MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 9, Number 19, 27 May 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) BRAIN-IMAGING CAP UNDER STUDY FOR SPACE AND EARTH USE National Space Biomedical Research Institute 2) ORBITAL TELESCOPE PLATFORM PROPOSED FOR SETI, ASTEROID WATCH DUTIES By Leonard David 3) ASTRONOMERS TO INTENSIFY LIFE SEARCH By Paul Recer 4) GARDENS IN SPACE From ESA News 5) HUBBLE TELESCOPE: SURPRISE TOOL IN SEARCH FOR LIFE By Robert Roy Britt 6) OTHER WORLDS NOT SO STRANGE, TOP PLANET HUNTER SAYS By Robert Roy Britt 7) "MARS METEORITE'S" LINK TO LIFE QUESTIONED By Leonard David 8) SENATE SPACE SUBCOMITTEE CHARIMAN CALLS FOR HUMANS TO MARS PROGRAM Mars Society release 9) TROPICAL "RUNAWAY GREENHOUSE" PROVIDES INSIGHT TO VENUS NASA/ARC release 02-60AR 10) SOWING SEEDS IN A MAGNETIC FIELD By Patrick L. Barry and Tony Phillips 11) LAMPSON INTRODUCES BILL TO STIMULATE HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION House Science Committee release 12) ASTRONAUTS SIMULATE SPACE MISSION IN UNDERWATER HABITAT From NASA Tech Briefs Insider 13) CHANGES IN RAINFALL PATTERNS SPUR PLANT GROWTH, CARBON ABSORPTION ACROSS U.S. NASA release 02-70 14) TO ERR IS HUMAN... AND OF INTEREST TO ET? By Douglas Vakoch 15) COSMIC IMPACTS IMPLICATED IN BOTH THE RISE AND FALL OF DINOSAURS Rutgers University release 16) UNMIXING THE SNCS: CHEMICAL, ISOTOPIC, AND PETROLOGIC COMPONENTS OF THE MARTIAN METEORITES Lunar and Planetary Institute release 17) CHINA PLANS BASE ON THE MOON TO EXPLOIT MINERAL RESOURCES: REPORT From SpaceDaily and Agence France-Presse 18) MANNED SPACE FLIGHTS "A FORESEEABLE GOAL" FOR CHINA From SpaceDaily and Beijing Review 19) MASS EXTINCTION GIVES WAY TO AN EON OF STABILITY From SpaceDaily 20) EUROPA HAS RIGHT STUFF SETI Institute release 21) THE SEARCH FOR THE SCUM OF THE UNIVERSE By Robert Roy Britt 22) REACTOR REVEALS HIDDEN LIFE OF ROCKS By Andy Fell 23) A NON-BIOLOGICAL ORIGIN FOR CARBON IN ANCIENT ROCKS From SpaceDaily 24) NEW AMINO ACID DISCOVERED--FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCK OF LIFE Ohio State University release 25) NEW IMPACT CRATER MEASUREMENTS DEMONSTRATE THAT EUROPA HAS A THICK ICE SHELL Lunar and Planetary Institute release 26) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas 27) CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENTS NASA/JPL releases 28) THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS ON GALILEO NASA/JPL release 29) INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SCIENCE OPERATIONS STATUS REPORT NASA Marshall Space Flight Center release 02-133 30) MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES NASA/JPL/ASU releases 31) STARDUST STATUS REPORTS NASA/JPL releases _____________________________________________________________________ BRAIN-IMAGING CAP UNDER STUDY FOR SPACE AND EARTH USE National Space Biomedical Research Institute 8 May 2002 A lightweight, imaging cap being designed to assess brain function may go where no MRI has gone before. "On extended space missions, there will be a need to assess brain function as it relates to performance of high-level tasks and in the event of possible illness or injury," said Dr. Jeffrey Sutton, director of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) and leader of its smart medical systems team. "This portable technology will be beneficial on Earth for assessing, diagnosing and monitoring treatment in brain disorders, such as strokes and seizures." The device utilizes diffuse optical tomography (DOT), a technique using near-infrared light and detectors to record brain activity. The light shines through the skull into the brain and records regional differences in blood flow and oxygen levels. These differences are then analyzed to reveal areas of brain activity. "Study participants at the Massachusetts General Hospital are being evaluated doing relatively simple tasks, such as hand movements, under normal and sleep-deprived conditions," said Sutton, an associate professor in the Harvard University - Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology. "We'll also test it on patients experiencing changes in intracranial pressure, a condition which may be found in space." Sutton's lab, in collaboration with the MGH Photon Migration Lab, wants to see how well the imaging cap performs relative to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the current standard for measuring brain activity non-invasively. The two techniques, fMRI and DOT, are compatible allowing both tests to be run on a participant simultaneously. "We will be able to overlay the images taken from both tests, compare the results and validate DOT's accuracy," Sutton said. "Although we know fMRI has better spatial resolution, the imaging cap is portable, lightweight, less confining and would allow astronauts or patients to move around during assessments." For its potential use in space, Sutton's group is focusing on the device's ability to detect brain function associated with performance of high-level tasks in real-life settings. Another feature is the system's potential for real-time evaluation of neurobehavioral problems, headaches, head trauma and changes in intracranial pressure. In addition to evaluating the imaging cap during simple motor tasks, a simulated space-docking task is being developed in collaboration with NASA flight surgeons. "It is simpler than an actual docking but will allow us to look at accuracy, reaction time, decision-making and overall performance under various conditions," Sutton said. "With the docking task and brain-imaging cap, we hope to develop an objective early-warning system that could avert a potential problem in space." The group is also developing the computer systems that would allow automated interpretation of data from the imaging cap. This function would be necessary in space to avoid lost time transmitting data to Earth for evaluation and also would be beneficial for Earth-based use in physician's clinics. "Just like automated interpretation of electrocardiograms, this in- office brain function assessment could enhance a physician's ability to diagnose a problem and take the appropriate action," he said. This device and others being developed by the NSBRI smart medicine team will improve delivery of medical care in space, however Sutton feels the first benefits will be realized on Earth in the assessment, treatment and monitoring of pediatric and adult patients. The NSBRI, funded by NASA, is a consortium of institutions studying the health risks related to long-duration space flight. Members include Baylor College of Medicine, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Harvard, The Johns Hopkins University, MIT, 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. Related photos are available at http://www.nsbri.org/NewsPublicOut/20020508.html. Contact: Kathy Major National Space Biomedical Research Institute, Houston, TX Phone: 713-798-5893 E-mail: major@bcm.tmc.edu _____________________________________________________________________ ORBITAL TELESCOPE PLATFORM PROPOSED FOR SETI, ASTEROID WATCH DUTIES By Leonard David From Space.com 8 May 2002 The International Space Station may be port of call for a free-flying telescope capable of not only probing the depths of the Universe, but also listening for the chatter of other civilizations and spotting Earth-threatening asteroids. The Submillimetron Project is underway by a team of researchers from Sweden, Finland and Russia. This new telescope would be home-based at the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS). When periodically docked to the orbiting outpost, this astronomical tool can be serviced by a crew and then dispatched to continue its research work. Designed to operate at super-cold temperatures, the telescope permits astronomical peeks at the Cosmos in unprecedented wavelengths. The primary goal is to conduct a submillimeter wave, full sky survey. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/submillimetron_020 508-1.html. _____________________________________________________________________ ASTRONOMERS TO INTENSIFY LIFE SEARCH By Paul Recer From Associated Press and Space.com 9 May 2002 Astronomers are trying to find places in the solar system and beyond where conditions are right for life. Thus far, more than 80 planets have been discovered orbiting distant stars, but all are forbidding and unlike Earth. What the experts want to find are planets where the temperature is right and the orbit is not too far or too close to the central star. There needs to be liquid water and oxygen. It also has to be in a reasonably quiet neighborhood without frequent asteroid or comet collisions--a place, in other words, kind of like Earth. "The questions are how many stars have planets and how many of those planets are habitable," said Charles Beichman, a scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. "Within the next decade we'll get some very good answers." Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/search_conference_020509.html. _____________________________________________________________________ GARDENS IN SPACE From ESA News http://www.esa.int 13 May 2002 A model of a system for growing plants to plan biological experiments in space has just left the company of Rovsing, in Ballerup near Copenhagen, on its way to ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands. The full name of this experiment reference model is European Modular Cultivation System Experiment Reference Model (EMCS ERM). This will be used at ESTEC to plan and carry out experiments for growing plants in space. Then in 2003 the EMCS Flight Model will be flown to the International Space Station (ISS) where the experiments will be repeated in space. A biological laboratory, Biolab SRM (Science Reference Module), is also being developed at Rovsing and after testing at ESTEC the Biolab Flight Model will be sent to the ISS. The core of both models is a climate chamber where the humidity and composition of the air, temperature, light, water supply and a number of other parameters will be closely surveyed and regulated. In addition, the Biolab SRM will have a robotic system to allow samples to be taken automatically. For the Danish company the main challenge in both projects has been developing the electronics and software needed to regulate the environment in the climate chamber and to collect data for the biological experiments. Why does ESA want to grow plants in space? The first reason is purely scientific as new knowledge can be gained about the growth process in plants by growing them under microgravity. The second reason, however, is much more practical; if astronauts are to be sent on long missions, such as an expedition to Mars, they will need to grow their own food in space to ensure their survival. Related links * Rovsing (DK) http://www.rovsing.dk/ * Human Spaceflight web site http://www.esa.int/export/esaHS/ * ESA's ISS homepage http://www.esa.int/export/esaHS/iss.html [http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/ESA93GG18ZC_index_1.html] Biolab (artist's impression). This self-contained biological laboratory will be part of the larger Columbus European laboratory on the International Space Station. An additional article is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/food-02g.html. _____________________________________________________________________ HUBBLE TELESCOPE: SURPRISE TOOL IN SEARCH FOR LIFE By Robert Roy Britt From Space.com 13 May 2002 The Hubble Space Telescope, a photographer dear to more hearts than the late, but very human, Ansel Adams, is nowhere more celebrated than here inside the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), which operates the telescope for NASA. Pinned to a hallway bulletin board is a recent New York Times editorial lauding Hubble for revealing the distant universe, and time itself, with "astonishing clarity." The walls of the STScI are of course plastered with gorgeous posters that testify to Hubble's reputation as a time machine. Many of the pictures were made with light that was generated billions of years ago. Less noticed outside the institute are the unexpected contributions Hubble has made in characterizing other worlds and developing solar systems, places where researchers are eager to look for signs of life. Hubble has unexpectedly become an astrobiology machine. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/hubble_exoplanets_020513.html. _____________________________________________________________________ OTHER WORLDS NOT SO STRANGE, TOP PLANET HUNTER SAYS By Robert Roy Britt From Space.com 14 May 2002 The popular conception of planets around other stars involves strange worlds, all much larger than Jupiter on crazy paths in solar systems that look nothing like our own but within the planet-hunting community, that view has changed. Recent discoveries, along with the cleaning up of a few long-held misconceptions, reveal a handful of solar systems that are not so strange after all. Things out there are beginning to look a lot more like things back home. Geoffrey Marcy, a University of California at Berkeley researcher widely recognized as this world's top planet hunter, set the record straight in an interview with SPACE.com last week. "We're seeing characteristics that remind us of our own solar system, for sure," Marcy said. Those characteristics include planets smaller than Saturn, planets at more "normal" distances from their host stars, and planets whose orbits are pretty much circular instead of dramatically offset and elliptical. Marcy said that as the search technique used by his team and others improves, discoveries of these increasingly familiar worlds are coming at an ever faster pace compared to the stranger setups. