Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 10, Number 27, 7 July 2003. Editor/Publisher: David J. Thomas, Ph.D., Science Division, Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas 72503-2317, USA. dthomas@lyon.edu 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 editor, except for specific articles, in which instance copyright exists with the author/authors. The editor does not condone "spamming" of subscribers. Readers would appreciate it if others would not send unsolicited e-mail using the Marsbugs mailing lists. Persons who have information that may be of interest to subscribers of Marsbugs should send that information to the editor. E-mail subscriptions are free, and may be obtained by contacting the editor. Information concerning the scope of this newsletter, subscription formats and availability of back-issues is available from the Marsbugs web page at http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/. ________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS 1) MARS ANALOG CREW EXPERIENCE SPECIAL SESSION TO BE HELD AT MARS SOCIETY CONVENTION Mars Society release 2) UA AND NOAO JOIN NASA-FUNDED SEARCH FOR LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS By Lori Stiles 3) MATRIX From Astrobiology Magazine 4) NASA'S ASTRO-VENTURE HELPS STUDENTS EXPLORE HABITABLE PLANETS NASA release 03-229 5) JAPAN'S NOZOMI MARS PROBE STIRS CONTAMINATION QUALMS By Leonard David 6) THE ROAD AHEAD: SETI AND THE NASA ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE By Christopher Chyba 7) ET PHONE HOME--UKRAINE SPACE CENTER REACHES OUT ACROSS THE COSMOS From Agence France-Presse and SpaceDaily 8) SIMILAR SOLAR SYSTEM AT 90 LIGHT YEARS By Leslie Mullen 9) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas 10) CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENTS NASA/JPL release 11) LAUNCH OF "OPPORTUNITY" ABOARD DELTA II POSTPONED TO JULY 7 NASA/KSC release 56-03 12) "OPPORTUNITY" MARS EXPLORATION ROVER TARGETED FOR LAUNCH MONDAY, JULY 7 NASA/KSC release 57-03 13) MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES NASA/JPL/MSSS release 14) MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES NASA/JPL/ASU release 15) STARDUST STATUS REPORT NASA/JPL release ________________________________________________________________________ MARS ANALOG CREW EXPERIENCE SPECIAL SESSION TO BE HELD AT MARS SOCIETY CONVENTION Mars Society release 24 June 2003 A special session to discuss crew experience in the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) and Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) will be held at the 6th International Mars Society Convention, August 14-17, Eugene, OR. At this time, some 150 individuals from 20 countries and numerous scientific and engineering disciplines have participated as crew members in either the MDRS or FMARS, with total mission activity now exceeding 1800 person-days. The collective experience of these crew members now represents the largest mass of data of human extraterrestrial exploration operations research of any program ever conducted. Accordingly, to start to gather the insights generated by this activity, the Mars Society is holding a special session at the convention in which crew members will relate their experiences, both in the form of individual papers and as members of panels. Some 30 former MDRS and FMARS crewmembers are expected to participate. If you are a veteran of FMARS or MDRS, you are invited to speak at this special session. The abstract deadline for those wishing to present papers is June 30, 2003. Send abstracts of no more than 300 words to msabstracts@aol.com. The special session will be open to the public. Registration for the Mars Society convention is now open at www.marssociety.org. Reduced rates are available for those who register before June 30, 2003. To find out more about the Mars society, visit our web site at www.marssociety.org. ________________________________________________________________________ UA AND NOAO JOIN NASA-FUNDED SEARCH FOR LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS By Lori Stiles University of Arizona release 25 June 2003 The University of Arizona and National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) will bring top scientists and world-class telescope facilities to the NASA-funded search for life on other planets, strengthening the "astro" part of the U.S. space agency's astrobiology program. NASA yesterday announced it has selected 12 new teams to join the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI), a national and international research consortium that studies the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life on Earth and in the universe. "The search for the origin of life, and the related question of how often life occurs in our galaxy and the universe are potentially the most interesting and challenging topics in all of 21st century science," said UA astronomy Professor Nick Woolf, who leads the new Tucson-based project. "We want to link the existing strengths of Arizona in astronomy, optics and planetary sciences to planned new strengths in life sciences. Not only is the search for how we and our planet started expected to be a key area of 21st century science, but these studies are important to high technologies in optics and life sciences that are valuable to our state's economy and the lives of all our citizens," Woolf said last night. He and Michael R. Meyer, UA assistant professor of astronomy and deputy principal investigator on the UA/NOAO astrobiology project, are currently on Mount Graham, where they are using the 1.8-meter Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope to observe "earthshine," a spectrum of our planet reflected from the dark part of the moon that will be useful in their future searches for Earth-like planets around other stars. "We are enormously excited to participate in this Tucson-based team, which links the strengths of Steward Observatory, the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and