MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 8, Number 16, 30 April 2001. Editors: Dr. David J. Thomas, 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, the biology of terrestrial extreme environments, planetary biology, primordial evolution, space physiology, biological life support systems, and human habitation of space and other planets. _____________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS 1) CHRONICLE OF MARTIAN EXPEDITION From Informnauka Agency 2) INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION PARTNERSHIP GRANTS FLIGHT EXEMPTION FOR DENNIS TITO NASA release 01-83 3) COLLEGE STUDENTS TAKE ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME RIDE ON VOMIT COMET By Brian M. Hynek 4) CIRCUMSTELLAR HABITABLE ZONES V: PLANNING FAR AHEAD By Laurance R. Doyle 5) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas 6) CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS JPL release 7) THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 8) MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS REPORT JPL release 9) MARS ODYSSEY MISSION STATUS JPL release 10) STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release _____________________________________________________________________ CHRONICLE OF MARTIAN EXPEDITION From Informnauka Agency, Moscow, Russia 20 April 2001 A man is the most vulnerable chain in long-term space expedition. How numerous should a crew be? What are the principles of a crew selection? What should be made to protect people during a flight and on some other planet? Scientists from the Institute for Problems of Medicine and Biology are trying to answer these and many other questions. With financial support of ISTC they have developed a Pilot Project of Manned Expedition to Mars. Russia has a great experience in long-term orbit expeditions. It is obvious now that interplanetary flights are the matter of the nearest future, otherwise, how could we answer the question "Is there life on Mars or not?" One of the scripts suggests that at first a cargo spaceship will go to Mars, then a manned module will follow and they will dock near the planet. The scientists say there should be six people in a crew: a pilot, a co-pilot, flight engineer, a doctor and two scientists--planetologists. "A doctor is a key figure in the crew. A flight to Mars would take about eighteen months and it would be completely independent of the earth. So any illness, from sore throat to heart attack would have to be treated on the board", says A. N. Potapov, a participant of the project. To help a doctor in difficult situation, the researchers are developing systems of computer diagnostics and telemedicine systems that enable consultation with the Earth. Due to modern technologies of space communication, the delay in message exchange will be only 20 minutes. Other important aspect of the flight is a prolonged stay in a group of the same people in a close room. Astronauts will have to get over conflict situations, irritation, and fits of anger. Probably, a crew will be international that will draw additional problems. People may feel isolated, vulnerable, insufficiently protected from open space behind a thin shell of a spaceship. Such feelings also can be a strong stress factor. That is why enhanced psychological training and maybe even psychiatric examination will be needed. Food supply should be sufficient for all flight, however water could be regenerated. The present systems of regeneration enable to produce fresh water from wastewater, vapors and urine with 85% efficiency. According to the calculations, it takes 1.75 kg of food, 2.5 kg of drinking water, 4.85 kg of technical water and 0.96 kg of oxygen per one person a day. A pilot, an engineer and [the physician] will [remain] in the orbit of Mars, while a co-pilot and two scientists will land on the planet. They will stay there for one or two months. Their life-supporting system will be simpler--using only supplies, without regeneration. It is strictly forbidden to leave anything on the planet, so all garbage should be disinfected and returned to the spaceship and then to the Earth! One more problem is radiation. Beyond magnetic fields of the Earth, which protect us against galactic space radiation and solar flares, radiation doses will be significant. But the problem could be solved. First, an expedition should start in a year with higher solar activity--paradoxically, but it corresponds to minimum galactic radiation. Second, a spaceship cover and facilities give effective protection. Solar flares are more dangerous, so a special radiation shelter is needed. Those who will land on the planet are especially exposed to solar radiation. Returning to the Earth is also an important stage of the expedition: not only a blaze of glory but a hard period of rehabilitation is ahead. Further information: Anatoliy A. Potapov Institute for Problems of Medicine and Biology, Moscow 7-095-195-00-23, potapov@imbp.ru Contact: Tatiana Pitchugina, 7-095-2675418, textmaster@informnauka.ru _____________________________________________________________________ INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION PARTNERSHIP GRANTS FLIGHT EXEMPTION FOR DENNIS TITO NASA release 01-83 24 April 2001 The International Space Station (ISS) Partnership today granted an exemption for the flight of Dennis Tito, an American businessman, to the space station aboard the Soyuz 2 Taxi mission, which is