Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 12, Number 16, 3 May 2005 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, but individual authors retain the copyright of specific articles. 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) EUROPE'S EXOMARS ROVER: STEERING A COURSE TOWARD HUMANS ON MARS By Leonard David 2) NASA GIVES ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY A NEW SPIN NASA release 05-109 3) THE NAI 2005 MEETING From the NAI Newsletter 4) PROSPECTING FOR LUNAR WATER--SETTLING ALIEN WORLDS IS THIRSTY WORK By Patrick L. Barry 5) SCIENTISTS CONFIRM EARTH'S ENERGY IS OUT OF BALANCE NASA release 05-111 6) SEARCH ON AGAIN FOR MARS POLAR LANDER By Leonard David 7) WADING IN MARTIAN WATER By Bernard Foing Announcements 8) GRAVITY AND AGING IN SPACE TO BE DISCUSSED AT NASA LECTURE NASA/ARC release 05-29AR 9) MARS TELECOMMUNICATION ORBITER (MTO) SCIENCE INVESTIGATION From the NAI Newsletter 10) ORIGINS OF SOLAR SYSTEMS GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE From the NAI Newsletter 11) JENAM 2005 ASTROBIOLOGY SESSIONS From the NAI Newsletter 12) NSBRI POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM SOLICITING APPLICATIONS From the NAI Newsletter 13) NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE SUMMER SCHOOL From the NAI Newsletter Mission Reports 14) CASSINI UPDATES NASA/JPL/UA releases 15) NASA'S DEEP IMPACT SPACECRAFT SPOTS ITS QUARRY NASA/JPL release 2005-065 16) MARS ROVER PANORAMA SHOWS VISTA FROM "LOOKOUT" POINT NASA/JPL image advisory 2005-066 17) MARS EXPRESS UPDATES ESA releases 18) MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES NASA/JPL/MSSS release 19) MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES NASA/JPL/ASU release 20) MRO: NASA'S NEXT MARS SPACECRAFT ARRIVES IN FLORIDA FOR FINAL CHECKOUT NASA/JPL release 2005-069 __________________________________________________________________________ EUROPE'S EXOMARS ROVER: STEERING A COURSE TOWARD HUMANS ON MARS By Leonard David From Space.com 27 April 2005 Future hunts for past or present life on Mars, hauling back to Earth samples of martian rock and soil, as well as setting the stage for a human voyage to the red planet is taking on a decidedly European look. European Space Agency (ESA) officials are taking steps to shift into high gear the building of the ExoMars robotic rover mission. The lander would be launched in 2011, likely onboard a Soyuz Fregat 2b booster from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. On arrival at Mars, ExoMars would be equipped to scout about for the leftover traces of long-gone life or still thriving biology on the far-away world. Furthermore, the ESA robot is to help identify potential peril for a future humans-to-Mars mission--now resident on NASA planning charts as the year 2030. Read the full article at http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/050427_exomars_tech.htm l. __________________________________________________________________________ NASA GIVES ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY A NEW SPIN NASA release 05-109 28 April 2005 NASA will use a new human centrifuge to explore artificial gravity as a way to counter the physiologic effects of extended weightlessness for future space exploration. The new research will begin this summer at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston, overseen by NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston. A NASA-provided Short-Radius Centrifuge will attempt to protect normal human test subjects from deconditioning when confined to strict bed rest. Bed rest can closely imitate some of the detrimental effects of weightlessness on the body. For the first time, researchers will systematically study how artificial gravity may serve as a countermeasure to prolonged simulated weightlessness. "The Vision for Space Exploration includes destinations beyond the moon," said Dr. Jeffrey Davis, director of JSC's Space Life Sciences Directorate. "This artificial gravity research is an important step in determining if spacecraft design options should include artificial gravity. The collaboration between NASA, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), UTMB and Wyle Laboratories demonstrates the synergy of government, academic and industry partnerships," he added. For the initial study this summer, 32 test subjects will be placed in a six-degree, head-down, bed-rest position for 21 days to simulate the effects of microgravity on the body. Half that group will spin once a day on the centrifuge to determine how much protection it provides from the bed-rest deconditioning. The "treatment" subjects will be positioned supine in the centrifuge and spun up to a force equal to 2.5 times Earth's gravity at their feet for an hour and then go back to bed. "The studies may help us to develop appropriate prescriptions for using a centrifuge to protect crews and to understand the side effects of artificial gravity on people," said Dr. Bill Paloski, NASA principal scientist in JSC's Human Adaptation and Countermeasures Office and principal investigator for the project. "In the past, we have only been able to examine bits and pieces. We've looked at how artificial gravity might be used as a countermeasure for, say, cardiovascular changes or balance disorders. This will allow us to look at the effect of artificial gravity as a countermeasure for the entire body," he added. The research will take place in UTMB's NIH-sponsored General Clinical Research Center. The study supports NASA's Artificial Gravity Biomedical Research Project. "Physicians and scientists from all over the world will travel to UTMB to study the stresses that spaceflight imposes on cardiovascular function, bone density, neurological activity and other physiological systems," said Dr. Adrian Perachio, executive director of strategic research collaborations at UTMB. "This is an excellent example of collaboration among the academic, federal and private sectors in research that will benefit the health of both astronauts and those of us on Earth," he added. The centrifuge was built to NASA specifications by Wyle Laboratories in El Segundo, CA. It was delivered to UTMB in August 2004 and will complete design verification testing, validation of operational procedures and verification of science data this spring. The centrifuge has two arms with a radius of 10 feet (3 meters) each. The centrifuge can accommodate one subject on each arm. Paloski has assembled a team of 24 investigators who designed the study. The first integrated research program is expected to end in the fall of 2006. The NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Headquarters, Washington, is supporting this research. For still imagery of the centrifuge on the Internet, visit www.nasa.gov/vision/space/preparingtravel/human_centrifuge_images.html. To learn how to obtain broadcast materials to illustrate this story, visit http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html. Contacts: J. D. Harrington or Michael Braukus NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-5241 or 202-358-1979 William Jeffs NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX Phone: 281-483-5111 Seena Simon University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston Phone: 409-772-6397 An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gravity-05i.html. __________________________________________________________________________ THE NAI 2005 MEETING From the NAI Newsletter 28 April 2005 Many attendees felt that astrobiology had come of age. The NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) held its fourth biennial meeting at Boulder, Colorado, April 10-14. The NAI 2005 meeting, hosted by the University of Colorado, Boulder, attracted nearly 500 attendees. The twin objectives of the meeting were to learn about the latest science being accomplished by NAI members and to encourage contacts between