MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 7, Number 42, 6 November 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) ARE WE ALL ALIENS? THE NEW CASE FOR PANSPERMIA By Robert Roy Britt 2) UMR RESEARCH COULD PAVE WAY FOR DISCOVERY OF LIFE ON MARS University of Missouri—Rolla release 3) NEW EVIDENCE SUGGESTS MARS HAS BEEN COLD AND DRY—“RED PLANET” ABUNDANT WITH GREEN MINERALS USGS release 4) FIRST CREW STARTS LIVING AND WORKING ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ESA release 70-2000 5) EUROPA'S LIFELINES By Jeff Hecht 6) WATER ON THE SPACE STATION By Patrick L. Barry and Tony Phillips 7) IMMUNITY IN SPACE—GETTING CLOSE TO YOUR NEIGHBOURS By Jennifer Laing 8) UNIVERSITIES LAUNCH ASTROBIOLOGY CENTER Cardiff University release 9) HUMANS ON MARS: NASA ON THE DEFENSIVE By Leonard David and Andrew Bridges 10) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY, EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS AND TERRAFORMATION INDEX By David J. Thomas 11) CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS JPL release 12) THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL releases 13) MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS REPORT JPL release 14) LATEST MOLA GLOBAL MAPS OF MARS JPL release 15) STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARE WE ALL ALIENS? THE NEW CASE FOR PANSPERMIA By Robert Roy Britt From Space.com 30 October 2000 Nestled safely inside the belly of a comet orbiting some unknown star, a microscopic alien sits dormant. Somewhere in this vast universe—perhaps a place like Earth—a greater destiny awaits the microbe. A place to flourish, become a nematode or a rose or a teenager. Life, after all, is tenacious and thrives on change. Over time, gravity performs a few plausible, but not routine tricks, and the comet is ejected from its stellar orbit like a rock from a slingshot. For more than a 100 million years it slips silently across the inky vastness of interstellar space. Then gravity goes to work again. Another star tugs at the comet, pulls it in. A few giant gaseous planets whiz by, their bulks tugging at the comet, altering its course slightly. Ahead now, growing larger, looms a gorgeous blue and brown marble: water and land, maybe some air. Then with the force only the cosmos can summon, the comet slams into the third rock from a mid-sized, moderately powerful star. The alien microbe survives, emerges from its protective shell and spreads like the dickens. Thus began life on Earth, 3.8 billion years ago. Or so goes one aspect of a theory called panspermia, which holds that the stuff of life is everywhere and that we humans owe our genesis and evolution to a continual rain of foreign microbes. It means, simply, that we might all be aliens. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/aliens_all_001027.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- UMR RESEARCH COULD PAVE WAY FOR DISCOVERY OF LIFE ON MARS University of Missouri—Rolla release 31 October 2000 In the wake of last month's announcement that scientists have found what they believe to be a living that pre-dates Tyrannosaurus rex, Dr. Melanie Mormile is keeping one eye on salt crystals that contain ancient earth-bound bacteria and another on Mars. Mormile, an assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Missouri-Rolla and an expert on microscopic organisms, thinks living bacteria might be trapped in the sulfate and chloride salts of Mars. Her work is partially funded by NASA, which announced October 26 that it has officially scheduled six robotic missions over the next ten years to hunt for signs of life on the red planet. Meanwhile, at UMR, Mormile is in the process of conducting further research on salt crystals that contain trapped bacteria in an attempt to lend confirmation to an amazing report published in the October issue of the journal Nature. One of Mormile's research peers, Dr. Russell Vreeland of West Chester University, is the co-author of the October Nature article, which announced the discovery of what Vreeland and his research group say is a 250-million-year-old microbe found in New Mexico salt deposits. The microbe, which is similar if not identical to a modern strain of bacteria, would be by far the oldest sample of a living bacterium ever found. “Ideally, we'd like to find really ancient bacteria that have never been described before,” says Mormile, who studies samples at UMR and confirms any exceptional findings through independent DNA testing. “That would help to rule out the possibility of contamination.” In order to date salt-loving bacteria on Earth, the age of the salt deposits must first be determined. By looking at individual salt crystals under a microscope, scientists are then able to find bacteria that are trapped in tiny bubbles. The trapped bacteria can be dated according to the age of the crystals. Mormile's UMR lab is equipped with a special inverted microscope and micromanipulator. