MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 7, Number 30, 3 August 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://welcome.to/marsbugs. 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) INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION DOCKS SUCCESSFULLY WITH ZVEZDA MODULE ESA release 50-2000 2) PAST SPACE PLATFORMS NO COMPARISON TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION NASA release 00-115 3) NASA GOES BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH PLANS FOR A MARS ROVER IN 2003; POSSIBLE SECOND ROVER BEING STUDIED NASA release 00-119 4) NASA CHOOSES CORNELL TO LEAD SCIENCE EFFORT FOR MARS EXPLORATION MISSION IN 2003 Cornell University release 5) MARS "COLONY" RISES IN THE ARCTIC By Greg Clark 6) ROVER TO JOIN BEAGLE ON MARS From ESA Science News 7) SCIENTISTS STRENGTHEN PROSPECTS FOR LIFE ON MARS-- NEW INFORMATION SUPPORTS CLAIM VIKING DISCOVERED LIFE IN 1976 Biospherics Incorporated release 8) UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH REPRODUCES CHEMICAL STRUCTURES FOUND IN METEORITES--DOUBT CAST ON LIFE ON MARS University of Greenwich release 9) NEW SETI TELESCOPE SETI Institute release 10) CALL FOR STUDENT EXPERIMENTS Communicated by Tom Dreschel 11) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXOBIOLOGY AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 12) CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AND MISSION STATUS JPL releases 13) THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 14) ISS STATUS REPORTS JSC releases 15) MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS REPORT JPL release 16) NEW MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES By Ron Baalke 17) STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release --------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION DOCKS SUCCESSFULLY WITH ZVEZDA MODULE ESA release 50-2000 26 July 2000 The two-element International Space Station already in orbit docked successfully with the Zvezda service module early this morning, at 02:45 Central European Summer Time as planned. Zvezda's European computer system is set to take over control of the now three-element ISS. The state-of-the-art computer system was supplied by ESA and is the first European hardware to be delivered to the Space Station. Over the coming days, flight engineers will test the mechanisms holding the elements together and ensure that all seals are tight. About three days after the docking, the European computer--the "Data Management System"--will be connected to the Space Station systems and Zvezda will be commanded to assume control of the Space Station. A team of engineers from ESA and European industry is currently at the Russian Control Centre (TsUP), outside Moscow, preparing for the hand-over of operations to Zvezda and its Data Management System. "All DMS data received to date, including this morning just after the docking, indicate that we are ready", said Jochen Graf, head of system integration and operations for ESA's Space Station program. The Data Management System was developed and manufactured in Europe by an industrial consortium led by Astrium Space Infrastructure (formerly DaimlerChrysler) of Bremen, Germany. ESA supplied the system to Rosaviakosmos, the Russian space agency, in return for two flight-unit docking systems for use with ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle, a supply craft bound for the Space Station to be launched on Ariane-5 as from 2004. ESA will use similar data management systems on later elements that Europe is currently preparing for the Space Station, including the European space laboratory Columbus and the Automated Transfer Vehicle, in the continuing drive to minimize development and maintenance costs. The addition of Zvezda to the two elements already in orbit--Zarya and Unity--sets the stage for the start of human habitation and scientific research aboard the orbiting outpost. A Russian Progress resupply mission planned for August and two US Space Shuttle flights scheduled for September and October will ready the Space Station for the arrival of the first crew who will begin living and working on board. That three-member mission is expected to be launched on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in late October. ESA is one of five international partners in the International Space Station project. The others are the United States, Russian, Canada and Japan. ESA represents 10 European countries in this endeavor: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. For further information, please contact: ESA Communication Department, Media Relations Office Tel: +33 1 53 69 71 55 Fax: +33 1 53 69 76 90 More info on this subject: http://www.estec.esa.nl/spaceflight http://spaceflight.nasa.gov More info on ESA: http://www.esa.int Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://CNN.com/2000/TECH/space/07/25/space.station.02/index.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-00zq.html http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/spacestation000726.h tml http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_849000/849001.stm http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/07/26/russia.spacestation.ap/index .html http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/20000725/sp_spacestation.html http://www.foxnews.com/science/072600/iss.sml http://www.msnbc.com/news/431561.asp http://www.newschannel2000.com/sh/news/stories/nat-news-20000725- 114514.html http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/space/station/stories/2000/2 0000725b.html http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/2000b/072600f.htm http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-00zp.html http://www.spaceviews.com/2000/07/25b.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- PAST SPACE PLATFORMS NO COMPARISON TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION NASA release 00-115 26 July 2000 Experts in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics and general science proclaimed yesterday that the International Space Station moves to the "head of the class" compared to the Spacelab and Mir programs. "Research opportunities in the biomedical field during those past space programs have been very limited," said Dr. J. Milburn Jessup, Professor of Surgery, University of Texas Heath Science Center. "The International Space Station will offer scientists a lab that could provide an opportunity to study and gain better understanding of bone and muscle loss, balance disorders, and cell and tissue reproduction," he said. "We found in two short shuttle flights that fewer cells cultured in space died than similar cells cultured on the ground. This in essence could improve the process of understanding death of the human body," said Jessup. Jessup was one of five researchers participating in the first in a series of International Space Station media forums NASA will hold as the Agency and its international partners move into high gear for construction and research on the infant space platform. The forum was held hours prior to the successful docking of Russia's Zvezda module. According to the panelists, the International Space Station will provide scientists with continual access and long-term exposure in space, coupled with state-of-the art equipment--a combination, they agreed, that could provide untold multiple benefits to humankind. "The Hubble Space Telescope is to astrophysicists as the International Space Station will be to other researchers--a working science laboratory in space," said Dr. Julie Swain, acting NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Life and Microgravity Science and Applications, Washington, DC, and Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Kentucky. "The Mir and Spacelab programs provided only a glimpse. The International Space Station offers the opportunity to conduct research 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," said Dr. Mary Musgrave, Associate Dean, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Professor of Biology, University of Massachusetts. Dr. Ron Sega, Dean, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and a former astronaut, noted that the International Space Station is also a research tool for engineering. "Knowledge obtained from this station will help us build the next generation of satellites, which may lead to further commercial applications of space. "International Space Station engineering research will certainly enhance technology development outside the space station," he said. Dr. Kathryn Clark, Senior Scientist for the International Space Station, noted that research of this magnitude does not happen overnight. However, the International Space Station will be a vital platform for providing greater insight into understanding the human body, exploring the universe, studying the Earth and atmospheric changes, and improving the overall quality of life on Earth. "The