scheduled for launch April 28. Following intense and extensive consultations among all space station partners, the Multilateral Coordination Board (MCB) achieved consensus on the proposed Tito flight. The ISS partners reaffirmed that safety is the paramount consideration in the space station program. Further, the mechanisms that implement the ISS international agreements have been tested and worked well to resolve a difficult issue facing the ISS partnership. The Joint Decision Statement by all ISS partners, which outlines the background, process and conditions for granting an exemption for the April 28 Soyuz flight of a non-professional to the ISS is available on the Internet at ftp://ftp.nasa.gov/pub/pao/reports/2001/tito_decision.pdf. The MCB completed its work in accordance with the recommendations of the Stafford-Anfimov Commission. As part of the board's deliberations, there was agreement that no ISS partner would propose another flight of a non-professional crewmember until the detailed crew criteria had been finalized and adopted by the ISS partnership. This agreement among the ISS partners should preclude a similar issue arising in the future. Contacts: Debra Rahn Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1638 Kirsten Larson Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-0243 _____________________________________________________________________ COLLEGE STUDENTS TAKE ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME RIDE ON VOMIT COMET By Brian M. Hynek 25 April 2001 America's future scientists recently competed for a coveted prize in a NASA-sponsored contest. Vying not for fame or fortune, these bright students hoped for a trip aboard NASA's KC-135A, otherwise known as the Vomit Comet [used for simulating short periods of microgravity]. ...This aircraft has been used for years to train astronauts for weightlessness. In March, adept college students followed in their shoes while testing zero-g experiments they had designed to improve space flight. Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism- 01r.html. _____________________________________________________________________ CIRCUMSTELLAR HABITABLE ZONES V: PLANNING FAR AHEAD By Laurance R. Doyle From Space.com 26 April 2001 In a previous article we talked about the possible impact of a comet or asteroid on Earth. This has happened before--certainly at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary when the dinosaurs became extinct along with many other species. The main problem (besides tidal waves a half-mile high and huge areas of burning forests) was that the dust thrown up in the atmosphere blocked out the Sun's light for an extensive time. Our planet runs on photosynthesis. However, such impacts may not be a threat to our civilization in a couple of hundred years, as we should then have the technological know-how to detect and deflect such large potentially impacting bodies routinely. Of greater long-term concern are: the evolution of the Sun, the Moon’s stabilizing influence and the evolution of nearby giant stars, as well as events on an intergalactic scale. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_circumstellar_010426.html. _____________________________________________________________________ NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology.h tml 30 April 2001 Articles about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s4.html L. R. Doyle, 2001. Circumstellar habitable zones V: planning far ahead. Space.com. _____________________________________________________________________ CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS JPL release 19-25 April 2001 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone tracking station on Tuesday, April 24. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating normally. Information on the spacecraft's position and speed can be viewed on the "Present Position" web page at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/english/where/. Recent spacecraft activities include automatic repair of the Solid State Recorder (SSR) A, a Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) High Frequency Receiver (HFR) calibration, a Reaction Wheel Assembly (RWA) momentum unload, and uplink and successful checkout of a new 35.5kbps telemetry mode. Previously, the highest useable telemetry rate was 22 kbps. By using the new 35.5 kbps capability, Cassini can raise the downlink telemetry rate by more than 50%. Additional instrument activities include power-on of the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) followed by a boresight calibration, and upload of a mini-sequence for the Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA). CDA powered on, performed a checkout of its version 8.4 Flight Software, and then switched on the high voltages to reach a basic measurement mode. All activities executed normally, and CDA is in a healthy and nominal state. The Radio Science Subsystem (RSS) team obtained 4.25 hours of Ka-Band Translator (KaT) 2-way data as part of continued testing of the KaT module, one of four radios onboard the spacecraft. This is the longest period of continuous KaT operation since early 1999, and is significant in the on-going efforts to characterize the performance of the KaT in support of the Gravitational Wave Experiment (GWE) system test, scheduled to begin in early May. The final Sequence Integration & Validation (SIV) approval meeting was held for the Cruise 