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Pacific Northwest National Lab in Washington, Mormile and her colleagues isolated a 97,000-year-old bacterium from salt crystals using this instrumentation. “It's a little bit like “Jurassic Park,'“ says Mormile, who note that a 250- million-year-old bacterium finding pre-dates Jurassic dinosaurs by 20 million years or so. “In the book and the movie, scientists find a prehistoric mosquito trapped in amber. We're doing something similar with the bacteria that is trapped in salt crystals. And we hope to do this with Mars samples as well.” Although Mormile concedes it's possible that a modern bacterium was somehow introduced to the 250-million-year-old salt crystal discussed in the Nature study, thereby contaminating it, she remains optimistic that researchers will continue to find other bacteria from a similar time period. Such confirmation is necessary to prove that bacteria can live for hundreds of millions of years on Earth, a conclusion that would make life on Mars all the more plausible. Scientists already know that bacteria can live without light or oxygen. They can thrive in boiling water or below the Arctic ice. Existing bacteria have been found in radioactive waste and, interestingly enough, in the belly of a bee trapped in amber for more than 25 million years. If bacteria can survive under these conditions for so long, Mormile says, there is no reason to believe they can't exist in Mars' harsh environments, especially under its surface. “I think there's a pretty good chance we'll find life on Mars,” Mormile says. “Even though bacteria are not as fascinating to most people as aliens with big eyes, I think we could be in for some astounding discoveries.” Contact: Lance Feyh lfeyh@umr.edu 573-341-4966 --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW EVIDENCE SUGGESTS MARS HAS BEEN COLD AND DRY—”RED PLANET” ABUNDANT WITH GREEN MINERALS USGS release http://www.usgs.gov/public/press/public_affairs/press_releases/pr1306 m.html A map depicting the mineral composition of Mars can be downloaded from http://speclab.cr.usgs.gov/mars.tes.fig1.html. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists studying Mars have discovered minerals with profound implications for the past history of the planet. The mineral olivine, an iron-magnesium silicate that weathers easily by water, has been found in abundance on Mars. The presence of olivine implies that chemical weathering by water is low on the planet and that Mars has been cold and dry throughout its geologic history. New surface maps of Mars, developed by USGS scientists through a monumental set of 500 trillion calculations, provide amazing clarity and allow for more detailed study of the planet's minerals. “The large expanses of olivine, about one-million square miles, means chemical weathering on Mars is very low and has been low for most of its geologic history. This information contradicts a popular view of a past warm, wet period in Mars' geologic history,” said USGS scientist Dr. Roger N. Clark at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society Division of Planetary Sciences in Pasadena, Calif. “If the warm period never occurred, other explanations for Mars' large canyons are warranted, and some have been proposed by other researchers.” Dr. Clark and Todd M. Hoefen at the USGS in Denver, CO found the plentiful olivine on Mars using data from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES). Olivine, a green mineral sometimes used in jewelry, is found on Mars in volcanic regions. Exposures include olivine-rimmed craters hundreds of miles across, and with different amounts of iron, giving lighter green and darker green rocks. The Mars spacecraft has been in orbit in its surface mapping mission configuration for about 18 months, slowly building images of the surface. At this point, the TES instrument has measured about 3/4 of the surface, measuring a narrow six-mile wide stripe in each two-hour orbit. The USGS scientists just completed the set of 500 trillion calculations to combine all the data obtained so far into surface maps covering the area from 45 degrees north latitude to 45 degrees south latitude. The more pole-ward regions have yet to be analyzed in this way. The calculations were done at the finest detail of the instrument and for the first time, maps of minerals could be made with clarity never before possible. The TES instrument senses heat from the surface of Mars; it does so by splitting the heat spectrum, or “color” of the heat into either 143 or 286 wavelengths or colors of thermal infrared light. The variations in the amount of heat emitted by those colors allow scientists to determine what materials are at the surface. The USGS scientists have identified details in the infrared spectrum that indicate what is probably a sulfate in the pervasive dust and many bright soils on Mars. Sulfates have been expected since the Viking Landers found sulfur in the martian soils in 1976, but the host mineral was never identified. It could be a sulfide (sulfur attached to a metal) or a sulfate—sulfur attached to three oxygen atoms. The latest study shows that sulfates are abundant, but there could still be small pockets of sulfides. Putting all this together, about three percent of the surface mapped so far contains abundant olivine, and another three percent contains coarse-grained hematite, consistent with Mars' red color. The olivine occurs in darker basaltic volcanic rocks that cover a large portion of the planet. The sulfates occur in brighter rocks that are most likely mechanically weathered (meteor impacts, wind driven dust/sand erosion) with trace amounts of fine-grained hematite. The fine-grained hematite probably also comes from mechanical grinding of the coarser grained rocks. The origin of the coarse grained hematite is still unknown. On earth, it is often associated with water, as in a hot spring or lakebed. But such conditions would also produce other minerals that are not seen on Mars. The presence of water and chemical weathering would also produce clay minerals, which are not seen in the latest data. “Not seeing minerals that indicate chemical weathering is also consistent with the abundant olivine and that implies the chemical weathering is very low. Thus, a consistent picture is forming that says Mars' surface has remained cold and dry for a long time,” said Hoefen. Clark concurs with other researchers that abundant water probably exists below the surface, but only in a frozen state and rarely, if