NOAO," said Stephen Strom, associate director for science at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, the organization that operates Kitt Peak National Observatory. "Our scientific targets are youthful solar systems. By observing the circumstellar disks of gas and dust from which planets form, especially around stars similar to a young sun, we expect to learn when in a star's life that planets can form, and how changes in the young sun's energy output might influence the evolution of life on Earth-like planets elsewhere." The team includes 22 co-investigators and collaborators: 17 from the UA, three from NOAO, and one each from the University of California-Berkeley and Ohio State University. "Our goal is to contribute a strong astronomical element to the NAI program and to develop connections with chemistry and biochemistry," Woolf said. The scientists will focus on three research themes. * UA astrochemist Professor Lucy Ziurys leads research on the prebiotic compounds and complex organic molecules in the interstellar medium that are the building blocks of life. Team member Aldo Apponi said research will involve studies of prebiotic compounds and molecules already known in space, searches for new ones by laboratory experiments and follow-up observations, and theoretical modeling. * Stephen Strom and Joan Najita of NOAO will lead astronomers in studying environments and conditions under which habitable worlds form and evolve. They will use such state-of-the-art facilities as the Gemini and Keck telescopes to study gas content and physical structure of disks in the planet forming regions as well as model thermal and chemical structure of the disks, Najita said. Mark Giampapa of the Tucson-based National Solar Observatory will study how magnetic activity leads to variability in the luminous output of sun-like stars, from "young suns" to stars the age of our sun. * UA Regents' Professor of astronomy J. Roger P. Angel and astronomer Phil Hinz lead observations to directly detect and characterize extra- solar giant planets. They also lead theoretical studies that aim to learn about giant planet atmospheres that contain water, and even whether these atmospheres support some kind of microbial life. And their group will make near-infrared observations of the "earthshine" spectrum. Education and outreach are other important parts of the UA/NOAO astrobiology program, said UA planetary sciences Professor Jonathan I. Lunine. Lunine, who has been involved with NAI and wrote a 1999 book titled "Earth: Evolution of a Habitable World," is a member of the science steering committee for the Tucson-based astrobiology program. UA will create a center called the "Life And Planets Astrobiology Center," or the Laplace Center, within the College of Science to promote interdisciplinary studies needed to develop the astrobiology community beyond the departmental level and across institutional boundaries. "This is not only an opportunity for linking astronomy and biology, but such sciences as chemistry and geology," Woolf said. "There are parts of this study that link to all the sciences and help break down barriers between disciplines." In addition, UA will create a winter astrobiology school to train about 20 graduate students, half from outside the UA, Lunine said. The UA has major programs in astronomy, astrochemistry, planetary sciences, optical sciences, and biological sciences. The UA Steward Observatory is a major partner in world-class optical/infrared and radio telescopes, including the 11.8-meter Large Binocular Telescope on Arizona's Mount Graham, the 6.5-meter MMT on Arizona's Mount Hopkins, the twin Magellan 6.5-meter telescopes in Chile, the 10-meter Submillimeter Telescope on Mount Graham, and the Kitt Peak 12-meter Telescope. NOAO observatories in Tucson and Chile are also key in the new Tucson- based astrobiology effort. NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. The institutional awards begin in fall 2003, when current agreements with the NAI's 11 founding team conclude, NASA said in yesterday's announcement. NAI team awards are for five years, with annual reviews, at an average annual funding level of $1 million. Funding supports interdisciplinary research along with professional, educational and public outreach activities, coordinated through NAI's offices at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. The NAI, founded in 1997, is a partnership between NASA, 16 major U.S. teams and five international consortia. NAI's goal is to promote, conduct and lead integrated multidisciplinary astrobiology research and to train a new generation of astrobiology researchers. "We would not have won this opportunity without the help of Tucson scientists both from NOAO and the university," Woolf said. "The university and NOAO both have provided matching funds for this work." Contacts: Nick Woolf Phone: 520-621-3234 E-mail: nwoolf@as.arizona.edu Lori Stiles Phone: 520-621-1877 E-mail: lstiles@u.arizona.edu Doug Isbell Phone: 520-318-8214 E-mail: disbell@noao.edu ________________________________________________________________________ MATRIX From Astrobiology Magazine 2 July 2003 A recent refinement of the probabilities for life elsewhere uses a new kind of heuristic called the "Astrobiology Matrix". Its many terms draw on rapid advances in chemistry, biology, geology and astronomy--but the core of the argument remains: how to define a frequency for life elsewhere, when very large [infinite] number of cases all get a multiplicative probability that individually can seem infinitesimally small? Astrobiology Magazine has previously examined many of the small probabilities that might define a frequency for life elsewhere, including the probability for intelligent life, the probability for compatible host stars, and the probability of earth-like conditions on any stably orbitting exoplanets. As a difficult and multi-dimensional question, this frequency is also about a matrix. The