MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 8, Number 50, 31 December 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 monthly 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) GEOBIOLOGY REPORT AVAILABLE By Eugene Nester 2) INTERNAL CLOCK NOT READY FOR MARS TIME National Space Biomedical Research Institute release 3) SPACE STATION CHRISTMAS--SANTA AND HIS REINDEER BRING SOME HOLIDAY CHEER TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION By Tony Philips 4) THE COMET AND ASTEROID INFORMATION NETWORK (CAIN) By Jonathan Tate, release SGC 01/07 5) THE ULTIMATE LONG DISTANCE CALL By Seth Shostak 6) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas 7) THESE WEEKS ON GALILEO NASA/JPL release 8) INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT NASA/JSC release 9) MARS ODYSSEY MISSION STATUS NASA/JPL release 10) STARDUST STATUS REPORT NASA/JPL release _____________________________________________________________________ GEOBIOLOGY REPORT AVAILABLE By Eugene Nester American Academy of Microbiology release 19 December 2001 A new report is now available from the American Academy of Microbiology’s Critical Issues Colloquia Program. "Geobiology: Exploring the Interface Between the Biosphere and the Geosphere," discusses the possibilities and the challenges facing this relatively new area of scientific inquiry. While recent collaborative research efforts and technological developments like genome sequencing are making discovery possible, much more can and should be done to unravel the processes and functions that link life and its surroundings. The report presents the conclusions reached by an interdisciplinary panel of scientists who spent several days deliberating the issues at the colloquium held December 1-3, 2000, in Tucson, Arizona. The document examines the current status and scope of geomicrobiology and analyzes key issues of technology, education, and research priorities. "Geobiology: Exploring the Interface Between the Biosphere and the Geosphere," makes specific recommendations for the future. Academy reports provide scientifically well-founded, objective analysis--presented in clear, readable language for a broad audience. "Geobiology: Exploring the Interface Between the Biosphere and the Geosphere," and previously released reports are available in PDF format on the World Wide Web at http://www.asmusa.org/acasrc/aca1.htm. For a copy in print, please contact Academy staff by e-mail at colloquia@asmusa.org or fax (202- 942-9353). _____________________________________________________________________ INTERNAL CLOCK NOT READY FOR MARS TIME National Space Biomedical Research Institute release 21 December 2001 The human internal clock fails to adapt to non-24-hour days and that fact takes its toll on astronauts, international travelers and shift workers. "Due to the shuttle orbit, astronauts often experience days that are less than 24 hours," said Dr. Kenneth Wright, a researcher on the National Space Biomedical Research Institute's human performance team. "Many experience sleep difficulties, averaging only about six hours of sleep a day in contrast to the seven or eight hours they get on the ground. This can lead to increased risk of accidents due to fatigue and sleepiness." In a study funded by the NSBRI and NASA, Wright and colleagues evaluated how people's internal clocks were affected by exposure to 23.5-, 24- and 24.6-hour days. Shuttle missions typically operate on 23.5-hour days, and astronauts exploring Mars would experience a 24.65-hour day. "Adapting to these different day lengths is critical to mission success," said Wright, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School and associate neuroscientist and director of the Fatigue Countermeasures Research Program in the Division of Sleep Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) in Boston, where the research was conducted. Since spacecraft are dimly lit, study participants at BWH were exposed to low-level daytime lighting equivalent to candlelight. All groups were placed on a fixed work/rest schedule. Melatonin levels were evaluated to determine how participants adapted to the various day lengths. The findings appear in the November 20 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Melatonin, a hormone, regulates the body's sleep activities. In a normal day/night sleep cycle, melatonin levels will rise about two hours before sleep to signal the body to prepare for sleep. The levels are high during sleep and low during the day. "Light exposure is the strongest cue for our internal clock. However, participants on the 24-hour day fixed work/rest schedule were able to maintain the appropriate melatonin cycles for sleep even in the dim light," Wright said. "Their internal clocks kept time with the day. The groups experiencing the