Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology NewsletterVolume 11, Number 10, 2 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

Page 1 FAREWELL TO PROJECT PHOENIXBy Thomas Pierson

Page 2 MAGNETIC FIELDS AND WATER ON EUROPABy Cynthia Phillips

Page 2 PALEONTOLOGY MUSEUM LAUNCHES NEW WEB SITE ON EVOLUTION By Robert Sanders

Page 3 ASTROPHYSICISTS OBSERVE ANOMALIES IN MAKEUP OF INTERPLANETARY DUST PARTICLELawrence Livermore National Laboratory release

Page 4 ASTRONOMERS FIND NEAREST AND YOUNGEST STAR WITH A DUSTY DEBRIS DISK, BUT ARE THERE PLANETS?By Robert Sanders

Page 5 NASA EARTH CREW WEBCAST SPOTLIGHTS SPACE FOODNASA release 04-075

Page 5 BIOSPHERE UNDER THE GLASSFrom Astrobiology Magazine

Page 6 KEY TO MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE FOUNDJoint Astronomy Centre release

Page 7 TITAN IN A TEST TUBE: INTERVIEW WITH JEAN-MICHEL BERNARDFrom Astrobiology Magazine

Page 8 NASA SCIENTISTS WIN GRANTS FOR NEW RESEARCHNASA/ARC release 04-13AR

Page 9 OPPORTUNITY ROVER FINDS STRONG EVIDENCE MERIDIANI PLANUM WAS WETNASA/JPL release 2004-074

Announcements

Page 10 NASA UPDATES SPACE STATION IMPLEMENTATION PLANNASA note N04-035

Page 11 JPL ANNOUNCES NEW EXPLORATION OFFICE, MANAGEMENT CHANGESNASA/JPL release 2004-072

Page 11 CONTACT THE PRESIDENT'S SPACE COMMISSIONBy Chris Carberry

Page 11 NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEXBy David J. Thomas

Mission Reports

Page 12 CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENTSNASA/JPL release

Page 12 CASSINI CAPTURES STUNNING VIEW OF SATURNNASA/JPL release 04-073

Page 13 MARS EXPLORATION ROVERS UPDATESNASA/JPL releases

Page 14 MARS EXPRESS: HECATES THOLUS VOLCANO IN 3DESA release

Page 14 MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGESNASA/JPL/ASU release

Page 15 ESA'S ROSETTA LAUNCH RE-SCHEDULEDESA release 13-2004

Page 15 ROSETTA BEGINS ITS 10-YEAR JOURNEY TO THE ORIGINS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEMESA release 14-2004

FAREWELL TO PROJECT PHOENIXBy Thomas PiersonFrom The SETI Observer

26 February 2004

As the month draws to a close, so too does a chapter in the history of SETI and the Institute itself. Early next month Project Phoenix, the world's flagship targeted SETI search, will conclude its last observation after nearly a decade. Phoenix has thoroughly examined over 700 nearby sun-like stars in nearly ten years of observing at some of the world's greatest radio telescopes in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Green Bank, West Virginia, Parkes, Australia, and Jodrell Bank, England. Our astronomers and engineers have logged countless miles and labored long hours in this ambitious endeavor. Over the last ten years, Project Phoenix has offered our astronomers the unique opportunity to rigorously pursue a scientific exploration for evidence of cosmic company.

The search, of course, is not ending. Indeed, we will soon launch a SETI project that will ultimately speed up our SETI searching by a factor of 300! When complete, the Allen Telescope Array will be the world's first instrument dedicated 24/7 to a targeted SETI search. No longer will our staff spend days readying equipment for long shipments, leave family and friends for weeks, and feel the pressures of needing to maximize infinitely precious and limited observing time on the radio telescope. This is exciting!

Yet I cannot help but feel stirred during these final days of our last deployment, when the anticipation of knowing that we may yet detect a signal is as keen as always. Arecibo is a magical place, and deployment, for all its rigors, is a magical time for our scientists, and for me. It is never easy to say good-bye.

Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 11, Number 10, 2 March 2004

MAGNETIC FIELDS AND WATER ON EUROPABy Cynthia PhillipsFrom Space.com

26 February 2004

In four previous articles, we considered the Galilean satellites and the fact that tidal flexing, due to their resonant orbits, provides heat for volcanism on Io and could result in the presence of liquid water beneath Europa's icy surface. We also summarized the evidence for liquid water at Europa based on geological evidence from images of Europa taken by the Voyager and Galileo spacecraft, and based on thermal models of the interior of Europa. In this article we will consider the magnetic field results from Galileo, and their implications for Europa's subsurface structure.

The geological evidence is tantalizing, but incomplete—it suggests that liquid water could be present, but also allows for the possibility that the strange features we see on Europa's surface could all have formed through the motion of soft ice, without any liquid water at all. The thermal models present a similar picture—we know that there is about 100 km of material with the density of water at Europa's surface, but just can't be sure if it's completely solid, or if some (or most!) of it is liquid. Theoretical models that look at the behavior of Europa's interior over time suggest that it's possible that convection would quickly transport all the heat out of a liquid water layer and cause it to freeze solid, but it's also possible that a liquid layer could be sustained over geological time.

Read the full article at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_phillips_europa_040226.html.

PALEONTOLOGY MUSEUM LAUNCHES NEW WEB SITE ON EVOLUTION By Robert SandersUniversity of California at Berkeley release

26 February 2004

The debut this month of a new University of California, Berkeley, Web site devoted to evolution provides a much-needed resource for teachers as schools across the nation are being challenged to kick evolution out of the classroom or pair it with instruction in non-scientific alternatives, such as "intelligent design." The "Understanding Evolution" Web site (evolution.berkeley.edu), funded by the National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and created jointly by UC Berkeley's Museum of Paleontology and the National Center for Science Education, went online in early February. It debuted just as Georgia's Superintendent of Education advocated eliminating the evolution "buzzword" from the state science curriculum and the Ohio state Board of Education voted to include some aspects of intelligent design in lesson plans about evolution. For teachers caught up in the imbroglio, or those who just want to brush up on their understanding of the theory or find an engaging lesson plan for their students, the Web site is the place to go.

http://evolution.berkeley.edu

"Many K-12 teachers don't have a strong science background, so there is some discomfort in teaching evolution, which is perceived by some as

controversial," said Judy Scotchmoor, director of education and public programs at the UC Museum of Paleontology and a 25-year veteran of 7th and 8th grade science classrooms. "We provide a comfort zone. Teachers can use this Web site to increase their confidence level so they can teach evolution enthusiastically in the classroom."

One Tennessee science teacher who stumbled on the new site e-mailed the museum with his praise. "Your gorgeous, content-rich site absolutely knocked my socks off! Don't know who the genius was who knew exactly what middle-schoolers would be interested in while learning real science, but I am totally impressed! The content is superb and the graphics beyond belief."

Evolutionary biology is a remarkably diverse field, encompassing such disparate topics as anatomical studies of ancient fossils, molecular studies of rapidly evolving viruses, mathematical models of population change, and carefully controlled laboratory experiments. Image credit: UC Berkeley.

Scotchmoor and UC Berkeley integrative biology professors David Lindberg and Roy Caldwell worked closely with six teachers and numerous graduate students to assemble a site that would be "a one-stop shop" for teachers, and eventually students and the general public, on the theory of evolution.

"We're dealing with evolution as a science and how it fits into today's society," said Lindberg, who also is chair of the UC Berkeley Department of Integrative Biology. "We see and read about evolution in action all the time, but we don't often think about it."

The site is replete with practical examples of how evolution impacts our daily lives, including lesson plans about bunny breeding, the problem of antibiotic resistance in disease organisms, and the conservation and breeding of endangered species.

"To understand why we have to get a yearly flu shot, or why we need to manage rainbow trout and steelhead populations together, you have to understand evolution," Lindberg said.

One of those who worked on the project, Al Janulaw, an elementary and middle school science teacher for 32 years, thinks that many teachers are reluctant to teach evolution and, as a result, present it as just one explanation among many for change over time.

"When I look out at my middle school students, I tell them that this is the history of life on Earth, but I think it's common for other teachers to be more wishy-washy about it," said Janulaw, the immediate past-president of California Science Teachers Association and co-director of the North Bay Science Project located at Sonoma State University. "The intent of this Web site is to give teachers a background understanding of evolution, opening the door by giving them strategies for teaching and responding to misconceptions and roadblocks."