International Space Station is the essential test-bed in which questions in these areas may be answered," Clark said. The International Space Station is the largest and most complex international project in history. Led by the United States, the project draws upon the scientific and technological resources of 16 nations. Contacts: Dwayne Brown/Renee Juhans Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1726/1712 --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA GOES BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH PLANS FOR A MARS ROVER IN 2003; POSSIBLE SECOND ROVER BEING STUDIED NASA release 00-119 27 July 2000 In 2003, NASA plans to launch a relative of the now-famous 1997 Mars Pathfinder rover. Using drop, bounce, and roll technology, this larger cousin is expected to reach the surface of the Red Planet in January 2004 and begin the longest journey of scientific exploration ever undertaken across the surface of that alien world. Dr. Edward Weiler, Associate Administrator, Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, announced today that the Mars Rover was his choice from two mission options which had been under study since March. "Today I am announcing that we have selected the Mars Exploration Program Rover rather than the orbiter option, which was an extremely difficult decision to make," said Weiler. "At the same time, we want to look into what could be an amazing opportunity, as well as a challenge, by sending two such rovers to two very different locations on Mars in 2003 rather than just one." "We are evaluating the implications of a two-rover option, Weiler added. "I intend to make a decision in the next few weeks so that, if the decision is to proceed with two rovers, we can meet the development schedule for a 2003 launch." With far greater mobility and scientific capability than the 1997 Mars Pathfinder Sojourner rover, this new robotic explorer will be able to trek up to110 yards (100 meters) across the surface each martian day, which is 24 hours, 37 minutes. The Mars rover will carry a sophisticated set of instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past, as well as study the geologic building blocks on the surface. "This mission will give us the first ever robot field geologist on Mars. It not only has the potential for breakthrough scientific discoveries, but also gives us necessary experience in full-scale surface science operations which will benefit all future missions," said Scott Hubbard, Mars Program Director at NASA Headquarters. "A landed mission in 2003 also allows us to take advantage of a very favorable alignment between Earth and Mars." After launch on top a Delta II rocket, and a cruise of seven and a half months, the spacecraft should enter the martian atmosphere January 20, 2004. In a landing similar to that of the Pathfinder spacecraft, a parachute will deploy to slow the spacecraft down, and airbags will inflate to cushion the landing. Upon reaching the surface the spacecraft will bounce about a dozen times and could roll as far as a half-mile (about one kilometer). When it comes to a stop, the airbags will deflate and retract, and the petals will open, bringing the lander to an upright position and revealing the rover. Where the Pathfinder mission consisted of a lander, with science instruments and camera, as well as the small Sojourner rover, the Mars 2003 mission features a design that is dramatically different. This new spacecraft will consist entirely of the large, long-range rover, which comes to the surface inside a Pathfinder landing system, making it essentially a mobile scientific lander. Immediately after touchdown, the rover is expected to give us a virtual tour of the landing site by sending back a high-resolution 360-degree, panoramic, color and infrared image. It will then leave the petal structure behind, driving off as scientists command the vehicle to go to rock and soil targets of interest. This rover will be able to travel almost as far in one martian day as the Sojourner rover did over its entire lifetime. Rocks and soils will be analyzed with a set of five instruments. A special tool called the "RAT," or Rock Abrasion Tool, will also be used to expose fresh rock surfaces for study. The rover will weigh about 300 pounds (nearly 150 kilograms) and has a range of up to about 110 yards (100 meters) per sol, or martian day. Surface operations will last for at least 90 sols, extending to late April 2004, but could continue longer, depending on the health of the rover. "By studying a diverse array of martian materials, including the interiors of rocks, the instruments aboard the Rover will reveal the secrets of past martian environments, possibly providing new perspectives on where to focus the quest for signs of past life," said Dr. Jim Garvin, NASA Mars Program Scientist at NASA Headquarters. "Furthermore, the Rover offers never-before-possible opportunities for discoveries about the martian surface at scales ranging from microscopic to that of gigantic boulders. This is a key stepping stone to the future of our Mars exploration program." One aspect of the Mars Rover's mission is to determine history of climate and water at a site or sites on Mars where conditions may once have been warmer and wetter and thus potentially favorable to life as we know it here on Earth. The exact landing site has not yet been chosen, but is likely to be a location such as a former lakebed or channel deposit--a place where scientists believe there was once water. A site will be selected on the basis of intensive study of orbital data collected by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, as well as the Mars 2001 orbiter, and other missions. The alternative mission, which had been under consideration for the 2003 opportunity, was a Mars scientific orbiter, which featured a camera capable of imaging objects as small as about two feet (60 cm) across, an imaging spectrometer designed to search for mineralogical evidence of the role of ancient water in martian history, and other science objectives. Teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, and Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO, conducted separate, intensive, two-month studies of the missions. "Both teams did an absolutely superb job in preparing these proposals in a very compressed time frame," said Dr. Weiler. "They both deserve a lot of credit for what they were able to achieve." "This project can be accommodated within the President's budget request for NASA and we will spend the next few weeks refining our budget estimates and other requirements, plus the impacts and the consequences of sending two rovers to Mars instead of one," said Hubbard. "When we have fully addressed all of the issues, which may take several weeks, we will announce our final plans." Additional articles on this subject are available at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast28jul_2m.htm?list http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars2003-00a.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars2003-00b.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-driller-00a1.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-polar99-00h.html http://www.space.com/cgi- bin/email/gate.cgi?lk=SP1&date=500020&go=/news/Mars_tosend_Rover_0007 27.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA CHOOSES CORNELL TO LEAD SCIENCE EFFORT FOR MARS EXPLORATION MISSION IN 2003 Cornell University release 27 July 2000 Cornell University has been selected by NASA to provide the scientific instruments and lead the science team for the next mission to the surface of Mars. The space agency announced today that a rover mission will be launched on June 4, 2003, and the spacecraft will land on Mars on January 20, 2004. The mission, which will carry a large roving vehicle to the surface of Mars, was chosen by Edward Weiler, NASA associate administrator for space science, after an intensive two-month study of the two competing candidates, the rover and a scientific orbiter. Steven Squyres, Cornell professor of astronomy who will be the principal investigator on the Athena science cargo to be carried by the rover, says the Cornell package of instruments was chosen because of its promise of "outstanding science." The scientific purpose of the mission, he notes, "is pure in situ exploration of the surface of Mars." Also on Squyres' large international science team will be Jim Bell, assistant professor of astronomy at Cornell, who will have responsibility for the rover's Pancam panoramic camera system. Pancam will reveal the terrain around the rover and will be used by the science team to select the most promising rock and soil targets for intensive study. The spacecraft carrying the rover will use the same concept for landing on the martian surface as employed by the Pathfinder spacecraft in its 1997 mission: a parachute will slow the spacecraft down, and airbags will inflate to cushion the landing. The