Copernicans: "Nothing so wonderful is so special" As Carl Sagan's collaborator on the series Cosmos, Steven Soter--of the American Museum of Natural History--told Astrobiology Magazine, "You've got, it now looks like, something on the order of a trillion planets in our Milky Way galaxy alone, and a hundred billion other galaxies. Those numbers are staggering. My own opinion--and it's, I stress, still only an opinion--is that the universe is full of life, that we're not alone" The sixteenth century Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno is often credited as the first to proclaim publicly of an infinite universe that harbors countless inhabited worlds. For that proclamation, Bruno was burned naked and upside down at the stake. By the early 1900s, the most famous scientist of his time, Simon Newcomb, could write what today seems increasingly self-evident: "We all know that this earth on which we dwell is only one of countless millions of globes scattered through the wilds of infinite space... If so, the probabilities are that millions of them are essentially similar to our own globe. Have we any reason to believe that life exists on these other worlds?" Billions and billions... Answering this perplexing and important question of life elsewhere, however, is a task for one of the only cross-disciplinary studies that must speculate without a lot of statistical data. Indeed, an inhabited Earth is a statistical sample of one. As Dr. Michael Meyer, astrobiology senior scientist at NASA Headquarters, Washington, put the problem: "if [the] question is about intelligent life, the unknowns are tremendous. Out of approximately 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars, it seems reasonable that at least one other star is capable of harboring a planet sustaining complex life. If complex life is rare, space is so vast and inimical to life that we may never learn about our nearest neighbor. But, if there are many planetary experiments that did not fail, then it is just a matter of time before we learn that we are not alone." The Drake matrix With increasing precision astrobiologists can guess at how many intelligent civilizations may be out there--a guess that sensitively depends on the multiplication of small probabilities. Frank Drake made a stab at guessing the number in 1961, when he formulated the "Drake Equation." According to this equation, there could be a million intelligent civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy, and probably billions of such civilizations throughout the universe. The Drake Equation is based, in part, on an estimate of the number of planets in the galaxy that might harbor life. Such planets would have to exist in "habitable zones"--those regions around stars that would best support life as we know it. These planets would be the most likely places where life capable of achieving intelligence is fostered and sustained. In detail, the Drake equation illustrates a method for estimating the number of communicating civilizations in the galaxy: as the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy [N], times the fraction of stars with planets around them [fp], times the number of planets per star ecologically able to sustain life [ne], times the fraction of those planets where life actually evolves [fl], times those that evolve intelligent life [fi], times the number that communicate [fc], times the fraction of a planet's life during which the communication civilization survives [fL]. The mysteries of intelligence: fi Intelligent life may be special. At least that is one contention of co- author of the book, Rare Earth, Peter Ward, a biopaleontolgist at the University of Washington. Ward described to Astrobiology Magazine, that there are very different probabilities for life in the simple sense of single cells versus intelligent life. His thesis can be thought to draw into doubt the probability of intelligent life, or fi. "In my view, life in the form of microbes or their equivalents is very common in the universe, perhaps more common than even Drake and Sagan envisioned. However, complex life--animals and higher plants--is likely to be far more rare than commonly assumed. Life on Earth evolved from single celled organisms to multi-cellular creatures with tissues and organs, climaxing in animals and higher plants. But is Earth's particular history of life--one of increasing complexity to an animal grade of evolution--an inevitable result of evolution, or even a common one? Perhaps life is common, but complex life--anything that is multi- cellular--is not." Based on the Drake equation, what are the individual probabilities for intelligent life? Frank Drake notes that the history of science has often been sidetracked by overemphasizing the importance of humans' unique place in the universe. "We look at the Earth, and with regards to that origin, as best we know, no special or freak circumstances were required. It took water, organics, a source of energy, and a long time." Indeed, somewhat ironically, one of the least well-understood factors in the development of intelligent life may be the one factor that humans themselves directly can control: the lifetime of their technological civilization. The Drake equation requires a long enough technology opportunity for radio communication to mature. There is no sampling data available to crunch numerically there, at least not unless the only known civilization now capable of doing the calculation is lost. So as a connected train of small probabilities that began with the seemingly vast number of favorable stars, one of the least well-known factors may well be the last one. What is the lifetime of our technological civilization? The astrobiology matrix Recent college courses at the Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences in Budapest have been organized by two members of the Hungarian Astronomical Association, A. Mizser and A. Kereszturi. Because astrobiology doesn't fall into a single university department, but instead crosses many different disciplines, the team has devised a matrix to visualize how an answer to the question of life elsewhere depends on cross-cutting traditional academic boundaries. They call their table, the Astrobiology Matrix. About the Astrobiology Matrix, the co-authors wrote: "We had found this table useful in the explanation 'what is astrobiology?'