MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 7, Number 34, 11 September 2000. Editors: Dr. David J. Thomas, Math and Science 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) A PRIMORDIAL EARTH IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM? By Julian A. Hiscox 2) SETI@HOME SOLDIERS ONWARD By Mark Schrope 3) CU SET TO FLY BIOMEDICAL EXPERIMENTS ON SEPTEMBER SPACE SHUTTLE FLIGHT University of Colorado-Boulder release 4) BUILDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR MARTIAN EXPLORATION By Bruce Moomaw 5) EAT YOUR SPACE GREENS--BROCCOLI IS JUST THE THING TO KEEP ASTRONAUTS' BONES HEALTHY By Anil Ananthaswamy 6) UC IRVINE MOLECULAR BIOLOGIST LEADS NASA EXPERIMENT TO GROW PROTEIN CRYSTAL IN SPACE University of California-Irvine release 7) MARS BARS FOR THE MILKY WAY--PROFESSOR DICK KIEFER LEADS THE WAY IN MARS-FRIENDLY BUILDING MATERIALS By Megan Rhyne 8) SHUTTLE LAUNCH BEGINS NEW ODYSSEY IN HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT; MOVING DAY FOR INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION NASA release 00-136 9) STUDENTS SEND SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS TO SPACE By Paul Hoversten 10) PROTECTING THE EARTH By Paul Hoversten 11) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXOBIOLOGY AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 12) CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS JPL release 13) THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 14) STARDUST STATUS REPORTS JPL releases --------------------------------------------------------------------- A PRIMORDIAL EARTH IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM? By Julian A. Hiscox August 2000 The decade from 1971 to 1980 was characterized by a phenomenal increase in our knowledge and perception of the solar system. Our robotic emissaries visited all of the planets known to the ancients. Arguably some of the most exciting and unexpected results were obtained from the reconnaissance of Jupiter and Saturn. Beginning with Pioneers 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 returned a wealth of data, highlighting the extraordinary variety manifested by the satellites of Jupiter and Saturn. Ranging from the sulfur volcanoes on Io to the possibility that Europa has a liquid water interior to the cold methane and nitrogen atmosphere of Titan. Building upon the exciting discoveries of these first explorers, NASA sent the Galileo orbiter (and descent probe) to Jupiter, which has perhaps revolutionized our thinking on the possibility of life outside of the habitable zone. The next target for deep space exploration is the Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan respectively. Sadly perhaps, this represents the last of NASA’s big budget space missions. However, ESA has a large stake in this mission, being in the most part, responsible for the Huygens entry probe. What is so exciting about Titan and why is it important to devote a large fraction of resources of a mission to study it? Titan in the pre-space age In 1655 the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens (1629-95) discovered the rings of Saturn through a telescope of his own design. (In his lifetime he also invented the pendulum clock and the first accurate time-keeping device, his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, time measurement and the theory of light are considered fundamental). In the same year, Huygens also discovered Titan and determined its period of revolution. However, the moon wasn’t named until almost two centuries later when Sir John Herschel (discoverer of Uranus) assigned names to the seven moons of Saturn that were known at that time. The name Titan was well chosen, as Herschel knew only that Titan was the brightest moon of Saturn. Since then it has proved to be the largest. Indeed, the moon is larger than Mercury, but smaller than Mars. However, measurements by Voyager 1 show that it does not quite hold the record as the solar system’s largest moon. Jupiter’s moon Ganymede has a radius of 2,640 kilometers, whereas the solid body of Titan (excluding the atmosphere) has a radius of 2,575 kilometers. About the time Percival Lowell was proposing canals on Mars, the Catalan astronomer José Comas Solá, inferred the presence of an atmosphere on Titan. Solá reported that he observed that Titan was darker at its limb than it was at its center. He suggested that the mechanism for this was sunlight reflected toward the Earth by Titan’s limb must pass through more of Titan’s atmosphere than sunlight reflected by the center. Solá’s observations led Sir James Jeans to include Titan and giant moons of Jupiter in his theoretical study of the escape of atmospheres from the bodies of the solar system. Jeans hypothesized that even though the gravity on Titan was weak compared to the Earth. Titan nevertheless probably retained an atmosphere due to its low temperature. This lead to the prediction that the temperature of Titan must be between 60 and 100 Kelvin (273 K = 0oC), which would imply that a gaseous substance whose molecular weight is 16 or more should not have escaped from Titan over the history of the solar system. (Molecular hydrogen (H2) has a molecular weight of two; molecular oxygen (O2) has a molecular weight of 32]. Several substances satisfy Jean’s limit on weight. These include argon, neon, molecular nitrogen (N2) and methane (CH4). In 1944 the legendary planetary scientist Gerald P. Kuiper, of the University of Chicago, identified methane in the spectrum of Titan – the first strong evidence that Titan had an atmosphere. Subsequent observations by radar, telescopes and laboratory modeling painted varied pictures of Titan. For example, based upon previous work, John J. Caldwell of Princeton University, suggested that the atmosphere of Titan was 90% methane with a surface pressure of 20 millibars (1000 millibars is roughly the atmospheric pressure at sea level on the Earth) and a surface temperature of 86 K. Alternatively, based upon radio measurements, Donald M. Hunten of the University of Arizona proposed that Titan could have an atmosphere of molecular hydrogen at 20 bars and a surface temperature of 200 K. A middle ground was reached when Walter J. Jaffe and Tobias Owen observed Titan with the Very Large Array of radio telescopes situated in New Mexico. They found that Titan had a surface temperature of 87 K and that it could have a significant atmosphere with the caveat that nitrogen provided no more than two bars. Titan - post Voyager On 12 November 1980, Voyager 1 passed within 7,000 kilometers of Titan. The encounter was made at a cost--Voyager 