MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 7, Number 28, 20 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) FLASHLINE STATION LANDS ON DEVON ISLAND! Mars Society release 2) JANUARY 2001 OPTICAL SETI CONFERENCE By Larry Klaes 3) UC IRVINE RESEARCH MAY RESOLVE PHENOMENON OF FAINTING AFTER EXTENDED BED REST, SPACE FLIGHT University of California, Irvine release 4) NASA PONDERS WHAT MARS CRAFT TO SEND IN 2003 By Andrew Bridges 5) FINAL FLASHLINE STATION PARADROP UNSUCCESSFUL Mars Society release 6) GALILEO DISCOVERS NEW IMPACT CRATER ON EUROPA JPL release 7) WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO LIVE IN SPACE By Debora MacKenzie 8) LIFE FROM THE SKIES--DID DROPLETS HIGH IN THE ATMOSPHERE GIVE BIRTH TO THE FIRST LIVING CELLS? By Joanna Marchant 9) TITAN HERE WE COME By Ralph Lorenz 10) KSC STUDY SHOWS RISING CO2 LEVELS MAY SPUR GLOBAL PLANT GROWTH KSC release 57-00 11) DID LIFE RAIN DOWN FROM THE SKY From SpaceDaily 12) EXPLORING TITAN FROM A HELICOPTER By Ralph Lorenz 13) ZERO-G COULD SERIOUSLY IMPACT LIVING CELLS By Debora MacKenzie 14) MARS: TAKE THE LONG ROAD By Andrew Bridges 15) THE NEED FOR MARS MISSION EXOBIOLOGISTS By Barry E. DiGregorio 16) MIRCORP APPROVES OPERATION OF MIR SPACE STATION IN PERMANENTLY- MANNED MODE BEGINNING NEXT YEAR MirCorp release 17) QUIETLY, EVIDENCE MOUNTS FOR ACTIVE VOLCANISM AND WATER ON MARS By Greg Clark 18) NASA TO ANNOUNCE MARS 2003 PLANS AT NEWS BRIEFING JULY 24 NASA note N00-31 19) A SCHOOL COMMUNITY IN THE BRONX EXPLORES "LIVING ON MARS" THROUGH ART NASA release 00-113 20) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXOBIOLOGY AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 21) CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS JPL release 22) THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL releases 23) INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORTS JSC releases 24) MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS REPORTS JPL releases 25) MGS MOC RETURNS TO SERVICE FOLLOWING SOLAR CONJUNCTION HIATUS JSC release 26) STARDUST STATUS REPORT JSC release --------------------------------------------------------------------- FLASHLINE STATION LANDS ON DEVON ISLAND! Mars Society release 6 July 2000 This afternoon, the primary components of the Mars Society's Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station were successfully dropped by parachute of Devon Island. The low-altitude airdrop was done by two US Marine Corp Reserve C-130 Hercules aircraft from Marine Aircraft Group 41 in Fort Worth Texas. Marines prepared the cargo for air delivery from the 4th Air Delivery Platoon based in San Jose. A tremendous amount of coordination and work went into the construction, preparation and loading of the cargo, and the Marines involved did what was necessary to ensure the cargo was ready for a safe delivery. Operating in fair weather, the Marines achieved their objective of safely and precisely landing the palettes containing the components of the Flashline Station on the 150 meter-wide Haynes Ridge location where the station will be built. The cargo was delivered successfully. Commenting on the smoothness of the operation, Lieutenant Colonel Tom Duncavage, a Marine reservist and NASA manager who commanded the operation said; "I could not be more proud of these Marines for their determination, skill and attention to duty. These loads were difficult and the first of their kind. Marines like to be first, and we thrive in the environment of the difficult. Like the science team on station here at Devon, we are all proud to be part of the Haughton-Mars project." Simultaneously with the airdrop of materials for the Mars Society, the Marines also successfully delivered supplies for the NASA-led Haughton-Mars Project (HMP). The HMP and the Mars Society are working in parallel to further programs of Mars exploration and operations research on Devon Island. Devon Island is located 75 degrees north, in Nunavut Territory, Canada. A polar desert with a 12 miles diameter meteorite impact crater, Devon is considered one of the leading Mars-analog environments on Earth. The Mars Society's Flashline Station will support a program of Mars exploration operations research, in which geological and other forms of scientific exploration relevant to Mars will be carried out under many of the constraints that will be faced by astronauts working in the field on the Red Planet. The purpose is to develop the strategies and test the tools needed for successful and highly productive human Mars missions. Construction of the Flashline Station will now begin. If favored by good weather, the completed station will be ready for operation by late July. The Mars Society then plans two-weeks of shakedown operations for the Flashline Station this summer, in preparation for 8 weeks of operation during the summer of 2000. Thanks Marines! A full report on the construction and initial shakedown operation will be presented at the Mars Society's Third International Convention, which will be held at Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, August 10-13, 2000. See www.marssociety.org for details. Founded in August 1998, the Mars Society, is a non-profit organization with over 3,000 members representing 30 countries. Its purpose is to further the goal of the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet via both public and political outreach, and private research. For more information, visit the Mars Society web site at http://www.marssociety.org. Contact: Robert Zubrin, President The Mars Society 303-980-0890 zubrin@aol.com [For additional information on this article see http://www.marssociety.org/bulletins/flashline.paradrop.07.06.00.asp] --------------------------------------------------------------------- JANUARY 2001 OPTICAL SETI CONFERENCE By Larry Klaes 6 July 2000 If you are interested in submitting a paper for the January 2001 Optical SETI Conference, please visit http://www.coseti.org/spiepro3.htm and click on the SPIE Web Form link to submit your abstracts and bios. --------------------------------------------------------------------- UC IRVINE RESEARCH MAY RESOLVE PHENOMENON OF FAINTING AFTER EXTENDED BED REST, SPACE FLIGHT University of California, Irvine release 7 July 2000 Fainting after extended bed rest or by astronauts after space flight may be caused by changes in the levels of a molecule known for its role in regulating blood pressure, a UC Irvine College of Medicine research team has found. The study is the first to identify the molecule nitric oxide as a factor in controlling blood pressure in different parts of the body when adapting to the Earth's gravity; most current research instead focuses on other chemicals that control pressure. If the findings work in humans, they could result in improved treatments for fainting spells that are often experienced by patients after long periods of bed rest and by astronauts returning from space. The findings appear in the July issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology. Prolonged bed rest or extended exposure to low gravity during space flight often results in fainting spells, caused by changes in the way blood pressure is regulated in the body. When standing on Earth, blood pressure is usually higher in the feet than in the head; various chemicals work to constrict blood vessels in the feet, forcing more blood to flow to the brain. In a standing position under the effects of gravity, normal blood pressure is usually much higher in the feet than in the head. But when a person who has adapted to low gravity returns to Earth, blood vessels in the lower body remain dilated, resulting in low pressure. Blood flow to the brain then decreases, causing fainting. A person standing up or an astronaut returning to Earth then experiences fainting as blood pressure tries again to adapt to gravity. Most people recovering from bed rest can take several weeks to re-adjust to a standing position; astronauts wear constrictive "pressure suits" upon returning to earth to prevent fainting. Dr. Nosratola (Nick) Vaziri, professor of medicine, found that rats that had adapted to an environment that simulated low gravity produced significantly more of the enzyme that makes nitric oxide than did rats in a normal gravity environment. Since nitric oxide dilates blood vessels, the research suggests that the additional amounts of nitric oxide dilated vessels in the lower body, lowering pressure in the head, which made acclimation to a standing position more difficult and led to fainting. "Previous research has focused on chemicals like norepinephrine, which constrict blood vessels, because the researchers thought that gravity must be preventing the chemicals from narrowing blood vessels and forcing blood to flow to the head," Vaziri said. "Instead of looking at why constriction wasn't effective, we looked at whether dilation was too strong; what makes blood vessels in the feet and legs stay too wide, causing the dramatic drops in blood pressure in the head and subsequent fainting. This study led us to determine that nitric oxide was the mechanism in the body that led to fainting after re-exposure to gravity." Vaziri's team found that rats in a simulated low-gravity environment produced more of the nitric oxide synthase enzyme, which produces nitric oxide in the heart, blood vessels, kidneys and brain. Rats that were in an environment sensitive to gravity had no increase in this enzyme. In addition, when the rats in a low-gravity environment were injected with a chemical called aminoguanidine, blood pressure increased. Aminoguanidine inhibits the production of nitric oxide and has been used to treat complications of diabetes without much success. Its activity in this study indicated that the nitric oxide enzyme was the contributing factor to the blood pressure changes and suggests that chemicals that work similarly to it could be used to treat fainting spells in people recovering from extended bed rest or returning astronauts. Nitric oxide has been used in pharmaceutical products for decades; it is the active ingredient in nitroglycerin, a drug long used to improve circulation in the heart. Recently, researchers have uncovered its role in controlling blood pressure, aiding the immune system to fight off invading cells and processing memory in the brain. The sexual dysfunction drug, Viagra, also regulates nitric oxide synthase. "The levels of nitric oxide synthase increased dramatically in the low-gravity rats; these molecules are helping us understand how blood pressure changes in the head and lower body during space flight and after extended bed rest," said Vaziri. "We and other scientists would need to see whether inhibitory chemicals have any other effects on the body before we can determine if this phenomenon is also happening in humans." Vaziri's colleagues in the study include UCI researchers Y. Ding, D. S. Sangha and Ralph Purdy, professor of pharmacology at UCI. The study was supported by a grant from NASA. --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA PONDERS WHAT MARS CRAFT TO SEND IN 2003 By Andrew Bridges From Space.com 10 July 2000 ...for NASA, multiple factors weigh on the space agency's decision of what to send on the... trip that it hopes to make to Mars in 2003. The final word could come as early as next week on whether that year NASA will launch an orbiter to circle the planet or a complex rover to roam its surface--or neither. Until then, NASA continues to agonize over which robotic mission has the highest probability of success. That's no mean feat, considering its 1999 stab at probing Mars resulted in the failure of both an orbiter and a lander. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_2003_000710.ht ml. --------------------------------------------------------------------- FINAL FLASHLINE STATION PARADROP UNSUCCESSFUL Mars Society release 11 July 2000 The last of a series of five paradrops delivering construction materials and equipment for the Mars Society's Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station failed to place its cargo safely on Devon Island this weekend. The first four paradrops of station elements went smoothly and delivered the structure's wall, dome sections and other equipment. An unknown mechanical failure during the fifth drop resulted in heavy damage to the station's floor panels and accompanying construction equipment. Said Mars Society president Robert Zubrin of the mishap, "Paradrops are by nature a risky business. It's a setback, but we're already examining our options for recovering from it." Devon Island is located 75 degrees north, in Nunavut Territory, Canada. A polar desert with a 12-mile diameter meteorite impact crater, Devon is considered one of the leading Mars-analog environments on Earth. The Mars Society's Flashline Station will support a program of Mars exploration operations research, in which geological and other forms of scientific exploration relevant to Mars will be carried out under many of the constraints that astronauts will face working in the field on the Red Planet. The purpose is to develop the strategies and test the tools needed for successful and highly productive human Mars missions. Contact: Robert Zubrin, President The Mars Society 303-980-0890 zubrin@aol.com [Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.marssociety.org/bulletins/flashline.paradrop.07.11.00.asp http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/20000711/sp_tl_marscamp.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/431335.asp] --------------------------------------------------------------------- GALILEO DISCOVERS NEW IMPACT CRATER ON EUROPA JPL release http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi- bin/PIAGenCatalogPage.pl?PIA02561 11 July 2000 A newly discovered, city-sized impact crater viewed by NASA's Galileo spacecraft may shed new light on the nature of the enigmatic icy surface of Jupiters moon Europa. This false-color image reveals the scar of a past major impact of a comet or small asteroid on Europa'ss surface. The bright, circular feature at center right has a diameter of about 80 kilometers (50 miles), making it comparable in size to the largest cities on Earth. The area within the outer boundary of the continuous bright ring is about 5,000 square kilometers (nearly 2,000 square miles). The diameter of the darker area within the bright ring is about 29 kilometers (18 miles), which is large enough to contain both the city of San Francisco and New Yorks Manhattan Island, side by side. The brightest reds in this image correspond to surfaces with high proportions of relatively pure water ice, while the blue colors indicate that non-ice materials are also present. The composition of the darker materials is controversial; they may consist of minerals formed by evaporation of salty brines, or they may be rich in sulfuric acid. The bright ring is a blanket of ejecta that consists of icy subsurface material that was blasted out of the crater by the impact, while the darker area in the center may retain some of the materials from the impacting body. Further study may yield new insights about both the nature of the impactor and the surface chemistry of Europa. Europa's surface is a question of great interest at present, since an ocean of liquid water may exist beneath the icy crust, possibly providing an environment suitable for life. Geologic investigations of Europa's surface are underway, and a new spacecraft mission, the Europa Orbiter, is planned. Impact craters with diameters of 20 kilometers (12 miles) and larger are extremely rare on Europa; as of 1999 only 7 such features were known. The rarity of larger impact craters on Europa lends greater significance to the discovery of this one. Impact crater counts are often employed to estimate the ages of the exposed surfaces of planets and satellites, and the small number of craters found on Europa implies that the surface may be quite young in geological terms. Thus the discovery of this feature may provide additional insights into questions about the age and level of geological activity of Europas surface. Impact craters are expected to form with greater frequency on the "leading" sides of satellites that always turn the same face to their primary planet, in this case, Jupiter. The process is much like the effect of running through a rainstorm. The "apex" of Europa's leading side is located on the equator at 90 degrees West longitude, only about 10 degrees removed from the feature shown. Europa's leading side does not receive a continuous bombardment by ionized particles carried along by Jupiter's rapidly rotating magnetosphere (as is the case for the trailing side), which may allow greater preservation of the chemical signatures of the impacting object. To the east of the bright ring-like feature are two, or perhaps three, similar but less well-defined quasi-circular features, raising the possibility that this crater is one member of a catena, or chain of craters. This would lend still greater interest to this area as a potential target for focused investigations by later missions such as the Europa Orbiter. The near-infrared mapping spectrometer on board Galileo obtained this image on May 31, 1998, during that spacecraft's 15th orbital encounter with Europa. The image data was returned to Earth in several segments during both the 15th and the 16th orbital periods. Merging and processing of the full data set was accomplished in 1999. Analysis and interpretation are ongoing. Galileo has been orbiting Jupiter and its moons since December 1995. Its primary mission ended in December 1997, and after that Galileo successfully completed a two-year extended mission. The spacecraft is in the midst of yet another extended journey called the Galileo Millennium Mission. More information about the Galileo mission is available at http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov JPL manages Galileo for NASA' s Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. [An additional article on this subject is available at http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0007/11europacrater/] --------------------------------------------------------------------- WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO LIVE IN SPACE By Debora MacKenzie From New Scientist (http://www.newscientist.com) 12 July 2000 The skeletons within living cells may not form properly in zero gravity, say researchers in France. This could dent human ambitions to live in space--at least without artificial gravity. Their work also proves that, contrary to received wisdom, gravity can influence chemical reactions. Most cells have cytoskeletons of microtubules, which are fibers made of the protein tubulin. James Tabony and his colleagues at the French Atomic Energy Commission lab in Grenoble found that when cold solutions of mammalian tubulin and the energy- releasing compound GTP are warmed to body temperature for six minutes, microtubules form in distinct bands. What is striking is that the bands form at right angles to gravity or, if spun, to the centrifugal force. To prove gravity is responsible, the team sent up tubulin on a European Space Agency (ESA) rocket, which exposed its payload to 13 minutes of weightlessness. Some tubulin experienced only microgravity while being warmed for the critical six minutes, but other samples were spun in a centrifuge. The spinning microtubules formed bands as usual, but those that experienced only microgravity pointed in all directions. "This shows gravity triggers the pattern," says Tabony. "Physicists insisted this research wasn't worth doing, because gravity is too small, compared to electrostatic or thermal forces on molecules, to affect chemical reactions," says Didier Schmitt, head of life sciences at ESA's European Space Technology and Research Center in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. "This proves they were wrong." Work by Marian Lewis of the University of Alabama at Huntsville suggests that gravity may also help orient microtubules inside living cells. She has flown human white blood cells on board the space shuttle. "Normally, the microtubules form long, straight fibers radiating towards the cell membrane," Lewis says. But after a day in orbit, the microtubules were going in random directions, she says. However, it is not yet clear whether microgravity or the vibrations during takeoff are to blame. The findings might explain some of the health problems people living in space have, such as depressed immune systems. "Over a long time, or for generations," says Tabony, "I suspect we wouldn't do well