MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 7, Number 40, 23 October 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) FIRST ENTRY: EVIDENCE FOR ALIENS By Seth Shostak 2) SECOND ENTRY: SCANNING FOR SIGNALS By Seth Shostak 3) NOBEL PRIZE LAUREATE APPOINTED AS SENIOR NASA ADVISOR NASA release 00-164 4) IS A VACATION IN SPACE FAR-OUT FANTASY, OR CLOSE TO REALITY? By Leonard David 5) 30,000 NEW MARS IMAGES ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON THE WEB JPL image advisory 6) THIRD ENTRY: THE ART OF OBSERVING By Seth Shostak 7) ASTRONOMER DETECTS A CLOUDY TITAN From SpaceDaily 8) FOURTH ENTRY: LIFE IN THE TRENCHES By Seth Shostak 9) WHITE MARS: THE STORY OF THE RED PLANET WITHOUT WATER By Nick Hoffman 10) FINAL ENTRY: BIG DISH, BIG HOPES By Seth Shostak 11) BUG RETURNS TO LIFE AFTER 250 MILLION YEAR HIBERNATION From SpaceDaily 12) BALANCING THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS MARTIAN LIFE OVER HUMAN EXPLORATION By Christopher P. McKay 13) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 14) THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release --------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST ENTRY: EVIDENCE FOR ALIENS By Seth Shostak 13 October 2000 Once again, the SETI institute has returned to the world's largest telescope to continue its research. Follow the institute's progress in Puerto Rico here at SPACE.com with Project Phoenix astronomer Seth Shostak's reports from the front. “So, do you really, really think there are aliens out there?” It was a question I’d heard often, but I tried to smile. “Yes, I do” I replied, adjusting myself in the tortuous accommodation known as a coach seat. “I wouldn’t be on this plane otherwise.” It takes about a day to travel from California to the world’s largest antenna in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. There’s the flight across America’s belly to Miami, and then another two hours of flying to cross the top of the Caribbean. The last hour and a half is spent driving along the northern coast of Puerto Rico, ultimately crawling inland through the bumpy hills that lead to the telescope. The trip is long, but necessary. The evidence for extraterrestrials (if it exists at all) is undoubtedly washing over Earth everywhere, and all the time. But our SETI Institute research team makes the trip to Puerto Rico twice a year because this remote patch of hilly real estate is home to a unique instrument. The Arecibo telescope is so sensitive, it could pick up a cell phone a half-billion miles away. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/setidiary_day1_001016.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- SECOND ENTRY: SCANNING FOR SIGNALS By Seth Shostak 16 October 2000 I don’t imagine that Columbus spent a lot of time at the bow of his ship, squinting at the horizon for sign of land. He left that tedious job to some miserable hireling, sent into the rigging. Project Phoenix has its own hireling: a custom lash-up of computers and digital electronics known as “The System.” It’s impossible for humans to sort through all the radio noise washing through the Arecibo telescope. Instead, The System does the searching, and frankly, it’s this sophisticated amalgam of electronics and software that would first find ET. Not to worry: as far as we can tell The System has no interest in winning the Nobel Prize. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/setidiary_day2_001016.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- NOBEL PRIZE LAUREATE APPOINTED AS SENIOR NASA ADVISOR NASA release 00-164 16 October 2000 NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin named Dr. Baruch Blumberg, director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute and winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, as senior advisor to the Administrator, effective today. As senior advisor, Blumberg will provide guidance for NASA's newly created enterprise, the Office of Biological and Physical Research in its efforts to develop an interdisciplinary research program focused on biology, bringing together physics, chemistry, biology and engineering. Blumberg also will continue in his role as director of the Astrobiology Institute. “Dr. Blumberg's commitment to science is only exceeded by his commitment to excellence. NASA and the American taxpayers will greatly benefit from his contributions to the space program,” said Goldin. “His many contributions to the fields of human biology, infectious disease and genomics will help lay the foundation needed to integrate biological research and technology throughout NASA. I am delighted that he has agreed to accept this position.” NASA will begin an immediate national search to fill key positions within the new enterprise as well as the Associate Administrator vacancy. NASA Chief Scientist Dr. Kathie L. Olsen, along with Blumberg, will lead the search team to fill key opportunities within the enterprise. Olsen will continue to serve as acting Associate Administrator until a replacement is named. “The enterprise was restructured to strengthen the