shorter or longer days did not adapt." In the other groups, melatonin levels lost the normal cycle. Levels were high when the participants were awake and low when they were trying to sleep. This factor made it difficult to sleep at the scheduled time. "This problem with the melatonin cycle occurs during jet lag and in people working on night shifts," Wright said. "In effect, astronauts on shortened days are experiencing jet lag in space." The NSBRI human performance factors team is working to develop a remedy, or countermeasure, to help people adapt to various day lengths. While this solution is essential to prepare astronauts for exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit, it will also have practical implications on Earth. In addition to jet lag and shift- work adaptation, it will be useful for certain sleep rhythm disorders. "People with advanced sleep phase syndrome typically have difficulty staying awake after 5:00 PM and will wake up in the early hours. Another disorder impacts people the opposite way, leaving them unable to sleep until early morning and making it hard to be awake during traditional work hours," Wright said. "For these patients, a treatment to adjust the internal clock would make a big difference in work and home life." The study is part of the NSBRI's research examining the health issues related to long-duration space flight. Benefits to similar conditions on Earth--muscle wasting, bone loss, radiation exposure-- are also being pursued. The NSBRI's consortium members include Baylor College of Medicine, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Harvard, The Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Rice University, Texas A&M University, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, University of Pennsylvania Health System and University of Washington. Contact: NSBRI Phone: 713-798-7412 Fax: 713-798-7413 E-mail: info@www.nsbri.org _____________________________________________________________________ SPACE STATION CHRISTMAS--SANTA AND HIS REINDEER BRING SOME HOLIDAY CHEER TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION By Tony Philips From NASA Science News 25 December 2001 Astronaut Cathy Clarke opened her eyes and yawned. Mission Control was playing Jingle Bells over the intercom for about the two hundredth time. "OK," she barked into the microphone. "I'm awake and I know it's Christmas!" Cathy, one of the crew of the International Space Station (ISS), was feeling homesick. Back on Earth, she knew, her family was gathered around the Christmas tree, sipping eggnog and opening presents. Later they would radio from Houston, but she yearned to be with them now--not stuck in an orbiting laboratory, 350 km above Earth, with no Christmas spirit. Months earlier Mission Control had turned down her request for a tree. "The pine needles would just float around and poke you in the eye," they said. "It's a safety issue." "Oh, humbug," grumped Cathy. Riippp, she tore open the Velcro on her sleeping bag, wriggled out, and pushed herself off the ceiling. That was one thing she enjoyed about life in space: you could sleep anywhere you wanted. As a kid she preferred the top bunk of her and her sister's bed, but the ceiling was even better, she thought. In fact, she usually loved the station. But today something was missing. "Time for coffee," she spoke aloud to no one. The rest of the crew was still asleep. They had stayed up later than usual doing a materials science experiment in the Destiny lab module. "You'd better go to bed," she had playfully reminded them on Christmas Eve. "Santa's coming!" "We wish!" they replied, ruefully, and returned to work. They were melting metals inside a small zero-G furnace to learn more about industrial alloys. The fumes inside the experiment box were so smelly they had to be purged to space through a "vacuum vent"--but it was worth it to learn so much. All of the crew did science experiments of one sort or another. Cathy was in charge of one designed to explore the human immune system. And it was giving puzzling results. She was deep in thought about T-cells and the strange things they did in microgravity when she reached the kitchen and floated inside... right into a thick cloud of cookie crumbs! Cathy gasped in surprise, which was the wrong thing to do. Crumbs went down her windpipe and it was only after a few moments of teary-eyed coughing that she could see again. And what a sight it was. Crammed into the tiny kitchen was an 8-foot tree--its top bent against the low ceiling--a stack of presents, floating ornaments, and little droplets of milk everywhere. Taped to the food-warmer was a note from Santa! Dear Cathy, Sorry for the mess. Ho, ho! But this was my first experience with microgravity. I knew you would be homesick this year so I brought you and the