new rover, however, will be considerably larger than the Pathfinder's Sojourner rover, weighing close to 130 kilograms (or about 250 pounds) and having a range of up to 100 meters (about 100 yards) per martian day. The rover's science package will consist of six scientific instruments, which Squyres says will allow it to act as "a robotic field geologist." The instruments, besides the Pancam, are a device called Mini-TES, to view the scene around the rover in the infrared; a microscopic camera; a Mössbauer spectrometer to identify iron- bearing minerals; and an instrument called the alpha-proton-X-ray spectrometer, an improved version of the instrument used by Pathfinder's Sojourner rover that will measure concentrations of most major elements. The package also includes a rock abrasion tool, or RAT, to expose fresh rock surfaces for study. Squyres says of the rover's scientific package, "It has everything a human field geologist has, and then much more. It has 20/20 vision, the ability to get inside rocks using the rock abrasion tool; it has spectrometers to tell us what rocks are made of; and it has a microscopic imager to tell us what things look like at a fine scale. It can use all these tools together to read the geologic record at the landing site and to tell us what conditions were once like, how much water was there, and, in particular, how habitable the site was- -how suitable it would have been as an abode for life." Athena Mission to Mars: http://www.athena.cornell.edu Contact: David Brand (607) 255-3651 deb27@cornell.edu --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS "COLONY" RISES IN THE ARCTIC By Greg Clark From Space.com 31 July 2000 Despite losing crucial equipment and having its original construction crew walk away from the project, the Mars Society's prototype for living quarters on the Red Planet has been assembled on the northern Canadian arctic landscape of Devon Island. Members of the Mars Society completed assembly of the 20-ton fiberglass module last week and held an opening ceremony Friday, with a ceremonial "crew" entering the module as if they were astronauts arriving at their otherworldly home. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_rehab_000731.h tml. Additional articles on this subject are available at http://www.msnbc.com/news/431335.asp http://www.spaceref.com/focuson/marsonearth/webcam.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- ROVER TO JOIN BEAGLE ON MARS From ESA Science News http://sci.esa.int 1 August 2000 Two landers are due to descend to the surface of Mars within a month of each other in late 2003, early 2004. Last week, NASA announced that it would be sending a rover to the red planet. Beagle 2, the Mars Express lander, is due to take up its position on the martian surface about one month before NASA's rover lands. The two spacecraft will land at different sites and take complementary approaches to their explorations. "Beagle will remain in one place and use its mole to burrow under the surface for samples: it will also study the martian atmosphere. The rover will move about and analyze samples from different positions on the surface," says Colin Pillinger, Beagle Principal Investigator. One of Beagle's main aims will be to look for the chemical signatures of past and present life by studying organic matter and isotopic composition. The rover will act as a "robotic field geologist". "It has everything a human field geologist has, and then much more," says Steven Squyres, Principal Investigator of the main scientific package to be carried by the rover. Both spacecraft will carry grinders to remove the weathered surface from rocks and expose the pristine interiors for analysis. Both will also look for evidence of water and assess how hospitable the environment is, or has been, to life. NASA's rover will be based on technology used successfully for Mars Pathfinder's rover, Sojourner, in 1997. Like Beagle 2, it will descend to the martian surface cushioned by airbags. Last week's announcement was made after months of re-assessment of NASA's Mars program after the failure of the Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander missions last year. NASA is still considering whether to send another rover at the same time and is due to take a decision shortly. Useful links for this story * More about Marsexpress http://sci.esa.int/marsexpress * NASA press release 00-119 ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-119.txt * BEAGLE-2: Geochemical Lander http://sci.esa.int/content/doc/cc/19660_.htm * Beagle 2 homepage http://www.beagle2.com/ * Orbiter instruments in brief http://sci.esa.int/content/doc/e8/22760_.htm Image captions Image 1: [http://sci.esa.int/content/searchimage/searchimage3.cfm?aid=1&cid=1&o id=23285&ooid=17940] Beagle II Lander Image 2: [http://sci.esa.int/content/searchimage/searchimage3.cfm?aid=1&cid=1&o id=23285&ooid=23300] Artist Impression of the Mars 2003 Rover --------------------------------------------------------------------- SCIENTISTS STRENGTHEN PROSPECTS FOR LIFE ON MARS-- NEW INFORMATION SUPPORTS CLAIM VIKING DISCOVERED LIFE IN 1976 Biospherics Incorporated release 1 August 2000 On the heels of NASA's decision to land new rovers on Mars, the debate over the existence of life on the red planet is heating up. Dr. Gilbert V. Levin, a chief proponent, today advanced his claim to finding living microorganisms on the elusive planet 25 years ago. Dr. Levin, one of a trio of scientists, including himself and another who participated in NASA's Viking Mission, was presenting a paper at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for Optical Engineering refuting the mainstay arguments against life on Mars. He contends that those arguments--the presumed absence of organic matter and of liquid water--are no longer tenable. Levin, senior author of the paper and President of Biospherics Incorporated (NASDAQ/BINC), Beltsville, Maryland, was Experimenter on the Viking Labeled Release (LR) life detection instrument that landed on Mars in 1976. His tests produced evidence for life that sparked a continuing controversy. The consensus of interested scientists has been that the Viking LR results on Mars, though positive, were chemical in origin and not biological. However, in a 1997 publication, following two decades of study, Levin finally concluded that Viking had, indeed, detected living microorganisms on Mars. Acknowledging that many scientists may remain unconvinced, he now proposes a new test to settle the issue once and for all, and urges that it be sent on the next lander mission to Mars. Co-author Dr. Arthur Lafleur, Assistant Director of MIT's Environmental Health Science Center, provided information that refutes the most often cited argument against the LR life detection experiment--the lack of organic matter, the stuff of life, on Mars, as reported by the Viking organic analysis gas chromatograph mass- spectrometer (GCMS). Lafleur, who helped develop the Viking GCMS instrument, and a co-author of the original report of no organic matter on Mars, revealed unpublished results of pre-mission tests. They showed that the instrument sent to Mars could easily have missed biologically significant amounts of organic matter in the soil, as it had in a number of tests on Earth. Thus, the Mars GCMS results no longer can be considered proof that the LR failed to detect living microorganisms. Co-author Dr. Lawrence Kuznetz, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Planetary Sciences, has put to rest the second prevailing argument against the possibility of life on Mars, that the atmosphere of the planet is too thin to support the existence of life--essential liquid water. Results of a laboratory study by a team of researchers led by Kuznetz showed that liquid water does exist under martian environmental conditions. In addition, Kuznetz found results from 1960's tests of cooling systems of astronaut space suits showed that water exists in liquid form under atmospheric pressure as low as that on Mars. The findings lend credence to a model for martian water published in 1998 by Levin and his son, Ron, a Ph.D. physicist at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Based on Viking and Pathfinder data, the model predicted amounts of moisture in the martian soil equal to that found to nourish microbial life in the sand dunes of Death Valley, California. Corroborated by the new NASA announcement of evidence for recent or current liquid water on Mars, these reports dispel the no-liquid-water issue against the Viking LR results. The authors support Levin's "chiral LR" experiment and propose that it be sent to Mars at the next opportunity. The experiment would apply the proven LR technology to test martian soil for a unique characteristic found in all known forms of life, but not in chemical reactions. This characteristic is the biological preference for one of two possible configurations of certain organic molecules. The scientists state that the experiment can return an unambiguous answer to the major scientific question of life on Mars that would be acceptable to virtually all scientists. Dr. Levin was an Experimenter on NASA's Viking Mission to Mars, a Co- Investigator on NASA's Mariner 9 Mars mission, and was a Team Member of NASA's MOx instrument placed on the ill-fated Russian 1996 Mars Lander. He received NASA's Public Service Award "In recognition of his achievements in designing, perfecting, and conducting the Viking Labeled Release Experiment." Since his Viking experience, Levin has led the biotechnology efforts at Biospherics, the publicly held Maryland Company he founded in 1967. His developments include a full-bulk, low-calorie sweetener, tagatose, soon to come on the market, and the safe-for-humans, environmentally friendly pesticide, FlyCrackerTM, introduced into the market this year. The company also provides information services to government agencies and private industry. Certain statements contained herein are "forward looking" statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because such statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ from those expressed or implied. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied include, but are not limited to, those discussed in filings by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the filing on Form 8-K made on March 3, 1999. Under its motto, "Technologies for Information and Health," Biospherics' mission is to provide guidance and products to improve the quality of life. Biospherics offers biotechnology innovations, information technology solutions, and information center services. Biospherics Incorporated's Internet address is http://www.biospherics.com. Background--new information counters long-held opposition The 1976 Viking Mission LR results met all the pre-mission criteria established for the experiment by NASA and its scientific review committees for proof of life on Mars. However, the failure of the GCMS to find organic matter in the martian surface material led to caution. Accordingly, Levin did not claim the LR experiment had detected life, but merely stated that the results were consistent with biology. Other scientists stated that, without organic matter, there could be no life. They quickly advanced theories attributing the LR response to the putative presence in the soil of the strong oxidant, hydrogen peroxide, or its derivatives. It was also contended that liquid water could not exist on the surface of Mars, because of the low atmospheric pressure, in itself precluding any possibility of life. Levin spent considerable time over the 20 years following Viking poring over the issue of life on Mars, including three years of laboratory efforts vainly seeking a non-biological explanation of the Mars LR results. Over the years since Viking, he followed relevant discoveries such as: the finding of life in many extreme environments on Earth, evidence of microbial fossils in meteorites from Mars (with NASA now explaining that the Viking GCMS may not have been sensitive enough to detect the small amount of organic matter constituting such organisms), the physics of water on Mars, and other physical, chemical and biological findings impinging on the Mars life issue. His continuing analysis finally reached a point where, in 1997, Levin published a paper in which he concluded that his Viking experiment had indeed detected living microorganisms in the soil of Mars. Despite the fact that the 1997 paper cited recently published work by NASA scientists disproving the presence of hydrogen peroxide on Mars, and made a strong case by Levin confirming NASA's suggestion that the Viking GCMS may overlooked organic matter on Mars, considerable criticism was evoked. It now concentrated on the liquid water issue as the principal remaining argument against the LR results. In 1998, Levin and his physicist son, Ron, published a paper outlining a model for the existence of liquid water on Mars. They claimed that atmospheric physics and thermal conditions on Mars provided moisture to the top layer of soil in amounts sufficient to sustain life. Dr. Lafleur read Levin's papers on the Viking LR experiment and, impressed by them, in 1999 contacted Levin to tell him of unpublished problems that he found as an engineer in developing the Viking GCMS at MIT. He thought the GCMS results might be explained without impairing the LR results. Dr. Kuznetz, teaching planetary science at UC Berkeley, invited Levin to give a talk about his Viking experiment. Intrigued with the liquid water issue, Kuznetz searched and found evidence for liquid water existing under low-pressure conditions during tests made on cooling systems developed for astronaut space suits. He then undertook laboratory experiments proving that liquid water exists under martian pressure and temperature. While the present paper was in preparation, NASA announced the finding of strong evidence for current-era liquid water on Mars, confirming the theory and the experimental data reported by the Levins and Kuznetz. Levin now believes that the biosphere will soon be acknowledged to include Mars. He thinks that, in a few years, people will wonder at the difficulty that delayed acceptance of the discovery of life on Mars in the face of the accumulating facts. All the links necessary for life on Mars have been forged--terrestrial microorganisms can live under martian conditions; there is liquid water available to microorganisms on Mars; contrary to the GCMS results, organic matter seems certain to be on Mars (photo-chemically synthesized from the atmospheric gases and also deposited by meteorites); Earth and Mars have traded materials that could readily have contained bacteria; bacteria can be preserved for up to millions of years under the vacuum and low temperature of space travel; bacteria transported in meteorites can survive entry temperatures into the Mars or Earth atmospheres and the thermal and mechanical shock of landing; and freeze-dried bacteria are known to establish full metabolism very shortly upon entering a favorable environment. These facts relieve scientists from the difficulty of accepting separate origins of life on Mars and Earth, an extremely unlikely happenstance. Now, it is possible that life on either planet may have come from the other--or from a third source. Levin believes that NASA's one billion dollar Viking Mission to find life on Mars was successful, and that the answer has been staring scientists in the face for nearly a quarter of a century. The simple, relatively low-cost and easiest way to finally settle the issue is to send the chiral LR experiment on the next Mars mission. Additional info is available at http://www.biospherics.com/Mars/index.html. Media contact: Mark Hopkinson, 561-750-9800 x14 mhopkinson@transmediagroup.com Science contact: Gilbert V. Levin, Ph.D. 301-419-3900 (after 8/4) gillevin@biospherics.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH REPRODUCES CHEMICAL STRUCTURES FOUND IN METEORITES--DOUBT CAST ON LIFE ON MARS University of Greenwich release 1 August 2000 The complex chemical structures found in a meteorite from Mars, which scientists in 1996 hailed as possible evidence of past life on the planet, can be reproduced quite simply in any laboratory according to new research from the University of Greenwich. Professor Aron Vecht and researcher Terry Ireland from the university's School of Chemical & Life Sciences say that the special structures--which are shaped like flowers and spheres--could have been formed on the cold surface of Mars from minerals commonly occurring there. Their findings cast grave doubts on the possibility of martian life. In a paper published today, Vecht and Ireland show that vaterite, a rare form of calcium carbonate found in the meteorite, can be made easily. It occurs when carbon dioxide is bubbled through a solution of calcium chloride in the presence of ammonia at room temperature (about 25°C)--conditions that may well have existed on Mars in the past. Other forms of calcium carbonate, such as calcite and aragonite, can be formed at higher temperatures, around 65°C. "Any junior school laboratory in the country could replicate these results using a very simple process," says Professor Vecht. "It came as a great surprise that, under the electron scanning microscope, the structures we had made bore very great similarities to those reported in the martian meteorite, as these have been used as the best/only evidence for the existence of primitive life on Mars. Our findings cast grave doubts on the possibility of martian life, especially as we used minerals readily available on Mars." The discovery came about while the team was investigating the properties of different forms of calcium carbonate (chalk) as part of an ongoing research project into phosphor compounds, which have luminescent properties. The Centre for Phosphors & Display Materials at the