MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 9, Number 4, 28 January 2002. 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. Information concerning the scope of this newsletter, subscription formats and availability of back-issues is available from the Marsbugs web page at http://welcome.to/marsbugs or http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/marsbugs/marsbugs.html. _____________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS 1) UMASS STUDY USES MICROBES TO TURN MUD INTO ELECTRICITY University of Massachusetts release 2) SIMULATING THE MARTIAN SURFACE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD University of Arkansas release 3) MARS SOCIETY UK SYMPOSIUM GREAT SUCCESS By Bo Maxwell 4) EARTHLIGHT: TERRESTRIAL VEGETATION DETECTED IN THE SPECTRUM OF THE EARTHSHINE By Jean Schneider 5) HOW OUR VIEW OF OURSELVES AFFECTS BELIEFS ABOUT E.T. By Douglas Vakoch 6) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas 7) CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS NASA/JPL release 8) THIS WEEK ON GALILEO NASA/JPL release 9) INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT NASA/JSC release 10) STARDUST STATUS REPORT NASA/JPL release _____________________________________________________________________ UMASS STUDY USES MICROBES TO TURN MUD INTO ELECTRICITY University of Massachusetts release 17 January 2002 Will soldiers someday wear vests containing microbes that signal contact with biological weapons? Could unmanned submarines or underwater sensing devices run on microbe-power? Research conducted by University of Massachusetts microbiologists and reported in this week's issue of the journal Science concludes that certain microorganisms can transform organic matter commonly found at the bottom of the ocean into electrical energy. Aside from raising the possibility that microbes someday could be used to produce power in subsurface settings, the findings have implications for many industrial and military applications, according to Derek R. Lovley, UMass microbiologist and team leader. An understanding of how microbes generate and use electrical energy may also prompt the development of new technologies to decontaminate polluted water and sediment containing organic materials, including petroleum and other aromatic hydrocarbons, he says. In the Science article, Lovley explains how the team used water and sediment from Boston Harbor, a collection of mason jars, ordinary electrical wiring, and sterile graphite electrodes to determine the science behind the mechanics of a simple, sediment battery. The researchers added a layer of common mud to water in the jars, put one graphite electrode in the mud, another in overlying water. The resulting electrical current was strong enough to activate a light bulb, or a simple computer. "Even using a primitive electrode made from graphite," Lovely said, "it is possible to produce enough current to power basic electronic marine instruments." Through more refined experiments, Lovley's group found that a family of energy-harvesting microorganisms, commonly referred to as Geobacters, were key to the production of the electrical current. Whereas most life forms, including humans, get their energy by oxidizing organic compounds with oxygen, Geobacters can grow in environments lacking oxygen by using the iron naturally present in soil, in place of oxygen. This new research demonstrates that Geobacters can also substitute an unnatural substance, such as an electrode, for the iron, according to Lovley. A large number of a Geobacters known as Desulfuromonas acetoxidans (D. acetoxidans) were found on the anode end of the primitive batteries. When the researchers destroyed the D. acetoxidans in the sediment, the current stopped. "In the mud, a community of microorganisms cooperates to break down larger, more complex organic compounds to acetate. Geobacters then transfer the electrons from the acetate to the electrode generating the electrical energy," he said. Lovley's group also has found that some Geobacters can convert toxic organic compounds, such as toluene, to electricity. Lovley says this suggests that some Geobacters can be used to harvest energy from waste matter, or can be included in technology used to clean up subsurface environments contaminated by organic matter, especially petroleum. Earlier studies had shown bacteria could produce electricity under artificial conditions in which special chemicals were added, but the UMass study was the first to prove that the nearly ubiquitous microbes living in a typical marine environment could produce electricity under the conditions naturally found in that environment. "Once we know more about the genome of Geobacters, we will be able to manipulate these organisms to make them receptive to a variety of organic or inorganic contaminants. Theoretically, when they begin to degrade the contaminant, they will throw electrons on an electrode, and that could set off a light, a sound or some other form of signal," Lovely said. "An understanding of how this phenomenon operates has a number of extremely timely applications, especially in developing technologies to recognize toxins and organic contaminants." Lovley cites, for example, the potential for using such