two-way Doppler tracking data, our orbital timing estimates will return to normal. --------------------------------------------------------------------- STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release 30 June 2000 There was one Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking pass during the past week for Stardust cruise activity. All subsystems onboard the spacecraft are performing normally. A Dust Flux Instrument Meeting was held at the University of Chicago on 22-23 June. Agreement was reached on the operational use of the instrument, particularly at encounter, and the running of one more test this coming August. The next Navigation Camera sequence is being planned for the period July 28 to August 1. The CCD heaters will be turned on and monitored with periodic calibration lamp images taken. The Stardust Outreach team made presentations at the NASA Educators Workshop in Pomona where the focus was on Native American communities, and also to the NASA Small Bodies Mission Workshop during the VITS, NASA Goddard Educators Workshop. In Technology Transfer, and MOU was signed between JPL and Havard University School of Architecture. Harvard will explore potential architectural use and design of gradient aerogel. 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 26.