." The concept of time is emphasized in the table, and plays a different role than in the Drake Equation. Time here represents a flow from the top of the matrix down to the bottom. As life unfolded in time, biology comes after chemistry and physics, just as the biosphere had to wait for an exoplanet to form first. Similarly evolution of cells must follow the ascension of prebiotic molecules. This direction is emphasized from top to bottom. The concept of complexity is also different from the probabilities in the Drake Equation. It has been a long-held impression in science that the more complex the natural system, the more unlikely it might be. A complex system is not easy to make, or it wouldn't be considered complex. This same argument is common to the evolution debate, and is often summarized as "an eye is too complex to arise as a series of random mutations". But increasingly, the development of complexity from rather simple processes has attracted serious mathematical and biological study. The Astrobiology Matrix tries to illustrate the ascension of complexity directionally, from the top of the table to the bottom. From simpler starting materials at the top to life at the bottom--and in between, what must arise first are the heavy atomic nuclei, molecules, prebiotic systems, living organisms and finally ecological systems. In this way, the Astrobiology Matrix is as much about the future of life as its past. To summarize the question, "What is astrobiology?" Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, dispersion and future of life in the universe. That is its task, its probabilistic equation and also its multi-dimensional matrix. What's next? Despite all the rationale behind various heuristics for illustration, the question of how many intelligent civilizations are out there can only be answered if we discover alien life. NASA is planning to launch the Terrestrial Planet Finder in 2012. This satellite will operate for 6 years, searching for Earth-sized planets around distant stars. In the meantime, scientists with the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) continue to explore the electromagnetic spectrum for alien transmissions. The SETI Institute recently published "SETI 2020," a book detailing the focus of SETI strategies between now and the year 2020. Read the original article at http://www.astrobio.net/news/article512.html. ________________________________________________________________________ NASA'S ASTRO-VENTURE HELPS STUDENTS EXPLORE HABITABLE PLANETS NASA release 03-229 3 July 2003 As NASA embarks on new missions to Mars in search of evidence of life, students now have access to virtual tools that will help them understand the conditions that make human life possible on Earth and how to design a habitable fictional planet. On July 1, 2003, three new modules were added to NASA's award-winning Astro-Venture Web site developed at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, as part of NASA's educational goal to inspire students to pursue careers in math, science and technology. The site is an educational, interactive, multimedia Web environment in which fifth through eighth grade students emulate NASA occupations and use scientific inquiry, to search for and design planets with the necessary characteristics for human habitation. The original astronomy unit and the three new modules--geology, biology and Earth Science, complete the Earth system science unit for middle school students. "Astro-Venture is an excellent tool to assist educators in delivering exciting NASA research to our future generation of explorers," said Donald James, NASA Ames Education Director. "The site exposes students to the compelling topic of astrobiology and the wide variety of careers that support this area of research." Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and destiny of life in the universe. Guided by the animated character "Astro Ferret," students explore the environmental features that help Earth support human life. They then engage in standards-based classroom lessons that emphasize why these features are necessary, before embarking on mission modules that simulate how NASA scientists are searching for habitable planets. The Web site uses multimedia features such as video, animation and graphics to keep students engaged and stimulated to explore each learning module. The new modules, continue the multimedia-rich, inquiry-based standard set by the original astronomy unit, which includes two astronomy multimedia modules, an astronomy educator guide of inquiry-based classroom activities, and a wealth of career fact sheets. In the atmospheric science module, students can manipulate the amount of different gasses in our atmosphere and draw conclusions as to which proportions are necessary for human survival. Students also engage in activities that explain the properties of gases and chemical reactions. In geology, students learn about the structure of the Earth, volcanoes and the formation and recycling of rocks. The biology unit covers the "web of life," which explains how all creatures are dependent on each other. "The completion of these three new modules provides students with a unique opportunity to explore the Earth as a system," said Christina O'Guinn, NASA Ames' educational team lead. "Students view the Earth from the perspective of astrobiologists and see how all areas of science are interrelated. They come away with an appreciation of their planet and the complex systems on Earth that support human habitability." To help teachers implement the lessons in the classroom, astronomy and atmosphere