Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 11, Number 14, 30 March 2004 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. Opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors, and are not necessarily endorsed by the editor or by Lyon College. 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 at http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs. 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. __________________________________________________________________________ Articles and News 1) THE NEW HUNT FOR LIFE ON MARS By Leonard David 2) EXPERT IN LUNAR AND PLANETARY STUDIES LEADS NASA RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP CENTER'S EFFORTS TO HELP NASA LIVE OFF THE LAND NASA/MSFC release 04-072 3) POLITICS OF WATER: ANCIENT SEA ON MARS BEGS HUMAN EXPLORATION By Tariq Malik 4) NASA NEEDS TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MARS' POTENTIAL DANGERS By Leonard David Announcements 5) NASA PRESENTS STAR-STUDDED MARS DEBATE NASA/ARC release 04-22AR 6) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas Mission Reports 7) CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENTS NASA/JPL release 8) MARS EXPLORATION ROVERS UPDATES NASA/JPL releases 9) MARS EXPRESS CONFIRMS METHANE IN THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE ESA release 10) MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES NASA/JPL/MSSS release 11) MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES NASA/JPL/ASU release 12) ROSETTA: SPACECRAFT COMMISSIONING CONTINUES ESA release 13) STARDUST STATUS REPORT NASA/JPL release __________________________________________________________________________ THE NEW HUNT FOR LIFE ON MARS By Leonard David From Space.com 23 March 2004 Sending one-way spacecraft to learn if life exists or has ever been resident on the red planet is a tall order--it's been that way for decades. Today, powerful orbiters circle Mars. Meanwhile, wheeled robots traipse across that reddish globe's time-weathered landscape. The results are telling. The planet is serving up teasing signals that life should have been welcomed there at some point in the past. Perhaps even now, hidden subsurface, martian biology might skulk in cozy and secure surroundings. But barring the discovery of bone yards on Mars, or tiny eyes staring into the camera lenses of robot landers, seeking out evidence for life on that dusty world is likely to take time, patience, and digging deep... even for more money. Now toss in the key question: Where in the world do you look for life on Mars? Read the full article at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_life_040323.html. __________________________________________________________________________ EXPERT IN LUNAR AND PLANETARY STUDIES LEADS NASA RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP CENTER'S EFFORTS TO HELP NASA LIVE OFF THE LAND NASA/MSFC release 04-072 23 March 2004 Sludge. That's what most people think of when they envision the gray, powdery soil--called regolith--covering the airless surface of the Moon. Not Dr. Mike Duke. He sees gold. Gold in the form of rocket propellant, power, and even breathable air--all things that will be as valuable as gold to the first Moon-dwellers. "As a young man, I wanted to go to the Moon," says 68-year-old Duke, who was one of the first geologists to study samples from Moon rocks collected during the Apollo missions in the 1970s. I may be too old to make the trip when Americans return to the Moon, but the research I am leading will help the first lunar settlers take what's there and make something practical." Duke is an expert in what space explorers call "in situ resource utilization" or ISRU--living off the land of an alien world. In 2003, he was named director of the Center for Commercial Applications of Combustion in Space Centers at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden--one of NASA's 15 Research Partnership. He joined the partnership center in 2000 and uses skills he honed during his 25-year career as a NASA geologist. In 1965, he was a candidate for NASA's Scientist Astronaut Program, made the finals, but wasn't selected to fly. He went on to help other space explorers, from 1976 until 1990 as the director of the Solar System Exploration Division and from 1990 to 1995 as the chief scientist for the Human Exploration Program--both at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "We can't take everything to the Moon or Mars with us," Duke says. "Today, it would take about 100,000 dollars to get a couple pounds of material moved from Earth to the Moon. So making propellant on the Moon would make trips back to Earth or on to Mars less expensive." Before you can process the lunar soil and turn it into rocket propellant or other useful materials, you have to figure out a way to mine it. For four years, Duke and a team of graduate students have been working on a robotic excavator. They built a prototype that weighs around a hundred pounds and has a chassis similar to the NASA rovers--Spirit and Opportunity--on Mars now. An arm-like boom extends from the vehicle's front end. It sports a wheel of buckets that scoop up soil. The dirt falls out of the buckets and into a conveyer system that takes