ever, has it existed at the surface in a warm liquid form which makes searching for life much more difficult. Additional information about Clark's research can be found at http://speclab.cr.usgs.gov/. As the nation's largest water, earth and biological science, and civilian mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2000 organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial, scientific information to resource managers, planners, and other customers. This information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize the loss of life and property from natural disasters, to contribute to the conservation and the sound economic and physical development of the nation's natural resources, and to enhance the quality of life by monitoring water, biological, energy, and mineral resources. An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-science-00l.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST CREW STARTS LIVING AND WORKING ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ESA release 70-2000 http://subs.esa.int:8330/pressows/documents/news/1/2000/press70.html 31 October 2000 Today at 10:53 Moscow time (07:53 GMT), a new chapter opened in the history of Space with the launch of the first permanent crew to the International Space Station from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Expedition 1 crew, composed of Space Station commander Bill Shepherd (US), Soyuz commander Yuri Gidzenko (Russia) and flight engineer Sergei Krikalev (Russia), will arrive at the Station two days after launch and will stay there for nearly four months, until the replacement astronauts (Expedition 2) take over from them in February next year. The launch of the Expedition 1 Crew will not only be an historical moment for humankind with the establishment of a permanent human presence on the outpost in orbit, but also for Europe and ESA, since the crew will perform a number of tasks related to the system and experiments provided by ESA. The crew will, for example, install the Control Post Computers of the ESA-provided Data Management System for the Russian service module Zvezda, which is the “brain” of the module, and thereby of the whole early Space Station. The astronauts will also unload from a Progress re-supply vehicle, slated for launch on 1 February 2001, the electronics unit for the European Global Time System (GTS) experiment and mount it inside Zvezda. The first crew is scheduled to start the GTS, which allows the synchronization of radio-controlled clocks and watches from space and, in the longer term, to disable for instance stolen cars and credit cards. The Expedition 1 crew will also witness the arrival of the first Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module “Leonardo” with a Space Shuttle in February next year. Furthermore, one of the crewmembers, Yuri Gidzenko, served as Mir commander during the 179-day Euromir-95 mission and was a fellow crewmember of ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter. The first European will visit the Space Station as of next year. ESA astronaut Umberto Guidoni (Italy) will be on board Space Shuttle mission STS-102 currently scheduled for April 2001. Contacts: Franco Bonacina, ESA Media Relations Phone: + 33(0)1.53.69.7155 Cell: + 335(0)08.74.6109 Fax: + 33(0)1.53.69.7690 Visit our new web site at http://www.esa.int. Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/spacestation001102.h tml http://CNN.com/2000/TECH/space/11/02/space.docking.03/index.html http://CNN.com/interactive/space/9907/iss.360/frameset.exclude.html http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/issreports/2000/iss00- 47.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_999000/999675.stm http://spaceflightnow.com/ops/stage4a/001103work/ http://spaceflightnow.com/ops/stage4a/status.html http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/11/02/space.docking.02/index.html http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/20001102/sp_ap_station.html http://www.space.com/cgi- bin/email/gate.cgi?lk=T4&date=001103&go=/missionlaunches/missions/exp 1_am_001103.html http://www.space.com/cgi- bin/email/gate.cgi?lk=T5&date=001103&go=/missionlaunches/missions/alp ha_male_001103.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/001031140612.5hyreyi4.html http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/spacestation.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- EUROPA'S LIFELINES By Jeff Hecht From New Scientist 1 November 2000 The cracks in Europa's icy crust are where life is most likely to be found on the Jovian moon, the conference heard last week. This means it might be possible to find life without having to drill down to the ocean far beneath the ice. It also means that any terrestrial stowaways on a space probe could easily contaminate Europa. The cracks would provide an ideal home for life, says Richard Greenberg of the University of Arizona in Tucson. Tides caused by Jupiter's strong gravitational pull make warm water flow up and down the cracks, creating a rich chemistry along the fissures. “That makes Europa extremely habitable,” says Greenberg. There is growing evidence that Europa has an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust. But for life to survive there, it would also need energy. Greenberg's analysis of data from the Galileo spacecraft suggests the ice is at most 6 kilometers thick, but even if it's thinner in places it would still block the sunlight. However, the ice is riddled with cracks caused by tidal forces, he says. Europa circles Jupiter every 3.5 days. These periodic tidal stresses form a network of fissures in the ice, which can open and close by about a meter. When a crack opens, water will rise 90 percent of the way to