University of Greenwich carries out leading research on the preparation, study and improvement of phosphors, which are widely used in electronic display and flat screen technology including TVs, computers, oscilloscopes and medical equipment such as X-ray screens. It is hoped that the research that led to this discovery may be extended to the investigation of fossil structures that have been attributed to previous life forms on Earth. Peer reviewed publication and references Search for Past Life on Mars: Possible relic biogenic activity in martian meteorite ALH84001, McKay et al published in Science on August 16 1996. The role of vaterite and aragonite in the formation of psuedo- biogenic carbonate structures: implications for martian exobiology, Vecht and Ireland published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, August 2000. Contacts: Mr. Nick Davison 0181 331 8092 dn05@gre.ac.uk Caron Jones Public Relations Unit 020-8331 8248 --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW SETI TELESCOPE SETI Institute release 1 August 2000 Technologists Paul G. Allen and Nathan P. Myhrvold announce $12.5 million in support for revolutionary new telescope to advance Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI); new instrument to be called Allen Telescope Array, will also advance other astronomical research. Investor and philanthropist Paul G. Allen and former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Nathan P. Myhrvold will fund the development phase of a new telescope that will be the world's most powerful instrument designed to seek out signals from civilizations elsewhere in our galaxy. Allen will provide $11.5 million and Myhrvold $1.0 million for a total gift of $12.5 million over three years. The announcement was made by the SETI Institute, the world's largest private organization conducting research to determine whether intelligent life exists beyond Earth. The Institute is a nonprofit organization based in California's Silicon Valley. Today's announcement follows the April unveiling of the first prototype of the telescope, which is being designed jointly by astronomers and engineers at the SETI Institute and the University of California-Berkeley. Announced last year under a working title that described its 10,000 square meter collecting area--the One Hectare Telescope--the project will be renamed the Allen Telescope Array. "For the first time in our history, we have the ability to pursue a scientifically and technologically sophisticated search for intelligent life beyond Earth at the same time we are doing traditional radio astronomy," said Allen, a long-time financial supporter of SETI and of scientific research in a variety of fields. "This new telescope will be the world's most powerful instrument for this search, and I am pleased to support its important work." The primary electronics laboratory to be built on site in support of the Allen Telescope Array will be named for Myhrvold. A long-time SETI advocate, Myhrvold was a member of the international 'blue ribbon' team of scientists and technologists engaged in a two-year strategic planning effort in the late 1990s from which the Allen Telescope Array concept emerged. "The Allen Telescope Array and associated laboratory are the latest steps in our exploration of the cosmos," said Myhrvold. "While the best scientific estimates tell us the probability of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe is fairly high, there is great uncertainty and some controversy in the calculation. One thing however, is beyond dispute. That is, if we don't continue supporting projects like the Allen Telescope Array, our chances of discovery will remain at zero. While it's impossible to predict exactly what we will find with a new scientific instrument, we should remember that interesting science is not just about the likelihood of end results--it is also about the serendipity that occurs along the way." "Paul and Nathan have understood from the beginning how exciting and groundbreaking this telescope could be," said Jill Tarter, director of SETI research at the Institute. "They have contributed time and ideas to our work, and now they are quite literally giving us the means to make it happen. We are overjoyed, and we're ready to move ahead." Scientists believe that radio waves, such as those commonly produced by a variety of technologies on Earth and traveling at light-speed through interstellar space, may offer the easiest way to detect evidence of a technologically sophisticated civilization elsewhere in our galaxy. With sufficient collecting area, it is possible to detect signals from a distant technology that are no more powerful than those produced on Earth today. Until now it was only practical to construct the collecting area for major radio telescopes as a single enormous dish, such as the 1,000- foot-diameter Arecibo Telescope, or as several large dishes whose electronic output is combined. The 27 dishes of the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico, for example, have about the same combined collecting area as a single 420-foot-diameter dish. Larger collecting areas are always desirable for SETI because they can detect fainter signals. The Allen Telescope Array will differ in practice, appearance and cost from optical and radio telescopes currently in use. It will be constructed using hundreds of mass produced small dishes. The telescope will incorporate innovative technologies and modern, miniaturized electronics in concert with large amounts of affordable computer processing. By doing so, it will be possible for the Allen Telescope Array examine up to a dozen SETI target stars simultaneously, and be sensitive to signals over a very wide range of frequencies. The Allen Telescope Array will also be a premium instrument for more traditional research in radio astronomy. Simultaneous with SETI observing, the electronic outputs from all the dishes can be combined to produce a high spatial resolution image of a large area on the sky. Again simultaneously, spectrometers or pulsar processors can study interstellar chemistry, the structure of galactic magnetic fields, or the physics of rotating neutron stars. "This is a win-win situation," said Tarter. "The Allen Telescope Array can be used by both radio astronomers and SETI scientists all the time." Under current plans, the Allen Telescope Array will be developed in two phases. The first phase began last year with the development of the prototype unveiled in April and will culminate with a second, larger prototype in early 2003, this one a true proof-of-concept that can conduct SETI and radio astronomy research. At that point, with all the new technologies proven, a second-stage technical and funding review will occur. On its current development and construction timeline, the Allen Telescope Array should be partially operational in 2004 and fully operational in 2005. Including the near-term research and development phase, the total estimated cost through construction of the Allen Telescope Array and support facilities is $26 million. The construction and operation site for the Allen Telescope Array will be the Hat Creek Observatory, located 290 miles northeast of San Francisco on a site operated by UC Berkeley's Radio Astronomy Laboratory. The Hat Creek Observatory is located in an area that is "radio quiet", thereby reducing for astronomers the level of interfering signals from man-made sources. While pursuing the science and technology development for the Allen Telescope Array, the SETI Institute will also focus on raising funds for hardware and software upgrades anticipated during the telescope's operation. Thomas Pierson, Chief Executive Officer for the SETI Institute, said an important goal is to provide long-term upgrade capability for the array. "The Allen Telescope Array can be improved constantly, at relatively low cost," Pierson said. "For instance, the telescope can be made more powerful by improving the software and incorporating new computing hardware, which continues to get better and less expensive. It can also be made more sensitive by adding more dishes to the array. "An important next step is to ensure our ability to maximize the Allen Telescope Array's capabilities in the decades to come, and that will require continued funding," Pierson added. To support the telescope's long-term operational capability, the SETI Institute announced that it is offering 'stakes' in the Allen Telescope Array through which individuals and organizations can join Allen and Myhrvold in the enterprise by naming individual telescope dishes in perpetuity for a contribution of $50,000. Stakeholders will be recognized with plaques placed at individual dishes, and in the proposed educational center to be built in conjunction with the Allen Telescope Array. Pierson reported that a dozen stakes have been committed to date. All project funding to date, including the support of Allen and Myhrvold, has been