Lindberg noted that the site avoids a defensive or confrontational attitude toward those who do not accept evolution. Suggestions on dealing with religious or other objections are offered in a respectful way in a section called "Overcoming Roadblocks." Nevertheless, the site is clear that "There are no alternative scientific theories to account for the observations explained by evolutionary theory."

The heart of the site is Evolution 101, which can serve as a primer to evolutionary theory or an intensive course in the nitty gritty details of speciation, micro- and macroevolution, and ongoing research into how evolution happens.

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"This is what every science teacher should know about evolution," Scotchmoor said. "There are textbooks that cover the process, but we put it all in there, including discussions about the nature of science and the history of evolutionary thought, which has built on itself from the 1700s to today."

"Textbook publishers must market to many states, so you're going to get common-denominator coverage of evolution," Lindberg said. "We deal with evolution as a science."Anna Thanukos, who recently received her Ph.D. in science and math education from UC Berkeley and who drafted most of Evolution 101 over the past two years, said that it "provides context for teachers. Even if teachers plan to discuss only the tip of the iceberg of evolution, to teach effectively they need to understand all parts of the iceberg."

One of the knottiest issues the site's creators dealt with was how to define evolution. Even Lindberg and Caldwell, the scientists on the development team, initially couldn't agree on a definition. After many brainstorming sessions, they finally agreed on a concise and compact definition: descent with modification, both in the short run, as gene frequency changes from generation to generation (microevolution), and over many generations, leading to new species (macroevolution).

This definition distinguishes evolution from mere "changes with time"—a phrase Georgia wanted to substitute for evolution—and emphasizes a central theme of the theory of evolution, that we all share common ancestors, Scotchmoor said.

One of the "coolest" parts of the site, according to Thanukos, is the ability to search for lessons aimed at various grades. A second grade teacher, for example, can find 18 lessons that teach some aspect of evolution, from simple exercises that get kids to use their senses to explore the natural world to elementary displays of the concept of geologic time and extinction.

More than 900 teachers across the country are now part of the evaluation process as the development team continues to improve the Web site. HHMI's funding was primarily to build on the teacher site to develop companion sites for kids and for the public. In doing so, the team is experimenting with evolution comic books (one is titled "Survival of the Sneakiest"), the first of perhaps hundreds of personal stories about ongoing research on evolution, more online lesson modules for teachers, and video and Flash graphics to enhance the photos and cartoons now illustrating the site.

"This site is a long-term investment," Lindberg said. "We believe firmly that the way to ensure that evolution is taught in schools is to give teachers the resources, information and activities that they need to do a good job teaching evolution. This is a proactive stance, not reactive."

Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), praised the efforts of Scotchmoor and her collaborators. For Scott, the evolution Web site offers an alternative to fighting the constant anti-evolution flare-ups around the country—in seven states, at last count.

"What we do at NCSE is hand out fire extinguishers to help people address anti-evolution issues," Scott said. "But what we'd really like to do is cut the brush. If people just understand what evolution is, and that nothing bad happens when their children learn evolution, then hopefully we won't have so much controversy."

Read the original news release at http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/02/26_evolve.shtml.

ASTROPHYSICISTS OBSERVE ANOMALIES IN MAKEUP OF INTERPLANETARY DUST PARTICLELawrence Livermore National Laboratory release

26 February 2004

Scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Washington University have seen carbon and nitrogen anomalies on a particle of interplanetary dust that provides a clue as to how interstellar organic matter was incorporated into the solar system. Interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) gathered from the Earth's stratosphere are complex collections of primitive solar system material and carry various isotopic anomalies.

Using an ion microprobe that allows isotopic imaging at a scale of 100 nanometers, the astrophysicists conducted simultaneous carbon and nitrogen

isotopic imaging measurements of the IDP, nicknamed Benavente. They noticed that the isotope carbon 13 decreased while nitrogen 15 increased in Benavente. The results appear in the February 27 issue of the journal, Science.