individuals and teams that will pay off in future collaborations. Read the full write-up by NAI Senior Scientist David Morrison on the NAI web site at http://nai.arc.nasa.gov. __________________________________________________________________________ PROSPECTING FOR LUNAR WATER--SETTLING ALIEN WORLDS IS THIRSTY WORK By Patrick L. Barry From NASA Science News 28 April 2005 The next time you look at the Moon, pause for a moment and let this thought sink in. People have actually walked on the Moon, and right now the wheels are in motion to send people there again. The goals this time around are more ambitious than they were in the days of the Apollo program. NASA's new Vision for Space Exploration spells out a long-term strategy of returning to the Moon as a step toward Mars and beyond. The Moon, so nearby and accessible, is a great place to try out new technologies critical to living on alien worlds before venturing across the solar system. Whether a moonbase will turn out to be feasible hinges largely on the question of water. Colonists need water to drink. They need water to grow plants. They can also break water apart to make air (oxygen) and rocket fuel (oxygen + hydrogen). Furthermore, water is surprisingly effective at blocking space radiation. Surrounding the base with a few feet of water would help protect explorers from solar flares and cosmic rays. The problem is water is dense and heavy. Carrying large amounts of it from Earth to the Moon would be expensive. Settling the Moon would be so much easier if water were already there. It's possible. Astronomers believe that comets and asteroids hitting the Moon eons ago left some water behind. (Earth may have received its water in the same way.) Water on the Moon doesn't last long. It evaporates in sunlight and drifts off into space. Only in the shadows of deep cold craters could you expect to find any, frozen and hidden. And indeed there may be deposits of ice in such places. In the 1990s two spacecraft, Lunar Prospector and Clementine, found tantalizing signs of ice in shadowed craters near the Moon's poles--perhaps as much as much as a cubic kilometer. The data were not conclusive, though. To find out if lunar ice is truly there, NASA plans to send a robotic scout. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or "LRO" for short, is scheduled to launch in 2008 and to orbit the Moon for a year or more. Carrying six different scientific instruments, LRO will map the lunar environment in greater detail than ever before. "This is the first in a string of missions," says Gordon Chin, project scientist for LRO at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "More robots will follow, about one per year, leading up to manned flight" no later than 2020. LRO's instruments will do many things: they'll map and photograph the Moon in detail, sample its radiation environment and, not least, hunt for water. For example, the spacecraft's Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP), will attempt to peer into the darkness of permanently shadowed craters at the Moon's poles, looking for signs of ice hiding there. How can LAMP see in the dark? It looks for the dim glow of reflected starlight. LAMP senses a special range of ultraviolet light wavelengths. Not only is starlight relatively bright in this range, but also the hydrogen gas that permeates the universe radiates in this range as well. To LAMP's sensor, space itself is literally aglow in all directions. This ambient lighting may be enough to see what lies in the inky blackness of these craters. "What's more, water ice has a characteristic spectral 'fingerprint' in this same range of ultraviolet light, so we'll get spectral evidence of whether ice is in these craters," explains Alan Stern, a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute and principal investigator for LAMP. The spacecraft is also equipped with a laser that can shine pulses of light into dark craters. The main purpose of the instrument, called the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA), is to produce a highly accurate contour map of the entire Moon. As a bonus, it will also measure the brightness of each laser reflection. If the soil contains ice crystals, as little as 4%, the returning pulse would be noticeably brighter. LOLA by itself can't prove that ice is there. "Any kind of reflective crystals could produce brighter pulses," explains David Smith, principal investigator for LOLA at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "But if we see brighter pulses only in these permanent shadows, we'd strongly suspect ice." One of LRO's instruments, named Diviner, will map the temperature of the Moon's surface. Scientists can use these measurements to search for places where ice could exist. Even in the permanent shadows of polar craters, temperatures must be very low for ice to resist evaporation. Thus, Diviner will provide a "reality check" for LRO's other ice-sensitive instruments, identifying areas where positive signs of ice would not make any sense because the temperature is simply too high. Another reality check will come from LRO's Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND), which counts neutrons spraying out of the lunar surface. Why does the Moon emit neutrons? And what does that have to do with water? The Moon is constantly bombarded by cosmic rays, which produce neutrons when they hit the ground. Hydrogen-bearing compounds like H2O absorb neutrons, so a dip in neutron radiation could signal an oasis of sorts. LEND is being developed by Igor Mitrofanov from the Institute for Space Research, Federal Space Agency, Moscow. "There's a strong synergy between the various instruments on LRO," notes Chin. "None of these instruments alone could provide definitive evidence of ice on the Moon, but if they all point to ice in the same area, that would be compelling." Chin also points out another reason that finding ice near the Moon's poles would be exciting. Not far from some permanently shadowed craters are mountainous regions in permanent sunlight, known romantically as "peaks of eternal sunshine." Conceivably, a moonbase could be placed on one of those peaks, providing astronauts with constant solar power--not far from crater-valleys below, rich in ice and ready to be mined. Is it wishful thinking, or a reasonable plan? Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will beam back the answer. Read the original article at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/28apr_lro.htm. __________________________________________________________________________ SCIENTISTS CONFIRM EARTH'S ENERGY IS OUT OF BALANCE NASA release 05-111 29 April 2005 Scientists have concluded more energy is being absorbed from the sun than is emitted back to space, throwing the Earth's energy "out of balance" and warming the globe. Scientists from NASA, Columbia University, New York, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA used satellites, data from buoys and computer models to study the Earth's oceans. They confirmed the energy imbalance by using precise measurements of increasing ocean heat content over the past 10 years. The study reveals Earth's energy imbalance is large by standards of the planet's history. The imbalance is 0.85 watts per meter squared. That will cause an additional warming of 0.6 degrees Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit) by the end of this century. To understand the difference, think of a one-watt light bulb shining over an area of one square meter (10.76 square feet). Although it doesn't seem like much, adding up the number of feet around the world creates a big effect. To put this number into perspective, an imbalance of one-watt per square meter, maintained for the past 10,000 years is enough to melt ice equivalent to one kilometer (0.6 mile) of sea level, if there were that much ice. "The energy imbalance is an expected consequence of increasing