educator guides are currently available, and geology and biology guides are being developed. Astro-Venture lessons are designed to meet national education standards. Since its launch on February 1, 2003, Astro-Venture has been recognized by the educational community with an "A+" review by Education World, Wallingford, CN and with the Star Award from the Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles for excellence in promoting astronomy. Astro-Venture has been included in the Gender and Science Digital Library Project conducted by the Educational Development Center, Newton, MA, the Digital Dozen Project conducted by the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse, Columbus, Ohio and in an educational exhibit at the Bloomfield Science Museum, Jerusalem. For information about the NASA Education Enterprise and programs, visit http://education.nasa.gov. For information about NASA on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov. For information about Astro-Venture, visit http://astroventure.arc.nasa.gov. For information about NASA Astrobiology Institute, visit http://nai.arc.nasa.gov. Contacts: Gretchen Cook-Anderson NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202358-0836 Jonas Dino NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Phone: 650-604-5612 or 604-9000 ________________________________________________________________________ JAPAN'S NOZOMI MARS PROBE STIRS CONTAMINATION QUALMS By Leonard David From Space.com 3 July 2003 Add one more problem to the beleaguered Japanese Mars probe, Nozomi. There are worries in some science quarters that the troubled spacecraft could possibly contaminate Mars. Nozomi will find itself at the red planet in December, years behind its originally intended arrival time. The spacecraft has been beset by multiple woes. A thruster problem prevented the probe to attain the correct speed during an early swingby of Earth. That forced ground teams to script an emergency flight plan for Nozomi. Slipping through space, Japan's Nozomi was also beat up by a burst of solar flares, damaging its heating system and causing a loss of communication between Earth and the probe. Mission control experts were eventually able to make long distance repairs to the craft. On June 19, 2003, Nozomi made another swingby of Earth. That slingshot maneuver boosted the probe's speed and put it on a final heading for Mars. ...At issue is will Nozomi provide science data if it is successfully placed into orbit around Mars? Furthermore, can Nozomi be nudged into an orbit that will avoid an imminent crash on Mars? Lastly, if the craft cannot produce any science, why bother to orbit Mars when it might contaminate the planet? Read the full article at http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/nozomi_fears_030703.html. ________________________________________________________________________ THE ROAD AHEAD: SETI AND THE NASA ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE By Christopher Chyba From Space.com 3 July 2003 In November 2002, NASA published the Astrobiology Roadmap as a guide for its multi-disciplinary exploration of the origins, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. The work of the SETI Institute falls neatly within the territory charted by the Roadmap. Indeed, NASA funds the majority of projects in the Institute's Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, and we've enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with NASA's Ames Research Center since the Institute got its start in 1984. Last week, this relationship entered a new phase, when the SETI Institute joined fifteen other research organizations as a lead team within the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI). Our proposal for research and community building within the NAI pulls together a number of SETI Institute strengths, taking a unique approach to the three key questions posed by the roadmap. How does life begin and evolve? Does life exist elsewhere in the universe? What is the future of life on Earth and beyond? We proposed, and will now pursue within the NAI, a set of coupled research projects in the co-evolution of life and its planetary environment. Read the full story at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_chyba_astro_030703.html. ________________________________________________________________________ ET PHONE HOME--UKRAINE SPACE CENTER REACHES OUT ACROSS THE COSMOS From Agence France-Presse and SpaceDaily 6 July 2003 Interstellar communication took a giant leap forward Sunday, when a Ukrainian space center sent several messages across the cosmos hoping to reach extraterrestrials 30 or 40 light years away. For a small fee of 15 or 20 dollars (13-18 euros), people could have their messages beamed by radiotelescope from the Yevpatoriya center, an official said, though the jury was still out whether anyone would answer. "Hi boys, I need an extraterrestrial visa. Send me an invitation," an American from Houston, Texas wrote. "People from all continents are addressing things that matter to them, they want to find kindred spirits in the universe," Richard Braaspad, who heads the "Cosmic Call" project said. Read the full article at http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030706132520.ypqjzf4l.html. ________________________________________________________________________ SIMILAR SOLAR SYSTEM AT 90 LIGHT YEARS By Leslie Mullen From Astrobiology Magazine 7 July 2003 A new planetary system has been discovered that is strikingly similar to our own. A planet with twice the mass of Jupiter orbits the star HD70642 at a distance of 3.3 AU, completing an orbit in 6 years. In comparison, Jupiter orbits our sun at 5 AU, completing an orbit every 12 years. In our solar system, 3.3 AU is roughly in the middle of the asteroid belt that fills much of the region between Mars and Jupiter. Just as the newly discovered plant is comparable to Jupiter in terms of mass and orbital distance, the star it orbits is a