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/exoplanet_status_0205 14-1.html. _____________________________________________________________________ "MARS METEORITE'S" LINK TO LIFE QUESTIONED By Leonard David From Spac.com 14 May 2002 A meteorite that fell to Earth from Mars purported to offer evidence of past Martian biology has fallen from grace. That's the assertion from two scientists who say the rock's strongest link to life--as claimed by other researchers--has broken down. In December 1984, ALH 84001--often called the "Mars rock" -- was picked up in Antarctica by a National Science Foundation-sponsored meteorite-hunting expedition... ...In August 1996, a science team led by NASA Johnson Space Center experts declared that they had uncovered evidence inside ALH 84001 for Martian biological activity. Ultra-small and segmented, rod- shaped structures were read by the team as the fossil leftovers of Martian microbial life. Since that time, the diminutive four and three-quarter pounds (1.93 kilograms) of potato-shaped Mars rock has weighed heavy on minds of scientists around the world. A controversial question swirling around the Martian meteorite is whether tiny crystals of an iron oxide found in ALH 84001, called magnetite, offer compelling evidence for past Mars life. Those magnetite crystals are strikingly similar in size, shape and composition to the tiny magnetites used by bacteria. Certain terrestrial bacteria produce these crystals, using them as inner compasses... ...But in the May 14 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers David Barber of the University of Greenwich, London and Ed Scott of the University of Hawaii argue against those tiny crystals of iron oxide in ALH 84001 being formed by organisms on Mars. They believe their findings offer definitive evidence that should put to rest years of dispute over the origin of the iron oxide grains. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_meteor_020514. html. _____________________________________________________________________ SENATE SPACE SUBCOMITTEE CHARIMAN CALLS FOR HUMANS TO MARS PROGRAM Mars Society release 14 May 2002 Senate Space Subcommittee Chair Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) made the following remarks in hearings on the NASA budget Friday May 10. "Today the Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space begins working toward an authorization bill for NASA. I want to begin this discussion by stating clearly that I want a NASA that is the best possible investment--paying dividends as rich as those of the early days of the space program, when names like Apollo and Mercury leapt from the pages of mythology into the stratosphere of cutting-edge science. It is clear that in order to regain the glory of the past and fulfill its mission for the future, NASA first must address several current challenges." Wyden then went on to address the need for NASA to regain Congress's confidence by putting the space station program in order. He then, however, continued with the following dramatic statement. "Congress isn't going to throw good money after bad. But with assurance that the boondoggles of today are behind us, NASA may find the freedom to dream for tomorrow--and the support of the nation to do it. "I want to recapture the vision of John F. Kennedy's commitment to putting a man on the moon by 1970. Today, it is not enough to endlessly circle the Earth in low orbit. NASA should set the goal of putting a person on Mars and work with Congress to set a date to do it. But the aim must be to reach Mars both safely and cost- effectively, or not at all." "Mars is nearly 50 million miles away, and the dangerous journey there could take months. A mission to Mars is not an idea for the faint of heart or for the frivolous. Getting there will take daring, it will take courage, and it will take discipline--and the discipline must begin before the first plan is drawn. The discipline must begin today." Senator Wyden's call for NASA to embrace humans-to-Mars represents the increasing realization among important political figures that NASA needs an-overarching goal, and that goal can only be sending humans to Mars. Mars Society members need to spread that message throughout the political class. Get involved with Operation Congress 2002 and arrange a meeting with your local representative in his or her home office as soon as possible. Go with your Mars Society chapter. If you don't have one, go alone if necessary. But go. Our message is simple. It is: 1. NASA needs to make humans to Mars its goal. 2. As a first step towards realizing that goal, Congress should allocate 1% of NASA's budget ($140 million/year) to develop technologies to enable human Mars exploration. We're making progress. Join the campaign. Together we can make it happen! _____________________________________________________________________ TROPICAL "RUNAWAY GREENHOUSE" PROVIDES INSIGHT TO VENUS NASA/ARC release 02-60AR 15 May 2002 A region in the western tropical Pacific Ocean may help scientists understand how Venus lost all of its water and became a 900-degree inferno. The study of this local phenomenon by NASA scientists also should help researchers understand what conditions on Earth might lead to a similar fate here. The phenomenon, called the "runaway greenhouse" effect, occurs when a planet absorbs more energy from the sun than it can radiate back to space. Under these circumstances, the hotter the surface temperature gets, the faster it warms up. Scientists detect the signature of a runaway greenhouse when planetary heat loss begins to drop as surface temperature rises. Only one area on Earth--the western Pacific "warm pool" just northeast of Australia--exhibits this signature. Because the warm pool covers only a small fraction of the Earth's surface, the Earth as a whole never actually "runs away". However, scientists believe Venus did experience a global runaway greenhouse effect about 3 billion to 4 billion years ago. "Soon after the planets were formed 4.5 billion years ago, Earth, Venus and Mars probably all had water. How did Earth manage to hold onto all of its water, while Venus apparently lost all of its water?" asked Maura Rabbette, Earth and planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. "We have extensive earth science data to help address that question." Rabbette and her co-investigators from NASA Ames, Christopher McKay, Peter Pilewskie and Richard Young, used atmospheric conditions above the Pacific Ocean, including data recorded by NASA's Earth Observing System of satellites, to create a computer model of the runaway greenhouse effect. They determined that water vapor high in the atmosphere produced the local signature of a runaway greenhouse. At sea surface temperatures above 80°F (27°C), evaporation loads the atmosphere with a critical amount of water vapor, one of the most efficient greenhouse gases. Water vapor allows solar radiation from the sun to pass through, but it absorbs a large portion of the infrared radiation coming from the Earth. If enough water vapor enters the troposphere, the weather layer of the atmosphere, it will trap thermal energy coming from the Earth, increasing the sea surface temperature even further. The effect should result in a chain reaction loop where sea surface temperature increases, leading to increased atmospheric water vapor that leads to more trapped thermal energy. This would cause the temperature increase to 'run away,' causing more and more water loss through evaporation from the ocean. Luckily for Earth, sea surface temperatures never reach more than about 87°F (30.5°C), and so the runaway phenomenon does not occur. "It's very intriguing. What is limiting this effect over the warm pool of the Pacific?" asked Young, a planetary scientist. He suggests that cloud cover may affect how much energy reaches or escapes Earth, or that the ocean and atmosphere may transport trapped energy away from the local hotspot. "If we can model the outgoing energy flux, then maybe we can begin to understand what limits sea surface temperature on Earth," he said. The Ames researchers are not the first to study the phenomenon, but no consensus has been reached regarding the energy turnover or the limitation of sea surface temperature. Rabbette analyzed clear-sky data above the tropical Pacific from March 2000 to July 2001. She determined that water vapor above 5 kilometers (3 miles) altitude in the atmosphere contributes significantly to the runaway greenhouse signature. She found that at 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) above the Pacific warm pool, the relative humidity in the atmosphere can be greater than 70 percent - more than three times the normal range. In nearby regions of the Pacific where the sea surface temperature is just a few degrees cooler, the atmospheric relative humidity is only 20 percent. These drier regions of the neighboring atmosphere may contribute to stabilizing the local runaway greenhouse effect, Rabbette said. It is important to note that the Ames team uses real climate information such as relative humidity and temperature--not hypothetical numbers--in the Moderate Resolution Atmospheric Radiative Transfer, or MODTRAN, modeling program. The program calculates how much energy escapes back to space from the top of Earth's atmosphere. The researchers plan to experiment with the model to test the runaway greenhouse signature's sensitivity to climate conditions. By varying the abundance of other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and by adding clouds in the model, they will see the overall effect on the outgoing energy. The model may help researchers uncover why Venus experienced a complete runaway greenhouse and lost its water over a period of several hundred million to a billion years. The research may also help determine which planets in the so-called "habitable zone" of a solar system might lack water, an essential ingredient for life as we know it. Contact: Kendall Powell/John Bluck NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Phone: 650-604-0444, 604-5026 or 604-9000 E-mail: kpowell@mail.arc.nasa.gov or jbluck@mail.arc.nasa.gov Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/venus-02b.html http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0205/18venus/ _____________________________________________________________________ SOWING SEEDS IN A MAGNETIC FIELD By Patrick L. Barry and Tony Phillips From NASA Science News 15 May 2002 When gardeners poke a seed into the ground, they never worry in which direction it lays. Give it enough water and food and care, and sure enough, its root will grow downward and its stem will sprout upward-- every time! Lay the seed upside-down, and the root and stem would still find their proper positions. How do plants do it? We humans know up from down (even with our eyes closed) because we have a complex organ in our inner ear that senses gravity's pull and signals the brain. But plants have no such organ. It's a puzzle. Everyone knows that plants grow toward light, but there must be more to it than that. Trees in northern forests, for example, grow straight up even though the Sun is never directly overhead, and the first stem emerging from a buried seed grows upward through dark soil. It's clear that gravity must play some role, too. Indeed, scientists know that the direction of gravity's pull is behind many plant behaviors, such as corn crops righting themselves after being flattened by a storm. What's unclear is exactly how plants "feel" gravity and respond to it. What part of a plant senses the direction of gravity's pull? And how is that pull translated into a chemical response that alters the plant's growth? No one knows the answers. But scientists do know enough to suggest two possibilities. First, when the fluid contents of plant cells (called the "protoplasm") are pulled downward by gravity, the pressure exerted on the cell walls might serve as a signal that helps plants distinguish up from down. Second, plant cells contain starch grains which, like protoplasm, drift down when gravity is present. Scientists suspect this might act as a cue to plants, too. But which is it? A novel experiment slated to fly aboard the space shuttle in July 2002 (STS-107) might reveal the answer. Karl Hasenstein, principal investigator for the BioTube/Magnetic Field Apparatus experiment, explains. The shuttle will carry a payload of flax seeds to orbit. Once