technology to develop military equipment that could alert soldiers to the presence of toxins or biological warfare agents in the immediate environment. The Office of Naval Research funded this study. The research team included Daniel R. Bond and Dawn E. Holmes from UMass, and Leonard M. Tender of the Naval Research Laboratories. Derek Lovley can be reached at 413-545-9651, or dlovley@microbio.umass.edu. Images are available at http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/prkit/, under the heading "Electricity from Mud." Please credit appropriately. An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/energy-tech-02b.html. The Science article is available at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/295/5554/483. _____________________________________________________________________ SIMULATING THE MARTIAN SURFACE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD University of Arkansas release 18 January 2002 An experiment designed by the Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, now in place on the polar plateau of Antarctica, may help interpret the recent history of Mars. The experiment, built by professors Derek Sears and Paul Benoit, University of Arkansas, and Stephen McKeever, Oklahoma State University, is designed to measure the ability of ice to stop high-energy "cosmic rays," or protons traveling at high speeds. Cosmic rays occur in outer space, and penetrate the atmospheres of Earth and Mars. Rocks and soil stop cosmic rays as the protons crash into the atoms in the solids, releasing energy and storing some of that energy within the soil and rocks as luminescence. Researchers can measure this luminescence and determine the age of the object in question. Up until now there has been little interest in gathering luminescence data for ice--researchers usually use the technique to date pots and campfires in archaeology or to determine radiation exposure in laboratories. However, as scientists have learned more about the polar ice caps on Mars, their interest in dating ice has blossomed. Antarctica provides an ideal environment for the luminescence experiment due to the presence of old, dense ice far from rock outcrops that could produce radiation. Antarctic ice, which flows at a slow rate, makes an Earth-based "lab" site that most closely resembles the polar ice caps found on Mars. The experiment is part of a larger effort to produce a spacecraft instrument, called ODIN, to study the polar ice caps of Mars. The instrument used in Antarctica will date how long ice deposits have been stable by measuring the amount of radiation exposure they have experienced. "The Antarctic case is really just a test case for Mars--if we can work successfully with Antarctic ice, Mars shouldn't prove any more difficult," Benoit said. The experiment was placed 1.5 meters into the ice near the Meteorite Hills on December 10, 2001, by a field party lead by Ralph Harvey from the Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET), sponsored by the National Science Foundation, and will return home with the expedition in early February. Image caption: [http://pigtrail.uark.edu/news/2002/JAN02/chabot.jpg (103KB)] Dr. Nancy Chabot of Case Western Researve University with the Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary Sciences radiation dosimetry experiment near the Darwin Glacier, Antarctica. Contacts: Paul Benoit, assistant professor, chemistry and biochemistry Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences Phone: 479-575-3170 E-mail: pbenoit@uark.edu Melissa Blouin, science and research communications manager Phone: 479-575-5555 E-mail: blouin@uark.edu _____________________________________________________________________ MARS SOCIETY UK SYMPOSIUM GREAT SUCCESS By Bo Maxwell 21 January 2002 The 1st Mars Society UK 1-day Symposium proved a great success. Held on the 19th January 2002, the event was attended by over 100 people of all ages and backgrounds. Featuring a total of five keynote speakers, the event promised to bring a huge amount of expertise and knowledge on Mars and exploring Mars together in one place. The morning got off to a flying start with Dr. Robert Zubrin appearing on the BBC News 24 morning bulletin, which not only gave him a chance to talk about the Society and Mars Direct, but which also lead directly to a number of additional attendees coming along to the event afterwards. After the opening address from the Mars Society UK President, Bo Maxwell, the event got underway with a 75-minutes presentation and Question and Answer session with Professor Colin Pillinger of the Beagle 2 project. During his talk, Professor Pillinger reviewed the history and progress of the Beagle 2 mission, before looking towards next year and the lander's launch aboard the Mars Express mission in June 2003. He also looked at the science Beagle 2 will be taking to Mars and related it back to studies of Martian meteorites here on Earth, bringing the audience right up to date with the latest thoughts on ALH84001 and other meteorites. Following a robust question-and-answer session, Professor Pillinger was followed by Dr. David Cullen of the Cranfield Biotechnology Institute who talked about new means and methods for detecting possible life on