1 would not be able to use Saturn’s gravity to sling shot it on to Uranus and Neptune. However, the gamble was worth it. Data were gathered and interpreted from a myriad of different instruments, including the cameras, and an ultraviolet spectrophotometer. The combination of this data revealed a moon that had an atmosphere like the early Earth--rich in nitrogen, argon, methane, and hydrogen, at a pressure of 1.5 bars. Not only that, but the surface gravity of Titan is only 0.14 times as strong as the surface gravity of the Earth. This implies that there is 10 times as much gas at the surface of Titan than the Earth. Several more exotic gases were identified, including hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and several hydrocarbons, such as propane (C3H8) and cyanoacetylene (HC3N). Like the Earth, Titan has a greenhouse-warmed climate. Titan's greenhouse is powered by sunlight, like Earth's, but sustained by different gases: methane, hydrogen and nitrogen. Because these gases are part of the cycle of organic chemistry, the stability of Titan's climate is tied to this chemistry. In particular, methane is being steadily depleted over time. If it is not replenished, or replenished only irregularly, Titan's atmosphere may occasionally thin and cool down as methane's greenhouse contribution is lost. In contrast, little is known about the surface of Titan. The camera of Voyager 1 could not penetrate the organic haze. We only have hints of the surface from Earth-based radar and from images taken by Hubble and specially adapted telescopes on the ground. Titan may have a methane sea. However such methane, transported hundreds of miles above the surface of this world, might be cracked open by sunlight and cosmic rays. A menagerie of more complicated organics would be produced, and these would float down to the surface and accumulate over time, a thick carbon soup might have formed. By looking beyond the wavelengths of visible light, to the infrared, the Hubble space telescope can see through the haze and glimpse the surface. The resulting map of bright and dark terrain is crude, because Titan lies a billion miles beyond Hubble. We do not know what the bright and dark areas mean. Are the bright parts water ice plateaus thrust above lowlands darkened by solid and liquid organic molecules? The next step ESA's Huygens, a robotic probe, is part of a joint NASA/ESA mission to Saturn and its largest moon Titan. Launched 15 October 1997, from Cape Canaveral, Space launch Complex 40, aboard a Titan IVB-Centaur, the probe will require four gravity assists to research its final destination. In 2004 NASA's Cassini orbiter will deliver Huygens to Titan, and relay the Probe's signals to the Earth. The Orbiter will go on to spend the next four years examining Saturn and its rings and moons, including thirty passes over Titan. The mission is international in nature. On-the-spot information from Huygens, providing a “ground truth” will help in interpreting the Orbiter's more global observations of Titan, to be made with five different remote-sensing instruments using visible, ultraviolet and infrared light, as well as radar. Titan and life We have no clear understanding of the composition of the atmosphere on early Earth--which is important to understanding the origin of life. What we need is a world that retained some of those hydrogen-rich gases, and where the organic building blocks of life are being synthesised in our own era. These processes may occur on Titan. However, being so far from the Sun, the temperature of the moon is around 93 K. Although, such low temperatures are an advantage, because when compounds are made in the atmosphere, they are preserved for a long time. Carl Sagan and his colleagues at Cornell University have shown that when gases thought to compose the atmosphere of primitive Earth are “sparked” after 10 minutes a strange brown pigment is formed. Gradually the interior of the vessel became covered by a thick brown tar-like substance, which they called tholin. Analysis of tholin showed that it consisted of a rich collection of organic molecules, including the constituents of proteins (such as amino acids) and nucleic acids. Sagan used this apparatus to demonstrate that tholins may also be present in comets and also on Titan. A number of years ago, Carol Stoker, a planetary scientist at NASA Ames Laboratory, showed that bacteria could grow on such material. However, Titan is almost certainly not the home of terrestrial life today. The temperature is way too cold. But its organic chemical cycles may constitute a natural laboratory for replaying some of the steps leading to the origin of life. Titan is in some ways the closest analogue to the Earth's environment before life began. This is one of the main reasons for sending the Huygens Probe to Titan. The examination of comets, as in ESA's Giotto and Rosetta missions, reveals quite complicated carbon molecules available in cosmic space. Delivery by comets is thought to be one of the major mechanisms for seeding the primordial Earth both with the building blocks of life, but also with water. By identifying the compounds that are synthesized on Titan, the Huygens Probe may go along way to helping to provide answers, or lead to better defined questions, for solving the origin of life on Earth. Contact: Dr. Julian A. Hiscox School of Animal and Microbial Sciences University of Reading j.a.hiscox@reading.ac.uk --------------------------------------------------------------------- SETI@HOME SOLDIERS ONWARD By Mark Schrope From Space.com 31 August 2000 Since its official launch over a year ago, the SETI@Home project has detected tens of thousands of potentially interesting radio signals from space with the help of more than two million volunteers. Alas, no definitive signs of extraterrestrial intelligence have yet been found, but not all of that data has been fully analyzed, and results are still pouring in. If ET is calling us and the program finds the signal, the participant whose computer hit the cosmological lotto would not even know that they had just contributed to one of the most monumental scientific discoveries in history--at least not at first. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_update_000831.