agency's ability to meet the challenges brought about by the growth in areas such as molecular biology, nanotechnology, information technology and genomics,” said Olsen. “NASA science is filled with discoveries of phenomena never seen before. This new enterprise will strengthen our ties with academia and other federal agencies to enlist their creative energies towards these discoveries,” said Blumberg. Blumberg received a medical degree from Columbia University and a doctorate in biochemistry from Oxford University. For over 35 years, he has been associated with the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA, and is a professor of medicine and anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. He was Master of Balliol College in Oxford, England, between 1989 and 1994, and has taught human biology at Stanford University. Since his discovery of the hepatitis B vaccine and its widespread availability in 1982, the number of people infected with the disease worldwide has fallen dramatically. Blumberg and his wife, Jean, are the parents of two daughters and two sons. Contact: Renee Juhans Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1712 --------------------------------------------------------------------- IS A VACATION IN SPACE FAR-OUT FANTASY, OR CLOSE TO REALITY? By Leonard David 16 October 2000 You can't buckle up just yet. But the day of space passenger flight is approaching faster than most people think. Talk about “playspace”. Space tourists will become vagabond's of the vacuum. Free-floating travelers are likely to enjoy a range of microgravity sports and acrobatics, even taking a zero-G dip in a giant bubble of water. In years to come, science fiction-themed hotels, spas, retreats and conference centers will populate low Earth orbit. The sphere of tourist travel will eventually spread outward, with moon flights available for those craving a true getaway. Mars also will beckon the experienced space vacationer. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/business/space_tourism_001012 .html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 30,000 NEW MARS IMAGES ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON THE WEB JPL image advisory 16 October 2000 The imaging team of NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has doubled the number of Mars pictures available to the public with the release of a new archive of red planet pictures totally slightly more than 30,000 images. The archive contains all the pictures that were taken by Mars Global Surveyor from September 1999 through February 2000 and includes the images that were taken to search for the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft. No evidence of the lander was ever seen. The archive also covers the period of south polar cap retreat through southern spring and into early summer. This includes changes observed on the south polar cap's “Swiss cheese” surfaces, among others. The full gallery of 30,000 images is available at: http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs A sample of images is available at: http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/oct_2000_sampler/ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs Mars Global Surveyor was launched on November 7, 1996 and entered orbit around Mars on September 12, 1997. The spacecraft has been systematically mapping the red planet since March 1999. Mars Global Surveyor is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. The camera system was built and is operated by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, CA. JPL's industrial partner is Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO, which developed and operates the spacecraft. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Contact: Mary Hardin 818-354-5011 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/10/17/mars.pictures/index.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-surveyor-00j.html http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/mars.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD ENTRY: THE ART OF OBSERVING By Seth Shostak From Space.com 17 October 2000 “Take the con.” Peter Backus smiles, and gestures toward a beat-up chair. “Twenty acres of antenna mesh, miles and miles of cable, a trailer stuffed with integrated circuits—and it’s all yours...” “Hard to resist...” I murmur, and sit down. It’s 6:00 PM, and already dark outside. We’ve deliberately chosen to conduct our search at night to avoid the problem caused by signals passing too near the Sun. Charged particles from Sol can turn a narrow-band signal from an easy-to-find pure tone to a difficult-to-uncover buzz. So our hunt for ET is nocturnal. I take the early shift, from now to midnight, and then Jill Tarter presses the search until 6:00 AM. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/setidiary_day3_001017.