obtained under the direction of the SETI Institute. The Institute's Project Phoenix is currently the world's largest privately supported radio astronomy program, with an annual budget of more than $4 million. Project Phoenix and its scientists are widely held to be the models for much of the 1997 film Contact, starring Jodie Foster. Under the working title "One Hectare Telescope", the Allen Telescope Array is praised in the decadal "roadmap" for U.S. astronomy and astrophysics recently released by the National Academy of Sciences. In this document, which informs U.S. science policy in these fields, the telescope is described as an innovative approach to SETI that will also pioneer techniques that could be used in the development of future generations of telescopes. About the Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation The Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation supports a wide variety of charitable endeavors in the Pacific Northwest. The Foundation is dedicated to promoting the health and development of vulnerable populations and to strengthening families and communities. The Foundation invests in projects and programs that address social challenges and promote positive change. Past grant recipients have included YMCA of Greater Seattle, The American Red Cross, and Chicken Soup Brigade. Founded in 1988, The Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation is administered through Vulcan Northwest, Inc., of Bellevue, Washington. Images supporting this release are available at http://www.seti.org/general/ata_pr/index.htm. Contacts: Greg Klerkx, SETI Institute Office - (650) 961-6633 Mobile - (415) 816-2310 E-mail - gklerkx@seti.org Susan Pierson Brown, Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation Office - (425) 453-1940 E-mail - SusanP@vnw.com Shelby Barnes, Intellectual Ventures (for Nathan Myhrvold) Office - (425) 467-2303 E-mail - ShelbyB@intven.com An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/seti_funding_000801.h tml. --------------------------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR STUDENT EXPERIMENTS Communicated by Tom Dreschel 1 August 2000 Are you a student or teacher with an idea for an experiment to fly on the Space Shuttle? The Space Experiment Module Team needs your experiment ideas for a 2001 flight opportunity! SEM-09 is tentatively scheduled for STS-105 in June 2001. To be considered for SEM-09, an all-passive flight opportunity, proposals must be submitted by September 1, 2000. Please consider a SEM experiment proposal as soon as possible. For information, including the application process, check out the SEM web site at http://www.wff.nasa.gov/~sspp/sem/sem.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXOBIOLOGY AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 3 August 2000 Astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation articles online http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s1.html L. David, 2000. Microsoft founder to help finance SETI radio array. Space.com. G. V. Levin, 1999. Shed light, not heat on Mars. Space News, 10(18). G. V. Levin, 1999. Will NASA unwittingly confirm life on Mars? Space News, 10(46). J. Wilson, 1996. Listening for E.T. Popular Mechanics. J. Wilson, 1997. Water changes everything. Popular Mechanics. J. Wilson, 1999. Rediscovering life on Mars. Popular Mechanics. Articles on the biology of extreme environments (on Earth) http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s2.html G. Clark, 2000. Mars 'colony' arises in the arctic. Space.com. Articles on human space exploration and the microgravity environment http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s3.html J. Wilson, 1998. Bringing life to Mars. Popular Mechanics. --------------------------------------------------------------------- CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AND MISSION STATUS JPL releases 20-26 July 2000 On July 11, Cassini passed 1000 days of flight. The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone tracking station on Wednesday, 07/26. 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 this week include Magnetometer Subsystem (MAG) sensor offsets, Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) performance tests, Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) dark frames and calibration, the completion of the Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) functional test, and participation by CIRS, Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA), Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS), MAG, Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS), MIMI, Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (UVIS), VIMS and Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) in the quiet test. During the quiet test all the instruments are on and operating. Each instrument takes a turn running in its "nosiest" mode while the other instruments listen. Analysis will be performed to determine the impact on data collection. This information will be invaluable during tour when different combinations of instruments will be operating at different times. The Preliminary Sequence Integration and Validation Phase has begun for the Cruise sequence 22. An Orbiter Science Operations Working Team (OSOWT) telecon was held to continue the integration process for the last science sequence in the Jupiter Subphase, C25. The C25 sequence covers the period from Jupiter closest approach +72 days to +120 days. The Jupiter science observations will end on +82 days. The Project Briefing on C25 is scheduled for mid-August. The Command and Data System Team held a successful Software Requirements and Certification Review for Version V7.0_011 of the new CDS flight software. This software provides significant new capabilities in data processing and Solid State Recorder management. The development and test program satisfied all requirements for the delivery of the software. The ground activities that will uplink the new software and perform an in-flight checkout will begin next week. The remote terminal simulator (RTSIM) rack, part of the Integrated Test Laboratory (ITL) fidelity enhancement upgrade, was installed in the ITL. Integration and checkout activities are underway. A Delivery Coordination Meeting (DCM) was held this week for CSAS 5.0. Updates to the Kinematic Prediction Tool (KPT) and Inertial Vector Propagation (IVP) were delivered. The delivered version has been installed in the Verification and Validation (V&V) area for Spacecraft Office (SCO) system testing. A DCM was also held for Navigation (NAV) J2 software. This delivery augments the last delivery and provides a number of new capabilities for Cassini. System Engineering completed the final Post Jupiter Mission Planning/Science Planning Operations Concept and is in the process of distributing it. Over the last several months the Distributed Object Manager (DOM) Working Group (comprised of representatives from all the Cassini teams) has been designing upgrades to enhance the operability of the DOM for Cassini, and to allow for phasing out of the Central Database by September. These changes were implemented over the weekend. They focus around schema changes that allow publishing of Spacecraft, Planet, Instruments, C-matrix, and Events kernel (SPICE) files and the new Reaction Control Subsystem (RCS) Delta V file type created for Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem/Navigation (AACS/NAV), a separate volume for the publishing of extremely large Predicted Events File (PEF) files generated by Science Planning, and the modification of sequence identification fields and tables. Cassini Outreach made numerous presentations this week including two one-hour presentations of classroom activities at the teacher conference attached to the annual meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Universe 2000, and presentations to the Astronomical League annual convention, ALCON 2000. 