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- CU SET TO FLY BIOMEDICAL EXPERIMENTS ON SEPTEMBER SPACE SHUTTLE FLIGHT University of Colorado-Boulder release 1 September 2000 University of Colorado at Boulder researchers will test the effects of low gravity on two biomedical experiments aboard the upcoming flight of NASA's space shuttle Atlantis, now slated for liftoff September 8 from Cape [Canaveral], FL to the International Space Station. One experiment will study the effects of space flight on the neural development in various larval stages of the common fruit fly, which should provide scientists with new insight on how gravity affects nerve growth and development. The experiment, which is being flown for Yale University and NASA Ames Research Center scientists by the CU-headquartered BioServe Space Technologies Center, also should provide a better understanding of the nervous system and its connections to muscle fibers. Co-sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, the experiment will be flown in a device developed by BioServe known as the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus, or CGBA, said BioServe Director Louis Stodieck. Evolving versions of the suitcase-sized CGBA have supported dozens of agricultural, biomedical and biotechnology experiments in thousands of customized test tubes on NASA shuttle missions in the past decade. The seven Atlantis crewmembers will spend a week docked to the space station, unloading more than a ton of equipment and supplies from the shuttle and from a docked Russian cargo craft. BioServe's experiments will return to Earth on Atlantis on September 19. In the fruit fly experiment, larvae in differing stages of development will be placed inside Petri dishes in the CGBA modules. Fluorescent genes known as “reporter genes” will be injected into the larvae prior to flight, making their nervous systems glow, said Stodieck, also an associate research professor in the aerospace engineering department. “When these larvae are put under a microscope, their entire neural systems light up.” The CGBA will keep the fly larvae at 53° Fahrenheit during the beginning of the 11-day flight, then warm them to 65° to speed up neural development. After the neural systems have developed to desired stages, the larvae will be automatically re-cooled by the automated hardware. “This provides a full sequence of their neural development, allowing researchers to see nerve cell-muscle processes interactions,” said Stodieck. BioServe is a NASA Commercial Space Center established in 1987 at CU- Boulder in collaboration with Kansas State University to develop new or improved products through space life-science research in partnership with industry, academia and government. Bioserve payloads have been launched on 17 NASA space shuttles since 1991, have twice ridden on Russia's Mir Space Station, and are expected to have a permanent presence on the International Space Station beginning in 2001. BioServe also will be using the Atlantis flight for a follow-up experiment from a previous microgravity experiment to demonstrate interactions in the gene expression in kidney cells in low gravity. The kidney-cell experiment is a collaboration between BioServe and Tulane University. Both the kidney cell experiment and the fruit fly experiment are sponsored through the Fundamental Biology Program at NASA-Ames. Cells grown in the suspension of space form three-dimensional tissues similar to their counterparts in intact, living organs, said David Klaus, BioServe's associate director for research. “Kidney cells on Earth tend to fall to the bottom of culture dishes and form a flat surface,” said Klaus, also aerospace research faculty member. "But in space they are suspended throughout the culture, allowing them to aggregate and communicate more naturally with each other." Tulane researchers want to better understand gene expression in space-cultured kidney cells and develop new applications related to tissue engineering, said Klaus. They particularly are interested in trying to increase the amount of Vitamin D naturally produced by kidney cells, which helps maintain calcium and phosphate levels in human blood. A sophisticated container known as an Isothermal Containment Module developed by BioServe will automatically heat the kidney cell samples to the normal human body temperature of 98.6 degrees F. Samples will be drawn from the cell cultures and a preservative automatically added at a predetermined time in orbit. After the flight, the samples will be analyzed for changes in gene expression that occurred during the mission. Research on the International Space Station will begin next spring after the laboratory module and a permanent crew is in place. The station will provide low-gravity conditions for months on end for experiments designed by students, researchers and faculty, said Stodieck. A shuttle experiment conducted in collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute in 1998, for example--which showed the production of the antibiotic actinomycin D was significantly higher in space--will likely fly next April on the space station, Klaus said. Contacts: Louis Stodieck, 303-492-4010 David Klaus, 303-492-3525 Jim Scott, 303-492-3114 An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/microgravity-00a.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- BUILDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR MARTIAN EXPLORATION By Bruce Moomaw From SpaceDaily 5 September 2000 NASA is tentatively scheduled to announce its radically redesigned program for Mars exploration in October--and in preparation for this, they are accepting mission concept proposals from industry... ...As [David Paige] pointed out, for about a decade before the (possibly premature) announcement of evidence of fossil microbes in Mars meteorite ALH84001 in 1996 and NASA's resulting sudden decision to try for a quick sample return, one agency study after another had emphasized the importance of a "stairstep" approach, consisting of the following: Phase 1--Global reconnaissance, focusing on the past and present role of water, and the identification of sites for future detailed study. Phase 2--In-situ exploration of promising sites, focusing on describing their geologic, mineralogic, elemental, and isotopic characteristics, as well as the abundance and distribution of volatile species and organic molecules. Phase 3--Deployment of exobiologically-focused experiments, to provide detailed characterizations of the population of organic compounds, and to search for [fossil] biomarkers of formerly living organisms, and extant [still-existing] life. Phase 4--Robotic return of martian samples to earth, to improve the characterization of organic compounds, and to verify any evidence for biomarkers and extant life discovered in Phase 3. Phase 5--Human mission, providing detailed scientific characterization of sites of unusual biologic interest, or sites that are inaccessible to robotic exploration. After the 1996 change in strategy, "the incorrect notion that Mars exploration might be quicker and easier than thought previously [which was also fed by overconfidence after the spectacular 1997 success of Pathfinder] led to a certain degree of impatience with the orderly process of scientific exploration that had been advocated previously. Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-general- 00l.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- EAT YOUR SPACE GREENS--BROCCOLI IS JUST THE THING TO KEEP ASTRONAUTS' BONES HEALTHY By Anil Ananthaswamy From New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com 6 September 2000 If People are ever to reach Mars or other planets, they had better take some broccoli plants with them. French researchers have found that a deficiency of vitamin K--which is particularly abundant in broccoli--may contribute to bone loss in astronauts. Scientists have known that bone loss occurs in space, but the reasons have been unclear (New Scientist, 15 July, p 22). To try to understand the mechanism, a team from the Jean Monnet University at Saint-Etienne studied the biochemical markers of bone formation in the blood and urine of two cosmonauts on separate Mir space missions. An important bone growth marker is osteocalcin, a protein that helps build bone. Osteocalcin needs vitamin K to undergo a process called carboxylation, which makes it bind to the mineral portion of the bone, causing bone growth. Vitamin K supplements have been shown to increase the carboxylation of osteocalcin, and reduce bone loss in post-menopausal women. Under-carboxylated osteocalcin (uOC) cannot bind to bone and cause it to grow, so an increase of uOC levels in the blood gave the French team a useful marker. The two Mir cosmonauts showed dramatic increases in uOC within three to four days of being in microgravity. “We were very surprised. We thought the body has some stocks of carboxylated osteocalcin. Apparently this is not the case,” says team member Marie-Hélène Lafage-Proust. One cosmonaut was given vitamin K supplements during part of a 180- day space mission. Before taking the vitamin, his uOC levels were high compared with pre-flight levels, highlighting the effects of microgravity. But daily doses of vitamin K slashed the amount of uOC in his blood to less than half the previous level, close to pre- flight levels. Once the vitamin doses ceased, the uOC climbed back up again and remained high for the rest of the mission. “The fact that vitamin K restored normal levels of under-carboxylated osteocalcin proves that there is a lack of the vitamin in astronauts. We don't know if there is a lack of vitamin K in the food, or if the metabolism of vitamin K is impaired,” says Lafage-Proust. Their next step is to measure the effect of vitamin K metabolism on bone loss using microgravity simulations. Benny Elmann-Larsen, a physiologist at the European Space Agency in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, thinks the research is very valuable. “If it can be demonstrated that vitamin K plays a role in the maintenance of bone mineral density, then it's a very important finding,” he says. Linda Shackelford, head of the Bone Lab at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, points out that bone loss in space is also related to the lack of mechanical loading on bones. “But it's very important that we address all the possible mechanisms that contribute to bone loss,” she says. Source: Clinical Chemistry, 46:1136; New Scientist issue 9th September 2000. Contact: Claire Bowles New Scientist Press Office, London +44(0)20-7331-2751 email claire.bowles@rbi.co.uk --------------------------------------------------------------------- UC IRVINE MOLECULAR BIOLOGIST LEADS NASA EXPERIMENT TO GROW PROTEIN CRYSTAL IN SPACE University of California-Irvine release 7 September 2000 Led by UC Irvine molecular biologist Alexander McPherson, a new National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) project to grow protein crystals on the International Space Station takes off tomorrow when the Space Shuttle Atlantis travels to the unique orbiting laboratory. In addition, as part of a NASA pilot education program, middle and high school students from Alabama, California, Florida and Tennessee gave NASA a helping hand. Working in university research labs with McPherson and other scientists from NASA's Microgravity Research Program at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, the students prepared about 150 of 500 biological samples engineered to produce protein crystals in the low-gravity environment of space. Many of the participating students from the Southeastern states will have the added thrill of watching the Shuttle launch. “Having students participate in the first Space Station experiment is a great way to teach them biochemistry and show them how our first permanent outpost in space can be used for research,” said McPherson, a UCI professor of molecular biology and biochemistry. McPherson has been a leader of NASA-sponsored crystallization projects since 1984 and received NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1999. He has published numerous journal articles describing crystals grown on the Space Shuttle and the Russian space station Mir. Recently, McPherson received NASA contracts totaling $14 million to build two new protein crystal growth systems for use on the Space Station. Just before Friday morning's Shuttle launch at the Kennedy Space Center, scientists will place the samples in a crystal growth system called an enhanced gaseous nitrogen Dewar--a vacuum-jacketed container, similar to a large thermos bottle, with an absorbent inner liner saturated with liquid nitrogen. The Dewar will be placed in the Space Station where crystals will slowly form for several weeks. When the Shuttle returns to the Station in October, the Dewar will be brought back to Earth where scientists will retrieve and analyze the crystals to determine the structure of biological molecules. The process of protein crystallization is an important first step in understanding the structures of these chemical compounds found in all living cells. Information gathered from protein crystals ultimately can be used to design new drugs to treat conditions such as cancer and immune system disorders and to develop agricultural products such as nutritionally enhanced foods. “Growth and analysis of protein crystals have become lynchpins of biotechnology and modern molecular biology,” McPherson said. "Understanding the physical principles of the process and harnessing its potential will be an important focus of research on the International Space Station. Ultimately, what we learn about growing crystals in microgravity will improve the applications of that process in laboratories on Earth.” Protein crystals can be grown on Earth, but gravity introduces defects as they develop. However, in the low-gravity atmosphere of space, scientists can grow larger, higher-quality crystals that can produce more exact images of the proteins. Images are available at: www.communications.uci.edu/00releases/041tvfigindex.html www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/news/photos/2000/photos00-255.htm Contact: Tom Vasich 949-824-6455 tmvasich@uci.edu An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/microgravity-00b.