at all." Tabony says the formation of the microtubule bands is also the first experimental model of biological self-organization, in which chemical reactions spontaneously generate patterns in response to tiny asymmetries in the environment. This was predicted by Alan Turing in the early 1950s, and later by biophysicist Ilya Prigogine, a Nobel Prize winner. --------------------------------------------------------------------- LIFE FROM THE SKIES--DID DROPLETS HIGH IN THE ATMOSPHERE GIVE BIRTH TO THE FIRST LIVING CELLS? By Joanna Marchant From New Scientist (http://www.newscientist.com) 12 July 2000 Life may have begun not in the sea but in tiny water droplets drifting high in the sky. Thrown up by ocean waves, these droplets could have provided just the conditions needed for complex molecules to form. This radical theory, proposed by an international team of researchers at the Royal Meteorological Society's millennium conference in Cambridge this week, could explain long-standing mysteries about the origin of life, such as how cells got their membranes and how simple organic molecules became concentrated enough to join together to form large, complex ones. The theory arose when Adrian Tuck of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado, noticed the work of Daniel Murphy, also of NOAA. Murphy had discovered that instead of being just seawater, up to half the material in the droplets in today's atmosphere is organic matter. Tuck and his colleagues Veronica Vaida and Barney Ellison of the University of Colorado realised that the droplets, or aerosol particles, contain so much organic material because they pick up a lipid coating from the film of oily molecules on the surface of the ocean. "They look like protocells, with a layer of organic material on the outside," he says. While the droplets are floating in the upper atmosphere, they often fuse with other particles, which might contain substances such as iron and nickel derived from meteorites burning up in the atmosphere. "Aerosols in the stratosphere can last up to a year," says Murphy. "They have lots of time to pick up different things." As the water in the droplets evaporates, the diverse substances within them become concentrated. This, combined with the energy provided by the strong sunlight, encourages chemical reactions. That could explain how the simple organic molecules on the primordial Earth came to form complex chemicals such as DNA and proteins. "There isn't really any question that the building blocks would be there," says Chris Dobson of Oxford University, a protein chemist and another member of the team. "The question is how polymerisation came about." What's more, when the droplets eventually fall back into the ocean, they can acquire another coating, ending up with a lipid bilayer just like the membrane around all living cells (see diagram http://www.newscientist.co.uk/ns_images/2247/224728F2.JPG). "On re-entry, the aerosol with its monolayer of surfactants comes down to another part of the ocean and picks up a second layer that would be different," says Tuck. "This is a characteristic of bacteria that has been hard to explain." The droplets are also the same size as bacterial cells, as only particles between 0.1 and 5 micrometers across make it to the upper atmosphere. If they are any smaller they fuse together; any larger and they fall back to the ocean. The theory is "startling and fertile", says Michael Russell of the Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Center in Glasgow. But he still has reservations. "They have something that looks like a cell," he says. "But it could be a coincidence." He also points out that the organic material in today's aerosols comes from dead organisms. "Before life emerged, would these organics have been around in the ocean?" Tuck, however, suggests that the organic molecules in the primal sea could have become gradually more concentrated over tens of millions of years. He envisages building huge simulators to see what really happens inside the droplets. "This is extremely imaginative and innovative work," says biochemist Tom Cech, head of the Howard Hughes Institute in Maryland, although he points out that we can never know for certain how life began. There's one other way to test the theory. The size of aerosol particles depends on gravity and atmospheric pressure, so it's possible to calculate how big they'd be on other planets. Tuck has already worked out that aerosol particles on Mars would be smaller than those on Earth. In fact, he says, they are more the size of the bacterium-like structures found in the martian meteorite ALH84001. But he's careful not to suggest that this means the structures are signs of life. "Let's just say it's a nice coincidence," Tuck says. U.K. contact: Claire Bowles New Scientist Press Office, London claire.bowles@rbi.co.uk 44-207-331-2751 U.S. contact: New Scientist Washington office newscidc@idt.net 202-452-1178 --------------------------------------------------------------------- TITAN HERE WE COME By Ralph Lorenz From New Scientist (http://www.newscientist.com) 12 July 2000 Way out beyond the icy rings of Saturn there's a mysterious world called Titan. The cloud-shrouded surface of this huge moon is one of the largest unexplored regions in the Solar System. Somewhere here, in the icy soup of organic molecules that coats its surface, scientists believe they will discover primitive proteins, or better still, living cells that could help them solve once and for all the mystery of the origin of life. Our first glimpse beneath Titan's clouds will come in 2004, when the Cassini orbiter arrives at the moon and releases a small probe called Huygens. While Cassini maps out Titan's exotic landscape from above, Huygens will take a detailed look at the complicated organic chemistry in its hazy red atmosphere. This visit could be the first of many. NASA already has a second visit to Titan in the pipeline, known simply as "Titan Organic Explorer". Only a probe with remarkable abilities will do for this ambitious mission. But time is short. Since the journey lasts up to 8 years, work must begin soon on the challenging new technologies that this explorer will need. A second mission to Titan should be well worthwhile, though. Researchers already know how to build simple organic molecules in the lab by blasting mixtures of nitrogen, methane and ammonia with sparks or ultraviolet light. Add a little oxygen from water vapor and you can even create amino acids. But no one really knows what else you need if you want to trigger life--what mix of compounds, catalysts or conditions will turn simple amino acids and the like into self- replicating molecules such as RNA or DNA. Earth-bound labs simply aren't up to the job. Enter Titan. High in the moon's atmosphere, sunlight breaks up molecules of nitrogen and methane, leaving hydrogen molecules and atoms of carbon and nitrogen that recombine to form all sorts of heavier organic molecules--telescopes have already spotted about 20 different compounds. The most abundant of these is ethane, which may collect on the surface as huge lakes or seas. But in a world with only carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen, it's impossible to make most of the components we associate with life. You need that other vital ingredient, oxygen. Titan is too cold to permit anything but a whiff of oxygen-containing compounds in its atmosphere, and all the oxygen in its surface is locked up in ice. Yet occasionally the water melts. In 1992, Carl Sagan and his colleague Reid Thompson at Cornell University, New York, suggested that meteor impacts could melt Titan's icy crust and allow organic molecules from the atmosphere to react with oxygen in liquid water. They calculated that organics in the crust around impact sites may have been exposed to oxygen for anything up to 2 million years; enough time perhaps for simple amino acids to form. And what then... proteins? sugars? Maybe even primitive living cells? The only way to discover how far along the road to life this chemistry has gone is to sample these oases on Titan. Tracking down these sites will throw up some sticky problems: for one thing, no one knows exactly what the surface of Titan looks like (New Scientist, 12 April 1997, p 34). Whatever vehicle we send has to cover huge distances--too far for a rover, especially over uncertain terrain broken up by lakes of liquid ethane. An aerial explorer is the only sensible solution. Recording Titan's doubtless spectacular landforms is best done from above, but Titan's thick, hazy atmosphere will make it difficult to get good close-up pictures from orbit. An aeroplane flying at lower altitudes would be ideal for surveying the surface, but landing to collect samples would be impossible. The cheap and simple answer is a balloon or airship. But anchoring them against the wind and generating enough downward force to dig samples from the hard surface might be a problem. This leaves a helicopter. Although on Earth these craft need huge amounts of power, according to my calculations an electrically powered helicopter is the most practical proposition for Titan. It could cover large distances, but also land exactly on top of the most interesting chemical deposits and be stable enough to drill into them. And since Titan's atmosphere is four times denser than Earth's, it is much easier for a helicopter's rotors to push against it. Better still, the moon's gravity is just one seventh of Earth's, so the craft wouldn't need to generate so much lift. All in all, a helicopter on Titan would need 38 times less power to take off than the same helicopter on Earth. For example, I calculate that a 100-kilogram helicopter with big, fold-out rotors would need about 500 watts to fly, little more power than you need to run a domestic vacuum cleaner. Which is just as well, because even powering a small vacuum cleaner would be a challenge on Titan. A one-shot battery would drain in a day or so, not long enough to get decent results. Unfortunately, one of the most reliable sources of power--solar panels--isn't practical either. Titan is 10 times as far from the Sun as we are, so it gets only 1 per cent of the sunlight the Earth receives. Worse, the thick, hazy atmosphere that surrounds the moon absorbs most of the light that