2 August 2000 New flight software loaded last week on NASA's Cassini spacecraft, required for Cassini's main mission at Saturn, will also strengthen the craft's ability to study Jupiter when it swings past that planet later this year. Engineers had been preparing and testing the software upgrades since shortly after Cassini's launch in October 1997. The plan from the start was to transmit upgrades to onboard computers before Cassini reaches Saturn in 2004, said Dr. Earl Maize, manager of the mission's spacecraft operations office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. That plan allowed better use of time for software development without delaying the start of the long trip. "We get the right stuff done at the right time," Maize said. Mission leaders and scientists decided last year to add studies of Jupiter to Cassini's schedule. Cassini will be passing within about 10 million kilometers (about 6 million miles) of Jupiter in December to get a gravitational kick for reaching Saturn. By turning cameras and other instruments toward Jupiter and retrieving data from them, the mission is grabbing an opportunity for a pre-Saturn checkout of systems and operations. Science learned about Jupiter will be a bonus. In March and April of this year, mission controllers transmitted software upgrades for the attitude and articulation control subsystem computer. Among other benefits, those changes allow extremely stable positioning of the spacecraft with gyroscope-like reaction wheels, instead of just short bursts by thruster engines. That makes sharper imaging possible. A second batch of software upgrades was transmitted to Cassini July 28. This week, engineers are testing that software as it is loaded onto the command and data subsystem computer. It will allow simultaneous use of Cassini's two solid- state data recorders, plus other efficiencies in handling and transmitting scientific pictures and information. Using the recent upgrades during the Jupiter flyby will provide an additional checkout of the software in advance of the Saturn tour. The studies of Jupiter are also putting mission scientists and engineers through the process of planning and executing complex sequences of operations to share the craft's data-handling capabilities among the various instruments. The plans will be finished by August 20, said Brian Paczkowski, Cassini science planning manager. Observations of Jupiter will begin in early October and last into March. The images will be the first full-planet views of Jupiter returned from a nearby spacecraft since those taken in 1979 by two NASA Voyager missions, and Cassini has a higher-resolution imager than the Voyagers'. NASA's Galileo spacecraft, which has been orbiting Jupiter since late 1995, is too close to the planet for its camera to get a full-planet view. "There should be some spectacular images of Jupiter, with all its rings and bands and zones and storms," said Cassini Program Manager Bob Mitchell. Mission scientists are especially excited about the prospect for learning about interactions between the solar wind of ionized particles streaming away from the Sun and the magnetic field surrounding Jupiter. Cassini will be able to examine the solar wind approaching Jupiter while Galileo simultaneously measures changes from within the magnetic field. A few weeks later, Cassini will pass inside Jupiter's magnetic field while Galileo moves outside of it. The Cassini spacecraft remains in excellent health after earlier flybys of Venus and Earth, and passage through the asteroid belt. It is on course to begin orbiting Saturn on July 1, 2004. That will begin four years of studying the planet, its dramatic rings, its moons, and its magnetic and radiation environment. Cassini will also deliver the European Space Agency's Huygens probe to parachute to the surface of Saturn's moon Titan on November 27, 2004. The mission is a joint endeavor of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, which provided the main antenna and some other hardware components. It is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is operated for NASA by the California Institute of Technology. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 31 July - 6 August 2000 Galileo continues outbound from the heart of the Jupiter system, on the longest and largest orbit since its arrival at Jupiter in December 1995. The spacecraft passes apojove, the farthest point from Jupiter in a given orbit, in just over a month on September 8, 2000. At apojove, the spacecraft will be 290 Jupiter radii (20.7 million kilometers, or 12.9 million miles) from Jupiter. The first week of August finds Galileo playing back science data that were acquired by the spacecraft during its May flyby of Ganymede. Ganymede is the only planetary moon that is known to have its own internally-generated magnetic field. Four observations are processed, packaged and transmitted to Earth this week. Playback is interrupted on Thursday to allow the spacecraft to perform standard maintenance on its propulsion systems. Throughout the week, the Fields and Particles instruments continue to return portions of a 60-minute high-resolution recording of the plasma, dust, and electric and magnetic fields surrounding Ganymede. Ganymede's internally-generated magnetic field also provides the moon with a magnetosphere, or region of space in which Ganymede's magnetic field is stronger than the surrounding magnetic field of Jupiter. With the data obtained via this observation, scientists hope to obtain a far more complete understanding of how the magnetic field lines and magnetospheres of Ganymede and Jupiter interact with one another. Galileo's Solid-State Imaging camera returns the week's remaining three observations. These observations are designed to provide scientists with clues to help them decipher how different features and terrains came to exist on Ganymede's surface. The first observation looks at a transition region between bright and dark terrain. Another mosaic contains pristine dark terrain, believed to be the oldest type of terrain on Ganymede. The last observation returned this week captures a region of smooth bright terrain containing bands with a smooth, "plank-like" appearance. 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 REPORTS JSC releases 25 July 2000 The newest component for the ever-growing International Space Station, the Russian Zvezda Service Module, successfully linked up with the fledgling complex this evening as the two craft flew high over the northeast portion of Kazakhstan marking the arrival of the first living quarters for the permanent human habitation of the new outpost. With the ISS' Zarya Control Module operating as the active vehicle, the two craft gently docked at 7:45 PM Central Time (4:45 AM Moscow time on July 26), two weeks after Zvezda rocketed into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Zarya's jets controlled the final minutes of the approach for docking, as the ISS closed on Zvezda at a glacial rate of two-tenths of a meter per second. Within minutes, hooks and latches on both sides of the docking interface between Zvezda and Zarya began to engage one another to form a tight seal between the two vehicles. The ISS had become a far larger complex at the moment of docking, now spanning 119 feet in length, or the size of an 11-story building. The ISS now weighs almost 60 tons. Immediately after docking, the solar arrays on Zvezda, which had been locked "edge on" to prevent any impingement from Zarya's jet thrusters, began articulating again to follow the sun and Zarya's Motion Control System was deactivated. Upon command from Russian flight controllers, a valve in Zvezda will be opened to pressurize the vestibule, or passageway, between the two modules. On Sunday, U.S. time, flight controllers in Korolev will begin the critical transfer of commanding and attitude control of the ISS from Zarya's computers to those on Zvezda, part of the command and telemetry system in the Service Module supplied by the European Space Agency. With tonight's successful docking, technicians at Baikonur were scheduled to begin fueling the first Progress resupply vehicle for the ISS, which is scheduled for launch on a Soyuz rocket on August 6. That Progress, carrying supplies for the first Expedition crew, is earmarked for docking to the ISS on August 8. 31 July 2000 The night sky's third brightest object--the International Space Station--now is under computer control from its newest addition, the Zvezda service module, following a "handover" of that responsibility this weekend from the Zarya control module. Zvezda now is handling all attitude maneuvers of the 60-ton complex through its own Motion Control System following the automatic docking last Tuesday night. Since then, leak checks have been performed verifying a tight seal between Zarya and Zvezda. Additionally, commanding through the Unity node's early communications system was transferred to Zvezda as well, meaning that equipment can be powered via ground commands sent from Moscow, through Houston and up to the station. Russian ground stations continue to serve as the primary method of sending commands and receiving data from the ISS. Prior to the transition of computer control, Zvezda's three computers were rebooted to allow them to synchronize properly before the formal swap. The remainder of this week will see flight controllers oversee routine battery cycling aboard Zarya and an automatic docking system test in preparation for the arrival of the Progress supply vehicle being readied for launch on Sunday. The Progress, in final processing at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, will ride to orbit on a Soyuz rocket with liftoff tentatively scheduled for 2:30 PM Eastern Time on August 6. At present, docking is scheduled for 3:46 on the afternoon of August 8. NASA TV will cover the docking live, but not the launch. At just under 120 feet in length, and a wingspan of 95 feet (Zvezda's solar arrays), the ISS when visible is the third brightest object crossing the night sky. Only the Moon and Venus shine brighter. Check the spaceflight web site to see when the ISS is visible in your area by visiting http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/. For updates on all aspects of the goings on in the world of human spaceflight, visit http://spaceflight.nasa.gov. The next Mission Control Center status report will be issued on Monday, August 7, with a Progress hopefully on its way carrying supplies and logistics that will be used by the first expedition crew to live on the complex. For more information, call the Johnson Space Center Newsroom at 281/483-5111. Additional articles on this subject are available at http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/08/01/iss.update/index.html http://www.spaceviews.com/2000/08/01a.