atmospheric pollution, especially carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and black carbon particles. These pollutants block the Earth's heat radiation from escaping to space, and they increase absorption of sunlight," said Jim Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York. He is the lead author of the new study, which is in this week's Science Magazine Science Express. As the Earth warms it emits more heat. Eventually the Earth will be back in balance, if the greenhouse gas emissions are kept at the same level of today. Scientists know it takes the ocean longer to warm than the land. The lag in the ocean's response has practical consequences. It means there is an additional global warming of about one degree Fahrenheit that is already in the pipeline. Even if there were no further increase of human-made gases in the air, climate would continue to warm that much over the next century. Warmer world-wide water temperatures also affect other things. "Warmer waters increase the likelihood of accelerated ice sheet disintegration and sea level rise during this century," Hansen said. Since 1993, sea levels have been measured by satellite altimeters. Data has shown they have risen by approximately 3.1 centimeters or 1.26 inches per decade. Although 3.1 centimeters is a small change, the rate of increase is twice as large as in the preceding century. There are positive feedbacks that come into play, as the area of ice melt increases. The researchers agree monitoring ice sheets and sea level is necessary to best ensure the system is in balance. For more information and images about this story on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/environment/earth_energy.html. Journal reference: James Hansen, Larissa Nazarenko, Reto Ruedy, Makiko Sato, Josh Willis, Anthony Del Genio, Dorothy Koch, Andrew Lacis, Ken Lo, Surabi Menon, Tica Novakov, Judith Perlwitz, Gary Russell, Gavin A. Schmidt and Nicholas Tausnev, 2005. Earth's energy imbalance: confirmation and implications. Science Express, 10.1126/science.1110252, http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1110252v2. Contacts: Gretchen Cook-Anderson or Erica Hupp NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-0836 or -1237 An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1543.html. __________________________________________________________________________ SEARCH ON AGAIN FOR MARS POLAR LANDER By Leonard David From Space.com 2 May 2005 The search is back on for a spacecraft that disappeared during a landing attempt nearly six years ago. And there are hints that the probe might have been found. Mars Polar Lander was headed for a touchdown near the planet's south pole December 3, 1999. But the spacecraft never reported home. An investigation of the mishap concluded that the most probable cause of the failure was the generation of spurious signals when the craft's legs were deployed during descent. Read the full article at http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/050502_mpl_search.html. __________________________________________________________________________ WADING IN MARTIAN WATER By Bernard Foing From Astrobiology Magazine 2 May 2005 The European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft has been orbiting Mars for over a year. While the high resolution images of the planet's many craters, volcanoes, and other features get the most notice, the spacecraft's seven instruments have also gathered large amounts of data about the planet's atmosphere, geology, and chemistry. Bernard Foing, ESA Chief Scientist, provides on overview of the most notable discoveries made during Europe's first trip to the Red Planet. In part one of this overview, Foing wades through the evidence for liquid water on Mars. Mars is the little brother of the Earth, with different processes working on different scales. Like Earth, Mars has tectonics, volcanics, erosion, and an atmosphere. We can study the cycle of water on Mars--water can be present as ice, we know it's in the atmosphere, and it has existed there in liquid form. There was evidently liquid water on the surface of Mars in the first billion years of its history. Although Earth and Mars formed from the same materials, the two planets evolved differently. Water in the atmosphere of Mars may have dissipated very early, and so Mars may have turned cold and dry after the first billion years. One indication of this early loss of water comes from how the martian atmosphere interacts with the solar wind. An experiment on Mars Express shows that that this interaction is causing Mars to lose 100 tons of its atmosphere per day. The Earth also loses part of its atmosphere every day to space, but Earth has a magnetic shield. The Earth's magnetosphere prevents particulates from the solar wind from impacting the Earth, and so for this reason, we don't eject as much of our atmosphere. If there had been an extended ocean on Mars 3.5 billion years ago, it might have allowed the planet to maintain a dense atmosphere. The greenhouse on Mars would have kept water stable at the surface. But after Mars's own early magnetic shield disappeared, the atmosphere started to be lost due to interaction with the solar wind, and this dramatically accelerated the loss of water. Today, the atmospheric pressure on Mars is very low, a hundred times lower than on Earth. At this low pressure, water on the surface just evaporates, and ice sublimates--goes directly from a solid to a gas. But some network river features that we see here and there on the surface of Mars suggest that there have been some sporadic episodes of surface liquid water flows. One way to determine if there was an ocean after the first billion years is to look for minerals like carbonates. The infrared OMEGA instrument on Mars Express can look at the signature of minerals. The OMEGA team looked extensively for carbonates, but they could not find any. So perhaps there was no ocean in the last 3 billion years. Or, if there was one, the rocks that have been left have been covered by other soil layers. We still have to figure this out. This should not be interpreted that there is no water on Mars at all today. There is water ice in the polar caps, and we think we see the accumulation of ice in the tropics and equator. For instance, there is water ice deposited in high mountains at the equator--it's a bit like the snow cap of Mount Kilimanjaro. The transfer of ice from the poles to the equator seems to happen in a cycle of 5 million years. We have found some features which suggest that 5 million years ago, there was an ice reservoir near Olympus Mons, the largest volcano on Mars, and also near Elysium, another big volcano. We believe we have evidence of recent volcanic activity on Mars. So these two discoveries--recent volcanic activity and recent water ice--means there were some eras where there could have been the melting of water, not only on the surface, but also in the subsurface. This subsurface water melt could be resurfacing, and then collecting in some lower elevation. It seems that we have found a place where, 5 million years ago, some of this melted water has deposited like a very flat ice mirror. The 3-D stereo images from Mars Express show that this frozen sea is extremely flat--a slope of only 5 millidegrees. It's flatter than a table. It has been suggested that this frozen sea is nothing more than a solidified lava flow, but such lava flows tend to be much more bumpy. We think the lake was deposited and then covered by a layer of ash, which, soon after the water froze, prevented the ice from sublimating away to the tenuous atmosphere. This frozen sea is about the size of the North Sea, with the depth of 50 meters. There was a kind of liquid sea movement where the ice layer became fragmented and produced ice rafts. This area has a huge potential for astrobiology and future exploration. But we still need to know how much of