reaches it, so that only a tenth of that amount arrives at the surface. This is far too little to generate power. So that leaves reliable, but expensive and politically unpopular, power supplies containing radioactive material. Plutonium power These devices are known as radioisotope thermoelectric generators, and they create electricity from heat given off by the decay of the short-lived isotope plutonium-238. Their efficiency depends on how the unit works. Most RTGs, such as those on Cassini, channel the heat into a thermoelectric converter made from a semiconducting material. This kind of RTG is just 5 per cent efficient. For example, Cassini's RTG would need 17 kilograms of plutonium to generate 500 watts of power. Newer converters that use alkali metals instead are almost 15 per cent efficient. Build a power supply with an alkali metal converter, for instance, and the helicopter would need only 7 kilograms of plutonium to generate 500 watts. But the best way to reduce the amount of costly plutonium required is to limit the time the helicopter spends in the sky. Space hopper Equip the craft with a small amount of plutonium, an alkali metal converter and a rechargeable battery and it can use the battery's power to take long, leisurely leaps through the atmosphere--like a frog in slow motion. After a few hours of flight it lands and recharges its batteries ready for the next big hop. As it flies, it can study the ground beneath. When it spots an interesting feature such as an ice sheet around a crater, the craft can hover over it long enough to take detailed measurements, or land directly on the site. Operating this way, the power supply should need no more than 1 kilogram of plutonium to generate 70 watts or so, enough power to charge the helicopter's battery and give the craft up to 24 hours of flying time every Titan day--which lasts the equivalent of 16 Earth days. It's too early to say what this machine will actually look like. It's not clear whether a conventional helicopter layout with a small tail rotor, a pair of contra-rotating rotors, or even something like a tilt-rotor aircraft--with propellers mounted on tilting wings-- would work best. Ease of control and power efficiency are important, but so is packaging. To get the craft to Titan, it would need to be stowed in a small entry vehicle with a heat shield. As this enters the atmosphere, a parachute will extract the helicopter from the heat shield and the rotors will spring into action. Now comes one of the mission's greatest challenges: how do you control this helicopter in flight? It takes over an hour for radio signals from Earth to reach Titan, so the craft will have to fly itself. NASA engineers are already working on smart software to control space probes and spot signs of life (New Scientist, 22 April, p 22). Meanwhile, a team at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh are building their own autonomous helicopter that could provide the role model for Titan's robotic explorer. First, though, the researchers hope it will be used to map out the topography around a future Mars base. This project has begun to solve the problems of designing a helicopter to operate on alien worlds. "Helicopters are very unstable objects," says Takeo Kanade, director of the Robotics Institute. "They must be actively controlled all the time." For that, he says, you need two things: first, you must understand the way it performs at different speeds and in different environmental conditions. Secondly, and much more demanding, the helicopter needs detectors such as gyroscopes that feed information on the helicopter's speed, heading and altitude back to the craft's computer. "If you want the helicopter to do a task such as follow a certain kind of terrain," says Kanade, "you must also have an additional sensor, most likely a camera, which can automatically recognise and track terrain." In 1998 the researchers flew their craft over one of the most Mars- like places on Earth: an ancient crater at Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic. During these flights, an onboard computer steered the Carnegie Mellon helicopter using signals from the Global Positioning System satellite network. But without the luxury of GPS, how could a robotic helicopter explore Titan and not get hopelessly lost? Kanade and his team seem to have the answer. They have built a vision-based navigation system or "visual odometer" that uses distinctive features on the ground as markers so the craft always knows where it is. To work out how fast it is moving, the odometer uses an onboard camera to record the scene, and the computer measures how fast it is changing. From this, the craft calculates where it is and where it's going. The researchers have even shown that it's possible to pack the odometer into a unit small enough for use on an interplanetary mission. "Our self-navigating system weighs about 20 kilograms," says Kanade. But by miniaturising the components, you can slash its weight even more. "Even a package weighing a tenth of that is conceivable," he says. With a total weight of 100 kilograms, the helicopter should be able to carry about 15 kilograms of sensors. These can be designed to take samples from the surface and deliver them to an onboard lab where detectors will test for specific biomolecules. Mix a sample with molecular "labels" which fluoresce when they bind to DNA or other proteins, for example, then pass the whole lot under an ultraviolet light, and you could easily spot the target molecules. The instrument could also test what forms these molecules take. Many biomolecules such as amino acids and sugars exist as two forms, structurally the same but mirror images of each other. No one knows why, but all the important amino acids on Earth are the left-handed form. Knowing whether this selection occurs on Titan too could help solve this mystery. The explorer will also need a suite of cameras and spectrometers to find interesting deposits and document where they formed. During the long periods the helicopter spends on the ground, it can act like a regular planetary lander, monitoring the weather and beaming the scenes around it back to Earth. We should be in for a treat--this world has some bizarre sights. Large raindrops of methane, almost a centimeter across, drift slowly from the red haze. Geysers spout pale plumes of ethane high into the sky. Careful planning could even land the craft at a cliff edge from which it could watch giant waves breaking on the shores of an ethane lake, in the slow motion mandated by Titan's low gravity. "This kind of mission is unique," says Joel Levine, an atmospheric scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center. "You can decide where you want to explore." Wendy Calvin, a geophysicist at the University of Nevada, Reno, agrees. "If the helicopter is smart enough to say: "Hey, there's organics over there," it can go over and drill the stuff. That's a very compelling concept." Making any new space mission happen is not a trivial exercise, and it is certainly not for the impatient. Cassini was first proposed some 18 years ago. So now I must get other scientists interested and persuade NASA to perform a detailed technical study. Is 100 kilograms enough? Will the helicopter need a relay satellite? What will all this cost? It could be a long slog, but just imagine what might be waiting for us on Titan. Ralph Lorenz is a planetary scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona in Tucson. For more information see http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rlorenz. --------------------------------------------------------------------- KSC STUDY SHOWS RISING CO2 LEVELS MAY SPUR GLOBAL PLANT GROWTH KSC release 57-00 14 July 2000 A life sciences study at Kennedy Space Center, FL is showing that rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere, partially caused by the burning of fossil fuels, could spur plant growth globally as it has to local scrub oaks at KSC. Higher levels of CO2 also could change the survival odds of certain plants, insects and [other] animals, and thus the balance of those species in various ecosystems across the world. While the changes might not be so dramatic as to create a primitive-forest type environment within the next millennium, the environmental effects could be significant. The CO2 study is a collaborative research project of NASA and the Smithsonian Institution with support from the Department of Energy and participation from a variety of other government agencies and universities. "Levels of carbon dioxide continue to rise in our environment, so it's important for us to understand the effects," said Dr. Bert Drake, the Smithsonian's principal investigator on the project. "We still have a lot to learn, but now at least we have a rich data set." Researchers have learned through the study that although scrub oaks grow faster in a CO2-rich environment, their leaves are less nutrient rich. That means insects that feed upon the leaves spend more time feeding, have more exposure to predators and thus higher death rates. Also, certain scrub oak species do better than others in the enriched CO2 environment. "All the small changes created by CO2 add up and could cause major changes it's impossible to imagine," Drake said. "By studying the reaction of a natural ecosystem to high CO2 levels we will have a better idea of what we may be facing in years to come." Scientists and students continue to collect data from the CO2 test site, which is about a half mile north of KSC's Vehicle Assemble Building (VAB). The site is a natural scrub oak area where 12-foot diameter areas of scrub oak have been enclosed in 16 open-top test chambers. CO2 is blown into the test chambers to study its effect on the growth of scrub oak and the insects and other creatures that feed on and around the scrub oak. Five scientists from NASA and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, MD, work at the site to monitor experiments and keep the site running. In addition, about 15 scientists and students from the University of Northern Arizona, Old Dominion University, The University of Illinois in Champaign, and the Desert Research Institute participate in studies at the site. The scientists hope to continue the study another five to 10 years to determine long-term effects of high levels of CO2 on a natural ecosystem. KSC Contact: Bruce Buckingham --------------------------------------------------------------------- DID LIFE RAIN DOWN FROM THE SKY From SpaceDaily 14 July 2000 Life may have begun not in the sea but in tiny water droplets drifting high in the sky. Thrown up by ocean waves, these droplets could have provided just the conditions needed for complex molecules to form. This radical theory, proposed by an international team of researchers at the Royal Meteorological Society's millennium conference in Cambridge this week, could explain long-standing mysteries about the origin of life, such as how cells got their membranes and how simple organic molecules became concentrated enough to join together to form large, complex ones. The theory arose when Adrian Tuck of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado, noticed the work of Daniel Murphy, also of NOAA. Murphy had discovered that instead of being just seawater, up to half the material in the droplets in today's atmosphere is organic matter. Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-00zm.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- EXPLORING TITAN FROM A HELICOPTER By Ralph Lorenz From SpaceDaily 15 July 2000 Way out beyond the icy rings of Saturn there's a mysterious world called Titan. The cloud-shrouded surface of this huge moon is one of the largest unexplored regions in the Solar System. Somewhere here, in the icy soup of organic molecules that coats its surface, scientists believe they will discover primitive proteins, or better still, living cells that could help them solve once and for all the mystery of the origin of life. Our first glimpse beneath Titan's clouds will come in 2004, when the Cassini orbiter arrives at the moon and releases a small probe called Huygens. While Cassini maps out Titan's exotic landscape from above, Huygens will take a detailed look at the complicated organic chemistry in its hazy red atmosphere. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ZERO-G COULD SERIOUSLY IMPACT LIVING CELLS By Debora MacKenzie From SpaceDaily 15 July 2000 The skeletons within living cells may not form properly in zero gravity, say researchers in France. This could dent human ambitions to live in space--at least without artificial gravity. Their work also proves that, contrary to received wisdom, gravity can influence chemical reactions. Most cells have cytoskeletons of microtubules, which are fibers made of the protein tubulin. James Tabony and his colleagues at the French Atomic Energy Commission lab in Grenoble found that when cold solutions of mammalian tubulin and the energy- releasing compound GTP are warmed to body temperature for six minutes, microtubules form in distinct bands. What is striking is that the bands form at right angles to gravity or, if spun, to the centrifugal force. To prove gravity is responsible, the team sent up tubulin on a European Space Agency (ESA) rocket, which exposed its payload to 13 minutes of weightlessness. Some tubulin experienced only microgravity while being warmed for the critical six minutes, but other samples were spun in a centrifuge. The spinning microtubules formed bands as usual, but those that experienced only microgravity pointed in all directions. "This shows gravity triggers the pattern," says Tabony. Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/spacemedicine- 00e.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS: TAKE THE LONG ROAD By Andrew Bridges From Space.com 16 July 2000 NASA should drop the idea of quick-hit missions to Mars in the style of the Apollo lunar program and instead adopt a longer view, a former Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) director said Saturday. "Apollo is not a particularly good model for the exploration of Mars," said Bruce Murray, a Caltech planetary scientist who led the NASA lab from 1976 to 1982, speaking on Saturday at the 112th annual meeting of The Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Instead, Murray sketched out a program of robotic and human missions- -strung out over a full century between the 1965 Mariner 4 flyby of Mars and the establishment of permanent human outposts--that mimics the slow, deliberate pace of how humans have explored the South Pole since first reaching it in 1911. "Going to Mars, I think, for humans is much more reflected in the exploration of the South Pole of Antarctica," he said. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_century_plan_0 00716.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE NEED FOR MARS MISSION EXOBIOLOGISTS By Barry E. DiGregorio From SpaceDaily 16 July 2000 Not since the twin Viking Landers set down on the surface of Mars over 24 years ago, has NASA included a biologist, paleontologist, or ichnologist (study of trace fossils) on any of its missions. Viking was unique as the first spacecraft to land and search for life on another planet. As such, the Viking program enlisted the talents of three Principal Biology Investigators, a Biology Team Leader and co- experimenters. Along with this official group were other interested biologists outside the program looking at the data in a peer review process that would lead to the publication of the scientific papers that followed. While the argument of whether the Viking mission found evidence for microbial life on Mars continues today, the question of what has NASA done since Viking to solve the issue, remains. In truth, there has only been one other lander since Viking to set down on the surface of Mars, and that was Mars Pathfinder. Other missions were orbiters both from the US and Russia. If you research or inquire about the scientists who were assigned to these missions you will learn quickly that none were specialists in [a] field of biology--extant or extinct. Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life- 00e.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MIRCORP APPROVES OPERATION OF MIR SPACE STATION IN PERMANENTLY-MANNED MODE BEGINNING NEXT YEAR MirCorp release 18 July 2000 MirCorp's board of directors today approved the permanently-manned operation of Mir beginning next year, marking a major milestone in the company's plan to use this unique facility as the world's first true commercial orbital space station. The schedule of privately- financed MirCorp flights begins with the launch of an unmanned resupply spacecraft to Mir this fall, followed by two long-duration missions with cosmonauts in 2001. Citizen Explorer Dennis Tito will be part of a crew exchange between the two manned missions at mid- year 2001, and he is to spend approximately 10 days aboard the station. MirCorp's decision was taken in a unanimous vote of its full board of directors during a regularly scheduled meeting led by Chairman Yuri P. Semenov. Also attending the meeting in the city of Korolov near Moscow were Vice Chairman Walt Anderson and board members Valeri Ryumin, Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria and Alexander Derechin. "The board's historic decision allows MirCorp to enter into final negotiations with the many potential clients who have been awaiting our establishment of a long-term flight schedule," MirCorp President Jeffrey Manber said. "These potential clients involve a mix of aerospace companies, financial services, media outlets and providers of consumer goods." MirCorp's mission manifest begins with the launch this fall of a Progress unmanned resupply spacecraft that will bring propellant and other supplies to enable Mir's continuous autonomous operation into early 2001. It will be the third such resupply mission to Mir since MirCorp saved the station from a destructive reentry earlier this year. Mir currently is unmanned following the successful MirCorp- funded mission of two cosmonauts earlier this year. The 73-day mission, which ended June 16, marked the world's first commercial flight to renovate a manned space station--opening Mir for commercial operations. MirCorp's next manned mission will be launched to Mir in early 2001, with two Russian cosmonauts spending several months aboard the orbital station. In mid-year, they will be joined by a two-man Russian cosmonaut replacement crew that will be joined by Citizen Explorer Tito. Tito will stay on the station for approximately 10 days, returning to Earth with the first crew. The replacement cosmonauts will continue to live and work on the station for a mission that continues into the second half of 2001. "The board's vote to permanently man Mir sends a message to our potential strategic partners, investors, sponsors, advertisers and affiliates that MirCorp's momentum is building," said Andrew Eddy, MirCorp's Senior Vice President, Business Development. MirCorp's long-term mission plan will be reported to the appropriate Russian government authorities for validation and coordination. The Holland-based MirCorp was formed earlier this year to operate as a direct link between commercial users of Mir and the space station's Russian operators. In February, MirCorp signed a first-of-its kind commercial lease agreement for Mir with RSC Energia, the Russian space systems manufacturer that built and operates the space station. MirCorp acts as a commercial 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. MirCorp is 60% owned by RSC Energia, while the remaining 40% held by its investors. Press/media contact: Jeffrey M. Lenorovitz The InfoWEST Group Telephone (U.S.): +1 (703) 448-5669 International GSM telephone (France): +33 6 80-85-86-25 e-mail: jleno@infowestgroup.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- QUIETLY, EVIDENCE MOUNTS FOR ACTIVE VOLCANISM AND WATER ON MARS By Greg Clark From Space.com 19 July 2000 When a pair of scientists announced last month that they had found what appeared to be recent evidence for liquid water acting on the surface of Mars, most in the planetary-science community were flabbergasted--including themselves. "I was brought kicking and screaming to this result," Ken Edgett said at a June press conference held to announce the startling Mars-water conclusion. Edgett and Mike Malin, of Malin Space Science Systems, authored the research paper arguing that newfound surface features on Mars seem to be the handiwork of groundwater gushing out of steep hillsides. While the interpretation is controversial, high-resolution images of gullies carved in hillsides stand as strong support for the argument that Mars has had water working on its surface within the past 1 million years. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_watercycle_000 719.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA TO ANNOUNCE MARS 2003 PLANS AT NEWS BRIEFING JULY 24 NASA note N00-31 20 July 2000 NASA will announce the agency's Mars exploration plans for 2003 at a news briefing to be held 2:00 PM EDT Monday, July 24, 2000, at NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street SW, Washington, DC. Two missions under consideration are a Mars scientific orbiter, which will have a camera capable of imaging objects as small as about two feet (60 cm) across, and a large scientific rover which will land using an airbag cocoon like that on the successful 1997 Mars Pathfinder mission. Dr. Edward Weiler, Associate Administrator, Office of Space Science, Washington, DC, made the final selection. Two teams, one centered at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, and the other at Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO, conducted separate, intensive two-month studies of the missions to define the and evaluate their likelihood for success, cost, and readiness for flight. Participants will be: ? Dr. Edward Weiler, Associate Administrator, Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. ? Mr. Scott Hubbard, Mars Program Director, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. ? Dr. Jim Garvin, Mars Program Scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. ? Dr. Firouz Naderi, Mars Program Office Manager, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. The press briefing will originate from the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, and will be carried live on NASA TV with two- way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the event from participating NASA centers. NASA Television is broadcast on the GE2 satellite which is located on Transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, frequency 3880.0 Mhz, audio 6.8 MHz. Audio of the broadcast will be available on voice circuit at the Kennedy Space Center on 321/867-1220. Contact: Donald Savage Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1547 --------------------------------------------------------------------- A SCHOOL COMMUNITY IN THE BRONX EXPLORES "LIVING ON MARS" THROUGH ART NASA release 00-113 20 July 2000 So what would it be like living on Mars? Southwest Bronx, NY school children will have an opportunity to describe it, not with words, but with a picture. A 7,000 square foot mural to be exact. The NASA Art Program and the NASA Astrobiology Institute are partially funding a mural entitled "Living on Mars". City Arts, a Manhattan-based art organization dedicated to transforming neglected areas of New York City into public art spaces and New Settlement a non-profit housing and community building organization in the South Bronx, are coordinating the project. The permanent outdoor mural, one of the largest in New York City, is being painted on the walls facing the school yard of Community Elementary School 64, 1425 Walton Ave in the southwest Bronx under the direction of artists Nicholas A. Enright and Nils Folke Anderson of the Big Hands artist collaborative. It began on July 5 and will be completed by the end of the month. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for early fall to welcome kids back to school. Mars expert and former NASA Director of Advanced Concepts, Dr. Lewis Peach briefed the children and teens about life on Mars. Although NASA provided visual information to help spark the kids' imaginations, they are mostly relying on their own creativity to interpret space exploration past and present with a focus on Mars. The mural is a Mars Millennium Project, an official White House Millennium Council Youth Initiative sponsored by the White House Millennium Council, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the J. Paul Getty Trust. The Mars Millennium Project challenges students to work in teams to produce a work of art or science that reflects their vision of the future. The NASA Art Program has been commissioning artists since the early 1960's. Traditionally, American artists have received a small honorarium to document the space program. "Living on Mars" represents a new NASA millennium initiative of Administrator Daniel S. Goldin, who has tasked the NASA Art Program to reach out to diverse communities. Contact: Bert Ulrich Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202/358-1713 --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXOBIOLOGY AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 20 July 2000 Astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation articles online http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s1.html A. Bridges, 2000. NASA ponders what Mars craft to send in 2003. Space.com. G. Clark, 2000. Quietly, evidence mounts for active volcanism and water on Mars. Space.com. B. E. DiGregario, 2000. The need for Mars mission exobiologists. SpaceDaily. R. Lorenz, 2000. Titan here we come. New Scientist. J. Marchant, 2000. Life from the skies. New Scientist. National Research Council, 2000. Scientific Assessment of Options for the Disposition of the Galileo Spacecraft. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. SpaceDaily, 2000. Did life rain down from the sky? SpaceDaily. Articles on the biology of extreme environments (on Earth) http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s2.html SpaceDaily, 2000. Life chills out at the South Pole. SpaceDaily. Articles on human space exploration and the microgravity environment http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s3.html A. Bridges, 2000. Mars: take the long road. Space.com. D. MacKenzie, 2000. We may have to abandon our dreams of colonising space. New Scientist. D. MacKenzie, 2000. Zero-G could seriously impact living cells. SpaceDaily. SpaceDaily, 2000. Understanding post-flight fainting. SpaceDaily. --------------------------------------------------------------------- CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS JPL release 6-12 July 2000 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone tracking station on Wednesday, 07/12. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating normally. The speed of the spacecraft can be viewed on the "Where is Cassini Now?" web page at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/today/. Activities for the C20 sequence included a reload of the Quiet Test Instrument Expanded Blocks (IEB) for the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS), real-time commanding to change the thresholds for the Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA), uplink and execution of an absolute timed mini- sequence to power on Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) electronics, clearing of the Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem (AACS) High-water Marks, a Reaction Wheel Assembly momentum unload, powering off of the Radio Science Ka transmitter, reset of the Fault Protection Log Pointer, and a Flight Software Memory Load Partition Repair. After the last activity, C20 deregistered on board the spacecraft. A final Sequence Approval Meeting was held this week for the C21 sequence. Following this, the sequence was uplinked and activated on board the spacecraft. Activities this week include load of Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) IEBs and RPWS memory clear, updates to AACS off Sun constraints, reaction wheel rates and acceleration, a reaction wheel momentum unload, clearing of AACS high water marks, and the start of the Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) functional test. The Subsequence Generation Phase Sequence Change Request (SSG SCR) Approval Meeting was held this week for the C22 sequence. The Spacecraft Office (SCO) held a delta flight software readiness review in preparation for the uplink of the V7 version of the Command Data System (CDS) flight software. Progress to date has been on schedule as have been all required activities for a successful uplink and checkout beginning in late July. The review identified some additional tasks that will be easily accommodated in the time remaining. The Satellite Orbiter Science Team met to discuss science plans for the targeted icy satellite flybys during Saturn tour. They are working to develop a plan for the closest-approach period during flybys of Enceladus (3 times), Dione, Rhea, Iapetus, and Hyperion, as well as Phoebe (which occurs before Saturn Orbit Insertion in 2004). The team has decided to meet again in September to continue discussions. The Cassini Mission Plan has been updated to reflect plans for the Jupiter encounter late this year. An electronic copy of the new version "L" was posted on the Cassini Electronic Library (CEL), and hardcopies are being delivered to designated prime recipients. The Orbiter Cruise Activity Handbook (OCAH) has been officially retired as a result of the implementation of an electronic means of tracking activity requests. Activities listed that were not fully completed by the designated date have been carried over to Appendix "O" in the Mission Plan. The final version of the OCAH will remain on the CEL as an historical reference. Cassini Outreach gave a summary of the program and presented classroom activities to twenty-four kindergarten through sixth grade teachers and an administrator at a NASA Educator Workshop, and are participating in a one week JPL display at the World Stamp Expo in Anaheim. Over 100,000 attendees are expected. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL releases 10-16 July 2000 The Galileo spacecraft continues to orbit Jupiter this week, returning science data acquired during a flyby of Io performed this past February. Data playback is interrupted once this week. On Thursday, the spacecraft performs standard maintenance on its tape recorder and propulsion systems. Io is the most volcanically active body in our solar system. A little larger than Earth's moon, Io is the third largest of Jupiter's moons, and the fifth one in distance from the planet. Of the four largest of Jupiter's known 16 moons, Io is the closest to Jupiter. The largest four of Jupiter's moons are also known as the Galilean moons. Io is close enough to Jupiter that the huge planet causes tremendous tidal forces on the smaller, more volatile moon. The tidal forces can cause the surface to bulge up and down (or in and out) by as much as 100 meters (330 feet)! By comparison, typical ocean tides on Earth amount to only 2 meters (6.5 feet) between low and high tides, and this for water, not solid ground! The tides in the solid body of the Earth are much smaller still. This tidal pumping generates a tremendous amount of heat within Io, keeping much of its subsurface crust in molten form. The heat seeks any available escape route to relieve the pressure, causing volcanic plumes rise as high as 300 kilometers (190 miles) above the surface. Two observations from the February flyby are transmitted to Earth this week. The observations were performed by the Solid-State Imaging camera (SSI) and the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS), but both observations focused on the same region of Io, the Amirani volcanic region. Previously known as Amirani-Maui, this region was originally thought to contain two separate volcanoes. Galileo data have shown that Maui is actually the leading edge of a lava flow that originates at the Amirani volcanic vents. The Amirani-Maui flow is more than 250 kilometers (160 miles) long and is one of the longest volcanic flows known to exist. The SSI observation consists of color imaging of the region, while NIMS returns spectral scans. 17-23 July 2000 Did you know that Jupiter, our solar system's gas giant, is almost 143,000 kilometers (89,000 miles) in diameter? That's more than 11 times the Earth's diameter, which also makes Jupiter more than 1300 times larger in volume than Earth. Jupiter also weighs 1.9 x 10^27 kilograms (8.6 x 10^26 pounds), that is 1,900,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms! At that weight, Jupiter contains more than twice as much matter as all of the other planets in our solar system combined! The Galileo spacecraft is in orbit around Jupiter, playing back science data acquired during flybys of two of Jupiter's moons, Io and Ganymede. During playback, the spacecraft computer retrieves the data stored on its onboard tape recorder, then processes and packages the data, and subsequently transmits the data to Earth. The Io data were acquired in February, and the Ganymede data were acquired more recently, in mid-May. Data from three observations are returned this week. One contains Io data, and was made by the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS). The other two contain data describing Jupiter's and Ganymede's magnetospheres, and were made by Galileo's suite of Fields and Particles instruments. The Fields and Particles instruments are comprised of the Dust Detector, Energetic Particle Detector, Heavy Ion Counter, Magnetometer, Plasma Detector, and Plasma Wave instrument. Return of the NIMS observation is actually a continuation from last week. The observation focused on the Amirani volcanic region, previously known as Amirani-Maui. The Amirani region was originally thought to contain two separate volcanoes, but Galileo data have shown that Maui is actually the leading edge of a 250-km (160-mile) long lava flow originating from Amirani. The Fields and Particles data are the first sets returned from Galileo's May flyby of Ganymede. One observation contains the recorded portions of a month-long survey of Jupiter's magnetosphere. In most orbits, magnetosphere surveys are performed in real-time only, which means that the data are not stored on the spacecraft's tape recorder, but rather are directly transmitted to Earth after processing and packaging. The duration of this survey, however, made it necessary to record some portions of the observation to prevent data loss. This survey spanned from the inner to outer regions of the magnetosphere, and the transition from inside Jupiter's vast magnetic bubble into the solar wind. The second observation returned by the Fields and Particles instruments contains portions of a 60-minute high-resolution recording of the plasma, dust, and electric and magnetic fields surrounding Ganymede. Ganymede is the only planetary moon that is known to have its own internally-generated magnetic field, and thus, its own magnetosphere. With the recorded data, scientists hope to obtain a far more complete understanding of how the magnetic field lines and magnetospheres of both Ganymede and Jupiter interact with one another. 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORTS JSC releases 12 July 2000 Destined to soon transform the International Space Station into a new home in orbit, the Russian-built Zvezda living quarters module lifted off flawlessly from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 11:56 PM CDT Tuesday. Only 15 minutes after its launch aboard a Russian Proton booster, the new module was safely in orbit, with its antennas, solar arrays and other exterior equipment perfectly extended. The module is now operating well in an orbit with a high point of about 221 statute miles and a low point of 115 statute miles. During the next two weeks, flight controllers at the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, Russia, will continue to activate and check out the module's systems, fire its engines periodically to adjust its orbit, and prepare for a docking with the International Space Station. On July 25, the International Space Station will begin a final rendezvous with Zvezda, culminating in a docking planned at about 7:45 PM CDT. The launch of Zvezda begins a rapid series of flights to the station, and a rapid expansion of the orbital outpost. A Russian Progress cargo spacecraft is next targeted for a launch to the station on August 6 with a docking on August 8; the Shuttle Atlantis is targeted for launch on September 8 to open the doors to the new living quarters for the first time; and the Shuttle Discovery is targeted for a launch October 5 on a mission that will begin the heart of station construction, carrying aloft an exterior framework and third mating adapter. The first three-person resident crew is targeted to begin a four-month stay aboard the station a month later, bringing the new outpost to life. Those flights, among the most complex and difficult missions NASA has ever attempted, and the ones that will quickly follow in 2001--U.S. solar arrays, the first U.S. laboratory, a new generation of space robotics built by Canada, logistical modules built by Italy, and a station airlock from the U.S.--will turn the station into the largest, most powerful and most sophisticated spacecraft ever built by the end of next year. 13 July 2000 The Zvezda service module is in excellent shape a day after its launch aboard a Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Zvezda was launched at 12:56 AM EDT Wednesday and was on its own 10 minutes later after the Proton's third stage separated and fell away from the module. After launch, Russian ground controllers monitored the module's systems through four ground site passes spaced an hour and a half apart. All systems were reported to be in good shape and operating as expected. Today, Zvezda's propellant system and thruster jets were tested and verified to be in good working shape. Two test firings of the engines took place about 45 minutes apart in preparation for major rendezvous maneuvers scheduled tomorrow. The first was at 11:27 PM Wednesday EDT (7:27 AM Moscow time today). While it was a test burn only, it did serve as a small rendezvous maneuver for the module on its way to a linkup with the ISS. The result of the burn was a 2 mph (1 meter per second) increase in speed, placing the module in an orbit 210 by 106 statute miles (339 by 172 kilometers). The second burn, about 45 minutes later, occurred at 12:14 AM EDT today (8:14 AM in Moscow). It too, resulted in a change of velocity of 2 mph and raised the low end of the orbit another 3 statute miles. Again, both burns were designed as test burns to verify systems were working properly and ready to support major rendezvous maneuvers. Other checkouts today included analyzing telemetry that verified the twin solar array drive motors were operating properly in pointing them toward the sun to gather energy for storage in the four batteries inside the module. Those batteries are reported to be working properly. Four additional batteries will be installed in the module during the next Space Shuttle visit to the International Space Station set for early September. The solar arrays were repositioned for the two test burns to minimize any vibrations imparted during the engine firings. After the burns, the solar arrays were moved back to their normal operating positions. Also completed was a test of the inertial navigation and star tracker navigation systems to verify the module can be reoriented for maneuvers and rendezvous burns. During the four ground passes yesterday, telemetry showed that one of the two docking targets was not deployed. The target, however, would only be used during a manual docking, which is not planned on the service module's mission. Russian specialists believe the target actually is deployed and that sensors are not reading correctly. This is no impact to the docking by the ISS to the service module planned for 8:46 PM EDT on July 25. The first two rendezvous maneuvers currently are scheduled for Friday at 1:19 AM EDT (9:19 AM in Moscow) and 1:54 AM EDT (9:54 AM Moscow time). The burns will raise both sides of the orbit--the first by an average of 30 miles) to 222 by 127 statute miles (354 x 240 kilometers) and the second by an average of 43 miles to 232 by 160 miles (373 x 257 kilometers). 