crew a few things for Christmas. I must say, though, you could have made it a bit easier to get in. Didn't you know I was coming? There's no handle on the outside of the airlock. I had to squeeze in through the vacuum vent--tree, presents, and all! Good thing he's magic, thought Cathy. That vent is only a few inches wide and it leads right to the materials science furnace. The letter continued. We popped out of a very unusual fireplace--like a little furnace. It smelled awful! Good thing the reindeer waited outside. Comet was already feeling queasy from the weightlessness. (Poor deer, now the others call him "Vomit Comet." I reminded them it's Christmas, but they just shouted out with glee--especially Rudolph.) By the way, you might want to check your solar panels. That's here I landed the sleigh and they gave us a nasty shock. You should have seen Rudolph's nose light up! Speaking of lights, the ones on the tree won't work. It looks like the DC power on the space station isn't the same as AC electricity in Earth homes--next time I'll bring a voltage converter. Ho, ho! I've seen plenty of trees in my time, but nothing like this one. The ornaments don't hang down as they should. I'm not even sure where "down" is. And the tinsel sticks out in all directions. Watch out for the pine needles too. They float around and poke you in the eye. Ho, ho! Cathy glanced at the weightless tree. Most of the ornaments had indeed floated off. And the tinsel... well, the scene reminded her of someone sticking her finger in an electrical socket. Her own weightless hair looked much the same every morning--standing on end before she twisted it into a pony tail. You'll find a bag of Mrs. Claus's Christmas cookies duct-taped to the counter. I couldn't resist having one myself. But the crumbs... oh my, they floated everywhere! The air filters would take care of that in a few hours, Cathy knew. She looked at the swarm of crumbs and saw why NASA packaged crumbly foods in bite-sized morsels--or avoided them altogether. But, she wondered, where did all the milk droplets come from? You must be wondering about the milk, his letter continued. I needed some to go with the cookie, of course. Fortunately, I never go anywhere without my thermos; Mrs. Claus insists. All I can say is this: never unscrew a thermos of warm milk in microgravity. At first it wouldn't pour at all. Then, when I shook it, milk droplets flew everywhere. Ho, ho, what a mess! I knew then it was time to go. After all, I have to visit another billion or so homes before sunrise. Although, I must say, your home tops them all. I plan to tour the station on my way out. What a splendid facility! I intend to try that Canadian robotic arm before I leave, too. (Do you really control it with a joystick? Amazing!) I can't wait to see the expression on Donner's snout when I grapple his flank. Ho, ho, ho! Have a jolly day, dear. And just remember... the Christmas spirit is in the space station, too. Sincerely yours, Santa PS. I noticed your immune system experiment in the lab. Astonishing what we can learn in space! Mrs. Claus is always sneezing and snuffling with some virus or bacteria at the North Pole. She'll be so glad to know you're making progress. Cathy looked around at the cookie crumbs, the flying milk, the shocking tree... and felt better. She reached for her stocking, duct-taped "upside down" to a nearby wall. Inside were 38 hair clips and an autographed picture of Comet smiling crookedly. "Wow," she thought. "It's just what I wanted!" The end. Some of this story is fiction, and some of it is real. Here's a guide. Cathy Clarke is fiction. There's no astronaut by that name, although one day there might be. In the story, homesick Cathy looked forward to a radio transmission from her family. Real astronauts can communicate with their families on Earth that way--or via email or private videoconferences. Keeping in touch is important! The vacuum vent Santa entered is real. It's called the "Vacuum Exhaust System." Experiments of all sorts on the ISS use it to vent noxious gases or simply to provide a vacuum within the test chamber. The maximum diameter of the vent pipe is about 5 cm, so Santa would indeed need magical powers to fit through it. The materials science furnace is real, although it hasn't yet flown on the space station. Immune system experiments in space are real, too. They have flown on the space shuttle and will eventually be conducted on the ISS. If reindeer landed on the station's solar panels, they would feel a real shock, just as Rudolph did, because the arrays carry a strong electric field. The solar arrays provide direct current to outlets throughout the station. It's a flavor of electricity incompatible with standard Christmas tree lights, as Santa discovered. There is a robotic arm on the ISS, called "Canadarm 2"--and it is controlled by a joystick. Lucky Santa! And what of Santa himself? Is he real? That's for readers to decide. More information on this article is available at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast21dec_1.htm?list52260. _____________________________________________________________________ THE COMET AND ASTEROID INFORMATION NETWORK (CAIN) By Jonathan Tate, release SGC 01/07 26 December 2001 "ROGUE ASTEROID WILL SMASH INTO EARTH... OH NO IT WON'T" Since the mid-1990s the issue of asteroid or comet impacts has become one of the hottest science topics in the public domain. However, over the past few years the public has often been given confusing and, equally often, inaccurate information. On 1 January 2002 the Comet and Asteroid Information Network (CAIN) will become active. Co-ordinated by the Spaceguard Centre in Wales (the International Spaceguard Information Centre), science centers around the country are participating in the project. The aim is to provide timely, accurate and unbiased information on the subject of Near Earth Objects, the hazard posed to the Earth, the methods by which the risk can be reduced and current space policy issues to the public, politicians, decision makers and the media. The Phase 1 Regional Centres are: The Armagh Observatory and Planetarium The Eden Project Glamorgan University The Glasgow Science Centre Herstmonceux Science Centre Jodrell Bank Visitor Centre Liverpool John Moores University Roseland Observatory Techniquest For Phase 2, the National Space Centre (Leicester) heads the list of institutions that have been invited to participate, and CAIN welcomes applications from science, educational and outreach organizations to join. The government (British National Space Centre) will shortly announce the identity of the new National NEO Information Centre. Although the new Centre will not be able to comment on a number of aspects of the NEO hazard (due to contractual obligations to the BNSC) it is hoped that there will be close co-operation between it and the well- established Spaceguard Centre (Spaceguard UK) and its extensive network of national and international contacts. Contact: J. R. Tate, FRAS The Spaceguard Centre Llanshay Lane Knighton, Powys LD7 1LW Phone: 01547 520247 Fax: 01547 520247 E-mail: spaceguard@dial.pipex.com http://www.spaceguarduk.com The Spaceguard Centre supported by NewHert Ltd. Internet services provided by PerfectArc Ltd. Regional Centre contact details Armagh Observatory and Planetarium Professor M. E. Bailey Armagh Observatory College Hill Armagh BT61 9DG Northern Ireland Phone: 028 3752 2928 E-mail: meb@star.arm.ac.uk Herstmonceux Science Centre Dr. John Becklake Herstmonceux Science Centre Herstmonceux Castle Hailsham, East Sussex BN27 1RP United Kingdom Phone: 01323 832731 Fax: 01323 832741 E-mail: hsc@pavilion.co.uk Glasgow Science Centre Mario DiMaggio Glasgow Science Centre 50 Pacific Quay Glasgow G51 1EA United Kingdom E-mail: Mario@dimaggio.org Liverpool JMU and Museum Dr. Mike Simcoe, Dr. Andy Newsam Astrophysics Research Institute Liverpool John Moores University Twelve Quays House Egerton Wharf Birkenhead L41 1LD United Kingdom Phone: 0151 231 2920 E-mail: mfb@staru1.livjm.ac.uk The Eden Project Dr. A. D. (Tony) Kendle Eden Foundation Watering Lane Nursery Pentewan St Austell Cornwall PL26 6BE United Kingdom Phone: 01726 222900 Fax: 01726 222901 http://www.edenproject.com University of Glamorgan Dr. Paul Roche Dept of Earth and Space Sciences School of Applied Sciences University of Glamorgan Trefforest CF37 1DL United Kingdom Tel: 01443 482785 Fax: 01443 482285 Jodrell Bank Visitor Centre Ian Morison Jodrell Bank Science Centre Lower Withington Macclesfield Cheshire SK11 9DL United Kingdom Phone: 01477 571321 Fax: 01477571618 E-mail: agl@jb.man.ac.uk, im@jb.man.ac.uk Roseland Observatory Brian Sheen Roseland Observatory 92 Par Green Par Cornwall PL24 2AG United Kingdom Phone: 01726 813602 E-mail: brian.sheen@virgin.net Techniquest Anita Shaw Techniquest Stuart Street Cardiff CF10 6BW United Kingdom Phone: 02920 475475 Fax: 02920 482517 E-mail: as@techniquest.org http://www.tquest.org.uk _____________________________________________________________________ THE ULTIMATE LONG DISTANCE CALL By Seth Shostak From Space.com 27 December 2001 It’s one thing to search for intelligent aliens, but it’s another to actually talk to those we might find. This isn’t just a matter of what language (if any!) to use, or even how to encode the information. Encoding for mutual understanding is merely a daunting technical challenge. For example, should we broadcast messages using pulse code modulation, AM radio, spread-spectrum techniques, or something we don’t have a name for yet? Until we pick up a signal, we really haven’t a clue. ...There’s another problem that’s as obvious as Mae West: it takes time for signals to traverse interstellar distances. The speed of light, fast as it is, is finite... ...The nearest star, Alpha Centauri, is roughly 4 light-years distant, as every school child can remind you. That’s an 8-year delay between query and response. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_long_distance_011227.html. _____________________________________________________________________ NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology.h tml 31 December 2001 Articles about the biology of extreme environments (on Earth) http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s2.html K. Nealson and W. A. Ghiorse, 2001. Geobiology: Exploring the Interface Between the Biosphere and the Geosphere. American Academy of Microbiology, Washington, DC. Articles about human space exploration and the microgravity environment http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s3.html T. Phillips, 2001. Space Station Christmas. NASA Science News. K. P. Wright Jr., R. J. Hughes, R. E. Kronauer, D.-J. Dijk and C. A. Czeisler, 2001. Intrinsic near-24-h pacemaker period determines limits of circadian entrainment to a weak synchronizer in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 98(24):14027- 14032. Articles about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s4.html S. Shostak, 2001. The ultimate long distance call. Space.com. _____________________________________________________________________ THESE WEEKS ON GALILEO NASA/JPL release 24 December 2001 - 6 January 2002 As the Galileo flight team winds down on the year and prepares to relax a bit during the holidays, the Galileo spacecraft continues chugging away in Jupiter orbit, collecting data, playing back data, and preparing for the next close satellite flyby of Io on January 17. On Friday, December 28, routine maintenance of the propulsion system is performed. On Friday, January 4, a new command sequence takes over control on the spacecraft and enhanced real-time science data collection begins. This starts a three-week period around the Io flyby in which these data will be collected continuously. On January 1, as we celebrate the arrival of the New Year, Jupiter, and the Galileo spacecraft that circles it celebrates (very quietly) its arrival at the point in its orbit called opposition. This is where the planet (and spacecraft), the Earth, and the Sun are in a straight line, with Earth in the middle. This also represents the closest approach of Jupiter to the Earth, though still an impressive 626 million kilometers distant (389 million miles). Since Jupiter takes about 12 years to circle the Sun, compared to Earth's one year, oppositions happen about every 13 months. Playback of data from the October Io flyby continues as the science teams both extend coverage and fill in gaps from observations previously returned. Scientists using the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, the Solid State Imaging camera, the Photopolarimeter Radiometer, and the suite of Fields and Particles instruments (the Energetic Particle Detector, the Heavy Ion Counter, the Magnetometer, the Plasma Subsystem, and the Plasma Wave Subsystem) will expect portions of a wide variety of observations. In addition, the steady collection of real-time data by the Magnetometer, the Dust Detector, and the Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer continues throughout the week. The Galileo Flight Team would like to take this opportunity to thank our loyal readers and followers for sticking with us over the past year, and to extend our wishes for a safe and happy holiday season to one and all! And from the Galileo spacecraft itself, "Beep, beep, boop, beep!" For more information on the Galileo spacecraft and its mission to Jupiter, please visit the Galileo home page at http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. _____________________________________________________________________ INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT NASA/JSC release 21 December 2001 Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch have completed their first week of independent operations aboard the International Space Station. Last Saturday, the three new station crewmembers bid farewell to their predecessors, the Expedition Three crew, and the crew of Endeavour as the shuttle undocked to begin its journey home. The Expedition Three crew of Commander Frank Culbertson, Pilot Vladimir Dezhurov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin returned to Earth on Monday and to Houston on Wednesday. The three have begun several weeks of physical rehabilitation to help their bodies readjust to the pull of Earth's gravity. Aboard the station, Onufrienko, Bursch and Walz spent the week activating science experiments, including