Interstellar molecular clouds are the principal formation sites of organic matter in the Milky Way. A variety of simple molecules are produced in dense cold clouds. At such low temperatures, where the difference in chemical binding energy exceeds thermal energy, mass fractionation produces molecules with isotopic ratios that can be very different from molecules found on Earth. These anomalies may provide a fingerprint for how abiotic interstellar organic matter was incorporated into the solar system.

A photo of the nucleus of comet Wild-2 observed by the STARDUST spacecraft January 2, 2004 (image courtesty of NASA-JPL). Inset (lower right) is a secondary image (green/blue) of an interplanetary dust particle (IDP) with a 15 nitrogen-enriched and 13 carbon-depleted (red/yellow) "hotspot" containing similar atomic interstellar molecules.The adenine molecule (N5C5H5) is one possible carrier of the 13 carbon and 15 nitrogen anomalies. Cometary IDPs were likely a major source of organic matter accreted by the prebiotic earth.

The authors concluded that the observation of correlated carbon and nitrogen anomalies establishes that IDPs contain heteroatomic organic compounds of presolar interstellar origins that are more complex than the simple compounds implied by earlier measurements. During the prebiotic period, Earth may have accreted as much as a centimeter of abiotic carbonaceous matter every million years, much of it settling to the surface within small, high-surface-area IDPs.

"This constant flux of particulate organic matter continues to be delivered to the surface of terrestrial planets today and includes hetero-atomic interstellar molecules such as those found in Benavente. It is not unreasonable to speculate that heteroatomic interstellar molecular matter may be relevant to the origins of life on earth" said John Bradley, director of Livermore's Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics and one of the authors of the paper.

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Other Livermore authors include Zurong Dai, Sasa Bajt and Giles Graham. Images of an IDP can be found at http://www.llnl.gov/llnl/06news/NewsMedia/stardust.html.

Read the original news release at http://www.llnl.gov/llnl/06news/NewsReleases/2004/NR-04-02-15.html.

Additional articles on this subject are available at:http://www.spacedaily.com/news/extrasolar-04f.htmlhttp://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0402/28dust/

ASTRONOMERS FIND NEAREST AND YOUNGEST STAR WITH A DUSTY DEBRIS DISK, BUT ARE THERE PLANETS?By Robert SandersUniversity of California at Berkeley release

26 February 2004

Astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered the nearest and youngest star with a visible disk of dust that may be a nursery for planets. The dim red dwarf star is a mere 33 light years away, close enough that the Hubble Space Telescope or ground-based telescopes with adaptive optics to sharpen the image should be able to see whether the dust disk contains clumps of matter that might turn into planets.

"Circumstellar disks are signposts for planet formation, and this is the nearest and youngest star where we directly observe light reflected from the dust produced by extrasolar comets and asteroids—i.e., the objects that could possibly form planets by accretion," said Paul Kalas, assistant research astronomer at UC Berkeley and lead author of a paper reporting the discovery.

"We're waiting for the summer and fall observing season to go back to the telescopes and study the properties of the disk in greater detail. But we expect everyone else to do the same thing—there will be lots of follow-up."

A paper announcing the discovery will be published online in Science Express this week, and will appear in the printed edition of the journal in March. Coauthors with Kalas are Brenda C. Matthews, a post-doctoral researcher with UC Berkeley's Radio Astronomy Laboratory, and astronomer Michael C. Liu of the University of Hawaii. Kalas also is affiliated with the Center for Adaptive Optics at UC Santa Cruz.

The young M-type star, AU Microscopium (AU Mic), is about half the mass of the sun but only about 12 million years old, compared to the 4.6 billion year age of the sun. The team of astronomers found the star while searching for dust disks around stars emitting more than expected amounts of infrared radiation, indicative of a warm, glowing dust cloud.

The image of AU Mic, obtained last October with the University of Hawaii's 2.2-meter telescope atop Mauna Kea, shows an edge-on disk of dust stretching about 210 astronomical units from the central star—about seven times farther from the star than Neptune is from the sun. One astronomical unit, or AU, is the average distance from the Earth to the sun, about 93 million miles.