it up the side of the boom. The arm moves from side to side and excavates a swath of dirt one and a half feet wide, the width of the excavator. The current model can dig up several hundred pounds of dirt in an hour, but the team is working to increase the excavation rate. They also are designing a system to shoot the dirt from the excavator to a "lunar dump truck." The truck would carry the soil to a processing facility to extract hydrogen--a component of the fuel that powers the Space Shuttle and could fuel a lunar rocket. Duke and his students also have completed a model that identifies lunar resources and their potential uses. The team even examined how a company could make money on the Moon, and came up with a scenario for a "space filling station"--where in-space tugs would be loaded with lunar-made propellants and used to boost communications satellites to high orbits. Why is Duke concerned with space business ventures? Collaborating with industry to explore the solar system is one of the goals of the Research Partnership Centers managed by the Space Partnership Development Program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL, for NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research, Washington, DC. "NASA's Research Partnership Centers bring together industry, academia and government to advance exploration in space," says Duke. "These collaborations are an effective way to create new technologies at lower costs." One of the aspects Duke most enjoys about his job is creating new opportunities for students to conduct original research that will help advance space exploration. "I studied geology at Caltech because I loved California's mountains and deserts," recalls Duke, a Los Angeles native who earned his doctorate degree in 1963 from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "But the university was a hotbed for planetary science, and my professors inspired me to study the geology of meteorites and the Moon. I want my students to become the next generation of scientists and engineers who take America to the Moon and beyond." One recent project that students helped design was the water mist investigation, conducted in space to examine how to fight fire with a fog- like mist of water--instead of large amounts of water that can damage computers and other equipment. The STS-107 Space Shuttle crew completed the experiment during their January 2003 flight. Although the experiment equipment was lost in the Columbia accident, the team received data from video sent back to Earth during the mission. They are using the data to design a space fire extinguisher for contained environments such as spacecraft, space habitats and submarines. For more information visit: NASA http://www.nasa.gov Center for Commercial Applications of Combustion in Space http://www.mines.edu/research/ccacs/ Office of Biological and Physical Research http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/ Space Partnership Development Program http://www.spd.nasa.gov Read the original news release at http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/news/releases/2004/04-072.html. Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-base-04e.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/learning_live_off_land.html __________________________________________________________________________ POLITICS OF WATER: ANCIENT SEA ON MARS BEGS HUMAN EXPLORATION By Tariq Malik From Space.com 24 March 2004 The discovery that a salty sea once covered party of the surface of Mars will have lasting effects on the future exploration of the red planet, according to scientists and policy experts inside and outside NASA. Space agency officials said the briny find by the Opportunity rover has singled out its Meridiani Planum landing site for future robotic exploration and given a timely boost to President George W. Bush's recently stated vision of eventually sending humans to take a more personal look around. During a Tuesday announcement of the finding, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said the ancient sea has "profound implications" for future investigations in which the space agency plans to send "more sophisticated robotic capabilities" to Mars. "And it's in due course that human explorers will follow," O'Keefe said. Read the full article at http://www.space.com/news/opportunity_policy_040324.html. __________________________________________________________________________ NASA NEEDS TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MARS' POTENTIAL DANGERS By Leonard David From Space.com 25 March 2004 If humans are to walk across Mars safely, far more data are needed about the hazardous environments of the red planet, aerospace engineers and analysts told a presidential commission Thursday. For one, toxic materials may exist in the soil. Airborne dust, too, may plague the day- to-day tasks undertaken by an expeditionary crew. Furthermore, little is known about the degree of radiation cascading through the thin martian atmosphere. Before humans sojourn to Mars, there is early need to assess risks to astronauts by possible environmental, chemical, and biological agents on the surface of the planet, a trio of experts told the