MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 8, Number 19, 21 May 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) U OF G LAUNCHES RESEARCH TO SUSTAIN LIFE DURING DEEP-SPACE MISSIONS University of Guelph release 2) FIRST EUROPEAN WORKSHOP ON EXO/ASTROBIOLOGY--ESA/ESRIN, 21-23 MAY 2001 ESA release 27-2001 3) MARS EXPLORERS TO BENEFIT FROM AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH By Michael Paine 4) DYING COMET'S KIN MAY HAVE NOURISHED LIFE ON EARTH NASA/GSFC release 01-46 5) NASA INTRODUCES PILOT UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT-RESEARCH PROGRAM NASA release 01-95 6) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas 7) ISS STATUS REPORT NASA/JSC release 8) STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release _____________________________________________________________________ U OF G LAUNCHES RESEARCH TO SUSTAIN LIFE DURING DEEP-SPACE MISSIONS University of Guelph release http://www.uoguelph.ca/mediarel/01-05-14/space.html 14 May 2001 Life on Mars is one step closer to reality today. The University of Guelph officially opened its Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility and launched a new element of the country's space program-- sustaining life in deep space. It is the most sophisticated and unique facility of its kind in the world in the field of advanced life support. The facility will have the highest level of Canadian technology in controlled environment systems research, eventually containing 14 of the plant science world's most sophisticated hypobaric (reduced pressure) chambers. The chambers--the first of which was introduced today--will allow researchers to study the contributions of plants in supporting human life during long-term space missions such as that to Mars. "Now that Canada's robotic arms are doing their jobs in orbit, advanced life support for long missions into deep space is the next phase," said project leader Mike Dixon, a plant agriculturist who has been studying how to sustain life in space for more than 15 years. "We're going to Mars in the next 20 years. This facility will allow the University to promote new and emerging technologies and participate in partnerships exploring space technology." It is certain that future human exploration of space must be based on a biological life-support system, Dixon said. Currently, space- mission vehicles are able to carry just enough air, food and water to keep crews alive for short missions. But during long space missions, the needs of the crew can be met only by developing renewable life- support systems based on plants and microorganisms. Plants are the most efficient means of sustaining life in space. They provide food and add oxygen to the atmosphere by removing carbon dioxide and helping eliminate polluting byproducts. They also help provide water and recycle waste. "We believe that to choose our future, we must lead the way," said U of G president Mordechai Rozanski. "This unique facility definitely puts us at the forefront of the frontiers of science. It also allows us to foster collaborative interactions among European, American and Canadian specialists, helping us create and transfer new knowledge." The new facility and hypobaric chambers will allow researchers to rigorously monitor the effect of growing plants at various pressures to sustain life in orbit. It will also support research in indoor air quality, recycled water, waste remediation, selection and breeding of plants in controlled environments, and the development and testing of new sensor technologies. The $7.9-million research facility was funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI); Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT); Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA); Centre for Research in Earth and Space Technology (CRESTech), an Ontario Centre of Excellence; as well as numerous industrial supporters. "Investment in the facilities, equipment and technology--in short the tools for research--will help increase the capability of the University when it comes to research and innovation," said OIT chair Michael Gourley. David Strangway, president and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, added, "The launch of this new facility is a vibrant example of what the CFI was created to accomplish by strengthening our capacity to innovate. It will give a tremendous boost to the global leadership of the University of Guelph, of Ontario, and ultimately, of Canada." While Ian Rowe, president and CEO of CRESTech, said "Dr. Dixon's work wonderfully illustrates the innovative technology being developed in Ontario universities. We're proud to have helped initiate the public-private partnerships that are creating this new niche for Canada's space program." Representatives from several international space agencies attended the building's opening and are holding meetings in Guelph this week to discuss the future of advanced life-support research. They include the Canadian Space Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Space Agency and National Space Development Agency of Japan. For more information, contact: Professor Mike Dixon Department of Plant Agriculture Phone: 519-824-4120, Extension 2555 mdixon@ces.uoguelph.ca For media questions, contact: Communications and Public Affairs, Phone: 519-824-4120, Extension 3338. An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-manned-01d.html. _____________________________________________________________________ FIRST EUROPEAN WORKSHOP ON EXO/ASTROBIOLOGY--ESA/ESRIN, 21-23 MAY 2001 ESA release 27-2001 15 May 2001 From 21 to 23 May, the first European Workshop on Exo/Astrobiology will be taking place at ESA/ESRIN, the European Space Agency establishment in Italy (Frascati, near Rome). The workshop is being organized jointly by the European Exobiology Network and the European Space Agency. Its purpose is to identify the European potential