Mars and the development of biotechnology that might be used in future missions to Mars. In his 40-minute presentation, Dr. Cullen unfolded many of the mysteries of biotechnology, presenting their benefits in a clear and concise manner. During the lunch period, attendees were able to spend time with Professor Pillinger and his wife Dr. Judith Pillinger and Dr. Ian Wright and Dr. Mark Sims of Beagle 2, examining the model of the lander and asking questions about the mission. Trade stands provided by the Mars Society, Lambda Press (computers software including the 3D Atlas of Mars) and Terra Publishing provided attendees to purchase more Mars-related information. By that time Dr. Zubrin had returned from the BBC News Centre in London, and was interviewed by the BBC television series "Final Frontier" for a program to be broadcast in the UK in March 2002. After lunch, Dr. Zubrin was again in the spotlight when he presented a 65-minute presentation on the Mars Society, Mars Direct, the MARS project, and the Translife project before taking a number of questions from the floor. Received with considerable warmth and enthusiasm, Dr. Zubrin's address lead directly to a number of attendees signing-up with the Society, with two donations towards projects being made to Society representatives at the sales desk. Charles Frankel followed Dr. Zubrin and gave an enlightening and witty presentation on his experiences at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island before taking a closer look at the geology of Mars and how studying it may lead to a greater understanding of geological processes operating here on Earth. Rounding-out the day, after two brief presentations on the Euro-MARS and on potential technology developments related to Mars exploration, Mr. Martyn Fogg gave an informative talk on the possibilities for terraforming Mars at some point in the future. Always an emotive subject, this talk reviewed some of the most promising models developed for planetary terraformation, including those developed by Mr. Fogg himself along with Dr. Chris MacKay and others. Prior to the closing comments, given by Philip Dembo, the Mars Society's Executive Director, the guests were joined on stage by Dr. Mark Sims (substituting for Professor Pillinger, who had to depart before the end of the day), in an open panel discussion /question and answer session in which the press and the audience were able to pitch questions to them all as a panel of experts. All-in-all the event was warmly received by the audience, and prompted numerous requests for the Society to hold more such symposia and meetings in the future, and well as generating a lot of support for the Society's work in Europe and the USA, including the generation of several new members of the Society, whom we welcome with thanks for their time and support. Further information on Mars Society UK events can be found be visiting the Mars Society UK web site at marssociety.org.uk. For more information about the Mars Society, visit our web site at www.marssociety.org, or contact info@marssociety.org. ____________________________________________________________________________________ EARTHLIGHT: TERRESTRIAL VEGETATION DETECTED IN THE SPECTRUM OF THE EARTHSHINE By Jean Schneider 22 January 2002 A team including Luc Arnold, Sophie Gillet and Olivier Lardière of the OHP-Observatoire de Haute Provence and Pierre Riaud and Jean Schneider of the Paris Observatory, detected for the first time the color characteristic of the terrestrial vegetation in the "Earthshine" (i.e. the dark part of the Moon only hit by the Earth light). To observe the light of the Earth by reflection on the Moon enables us to characterize the aspect of our planet as seen by a remote observer. We need this observation to prepare the detection of extra-solar planets similar to the Earth. The color of the Earth by reflection on the Moon, detected for the first time, is characterized by an abrupt increase in intensity in the spectrum starting from 750 nm in wavelength. This increase is characteristic of the average spectrum of the terrestrial vegetation and is interpreted as being a reflection of the color of the vegetation on the Moon. In other words, the vegetation has an infra- red color essentially, as is confirmed in the earthshine spectrum. The green color of the vegetation is only a secondary characteristic of its spectrum, as indicated by the small " bump " in the spectrum at 550 nm. Although the biologists did not yet completely elucidate the details of photosynthesis mechanisms, one can at least understand that the increase of the spectrum around 725 nm is a characteristic of any vegetation. Indeed, whatever the details, photosynthesis consists in "pumping" energy of sunlight to transform it into chemical energy (with production or not of oxygen). The subtraction of this energy in the solar spectrum results in a deficiency at these wavelengths in the spectrum of the plants. As all the plants take part of the same biochemistry, the region of the solar spectrum "pumped" is, with rare exceptions, universal for any vegetation. The observations were made from April 2001 at the 80 cm telescope of the OHP. At the time of the observations, in the morning the Moon sees Asia and in