26 sequence. Uplink will occur later this week. A week-long Cross-Discipline Workshop sponsored by Cassini Science Planning concluded this week. The goals of this workshop included the identification of heavily conflicted periods, the division of the tour into segments and the creation of Target Working Teams. All teams in all areas made major progress and the workshop was felt to be a great success. Science Planning also hosted a Titan Orbiter Science Team (TOST) meeting this week. The Navigation Team has completed a study on the feasibility of raising the minimum Titan flyby altitude to as high as 1050 km as a contingency in case the actual Titan atmosphere precludes flying at the current minimum of 950 km. The results of the study indicate that all Titan flybys and all icy satellite flybys remain in the tour. The geometries of the Titan flybys change only slightly. There is actually a small savings in deterministic propellant cost. Mission Support & Services Office (MSSO) personnel presented the Cassini security and International Trade in Arms Regulation (ITAR) environment to members of the JPL Executive Council. The Council was favorably impressed and indicated that Cassini had taken a lead in handling NASA and Government mandated security and ITAR issues in the JPL community. MSSO also prepared flow diagrams outlining the process used to allow foreign nationals access to JPL. These diagrams will be used to interface with JPL International Affairs and other organizations associated with the process, assist in developing and streamlining current MSSO procedures, and may also help users in understanding the big picture of the ITAR process. The Command and Data System (CDS) Flight Software team held a delivery review for version RV70_11.3. This upgrade contains a patch to the fault protection response for a tripped solid state power switch on the magnetometer replacement heater. All requirements for functionality, testing, and documentation were met and the patches were delivered to the Project Software Library. Uplink of the new software will occur in May during the C26 sequence. A Delivery Coordination Meeting (DCM) was held for the Cassini implementation of Multimission Spacecraft Analysis Software (CSAS) 6.3. Although most of the subsystem remains unchanged, both the Inertial Vector Propagator (IVP) and Predicts Generation Tool (PGT) had batch modes added, while the Kinematic Prediction Tool (KPT) had batch mode added, constraint monitor detect mode turned on and RWA output logic improved. Mission Assurance released the draft Significant Risk List (SRL) for flight team review. This list represents an initial cut at the high level Program risks that will be managed using the Risk Management Process. Once this list is reviewed and refined, it will be input into an electronic Risk Management Tool. Instrument Operations (IO) hosted a member of the CDA Team from the Max Planck Institut fur Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany, for a week of operations training sessions following last week's cross discipline workshop. Representatives from Cassini's Uplink Office, IO, System Engineering, and MSSO contributed with a variety of training. In an effort to increase effectiveness, many of the sessions were made available to program members who had previously expressed an interest in additional training. In cooperation with the Cassini Program, and drawing from material developed for the Cassini Web site, a planetarium program has been developed for school children and debuted at the Howell Memorial Planetarium in Greenville, South Carolina. Three different schools attended the program with 125 students and 15 teachers in attendance. On Friday, 4/20/2001, Cassini was featured on the "Astronomy Picture of the Day" web site, http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010420.html. Two new Cassini 20-slide sets were submitted to Finley-Holiday Film Corporation for production. Set #1, "A Trip to Saturn" highlights the launch, trajectory, tour, and planetary flybys. Set #2, "Saturn System" highlights the planet, satellites, rings, magnetosphere, and Titan. When available, both sets may be obtained through Finley. 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, Calif., manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. _____________________________________________________________________ THIS WEEK ON GALILEO JPL release 30 April - 5 May 2001 A restful quiet settles back over the Galileo activity schedule this week as the spacecraft slowly closes in on Jupiter for its next flyby of Callisto later in May. On Saturday, the intrepid robot passes the invisible milepost that marks 125 Jupiter radii (8.9 million kilometers or 5.5 million miles) from the giant planet, a far cry from the 217 Jupiter radii (15.5 million kilometers or 9.6 million miles) reached at the farthest point in this orbit back on March 11, but with still a ways to go to reach the 7.3 Jupiter radii (522,000 kilometers or 324,000 miles) point, which will mark the closest approach to Jupiter on May 23. In addition to the usual housekeeping data (temperatures, voltages, and pressures) that keep the flight team engineers apprised of the health of the spacecraft and its various components on a daily basis, the bulk of the data received from Galileo this week will be that played back from the on-board tape recorder. These data were recorded last Sunday and Monday, and comprise a set of calibrations for the Solid State Imaging camera (SSI) and the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS), two of the four movable remote sensing instruments on the spacecraft. 