the ice has been preserved, and how much of it has been able to sublimate anyway through the ash layer. We also need to know the thickness of the ash layer that covers it. The MARSIS instrument on Mars Express will have the ability to investigate beneath the surface, down to a few kilometers in depth. Since liquid water has a very strong radar signal, we might be able to get a vertical profile of how much ice and water there is in the overall subsurface of Mars. Because MARSIS was designed to penetrate very deeply below the surface, we won't resolve very thin layers. So if the ice layer is only a few meters or a few tens of meters thick, MARSIS may not see it. But NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, to be launched this year, will have radar that can probe the near surface. So that will be a way to test our frozen sea. Read the original article at http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1544.html. __________________________________________________________________________ GRAVITY AND AGING IN SPACE TO BE DISCUSSED AT NASA LECTURE NASA/ARC release 05-29AR 27 April 2005 "Space Exploration: Can Gravity Reverse Aging?" will be the title of a free public lecture at NASA Ames Research Center on May 4, 2005. Dr. Joan Vernikos, author and former director of life sciences at NASA Ames, will be the featured speaker. The lecture will take place from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM PDT in Building 943's Eagle Room, just outside the main gate of NASA Ames Research Center, located in California's Silicon Valley. Vernikos is the second guest speaker in a series of lectures sponsored by NASA Research Park (NRP). The series' focus is on three main themes: "explore, discover and understand." "The intent of the NRP lecture series is to highlight exploration, in keeping with NASA's Vision for Space Exploration," said NRP division chief Mejghan Haider. "Stay tuned. Our topics will include everything from new technologies that support human missions to the moon and Mars, to autonomous robots and Earth analog research," she said. Vernikos, who worked at NASA Ames in the 1960's, will discuss how to live a vital, healthy life, as outlined in her latest book, "The G-Connection: Harness Gravity and Reverse Aging." During her early years as a space biology researcher at NASA Ames, Vernikos noticed the connection between what happens to the body in space and the symptoms of "normal" aging. Her pioneering work at NASA Ames focused on spaceflight analog studies, in which healthy humans underwent long periods of bed rest, a situation that mimicked the micro-gravity conditions in space. This breakthrough research created a deeper understanding of the hormonal and behavioral mechanisms that underlie human response to long-duration spaceflight and aging on Earth. The NRP Exploration Lecture Series was launched in Spring 2004 and takes place three times a year. For information about future lectures in the series, please visit http://researchpark.arc.nasa.gov. To reach NASA Ames, take the Moffett Field exit off Highway 101. Seating at the lectures is on a first-come, first-served basis. Contacts: Jennifer Kremer or Mike Mewhinney NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Phone: 650-604-3970, 650-604-3937 or 650-604-9000 E-mail: jkremer@mail.arc.nasa.gov or Michael.Mewhinney@nasa.gov __________________________________________________________________________ MARS TELECOMMUNICATION ORBITER (MTO) SCIENCE INVESTIGATION From the NAI Newsletter 28 April 2005 Notice of Intent to Release a Solicitation for a Mars Telecommunication Orbiter (MTO) Science Investigation NASA intends to release an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) no earlier than May 1, 2005, for a MTO Science Investigation. This investigation must support the science theme of Mars Climate/Weather Monitoring identified by the MTO Science Definition Team. The MTO science investigation will require providing a science instrument to be launched with the MTO mission in late 2009. The launch services and spacecraft will be NASA-provided resources. Proposals in response to this AO will be due 90 days after its formal release. Participation in this AO will be open to all categories of U.S. and non- U.S. organizations, including educational institutions, industry, not-for- profit organizations, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, NASA Centers and other Government agencies. A preproposal conference will be scheduled approximately 3-6 weeks after the AO is released. Details for this conference will be provided in the AO. Questions or comments about this intention to release an MTO Science Investigation may be addressed in writing or by E-mail to the NASA MTO Program Scientist: Dr. R. Stephen Saunders, Ref.: MTO AO, Mail Suite: 3K39A, Solar System Exploration Division, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, 20546-0001; E mail: stephen.saunders@nasa.gov (subject line to read "MTO AO"). __________________________________________________________________________ ORIGINS OF SOLAR SYSTEMS GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE From the NAI Newsletter 28 April 2005 The preliminary schedule for the June 26 - July 1 2005 Gordon Research Conference is now up on their web site (http://www.grc.org/programs/2005/origins.htm). The conference will be held at Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut and chaired by Joseph Nuth of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. __________________________________________________________________________ JENAM 2005 ASTROBIOLOGY SESSIONS From the NAI Newsletter 28 April 2005 Two days of the July 2005 JENAM (Joint European and National Astronomy Meeting) will be devoted to "Astrobiology and Solar System Exploration". This workshop will include three plenary lectures by renowned scientists on hot topics. * Agustin Chicarro, ESA, "The remarkable achievements of Mars Express"; * Andrew H Knoll, Harvard University, Cambridge USA, "Opportunity, Meridiani, and the astrobiological exploration of Mars"; * Jean-Pierre Lebreton, ESA/ESTEC and Dennis MATSON, JPL, "The Cassini- Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan: highlights and main results". As an extension of JENAM, on July 8th 2005, a workshop will be dedicated to "Astrobiology in Belgium". The highlight of this workshop will be a plenary lecture by Professor C. de Duve, Belgian Nobel Laureate. (Registration is free for this July 8th workshop.) http://www.astro.ulg.ac.be/RPub/Colloques/JENAM/index.html __________________________________________________________________________ NSBRI POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM SOLICITING APPLICATIONS From the NAI Newsletter 28 April 2005 The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) is soliciting applications for its Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. Two-year fellowships are available in any U.S. laboratory carrying out space- related biomedical or biotechnological research that supports the NSBRI's goals. NSBRI research addresses and seeks solutions to the various health concerns associated with long-duration human space exploration. Applicants must submit proposals with the support of a mentor and institution, and all proposals will be evaluated by a peer-review panel. The program is open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or persons with pre-existing visas obtained through their sponsoring institutions. Detailed program and application submission information is available on the NSBRI web site at http://www.nsbri.org/Announcements/rfp05-01.html. Letters of intent and applications must be submitted through the NSBRI's electronic proposal submission system. Letters of intent are due May 11, 2005, and the application deadline is June 28, 2005. Questions may be directed to Gerald Sonnenfeld, Ph.D., Program Director, NSBRI Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, E-mail: postdoc@www.nsbri.org, Telephone: 607-777- 4818. __________________________________________________________________________ NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE SUMMER SCHOOL From the NAI Newsletter 28 April 2005 NASA's 17th Annual Planetary Science Summer School will hold two sessions this summer, July 25-29 and August 1-5, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. Applications are due June 3, 2005. Science and engineering post-doctoral and graduate students with a strong interest in careers in planetary exploration are encouraged to apply. Preference is given to U.S. citizens. The student teams will carry out the equivalent of an early concept study responsive to a selected NASA Announcement of Opportunity, prepare a proposal authorization review presentation, present it to a review board, and receive feedback. At the end of the week, students will have a clearer understanding of the relationships among mission design, cost, and schedule, and the trade-offs necessary to stay within cost and schedule while preserving the opportunity to acquire high-quality science. They will also understand the lifecycle of a space mission. Partial financial support is available to a limited number of individuals to help defray the expense of travel and lodging only. Applications are to be submitted electronically by June 3, 2005 at http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/pscischool/. For further information, visit http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/pscischool/ or contact Ms. Anita M. Sohus, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, M/S 311-100, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109; phone: 818-354-6613; e-mail: Anita.M.Sohus@jpl.nasa.gov. __________________________________________________________________________ CASSINI UPDATES NASA/JPL/UA releases Cassini Captures Swiss-Cheese Look of Saturn Moon NASA/JPL image advisory 2005-064, 27 April 2005 An image of Saturn's small moon, Epimetheus (epp-ee-MEE-thee-uss), was captured by the Cassini spacecraft in the closest view ever taken of the pockmarked body. Epimetheus is irregularly shaped and dotted with soft- edged craters. The many large, softened craters on Epimetheus indicate a surface that is several billion years old. The moon shares an orbit with another of Saturn's small moons, Janus. The two dance in a planetary tango as they move in almost identical orbits, exchanging orbits every four years, instead of colliding. Both play a role in creating intricate waves in Saturn's rings; both have densities significantly lower than that of solid ice, suggesting they may be "rubble piles" held together by gravity. At 116 kilometers (72 miles) across, Epimetheus is slightly smaller than Janus at 181 kilometers (113 miles) across. Spectra of Epimetheus from the Cassini visual infrared mapping spectrometer indicate that the moon is mostly water ice. The new Epimetheus image is available at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov, http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://ciclops.org. The images for this false color composite were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 30, 2005, at a distance of approximately 74,600 kilometers (46,350 miles) from Epimetheus. Cassini's RADAR and VIMS Instruments Eye Impact Crater on Titan By Lori Stiles, University of Arizona release, 27 April 2005 The Cassini spacecraft has seen a 50-mile-diameter impact crater on Titan with different instruments on separate flybys, giving scientists new information on impact-crater formation on Saturn's giant moon. They've released a composite image of one of Titan's most prominent impact craters as previously seen by Cassini's radar and recently seen by its Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). The composite image is online at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and at http://uanews.org. "The radar image was taken during the Cassini spacecraft's February 15, 2005 Titan flyby, and the VIMS images were taken during its April 16, 2005 Titan flyby," said Robert H. Brown of The University of Arizona, head of the VIMS experiment. Brown released the composite image at the European Geosciences Union meeting in Vienna, Austria, on Monday (April 25). The crater seen on Titan by both radar and VIMS is more than 50 times larger than Meteor Crater in northern Arizona. In radar, the crater and its ejecta blanket are bright. In radar, brighter surfaces mean rougher terrains, or else terrains tilted towards the radar. At VIMS infrared wavelengths, the crater appears dark and the ejecta blanket is bright, showing that the crust on the crater floor is different material than the ejecta. "The composite image highlights the differences and similarities in how two instruments see the same thing," Brown said. "It shows the power of combining instruments when you are trying to understand objects in the Saturnian system." VIMS is essentially a camera that takes pictures in 352 different colors at the same time. The colors cover the visible spectrum and into the infrared, or from three-tenths of a micron up to five and one-tenth microns. (A micron is one millionth of a meter.) Scientists can identify the chemical composition of the surfaces, atmospheres and rings of Saturn and its moons using VIMS. Cassini began a 4-year-or-more exploratory tour of the Saturn system in July 2004. It has seen two impact craters on Titan so far. For more information about the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer visit http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu/. Cassini Significant Events for 21-27 April 2005 NASA/JPL release, 29 April 2005 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired Wednesday from the Goldstone tracking station. 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. Uplink Operations, Science Planning, and the Spacecraft Operations Office use day-of-year (DOY) instead of dates from the Julian calendar when planning activities or referring to events. This is part of the "project speak" of Cassini, as well as all other flight projects at JPL. Beginning this week, DOY has been included as part of the header for each day. This will help you orient yourself for future events as they are mentioned in this report. On Saturday, April 23, Cassini will pass apoapsis and begin Rev 7. During this period the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer and other Optical Remote Sensing instruments will take data for a mosaic of the rings, the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) will perform a stellar calibration, and the Imaging Science Subsystem will look for spokes in the rings. UVIS will also be observing the rings in the hopes of detecting flashes from meter-sized interplanetary impactors. As a follow-up to the Titan-5 flyby on April 16, the Spacecraft Operations Office (SCO) reported that ACS is working to estimate the angular momentum imparted on the S/C due to atmospheric torque. This data will be presented at the Titan Atmospheric Working Group on May 16. Thursday, April 21 (DOY 111): An updated version of the S10 Live Inertial Vector Propagator (IVP) Update overlay vectors for Dione, Tethys, Titan and Saturn (DOYs 122-125) has been placed in the Program file repository. Once on-board, the overlay will be stored in the background sequencing region. This item is an example of how even though a background sequence is "final" and currently executing on board the spacecraft, sequence development may continue to within days of the end of execution. For the S11 sequence, the Preliminary Sequence Integration and Validation 2 Cycle 1 initial merged sequence products were also delivered to the file repository. Both the S11 background sequence and the two scheduled live moveable blocks were included. The sequence of events file and space flight operations schedule will be released by