President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond, on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Read the full article at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/commission_dangers_040325.html. __________________________________________________________________________ NASA PRESENTS STAR-STUDDED MARS DEBATE NASA/ARC release 04-22AR 25 March 2004 A group of science fiction writers, academic luminaries and NASA scientists will hold a lively debate about terraforming Mars at NASA Ames Research Center on March 30, 2004. The debate is the first in a new series of discussions entitled "Science Fiction Meets Science Fact." This series is the result of a shared vision between NASA, Breakpoint Media and the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, scheduled to open in summer 2004. The free, open-to-the-public debate will take place from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM PST in the main tent on the Moffett Field parade grounds at NASA Ames. "The series is an exciting collaboration between NASA's online Astrobiology Magazine (www.astrobio.net) and the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame," said Dr. Michael Meyer, NASA's senior scientist for astrobiology. "Terraforming has long been a fictional topic, and now, with real scientists exploring the reality, we can ask, 'What are the real possibilities, as well as the potential ramifications, of transforming Mars?'" Terraforming is the deliberate alteration of an environment or climate on a planetary scale. The first debate, "Transforming Mars" will feature: * Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Award-winning author of 2001, A Space Odyssey (Clarke will take part via teleconference from his home in Sri Lanka). * Kim Stanley Robinson, Hugo & Nebula award-winning author of the Mars Trilogy. * Greg Bear, Hugo & Nebula award-winning author of Moving Mars. * Dr. James Kasting, professor of geoscience at Pennsylvania State University. * Dr. Christopher McKay, planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center. * Dr. John Rummel, planetary protection officer, NASA. * Dr. Lisa Pratt, NASA Astrobiology Institute subsurface group, Indiana University. The debate moderator will be Dr. Donna Shirley, director of the new Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. Shirley is the former manager of NASA's Mars Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, and the original leader of the team that built the highly acclaimed Mars Pathfinder rover. The debate is part of the Astrobiology Science Conference, which will be held at NASA Ames from March 28 through April 1. For further information about the conference, visit http://abscicon.arc.nasa.gov/. Future debate topics will include returning to the moon and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. For further information, visit http://www.astrobio.net/terraformdebate.html. For information about the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, visit www.sciencefictionexperience.com. To reach NASA Ames, take the Moffett Field exit off Highway 101. To reach the parade grounds, drive through the main gate, follow Clark Road and bear right onto South Akron Road. Attendees will be required to show a government-issued photo ID at the NASA Ames main gate. Contact: Kathleen Burton NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Phone: 650-604-1731 or 604-9000 E-mail: Kathleen.M.Burton@nasa.gov An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.astrobio.net/news/article898.html. __________________________________________________________________________ NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/astrobiology/ 30 March 2004 Astrobiology and planetary engineering articles http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/astrobiology/online_articles1.html Astrobiology Magazine, 2004. Annexing Mars. Astrobiology Magazine. R. R. Britt, 2004. Salty sea covered part of Mars: "excellent" site to search for past life. Space.com. L. David, 2004. The new hunt for life on Mars. Space.com. R. A. Kerr, 2004. Planetary science: life or volcanic belching on Mars? Science, 303(5666):1953. United Press International, 2004. Life-seeking chip will join space probes. SpaceDaily. Human space exploration articles http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/astrobiology/online_articles3.html L. David, 2004. NASA needs to know more about Mars' potential dangers. Space.com. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, 2004. Learning how to live off the land. Universe Today. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, 2004. Living off the "land" critical to long term Moon, Mars habitation. SpaceDaily. SETI articles http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/astrobiology/online_articles4.html SETI Institute, 2004. The search continues with the Allen Telescope Array. Space.com. Evolution (biological, chemical and cosmological) articles http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/astrobiology/online_articles5.html Virginia Technical University, 2004. Study clarifies evolutionary history of early complex single-celled life. SpaceDaily. __________________________________________________________________________ CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENTS NASA/JPL release 18-24 March 2004 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone tracking station on Monday, March 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://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=NGh6SLnKlixO-3BCLCXxIg. The primary activity this week was the execution of the 13th in-flight Huygens probe checkout and a special test of the Probe Mission Timing Unit (MTU). The performance of the Huygens engineering subsystems and instruments during the checkout was as expected. The flow of data from JPL to the Huygens Probe Operating Center in Darmstadt went very smoothly. The MTU is the timer which is set just prior to probe release. Drawing minimal power, it counts down to a fixed time before probe entry at Titan and then initiates the powering on of the Huygens avionics and instruments. The test validated the ground system's process for setting the timer and also measured the timer's drift rate. All aspects of the test were nominal. Additional on-board activities included Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) flight software (FSW) normalization, Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) load of version 7 FSW to the SSR, and powering off of the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS). Sequence development activities for C44 concluded this week. The Final Sequence Integration and Validation (FSIV) phase sequence change request (SCR) and waiver approval meeting was held with two SCRs and one waiver approved. A Command Approval Meeting was held for Instrument Expanded Block (IEB) files to be uplinked to the spacecraft for Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS), CAPS, Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS), Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS), Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS), and INMS. The C44 final sequence approval meeting was also held this week. Uplink of IEBs is scheduled for March 25, and the background sequence on March 27. C44 will go active on April 1. Development of S01, the first tour sequence, continued this week. The Project came to closure on the Phoebe pointing design issue associated with Kinematic Prediction Tool / Flight Software Development System pointing profile. The Phoebe design will remain as is. The Subsequence Generation Phase has now concluded with all teams delivering their subsequences, and generation of the Preliminary SIV Cycle 1 merged sequence products. Since the start of approach science in January of this year, 1597 ISS images have been acquired along with 627 VIMS cubes. The Science Operations Plan Update process for S02, which includes the science occurring during and after the Saturn Orbit Insertion burn, had its preliminary port 1 delivery this week. Tour Science Plan presentation #4 to the flight team was part 1 of 2 parts on the Titan Orbiter Science Team plans for tour. This team was responsible for science integration of the 45 targeted Titan flybys during the prime mission. Thanks to Mission Planning team members, the Cassini real-time activity display showing a continuously updating graphic of Saturn and its satellites in relation to the current position of the Cassini spacecraft and instruments' fields-of-view has been made available on JPL TV channel 35 and the Space Flight Operations Facility gallery. A readiness review was held for Cassini version A8.6.7 flight software. The review went well with only 7 Recommendations for Action generated, none of which will affect upload of the flight software towards the end of April of this year. Development has been completed and system testing begun for Mission Sequence Subsystem (MSS) software version D10.3. This version includes new functionality for the Pointing Design Tool and updated maneuver blocks in Sequence Generator (SEQGEN). A delivery coordination meeting was held for Navigation software version T1.2, and Spacecraft Operations Office tools ALF_TOOL version 10.2, and Main Engine Pre-aim Utility (MEPU) version 1.0. The MEPU tool calculates the engine pre-aim vector for a Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM) based upon telemetry data from a previous maneuver. MEPU computes the average of the unit thrust vector within a given time window, and can also adjust the pre-aim vector for mass shifts from events such as probe release. The five so-called naked-eye planets--Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn--reunited in the night sky, giving spectators an opportunity to see Earth's closest companions. The gathering will be visible every night for an hour after sunset, beginning around March 22 and lasting about two weeks. For more information go to http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=gMETN2- CSlhO-3BCLCXxIg. Bands and spots in Saturn's atmosphere, including a dark band south of the equator with a scalloped border, are visible in the most recently released image from the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft. The narrow-angle camera took the image in blue light on Feb. 29, 2004. The distance to Saturn was 59.9 million kilometers. The image scale is 359 kilometers per pixel. For more information go to http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=4S-MP4Zf5_NO- 3BCLCXxIg..83.jpg&type=image. Development System pointing profile: the Phoebe design will remain as is. The Subsequence Generation Phase has now concluded with all teams delivering their subsequences, and generation of the Preliminary SIV Cycle 1 merged sequence products. 