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 April 2001 Launch / Days since Launch = November 7, 1996 / 1631 days Start of Mapping / Days since Start of Mapping = April 1, 1999 / 755 days Total Mapping Orbits = 9,530 Total Orbits = 11,213 Recent events The spacecraft continues to operate nominally in performing the beta- supplement daily recording and transmission of science data. The mm132 sequence executed successfully from 01-109 (4/19/01) through 01-111 (4/21/01). The mm133 sequence has performed well since it started on 01-112 (4/22/01). It terminates on 01-115 (4/25/01). The mm134 sequence, successfully uplinked on 01-114 (4/24/01), begins executing on 01-116 (4/26/01). MGS transmitted high frequency spacecraft body rate data to Earth on 01-115 (4/25/01). The data will provide insight into the health of the -Y solar array hinge and the effects of solar array motion on TES data. MGS has performed 75 Roll Only Targeted Observations to date. Spacecraft health All subsystems report nominal health. Uplinks There have been 12 uplinks to the spacecraft during the past week, including instrument command loads, the background sequences cited above, and ROTO mini-sequences mz091 through mz092. The last two of three solar array position management scripts were modified to offset the commanded solar array positions by 25 degrees. Our goal is to extend the life of the Partial Shunt Assemblies by reducing the amount of excess power generated by the solar arrays. There have been 5,270 command files radiated to the spacecraft since launch. Upcoming events The mm135 background sequence will be uplinked on 01-117 (4/27/01). MOC Defocus Calibration Scans will be performed by the mm134 and mm135 sequences between 01-116 (4/26/01) and 01-123 (5/02/01). Radio Science Occultation Egress Scans are scheduled for 01-132 (5/12/01) and 01-133 (5/13/01). ROTO mini-sequences mz092 and mz093 will execute this next week. _____________________________________________________________________ MARS ODYSSEY MISSION STATUS JPL release 27 April 2001 Flight controllers for NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory report that the spacecraft is doing fine after the reset of one of its on-board computers Tuesday, possibly caused by a solar flare. "The spacecraft is in excellent condition and back in its normal operating mode," said David A. Spencer, Odyssey's mission manager at JPL. "We are looking into the possibility that intensified solar activity may have affected data in the on-board memory." The affected data in the computer memory is believed to be the cause of the computer reset that happened Tuesday morning. Preliminary data analysis indicates that a reset of the on-board flight computer caused the entry into "safe mode." The spacecraft returned to normal operations Wednesday morning. Prior to the safing event on Tuesday, the spacecraft transitioned to its cruise attitude where it points its high-gain antenna toward the Earth. On Monday, the team turned on the Martian radiation environment experiment and Wednesday they turned on the electronics for the gamma ray spectrometer instrument. Today, 20 days after launch, Odyssey is about 5.8 million kilometers (3.6 million miles) from Earth and traveling at a speed of about 39 kilometers per second (about 69,300 miles per hour) relative to the Sun. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO built the Odyssey spacecraft. _____________________________________________________________________ STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release 20 April 2001 There were two Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking passes this past week and all subsystems are performing nominally. The Navigation Camera successfully took another two images with the CCD and mirror motor heaters still on. There has been no change in the good image quality since the last set of pictures last week. The heaters will remain on until approximately May 10. CIDA continues to observe the interstellar dust stream with an optimal spacecraft attitude when not in communication with the earth. The recent solar storms have had a minimal impact on the spacecraft's performance. The only evidence was a large number of Star Camera outages during a two-hour period. A Star Camera outage occurs when the star image taken cannot provide a valid attitude knowledge update. The longest outage was approximately 20 seconds. The fault protection limit for Star Camera outages is five minutes in All- Stellar attitude determination mode. If no valid images can be obtained in five minutes the on-board fault protection software will request safe mode. The Principal Investigator, Project Manager and Mission Manager participated in the NASA Discovery Program Retreat where all other Discovery projects. Program status, individual project statuses and lessons learned were discussed. The level of interaction and information exchange between the program and projects was excellent. The Principal Investigator and Outreach Manager participated in a filming by the Learning Channel in the Stardust Flight Operation, Recovery and Command Enterprise (FORCE) room at JPL. This will be part of a future program on comets. 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 16.