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- ASTRONOMER DETECTS A CLOUDY TITAN From SpaceDaily 18 October 2000 A Northern Arizona University (NAU) astronomer, and her colleagues, recently discovered daily clouds in the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. This discovery adds to the growing body of evidence that Titan uniquely resembles Earth with clouds, rain and seas. The October 20 issue of Science [publishes] the findings of Caitlin A. Griffith, Joseph L. Hall, and Thomas R. Geballe of Gemini Observatory in Hawaii. Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini- 00g.html. Additional stories on this subject are available at: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/titan001020.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_980000/980088.stm http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/20001019/sp_titan.html http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/titan_weather_00102 0.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- FOURTH ENTRY: LIFE IN THE TRENCHES By Seth Shostak From Space.com 19 October 2000 The guard smiled as he handed me the key: “You’ll be in Jodie Foster’s room.” Indeed, I am. During the filming of Contact in 1997, the observatory offered Foster the plushest digs available—a commodious (by local standards) bedroom in Family Unit #1, the largest of a dozen billets provided to visiting scientists. Now it’s mine. For years I’ve suffered the usual observatory accommodations: dorm rooms with Alcatraz-like architecture, or plywood bungalows of the type usually ransacked by bears. But apparently I have “arrived.” I’m sleeping in the best bed in the place. Jodie, I note, has moved on. Arecibo observing runs normally last a few weeks. For the Project Phoenix team, it’s a reclusive existence. Working, eating, sleeping and socializing all take place on this island within an island. Our horizons end at the observatory gate. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/setidiary_day4_001019.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- WHITE MARS: THE STORY OF THE RED PLANET WITHOUT WATER By Nick Hoffman From SpaceDaily 19 October 2000 On Earth, life requires water, therefore our search for life beyond the Earth is a search for water. For this reason we target Europa, a moon of Jupiter that may have a liquid ocean beneath a thick icy crust, and also Mars where huge erosional channels suggest the flow of fluids across the surface in the geological past. Many scientists believe that rivers and lakes existed in the past on Mars, and perhaps even oceans. However, this search on Mars may be ill- founded. Despite intense research, the evidence for water on Mars is scarce. Now a new theory suggests that the single strongest line of evidence for water on Mars—the “outburst flood channels” may have been formed not by liquid water but by cold dry eruptions of gas, dust and rock, fuelled by exploding liquid CO2. Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water- science-00k1.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- FINAL ENTRY: BIG DISH, BIG HOPES By Seth Shostak From Space.com 22 October 2000 There are people who don't like this observatory. For decades, a few Puerto Rican Independentistas and members of the local communist party have railed against the Arecibo telescope, fingering it as a subtle, possibly dangerous instrument of Yankee imperialism. The staff worried that extremists might blow up the antenna's cable moorings, with discouraging consequences for the astronomers. The communist newspaper was fond of claiming that the observatory was a repository of nuclear weapons (presumably in case of attack by Jamaica). When reporters from the paper were invited over, they intently photographed the transmitter klystrons, believing they were bombs. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/setidiary_day5_001022.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- BUG RETURNS TO LIFE AFTER 250 MILLION YEAR HIBERNATION From SpaceDaily 21 October 2000 A Lazarus bacterium, which thrived millions of years before dinosaurs walked the Earth, has been brought back to life. Biologists are astonished that the 250-million-year-old bug could be revived. It suggests that if conditions are right, bacterial spores might survive indefinitely. John Parkes, a geomicrobiologist at the University of Bristol, comments: “All the laws of chemistry tell you that the complex molecules in the spores should have degraded to very simple compounds such as carbon dioxide.” He wonders that if it is proven that spores can survive this long, why should they die at all? “Where else are these dormant organisms waiting to be reawakened?” Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-00zu.html. Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_978000/978774.stm http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/20001018/ea_oldbugs.html http://www.foxnews.com/science/101800/bacteria.sml --------------------------------------------------------------------- BALANCING THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS MARTIAN LIFE OVER HUMAN EXPLORATION By Christopher P. McKay From SpaceDaily 23 October 2000 If we discover living or dormant organisms on Mars and these forms represent a different type of life than the life we have on Earth, then we should not bring life from Earth to Mars. Instead we should alter the martian environment so that this native martian life can expand to fill a planetary scale biosphere. There is general agreement within the Mars research community that if Mars is indeed a lifeless planet then there is potential scientific, cultural, and human value in bringing life from Earth to Mars. The re-creation of habitable conditions on Mars is within our technological reach. To a Mars long since dead, Earth could give the gift of its genome: a biological heritage encapsulating billions of years of evolution. For Mars this would represent a jump-start back into a biological future. Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life- 00m.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology.h tml 23 October 2000 This week’s update includes a new category (and web page): “Online SETI articles.” Formerly, most SETI articles were listed in the astrobiology section. However, since the number of SETI articles has been increasing at a rapid rate, I decided to put them in their own web page. Astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation articles online http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s1.html R. R. Britt, 2000. 'Titanic' discovery: earth-like weather and methane rain. Space.com. N. Hoffman, 2000. White mars: the story of the red planet without water. SpaceDaily. C. P. McKay, 2000. Balancing the rights of indigenous martian life over human exploration. SpaceDaily. L. Siegel, 2000. Why life is not found on Mars’ surface. Space.com. SpaceDaily, 2000. Astronomer detects a cloudy Titan. SpaceDaily. Articles on the biology of extreme environments (on Earth) http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s2.html BBC, 2000. Alive... after 250 million years. BBC News. D. Bradley, 2000. Oldest known creatures reawaken. Discovery.com News. G. Clark, 2000. Mars on Earth: a four-part series. Space.com. Fox News, 2000. Ancient bacteria brought back to life. Fox News. SpaceDaily, 2000. Bug returns to life after 250 million year hibernation. SpaceDaily. Articles on human space exploration and the microgravity environment http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s3.html L. David, 2000. Is a vacation in space far-out fantasy, or close to reality? Space.com. G. Gale and E. Lee, 1998. High acceleration (gravity) and the human body. Distant Star. R. Grosser, 1998. Extreme climate habitat design. Distant Star. Articles the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s4.html S. Shostak, 2000. Final entry: big dish, big hopes. Space.com. S. Shostak, 2000. First entry: evidence for aliens. Space.com. S. Shostak, 2000. Fourth entry: life in the trenches. Space.com. S. Shostak, 2000. Second entry: scanning for signals. Space.com. S. Shostak, 2000. Third entry: the art of observing. Space.com. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 16-22 October 2000 Did you know that Galileo's radio transmitter puts out about 20 watts of power? That is slightly less than the power of a refrigerator lightbulb. Nevertheless, the Deep Space Network's 70-meter (230- foot) diameter antennas are able to extract Galileo's spectacular science data from a signal which, when received on Earth amounts to only about one part in 10 to the 20th watt, in other words 0.00000000000000000001 watt. Impressive! This is the second to last week Galileo dedicates to the return of data stored from previous encounters on its onboard tape recorder. The data returned this week was acquired during the spacecraft's February flyby of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io. Starting mid-next week, Galileo moves on to a campaign dedicated to maintaining the integrity of the Fields and Particles instruments' low-resolution survey of Jupiter's magnetosphere. Stay tuned for details! Four observations are processed and transmitted to Earth this week. Playback is interrupted once. On Tuesday, the spacecraft performs a standard test of its attitude control system's gyroscopes. The Solid-State Imaging camera (SSI) returns all four of this week’s observations. SSI's first observation consists of images of Tohil Mons, one of the mountains on Io. The origin, history, and geological structure of Tohil Mons and other mountains are not well known. These images will also be combined with an observation of the same region taken in October 1999 in order to produce stereo views. Next, SSI returns portions of a color mosaic of Io's Prometheus volcanic region. This is followed by the return of portions of a 12-frame mosaic covering the Camaxtli Patera hot spot and nearby regions to the west, including the Chaac Patera region. This Chaac Patera coverage will also be combined with previous observations to produce stereo views. Last, but not least, SSI returns a small part of an observation consisting of color images of Io's Amirani volcanic region. So, what's got Galileo halting the return of data two months before its next encounter? Come back next week for all the details! 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- End Marsbugs, Volume 7, Number 40.