end of day Friday, April 22. The Program has approved an Enceladus tweak to the reference trajectory that will retarget the E2 flyby to 175 km. Additional changes as a result of the tweak include the b-plane angle at -215 degrees, Mimas at 62,700 km and the time has shifted about 22 min later, Rev 12 begins 24 minutes later, Rev 13 begins 1 minute later, etc. Friday, April 22 (DOY 112): A Software Review/Certification Requirements delivery meeting was held for ISS flight software. Version V1.4.0 contained corrections that otherwise would have resulted in loss of science data and diagnostic information, reduced operational complexity, and fixed some things that had the potential of causing problems in future. A verification and validation exercise concluded today in the Integrated Test Laboratory (ITL) for the Radio Science Subsystem (RSS) Inertial Vector Definition (IVD) Update. The V&V was successful and commands will be uplinked as planned to the spacecraft. The RSS team reported that even though Canberra's DSS-34 was not scheduled to return to service with Ka-band downlink capability until April 25, an RSS DSS-34 Ka-band checkout test was scheduled today with the understanding that it would be supported on a best efforts basis. The station locked up on Ka-band shortly after the beginning of the pass, and enabled monopulse immediately after. DSS-34 Radio Science Receiver (RSR) Ka-band data has now been recorded for the first time ever! Monday, April 25 (DOY 114): Uplink Operations sent commands to the spacecraft for a Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) Power-on reset that will be executed on DOY 118, and to perform a CDS memory readout and verification of all partitions. Preliminary port #1 for the S13 Science Operations Plan Update process occurred today. The products were merged and reports published. Official port #2 is scheduled for Friday, April 29. Tuesday, April 26 (DOY 115): Jack O'Connell, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, visited JPL at the invitation of the JPL Education Office and the encouragement of Congressman Adam Shiff, who also attended. The Education Office provided a briefing on JPL education activities including the Cassini Reading, Writing and Rings program. An Assessment meeting was held to review all of the requested changes to the S15 sequence. With the exception of one request, it appears that all of the remaining changes will fit within the available resources. Unless the Target Working Teams (TWTs) and Orbiter Science Teams (OSTs) recommendations change over the next couple of weeks, it is likely that the Decision meeting scheduled for May 17 will be canceled. Wednesday, April 27 (DOY 116): The maneuver approval meeting was held today for Orbit Trim Maneuver #24. The S11 sequence leads will be asking for an ITL V&V test for a live moveable block to execute during that sequence. Today a joint Simulation/V&V meeting was held to review the files necessary and to develop a schedule. Cassini Outreach, along with the JPL Astronomy club, concluded the fourth Saturn viewing night at JPL this week. JPL employees were invited to bring their families back to JPL at sunset for views of Saturn and other visible objects. Several hundred employees and their families participated and received Cassini outreach material. Uplink Operations sent commands to the spacecraft for the Live IVP Update overlay vectors for Dione, Tethys, Titan and Saturn. The mini-sequence has been properly received by the S/C. The file will begin execution on 2005-122T02:35:59 and will continue for approximately 3 days and 16 hours In addition, SCO radiated the OTM 24 file which will execute on 2005- 118T23:52:56. Check out the Cassini web site at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov for the latest press releases and images. The Cassini-Huygens mission 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, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Contacts: Carolina Martinez Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA Phone: 818-354-9382 Preston Dyches Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO Phone: 720-974-5823 Robert H. Brown University of Arizona Phone: 520-621-9692 E-mail: rhb@lpl.arizona.edu Laurence Soderblom USGS-Flagstaff Phone: 928-556-7018 E-mail: lsoderblom@usgs.gov Lori Stiles UA News Services Phone: 520-621-1877 Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1539.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-05zr.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-05zs.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-05zu.html http://spaceflightnow.com/cassini/050430epimetheus.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/close_view_epimetheus.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/cassini_concentrate_rings.html __________________________________________________________________________ NASA'S DEEP IMPACT SPACECRAFT SPOTS ITS QUARRY NASA/JPL release 2005-065 27 April 2005 Sixty-nine days before it gets up-close-and-personal with a comet, NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft successfully photographed its quarry, comet Tempel 1, from a distance of 64 million kilometers (39.7 million miles). The image, the first of many comet portraits it will take over the next 10 weeks, will aid Deep Impact's navigators, engineers and scientists as they plot their final trajectory toward an Independence Day encounter. "It is great to get a first glimpse at the comet from our spacecraft," said Deep Impact Principal Investigator Dr. Michael A'Hearn of the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. "With daily observations beginning in May, Tempel 1 will become noticeably more impressive as we continue to close the gap between spacecraft and comet. What is now little more than a few pixels across will evolve by July 4 into the best, most detailed images of a comet ever taken." The ball of dirty ice and rock was detected on April 25 by Deep Impact's medium resolution instrument on the very first attempt. While making the detection, the spacecraft's camera saw stars as dim as 11th visual magnitude, more than 100 times dimmer than a human can see on a clear night. "This is the first of literally thousands of images we will take of Tempel 1 for both science and navigational purposes," said Deputy Program Manager Keyur Patel at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. "Our goal is to impact a one-meter long (39-inch) spacecraft into about a 6.5- kilometer wide (4-mile) comet that is bearing down on it at 10.2 kilometers per second (6.3 miles per second), while both are 133.6 million kilometers (83 million miles) away from Earth. By finding the comet as early and as far away as we did is a definite aid to our navigation." To view the comet image on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov/deepimpact or http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/. Deep Impact is comprised of two parts, a "flyby" spacecraft and a smaller "impactor". The impactor will be released into the comet's path for a planned high-speed collision on July 4. The crater produced by the impact could range in size from the width of a large house up to the size of a football stadium and from 2 to 14 stories deep. Ice and dust debris will be ejected from the crater, revealing the material beneath. The Deep Impact spacecraft has four data collectors to observe the effects of the collision: a camera and infrared spectrometer comprise the high resolution instrument, a medium resolution instrument, and a duplicate of that camera on the impactor (called the impactor targeting sensor) that will record the vehicle's final moments before it is run over by comet Tempel 1 at a speed of about 37,000 kilometers per hour (23,000 miles per hour). The overall Deep Impact mission management for this Discovery class program is conducted by the University of Maryland. Deep Impact project management is handled by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The spacecraft was built for NASA by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation, Boulder, CO. For more information about Deep Impact on the Internet, visit http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/. For more information about NASA on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov. Contacts: D. C. Agle Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA Phone: 818-393-9011 Dolores Beasley/Erica Hupp NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1753/1237 Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1541.