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. __________________________________________________________________________ MARS EXPLORATION ROVERS UPDATES NASA/JPL releases Standing Body of Water Left Its Mark in Mars Rocks NASA/JPL release 2004-090, 23 March 2004 NASA's Opportunity rover has demonstrated some rocks on Mars probably formed as deposits at the bottom of a body of gently flowing saltwater. "We think Opportunity is parked on what was once the shoreline of a salty sea on Mars," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the science payload on Opportunity and its twin Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit. Clues gathered so far do not tell how long or how long ago liquid water covered the area. To gather more evidence, the rover's controllers plan to send Opportunity out across a plain toward a thicker exposure of rocks in the wall of a crater. NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Science Dr. Ed Weiler said, "This dramatic confirmation of standing water in Mars' history builds on a progression of discoveries about that most Earthlike of alien planets. This result gives us impetus to expand our ambitious program of exploring Mars to learn whether microbes have ever lived there and, ultimately, whether we can." "Bedding patterns in some finely layered rocks indicate the sand-sized grains of sediment that eventually bonded together were shaped into ripples by water at least five centimeters (two inches) deep, possibly much deeper, and flowing at a speed of 10 to 50 centimeters (four to 20 inches) per second," said Dr. John Grotzinger, rover science-team member from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. In telltale patterns, called crossbedding and festooning, some layers within a rock lie at angles to the main layers. Festooned layers have smile-shaped curves produced by shifting of the loose sediments' rippled shapes under a current of water. "Ripples that formed in wind look different than ripples formed in water," Grotzinger said. "Some patterns seen in the outcrop that Opportunity has been examining might have resulted from wind, but others are reliable evidence of water flow." According to Grotzinger, the environment at the time the rocks were forming could have been a salt flat, or playa, sometimes covered by shallow water and sometimes dry. Such environments on Earth, either at the edge of oceans or in desert basins, can have currents of water that produce the type of ripples seen in the Mars rocks. A second line of evidence, findings of chlorine and bromine in the rocks, also suggests this type of environment. Rover scientists presented some of that news three weeks ago as evidence the rocks had at least soaked in mineral-rich water, possibly underground water, after they formed. Increased assurance of the bromine findings strengthens the case that rock-forming particles precipitated from surface water as salt concentrations climbed past saturation while water was evaporating. Dr. James Garvin, lead scientist for Mars and lunar exploration at NASA Headquarters, Washington, said, "Many features on the surface of Mars that orbiting spacecraft have revealed to us in the past three decades look like signs of liquid water, but we have never before had this definitive class of evidence from the martian rocks themselves. We planned the Mars Exploration Rover Project to look for evidence like this, and it is succeeding better than we had any right to hope. Someday we must collect these arocks and bring them back to terrestrial laboratories to read their records for clues to the biological potential of Mars." Squyres said, "The particular type of rock Opportunity is finding, with evaporite sediments from standing water, offers excellent capability for preserving evidence of any biochemical or biological material that may have been in the water." Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., expect Opportunity and Spirit to operate several months longer than their initial three-month prime missions on Mars. To analyze hints of crossbedding, mission controllers programmed Opportunity to move its robotic arm more than 200 times in one day, taking 152 microscope pictures of layering in a rock called "Last Chance." New Phase of Exploration Beginning for Mars Rovers NASA/JPL release 2004-092, 16 March 2004 NASA's Spirit will begin trekking toward hills on its eastern horizon in the next few days, entering a new phase of the rover's exploration of Mars just before its prime three-month mission ends and its extended mission begins, rover team members said today. The range of peaks named "Columbia Hills" is an island of older rock surrounded by a younger volcanic layer which surfaces the plain that Spirit has been crossing, said Dr. Ray Arvidson of Washington University, St. Louis. He is deputy principal investigator for the science payload on both Spirit and its twin rover, Opportunity. Older rocks may hold evidence of an ancient body of water thought to have once filled Gusev Crater. Spirit landed inside that 150-kilometer-wide (95-mile-wide) crater 12 weeks ago, and the rover's main task is to find geological clues about whether the region ever had a wet environment. Spirit has spent much of its time since landing driving toward a 200- meter-wide (660-foot-wide) crater nicknamed "Bonneville." Rover scientists had anticipated that the impact that excavated Bonneville might have ejected rocks old enough to hold clues about whether Gusev held water. "The ejecta from Bonneville didn't get excavated from deep enough to get below the volcanic layer," Arvidson said. So, after finishing an examination of a light-colored rock on the crater's rim, Spirit will head for the hills. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, built each of the two Mars Exploration Rovers for a prime mission of 90 martian days of operation. Both rovers are healthy and could operate for several additional months, said JPL's Matt Wallace, mission manager. A martian day, or sol, lasts about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day, and Spirit's 82nd sol began on Friday. "Spirit will start driving toward the hills on sol 84 or a little after that," Wallace said. Scientists have examined the terrain between Bonneville Crater and Columbia Hills in photographs taken from orbit by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and found several features to inspect along the route. These include some small craters and a dark streak apparently left by a whirlwind that removed dust. Science team member Dr. Larry Crumpler of New Mexico Museum of Natural History, Albuquerque, said, "It won't be a continuous drive, like a bad road trip. We'll actually get out and do some touristy things along the way." With stops for "traverse science" along the way, the trip of about 2.3 kilometers (1.3 miles) to the near edge of Columbia Hills will probably take 60 to 90 sols, Arvidson said. Beginning next week and continuing into the extended mission, Spirit's controllers will switch from working on Mars time--with schedules set to coincide with day or night at Gusev crater--to an Earth time schedule easier to maintain for the long haul. The Opportunity team will shift the following week, Wallace said. Opportunity is also at the start of a trek. This week, it climbed out of the small impact crater informally named "Eagle Crater" that it had been examining since it landed nine weeks ago. Rocks in an outcrop within the crater have provided evidence that the site was once under flowing water. In coming weeks, Opportunity will drive about 750 meters (nearly half a mile) to a crater nicknamed "Endurance," where scientists hope to find and examine a thicker set of bedrock layers to learn more about the duratiocn of the region's wet history. Before leaving Eagle Crater, Opportunity inspected the soil at five sites in the opposite half of the crater from the outcrop. The target patches show a diversity of particle sizes and shapes on the surface. "We're seeing the effects of differences in wind speed," said Bethany Ehlmann, a science team collaborator from the University of Washington, St. Louis. In some patches more than others, winds have removed small particles and left large particles behind, she said. Spherical gray particles that have been fancifully called blueberries are plentiful in some soil patches higher on the inner slope of the crater than near the center of the crater. A reading by Opportunity's Moessbauer spectrometer on one of the higher patches found the highest concentration of hematite seen so far in the mission, reported Dr. Goestar Klingelhoefer of the University of Mainz, Germany. He is the lead scientist for that instrument, which is used for identifying iron-containing minerals. The ctype of hematite Opportunity has been finding usually forms on Earth under wet environmental conditions. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington. Images and additional information about the project are available on the Internet at http://www.nasa.gov, http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov and http://athena.cornell.edu. Daily MER updates are available at: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_opportunity.html http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_spirit.html Contacts: Guy Webster Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA Phone: 818-354-5011 Donald Savage NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1547 Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.astrobio.net/news/article886.html http://www.astrobio.net/news/article888.html http://www.astrobio.net/news/article889.html http://www.astrobio.net/news/article890.html http://www.astrobio.net/news/article891.html http://www.astrobio.net/news/article895.html http://www.astrobio.net/news/article896.html http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/18/mars.blueberries/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/23/mars.sea/index.html http://www.space.com/marsrover/ http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/opportunity_sea_040323.html http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_life_040323.