the surface, Greenberg says. At the top of the fissures, ice both freezes and evaporates into the near vacuum. When the walls close again, they squeeze slush to the top, where it freezes. The cyclic flow of water up and down the cracks continually mixes the liquid. The connection to the surface is vital. Here, solar radiation can split molecules, producing chemicals that could supply energy for life. What's more, enough sunlight might reach the upper few metres to drive photosynthesis. “You could have organisms a meter down, with roots hanging onto the cracks, unfolding their little leaves,” says Greenberg. “If there were life in the cracks, the whole crack would be filled, it's such a hospitable setting.” Some organisms might stay in one place, while others could ride up and down with water, he suggests. Unlike our Moon, which always shows the same face to the Earth, Europa rotates full circle once every 20,000 to 200,000 years relative to Jupiter. This means cracks slowly shift into different positions. As old cracks seal up after thousands of years, organisms would be forced to migrate to new cracks or evolve ways to survive when frozen. “It's a great set-up for advancement,” Greenberg says. New Scientist issue: 4th November 2000 http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns226331 UK Contact: Claire Bowles, claire.bowles@rbi.co.uk, 44-207-331-2751 US Contact: New Scientist Washington office newscidc@idt.net, 202-452-1178 An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/galileo-00q.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- WATER ON THE SPACE STATION By Patrick L. Barry and Tony Phillips From NASA Science News 2 November 2000 Future astronauts poised to blast off for an extended stay on the International Space Station (ISS) might first consider dashing to the restroom for a quick splash at the lavatory, or better yet, a luxurious hot shower. Once on board the ISS, spacefarers are in for a steady diet of sponge baths using water distilled from—among other places—their crewmates breath! If you're squeamish, read no farther, because the crew will eventually include lab rodents—and they'll be breathing, too. All of the denizens of the space station lose water when they exhale or sweat. Such vapors add to the ambient cabin humidity, which is eventually condensed and returned to the general water supply. Sometimes it's better not to think about where your next glass of water is coming from! Rationing and recycling will be an essential part of daily life on the ISS. In orbit, where Earth's natural life support system is missing, the Space Station itself has to provide abundant power, clean water, and breathable air at the right temperature and humidity—24 hours a day, 7 days a week, indefinitely. Nothing can go to waste. In this article, the first of a series about the practical challenges of living in space, Science@NASA will examine how the Space Station's Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS), under continuing development at the Marshall Space Flight Center, will help astronauts use and re-use their precious supplies of water. Future installments will explore air management, thermal control and fire suppression—in short, all of the things that will make the Space Station comfortable and safe. Making a splash in space Before recycling can begin, there has to be some water to start with. “We have plenty of water on the Space Station now,” says Jim Reuter, leader of the ECLSS group at the Marshall Space Flight Center. “The Russian module Zarya is packed with contingency water containers (CWCs) that were carried over from the Space Shuttle during assembly missions earlier this year. They look like duffle bags and each one holds about 90 lbs.” “But it's expensive to ferry water from Earth,” he added. “We have to recycle. There's already a Russian-built water processor in orbit that collects humidity from the air. Here at Marshall we're building a regenerative system that will be able to recycle almost every drop of water on the station and support a crew of seven with minimal resupplies.” The ECLSS Water Recycling System (WRS), developed at the MSFC, will reclaim waste waters from the Space Shuttle's fuel cells, from urine, from oral hygiene and hand washing, and by condensing humidity from the air. Without such careful recycling 40,000 pounds per year of water from Earth would be required to resupply a minimum of four crewmembers for the life of the station. Not even research animals are excused from the program. “Lab animals on the ISS breath and urinate, too, and we plan to reclaim their waste products along with the crew's. A full complement of 72 rats would equal about one human in terms of water reclamation,” says Layne Carter, a water-processing specialist at the MSFC. It might sound disgusting, but water leaving the space station's purification machines will be cleaner than what most of us drink on Earth. “The water that we generate is much cleaner than anything you'll ever get out of any tap in the United States,” says Carter. “We certainly do a much more aggressive treatment process (than municipal waste water treatment plants). We have practically ultra-pure water by the time our water's finished.” Mimicking Mother Earth On Earth, water that passes through animals' bodies is made fresh again by natural processes. Microbes in the soil break down urea and convert it to a form that plants can absorb and use to build new plant tissue. The granular soil also acts as a physical filter. Bits of clay cling to nutrients in urine electrostatically, purifying the water and providing nutrients for plants. Water excreted by animals also evaporates into the atmosphere and rains back down to the Earth as fresh water—a natural form