MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 8, Number 7, 19 February 2001. 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) NASA TO HOST 32ND LUNAR AND PLANETARY SCIENCE CONFERENCE AT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER NASA/JSC release J01-14 2) INSTRUMENTAL PRECISION IN ROBOTIC STUDIES OF THE MARTIAN SURFACE FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT Lunar and Planetary Institute release 3) MARS SAMPLE RETURN PRESENTS DAUNTING TECHNICAL CHALLENGES By Brian Berger 4) LIVING ON ALPHA By Jim Schefter 5) AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GREEN CELSS TASK FORCE By Terry R. Kok 6) ASTRONAUTS EMBARK ON 100TH SPACEWALK, "DEAD GUY TEST" By Todd Halvorson 7) NASA SCIENTISTS TO DISCUSS SPACE EXPLORATION CHALLENGES NASA/ARC release 01-13AR 8) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas 9) CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS JPL release 10) THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 11) STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA TO HOST 32ND LUNAR AND PLANETARY SCIENCE CONFERENCE AT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER NASA/JSC release J01-14 13 February 2001 Ancient life on Mars, oceans on Europa, a rendezvous with an asteroid-these are just a few of the many fascinating topics that will be covered at the 32nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, March 12-16, 2001, at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. More than 450 scientists will present their research at JSC's Gilruth Center beginning at 8:30 AM Monday, March 12. Oral presentations will continue through Friday morning, March 16. Some scientists will also present their results on posters from 7 to 9:30 PM Tuesday and Thursday, in the Bayou Building at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. The media are invited to attend both the oral and poster sessions. One session on Monday morning will be devoted to the Tagish Lake meteorite, which fell to Earth in northern British Columbia on January 18, 2000. Early analyses suggest that the Tagish Lake meteorite may contain the most primitive solar system materials yet found. Researchers have also determined that the meteroid weighed 200,000 kilograms (441,000 lbs) before it entered the atmosphere, and was four to six meters (approximately 13 to 20 feet) in diameter. Several hundred meteorite samples have been recovered from the site, which is strewn along an area 16 kilometers (10 miles) long and five kilometers (three miles) wide. The analyses of these unique samples will be discussed in detail at the conference. The conference, which is chaired by Carl B. Agee of JSC and David C. Black of the Lunar and Planetary Institute, will also include presentations on water, glaciers and volcanoes on Mars; earthquakes on Venus; and the effects of past asteroid impacts on the Earth. News media can register for the conference, at no charge, via the Web at https://www.lpi.usra.edu/htbin/meetings/lpsc2001.elec.regfrm.pl. Under "registration status" select "Working Press $0.00". News media with additional questions, or those who wish to schedule interviews with participants, should contact Pam Thompson at the Lunar and Planetary Institute. Thompson can be reached by phone at 281/486- 2175 or by e-mail at thompson@lpi.usra.edu. Additional information about conference events, including the texts of abstracts, can be found at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference web site at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2001/. Contact: Catherine E. Watson Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX Phone: 281-483-5111 --------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTRUMENTAL PRECISION IN ROBOTIC STUDIES OF THE MARTIAN SURFACE FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT Lunar and Planetary Institute release http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/martiansurface2001/ 13 February 2001 May 14-16, 2001: Houston, Texas Sponsored by Lunar and Planetary Institute NASA Mars Exploration Program Mars Exploration Payload Analysis Group (MEPAG) Curation and Analysis Planning Team for Extraterrestrial Materials (CAPTEM) Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Mars Exploration Payload Analysis Group (MEPAG) and the Curation and Analysis Planning Team for Extraterrestrial Materials (CAPTEM)- two scientific working groups chartered by NASA-are convening a workshop to assess the capabilities of state-of-the-art instruments used in the robotic in situ analysis of Martian rocks, soil, atmosphere, and organic matter and in the geological and geophysical exploration of the martian surface. The workshop will be held at the Lunar and Planetary Institute, which is housed in the Center for Advanced Space Studies, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, Texas. Over the past two years, the MEPAG has formulated a comprehensive long-term set of scientific goals, objectives, and investigations for NASA's Mars Exploration Program. The MEPAG deliberations showed that successful implementation of this scientific plan requires a combination of orbital, robotic in situ, and sample return missions. However, particularly in the case of instrumentation for robotic surface studies, the