a cell growth experiment used to study colon and ovarian cancer cells and human kidney cells. They also continued to familiarize themselves with their new home, unload the Progress 6 cargo ship, and unpack equipment and supplies brought aboard Endeavour. The crew will continue experiment work next week, and they will have a day off on Christmas Day to observe the holiday. The station's food stores include turkey and some other traditional holiday foods. The crew also will observe a holiday on New Year's Day. All International Space Station systems are currently operating well. However, on Tuesday flight controllers noted that the Beta Gimbal Assembly that rotates the port-side U.S. solar array experienced strain on its electric motor and briefly stalled. The mechanism was restarted quickly and has since been performing normally. The stall had no significant impact on station operations and is similar to events seen several times in the past. The Beta Gimbal Assemblies rotate the station's arrays, allowing them to precisely track the sun, generating the maximum possible power for the station. During Endeavour's flight, thermal blankets were installed on both assemblies to better insulate them in hopes of alleviating such problems. Engineers have confidence the mechanisms will continue to operate, and they are continuing to gather data from both the port and starboard mechanisms to evaluate the effectiveness of the new insulation. For the latest information on what the Expedition Four crew is doing aboard the space station; future launch dates and times; as well as station sighting opportunities from anywhere on the Earth, please visit the Web at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/. Overall coordination of the research aboard the space station is the responsibility of the Payload Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. The Johnson Space Center manages the Human Research Facility. Details on station science operations can be found on the Web at http://www.scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov. The next ISS status report will be issued January 4, 2002. _____________________________________________________________________ MARS ODYSSEY MISSION STATUS NASA/JPL release 27 December 2001 Flight controllers of NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey mission report that the aerobraking phase is proceeding right on schedule and should be completed in early January. During the aerobraking phase of the mission, the spacecraft is controlled so it skims the upper reaches of the Martian atmosphere on each orbit, to reduce the vehicle's speed. Today, Odyssey's orbital period is three hours and 15 minutes, compared with the initial 18-and-a-half hours when the spacecraft first entered orbit in October. The orbital period is the time required to complete one revolution around the planet. "We plan to perform a maneuver to raise the spacecraft up out of the atmosphere in early January. After that it will take about a month for us to circularize the orbit using our onboard thrusters and then prepare to start the science mission," said David A. Spencer, Odyssey's mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. The primary two-and-a-half year science mission is scheduled to begin in February. The high energy neutron detector provided by Russia's Space Institute has operated throughout much of the aerobraking phase and has completed its calibration in preparation for the science mission. The instrument is part of the gamma ray spectrometer payload suite, designed to map the elemental composition of the Martian surface. Among its many science objectives, Odyssey will attempt to determine the amount and location of any near-surface water on Mars, if it exists. JPL manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Principal investigators at Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, operate the science instruments. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, is providing aerobraking support to JPL's navigation team during mission operations. _____________________________________________________________________ STARDUST STATUS REPORT NASA/JPL release 21 December 2001 There were two Deep Space Network tracking passes this week, and all Stardust's subsystems are operating normally. Stardust is currently 2.63 AU (about 244 million miles or 393 million kilometers) from the Sun. Since the angle between the Sun, Earth and spacecraft is less than 3 degrees (solar conjunction) making communication difficult, there will be no commanding with the spacecraft until early January. Preparations for the second Deep Space Maneuver--the seventh trajectory correction--have begun. The sequence will be developed in January 2002. 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 50.