of distillation. Water purification machines on the ISS partly mimic these processes, but they do not rely on microbes or any other living things. “While you try to mimic what's happening on Earth—which is so complicated if you really think about it—we have to use systems that we can control 100 percent,” said Monsi Roman, chief microbiologist for the ECLSS project at MSFC. ECLSS depends on machines—not microbes—because, “if a machine breaks, you can fix it.” The water purification machines on the ISS will cleanse wastewater in a three-step process. The first step is a filter that removes particles and debris. Then the water passes through the “multi- filtration beds,” which contain substances that remove organic and inorganic impurities. And finally, the “catalytic oxidation reactor” removes volatile organic compounds and kills bacteria and viruses. Every drop counts Once the water is purified, astronauts will do everything possible to use it efficiently. “On the ground, people flick on the faucet and they probably waste a couple of liters of water just because it's free and the water pressure is high,” notes Carter. “On the ISS, the water pressure will be about half what you might experience in a typical household,” Carter said. “We don't use faucets on the ISS, we use a wash cloth. It's much more efficient. If you're an astronaut, you'll wet the wash cloth with a spray nozzle and then use the cloth to wash your hands.” On the space station, people will wash their hands with less than one-tenth the water that people typically use on Earth. Instead of consuming 50 liters to take a shower, which is typical on Earth, denizens of the ISS will use less than 4 liters to bathe. Even with intense conservation and recycling efforts, the Space Station will gradually lose water because of inefficiencies in the life support system. “We will always need resupply, because none of the water reprocessing technology that is available right now for space flight... is 100 percent efficient. So there's always some minimal loss,” said Marybeth Edeen, deputy assistant manager of environmental control and life support at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Water is lost by the Space Station in several ways: the water recycling systems produce a small amount of unusable brine; the oxygen-generating system consumes water; air that's lost in the air locks takes humidity with it; and the CO2 removal systems leach some water out of the air, to name a few. Lost water will be replaced by carrying it over from the Shuttle or from the Russian Progress rocket. The Shuttle produces water as its fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity, and the Progress rocket can be outfitted to carry large containers of water. NASA scientists will continue to look for ways to improve the life support systems of the Space Station, reducing water losses and finding ways to reuse other waste products. If the water recycling systems can be improved to an efficiency of greater than about 95 percent, then the water contained in the Station's food supply would be enough to replace the lost water, Edeen said. “It takes processes that are slightly more efficient than we have developed for the space station to do that,” Edeen said. “Those are the next generation water processing systems. Those are being developed now, but they're not ready for space flight yet.” The ECLSS life support system will join the Space Station as part of Node 3, which is scheduled to launch in October 2005. Until then, the environment inside the ISS will be maintained primarily by life support systems on the Russian Zvezda Service Module. For more information on this article see http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast02nov_1.htm?list52260. --------------------------------------------------------------------- IMMUNITY IN SPACE—GETTING CLOSE TO YOUR NEIGHBOURS By Jennifer Laing From Universe Today 3 November 2000 Much has been made of the potential discovery of sub-surface water on Mars, with NASA recently announcing plans for six robotic missions starting in 2001 to hunt for signs of life. This is the first step towards achieving the goal of manned space exploration of Mars. Making the 'man on Mars' vision a reality will however require a number of safety and technological issues to be tackled. For example, we'll need to gain a deeper understanding of how the human body copes with long-duration space flight and then develop a series of countermeasures to combat perceived health risks to astronauts. One area currently being looked at involves the effects on the immune system of living and working in space. Get the full story at http://www.universetoday.com/html/special/immunityspace.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- UNIVERSITIES LAUNCH ASTROBIOLOGY CENTER Cardiff University release 5 November 2000 Cardiff is to become home to the UK's first Centre for Astrobiology— providing the UK with a facility to contribute to space missions probing for life on solar system bodies. The Centre, a joint initiative between Cardiff University and the University of Wales College of Medicine, forges a connection between astronomy and biology. Two UK leaders in these fields lead it: Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe and Professor Anthony Campbell. The Centre combines research interests in astronomy and molecular cell biology to throw light on the emergence and development of life in the cosmos and planetary bodies. The work of the Centre will also provide information essential for the emergent discipline of space medicine. Initial research will focus on seeking evidence of the existence of biomolecules and cells in the upper atmosphere as well as in comets and interstellar