capabilities of the current and next generation of spacecraft instruments are not well documented. As a result it is unclear how well these instruments can achieve the program's scientific goals. This workshop will endeavor to document the capabilities of robotic instrumentation, in part to determine which measurements can and should be made by robotic techniques and which ultimately must be made in Earth laboratories subsequent to sample return. It will do this by organizing small breakout groups for the purpose of independently evaluating measurement performance. Most importantly, the workshop will identify critical areas where technology must be advanced in order to achieve program goals. The workshop will bring together leading members of the robotic and laboratory analysis communities to assess the capabilities of diverse robotic instrumentation (including relevant HEDS science experiments) in the context of the Mars Program science plan. The workshop will utilize a small number of presented papers together with breakout discussion groups. The breakout groups will be formulated along disciplinary lines (e.g., geochemistry, mineralogy, geophysics). All participants must submit an abstract describing their related work by March 27, 2001. Abstracts are limited to two pages, and should be prepared in standard LPSC format (detailed instructions will be posted later). These abstracts are not about current individual research. Rather, they should address specific analytical techniques and instruments that can be applied (robotically or in the lab) to answer priority Mars science questions, as defined by the MEPAG document cited above. The analytical precision and state of readiness of particular techniques/instruments should be addressed in detail. Because this is a workshop rather than a conference, the majority of submitted abstracts will not be presented orally but instead will serve as input to the breakout groups. The timing of the workshop is controlled in part by the need to begin planning a 2007 Mars lander mission, which in turn is a prelude to subsequent landers and Mars sample return missions. There will be a registration fee of $50. Registration forms will be available at this web site by March 1, 2001. To assist the meeting organizers in formalizing plans for the workshop, interested members of the community should complete the Indication of Interest Form no later than February 23, 2001. Local accommodations and maps We have provided a list of local area hotels with their current room rates. A map of the local area that indicates the location of these hotels in relationship to the Lunar and Planetary Institute is also provided to assist you with your travel plans. Participants are responsible for making their own hotel reservations. Schedule February 23: Indication of Interest Form due to LPI March 27: Abstract submission deadline, 5:00 PM U.S. Central Standard Time April 26: Accepted abstracts and discussion group assignments posted on this web site May 7: Preregistration deadline May 14-16: Workshop at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas Contact information For further information on the scientific aspects of the meeting, contact either of the organizers: Ron Greeley (Chair, MEPAG) Department of Geological Sciences Box 871404 Arizona State University Tempe AZ 85287-1404 Phone: 480-965-7045 greeley@asu.edu Glenn J. MacPherson (Chair, CAPTEM) Department of Mineral Sciences U.S. National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution Washington DC 20560-0119 Phone: 202-357-2260 glenn@volcano.si.edu For further information regarding logistics contact: Mary Cloud Phone: 281-486-2143 Fax: 281-486-2160 cloud@lpi.usra.edu For information regarding preparing or submitting an abstract, contact: Renee Dotson Phone: 281-486-2188 Fax: 281-486-2125 dotson@lpi.usra.edu --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS SAMPLE RETURN PRESENTS DAUNTING TECHNICAL CHALLENGES By Brian Berger From Space.com 13 February 2001 The head of NASA's Mars exploration program said the agency still must overcome a host of technical challenges before launching its first sample-return mission in 2011. NASA had planned to launch its first Mars sample-return mission in 2005. But back-to-back losses of the Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander in 1999 prompted the agency to pause and rethink its plans for exploring the Red Planet. Even with an extra six years to get ready for the first sample- gathering mission, NASA officials say they have no time to waste. "The set of technology needed for sample return is probably the most challenging one there is," said Scott Hubbard, Mars Exploration Program director at NASA. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/hubbard_mars_challenges _010213.