in exo/astrobiology and develop new avenues for cooperation and projects in this field, and more particularly to strengthen the European network in exo/astrobiology, encourage young scientists to participate in this field of research, and develop a perspective for longer-term research, especially in relation to human missions to Mars. The workshop will be in six distinct sessions addressing the following topics: * national and international activities in exo/astrobiology, * life in the extremes, terrestrial analogues for extraterrestrial habitats * ingredients and chemistry of primitive life, * extraterrestrial/extrasolar habitability, and * nature and search for life in the solar system and beyond, and * search for life in the Solar system (missions). In addition to the plenary sessions, group discussions will be organized in splinter meetings and poster sessions. Media representatives are invited to attend the morning session of the opening day (Monday 21 May, 09:00-13:15). Lunch will be provided for the media, and ESA and European scientists will be available for interviews. Media representatives wishing to attend are kindly requested to complete the attached form and return it by fax to the ESA/ESRIN Communication Office (Simonetta Cheli, Fax No: +39 06 94180352). More details are available at http://www.estec.esa.nl/conferences/01C17/index.html. For further information, please contact: Simonetta Cheli Head of the Public and Institutional Relations Office Phone: +39 06 94180350 Fax: +39 06 94180352 _____________________________________________________________________ MARS EXPLORERS TO BENEFIT FROM AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH By Michael Paine From Space.com 15 May 2001 At the annual Australian Mars Exploration Conference (AMEC) in Melbourne last weekend, Australian researchers outlined some exciting projects designed to help with the exploration of Mars in coming decades, as part of National Science Week. The conference, organized by the Mars Society of Australia, brought together specialists in geology, astrobiology, microbiology, robotics, vehicle design and Antarctic research to discuss exploration of Mars with space enthusiasts. Although Australia is not planning any missions to Mars, its researchers are keen to help other countries with the design of their missions. The conference came just days after NASA chief Dan Goldin announced that a human mission to Mars was likely within 20 years. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/mars_society_conference _010515.html. _____________________________________________________________________ DYING COMET'S KIN MAY HAVE NOURISHED LIFE ON EARTH NASA/GSFC release 01-46 17 May 2001 A comet that shattered on its approach to the Sun breathed new life into the theory that comet impacts provided most of the water in Earth's oceans. The same NASA observations of the comet, designated C/1999 S4 LINEAR (LINEAR), also support the idea that comet impacts furnished a significant amount of the organic molecules used in life that later arose on Earth. LINEAR was the first comet with a chemistry that indicated its water had the same isotopic composition as the water actually found on Earth. "The idea that comets seeded life on Earth with water and essential molecular building blocks is hotly debated, and for the first time, we have seen a comet with the right composition to do the job," said Dr. Michael Mumma of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Mumma is lead author of a paper about this research to appear in the May 18 issue of Science. A separate announcement, also to appear in the May 18 Science, is a unique observation that reveals just how much water comets of this type can carry. LINEAR, with a nucleus estimated at 2,500 to 3,300 feet (about 750 to 1,000 meters) in diameter, carried about 3.6 million tons (3.3 billion kilograms) of water within its bulk, according to astronomers who used the Solar Wind Anisotropies instrument on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft to observe water vapor released from the comet as it fragmented. Using telescopes sensitive to infrared light, Mumma and a team of astronomers studied comet LINEAR before its dramatic breakup last July and determined that its unusual chemistry points to an origin near Jupiter's orbit. Comets that formed in this region are expected to have the same ratio of normal water to "heavy" water as found in Earth's oceans. Although it would appear that all water molecules are identical--two atoms of hydrogen joined to one oxygen atom--this isn't the case. Hydrogen comes in different types (isotopes) that behave the same way chemically but are heavier due to an extra component (one or more neutrons) in their nuclei. One such heavy cousin of hydrogen is called deuterium (one extra neutron). Based on very low-temperature experiments of gas chemical reactions, water ice incorporated in comets that formed far from the Sun (near Neptune's orbit, for example) should have a greater deuterium to hydrogen (D to H) ratio than the water found on Earth. Recent observations of comets Halley, Hyakutake, and Hale-Bopp confirm this, leading researchers to believe that these comets formed further from the Sun than LINEAR. Pinpointing the origin of these comets was remarkable, but it provided no support for the cometary origin of water on Earth. The chemistry of LINEAR, however, indicated that it formed in warmer regions closer to the Sun. For example, it had much less carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), and acetylene (C2H2) than typical remote-origin comets like Halley. These volatile organic molecules freeze at extremely cold temperatures, so it appears that LINEAR formed in a place where it was too warm to incorporate a great deal of these volatile molecules into its ices. However, the same low-temperature experiments that successfully predicted the correct D to H