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS BARS FOR THE MILKY WAY--PROFESSOR DICK KIEFER LEADS THE WAY IN MARS-FRIENDLY BUILDING MATERIALS By Megan Rhyne College of William and Mary release 7 September 2000 After 35 years of dedicated service to the College, countless lectures, hundreds of student-teacher conferences and scores of faculty meetings, it's all come down to this for Professor of Chemistry Richard Kiefer: chocolate candy. Candy bars to be specific, and a particular brand to be exact--Mars Bars. With human exploration of Mars within reach, Kiefer, in conjunction with Sheila Thibeault of the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, has been developing materials that future travelers will use for protection against the harsh radiation that bombards the Red Planet. Kiefer's former and current students have joined in, working to find just the right mixture of soil, similar to what would be found on Mars' surface, and polyethylene--the common polymer found in plastic shopping bags--to mold, heat and press into smooth, dark gray building blocks. Based on the appearance of the prototypes, Kiefer's innovation could more accurately be called Mars tiles, but the moniker Mars Bars, coined by someone in the Office of External Affairs at NASA, has stuck. A radio station in Charlottesville was the first to be captivated. The aunt of the student currently involved in the project, senior Ryan McGlothlin, passed on news of her nephew's work to the producers of “With Good Reason,” which recorded a show. The Virginia Associated Press got wind of the story and sent out a wire article that was picked up by state newspapers. But that's not all. The story wound up on ABC's Web site, where someone with the Oak Ridge (Tennessee) National Laboratory read it and contacted Kiefer to “start a dialogue.” Kiefer met with a crew from SAT.1, a German television station, on August 24, once and for all confirming that Kieferís work has local, national, international and galactic appeal. Kiefer himself is rather amused at all the attention Mars Bars are receiving. Undoubtedly, it is the most notoriety the mild-mannered professor's research has garnered. It is not necessarily the most significant, or practical, however, or even the only collaboration in which he and NASA are involved. Combating atomic oxygen is one such ongoing project. When the space shuttle or the international space station orbits the earth, it is bombarded by atomic oxygen. Atomic oxygen reacts so readily with materials that the tubes linking sections of the space station would erode to half their normal strength over a 10-year period if not protected. Kiefer and his students have been putting additives into polymers to make them resistant to erosion by atomic oxygen. These additives work by interacting with atomic oxygen to form a protective coating that prevents further erosion. Next June, samples of these materials will be sent to the international space station for a one- year exposure to test their effectiveness. But for now the attention is on the Mars Bars. Like any good cook, Kiefer and McGlothlin will have to figure out the right ratio of components to produce bricks with the optimum properties. They'll also have to determine whether a mortar made from the same soil can be created to connect the bricks. “We're still at the stage of feasibility,” says Kiefer. “What happens when you stack several bricks on top of each other? Will they crumble? Then the next thing is to ask if it's feasible to take that much material with you into space, and if so, how?” Until that time comes, and earthlings become martians, Kiefer will keep studying these questions. He'll keep introducing his students to the NASA scientists and driving them down to the NASA labs. He'll keep giving lectures on polymers and cosmic rays. And every once in a while, he'll probably snack on a well-known candy bar with an amused smile. Image caption: [http://www.wm.edu/wmnews/090700/marsbricks.html] Professor of Chemistry Dick Kiefer (left) and senior Ryan McGlothlin show off a couple of “Mars Bars” in their lab. Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_909000/909834.stm http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0009/10marsbricks/ http://www.foxnews.com/science/090400/marsbars.sml http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/2000b/090400b.htm http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/mars.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- SHUTTLE LAUNCH BEGINS NEW ODYSSEY IN HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT; MOVING DAY FOR INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION NASA release 00-136 7 September 2000 This week's launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis begins an odyssey unique in the history of human space flight. If all goes as planned, at 8:45 AM EDT Friday, September 8, five American astronauts and two Russian cosmonauts will soar into orbit and begin preparations necessary to declare the International Space Station--the largest building in space--open for business. The mission includes a six-and-a-half hour spacewalk by Astronaut Ed Lu and Cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko to a point 100 feet above the Shuttle's cargo bay, the farthest any tethered spacewalker has ever ventured. Under the watchful eye of spacewalk choreographer Dan Burbank, the two spacewalkers will ride as far as possible on a Canadian-built “arm,” then use tethers and handrails. They will install a six- foot long magnetometer and a boom that will serve as a three-dimensional “compass” for the station, and connect telemetry, electrical, and communications cables. “NASA, with its international partners, has managed to bring the world together under one roof in space,” said NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin. “The vision and cooperation needed to create this unique global village, and the scale of