yellow dwarf similar to our sun. HD70642 is a 7th magnitude star, while our Sun has an absolute magnitude of 4.8. The star HD70642 can be found in the constellation Puppis, but is not bright enough to be visible to the naked eye. HD70642 is about 90 light years away from Earth. The planet orbits HD 70642 in a nearly circular orbit, similar to the circular orbits of the planets in our solar system. Circular orbits may indicate a solar system's suitability for life. Circular orbits ensure that a planet receives a consistent amount of sunlight, preventing seasonal extremes. Circular orbits also shouldn't disrupt planetary systems, while elliptical orbits could gravitationally perturb orbits of other planets in a system, and perhaps even toss them out of the system entirely. Most extrasolar planets found to date have highly elliptical orbits. Since the newly discovered planet is a gas giant similar to Jupiter, it probably does not harbor life. However, any moons orbiting this gaseous world could have the potential for life. Astronomers already had found other Jupiter analogs, but this is the first time they have found a Jupiter analog in a solar system that so resembles our own. The solar systems of the other Jupiter analogs have Jupiter mass planets within the inner part of the systems--where, in our solar system, the terrestrial planets reside. The existence of a gas giant in the inner solar system would interfere with the formation of rocky planets like the Earth. Since the inner solar system of HD 70642 seems to be free of Jupiter-mass planets, terrestrial worlds like the Earth could exist there. A team of researchers from the Anglo-Australian Planet Search (AAPS) made the new planet discovery. They used the 3.9-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope [AAT] in New South Wales, Australia. Their research is supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.K. Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, and the Australian government. AAPS team member Hugh Jones, of Liverpool John Moores University in the United Kingdom, announced the planet discovery at the conference "Extra- solar Planets: Today and Tomorrow" held in Paris, France. The team will publish their findings in an upcoming issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters. The planet was found using the radial velocity technique. This technique looks at how stars are affected by the gravity of an orbiting planet. Over the course of an orbit, the planet will pull at the star from different sides. As a star moves away from us, the starlight is Doppler-stretched to longer red wavelengths. When the star moves toward us, the starlight is scrunched toward shorter blue wavelengths. Astronomers look at this light shift to determine characteristics of the orbiting planet. Before the first extra-solar planets were discovered, researchers assumed that most solar systems would be similar to ours. Yet the majority of the more than 100 planet discoveries have elliptical rather than circular orbits. The planets also orbit either extremely close or very far from their host star. When they first began looking for planets, planet hunters using the radial velocity technique were limited to searching for orbits that lasted a few days. As the time spent looking lengthened, orbital periods were found that lasted weeks, months, and then years. Now, after over 10 years of watching, planets with decades-long orbital periods are beginning to be found. Many of these later discoveries have nearly circular orbits. What's next? The long-term goal of the AAPS team is to detect true analogues to our solar system: giant planets in long circular orbits and small rocky planets on shorter circular orbits. If such systems are found, astronomers will be able to determine whether planetary systems like our own are common or rare in the galaxy. While all the extrasolar planets discovered so far are gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, American and European scientists hope to launch missions over the next few years to search for terrestrial planets. For example, the Kepler space telescope will search for Earth-like planets when it is launched in 2007. In 2009, NASA hopes to launch the Space Interferometry Mission, which will look for Earth-sized planets around 200 stars. Read the original article at http://www.astrobio.net/news/article517.html. ________________________________________________________________________ NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/astrobiology/astrobiology.html 7 July 2003 Astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation articles http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/astrobiology/online_articles1.html Astrobiology Magazine, 2003. Matrix. Astrobiology Magazine. L. Mullen, 2003. Similar solar system at 90 light years. Astrobiology Magazine. Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) articles http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/astrobiology/online_articles4.html Agence France-Presse, 2003. ET phone home--Ukraine space center reaches out across the cosmos. SpaceDaily. C. Chyba, 2003. The road ahead: SETI and the NASA astrobiology institute. Space.com. Planetary protection articles http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/astrobiology/online_articles6.html L. David, 2003. Japan's Nozomi mars probe stirs contamination qualms. Space.com. ________________________________________________________________________ CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENTS NASA/JPL release 26 June - 1 July 2003 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone tracking station on Tuesday, July 1. 