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mers-04zzzh.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mers-04zzzi.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mers-04zzzk.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mers-04zzzl.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mers-04zzzm.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mers-04zzzn.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-science-04a.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-general-04k.html http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/040322crater.html http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/040326status.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/opportunity_shore_ancient_sea.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/opportunity_out_crater.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/opportunity_looks_back_crater.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/spirit_journey_columbia_hills.html __________________________________________________________________________ MARS EXPRESS CONFIRMS METHANE IN THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE ESA release 30 March 2004 During recent observations from the ESA Mars Express spacecraft in orbit around Mars, methane was detected in its atmosphere. Whilst it is too early to draw any conclusions on its origin, exciting as they may be, scientists are thinking about the next steps to take in order to understand more. From the time of its arrival at Mars, the Mars Express spacecraft started producing stunning results. One of the aims of the mission is analyzing in detail the chemical composition of the martian atmosphere, known to consist of 95% percent carbon dioxide plus 5% of minor constituents. It is also from these minor constituents, which scientists expect to be oxygen, water, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and methane, that we may get important information on the evolution of the planet and possible implications for the presence of past or present life. The presence of methane has been confirmed thanks to the observations of the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) on board Mars Express during the past few weeks. This instrument is able to detect the presence of particular molecules by analyzing their "spectral fingerprints"--the specific way each molecule absorbs the sunlight it receives. The measurements confirm so far that the amount of methane is very small-- about 10 parts in a thousand million, so its production process is probably small. However, the exciting question "where does this methane come from?" remains. Methane, unless it is continuously produced by a source, only survives in the martian atmosphere for a few hundreds of years because it quickly oxidizes to form water and carbon dioxide, both present in the martian atmosphere. So, there must be a mechanism that refills the atmosphere with methane. "The first thing to understand is how exactly the methane is distributed in the martian atmosphere," says Vittorio Formisano, Principal Investigator for the PFS instrument. "Since the methane presence is so small, we need to take more measurements. Only then we will have enough data to make a statistical analysis and understand whether there are regions of the atmosphere where methane is more concentrated". Once this is done, scientists will try to establish a link between the planet-wide distribution of methane and possible atmospheric or surface processes that may produce it. "Based on our experience on Earth, the methane production could be linked to volcanic or hydro-thermal activity on Mars. The High Resolution Stereo camera (HRSC) on Mars Express could help us identify visible activity, if it exists, on the surface of the planet", continues Formisano. Clearly, if it was the case, this would imply a very important consequence, as present volcanic activity had never been detected so far on Mars. Other hypotheses could also be considered. On Earth, methane is a by- product of biological activity, such as fermentation. "If we have to exclude the volcanic hypothesis, we could still consider the possibility of life," concludes Formisano. "In the next few weeks, the PFS and other instruments on-board Mars Express will continue gathering data on the martian atmosphere, and by then we will be able to draw a more precise picture," says Agustin Chicarro, ESA Mars Express Project Scientist. Thanks to the PFS instrument, scientists are also gathering precious data about isotopes in atmospheric molecules such as water and carbon dioxide-- very important to understand how the planet was formed and to add clues on the atmospheric escape. The PFS also gives important hints about water- cloud formation on the top of volcanoes, and shows the presence of active photochemical processes in the atmosphere. Read the original news release at http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMZ0B57ESD_0.html. An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/mars_express_confirms_methane.html . __________________________________________________________________________ MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES NASA/JPL/MSSS release 18-24 March 2004 The following new