the construction project are unprecedented in the chronicles of any space program.” The Shuttle mission also includes: * a kidney cell experiment designed to explore how human genes respond to the unique environment of space; * a test run of a miniaturized sensor to take real-time measurements of the Shuttle's environmental and life support systems; * a host of student experiments including one called “The Pittsburgh Steelers in Space,” designed by students at the DePaul Institute for the Deaf in Pittsburgh, PA, to determine the effects of microgravity and radiation on the oxidation of various types of steel and the minerals involved in the manufacture of steel. While researchers and scientists look forward to the day the station has full-time occupants, the crew of Atlantis first have to complete some down-to-Earth tasks. Those include stocking the space station with supplies, unpacking gear, and hooking up equipment needed by the its first permanent residents, who are scheduled to be launched in November. Among the supplies being unloaded this mission are laptop computers, vacuum cleaners, a color printer, clothing, food warmers for the “kitchen,” trash bags, critical life support systems, television cables, and even the first space station toilet. “We've got a framework and a solid foundation,” said pilot Scott Altman, who compared the mission with building a house in orbit at 17,500 miles per hour. “It's now up to us fix the pipes, run the cables, and try to have it ready for the next crew to move in by the time we come home.” The astronauts will also unload equipment for the space station's “health clinic,” including its first exercise equipment--a specially outfitted bicycle and treadmill that won't disturb the sensitive microgravity experiments on board. Once fully outfitted and permanently staffed, the International Space Station will be a research laboratory unparalleled by anything on Earth. After two decades of science aboard the Space Shuttle, scientists will now have a more advanced, round-the-clock orbiting outpost. “When you're up there 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, you can get a lot done,” said NASA Chief Scientist Kathy Olsen. “You don't have to try to cram everything into a two- or three-day window, or have to spread your research over a number of flights." Included on this Shuttle flight is an experiment that will examine how microgravity alters gene expression in kidney cells, which enables kidneys to develop and function normally. This experiment will increase our understanding of how the human body adapts to space, which ultimately may advance our knowledge of human disease processes. The two tiny sensors tested by NASA on this flight make real-time measurements in the Shuttle's environmental and life support systems, thanks to breakthroughs in miniaturization that have led to the introduction of a 1-inch in diameter wireless system that can send temperature measurements to a laptop computer for five months. This new technology will significantly reduce the time it takes to obtain on-orbit temperature measurements and will increase the capability to monitor temperatures over long periods of time. “This mission truly represents the beginning of a long and fruitful adventure for NASA and the international space community,” added Goldin. “The space program has led to thousands of new technologies, new breakthroughs in medical research, new medicines, new discoveries that have literally changed the lives of people all over the world. I can't wait to get started.” Contact: Dwayne Brown/Bob Jacobs Headquarters, Washington, DC 202-358-1600 --------------------------------------------------------------------- STUDENTS SEND SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS TO SPACE By Paul Hoversten From Space.com 8 September 2000 Leave it to kids to pick the grossest stuff to send into space. Moldy bread, rotten hamburger, bubble gum and hair--just about everything you’d find in yesterday’s trash or maybe clogging the garbage disposal--are flying aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis. It’s all part of a student experiment, called Aria 1, to see how space flight affects everyday items. Fortunately, none of the samples will be floating around the shuttle’s cabin or anywhere near Atlantis’ seven astronauts. The samples are confined to Atlantis’ cargo bay, in small vials that are inside a trash can-sized, airtight scientific container. That container is strapped in a corner of the bay. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/aria_payload_000908.htm l. --------------------------------------------------------------------- PROTECTING THE EARTH By Paul Hoversten From Space.com 11 September 2000 It sounds like the stuff of science fiction. A robot spacecraft flies off to another planet, scoops up some soil and brings it back to Earth. Inside that scoop of dirt are living things that somehow escape, run amok and threaten our world. The scenario might sound outlandish until you consider this: for the first time since the 1960's Apollo moon landings, the federal government is making plans to protect Earth from any extraterrestrial life forms brought back-- on purpose--by scientific space missions. The stakes could not be higher. Anything, from otherworldly contaminants to virulent microbes, are possible as NASA plans for missions that would retrieve bits of Mars and other cosmic bodies in the years ahead. The concern is that a harmful visitor from space might wind up endangering Earth's environment or its inhabitants. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/planetary_protectio n_000906.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXOBIOLOGY AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 11 September 2000 Astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation articles online http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s1.html J. L. Bada, 1997. Extraterrestrial handedness? Science, 275(5302):942-943. M. P. Bernstein, S. A. Sandford, L. J. Allamandola, J. S. Gillette, S. J. Clemett and R. N. Zare, 1999. UV irradiation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ices: production of alcohols, quinones, and ethers. Science, 283(5405):1135-1138. D. J. Des Marais, 2000. When did photosynthesis emerge on Earth? Science, 289(5485):1703. R. A. Kerr, 1998. Requiem for life on Mars? Support for microbes fades. Science, 282(5393):1398. R. A. Kerr, 2000. Making a splash with a hint of Mars water. Science, 288(5475):2295-2297. A. Lawler, 1998. Ames tackles the riddle of life. Science, 279(5358):1840-1841. A. Lawler, 2000. Ames's proposal for lab