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/comet-05k.html http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0504/27deepimpact/ http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/deep_impact_target_view.html __________________________________________________________________________ MARS ROVER PANORAMA SHOWS VISTA FROM "LOOKOUT" POINT NASA/JPL image advisory 2005-066 29 April 2005 From a ridgeline vantage point overlooking slopes, valleys and plains, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has returned its latest color panorama of the martian landscape. Spirit's "Lookout" panorama is available online at http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mer_main.html and http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov. The approximately true color image shows a full 360-degree view from a site informally named "Larry's Lookout," about halfway up "Husband Hill." Dr. Jim Bell of Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, lead scientist for the panoramic cameras on both the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, said, "Spirit and the rover team worked hard over many weeks to get to this vantage point along the flanks of Husband Hill. The rugged ridge and valley terrain seen here is similar in some respects to the view seen months earlier at the 'West Spur,' but the chemistry and mineralogy here are significantly different. Specifically, some of the areas seen here amid the outcrop rocks and in places where the subsurface was exposed by the rover wheels contain the highest sulfur abundances ever measured by Spirit." The view includes the summit of Husband Hill about 200 meters (about 660 feet) southward and about 45 meters (about 150 feet) higher. As Spirit continues uphill, scientists are looking for evidence about whether the intensity of water-related alteration increases with elevation or whether there are pockets of more heavily altered rocks and soils scattered throughout the hills. Spirit's panoramic camera took more than 300 individual frames between February 27 and March 2 that are combined into the big picture. Downloading the frames to Earth took several weeks, and processing took additional time. Imaging specialists at Cornell and at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, calibrated the color and assembled the image. Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, successfully completed three-month primary missions a year ago. In extended missions since then, they have been exploring at increasing distances from their landing sites. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages NASA's Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. Contacts: Guy Webster Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA Phone: 818-354-6278 Dolores Beasley NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1753 Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1540.html http://www.marsdaily.com/news/mars-mers-05zp.html http://www.marsdaily.com/news/mars-mers-05zq.html http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/050427_rovers_update.html __________________________________________________________________________ MARS EXPRESS UPDATES ESA releases Mars Express Radar to be Deployed in May ESA release, 29 April 2005 Following green light for the deployment of ESA's Mars Express radar, given in February this year, the radar booms are now planned to be deployed in the first half of May. Once the deployment is successful, the Mars Express MARSIS radar will enable the first European spacecraft to orbit Mars to complement its study of the planet's atmosphere and surface. MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding instrument) is the first antenna of its kind which was also designed to actually look below the surface of Mars at the different layers of material, most notably for water. The deployment of the three MARSIS radar booms is an operation which will take place in three phases, in a window spanning from 2 to 12 May 2005. These operations will be initiated and monitored from ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. Each boom will be deployed separately, with the two 20-meter "dipole" booms to be unfurled first and the 7-meter "monopole" boom to follow a few days later. Before each deployment, the spacecraft will be placed in a "robust" attitude control mode, which will allow it to tumble freely while the boom extends before regaining standard pointing to the Sun and Earth. After each deployment, the control team will conduct a full assessment of the spacecraft status before a decision is taken to proceed with the next phase. The result of each deployment can be assessed only after a series of tests, each taking few days. After the deployment of the three booms, ESA engineers will start the analysis of the complete behaviour of the satellite to be able to confirm the overall success of the operation. The current schedule is subject to changes, because the timing of the complex series of operations cannot be all fixed beforehand. A status report will follow in due course. Once the deployment is complete, MARSIS will undergo three weeks of commissioning before the start of actual science investigations, ready for when one of the prime regions of interest for radar observations comes into the right position through the natural evolution of the spacecraft's orbit. The MARSIS instrument was developed by the University of Rome 'La Sapienza', Italy, in partnership with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, USA. Tithonium Chasma Up Close ESA release, 29 April 2005 These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show part of Tithonium Chasma, a major trough at the western end of the Valles Marineris canyon on Mars. The images were taken during orbit 887 with a ground resolution of approximately 13 meters per pixel. The displayed region is located at the beginning of the canyon system at about latitude 5° South and longitude 280° East. North is to the right of the image. Tithonium Chasma extends roughly from east to west and runs parallel to Ius Chasma. It ranges from approximately 10 to 110 kilometers wide, narrows in an easterly (top to bottom) direction and has a maximum depth of about 3.5 to 4 kilometers. The color image covers the eastern part of Tithonium Chasma. Along the slopes of the trough (center), linear features due to erosion are visible. At the base of the northern wall (on the right of the black and white image), an apron of material has a longitudinal ridge pattern and may have been caused by a large landslide (see close-up). Dune fields are scattered throughout the trough, including the north-east portion of a crater. A string of depressions on the plains in the south- west of the image may be caused by surface collapse. These features are common to this region and extend parallel to Valles Marineris. Nearby, prominent linear features are visible and may be faults associated with the formation of the Tharsis Rise, located to the west of Valles Marineris and extending to a height of 8 to 10 kilometers. Some of these faults can be seen faintly extending into the trough. In the eastern part of the trough, an interesting hill exhibits linear features. These structures are highlighted in the following close-up and