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- LIVING ON ALPHA By Jim Schefter From Popular Science and Space.com 13 February 2001 Man moved into what amounts to a three-room apartment in outer space and quickly found himself at odds with the landlord-ground control in Moscow-over how to fix a faulty air conditioner. With the job tougher and taking longer than planned, the conversation soon grew heated. Finally, a Russian ground controller broke the tension. "Guys, don't swear at me," he begged. It wasn't, he was saying, his fault that the Earth-bound controllers didn't understand how long it takes to do chores in space. The exchange was proof-positive that astronauts are in space to stay, and like many new homeowners, find that some things don't work as advertised. A little grumpiness may be unavoidable. The new residents are 230 miles up and stuck for a four-month stay. They can't step into the backyard to cool down. Life aboard the newly christened space station Alpha is characterized by free-floating objects and people whizzing around in very tight quarters. As with a lot of long-distance movers, the Expedition 1 crew-American mission commander William Shepherd and cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko-found the first order of business was to flick on the lights and use the toilet when they arrived in November after a two- day journey. Krikalev had been aboard before as part of the crew that linked the Unity module to the Russian-built Zarya module. Zarya, Krikalev knows, isn't the most comfortable spot in space. At 41 feet long, it's about the size of a motor home and about as hospitable as a boiler room. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/news/spacestation/alpha_popsci_021301.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GREEN CELSS TASK FORCE By Terry R. Kok 14 February 2001 The purpose of the Green CELSS Task Force is to cooperatively research, design, construct, inhabit, and gather useful scientific data from a series of terrestrial based CELSS (Closed Ecological Life Support Systems) with the objective of producing, as an end result, a Fully functioning and reliable "modular biosphere" style CELSS capable of providing 100% recycling and resource reclamation of organic matter, liquid wastes, and atmospheric gasses, while supplying a constant source of fresh air, clean water, and nutritious food for the inhabitants of remote and hostile environments. CELSS can be divided into several sections: 1) HAB (habitat/living space) 2) HUM (Habitat Utilities Module: power source/storage, plumbing, air vents/pipes, sinks/shower, toilet, cooking facilities) 3) WTRRS (Waste Treatment & Resource Reclamation System) to be divided into: a. Composter b. V-GES (Vegetation Growth Environment System) All wastes (solid, liquid, gas) enter a multi-stage composter. The composter (aerobic conditions) breaks down solids and separates solids from liquids (leachate). Leachate and CO2-rich air goe to V- GES. V-GES purifies water and air, using leachate as fertilizer, and outputs distilled water, O2, and food into the HAB. The trick is in the design of the composter and the V-GES. A high level of integration between eco-niches is essential. The Green CELSS Task Force (CTF) is a non-profit cooperative "labor of love" between people of diverse backgrounds, skills, and disciplines. Anyone interested in CELSS and CELSS-related technologies may participate. To facilitate the successful obtainment of the objectives above, the CTF is organized into three areas: 1) ROUND TABLE-"communications central": a subscriber based e-group where participants may discuss, query, and receive answers regarding the CTF. The Round Table includes regular project progress reports, data pool digests/summaries, and other information pertinent to this project. If you would like to sign up for the Round Table e-group please subscribe below: Post message: GreenCELSSTaskFORCE@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: GreenCELSSTaskFORCE-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: GreenCELSSTaskFORCE-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com List owner: GreenCELSSTaskFORCE-owner@yahoogroups.com 2) DATA POOL-"research database": an open access message board where CTF team participants may post research reports and other useful data (not a place for discussions). The primary organization of the Data Pool follows the R&D outline presented further below. Here's how to use the DATA POOL: http://www.open.k12.or.us/marstalk/ Go there, click NEW USER and fill in the stuff. After the submission, you will be wisked to the conference. Subsequent visits use the login box. This is an "overall" Mars Millennium Project conference, but within that is a section/topic called "CELSS Data Pool." You may see one blue link, if the TOPICS are not displayed. Clicking on it will take you to the topic list. Click on CELSS Data Pool. 3) ECOTECHNIC LINKS-"web links": a links library with connections to other CELSS researchers and organizations and to related topics/information that may be of use to the CTF. These links can be found at: http://www.elflore.org/l-eco.htm http://www.elflore.org/celss.html There is another interesting site at http://beta.open.k12.or.us/mars/etag/celss.html For more information, contact Terry R. Kok at biostar_a@yahoo.com. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ASTRONAUTS EMBARK ON 100TH SPACEWALK, "DEAD GUY TEST" By Todd Halvorson From Space.com 14 February 2001 Spacewalking astronauts ambled outside the International Space Station Wednesday, aiming to finish a bit of wrap-up work and carry out a crisis management drill that some NASA officials call "The Dead Guy Test"... an emergency drill aimed at determining whether a spacewalker can physically haul an unconscious partner back into the shuttle's airlock for medical attention during an orbital crisis... The idea is to haul the "incapacitated" spacewalker back to the shuttle's airlock to make sure it could be done in a real emergency... two methods will be tested. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/sts98_eva3am_010214_2.h tml. --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA SCIENTISTS TO DISCUSS SPACE EXPLORATION CHALLENGES NASA/ARC release 01-13AR 15 February 2001 Academy Award-winning director James Cameron will lead a panel discussion about the scientific motivation for exploring space and the challenges, both physiological and technological, to expanding our presence in the solar system. The session will be held Monday, February 19, from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in San Francisco. John B. Charles of NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, will provide an overview of human missions beyond Earth orbit, with emphasis on a mission to Mars. Then, Laurence Young, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will examine the biological challenges of long-duration space flight, including the biomedical knowledge, countermeasures and strategies needed for humans to thrive physically and psychologically while exploring the space frontier. Next, Christopher P. McKay, planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in the heart of California's Silicon Valley, will summarize the role of recent robotic missions to Mars. He will focus on the role of such missions in developing the fundamental environmental data required to design life-sustaining technologies. He also will discuss their role in the search for answers to the ultimate questions: "How did life begin on Earth?" and "Does life exist elsewhere than on our planet?" Finally, Ames' John W. Hines will explore some of the revolutionary advanced technologies required to support future human missions beyond Earth orbit. Further information about the AAAS meeting is at www.aaas.org/meetings. --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology.h tml 19 February 2001 Articles about astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s1.html J. L. Bada, 2001. State-of-the-art instruments for detecting extraterrestrial life. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 98(3):797-800. C. F. Chyba and C. B. Phillips, 2001. Possible ecosystems and the search for life on Europa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 98(3):801-804. B. C. Coughlin, 2001. Searching for an alien haven in the heavens. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 98(3):796. T. M. Donahue, 2001. Pre-Global Surveyor evidence for martian ground water. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 98(3):827-830. J. I. Lunine, 2001. The occurrence of Jovian planets and the habitability of planetary systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 98(3):809-814. N. R. Pace, 2001. The universal nature of biochemistry. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 98(3):805-808. Articles about human space exploration and the microgravity environment http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s3.html T. Halvorson, 2001. Astronauts embark on 100th spacewalk, 'dead guy test'. Space.com. J. Schefter, 2001. Life on Alpha. Space.com (Popular Science). Articles about primordial evolution and prebiotic chemistry http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s5.html J. P. Dworkin, D. W. Deamer, S. A. Sandford and L. J. Allamandola, 2001. Self-assembling amphiphilic molecules: synthesis in simulated interstellar/precometary ices. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 98(3):815-819. A. B. Kudryavtsev, J. W. Schopf, D. G. Agresti and T. J. Wdowiak, 2001. In situ laser-Raman imagery of Precambrian microscopic fossils. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 98(3):823-826. S. J. Sowerby, C. A. Cohn, W. M. Heckl and N. G. Holm, 2001. Differential adsorption of nucleic acid bases: relevance to the origin of life. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 98(3):820-822. --------------------------------------------------------------------- CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS JPL release 8-14 February 2001 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone tracking station on Wednesday, February 14. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating normally. The speed of the spacecraft can be viewed on the "Present Position" web page at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/english/where/. Post Jupiter science operations resumed after last week's Probe Relay test. The two Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) calibrations executed successfully, along with Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) magnetospheric and Optical Remote Sensing (ORS) movie/torus observations. A Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) overlay sequence to modify the articulated position of the instrument for dust observations was uplinked, along with a Reaction Wheel Assembly (RWA) bias overlay sequence to change the initial wheel rates after this week's RWA momentum unload. The Cassini Instrument Operations (IO) Team and the Multi Mission Image Processing