ratio in remote-origin comets predict that a comet forming in a warmer Jupiter orbit region should have the same D to H ratio as Earth's water. LINEAR broke up before this could be confirmed, but its low amount of volatile organic molecules provides a strong indication that it carried the same kind of water that comprises terrestrial seas. LINEAR is believed to have arrived from the Oort cloud, a vast comet swarm surrounding the frigid distant regions of the solar system, trillions of miles from the Sun. According to theories of the solar system's formation, these comets formed from the same gas and dust cloud that gave rise to the planets and the Sun. They accumulated in the colder regions where the gas giant planets are found today (Jupiter-Neptune). Gravity from the gas giants kicked the comets out of the solar system, either to interstellar space or to the Oort cloud region. Occasionally, the Oort cloud is perturbed, perhaps by the gravity of a passing star, returning some comets to the inner solar system. The amount of various molecules incorporated into a comet's ices depends on temperature, so determining a comet's chemistry reveals where in the gas giant region the comet formed. As the most massive planet in the solar system, Jupiter's gravity was so powerful that it shoved most comets near it into interstellar space, while the lesser gravity from the smaller gas giants gave comets near them a gentler push, landing a greater portion in the Oort cloud. Consequently, comets that formed near Jupiter are rare today, but they would have been in the majority during the solar system's formation, simply because the Jupiter orbit region had most of the material in the pre-planetary gas and dust cloud. Therefore, scientists expect that the primordial Earth would have intercepted more comets formed near Jupiter's region than those formed elsewhere. Because Jupiter's region was closer to the Sun than the other gas giant planets, it received more light and was warmer, so more reactions occurred in the gas. Thus, greater amounts of complex organic molecules were available to wind up in a comet. Also, Jupiter's powerful gravity kept collision speeds between comets near it high, preventing them from growing very large. Both factors may have given a boost to life on Earth. "It's like being hit by a snowball instead of an iceberg," said Mumma. "The smaller comets from Jupiter's region impacted Earth relatively gently, shattering high in the atmosphere and delivering most of their organic molecules intact. Also, these comets would have had a greater portion of life's building blocks--the complex organic molecules--to begin with. This means life on Earth did not have to start completely from scratch. Instead, it was delivered in kit form from space." The team used infrared-sensitive instruments on telescopes at the W. M. Keck Observatory and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, both on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, to make the observations. Heat and light from the Sun caused material from LINEAR to evaporate into space and form a gas cloud around the comet as it entered the solar system. Sunlight energized molecules in the gas cloud surrounding LINEAR, allowing the team to identify the comet's chemistry by the unique types of infrared light emitted by its various molecular components. Comet LINEAR was named for the observatory that first spotted it, the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program. For more information and pictures, refer to http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/GSFC/SpaceSci/origins/linearwater/linearwate r.htm. Contact: William Steigerwald Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD William.A.Steigerwald.1@gsfc.nasa.gov Phone: 301-286-5017 An additional article on this subject is available at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast18may_1.htm?list52260. _____________________________________________________________________ NASA INTRODUCES PILOT UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT-RESEARCH PROGRAM NASA release 01-95 17 May 2001 In late May, NASA will welcome the first cadre of students participating in the new Undergraduate Student Research Program (USRP), another element in NASA's continued commitment to education excellence and support for academic research. USRP attracted over 1100 applications from undergraduate students around the country. Some 100 students representing 70 of the nation's colleges and universities--and fully representative of America's rich diversity-- will participate in this year's pilot program. An essential objective of this program is to address the need to increase the nation's undergraduate and graduate science, engineering, mathematics and technology skill base. In particular, USRP will provide undergraduates with challenging research experiences designed to pique student academic interest in these fields and disciplines. The program also is intended to encourage continued student career interest aligned with NASA's research and development mission. "We are extremely pleased with the response to this pilot program. The caliber of students who competed for these 'hands-on' research assignments was extraordinary. And, we must commend the research communities at our NASA centers for their very deliberate efforts to help this program achieve its goals," said Frank Owens, Director, NASA Education Division. The Virginia Space Grant Consortium, Hampton, VA, provides national coordination of the USRP pilot program for NASA's Office of Human Resources and Education, Washington, DC. Further information is available at http://education.nasa.gov/usrp. Contact: Sonja Alexander Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1761 _____________________________________________________________________ NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology.h tml 21 May 2001 Articles about human