triggers battle at NASA. Science, 289(5476):23. M. C. Malin and K. S. Edgett, 2000. Evidence for recent groundwater seepage and surface runoff on Mars. Science, 288(5475):2330-2335. D. W. Mittlefehldt, 2000. The latest news from Mars. Science, 287(5458):1601-1602. O. Morton, 1999. To Mars, en masse. Science, 283(5405):1103-1104. M. Schrope, 2000. SETI@Home soldiers onward. Space.com. G. Vogel, 1999. Going beyond appearances to find life's history. Science, 284(5423):2112-2113. J. Xiong, W. M. Fischer, K. Inoue, M. Nakahara and C. E. Bauer, 2000. Molecular evidence for the early evolution of photosynthesis. Science 289(5485):1724-1730. E. Young, 2000. Charon's first detailed spectra hold many surprises. Science, 287(5450):53-54. Articles on the biology of extreme environments (on Earth) http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s2.html G. Arrhenius, J. L. Bada, G. F. Joyce, A. Lazcano, S. Miller and L. E. Orgel, 1999. Origin and ancestor: separate environments. Science, 283(5403):791. B. L. Beard, C. M. Johnson, L. Cox, H. Sun, K. H. Nealson, and C. Aguilar, 1999. Iron isotope biosignatures. Science, 285(5435):1889- 1892. G. D. Cody, N. Z. Boctor, T. R. Filley, R. M. Hazen, J. H. Scott, A. Sharma, and H. S. Yoder Jr., 2000. Primordial carbonylated iron- sulfur compounds and the synthesis of pyruvate. Science, 289(5483):1337-1340. R. H. Crabtree, 1997. Where smokers rule. Science, 276(5310):222. N. Galtier, N. Tourasse and M. Gouy, 1999. A nonhyperthermophilic common ancestor to extant life forms. Science, 283(5399):220-221. P. Hoversten, 2000. Protecting the Earth. Space.com. W. L. Nicholson, N. Munakata, G. Horneck, H. J. Melosh and P. Setlow, 2000. Resistance of Bacillus endospores to extreme terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 64(3):548-572. R. Stone, 1998. Exotic marine life in a frigid desert. Science, 279(5351):660. R. Stone, 1999. Permafrost comes alive for Siberian researchers. Science, 286(5437):36-37. W. F. Vincent, 1999. Icy life on a hidden lake. Science, 286(5447):2094-2095. G. Vogel, 1998. Finding life's limits. Science, 282(5393):1399. Articles on human space exploration and the microgravity environment http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s3.html P. Hoversten, 2000. Students send experiments into space. Space.com. B. Moomaw, 2000. Building the infrastructure for martian exploration. SpaceDaily. SpaceDaily, 2000. Fruit fly set to check out ISS conditions. SpaceDaily. SpaceDaily, 2000. Students to cook up some protein crystals. SpaceDaily. Astrobiology and extreme environments book list http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology_b ooks.html National Research Council, 2000. Illuminating the Hidden Planet: The Future of Seafloor Observatory Science. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. National Research Council, 2000. Issues in the Integration of Research and Operational Satellite Systems for Climate Research: Part I. Science and Design. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. --------------------------------------------------------------------- CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS JPL release 31 August – 6 September 2000 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Madrid tracking station on Wednesday, 09/06. 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/. A mini-sequence to power on the Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA), Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS), Magnetometer Subsystem (MAG), Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI), Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS), Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (UVIS) and Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) was uplinked and executed successfully. The instruments had previously been powered off to accomodate the recently completed CDS flight software load and checkout. Uplink of some modules was the last activity for Cruise 21. The Cruise 22 background sequence will be uplinked later this week. Final Sequence products and SEG products for Cruise 22 were delivered as scheduled. The package for the Final Approval meeting was sent to Sequence Virtual Team members for review. The subsequence generation process for C23 has concluded with the receipt of all subsequence generation input products. Version 9 of the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) Sequence was delivered to the Integrated Test Lab (ITL) for testing. The Multi Mission Image Processing Laboratory (MIPL) delivered the final versions of the Level 1A product generation program and the uplink software including Instrument Expanded Block (IEB) generation programs for VIMS. Both software sets are integrated with the multi- mission database, automated file delivery system, and the product display capability. MIPL also completed a hardware reconfiguration to support Jupiter (memory upgrades and movement of platforms to faster networks). User Acceptance Testing (UAT) of TC&DM V25.2 software is progressing well and no significant issues or concerns have been found. Mission Planning made a presentation to the Cassini Design Team on Post- Jupiter Deep Space Network Requirements. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 4-10 September 2000 Galileo reaches apojove on Friday of this week and starts its journey back to the heart of the Jupiter system. Apojove is the farthest point from Jupiter for a given orbit. Occurring at 290 Jupiter radii (20.7 million kilometers, 12.9 million miles), this apojove is the most distant since arrival at Jupiter in December 1995. Similarly, this orbit is also the longest since arrival at Jupiter, at 222 days in length. The previous record-holder was the orbit that immediately followed arrival, when the spacecraft traveled 203 days between encounters and reached an apojove distance of 270 Jupiter radii (19.3 million kilometers, 12.0 million miles). Throughout the week, Galileo continues to play back data stored on its onboard tape recorder during a May passage by Jupiter and its moons. This week's observations were made by the Solid-State Imaging camera (SSI), the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS), and the Fields and Particles instruments (F&P). Data playback is interrupted on Friday to allow the spacecraft to perform a small flight path adjustment. First on the playback schedule is the return of two observations from a series of 10 of Jupiter's north polar region. The series consists of 10-minute samples, each separated by 60 minutes. The spectral scans will provide a unique view of auroral activity on Jupiter. Next, SSI