dust; evidence for the existence of life molecules and processes in material recovered from space; and the effect of space conditions of living systems. “The unique combination of astronomy and molecular cell biology will provide Cardiff will a center of world excellence,” said Professor Wickramasinghe. “It will give us the facility to contribute to space missions probing for life on solar system bodies.” The universities launch Astrobiology Centre to mark the opening of the Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology, an inaugural lecture will take place at 7:00 PM on Monday, 6 November 2000 at Cardiff University. Dr. Stuart A. Kingsley, Director of the Columbus Optical SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Observatory in the USA, will deliver the lecture, entitled “The search for extraterrestrial intelligence in the optical spectrum.” Born and educated in the UK, Dr. Kingsley moved to the United States in 1981. He has gained an international reputation for his pioneering work on fiber-optic systems which, since 1990, he has applied to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. An additional article on this subject is available at http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0011/05ukastrobio/. --------------------------------------------------------------------- HUMANS ON MARS: NASA ON THE DEFENSIVE By Leonard David and Andrew Bridges 6 November 2000 Humans are landing on Mars all the time in Hollywood movies, with even more scheduled to do so this month. But when will astronauts really go to Mars? To hear NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin tell it, really soon. “We're going to be in space forever with people first circling this globe, and then we're going on to Mars, back to the Moon, and [on to] bases on asteroids,” Goldin said Tuesday, on the occasion of the launch of the first full-time crew to the International Space Station. But NASA’s latest plans to explore Mars, unveiled just last week, tell a different story. “This program is not driven by human exploration,” said Ed Weiler, NASA’s associate administrator for space science, in presenting the American space agency’s next decade of martian explorers—100-percent robotic, the lot of them. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_humans_001106. 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 6 November 2000 Astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation articles online http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s1.html R. R. Britt, 2000. Are we all aliens? The case for panspermia. Space.com. J. Hecht, 2000. Europa’s lifelines. New Scientist. J. Hecht, 2000. Life in the cracks. 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. Humans on Mars: NASA on the defensive. Space.com. J. Laing, 2000. Immunity in space—getting to know your neighbours. Universe Today. --------------------------------------------------------------------- CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS JPL release 26 October – 1 November 2000 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Madrid tracking station on Monday, October 30th. 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/english/where/. Activities this week included the execution of the sixth, and start of the seventh instance of the 5-Day Repeating Template for Jupiter observations, a SSR Management Strategy update, a reaction wheel unload, and flight software partition maintenance. A command approval meeting was held for Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS), Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (UVIS) and Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) Instrument Expanded Block (IEB) files required for execution during C23. The IEBs were then uplinked along with the C23 background sequence. This was followed by the clearing of all Command & Data Subsystem (CDS) Error Logs. All IEBs have been received successfully by the spacecraft, the CIRS IEB lookup table and flight software patch have been verified and C23 is active and will begin execution next week Development for Cruise 24 continued this week with a Probe Relay Test Planning Meeting and a C24 Sub Sequence Generation Sequence Change Request Approval Meeting. The Probe Relay test has been scheduled for January 31 through February 5, 2001. An international team of eight astronomers has discovered four new outer moons of Saturn orbiting at least 15 million kilometers (more than 9 million miles) from the surface of the planet. The discovery gives Saturn a total of 22 known moons, surpassing the 21 orbiting Uranus. It will take up to a year of observations to obtain precise orbits for these objects and develop calculations of their future positions. At that time it will be possible to ascertain how close Cassini/Huygens will pass by them. The closeness of approach will determine the types of observations that can be made and what might be learned about the satellites. More information may be found at http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Oct00/Saturn.moons.deb.html. The Multi Mission Image Processing Laboratory (MIPL) has processed over 2865 Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) pre-Jupiter images at the rate of approximately 3.5 minutes per image. The products are automatically delivered to the ISS Team Leader at University of Arizona for analysis. A Rings Working Group (RWG) meeting was held to discuss the Saturn ring observations during Tour. The RWG outlined a plan to develop the products required to support the Tour Science Planning Process. Radio Science personnel gave a seminar to Telecommunications and Mission Operations Directorate (TMOD) System Engineering on Cassini Radio Science operations for the Gravitational Wave Experiment. At the request of the JPL Staffing group, the Instrument Operations Team gave an outreach presentation on “Cassini Instrument Operations Engineering at JPL” at the California State Polytechnic University— Pomona to over 50 students of the Cal Poly IEEE Student Chapter. The presentation included an overview of the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan, technical discussion of the components, instruments, and engineering side of Cassini, discussion of science and instrument cruise phase activities, and the Tour trajectory. During the question and answer period, many of the engineers displayed an interest in what a junior engineer would contribute to a NASA robotic space project, and the technical interfaces between the orbiter and its instruments. Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA, manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL releases 30 October 30 – 5 November 2000 The week of Hallows Eve finds an 11-year old Galileo spending a relatively quiet week mapping the Jovian magnetosphere. The spacecraft was launched on October 18, 1989, arrived at Jupiter on December 7, 1995, and has spent the last 5 years exploring Jupiter, its moons and rings, and its magnetospheric environment. Galileo's Fields and Particles instruments are in the initial days of a 100-day continuous survey that starts in the solar wind, continues through the Jovian magnetosphere (when Galileo flies through the heart of the Jupiter system in December) and proceeds back out into the solar wind. The survey is part of a joint investigation with the Cassini spacecraft, which is now approaching Jupiter and will pass by in December en route to Saturn. All planned data playback from previous encounters was completed in time to support the Fields and Particles survey. When Deep Space Network (DSN) antennas are scheduled for use by Galileo, survey data are immediately packaged and transmitted to Earth. But when these antennas are being used by other projects, Galileo makes use of an onboard data buffer (a section of computer memory) to store data until an antenna is next made available for use by Galileo. The data buffer, however, only holds about seven hours of data, and tough negotiations for DSN antennas have resulted in larger DSN coverage gaps for Galileo than the data buffer can handle without overflowing. With data playback complete, the tape recorder can be used to record the contents of the data buffer, and prevent loss of valuable data. Why are these data so valuable? It is a rare and valuable circumstance when two spacecraft are in the same region of space, simultaneously examining the same phenomena from different viewpoints. The dual-spacecraft observations will allow scientists to observe both the solar wind and the interior of the Jovian magnetosphere at the same time. With this unique opportunity, scientists will be able to see how changes in the solar wind can affect the interior of the magnetosphere. Galileo's tape recorder is used six times this week to record the contents of its data buffer, once each on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and twice on Sunday. 6-12 November 2000 Galileo's Fields and Particles instruments continue to survey the Jovian magnetosphere this week as the spacecraft slowly makes its way toward the heart of the Jupiter system and its next encounter on December 28, 2000. The Fields and Particles instruments are in the midst of a 100-day continuous survey that starts in the solar wind, continues through the Jovian magnetosphere, and proceeds back out into the solar wind. The data acquired during the survey are transmitted to Earth in real time when antennas of NASA's Deep Space Network are listening to Galileo's radio transmissions. When antennas are being used by other space missions, the spacecraft is recording these data on its onboard tape recorder for playback to Earth at a later time. Galileo's tape recorder is used 12 times this week. The Fields and Particles instruments are the Dust Detector, Energetic Particle Detector, Heavy Ion Counter, Magnetometer, Plasma Detector, and Plasma Wave instrument. The survey they are conducting is part of a joint venture with the Cassini spacecraft, which is now approaching Jupiter. Cassini will fly past Jupiter and proceed to Saturn, where it is scheduled to arrive in 2004. Using data from both spacecraft, scientists will be able to see how changes in the solar wind can influence conditions in the interior of the magnetosphere. 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS REPORT JPL release 25 October 2000 Launch / Days since Launch = November 7, 1996 / 1449 days Start of Mapping / Days since Start of Mapping = April 1, 1999 / 573 days Total Mapping Orbits = 7,303 Total Orbits = 8,906 Recent events The spacecraft continues to operate nominally in performing the beta- supplement daily recording and transmission of science data. The mm080 sequence executed successfully from 00-293 (10/19/00) through 00-295 (10/21/00). The mm081 sequence has performed well since it started on 00-296 (10/22/00). It terminates on 00-299 (10/25/00). The mm080 sequence, successfully uplinked on 00-298 (10/24/00), begins executing on 00-300 (10/26/00). No special science scans were conducted this week. Spacecraft health All subsystems report nominal health. Uplinks There have been 7 uplinks to the spacecraft during the last week, including instrument command loads and the sequences cited above. There have been 4,924 command files radiated to the spacecraft since launch. Upcoming events The mm083 background sequence will be uplinked on 00-301 (10/27/00). The next set of specialized science observations occurs in November. MOLA Polar Scans, contained in the