the evening it sees America (Northern and Southern). Similar observations were made at the Steward Observatory (Arizona) from June 2001. At the time of these observations, the Moon saw primarily the Pacific Ocean and a small portion of Asia. The long-term purpose of these observations is to test the detectability of the vegetation on the extra-solar planets by the space missions of the DARWIN/TPF type, modified for observations in visible light, in project for years 2015 or after. Why not be satisfied with the direct observation of the terrestrial vegetation seen from satellites of the SPOT type or others? Because those do not see the Earth from a remote enough point, thus do not have an instantaneous global vision of it. Moreover they have only a quasi- vertical vision of the terrestrial ground and thus do not take account of all angles of sight, and of the effects of absorption due to the oblique crossing of the atmospheric layers. So the conditions of observation similar to that of a remote extra-solar planet are not met. On the contrary, the Moon being far enough from the Earth, it sees it overall. Moreover the roughness of its surface makes that it reflects in all the directions the terrestrial light, thus mixing the luminous rays resulting from all the terrestrial areas, which makes it possible to have the average color of the Earth. The Earth is the only planet of the solar system to have the blue color characteristic of its atmospheric scattering; the atmosphere of Mars is too tenuous and that of Venus too opaque to have this blue color. This color will thus be a simple, but invaluable indicator for the studies of exobiology, of the state of the atmosphere of an extra-solar planet. Reference Arnold L., Gillet S., Lardière O., Riaud P., Schneider J.: 2002, "A test for the search for life on extrasolar planets: Looking for the terrestrial vegetation signature in the Earthshine spectrum," Astronomy and Astrophysics, submitted. Contact: Jean Schneider (LUTH, Observatoire de Meudon, France) E-mail: jean.schneider@obspm.fr Additional information is available at http://www.obspm.fr/actual/nouvelle/jan02/schneider.en.shtml _____________________________________________________________________ HOW OUR VIEW OF OURSELVES AFFECTS BELIEFS ABOUT E.T. By Douglas Vakoch From Space.com 24 January 2002 A search for signals from extraterrestrials will probably be successful if it lasts long enough. And humans are the most important species on Earth. Do you agree or disagree with the above two statements? In an earlier article in this series, we saw how anthropocentrism and beliefs in life beyond Earth can be measured by getting responses to a few, well-chosen statements--like the two sentences that start this article. And once we can accurately measure people's attitudes--like how anthropocentric (human-centered) people are and how strongly they believe in the possibility of life beyond Earth--it's a short step to looking for relationships between these sorts of attitudes. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_survey_020124.html. _____________________________________________________________________ NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology.h tml 28 January 2002 Articles about the biology of extreme environments (on Earth) http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s2.html D. R. Bond, D. E. Holmes, L. M. Tender, D. R. Lovley, 2002. Electrode-reducing microorganisms that harvest energy from marine sediments. Science, 295(5554):483-485. SpaceDaily, 2002. Microbes that turn mud into power. SpaceDaily. Articles about human space exploration and the microgravity environment http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s3.html M. Stasiak, 2001. Controlled environment systems research at the University of Guelph. Ad Astra, 14(5):15-16. Articles about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s4.html D. Vakoch, 2002. How our view of ourselves affects beliefs about E.T. Space.com. _____________________________________________________________________ CASSINI WEEKLY SIGNIFICANT EVENTS NASA/JPL release 17-23 January 2002 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone tracking station on Wednesday, January 23. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating normally. See the "Present Position" web page at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/english/where/. The C30 sequence continues to execute as planned. Science activities this week include the completion of a Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) functional test. This mini-sequence performed a functional checkout as the instrument transitioned from science mode, to sleep mode, and powered off. The Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) decontamination mini-sequence began execution, with the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer riding along. The spacecraft was turned to Spica with ISS taking a number of images using the Narrow Angle Camera. The spacecraft then returned to Earth point with ISS decontamination heater #1 and the ISS replacement heater left in the ON state. Decontamination activities will continue through the end of the month when a second set of images will be obtained. Spacecraft activities