there, a computer-controlled dose of water will start them growing. Unlike flax sprouts growing on Earth, these won't feel the usual pull of gravity. The protoplasm and the starch grains within their cells will float rather than sink. Plants have been grown in space before. But this experiment will be the first to subject plants to an "artificial gravity" created by magnets. The experiment will have a high-gradient magnetic field in the plant growth chamber. Within the cells of the plants, the protoplasm will be essentially unaffected by the magnet, but the starch grains will feel the magnetic force. They will sink to the bottom of the cell as if drawn there by gravity. Starch grains are not magnetic in the usual sense--if you held one against your refrigerator it wouldn't stick. But the grains are "diamagnetic," which means they develop a weak magnetic field when other magnets are nearby. The diamagnet's field will naturally oppose that of the nearby magnet--hence the prefix "dia"--so the starch grains will be repelled. Although the effect is weak, this diamagnetic response allows researchers to use magnets to move the starch grains. "By changing only the internal displacement of the starch grains, we can put one of these two arguments to rest," explains Hasenstein, a professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. "If the starch grains are the gravity-sensing trigger, we should see the flax-seed roots curve along the magnetic gradient. And if the pressure on the cell walls triggers the curvature, we should see no response." Infrared cameras will automatically photograph the germinating roots. Regular cameras can't be used because the chamber will be kept completely dark. The darkness allows scientists to know that the seeds are responding to the magnetic fields, not just growing toward a light source. Don't bother trying this experiment at home with ordinary refrigerator magnets. Only special "high-gradient" magnetic fields will do. Hasenstein's experiment uses magnets about 50 times more powerful than a typical refrigerator magnet. The magnets have ferromagnetic wedges attached to them, which focus a strong magnetic field into a small area. Around that area, the strength of the field tapers off quickly, creating the "gradient" of field strength that moves the starch grains. High-gradient magnetic fields will be used in two chambers of the experiment, while a third chamber will use a homogeneous magnetic field as a "control." The lessons learned won't only apply to flax seeds (which were chosen for their small size and their quick, reliable germination). All normal plants have these starch grains, so the results of this experiment will add to our basic understanding of plants in general. Starch grains or protoplasm? No matter which proves correct, researchers will have lingering questions. For example: "how does the mechanical trigger (e.g., starch grains drifting downward) produce a biochemical response?" BioTube/MFA won't provide all the answers right away, but it is an important first step--one that will teach us something fundamental about the leafy-green life all around us. Additional information on this article is available at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/15may_maggrav.htm?list683223. _____________________________________________________________________ LAMPSON INTRODUCES BILL TO STIMULATE HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION House Science Committee release 15 May 2002 U.S. Representative Nick Lampson (D-TX) introduced bipartisan legislation today to establish a series of goals to advance the nation's human space flight program over the next twenty years. Among the goals specified in the bill, the eight-year goal would require the development and flight demonstration of a reusable space vehicle capable of carrying humans from low Earth orbit to libration points in space, which could be used to assemble large-scale scientific observatories far beyond low Earth orbit. The twenty-year goal would require development of a reusable vehicle to carry humans to and from Martian orbit, development of a human occupied research facility on one of the moons of Mars, and development of a reusable vehicle to carry astronauts from Martian orbit to Mars and back. The bill will allow the best, most innovative mission concepts to compete. The bill also sets tough requirements for periodic independent cost and schedule reviews to ensure that the exploration initiative is properly managed. "The real obstacle we face in overcoming the drift in the nation's human space flight program is not technological and it's not financial--it's the lack of commitment to get started. We don't need another national commission to come up with goals for human space flight beyond low Earth orbit," said Lampson. "What we need is a national commitment to carry out any one of the many worthy goals that have been articulated to date. The Space Exploration Act of 2002 provides this commitment with a concrete set of goals for the nation's human space flight program after the International Space Station." The Ranking Democratic Member of the Science Committee, Representative Ralph M. Hall said, "Representative Lampson's bill is an important step in establishing a vision for NASA's human space flight program. I'm pleased to be a cosponsor of the bill, and I hope that the Science Committee will incorporate these goals in the NASA authorization bill when we mark it up next month." The bill also establishes an Office of Exploration within NASA to carry out the programs to meet the goals and authorizes $50 million and $200 million for FY 2003 and 2004, respectively. An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nasa-02c.html. _____________________________________________________________________ ASTRONAUTS SIMULATE SPACE MISSION IN UNDERWATER HABITAT From NASA Tech Briefs Insider 16 May 2002 As reported by USA Today, a team of three NASA astronauts and one training specialist started an eight-day mission at an inner space station called the Aquarius on Monday. This habitat allows astronauts to improve their skills for future missions on the International Space Station (ISS). Aquarius--an underwater habitat located three miles from Key Largo and 60 feet deep in the Atlantic Ocean--is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and operated by the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. Marked by a large life-support buoy that supplies air and power, the Aquarius is an 82-ton structure-- about the same size as a module on the space station--anchored to the sea floor by a 120-ton base plate. The interior consists of a lab, kitchen, and sleeping quarters for six people. It also has video cameras and the Internet for teleconferences with mission control and family members. Mission control specialists in Houston and in Key Largo are monitoring and guiding the astronauts as they conduct scientific experiments on coral and collect water samples. The astronauts are also developing team building and communication skills while testing their ability to deal with isolation in an extreme environment. For more information on Aquarius and NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO), go to http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20020516A4. _____________________________________________________________________ CHANGES IN RAINFALL PATTERNS SPUR PLANT GROWTH, CARBON ABSORPTION ACROSS U.S. NASA release 02-70 16 May 2002 A NASA-funded study finds that changing rainfall patterns over much of the United States in the last century have allowed plants to grow more vigorously and absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In the presence of water and sunlight, plants take in carbon dioxide (CO2) during photosynthesis to create fuel, glucose and other sugars, for building plant structures. Better understanding of biological and physical processes that contribute to carbon uptake by plants will help scientists predict climate change and future levels of CO2, a heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere. "The changes in the hydrologic cycle is one of the mechanisms that is often overlooked in the recent debate over carbon sequestration in the United States," said Ramakrishna Nemani, a researcher at the University of Montana's School of Forestry, and lead author of the study that appears in an issue of Geophysical Research Letters later this month. Scientists have noticed that the U.S. terrestrial carbon sink, an effect where carbon is drained from the air and stored in the land, has been increasing since the latter part of the 20th century. Previous research has claimed this rise may be due to an observed greening of the U.S. as a result of forest re-growth, as well as greater concentrations of atmospheric CO2 and warming temperatures. For the first time, however, this study suggests that changing rainfall patterns may play a bigger role in plant growth and carbon absorption. Computer model results showed that on average from 1950 to 1993 higher humidity combined with an eight percent increase in precipitation has led to a 14 percent increase in plant growth in the U.S. The data over that time period also show increases in cloud cover, minimum temperatures, soil moisture and stream flows, which are all signs of a changing hydrologic cycle. Whether or not shifting rainfall patterns result in a positive uptake of carbon by land ecosystems depends on complex interactions that include plant physiology, and both the magnitude and timing of changes that impact the water cycle. Between 1950 and 1993, in general, the minimum temperatures in the spring have become warmer, and autumns have become wetter, which have combined to lengthen the growing season for plants. A longer growing season means that plants pull carbon from the air for a greater period of time. In addition, the magnitude of precipitation on average has gone up in the conterminous U.S., except over the Pacific Northwest. "Most people only think of the idea that more water means more growth, but really plants benefit from more water in a number of ways," said Steven Running, a co-author of the paper, who is also a researcher at the University of Montana's School of Forestry. When the air is wetter, plants can open special cells in their leaves without losing much water to the air, increasing CO2 uptake while reducing the amount of water needed to grow. Additionally, wetter soils promote decomposition of dead plant materials, releasing nutrients needed for plant growth. Also, higher humidity in the spring helps maintain higher night temperatures, which makes for more frost-free days and lengthens the growing season. The authors found that without enhanced rainfall and humidity, CO2 increases and temperature changes have a lesser effect on plant growth. Greenhouse gases warm the air, and warmer air can hold more water, which impacts the hydrologic cycle. Changes in the hydrologic cycle may mean more rainfall in some regions and less in other places, affecting plant growth and carbon absorption, which in turn affects future concentrations of greenhouse gases, Nemani said. The study was funded by the Vegetation Ecosystem Modeling and Analysis Project and the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer science team, under NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. For more information and images, see http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20020501rainco2.html. Contacts: Cynthia O'Carroll Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD E-mail: Cynthia.M.OCarroll.1@gsfc.nasa.gov Phone: 301-614-5563 Rita Munzenrider University of Montana E-mail: munzen@selway.umt.edu Phone: 406-243-2522 An additional article on this subject is available at http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0205/20rain/. _____________________________________________________________________ TO ERR IS HUMAN... AND OF INTEREST TO ET? By Douglas Vakoch From Space.com 16 May 2002 Humans live and die by approximations. We are seldom as perfect or as accurate as we would like to be. And as we contemplate what we might say to an advanced extraterrestrial civilization, maybe that’s a point we should emphasize. If the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) succeeds, then it’s very likely the civilization we discover will be much older than our own. The reasoning is simple: if the typical civilization has the capacity to communicate by radio with other intelligence in the universe for only a few decades before it self-destructs, then it’s very unlikely that any two civilizations will happen to exist at almost the same small slice of time in the ten billion year history of our galaxy. The only way we’re likely to detect ET is if alien civilizations are much older than we are. That disparity accounts for part of the emphasis of current SETI programs, which listen for signals from other civilizations rather than transmit. One reason we expect older civilizations to transmit is because they are more capable, and it’s much more costly to transmit than to listen. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_vakoch_err_020516.html. _____________________________________________________________________ COSMIC IMPACTS IMPLICATED IN BOTH THE RISE AND FALL OF DINOSAURS Rutgers University release 16 May 2002 New abilities to detect layers of "space dust" in the earth's crust are building geological evidence that comets or asteroids colliding with earth not only helped wipe out the dinosaurs, but may have originally helped bring them to prominence about 200 million years ago. Dennis V. Kent, Rutgers geology professor, was among a team of geologists who analyzed footprints, bones and plant spores in more than 70 locations in eastern North America, as well as iridium dust and magnetic fields in four corresponding sediment layers in the Newark Basin. The team published its findings, "Ascent of Dinosaurs Linked to an Iridium Anomaly at the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary," in the May 17 edition of the journal Science. "Finding the element iridium, which is common in space objects, creates a time marker for comet or asteroid impacts." said Kent. "Correlating the finds with evidence of plant and animal life helps to tell us what happened." Using high-resolution spectrometry technology provided by Christian Koeberl of the University of Vienna in Austria, the scientists were able to make unprecedented comparisons of iridium levels in the parts-per-trillion range. Kent said another important find was a thin zone in the sediment, just below the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, where the magnetic field is reversed. This reverse zone can now serve as a marker to help identify the boundary location in the geological record. "Our research adds to the speculation that there was a comet or asteroid impact about 200 million years ago, followed relatively quickly by the rising dominance of dinosaur populations of the Jurassic period," said Kent. He suggested that the effects of the impact killed off or reduced many competitive species, clearing the way for dinosaurs to adapt and flourish. "Dinosaurs went on to dominate for the next 135 million years," he said, noting that their extinction is now commonly attributed to the ecological effects of yet another comet or asteroid impact--this one about 65 million years ago. Besides his work at Rutgers, Kent is associated with the Lamont- Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, as are his co- authors E. C. Rainforth and P. E. Olsen. Olsen's earlier research about Triassic-Jurassic transitions inspired the project. Other co- authors include Koeberl and H. Huber of the University of Vienna, H.- D. Sues of the Royal Ontario Museum, A. Montanari of the Osservatorio Geologio do Coldigiocom in Italy, S. J. Fowell of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and M. J. Szajna and B. W. Hartline, fossil collectors of Reading, PA. Contacts: Bill Haduch Phone: 732-932-7084, extension 633 E-mail: bhaduch@ur.rutgers.edu Dennis Kent Phone: 732-445-2044 E-mail: dvk@rci.rutgers.edu Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/space/05/16/asteroid.dinosaurs/index.htm l http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992290 http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/jersey_dinosaurs_02 0516-1.html http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0205/17dinosaurs/ _____________________________________________________________________ UNMIXING THE SNCS: CHEMICAL, ISOTOPIC, AND PETROLOGIC COMPONENTS OF THE MARTIAN METEORITES Lunar and Planetary Institute release http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/sncs2002/sncs2002.1st.html 17 May 2002 October 11-13, 2002, Houston Texas Scientific Organizers: Allan H. Treiman Lunar and Planetary Institute Phone: 281-486-2117 E-mail: treiman@lpi.usra.edu Christopher D. K. Herd Lunar and Planetary Institute Phone: 281-244-2021 E-mail: herd@lpi.usra.edu Co-conveners: John Jones, NASA Johnson Space Center David Mittlefehldt, NASA Johnson Space Center When and where A workshop on Unmixing the SNCs will be held on October 11-13, 2002, at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI). The LPI is housed in the Center for Advanced Space Studies, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, Texas. Purpose and scope Martian meteorites, despite being all basalts or their derivatives, show an enormous range of chemical and isotopic compositions. In some respects this breadth is greater than that of all basaltic rocks on Earth. Much of the compositional variability can be modeled as mixtures of chemical and isotopic components, and some components have been assigned to specific geological/chemical reservoirs: mantle, crust, atmosphere, regolith, and hydrosphere. If mixing components in the SNCs can be characterized, we will gain insight into hidden aspects of Martian geology and geochemistry--hitherto unsampled rock types and/or poorly characterized processes and geological environments. But just what are the components that make up the Martian meteorites? What are their chemical and isotopic properties? Do they represent recognizable source rocks, reservoirs, or geochemical processes? Are physical traces of them, mineral grains, or xenoliths recognizable in the meteorites? And how have they come to be mixed? Among the shergottites, many seemingly unrelated chemical and isotopic parameters are strongly correlated: e.g., oxygen fugacity, initial Sr and Nd isotope ratios, and La/Yb ratio. These correlations suggest that the Martian basalts are mixtures of distinct chemical/isotopic components (rock types or chemical reservoirs), the end members of which may not be represented among the meteorites themselves. Do these components represent mantle sources, crustal contaminants, metasomatic influxes, or what? More than 10 years ago, it was shown that some radioisotope parameters in the shergottites could be represented as mixtures from several reservoirs, one of which is consistent with the source material of the nakhlites. Can other radioisotope systems be explained by these same components, are different components required, or are additional components required? The heavy noble gases in the Martian meteorites are interpretable as mixtures of discrete components, including atmosphere, primitive mantle, and fractionated atmosphere. Are these noble gas components associated with components defined by other chemical and isotopic systems (e.g., an atmospheric signature of high D/H and high D17O)? The bulk chemical compositions of some shergottite basalts are represented well as mixtures of lherzolites and other shergottites. Could this relationship imply that these shergottites are impact melts? Shock melts in the shergottites can contain the high concentrations of a surface component--the Martian atmosphere. Are other surface components detectable in the shock melts or elsewhere in the meteorites? For instance, it has been proposed that that shock melts contain traces of regolith or dust. Can this be confirmed or extended? How else might the Martian meteorites retain clues to the nature of Martian regolith? If these many proposed mixing components can be characterized, we will gain insight into hidden aspects of Martian geology and geochemistry--hitherto unsampled rock types and/or poorly characterized processes and geological environments. While important to the petrologist and geochemist, this knowledge could be useful in interpreting spacecraft data about Mars. For instance, if mantle components can be defined, they will help in interpreting geophysical data on the Martian interior (as from the MOLA and magnetometer instruments on MGS) by constraining the chemical and thermal states of the mantle. If crustal and regolith components can be recognized, they may be critical in interpreting chemical and mineralogical data for the Martian surface, as from the TES instrument on MGS and the Gamma-Ray Spectrometer on Mars Odyssey, or data obtained in situ at the surface by rovers such as MER. In this way, unmixing the Martian meteorites can strengthen the ties between sample science and remote sensing science, and further demonstrate the importance of laboratory sample analyses to our deeper understanding of the solar system. Through this LPI workshop, we seek to assemble experts and researchers in Martian geochemistry and petrology to share and diversify their knowledge of Martian meteorites and of Mars. Among the questions we will consider are: * How many chemical/isotopic components can be recognized, and are some meteorites purely a single component? * What are the chemical and isotopic characteristics that define the different components? * Do these components correspond to recognizable rock types or processes? * Do their chemical/isotopic characteristics suggest specific geologic or tectonic settings? * Are these components predicted by (or consistent with) postulated events in Mars' history, like a magma ocean, a warm wet epoch, or mantle plumes? Workshop format The intent of the workshop is to bring new and existing results on chemical and isotopic components of the Martian basalts to a single forum through oral and poster presentations. We envision a few invited talks, and many contributed talks with time scheduled for minimally moderated discussion. Poster presentations will have high visibility through short summary presentations and scheduled time for viewing and discussion. Abstracts are welcome from all disciplines related to the chemical, isotopic, or petrologic characteristics of Martian basalts and their precursor components. Studies related to Martian meteorites are expected to dominate, but we welcome contributions based on remote sensing data or in situ investigations. Contingent on review, accepted abstracts will be published in a referenceable abstract volume that will be distributed to workshop participants. Given sufficient interest, the organizers will arrange for a collection of papers derived from the workshop to be published together in a peer-reviewed journal. The workshop abstracts and preliminary program will also be available in electronic format and will be posted on the meeting Web site on or before August 30, 2002. These files will be in PDF format, viewable with version 4.0 or higher of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Call for abstracts The deadline for electronic submission of abstracts will be August 8, 2002. Abstracts should not exceed two pages (including text, figures, and tables). Abstracts should be submitted using the electronic submission form by 5:00 PM August 8, 2002, U.S. Central Daylight Savings Time (the abstract submission form will be available by July 1, 2002). Abstracts can be submitted in a variety of formats. Templates and detailed instructions for formatting and submitting your abstract are provided. Note that electronic submission of files is not always instantaneous; gateways can be shut down temporarily, local routers can fail, network traffic can be heavy, etc. Because your file must be received at the LPI by 5:00 PM CDT, it is in your best interest to submit early to allow for possible technical problems or delays in transmission. Please DO NOT wait until the last minute to access the system; access to the Web form will terminate at 5:00 PM CDT. Registration A registration fee of $50.00 ($25.00 for students) is required of each participant to cover catering and related costs. The registration fee does not include meals, travel, lodging, etc. You must register and pay by September 3, 2002, to avoid a late fee of $15. To preregister, please return the downloadable preregistration form with your payment by September 3, 2002, or you may use the electronic preregistration form if paying by credit card. Non-U.S. participants who state on the preregistration form that they have a currency exchange problem may pay in cash at the meeting and avoid the late fee. Hotel reservations Participants are responsible for making their own travel and hotel reservations. For your convenience, we have provided a list of local hotels and a local area map showing their locations. Additional information For more information regarding the scientific objectives of this workshop, contact one of the organizers listed at the top of this announcement. For information regarding logistics, contact the LPI meeting coordinator, Paula Walley (phone: 281-486-2144; e- mail:walley@lpi.usra.edu). For more information regarding abstracts, contact the LPI abstract coordinator, Reneé Dotson (phone: 281-48- 2188; e-mail:dotson@lpi.usra.edu). _____________________________________________________________________ CHINA PLANS BASE ON THE MOON TO EXPLOIT MINERAL RESOURCES: REPORT From SpaceDaily and Agence France-Presse 19 May 2002 China, which is pushing ahead with a fledgling space program, plans to establish a base on the moon in order to exploit its mineral resources, state media reported Sunday. "Our long-term goal is to set up a base on the moon and mine its riches for the benefit of humanity," the Beijing Morning Post said, citing Ouyang Ziyuan, an official with the Chinese space program. The paper said China has adopted a three-step plan that will eventually make it possible to fly to the moon. China first wants to put an astronaut in space, then establish a space laboratory, and eventually set up a space station, the paper said. Get the full story at http://spacedaily.com/news/020519034640.drfqtlcz.html. _____________________________________________________________________ MANNED SPACE FLIGHTS "A FORESEEABLE GOAL" FOR CHINA From SpaceDaily and Beijing Review 20 May 2002 After flying millions of kilometers in space for seven days and nights, the Shenzhou 3 spacecraft landed safely in central Inner Mongolia at 16:51 on April 1, 2002. When the capsule was opened, afternoon sunlight flooded onto the face of the dummy astronaut and all onlookers were overjoyed. The successful launch and recovery of the Shenzhou 3 marked another major step forward in China's manned space program. The time for China to send its astronauts into space is just around the corner, envisioned Chinese space scientist Liang Sili. This academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) predicted that China might realize its dream well within the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-05). China will then become the third country, after the United States and Russia, to have manned space capability. Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-02zl.html. _____________________________________________________________________ MASS EXTINCTION GIVES WAY TO AN EON OF STABILITY From SpaceDaily 20 May 2002 Marine life had to re-evolve after two major extinctions in order for shrimp and whales and other sea life as we know it to come into being. But what is remarkable, according to an article published in the May 14, 2002 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), is not that marine life recovered from two mass extinctions, but that marine ecosystems have maintained very stable structure over the last 450 million years and only changed noticeably in the recovery from these two great extinctions. Previous studies claim five mass extinctions decreased the diversity of ocean life. But the PNAS article, "Anatomical and Ecological Constraints on Phanerozoic Animal Diversity in the Marine Realm," by Richard Bambach, professor emeritus of geological sciences from Virginia Tech; Andrew H. Knoll of Harvard, and the late J. John Sepkoski Jr. of the University of Chicago, reports and analyzes evidence that only two of these mass extinctions led to major change in global ecosystem structure. These were the extinctions 251 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period, and 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period. Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02y.html. _____________________________________________________________________ EUROPA HAS RIGHT STUFF SETI Institute release http://www.seti.org/general/press_release/europa_05_21_02.html 21 May 2002 Compelling evidence for a liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust makes Jupiter's moon Europa an attractive target for scientists seeking life in distant regions of our solar system. Recent work by Dr. Elisabetta Pierazzo, currently at the Planetary Science Institute, and Dr. Christopher Chyba of the SETI Institute, sheds light on the question of whether enough "biogenic elements," the raw ingredients for life, including carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus, could be present to support Europan life. Because Europa's formation conditions are uncertain, scientists do not know the exact composition of the moon's ocean and overlying ice. Some models suggest a Europa depleted of life-essential carbon and other important biogenic chemicals at birth. Pierazzo and Chyba explored comets as an alternate source for biogenic materials, applying complex modeling methods to set the lower limits for a Europan inventory. In the May edition of the journal Icarus, Pierazzo and Chyba present a paper that concludes the Europan inventory to be "substantial." "We now know that enough of the right materials should have been present to support a Europan biosphere," says author Chyba, who in addition to studying Europa, also oversees a broad spectrum of astrobiological research conducted at the SETI Institute's Center for the Study of Life in the Universe. "If these chemicals find their way into the ocean," said Pierazzo, "and if there exists a mechanism that could take them through the formation of increasingly complex organic molecules, those elements could ultimately evolve into living cells." In their model, Pierazzo and Chyba used typical cometary sizes, densities, and impact velocities throughout Solar System history to calculate how much biogenic material would remain on the moon's surface after impact events. Unlike the more massive Earth, which has a much higher escape velocity and can therefore retain a higher percentage of cometary impact material, Europa has a very low escape velocity, thus losing a significant portion of material from any projectile that hits its surface. Earlier studies of cometary impacts on Earth and Mars by the authors suggested substantial amounts of prebiotic chemicals including amino acids would have survived cometary impacts, especially at very low, grazing angles, and thus contributed to the planets' inventories of complex organic materials. While Europan models also predict significant post-impact survival rates for similar impacts, the low escape velocity of the moon would allow the vast majority of this complex organic material to be lost; with the rest of the projectile material, it would disappear in space. Nevertheless, cometary impacts would provide billions of tons of carbon, and somewhat less nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus to the surface of Europa. These amounts are significant, and correspond to about 1% of the biomass of prokaryotic life (cells lacking nuclei and believed to be representative of early life) in today's Earth oceans. Knowing that, at a minimum, Europa has enough of the elements needed to sustain a biosphere offers further reason for scientists to feel hopeful about the search for extraterrestrial life within our own solar system. Dr. Chyba is the Carl Sagan Chairholder and Director of the Center for the Study of Life in the Universe at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, and is also an Associate Professor of Geological and Environmental Sciences at Stanford University in Stanford California. The SETI Institute,a private nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific research, education and public outreach, seeks to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe. Dr. Pierazzo is a research scientist at the Planetary Science Institute of Tucson Arizona where her work focuses on impact cratering of planetary surfaces and their effects on the evolution of biospheres. Complete information about the Planetary Science Institute can be found at www.psi.edu Contacts: Diane Richards, Marketing and Communications Officer Phone: 650-960-4513 E-mail: drichards@seti.org Taylor Bucci, Operations Manager, Center for the Study of Life in the Universe Phone: 650-960-4519 E-mail: tbucci@seti.org Elisabetta Pierazzo Phone: 520-622-6300 E-mail: betty@psi.edu Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.newscientist.com/exc/enews.jsp?id=ns99992313 http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/life_europa_020522- 1.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-europa-02c.html http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0205/23europa/ _____________________________________________________________________ THE SEARCH FOR THE SCUM OF THE UNIVERSE By Robert Roy Britt From Space.com 21 May 2002 The odds for extraterrestrial life on Earth-like planets will be put at 1-in-3 in a soon-to-be published report in the journal Astrobiology, but the smartest earthlings have no clue what that life might look like or where to find it. In fact, at a meeting earlier this month of about 100 chemists, biologists, astronomers and other highly evolved thinkers interested in finding extraterrestrial life-- the scientists were said by one attendee to be the cream of the crop in their respective fields--none could even say how the simplest life begins. "Nobody understands the origin of life," said Ken Nealson, a geobiologist at the University of Southern California. "If they say they do, they are probably trying to fool you." Nealson and the other scientists converged at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore to discuss the fledgling field of astrobiology. They argued a little about how to conduct the search and whether life might be rare or common in the universe. However, they agreed on several things. They don't know how life might commence elsewhere, or whether it ever has, or what it might thrive on. In addition, Nealson said, they don't even know how to look for it. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/odds_of_et_020521- 1.html. _____________________________________________________________________ REACTOR REVEALS HIDDEN LIFE OF ROCKS By Andy Fell University of California, Davis release 23 May 2002 Geologists at the University of California, Davis, are using neutron beams from a nuclear reactor to see inside rocks. The method could be used to look for traces of life in rocks from Mars or very ancient rocks from the Earth. "Normally, we'd make a three-dimensional image by cutting the rock in slices. With this method, we can do it without destroying the rock," said UC Davis geology professor Charles Lesher. Researcher Martin Wilding, geology assistant professor Dawn Sumner and Lesher have already used the method, called neutron tomography, to find bacteria living inside rocks collected in the Mars-like environment of Antarctica's dry valleys and Israel's Negev desert. They're also using it to study the structure of volcanic rocks and glasses, and of "black smoker" chimneys collected from the deep ocean floor. Neutron tomography could also be used for biology experiments, such as filming water movement inside plants, Wilding said. "We're just scratching the surface of what we can do," he said. Neutrons are very sensitive to water and light elements such as the hydrogen and carbon, which are major components of living things. But they can pass right through a steel container. In contrast, water and most living tissue are fairly transparent to X-rays, but X- rays are stopped by heavier elements. That means that neutron beams can be used to scan a Martian rock for traces of life even while it is sealed in a metal container. The process is comparable to a medical CT (computed tomography) scan with X-rays. The sample rotates in the neutron beam and a series of pictures are taken with a digital camera system. These two- dimensional images are reconstructed, using the same equations used for CT scans, into a series of "slices" through the sample. These slices can also be made into a three-dimensional image. The research reactor at UC Davis' McClellan Nuclear Radiation Center generates the neutron beam. The reactor was built in 1990 by the U.S. Air Force to check for corrosion in aircraft components. It was transferred to UC Davis in 2001. Contacts: Martin Wilding, Geology, 530-752-5041, mcwilding@ucdavis.edu Charles Lesher, Geology, 530-752-9779, lesher@geology.ucdavis.edu Andy Fell, 530-752-4533, ahfell@ucdavis.edu _____________________________________________________________________ A NON-BIOLOGICAL ORIGIN FOR CARBON IN ANCIENT ROCKS From SpaceDaily 23 May 2002 New geological and geochemical data call into question recent claims for fossil life on Earth greater than 3.8 billion years ago, say researchers from The George Washington University and the Swedish Museum of Natural History in the May 24 issue of the journal Science. Such claims have been based on interpreting the sensitive biochemical behavior of carbon, the principal element of life, and its relationship with the rocks in which the carbon is found. The rocks examined are located on Akilia, a remote island off the coast of southwest Greenland, about 18 miles (30 kilometers) south of Nuuk, the capital city of Greenland. Earlier reports claimed that a peculiar green-and-white layered rock found there, formed as a Banded Iron Formation (BIF), a type of sediment commonly preserved in very ancient ocean basins. ...While it is possible life existed on Earth when the rocks on Akilia formed, direct evidence for life older than approximately 3.8 billion years ago is still lacking. No one knows when life on Earth originated. The earliest history of the Earth is one dominated by many violent asteroid impacts, some of which would have been capable of entirely boiling off all water on the planet, including the oceans, and sterilizing the planet of all life. Such a scenario suggests that life may have originated and been exterminated a number of times before the last major impact, which perhaps occurred around 3.8 billion years ago, near the time when the rocks on Akilia solidified. Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02z.html. _____________________________________________________________________ NEW AMINO ACID DISCOVERED--FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCK OF LIFE Ohio State University release http://www.osu.edu/researchnews/archive/aminoacd.htm 23 May 2002 Two teams of researchers from Ohio State University reported today that they had identified the 22nd genetically encoded amino acid, a discovery that is the biological equivalent of physicists finding a new fundamental particle or chemists discovering a new element. Two papers describing the discovery appear in the current issue of the journal Science. Prior to this, scientists had believed that there were only 21 natural amino acids--the key building blocks of proteins. For 30 years after the discovery of the structure of DNA and the unraveling of the genetic code, scientists believed that there were only 20 natural amino acids. Then in 1986, researchers broke that numerical barrier announcing that the 21st had been discovered. Finding a 22nd suggests that even more of these basic biological building blocks may be found using modern genome sequencing techniques. The discovery grew out of some very basic biochemistry examining how a particular type of microbe--methanogens--can convert methyl- containing compounds into methane. While researchers have long understood the biochemical mechanisms for how acetate and carbon dioxide are converted to methane, they didn't understand how a common class of compounds--the methylamines--are transformed into this gas. One research group, led by Joseph A. Krzycki, an associate professor of microbiology, had been working for several years with a particular strain of microbe, Methanosarcina barkeri. This organism, a member of the recently identified domain Archaea, is able to convert monomethylamine, dimethylamine and trimethylamine into this greenhouse gas. Krzycki's research group had isolated specific proteins related to the process in 1995, and two years later, they had isolated and sequenced one of the genes responsible. Then in 1998, they published a paper showing that the gene had a component called an in-frame amber codon that behaved unusually. Codons are three-letter "words" identifying the bases DNA uses to specify particular amino acids as building blocks of proteins. Normally, codons signal the start of a protein, its end or a particular amino acid used to construct it. Surprisingly, the codon Krzycki's team identified should have signaled a stop to protein building but it did not. "Joe and his colleagues found this happening in genes important for all three of the methylamine compounds--something that wasn't supposed to happen," explained Michael Chan, an associate professor of biochemistry and chemistry at Ohio State. Chan led the second research team that identified and determined the structure of the amino acid. The realization of the codon's odd behavior suggested the possibility of a new amino acid, but the researchers knew there might be other explanations as well. Krzycki and his colleagues sliced the protein into smaller bits called peptides, and began sequencing them, a process that usually ultimately reveals the amino acid responsible for the protein. "That all seemed to point to this being just lysine, one of the normal amino acids," Chan said. Regardless, Krzycki asked Chan and Ph.D. student Bing Hao to start working on deducing the crystalline structure of the protein containing the amino acid. At the end of the two-year process, Hao and Chan had determined the structure of the protein, part of which revealed a new amino acid. At the same time, Krzycki was looking for other evidence. He, along with doctoral students Gayathri Srinivasan and Carey James, was eventually able to identify the specific transfer-RNA (tRNA) needed to insert the new amino acid into protein, as well as another important enzyme essential to the process. These two discoveries, along with the detailed crystalline structure, convinced the teams that they had found a new genetically encoded amino acid-- pyrrolysine--the 22nd known to science. "We realized that we had to know which tRNA would decode that amber codon," Krzycki said. "Finding it was an essential part of the puzzle." He believes this will be a very rare amino acid, given the fact that it has taken so long to identify it. However, Krzycki believes it is likely to be found in other situations--in other organisms--aside from methanogens. He's philosophic about the importance of the discovery. "This shows us that the genetic code, and therefore, evolution is much more plastic than people might have thought." Chan agrees, pointing to the strong possibility that finding a 22nd genetically encoded amino acid should stimulate the search for a 23rd or a 24th. "With so many researchers dissecting so many genomes now, it's reasonable to suggest that there might be more waiting to be found. "I think this work will cause researchers to start looking at genetic sequences that they might have thought at first were simply aberrations," he said. "Instead, they might signal discoveries like ours." The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Along with Krzycki, Chan and Hao, Weimin Gong and Tsuneo Ferguson worked on the project. _____________________________________________________________________ NEW IMPACT CRATER MEASUREMENTS DEMONSTRATE THAT EUROPA HAS A THICK ICE SHELL Lunar and Planetary Institute release http://www.lpi.usra.edu/research/europa/thickice/ 24 May 2002 Detailed mapping and measurements of impact craters on Jupiter's large icy satellites reveal that Europa's floating ice shell may be at least 19 kilometers thick. These measurements, by Staff Scientist and geologist Dr. Paul Schenk, at Houston's Lunar and Planetary Institute, are reported in the May 23 issue of Nature. The results are based on stereo and topographic analysis of images of impact craters on these satellites acquired from NASA's Galileo spacecraft, currently orbiting Jupiter and heading toward its final plunge into Jupiter in late 2003. Geologic and geophysical evidence from Galileo supports the idea that a liquid water ocean exists beneath the icy surface of Europa. Debate now centers on how thick this icy shell is and the implications for life forms that could exist in the ocean. An ocean could melt through a thin ice shell only a few kilometers thick exposing water and anything swimming in it to sunlight (and radiation). A thin ice shell could melt quickly and then refreeze, giving photosynthetic organisms easy access to sunlight. A thick ice shell--tens of kilometers--would be more difficult to melt through and, since sunlight cannot penetrate more than a few meters into the ice, would preclude photosynthetic organisms. It would also require other processes to expose any ocean material on the surface, where we can search for it. Dr. Schenk's estimate of the ice thickness is based on a comparison of the topography and morphology of more than 200 impact craters on Europa and on its sister satellites, Ganymede and Callisto. Although both Ganymede and Callisto may have liquid water oceans inside, they also have extremely thick ice shells (roughly 100-200 kilometers). Thus the final surface expression of most craters will be unaffected by the warmer ocean and can be used for comparison with Europa, where the depth to the ocean is uncertain but likely to be much shallower. Dr.Schenk found that the shapes of Europa's larger craters differ significantly from similar-sized craters on Ganymede and Callisto. His measurements show that this begins with craters larger than 8 kilometers in diameter. The difference is caused by the warming of the lower part of Europa's less-thick ice shell by the ocean. Warm ice is soft and flows relatively quickly (as in glaciers on Earth). Craters larger than ~30 kilometers show even more dramatic differences. Craters smaller than this are several hundred meters deep and have recognizable rims and central uplifts (standard features of impact craters). Craters on Europa larger than 30 kilometers have no rims or uplifts and have little topographic expression. Instead, they are surrounded by sets of concentric troughs and ridges. This observation implies a fundamental change in the properties of Europa's icy crust at increasing depths. The most logical is a transition from solid to liquid. The concentric rings may be caused by wholesale collapse of the crater floor. As the originally deep crater hole collapses, the material underlying the icy crust rushes in to fill in the void. This inrushing material drags on the overlying crust, fracturing it and forming the observed concentric rings. Larger impacts penetrate more deeply into the crust and are sensitive to the crustal properties at those depths, providing clues to thickness of the ice shell. Dr. Schenk estimated how big the original crater was and how shallow a liquid layer must be to affect the final shape of the impact crater. Numerical calculations and impact experiments by other researchers were used to produce a "crater collapse model" that is used to convert the observed transition diameter to a thickness for the layer. Hence, a crater 30 kilometers wide is sensing or detecting layers 19-25 kilometers deep. Although there are some uncertainties in this model (10-20% because of the difficulty of duplicating impacts mechanics on Earth), Schenk concludes that the icy shell cannot be only a few kilometers thick, as some have proposed. Does a thick ice shell mean there is no life on Europa? Dr. Schenk says, "No! Given how little we know about the origins of life and conditions inside Europa, life is still plausible. If organisms inside Europa can survive without sunlight, then the thickness of the shell is of only secondary importance. After all, organisms do quite well on the bottom of Earth's oceans without sunlight, surviving on chemical energy. This could be true on Europa if it is possible for living organisms to originate in this environment in the first place." He points out that Europa's ice shell could have been much thinner-- or even nonexistent--in the distant past, allowing a variety of organisms to evolve. If the ocean began to freeze over, the organisms could adapt to new environmental niches over time, allowing life of some sort to survive. A 19-25 kilometer-thick crust will, however, make drilling or melting through the ice with tethered robots impractical! "The challenge will be for us to devise a clever strategy for exploring Europa that won't contaminate what is there yet find it nonetheless. The prospect of a thick ice shell limits the number of likely sites where we might find exposed oceanic material. Most likely, ocean material will be embedded as small bubbles or pockets or as layers within ice that has been brought to the surface by other geologic means," comments Schenk. He suggests several processes that could allow us to sample ocean material. Impact craters excavate crustal material from depth and eject it out onto the surface, where we might pick it up. Unfortunately, the largest known crater on Europa, Tyre, excavated material from only 3 kilometers deep, not deep enough to get near the ocean. If a pocket or layer of ocean material were frozen into the crust at shallower depth, it might be sampled by an impact. He notes that the floor of Tyre has a color that is slightly more orange than the original crust. In addition, there is strong evidence that Europa's icy shell is somewhat unstable and has been (or is) convecting (that is, blobs of deep crustal material rise toward the surface where they are sometimes exposed as domes several kilometers wide). Ocean material imbedded within the lower crust could then be exposed to the surface. This process could take thousands of years, and the exposure to Jupiter's lethal radiation would be hostile, but we could investigate and sample what remains behind. The Galileo imagery recently returned shows clear evidence of resurfacing of wide areas of Europa's surface, where the icy shell has literally torn through and split apart. These areas have been filled with new material from below. Although these areas do not appear to have been flooded by ocean material, but rather by soft warm ice from the lower crust, it is very possible that oceanic material could be found within this new crustal material. New studies of Galileo imagery and new orbital missions with advanced instruments are needed to investigate these possibilities and to search for potential landing sites on Europa. Images and more information to accompany this release can be found at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/research/europa/thickice/. Contacts: Dr. Paul Schenk Phone: 281-486-2157 Pamela Thompson Phone: 281-486-2175 _____________________________________________________________________ NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology.h tml 27 May 2002 Astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation articles http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s1.html R. R. Britt, 2002. Europa shows evidence of life's ingredients, but thick ice frustrates search. Space.com. R. R. Britt, 2002. Hubble telescope: surprise tool in search for life. Space.com. R. R. Britt, 2002. Other worlds not so strange, top planet hunter says. Space.com. R. R. Britt, 2002. The search for the scum of the universe. Space.com. L. David, 2002. "Mars meteorite's" link to life questioned. Space.com. H. Muir, 2002. Europa has raw materials for life. New Scientist. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2002. NASA chooses two concepts for planet-finder mission. Spaceflight Now. P. Recer, 2002. Astronomers to intensify life search. Space.com. SETI Institute, 2002. All the right stuff to be life. SpaceDaily. SETI Institute, 2002. Scientists say Europa has right stuff for life. Spaceflight Now. Space.com, 2002. NASA to proceed on two approaches for planet finder. Space.com. Terrestrial extreme environments articles http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s2.html R. P. Dziak and H. P. Johnson, 2002. Stirring the oceanic incubator. Science, 296(5572):1406-1407. E. Pennisi, 2002. Geobiologists: as diverse as the bugs they study. Science, 296(5570):1058-1060. A.-L. Reysenbach and E. Shock, 2002. Merging genomes with geochemistry in hydrothermal ecosystems. Science, 296(5570):1077- 1082. Human space exploration and microgravity effects articles http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s3.html Agence France-Presse, 2002. China plans base on the moon to exploit mineral resources: report. SpaceDaily. P. L. Barry and T. Phillips, 2002. Sowing seeds in a magnetic field. NASA Science News. Beijing Review, 2002. Manned space flights "a foreseeable goal" for China. SpaceDaily. ESA, 2002. Gardens in space. SpaceDaily. ESA, 2002. Just feed 'em sludge. SpaceDaily. House Science Committee (Democratic Membership), 2002. House democrats seek to reinvigorate US space exploration. SpaceDaily. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, 2002. Space research into how cells turn bad, causing cancer. Spaceflight Now. National Research Council, 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. National Space Biomedical Research Institute, 2002. Brain-imaging cap under study for space and earth use. SpaceDaily. Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) articles http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s4.html L. David, 2002. Orbital telescope platform proposed for seti, asteroid watch duties. Space.com. D. Vakoch, 2002. To err is human... and of interest to ET? Space.com. Evolutionary biology and chemistry articles http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s5.html C. M. Fedo and M. J. Whitehouse, 2002. Metasomatic origin of quartz- pyroxene rock, Akilia, Greenland, and implications for Earth's earliest life. Science, 296(5572):1448-1452. R. A. Kerr, 2002. Reversals reveal pitfalls in spotting ancient and E.T. life. Science, 296(5572):1384-1385. SpaceDaily, 2002. Mass extinction gives way to an eon of stability. SpaceDaily. SpaceDaily, 2002. A non-biological origin for carbon in ancient rocks. SpaceDaily. Astrobiology and extreme environments book list http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology_b ooks.html National Research Council, 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. _____________________________________________________________________ CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENTS NASA/JPL releases 2-8 May 2002 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone tracking station on Wednesday, May 8. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating normally. Information on the present position and speed of the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the "Present Position" web page located at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/english/where/. Spacecraft activities included loading of the new data policing tables, and uplink of the AACS Clear High Water Marks in preparation for a Reaction Wheel Assembly transition. Instrument activities this week included the loading of several Instrument Expanded Blocks, execution of Periodic Instrument Maintenance for RADAR and the Radio Science Subsystem (RSS), observations of Fomalhaut were taken by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer and Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph subsystems, and the Imaging Science Subsystem commanded the Narrow Angle Camera heaters to OFF after two months of decontamination. RSS personnel successfully conducted a pattern calibration using Ka- band, X- and, and S-band frequencies over DSS-25. Data from all pattern calibrations conducted during Cruise will be compiled into a single model of the high-gain antenna. The Radio Science Team will use this model to analyze ring data acquired during Tour. During the pattern calibration, the status of the Ka-band Translator (KaT) was monitored. It was noted that the KaT remained in its "good state" throughout the track. The last time that the S-band Transmitter and KaT were both powered ON, the KaT immediately snapped to its "bad state". RSS personnel also conducted a test of the Ka-band uplink subsystem, the monopulse tracking subsystem, and a new uplink acquisition template. This is the first use of these subsystems since January 4 at the end of Gravity Wave Experiment (GWE) #1, and the first use ever of the new template. Additionally, the monopulse developers successfully performed an on-point-phase-calibration. The Program participated in a NASA Quarterly Meeting and a two-day Independent Review Team Meeting. At the Instrument Operations Working Group, a presentation was given about technical options that will satisfy voice communication requirements between Distributed Operations Sites and JPL during operations, given anticipated budgetary constraints in future years. A Peer Review of Cassini's Verification & Validation (V&V) plans was held with 314 section personnel in attendance. Also attending were V&V engineers from the Mars Exploration Rovers and Space Infrared Telescope Facility projects. Feedback from this meeting has been integrated into the Cassini V&V plan and Critical Design Review package. Delivery Meetings were held for Telemetry, Command & Data Management 26.4 for Telemetry, Command, and Distributed Object Manager, and for Mission Sequence Subsystem D8. This week Cassini's Educational Outreach staff is attending the 40th Anniversary of Space Flight at the Smithsonian Institution. 9-15 May 2002 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone tracking station on Tuesday, May 14. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating normally. Information on the present position and speed of the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the "Present Position" web page located at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/english/where/. Instrument activities this week included Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) and Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) observations of Spica, Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) observations of the Io torus, a UVIS Hydrogen Deuterium Absorption Cell conditioning activity, an ISS Narrow Angle Camera decontamination activity, a Composite Infrared Spectrometer boresight calibration, uplink and execution of Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) Flight Software (FSW) and FSW checkout mini-sequence, a CDA decontamination activity, and uplink of Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) Instrument Expanded Block and FSW patches. ISS performed diagnostic imaging of Spica. Initial analysis indicates a marked increase in image quality after more than 60 days of instrument temperatures held above 4C, although contamination still appears to be present at low levels. The next cycle of warm-up and imaging has already begun, and will indicate if improvement is tapering off. The CDA FSW load procedure was successfully completed with all files being received and expected memory readouts returned. The ACE confirmed CDA mini-sequence registration and activation on board. The CDA FSW checkout ran nominally with the exception of a ion grid voltage reset. This is a minor anomaly and may be reset later without impact. Finally, RPWS reported seeing the Immediate/Delayed Action Programs execute as expected. After the conclusion of instrument activities, a Reaction Wheel Assembly unload was performed. Reaction wheels were then powered off and the spacecraft returned to Reaction Control Subsystem control. Additional on-board activities included clearing of the AACS high water marks and an autonomous CDS Solid State Recorder memory load partition repair. Science Planning completed development of the C33 sequence, and provided a handoff package to the Sequence Team. A Sequence Generation kickoff meeting was held for C33, stripped subsequences were released to all instrument teams and the Spacecraft office, and an integrated Sequence of Events file and Space Flight Operations Schedule were released. After the conclusion of the orbital Sequence Uplink Verification activity, a meeting was held to review "lessons learned" from the exercise. Science Operations Plan implementation activity kicked off this week with initial development of the S09 and S10 sequences for orbits 4 through 10. In support of Science Operations Plan implementation, Mission Sequence Subsystem (MSS) software version D8 was installed on all Solaris 7 Science Operations and Planning Computers and Operations workstations. Mission Support and Services Office personnel were able to accomplish the installation ahead of schedule and thus ensure availability for this new high priority science planning activity. Final development and start of system testing for MSS D8.0.1 is underway. The D8.0.1 versions of the Kinematic Prediction Tool and Inertial Vector Propagator Tool will be delivered this week for inclusion in D8.0.1 Pointing Design Tool. A partial walk-through of the SSR Management Tool (SMT) code was held with personnel from Mission Planning, and Spacecraft Office Command & Data Subsystem. A few changes were identified. If time permits, minor updates may be made to the 8.0.1 release of SMT. If not, the suggested changes will be incorporated in a later delivery. Based on a proposal from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and the results of a technical evaluation, a requisition for additional funding for SwRI to continue the current level of effort through FY02 has been sent to the JPL contracts office. This will cover the remainder of the work on Cassini Information Management System that Cassini requested this fiscal year. 16-22 May 2002 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone tracking station on Wednesday, May 22. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating normally. Information on the present position and speed of the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the "Present Position" web page located at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/english/where/. Commands for the Cosmic Dust Analyzer were uplinked to reset the ion grid voltage to nominal levels, set the event definitions back to "on", and send test pulses to verify instrument status. This activity completed nominally with expected results. Additional on-board activities included uplink of the ACS high water mark clear using the new command system, and new V26.4.1 command view utility. The nominal real-time command process was followed allowing the Sequence Team lead to identify necessary updates to existing procedures for use with the new command system. The Cassini Spacecraft Office held a one-day Probe Relay Critical Sequence Design Review. The meeting was attended by personnel from the Cassini offices, and several members of the Huygens Probe Team. No major issues were raised. Both Cassini and Huygens teams were satisfied with the present sequence design, which will soon be placed under configuration control. Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) C32 data is being analyzed to determine why it was affected by data policing. Ground algorithms for estimating required data volumes might need to be adjusted. Composite Infrared Spectrometer personnel have received all the data from a boresight calibration executed earlier in the month. The next few weeks will be spent in analyzing the data. VIMS team members based at JPL traveled to the University of Arizona to discuss tour process coordination with the VIMS team. The split of tour responsibilities between Instrument Operations at JPL and the University of Arizona was the primary topic of discussion. Other topics included what information is needed in the various phases of tour planning, the timing and coordination of that information delivery, update of the observation description. Software Interface Specification for tour, status of the VIMS planning database, status of Instrument Operations (IO) validation software, and engineering/science/calibration plans for the remainder of cruise. A Critical Design Review was held of system level verification and validation plans for the Cassini Operations System for the tour phase. The review was very successful and focused on plans, priorities, and risk analyses. The review board found that the plans were comprehensive and represented a good balance between resources and acceptable risk. Revision N of the Mission plan, and Mission Plan quick reference guide were released and distributed this week. Mission Planning also hosted a C34 scoping meeting to discuss activities to be included in that sequence. Imaging Science Subsystem Flight Software version 1.3.0 was approved for uplink at a Delivery Coordination Meeting Software Review Certification Requirement review in mid April pending the closure of a few testing liens. Those items have now been closed and the software is approved for uplink in C32. Due to unexpected interactions between the Cassini ground system environment and the new core functionality of the Science Opportunity Analyzer (SOA), it has been decided to drop SOA from the next delivery of Mission Sequence Subsystem software version D8.0.1 A meeting will be held next week to assess progress on resolving the issues, and set a new delivery date for SOA. Indications are that the slip is on the order of a month, and would be designated D8.0.2. Other contents of D8.0.1 are not affected. ULO has hosted two Cassini Information Management System (CIMS) planning meetings with representatives from System Engineering, Science Planning, Uplink Operations, and CIMS development attending. The meetings have focused on how to better involve all CIMS users in the process of prioritizing future CIMS developmental items. 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. _____________________________________________________________________ THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS ON GALILEO NASA/JPL release 20 May - 16 June 2002 The Galileo spacecraft proceeds in its measured pace around the giant planet Jupiter while the flight team continues to diagnose a problem with the on-board tape recorder. On April 12, during a routine maintenance activity, the tape appears to have stuck to the record or playback heads. Four tests have been performed to characterize the problem. On Wednesday, May 22, one final low-speed test will be executed. Based on these results, our efforts will now become more aggressive, possibly trying to move the tape at higher speeds, which should provide more "oomph" to pulling the tape free. Detailed plans for the subsequent tests have not been scheduled as yet, and in the meantime all regularly scheduled tape activities have been put on hold until we have demonstrated that the machine is working properly again. On Saturday, May 25, the spacecraft performs a 4-degree turn in place to keep the communications antenna pointed towards Earth. On Friday, May 31, routine maintenance of the propulsion system is performed. On Monday, June 3, the fourth planned load of sequence commands takes over control of the spacecraft, and will govern Galileo's activities until mid-August. On Wednesday, June 5, a test of the on-board gyroscopes will be performed. These gyros have shown sensitivity to the intense radiation environment seen near Jupiter, but gradually correct themselves with time spent in the more benign environment far from the planet. This calibration will determine the health of the gyros in preparation for an orbit trim maneuver planned for Friday, June 14. This propulsive engine burn takes place one day after apojove, the farthest point in Galileo's orbit from Jupiter. This is the most distant that Galileo has been from Jupiter since before arriving in orbit in December 1995. At 348.1 Jupiter radii from the planet (24.9 million kilometers or 15.5 million miles) this is approximately one sixth of the distance from Earth to the Sun, and it takes light nearly a minute and a half to speed from Jupiter to the spacecraft! With the spacecraft well outside the magnetosphere of Jupiter on the sunward side of the planet, continuous data collection by the Magnetometer, the Dust Detector, and the Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer instruments provides scientists with information about the interplanetary medium. 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 SCIENCE OPERATIONS STATUS REPORT NASA Marshall Space Flight Center release 02-133 24 May 2002 Normal science operations resumed this week following a cooling system computer in the Russian Service Module that triggered the shutdown of certain systems in the Destiny laboratory. Experiments and experiment hardware shut down as part of an automated "safing" procedure for the Station, Payload Operations Director Tim Horvath said. Experiment reactivation began Sunday as soon as controllers at the Payload Operations Center learned the Station was not threatened by the event. EXPRESS Rack 4 was returned to operations within 40 minutes, followed shortly by experiments inside the rack. Controllers successfully re-activated EXPRESS Racks 1 and 2 on Monday. EXPRESS Racks house experiments and provide connections for power, data, cooling, fluids and other utilities. On Wednesday--when the Station completed its 20,000th revolution of the Earth since the 1998 launch of the Russian FGB module--the Operations Center successfully installed computer software that will allow the EXPRESS racks aboard the Station and ground systems to operate new Expedition Five science experiments scheduled to arrive aboard the Space Shuttle later this month. "Recovering from the unexpected and forging ahead with preparations for new science experiments as we have done this week is very typical of the kind of teamwork it takes to do successful research in a remote, hostile environment like space," Horvath said. Science teams were assessing the impact of the shutdown this week, including the impact of a slight temperature rise in the ARCTIC freezer used to store biological samples for return to Earth. The brief temperature rise was expected to have little or no effect on the samples and the results of the science. After collecting gas samples from the Biomass Production System on Tuesday, the crew moved a wheat plant that had been interfering with the operation of a cooling fan in growth chamber 1. They also transmitted some new video of the plant growth chambers. Since then, they have continued a variety of maintenance activities this week to collect samples and make sure the growth chambers are supplied with water. Also on Tuesday, the crew completed a background reading on the EVA Radiation Monitoring (EVARM) badges. The badges give scientists a better understanding of the radiation environment inside the Station in addition to being worn during spacewalks to determining radiation dosages received by specific parts of the body, such as the head, torso and legs. They also finished packing the Experiment on Physics of Colloids in Space for its return to Earth. The Active Rack Isolation ISS Characterization Experiment (ARIS-ICE) team began tests of the experimental vibration dampener on Wednesday that will continue through next week. These tests are focused on changes in the vibration environment of EXPRESS Rack 2 due to removing cables and some fasteners from test and avionics sections of the colloids experiment in preparation for their return to Earth. The crew conducted their monthly test with the Pulmonary Function in Flight today (Thursday). The data session marked the conclusion of the in-flight portion of the experiment. Crew Earth Observations (CEO) photography targets for the week include agricultural burning and smoke in Angola, Saharan dust being carried over the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, wildfires in the Okefenokee Swamp in the U.S., sediment loads in the Amazon delta, an area of the eastern Pacific where many tropical storms form, ice and snow in the Patagonian region of South America, the Colima volcano, and the Peruvian Andes. With less than a week before the launch of the STS-111 mission to mark the end of Expedition Four and the beginning of Expedition Five, several experiments are already completed--Hoffman Reflex, Renal Stone, Pulmonary Function in Flight, EarthKAM, Educational Payload Operations, Zeolite Crystal Growth, Experiment on Physics of Colloids in Space, Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System, Advanced Astroculture, and Cellular Biotechnology Support System cell science experiments. Continuing to operate normally aboard the orbiting research station are the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus, Commercial Protein Crystal Growth, Space Acceleration Measurement System, Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System, Materials International Space Station Experiment, Pulmonary Function in Flight, Biomass Production System, EVA Radiation Monitoring, Crew Earth Observations, Interactions and Protein Crystal Growth-Enhanced Nitrogen Dewar. The Payload Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL, manages all science research experiment operations aboard the International Space Station. The center is also home for coordination of the mission-planning work of a variety of international sources, all science payload deliveries and retrieval, and payload training and payload safety programs for the Station crew and all ground personnel. Contact: Steve Roy Media Relations Department Phone: 256-544-0034 E-mail: Steve.Roy@msfc.nasa.gov _____________________________________________________________________ MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES NASA/JPL/ASU releases 6-10 May 2002 * Cerberus Wind Streaks (Released 6 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020506a.html * Pavonis Mons (Released 7 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020507a.html * Dust Devil Tracks (Released 8 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020508a.html * Kasei Valles (Released 9 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020509a.html * Wrinkle Ridges and Young Fresh Crater (Released 10 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020510a.html 13-17 May 2002 * Reuyl Crater Dust Avalanches (Released 13 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020513a.html * Water Ice Clouds over the Northern Plains (Released 14 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020514a.html * Utopia Planitia (Released 15 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020515a.html * Hesperia Planum (Released 16 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020516a.html * Hadriaca Patera (Released 17 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020517a.html 20-24 May 2002 * Arsia Mons (Released 20 May 2002 http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020520a.html * Coprates Chasma (Released 21 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020521a.html * Tharsis Rise Graben (Released 22 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020522a.html * Northern Arabia Etched Terrain (Released 23 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020523a.html * Maunder Crater (Released 24 May 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020524a.html All of the THEMIS images are archived at http://themis.la.asu.edu/latest.html. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. Dr. Philip Christensen leads the THEMIS investigation at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey 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. _____________________________________________________________________ STARDUST STATUS REPORTS NASA/JPL releases 17 May 2002 There were two Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking passes this week and all subsystems are normal. The power subsystem's performance continues to be excellent. JPL issued a news release on the Guinness World Records certifying aerogel as the lightest weight solid. The Stardust project has since received many requests for additional information from industry, media and education/public outreach-related organizations. Good Housekeeping awarded the Stardust web site as their "Site of the Day" on May 1, 2002. 24 May 2002 There were two Deep Space Network tracking passes and all spacecraft subsystems are performing normally. The power subsystem's performance continues to be excellent. A test of the new multi- mission command system, part of a major ground data system upgrade, was successfully performed during the last DSN pass. The Stardust Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) team, as part of its passing on lessons learned to other Discovery small body missions, has started planning for the CONTOUR educators training at KSC in preparation for launch support. E/PO also gave a tour of JPL for local Girl Scout Brownie troops, with Dr. Bob Parker, the former shuttle astronaut, speaking about his "out of this world" experiences. The Discovery Channel Canada and the BBC Discovery Channel, London, aired the Guinness World Book of Records aerogel story. The Pasadena Star News, Los Angeles Times, Space.com, CNN Science and NY Times Science News also ran articles highlighting JPL's aerogel achievement. 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 19.