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/operations/present-position.cfm. On July 1, Cassini was exactly one year away from Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI). Next year the spacecraft will complete a 6.7-year interplanetary journey, and begin orbital operations. On board activities this week included clearing of the ACS high water marks, Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) High Frequency Receiver calibrations, and RPWS periodic instrument maintenance. This week Cassini passed through a Sun - Earth - Probe angle of 4.0 degrees down to minimum separation of 0.344 degrees. When the separation angle reached about 3 degrees, the project began uplinking a command file consisting of 10 no-op commands sent every 5 minutes. The file is uplinked 10 to 20 times daily. These commands have been sent to the spacecraft each time Cassini enters Solar Conjunction. The purpose of the test is to accumulate statistics for uplink reliability at decreased separation angles. SOI will occur on July 1, 2004, and conjunction will follow within 7 days. Knowledge of how conjunction affects commanding will be crucial at that time. Radio Science Subsystem (RSS) personnel continue to concentrate on characterizing the anomalous behavior of the Ka-Band Translator (KaT) for the on-going Solar Conjunction Experiment #2. The KaT continues to operate in its bad region. Simulation coordination meetings for C39 were cancelled after it was determined that activities in the background sequence did not require Integrated Test Laboratory (ITL) testing. Trajectory Correction Maneuvers (TCM) 19a and 19b which occur in this sequence will be tested separately as mini-sequences. Events this week for the S14 Science and Sequence Update Process (SSUP) Verification and Validation (V&V) activity included release of merged product review reports generated by the Spacecraft Operations Office (SCO), Science Planning, and Uplink Operations (ULO), release and review of an updated reference trajectory, execution of the file configuration management process, and delivery of 12 sequence change requests and review comments for the Preliminary Sequence Integration and Validation 1 phase. SCO completed a ten-day test in the ITL of the C38 SOI Critical Sequence demonstration on July 1, exactly one year before the real SOI. The C38 SOI Critical Sequence demo will be performed on the spacecraft July 21 - August 4, 2003. The Navigation Team has completed and documented the reconstruction of TCM 19. The results continue to indicate that the maneuver executed as planned with sub-sigma errors. Two delivery coordination meetings were held this week, one for a Deep Space Mission System (DSMS) delivery of the Telecom Forecaster/Predictor (TFP) V 3, and the second for the Radio Science Subsystem (RSS) LMBTRK version 1.1, and an engineering version of BISTAT. The delivery of TFP provides upgrades to the DSN configuration models, as well as a few minor GUI changes. A full regression test with the previous version V2.1 showed no problems. LMBTRK is the RSS program that generates the Inertial Vector Definition (IVD) file used as input to the Pointing Design Tool (PDT) for generating spacecraft pointing commands during RSS occultations. BISTAT also generates an IVD file used as input to PDT, but it is optimized for RSS bi-static radar experiments. Cassini Outreach conducted Solar System Ambassador training on Saturn's Rings, and gave an overview of Cassini's outreach opportunities. Approximately 50 members of JPL's Solar System Ambassador program attended. A 2-day meeting of the K-4 education literacy partnership was held at UC Berkeley. Lesson units were reviewed, and organizational issues were addressed as the team moves toward a January 2004 final product delivery. 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. ________________________________________________________________________ LAUNCH OF "OPPORTUNITY" ABOARD DELTA II POSTPONED TO JULY 7 NASA/KSC release 56-03 5 July 2003 The launch of the MER-B Mars Exploration Rover "Opportunity" aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket has been postponed an additional 24 hours. The delay is due to the failure of a battery cell associated with a component of the launch vehicle's flight termination system. The battery must be removed and replaced. Launch is now targeted for no earlier than Monday, July 7. The two launch times available are 10:35:23 and 11:18:15 PM EDT. The forecast calls for a 30% chance of not meeting the launch weather criteria on Monday evening. At Pad 17-B, a tanking test of the Delta rocket was conducted this morning. The first stage was loaded with cryogenic liquid oxygen to evaluate the bonding of the lower band of cork thermal insulation. This afternoon, NASA and Boeing managers met to discuss the outcome of the tanking test and other associated testing and engineering evaluations that have been conducted over the last several days. After the tanking, inspections revealed some selective debonding of the cork from the surface of the vehicle within a limited area. These locations are being repaired using a different adhesive with a stronger bonding characteristic as demonstrated by tests conducted at KSC late this week. This work was completed tonight and the problem has been resolved to the satisfaction of engineers. Contact: George H. Diller NASA Kennedy Space Center Phone: 321-867-2468 ________________________________________________________________________ "OPPORTUNITY" MARS EXPLORATION ROVER TARGETED FOR LAUNCH MONDAY, JULY 7 NASA/KSC release 57-03 6 July 2003 The second of two Mars Exploration Rovers, Opportunity, is rescheduled for launch Monday, July 7 at 10:35:23 PM EDT. Liftoff will occur aboard the Boeing Delta II Heavy launch vehicle from Pad B at Space Launch Complex 17 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. A second launch opportunity exists at 11:18:15 PM EDT, if necessary. Should launch be delayed by 24 hours, two launch times are also available on Tuesday at 10:27:46 PM and 11:10:44 PM EDT. The window of the planetary launch period extends through July 15. Mission managers reported at 6 p.m. today that everything is on track to replace a battery with a failed cell associated with a component of the launch vehicle's flight termination