space exploration and the microgravity environment http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s3.html M. Paine, 2001. Mars explorers to benefit from Australian research. Space.com. SpaceDaily, 2001. University of Guelph launches research to sustain life during deep-space missions. SpaceDaily. Articles about evolutionary biology and chemistry http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s5.html NASA Science News, 2001. A taste for comet water. NASA Science News. _____________________________________________________________________ ISS STATUS REPORT NASA/JSC release 16 May 2001 Expedition Two crew activities aboard the International Space Station this week are focusing on the arrival of two spacecraft--the next Russian Progress supply vehicle early next week and Space Shuttle Atlantis in a month. The fourth Progress vehicle dedicated to station resupply is set to launch atop a Soyuz rocket at 5:33 PM Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Docking to the back end of the Zvezda module is scheduled at approximately 7:20 PM next Tuesday. Commander Yury Usachev has checked out the station’s manual docking system in the event that the automatic docking procedure does not work. While awaiting the arrival of the Progress carrying 3,100 pounds of supplies, including food, spare computer parts, and other logistical items, crewmembers Jim Voss and Susan Helms are preparing to continue the on-orbit checkout of the station’s new robotic arm that will be used to install the station’s airlock next month. On the heels of last week’s test of the robotic arm, known as Canadarm 2, the station’s remote manipulator system will be tested beginning about 5:30 Central Thursday morning. Setting the stage for that test was the reconfiguration of the operational string of software from Prime to Redundant. This will allow a full checkout of the arm using this backup system in the event that the primary channels were to fail. The arm will be maneuvered through various positions, its end effector snares will be cycled and the video cameras will be checked. Next Thursday, May 24, Helms will maneuver the arm through the exact movements as if the airlock was attached. This will serve as a "dry run" for what is planned during the removal from the shuttle’s payload bay and the installation on the Unity module. The first set of testing a week ago verified the arm’s functions in the primary mode culminating in the capture of a grapple fixture on the outside of Destiny. All of the arm operations are controlled via the station’s command and control computers, which have been restored to full functionality. The robotic arm checkout is scheduled every Thursday for the next five weeks to ensure it is healthy before Atlantis launches carrying the airlock. Last Friday, the third C&C computer was swapped with a spare that was built out of existing computer components on board. It has since been loaded with software identical to the other two C&C computers. Working in the same area behind a rack in the laboratory, a blocked filter in a condensate dump line was changed allowing full operation of the water dump system. This repair precludes the need to transfer wastewater to 100-pound containers for disposal aboard the shuttle when it visits. The failed hard drive was returned aboard Endeavour after the 6A mission and troubleshooting continues as to the cause of that failure in late April. Presently, both U.S. solar arrays delivered on assembly flight 4A last November are locked in place while engineers evaluate higher than normal electrical currents on the motors that allow the arrays to track the Sun. The arrays continue to absorb plenty of solar energy to provide the required electrical power for station experiments, avionics and other components on board. Science investigations continue onboard under the auspices of the Payload Operations Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL, except for the Human Research Facility, which is monitored and controlled from the Telescience Support Center (TSC) at the Johnson Space Center, Houston. For details on the science investigations ongoing aboard the ISS, visit http://www.scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov. The International Space Station is operating in excellent shape at an altitude of 250 miles (401 km). The next ISS Status Report will be issued Tuesday afternoon detailing the Progress docking and previewing the next scheduled robotic arm tests. _____________________________________________________________________ STARDUST STATUS REPORT JPL release 18 May 2001 There was one Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking pass this past week and all subsystems are performing normally. Images from the Navigation Camera (NAVCAM) continue to show that the camera is operating very well. The pictures are the best since launch--stars almost as faint as tenth visual magnitude can be detected by the NAVCAM. Since the practice of removing coatings on the camera's optics during flight has yielded such good results, all associated Incidence, Surprise and Anomaly (ISAs) reports have been closed out and the flight performance of the Navigation Camera has been removed from the Project Concern List. The Cometary and Interstellar Dust Analyzer (CIDA) instrument continues to observe the interstellar dust stream with an optimal spacecraft attitude when not in communication with Earth. A workshop to kick off the encounter planning will be held May 22-24 at Breckenridge, Colorado. The attendees include the scientists and flight operations personnel from JPL and Lockheed Martin. The topics include the Navigation Camera performance, results from the latest analysis of the Comet Wild 2 dust cloud and the flyby distance. Led by the Outreach team, the Stardust project is preparing to support the annual JPL Open House this weekend. 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 19.