14 July 2000 The Zvezda service module continues its chase to catch up with the International Space Station as flight controllers carried out the first two major rendezvous burns using its two reboost engines located on the back end of the module. These were the first of several large rendezvous burns scheduled over the course of the next 10 days to refine Zvezda's orbital altitude in relation to that of the ISS in preparation for docking, scheduled for 8:46 PM EDT on July 25. With the Zvezda module flying in an attitude with the forward, or cone end, pointing in the direction of travel, the first burn was carried out at 1:09 AM EDT (9:09 AM Moscow time). The burn fired both reboost engines raising the orbit to 222 by 114 miles (358 by 183 km). The second burn 45 minutes later at 1:44 AM EDT (9:44 AM in Moscow), also used both engines--each produces 690 pounds of thrust-- to boost Zvezda to an altitude of 224 by 167 miles (361 by 269 km). As is the case with any firing of the reboost engines, the solar arrays were positioned to minimize the effects of vibrations through the structure. After the burns, the solar arrays were moved back to their normal operating positions. In addition to the rendezvous burns, the only other planned activity for the day was to verify the accuracy of the solar array drive motors in the backup mode. That was done by analyzing telemetry data gathered on each available communications pass through Russian ground stations. The correction burn planned for Saturday was cancelled after Russian flight controllers analyzed the results from today's burns and determined no adjustment to Zvezda's orbit was required. The only scheduled activity over the weekend is a thorough checkout of the "Regul" telemetry system that includes the receiver/transmitter, antenna and onboard computer. The test will involve cycling through various software modes to ensure good command links from the ground while analyzing the return link from the module. Telemetry from the module continues to show that sensors are not detecting the deployment of a docking target that only would be required if a manual docking were needed. This will not affect the planned automatic docking July 25. As a reference point, Zvezda and the Zarya control module on the ISS use the same rendezvous hardware as on the Mir space station and all of its modules docked automatically. Zvezda attitude control is being maintained by 16 of its 32 small control thrusters. The 32 thrusters, which produce 29 pounds of thrust each (roughly equivalent to the vernier jets on a space shuttle orbiter), are divided equally between two manifolds. Only manifold one is being used. As of 11 AM CDT Friday, Zvezda had completed 40 orbits of the Earth. The next Mission Control Center status report will be issued Monday, July 17. 17 July 2000 The Zvezda service module is operating in excellent shape as it phases toward the International Space Station with docking still scheduled for 8:46 PM on July 25. Over the weekend, Russian flight controllers here in the Mission Control Center outside Moscow, completed checking out the "Regul" telemetry system, which involved cycling through various software modes to ensure good command links from the ground, and analyzing the return link from the module. With the module operating flawlessly, no activity was performed Sunday, which was the first of three days set aside for troubleshooting, if required. Earlier today, controllers tested the module's motion control and navigation system using onboard sun sensors. Last week the system was tested using the star sensors. These tests verified the full operation of the onboard software to manage Zvezda's guidance system. Also today, routine cycling of the five batteries began. The module was launched with five of eight batteries installed. The remaining three will be delivered and installed during the next Space Shuttle visit scheduled for September. Later today, Zvezda's black-and-white docking camera will be turned on to verify its operation in anticipation of the docking next week. That camera will provide flight controllers with the first view of the International Space Station as it approaches. The images will compliment the accompanying rendezvous data. Meanwhile, the ISS is continuing to operate in excellent shape also, awaiting the arrival of its newest module. Late tonight, a docking test will be performed that actually mimics the final two orbits of the automatic rendezvous and docking. As part of the test, the Zarya control module's thrusters will be fired briefly twice (about 1 meter per second) to correct the phase angle between the two spacecraft. This minor update to the rendezvous plan is necessary because controllers determined that the reboost engines on Zvezda were a little more efficient than predicted. The next scheduled rendezvous maneuver by Zvezda is scheduled for Thursday. Late last week, Zarya's propellant system was reconfigured so that fuel from the storage tanks can be utilized for the rendezvous. This unique ability by the attitude control thrusters to use propellant from the storage tanks in addition to the propellant tanks, protects for a complete rendezvous with no further reconfiguration activity required. As of 11 AM CDT Monday, Zvezda had completed 88 orbits of the Earth. Its present altitude is 200 miles, or 323 kilometers. The next Mission Control Center status report will be issued Wednesday, July 19. For more information, call the Johnson Space Center Newsroom at 281/483-5111. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS REPORTS JPL releases 5 July 2000 Launch / Days since Launch = Nov 7, 1996 / 1337 days Start of Mapping / Days since Start of Mapping = April 1, 1999 / 461 days Total Mapping Orbits = 5932 Total Orbits = 7535 Recent events We are in the Solar Conjunction phase of the mission. The mm050 sequence is progressing nominally. The mm051 sequence will commence on 00-190, (7/8/00). Spacecraft health All subsystems report nominal health. We saw the noise in the downlink signal increase as the Sun-Earth-Mars (SEM) angle approached the minimum value of 0.87 degrees on 00-183 (7/1/00). We received no telemetry from 00-181 (6/29/00) through 00-183 (7/1/00) due to Solar Conjunction. Now, the downlink signal is gradually improving as the SEM angle increases. Uplinks No commands were uplinked this week. 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). We continue to 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 helps us ensure the spacecraft health during the Solar Conjunction. 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 twenty-two seconds. This is well within the established timing envelope. Timing would have to deviate by 75 seconds before we considered canceling the stored sequence. We anticipate satisfactory timing throughout the remainder of mm050 and mm051. We expect to obtain satisfactory two-way Doppler tracking data on 00-190 (7/8/00). Orbital timing estimates will return to normal in the week following. Sequence development of mm052 and mm053 is proceeding nominally. 12 July 2000 Launch / Days since Launch = Nov 7, 1996 / 1344 days Start of Mapping / Days since Start of Mapping = April 1, 1999 / 468 days Total Mapping Orbits = 6017 Total Orbits = 7620 Recent events We are in the last day of the Solar Conjunction phase of the mission and sequences continue to execute nominally. The mm051 sequence will terminate and the mm052 sequence will begin on 00-195 (7/13/00). mm052, the first beta-supplement sequence to execute since 00-174 (6/22/00), will start recording science data on 00-195 (7/13/00). Playbacks of science data commence on 00-196 (7/14/00). Spacecraft health All subsystems report nominal health. Uplinks There have been 10 uplinks to the spacecraft during the last week, including new star catalogs and ephemeris files and the mm052 background sequence. We turned off two-way non-coherent mode to regain two-way Doppler capability and we set the Command Loss Timer to its nominal value of 104 hours. The total number of command files radiated to the spacecraft since launch is 4727. Upcoming events The MOC will be turned on tomorrow, 00-195 (7/13/00), via real-time commands. The mm053 background will be uplinked 00-196 (7/14/00). --------------------------------------------------------------------- MGS MOC RETURNS TO SERVICE FOLLOWING SOLAR CONJUNCTION HIATUS JSC release 16 July 2000 MGS MOC Release #MOC2-246 http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/7_16_2000/index.html Many aspects of our studies of Mars from Earth are dictated by the different rates at which the two planets orbit the Sun. This difference allows Earth to pass Mars in its orbit, continue to lead Mars around the Sun, and then eventually overtake Mars again, every 26 months. This cycle governs opportunities to send rockets to Mars when the closest approaches between the two planets occur (opposition). The cycle also dictates when Mars will pass behind the Sun relative to Earth (conjunction). A Solar Conjunction period has just ended. During this time radio communications from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, operating at Mars, were interrupted for a few weeks. Because it would not be able to send pictures back to Earth during this time, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) was turned off on June 21, 2000, and turned back on again July 13, 2000. The two pictures shown here are among the very first high resolution views of the martain surface that were received following the resumed operation of the MOC. Both pictures arrived on Earth via radio downlink on Saturday, July 15, 2000. The first picture (above left) shows a ridged and cratered plain in southern Hesperia Planum around 32.8°S, 243.2°W. The second image (above right) shows the layered northeastern wall of a meteor impact crater in Noachis Terra at 32.9°S, 357.6°W. Both pictures cover an area 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) wide at a resolution of 6 meters per pixel. Both are illuminated by sunlight from the upper left. Image credits: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. --------------------------------------------------------------------- STARDUST STATUS REPORT JSC release 14 July 2000 There was one Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking pass during the pass week. All subsystems onboard the spacecraft are performing normally. Flight sequence SC020 was successfully transmitted to the spacecraft. SC020 will start next week. Preparations for turning on the Navigation Camera (NAVCAM) Charge Couple Device (CCD) heater are in progress. The heater will remain on for approximately a week and images will be taken periodically. The Stardust Outreach team participated in the Astronomy Society of the Pacific meeting with displays and educational materials. 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 28.