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS REPORT JPL release 26 July 2000 Launch / Days since Launch = Nov. 7, 1996 / 1358 days Start of Mapping / Days since Start of Mapping = April 1, 1999 / 482 days Total Mapping Orbits = 6189 Total Orbits = 7792 Recent events The spacecraft continues to operate nominally in performing the beta- supplement daily recording and transmission of science data. The mm054 sequence executed successfully from 00-202 (7/20/00) through 00-204 (7/22/00). The mm055 sequence has performed well since it started on 00-205 (7/23/00). It terminates on 00-208 (7/26/00). The mm056 sequence, successfully uplinked on 00-207 (7/25/00), begins executing on 00-209 (7/27/00). Spacecraft health All subsystems report nominal health. Uplinks There have been 13 uplinks to the spacecraft during the last week, including new star catalogs and ephemeris files, instrument command loads, and the background sequences cited above. On 00-203 (7/21/00) we successfully demonstrated the capability to perform uplinks using the new DSS-14 X-band transmitter. There have been 4752 command files radiated to the spacecraft since launch. Upcoming events The mm057 background sequence will be uplinked 00-210 (7/28/00). The MOLA will be turned-on on 00-214 (8/1/00). Radio Science Occultation Egress Scans will take place 00-221 (8/8/00) and 00-222 (8/9/00). --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES By Ron Baalke 26 July, 1 August 2000 The following new images were taken by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft: Frosted North Polar Sand Dunes in Early Spring Sirenum Fossae Trough The images reside on the Mars Global Surveyor web site at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/index.html The image captions are appended below. Mars Global Surveyor was launched in November 1996 and has been in Mars orbit since September 1997. It began its primary mapping mission on March 8, 1999. Mars Global Surveyor is the first mission in a long-term program of Mars exploration known as the Mars Surveyor Program that is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) 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. Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Frosted North Polar Sand Dunes in Early Spring MGS MOC Release #MOC2-247, 26 July 2000 Another spring has "sprung" in the northern hemisphere of Mars! Northern spring began in June 2000, and as we approach August 2000, sunlight is now illuminating most of the north polar cap each day. This is the second northern spring that MOC has viewed--we've now seen, in selected areas, a full Mars year of atmospheric and surface conditions. Although the pictures do not cover the exact same area, pictures from exactly two Earth years ago (26 July 1998) show very similar features in the north circum-polar dune field (see Spring Time View of North Polar Sand Dunes). At this time, frost left over from the recent winter is slowly subliming away to expose underlying northern plains and sand dune surfaces. The picture above shows a frost-covered portion of the vast dune fields that surround the north polar cap as they appeared on July 22, 2000. In summer, the dunes are dark, but in winter and early spring they are covered with bright frost. Small dark spots and streaks indicate areas where the frost has begun to disappear. This Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera image covers an area 2.3 km (1.4 mi) wide by 7.7 km (4.8 mi) long near 78°N, 107°W and is illuminated from the lower left. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems. Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Sirenum Fossae Trough MGS MOC Release #MOC2-248, 1 August 2000 The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) orbits the red planet twelve times each day. The number of pictures that MOC can take varies from orbit to orbit, depending upon whether the data are being stored in MGS's onboard tape recorder for playback at a later time, or whether the data are being sent directly back to Earth via a real-time radio link. More data can be acquired during orbits with real-time downlink. During real-time orbits, the MOC team often will take a few random or semi-random pictures in between the carefully selected, hand-targeted images. On rare occasions, one of these random pictures will surprise the MOC team. The picture shown here is an excellent example, because the high-resolution view (on the left, above) is centered so nicely on a trough and an adjacent, shallow crater that it is as if someone very carefully selected the target for MOC. The high-resolution view covers an area only 1.1 km (0.7 mi) wide by 2.3 km (1.4 mi) long. Hitting a target such as this with such a small image is very difficult to do, on purpose, because there are small uncertainties in the predicted orbit, the maps used to select targets, and the minor adjustments of spacecraft pointing at any given moment. Nevertheless, a very impressive image was received. The high-resolution view crosses one of the troughs of the Sirenum Fossae near 31.2°S, 152.3°W. The context image (above, right) was acquired at the same time as the high-resolution view on July 23, 2000. The small white box shows the location of the high- resolution picture. The lines running diagonally across the context image from upper right toward lower left are the Sirenum Fossae troughs, formed by faults that are radial to the volcanic region of Tharsis. Both pictures are illuminated from the upper left. The scene shows part of the martian southern hemisphere in early autumn. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems. --------------------------------------------------------------------- STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release 28 July 2000 There was one Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking pass during the past week. All subsystems onboard the spacecraft are performing normally. The checkout of the Navigation Camera (NAVCMA) Charge Couple Device (CCD) was successfully performed. This checkout turned the heater on for 40 minutes and the thermal profile was compared against predicts. The CCD temperature rose nearly 20 degrees (C). Also, there was a 4 degree rise in temperature detected in front of the primary optics by the mirror. The current plan is to turn on the heater two hours before the start of the first DSN pass in August. The heater will then be left on for a week with calibration images taken periodically. Based on the heater checkout, the CCD temperature will not exceed its flight allowable value. During Stardust's next aphelion in April 2002 the predicted power margin will be minimal as expected. In order to determine the actual power consumption while still away from the Sun (1.8 AU), a test of the spacecraft's aphelion configuration was started on Tuesday. This test included powering off the Cometary Interplanetary Dust Analyzer (CIDA), placing CIDA's heaters in their non-operational set-points, and changing the CPU speed to 10 MHz. During the non-contact period, power and thermal data will be collected every minute and recorded for playback during the next DSN pass. The spacecraft was then returned to its current cruise configuration. The Deputy Project Manager, Tom Duxbury, gave a solicited oral presentation on Stardust to start the 33rd COSPAR Science Assembly session on Small Body Exploration in Warsaw, Poland. Plans were made to include a special session on Comet Wild 2 in the 2002 COSPAR meeting, bringing together the world cometary experts to discuss the latest observations, modeling and data analyses. New understandings of Comet Wild 2 of its size, brightness, albedo, rotational state, dust and gas production, etc. will be factor into the Wild 2 encounter operations planning. A science presentation to JPL was given by the Camera Team Lead, Ray Newburn, in von Karman auditorium with excellent lab participation. A NASA Teachers Workshop was supported at JPL and two Web Chats were held in support of the NASA/JPL Ambassadors Program. 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 30.