images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are now available. Dark Sand Dunes (Released 18 March 2004) http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=ToERP1sys3tO-3BCLCXxIg Carbon Dioxide Landforms (Released 19 March 2004) http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=HngoHLrGOmFO-3BCLCXxIg Gullied Slope (Released 20 March 2004) http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=CE7f05LXJgRO-3BCLCXxIg Lycus Sulci Slope Streaks (Released 21 March 2004) http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=MFrJu-ni8sJO-3BCLCXxIg South Polar Pit Gullies (Released 22 March 2004) http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=W_0-NP44N7dO-3BCLCXxIg Crater in Utopia (Released 23 March 2004) http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=i4f68Nmv5CVO-3BCLCXxIg Cerberus Fossae Trough (Released 24 March 2004) http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=K6qQf295KrtO-3BCLCXxIg All of the Mars Global Surveyor images are archived at http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=76ix9vNLbwNO-3BCLCXxIg. 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 22-26 March 2004 Ejecta Craters (Released 22 March 2004) http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=T-sq7L-lOjlO-3BCLCXxIg Arabia Terra Crater (Released 23 March 2004) http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=UchM22nzCJBO-3BCLCXxIg Auqakuh Vallis Channel (Released 25 March 2004) http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=0Cbmiw8pr-NO-3BCLCXxIg Multiple Channels in Warrego Valles (Released 26 March 2004) http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=7YId_p9RltxO-3BCLCXxIg All of the THEMIS images are archived at http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=HsWLoWFvzp1O-3BCLCXxIg. 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. __________________________________________________________________________ ROSETTA: SPACECRAFT COMMISSIONING CONTINUES ESA release 24 March 2004 Report for week 12 to 19 March Since the last status report there have been two major areas of commissioning activity: for the first five days the focus was on the lander; followed later by the various plasma detection packages on the orbiter. The Lander activities were all performed successfully and completed well within the scheduled time. This enabled the early execution of a number of activities initially planned for a later slot. Only one activity, the Lander MSS check, was postponed to allow re-definition of the procedure in view of the fact that the launch locks were released earlier than planned (on mission day 1). In the last two days the Rosetta Plasma Consortium (RPC) commissioning activities started. The first day saw the successful activation and check out of all RPC instruments using the main power supply and data processing unit. During a repeat test using the redundant chain a sudden interruption in telemetry and drop in current consumption was detected. Investigations suggest a failure in the redundant power supply. On the last day of the reporting period the spacecraft booms carrying the RPC MIP (Mutual Impedance Probe) and LAP (Langmuir Probe) instruments were successfully deployed using the primary systems. The instruments were active during the deployment and confirmed the successful operation via readings in their science telemetry. In order for further analysis to take place on the failure in the redundant power supply all remaining RPC activities have been postponed to a later date. Payload commissioning will continue throughout March, April and May. During the coming week commissioning will commence on ROSINA, ALICE and VIRTIS. Read the original release at http://sci.esa.int/science- e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=34881. Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/smart_1_250th_orbit.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/how_philae_land_comet.html __________________________________________________________________________ STARDUST STATUS REPORT NASA/JPL release 26 March 2004 The Stardust spacecraft remains in excellent condition as its post- encounter trajectory carries it through the solar system's main asteroid belt. The Stardust team recently released three new images of comet Wild 2. These images depict surface and jet details that have never been seen before. The Stardust project was presented an award from the Boy Scouts of America San Gabriel Valley Council for the successful Wild 2 encounter and to commemorate the Council's highlighting of Stardust during the National Jamboree. The ceremony was held during a talk by Stardust project manager for the JPL Office of Communication and Education von Karman Lecture Series. 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://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=8FPaSVJmUHVO-3BCLCXxIg. For more information on the Stardust mission--the first ever comet sample- return mission--please visit the Stardust home page at http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=flgAgVoYWK1O-3BCLCXxIg. __________________________________________________________________________ End Marsbugs, Volume 11, Number 14. 19 Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 11, Number 14, 30 March 2004