mz062 mini-sequence, will be performed on 00-316 (11/11/00) through 00-319 (11/14/00). Radio Science Occultation Egress Scans, scheduled for 00-322 (11/17/00) through 00-325 (11/20/00), will be commanded by the mz063 mini- sequence. --------------------------------------------------------------------- LATEST MOLA GLOBAL MAPS OF MARS JPL release 1 November 2000 MOLA is the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, an instrument currently in orbit around Mars on the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft. The instrument transmits infrared laser pulses towards Mars at a rate of 10 Hz and measures the time of flight to determine the range of the MGS spacecraft to the martian surface. The range measurements are used to construct a precise topographic map of Mars that has many applications to studies in geophysics, geology and atmospheric circulation. [Image: http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/tharsis/italian.html] The maps below are global false-color topographic views of Mars at different orientations from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA). The maps are orthographic projections that contain over 200,000,000 points and about 5,000,000 altimetric crossovers. The spatial resolution is about 15 kilometers at the equator and less at higher latitudes. The vertical accuracy is less than 5 meters. The first two maps are a “re-do” of the MOLA cover of Science on May 28, 1999. (Check out the improvement!) The first features the Hellas impact basin (in purple, with red annulus of high standing material). The second features the Tharsis topographic rise (in red and white). The third figure illustrates the fascinating subtle textures associated with resurfacing of the northern hemisphere lowlands in the vicinity of the Utopia impact basin (at the near-center of the image in blue). (All images credited to: MOLA Science Team.) Major martian volcanoes from MOLA [Images: http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/tharsis/volcano.html] Two views of Alba Patera with topography draped over a Viking image mosaic. MOLA data have clarified the relationship between fault location and topography on and surrounding the Alba construct, providing insight into the volcanological and geophysical processes that shaped the edifice. The vertical exaggeration is 10:1. (Credit: MOLA Science Team.) Two views of Arsia Mons, the southern most of the Tharsis montes, shown as topography draped over a Viking image mosaic. MOLA topography clearly shows the caldera structure and the flank massive breakout that produced a major side lobe. The vertical exaggeration is 10:1. (Credit: MOLA Science Team.) Two views of Olympus Mons, shown as topography draped over a Viking image mosaic. MOLA's regional topography has shown that this volcano sits off to the west of the main Tharsis rise rather than on its western flank. The topography also clearly shows the relationship between the volcano's scarp and massive aureole deposit that was produced by flank collapse. The vertical exaggeration is 10:1. (Credit: MOLA Science Team.) MOLA views of Valles Marineris [Images: http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/tharsis/vm.html] The images below are Digital Elevation Models of the Valles Marineris region of Mars. Combining MOLA gridded topography with color information from Viking image mosaics produced these views. These figures were produced by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio. The views are looking westward down the canyon system toward the Tharsis rise and there is no vertical exaggeration in the images. --------------------------------------------------------------------- STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release 3 November 2000 There were four Deep Space Network tracking passes in the past week. All subsystems onboard the spacecraft are performing normally. Optical navigation specialists are processing over 100 star images of the Pleiades cluster to determine the geometric properties of the mirror and primary optics. Initial analysis has already yielded geometric accuracies, or accurate measurement of angles between stars, within a factor of 2 of what was expected before launch. Full geometric accuracy may be achieved with more analysis. The coating in the optical path apparently has not significantly affected this characteristic of the camera. Both navigation and camera engineering specialists have analyzed star and calibration lamp images from the previous months, taken both before and after CCD heating. There has been a noticeable improvement in image quality. However, there is still significant room for improvement. Additional steps for potential improvement will be investigated. Four brief star camera outages occurred since the transition to all- stellar mode last week, the longest lasting eight seconds. The onboard timer was increased from 3 to 5 minutes last week, ensuring that no safe mode entry will occur during these outages. The cause of these outages is still under investigation, and the solution may be one of several simple options. High-resolution ranging data was obtained for navigation. These data are used to determine the spacecraft's position in space, to compute the size and direction of the upcoming trajectory correction maneuver on November 14. The University of Hawaii provided Stardust's science team with reduced and calibrated observations of Comet Wild-2 taken in 1997- 1998 by the large optical telescope on Mauna Kea. These observations are being used to improve the dust production model of Comet Wild-2 in order to determine the optimal flyby distance for dust collection and spacecraft safety in 2004. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------