included transition from Reaction Control Subsystem to Reaction Wheel Assembly mode in support of the ISS mini- sequence, a Command & Data Subsystem (CDS) Solid State Power Switch trip counter reset, and an autonomous CDS Solid State Recorder memory load partition repair. In support of a Deep Space Network (DSN) request to test a new version of their firmware, a DSN Block 5 Receiver firmware test Immediate/Delayed Action Program (IDAP) was uplinked. The IDAP will execute next week, putting Cassini into 82K downlink mode over DSS- 15, and returning to S&ER3 near the end of the pass. The 27th Cassini Project Science Group (PSG) meeting concluded during this reporting period. Titan Orbiter Science Team and Satellite Orbiter Science Team meetings were held to continue working integration issues for the Titan and icy satellite flybys. Also during PSG week the Cross-Discipline Workshop's Equatorial Splinter Group was reactivated to re-segment the tour prior to the Titan 3 (T3) flyby. The re-segmentation was required due to the new probe mission design. The group successfully segmented the tour for this time frame and allocated the segments to the appropriate Target Working Teams. Mission Planning gathered science response and impacts to proposed trajectory tweaks for tour. The tweaks included moving ring plane crossings to reduce the probability of dust impacts to the spacecraft and instruments. A presentation on the findings will be made next week. Archiving status reported by Instrument Operations indicated that many of the instrument teams have made progress identifying their data sets and working with the Planetary Data System (PDS) to design archive volumes and data processing systems. The Huygens Probe PDS representatives have been identified, and work to develop the Huygens PDS archive has begun. Radio Science plans to archive reduced products including atmospheric T-p profiles, ionospheric electron density profiles, ring opacity profiles, GM and higher order results from various gravity fields. Mission Sequence Subsystem (ULO-MSS) internal status meetings have assessed progress towards the MSS D8 software delivery date in May of this year. While some threats were identified, there was only one task that could not be handled within the current ULO-MSS margin policy. Additional analysis incorporating new information indicates that the work can probably be done within the policy if some tasks are reallocated. After review at a previous Cassini Design Team meeting (CDT), comments have been incorporated and a new plan designed to deal with system-level vs. instrument internal commands. The revised plan was presented at this week's CDT. 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 NASA/JPL release 21-27 January 2002 This week sees the quiet murmur of cruise activities overtake the Galileo spacecraft once again. The hectic week of the encounter, the safing, and the recovery has passed, and the flight team turns its attention towards the next and final target, Amalthea, in November. On Monday, another opportunity to execute an orbit trim maneuver passes unused. A maneuver opportunity is scheduled 3 to 4 days after a close flyby to clean up any inaccuracies in the trajectory that may have accumulated during the flyby. The final placement of the spacecraft at this encounter was just 1.5 kilometers (less than one mile) higher than our targeted 100 kilometers (62 miles), and just 5 seconds later than desired, which was well within the limits of our uncertainties. We are now assured that, even if we perform no other maneuvers, the Galileo spacecraft will correctly plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere in September 2003, fulfilling our responsibilities for planetary protection of Europa. Galileo's discovery of a probable subsurface ocean of liquid water on that icy moon leads to the possibility that that environment could harbor life. It is our responsibility, therefore, to make sure that the unsterilized Galileo spacecraft cannot possibly crash into that satellite in the future, potentially contaminating the environment with terrestrial microorganisms. Also on Monday, routine maintenance of the spacecraft propulsion system is performed. Throughout the week the Fields and Particles instruments (Dust Detector, Energetic Particle Detector, Heavy Ion Counter, Magnetometer, Plasma Subsystem, and Plasma Wave Subsystem) are collecting continuous real-time science. This continues a survey that began January 4 and will extend until Sunday. At that time, the magnetospheric survey will stop, and playback of the data that was recorded during last week's flyby will begin. On Friday, the Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer turns its power on and begins another extended examination of the hydrogen gas that fills the space between the planets. 