returns portions of two observations. The first observation is a set of global images of Europa taken through four different color filters. The images fill a gap in existing global, color, coverage between 120 and 230 degrees longitude. The second observation is also a set of global images taken through different color filters. This set, however, captures Europa while eclipsed from the Sun by Jupiter. The observation should help scientists search for auroral glows in Europa's tenuous atmosphere. These glows would be produced by the interaction of atmospheric gases with Jupiter's magnetosphere, which may produce current flow between Europa and Jupiter. The geometry and timing of this observation were superior to those of similar observations taken earlier in Galileo's mission. During the rest of the week, the F&P instruments return recorded portions of a month-long low-resolution survey of Jupiter's magnetosphere. The survey provides contextual data for higher- resolution recordings made during the May encounter. In addition, given its length, the survey provides a unique view of the transitions associated with moving from the inner magnetospheric region to the outer region, out into the free-flowing solar wind. For more information on the Galileo spacecraft and its mission to Jupiter, please visit the Galileo home page at one of the following URL's: http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo --------------------------------------------------------------------- STARDUST STATUS REPORTS JPL releases 6 September 2000 NASA's Stardust spacecraft, launched in February 1999 on a mission to collect a sample from Comet Wild-2, remains in good health as it travels the solar system. Engineers and scientists have just completed a series of tests to see if mild heating will remove some contamination on the spacecraft's navigation camera optics, which scatters light and blurs the images. The navigation camera's principal function is to help guide the spacecraft on its final approach to the comet, and the obscuration on the camera is not expected to seriously impair the main mission of collecting and returning samples from Comet Wild- 2's dust tail. However, close navigation to the comet may change somewhat depending on the results of further testing. On Monday, September 4, the final images were received from an onboard test to determine if mild heating alone might clear the camera's view. A few months ago, engineers detected that a small amount of an unknown substance had settled on one or more optical components of the camera. Engineers were trying to clear the debris by turning on a small heater on a window that protects the detector. Images showing the contamination confirm that the camera is “fogged.” The week-long heater test increased the temperature around the window from –35°C (-31°F) to about 8°C (47°F). Then the camera took pictures of a small calibration lamp immediately in front of the camera lens, inside the spacecraft. The blurring shown in the recent images changed from image to image as the heating progressed. Engineers hope to better characterize the nature of the blurring by analyzing navigation camera images of several starfields. Since small points of light, the stars, will provide a more specific target than the general illumination from a light source, the starfield pictures should show how the sharpness of the images has changed after the heating test. Engineers will analyze the images when the camera data are received from the spacecraft in late September. The navigation team may perform additional heating and imaging tests if this seems useful and/or necessary. It is also possible that there may be contamination on the periscope and/or the scan mirror, which are external to the lens. Project engineers say that since the camera was the coldest part of the spacecraft shortly after launch, it would tend to act almost like flypaper in picking up any volatile materials coming from the spacecraft immediately after launch. Investigations into the origin of the coating are inconclusive. The camera's main duty is to guide the spacecraft to the exact point of closest approach to the comet, and it is also scheduled to take pictures of the comet. The blurring is not expected to seriously impair the main science mission of collecting and returning samples from Comet Wild-2's dust tail. However, close navigation to the comet may change somewhat depending on the results of further testing. 8 September 2000 There were two Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking passes during the past week. All subsystems onboard the spacecraft are performing normally. The remaining Navigation Camera (NAVCAM) images taken during the CCD heater test were transmitted to the ground. The changes seen by turning the CCD heater on for a week include: 1) the disappearance a long dark / bright streaks running across the image 2) the appearance of new dark areas, but significantly less than before 3) a reduction in scattered light giving a lower variation in image brightness and a more uniform background across the image 4) a reduction in peak signal These changes are what would be expected for improved camera performance. However, the changes were not sufficient to resolve the filament in the Calibration Lamp that was turned on for all of the CCD heater test images. The Calibration Lamp was still blurred and surrounded by scattered light. Therefore we have inconclusive results as to if and how much the camera performance was improved. It could be that we removed some coating on the CCD, but still may have additional coatings on the primary optics, mirror and periscope. Since we did not obtain sufficient improvement to resolve the Calibration Lamp filament to quantify the changes resulting from the CCD heater test, star images will be taken next week to see if there was improvement of the camera point spread response to point sources. If there is no or some improvement, additional heating sequences will be implemented, including turning on the mirror heater to work on potential coatings on the primary optics and mirror. The Principal Investigator, Don Brownlee, described the Stardust mission at the Meteoritic Society of America meeting in Chicago, Illinois. He will participate in a capabilities review of the Curatorial Facility at Johnson Space Center next week. Stardust is a Discovery mission, managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA. Visit the Stardust home page at http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov. --------------------------------------------------------------------- End Marsbugs, Volume 7, Number 34.