system. Based on an expected successful installation and evaluation of the new battery tonight and tomorrow morning, mission managers were able to schedule Monday's launch attempt. Opportunity will reach Mars on Jan. 25, 2004. Together the two MER rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, seek to determine the history of climate and water at two sites on Mars where conditions may once have been favorable to life. The rovers are identical. Each rover carries five scientific instruments including a panoramic camera and microscope, plus a rock abrasion tool that will grind away the outer surfaces of rocks to expose their interiors for examination. The rovers each weigh approximately 400 pounds. They will navigate themselves around obstacles as they drive across the martian surface, traveling up to about 130 feet each martian day. Each rover's prime mission is planned to last three months on Mars. Launch coverage on NASA Television will begin at 8:30 PM on Monday, July 7. Coverage will conclude after acquisition of the spacecraft by the Deep Space Network approximately one hour and forty minutes after launch, at which time the spacecraft's initial state of health will be reported. There will not be a post-launch press conference. NASA Television is available on satellite AMC-2, transponder 9C, located at 85 degrees West longitude. Audio only of NASA Television coverage of the launch will be available on the "V" circuits which may be dialed directly at 321-867-1220, 867-1240, 867-1260, 867-7135. The NASA-KSC News Center codaphone will carry recorded MER-B prelaunch status reports on Monday, July 7 that may be dialed at 321-867-2525. "NASA Direct!" webcast coverage of the launch will begin at 8:30 p.m. EDT on Monday, July 7. For more information on the MER-B/Opportunity web activities, go to http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/elvnew/merb/index.htm. For a detailed NASA Direct! event calendar, go to http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/nasadirect/index.htm. Information about the MER missions is available online at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/. Contacts: Don Savage NASA Headquarters Phone: 202-358-1727 George H. Diller NASA Kennedy Space Center Phone: 321-867-2468 Guy Webster Jet Propulsion Laboratory Phone: 818-354-6278 ________________________________________________________________________ MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES NASA/JPL/MSSS release 26 June - 2 July 2003 The following new images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are now available. Schiaparelli Sedimentary Rock (Released 26 June 2003) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/06/26/index.html Athabasca Vallis Circles (Released 27 June 2003) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/06/27/index.html Autumn Dust Storm (Released 28 June 2003) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/06/28/index.html Gullies in Terra Sirenum (Released 29 June 2003) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/06/29/index.html Layers in Terby Crater (Released 30 June 2003) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/06/30/index.html Boulder Track (Released 01 July 2003) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/07/01/index.html Frosty Mountains (Released 02 July 2003) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/07/02/index.html All of the Mars Global Surveyor images are archived at http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/index.html. Mars Global Surveyor was launched in November 1996 and has been in Mars orbit since September 1997. It began its primary mapping mission on March 8, 1999. Mars Global Surveyor is the first mission in a long-term program of Mars exploration known as the Mars Surveyor Program that is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. ________________________________________________________________________ MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES NASA/JPL/ASU release 30 June - 3 July 2003 Syrtis in Retreat (Released 30 June 2003 http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20030630a.html Dalmatian Terrain (Released 1 July 2003) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20030701a.html Bumps and Humps (Released 2 July 2003 http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20030702a.html Dunes (Released 3 July 2003) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20030703a.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. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen 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 REPORT NASA/JPL release 3 July 2003 The Stardust team had eight periods of communication with the spacecraft using the Deep Space Network in the past week. Telemetry relayed from the spacecraft indicates it is healthy and all subsystems continue to operate normally. Information on the present position and orbits of the Stardust spacecraft and comet Wild 2 may be found on the "Where Is Stardust Right Now?" web page located at http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/scnow.html. The 1 Astronomical Unit (AU) Engineering Activities have successfully concluded. Two sets of deadband walks were implemented during 1 AU testing: 20 walks from / back to Earth point of 5 degrees; and 20 walks from / back to Earth point of 15 degrees. Both sets of walks were completed successfully and, as predicted, initial results show that the small forces errors were less than 1 cm/second over the entire set of walks. Analysis will continue, and the final assessment will be made on the project's expected ability to meet the Entry, Descent & Landing (EDL) accuracy requirements for Earth return in 2006. Currently, all spacecraft testing results look favorable. It is expected that some calibrations will be repeated post encounter, during Earth approach to recalibrate and characterize the current maneuver performance. 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 10, Number 27.