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 _____________________________________________________________________ INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT NASA/JSC release 18 January 2002 The Expedition Four crew of the International Space Station wrapped up a busy week Friday, installing a new, more robust computer storage device and preparing for the second spacewalk of its duty tour a little more than a week after the first. Flight Engineer Carl Walz worked with computer experts on the ground to install and activate a new solid state mass memory unit for one of the station's three main command and control computers, known by its acronym of "C&C1." It took Walz about two hours to remove the older mass memory unit, which used a spinning disk design, and another two hours for flight controllers on the ground to complete the reactivation of C&C1. Computer experts on the ground are continuing to evaluate data on the health of the computer, but expect to place it in the backup spot to the primary computer, C&C2, on January 23. C&C2 had its mass memory unit upgraded earlier this month. The final new mass memory unit is to be installed in C&C3 on February 1. In addition, flight controllers this week also installed new software in two guidance, navigation and control computers on the station. Meanwhile, Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineer Dan Bursch continued preparations for the next spacewalk, scheduled for January 25. This week, they replenished space suit consumables used by Onufrienko and Walz on Monday, dried out the suits and readied the hardware items they will install on the outer skin of the station. The spacewalk is expected to begin at 9:35 AM CST next Friday, and last about 51/2 hours. Onufrienko and Bursch will wear Russian Orlan spacesuits and exit the station through the Pirs module, which serves as a docking module and airlock. Walz will provide support inside, monitoring their progress and moving the robotic Canadarm 2 for television coverage of their activities. It will be the 33rd spacewalk in support of space station assembly, and the eighth conducted from the station itself. The two space-age construction workers will install 11 different systems on the outside of the Zvezda Service Module, including six thruster plume deflectors, the second of four ham radio antennae, a replacement experiment for studying contaminating particles from control jets, and a physics experiment. The Efflux Protection Assembly deflectors are designed to redirect plumes from the jets that help control the station's orientation so that they do not leave potentially harmful residues on the outside of the station where spacewalkers must work. The suitcase-like Kromka 1 experiment will replace the existing Kromka 1-0 experiment package, placing new materials samples where they can collect contaminants from the thrusters for future analysis (the Kromka 1-0 samples will be bagged and returned to the station for delivery to Earth aboard a Soyuz return craft). The Platan-M package is a physics experiment designed to search for natural low-energy heavy nuclei of solar and galactic origin. The amateur radio antenna is one of four that eventually will allow space station crew members to make "ham" radio contacts from the comfort of their living quarters inside Zvezda. While crewmembers concentrated on construction and maintenance tasks, inside the Destiny Laboratory, a host of scientific experiments continued to collect information about the effects of long-term space flight on humans, biotechnology, medicine, agriculture, electronics and pharmaceutical compounds. For the latest information on the crew's activities 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. Details on station science operations can be found on the web site of the Payload Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL at http://www.scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov. The next ISS status report will be issued January 25, following the spacewalk. Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/exp4_am_020125.html http://spacedaily.com/news/020126051939.0yq0sk0e.html _____________________________________________________________________ STARDUST STATUS REPORT NASA/JPL release 25 January 2002 There were two Deep Space Network tracking passes during the past week and all subsystems are normal. Stardust successfully completed Deep Space Maneuver 2, the seventh trajectory correction maneuver since launch. This maneuver corrected errors from last year's Earth flyby. All subsystems performed normally as the spacecraft turned away from the Sun to perform the 2.65 meter/second burn. The power subsystem has been performing even better than predicted when the spacecraft must point away from the Sun--its power source-- to communicate with Earth or to maneuver. For a typical communications pass, the battery's charge state goes from 107% to 85%. After the maneuver, the battery's charge state, predicted to go down to 70 percent, had only dropped to 95 percent before the spacecraft turned back toward the Sun and the battery could recharge with solar power. Currently, the solar panels are producing approximately 0.2 amps more than predicted. Although the power performance margin indicates Stardust could have additional communication time, we will continue to use a conservative approach since Stardust is the first mission to use solar panels so far from the Sun. Stardust reaches the furthest point from the Sun in its orbit 2.72 AU in mid-April and will exit Deep Space (2.4 AU) in late October of this year. 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 9, Number 4.