perspective views and could have been caused by fluvial or aeolian (wind- related) erosion. The darker material to the south of this hill is thought to be underlying material that has been exposed by wind erosion. By cutting deep into the martian surface, this area of Valles Marineris provides a window into geological and climatic history of the planet. Valles Marineris has had a complex evolution and has been shaped by tectonic, volcanic and glacial processes, as well as possibly fluvial or aeolian erosion. Data from the HRSC, coupled with information from the other instruments on ESA's Mars Express and other missions, will provide new insights into the geological evolution of the Red Planet and also pave the way for future missions. The color images were processed using the HRSC nadir (vertical view) and three color channels. The perspective views were calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels. The 3D anaglyph image was created from the nadir channel and one of the stereo channels. Stereoscopic glasses are needed to view the 3D image. Image resolution has been decreased for use on the internet. Read the original news release at http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMMFP2IU7E_0.html. Contact: Fred Jansen ESA Mars Express Mission Manager E-mail: fjansen@rssd.esa.int Read the original news release at http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMH4Q2IU7E_index_0.html. Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.marsdaily.com/news/marsexpress-05l.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/marsis_deployed_may.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/tithonium_chasma_valley_mars.html __________________________________________________________________________ MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES NASA/JPL/MSSS release 21-27 April 2005 The following new images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are now available. Hills and Flows (Released 21 April 2005) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/04/21/ Valley near Ceraunius (Released 22 April 2005) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/04/22/ Groovy Dunes (Released 23 April 2005) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/04/23/ Collapse Pits (Released 24 April 2005) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/04/24/ Cratered Isidis Plain (Released 25 April 2005) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/04/25/ Mars at Ls 193 Degrees (Released 26 April 2005) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/04/26/ Meridiani Complexity (Released 27 April 2005) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/04/27/ 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 25-29 April 2005 Southern Kasei Vallis (Released 25 April 2005) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20050425a.html Alluvial Fans in Kasei Vallis (Released 26 April 2005) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20050426a.html Islands in Kasei Vallis (Released 27 April 2005) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20050427a.html Rejoining Flows (Released 28 April 2005) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20050428A.html Water Flow Evidence in Kasei Vallis (Released 29 April 2005) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20050429a.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. __________________________________________________________________________ MRO: NASA'S NEXT MARS SPACECRAFT ARRIVES IN FLORIDA FOR FINAL CHECKOUT NASA/JPL release 2005-069 2 May 2005 A large spacecraft destined to be Earth's next robotic emissary to Mars has completed the first leg of its journey, a cargo-plane ride from Colorado to Florida in preparation for an August launch. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is an important next step in fulfilling NASA's vision of space exploration and ultimately sending human explorers to Mars and beyond. The spacecraft's prime mission will run through 2010. During this period, the project will study Mars' composition and structure, from atmosphere to underground, in much greater detail than any previous orbiter. It will also evaluate possible sites for future martian landings and will serve as a high-data-rate communications relay for surface missions. "Great work by a talented team has brought Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to this milestone in our progress toward a successful mission," said Jim Graf of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., project manager for the mission. The spacecraft arrived at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility on April 30 aboard a C-17 cargo plane and was taken to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to begin processing. It was built near Denver by Lockheed Martin Space Systems. Launch is scheduled for August 10 at 7:53:58 AM EDT (4:53:58 AM PDT), at the opening of a two-hour launch window. The spacecraft will undergo multiple mechanical assembly operations and electrical tests to verify its readiness for launch. A test this month will verify the spacecraft's ability to communicate through NASA's Deep Space Network tracking stations. A June test will check the deployment of the spacecraft's high gain communications antenna. Another major deployment test will check out the spacecraft's large solar arrays. In July, the spacecraft will be filled with hydrazine fuel for the "Mars orbit insertion" engine burn, which will be used to reduce the velocity of the spacecraft and place it in orbit around Mars. The fuel also will be used for attitude-control propellant. On July 26 the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will be encapsulated in the Atlas V fairing prior to being moved to its launch site on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Lockheed Martin Atlas V arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard an Antonov cargo plane on March 31 and was taken to the high bay at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center. The Atlas booster will be transported in May to the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 to be erected. The Centaur upper stage will be transported to that facility for hoisting atop the booster in June. Prelaunch preparations will include a "wet dress rehearsal" in July, during which the Atlas V will be rolled from the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad on its mobile launch platform. The vehicle will be fully fueled with RP-1, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, and the team will perform a simulated countdown. The Atlas V will then be rolled back into the Vertical Integration Facility for final launch preparations. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will be transported from the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center to the Vertical Integration Facility on July 29. It will be hoisted atop the launch vehicle to join the Atlas V for the final phase of launch preparations. The spacecraft is scheduled to undergo a functional test on August 1, followed by a final week of launch vehicle and spacecraft closeouts. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project. International Launch Services, a Lockheed Martin joint venture, and Lockheed Martin Space Systems are providing launch services for the mission. Information about Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is available online at http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro. Contacts: Guy Webster Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA Phone: 818-354-6278 Dolores Beasley NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1753 George Diller NASA Kennedy Space Center, FL Phone: 321-867-2468 Joan Underwood Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, CO Phone: 303-971-7398 __________________________________________________________________________ End Marsbugs, Volume 12, Number 16.