Laboratory have produced and delivered 23,325 ISS images-16,160 from the NAC and 7,165 from the WAC-and 4,935 Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) cubes since Jupiter encounter began. The C25 Preliminary Sequence Integration & Validation (PSI&V) products were released for review by the Sequence Virtual Team (SVT). The Project Science Group (PSG) Atmospheres Working Group (AWG) held a telecon this week to work on the science and orbit priorities for the Tour. The Group reviewed the current contents of the spreadsheet that is being created to identify tour observation types, objectives, and priorities. Mission Planning led a strategy session to determine how physical constants should be bookkept, managed, and updated across the project, and developed a draft set of Mission Planning inputs to provide (and verify) during the initial part of the sequence planning process. These have been submitted to Science Planning for review. An Uplink Operations (ULO) Tour Requirements and Design Review has held this week. The preliminary Board comments were generally favorable, with some questions addressing the need for a more detailed allocation of requirements. A draft report is tentatively set for release around mid February. Mission Assurance has scheduled a Risk Management Training Workshop for late February. This workshop is intended as both a Risk Management training exercise and a brainstorming session to develop an initial Cassini Risk List that will be maintained and managed in the Risk Management Plan. An updated version of the CDA flight software was delivered to the Project Software Library (PSL). A preliminary check was performed by the Spacecraft Office to validate the file format and structure. The Delivery Coordination Meeting (DCM) is scheduled for next week. A draft design document describing the next round of VIMS Flight Software updates was completed and sent out for review. 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 release 12-18 February 2001 It is going to be a relatively quiet week for the Galileo spacecraft. On Friday, the spacecraft performs standard maintenance on its propulsion systems. Other than that, playback of the data stored on the on-board tape recorder continues. Most of the week is taken up with a continuation of the Fields and Particles data collected during the few hours surrounding the closest approach of Galileo to the satellite Ganymede last December 28. Then if all goes well, sometime Friday we will begin to see some of the remote sensing instrument data taken during the encounter. First will come some Photopolarimeter-Radiometer data of areas on the side of Ganymede facing the Sun. What is special about these measurements is that at the time they were taken, the entire satellite was in Jupiter's shadow. By seeing how quickly or slowly different areas cool down after a few hours in the dark, scientists can tell something about the fine structure of the surface. Also, pictures of Ganymede taken while the satellite was in shadow should give us a view of the aurora on the satellite, showing how charged particles circulating in Jupiter's magnetic field interact with Ganymede's own magnetic field and collide with the satellite's tenuous atmosphere. The best time to catch the faint glow of an aurora is at night, and what better artificial night can you get than when a planet the size of Jupiter is blocking the Sun? 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 REPORT JPL release 16 February 2001 There were fifteen Deep Space Network (DSN) trakcin passes in the past week and all subsystems are performing normally. The Cometary Interstellar Dust Analyzer (CIDA) was successfully commanded to perform the second and third checkout activities, and is now in its operational state awaiting particle hits. CIDA's purpose is to collect dust and analyze it in real time. Analysis indicates that CIDA suffered no damage due to the solar flare in November 2000. One of the on-going activities is the analysis to determine the cause of the multiple firings that are occasionally seen when the spacecraft's attitude reaches the edge of the deadband, or the edge of the region through which the spacecraft can drift without correcting itself. A typical deadband used for communicating with the spacecraft is 4 degrees in the X, Y and Z-axes and the spacecraft commonly moves through the deadband at a rate of less than 0.02 degrees/second. When the spacecraft's attitude hits the edge of the deadband, commands are automatically issued to the thrusters to move the spacecraft toward the other side of the deadband. Sometimes when the thruster commands are issued, the software does not realize the spacecraft is moving in the right direction and issues a redundant thruster firing to ensure that the proper direction is achieved. Commands were executed to record the attitude telemetry data at a very high rate for three hours in the hopes that a multiple firing would occur. Analysis of this data is ongoing. For more information on the Stardust mission-the first ever comet sample return mission-please visit the Stardust home page at http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov. --------------------------------------------------------------------- End Marsbugs, Volume 8, Number 7.