"When we see scattered infrared light around a star, the inference is that this is caused by dust grains replenished by comets and asteroid collisions," Kalas said. Because 85 percent of all stars are M-type red dwarfs, the star provides clues to how most planetary systems form and evolve.

Other nearby stars, such as Gliese 876 at 16 light years and epsilon-Eridani at 10 light years, wobble, providing indirect evidence for planets. But images of debris disks around stars are rare. AU Mic is the closest dust disk directly imaged since the discovery 20 years ago of a dust disk around beta-Pictoris, a star about 2.5 times the mass of the sun and 65 light years away. Though the two stars are in opposite regions of the sky, they appear to have been formed at the same time and to be traveling together through the galaxy, Kalas said.

"These sister stars probably formed together in the same region of space in a moving group containing about 20 stars," Kalas said. This represents an unprecedented opportunity to study stars formed under the same conditions, but of masses slightly larger and slightly smaller than the sun. "Theorists are excited, too, at the opportunity to understand how planetary systems evolve differently around high-mass stars like beta-Pictoris and low-mass stars like AU Mic," he said.

The pictures of AU Mic were obtained by blocking glare from the star with a coronagraph like that used to view the sun's outer atmosphere, or corona. The eclipsing disk on the University of Hawaii's 2.2-meter telescope blocked view of everything around the star out to about 50 AU. At this distance in our solar system, only the Kuiper Belt of asteroids and the more distant Oort cloud, the source of comets, would be visible.

Kalas said that sharper images from the ground or space should show structures as close as 5 AU, which means a Jupiter-like planet or lump in the dusty disk would be visible, if present. "With the adaptive optics on the Lick 120-inch telescope or the Keck 10-meter telescopes, or with the Hubble Space Telescope, we can improve the sharpness by 10 to 100 times," Kalas said.

The dust disk surrounding the red dwarf star AU Mic, seen in optical scattered light. The central dark region is produced by an occulting spot suspended by four wires, masking the star. The dust disk observed near the boundary with the black mask approximately corresponds to the Kuiper Belt of asteroids in our solar system. Image credit: Paul Kalas/UC Berkeley, courtesy of Science.

In a companion paper accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, the Berkeley-Hawaii team reports indirect evidence for a relatively dust-free hole within about 17 AU of the star. This would be slightly inside the orbit of Uranus in our own solar system.

"Potential evidence for the existence of planets comes from the infrared spectrum, where we notice an absence of warm dust grains," he said. "That means that grains are depleted within about 17 AU radius from the star. One mechanism to clear out the dust disk within 17 AU radius is by planet-grain encounters, where the planet removes the grains from the system."

"The dust missing from the inner regions of AU Mic is the telltale sign of an orbiting planet. The planet sweeps away any dust in the inner regions, keeping the dust in the outer region at bay," said Liu.

Aside from further observations with the 2.2-meter telescope in Hawaii, Kalas and his colleagues plan to use the Spitzer Space Telescope, an infrared observatory launched last August by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), to conduct a more sensitive search for gas. The research was supported by the NASA Origins Program and the National Science Foundation's Center for Adaptive Optics.

Read the original news release at http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/02/26_dust.shtml.

Additional articles on this subject are available at:http://www.astrobio.net/news/article847.html

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http://cl.extm.us/?fe8b11757d65067b7c-fe28167073670175701c72http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0402/28youngstar/http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/closest_youngest_star.html

NASA EARTH CREW WEBCAST SPOTLIGHTS SPACE FOODNASA release 04-075

27 February 2004

On Monday at 10:00 AM EST, NASA will host the third in a series of six educational webcasts with the NASA Earth Crew. The Earth Crew consists of more than 86,000 students and families who joined through online registration since January 2003. The event is hosted by 14-year-old student Bianca Baker. Baker is an Earth Crew member and a Tree House detective on NASA SciFiles, an instructional TV series for elementary school students.

The program is about food and nutrition for space explorers. Guests include Mary Kicza, NASA's Associate Administrator for Biological and Physical Science; Dr. Scott Smith, a nutritionist and manager for Nutritional Biochemistry at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC); and Vickie Kloeris, a Space Shuttle and International Space Station Food Systems scientist at JSC. Kicza and Smith will answer questions submitted in advance by Earth Crew teams through NASA's EdSpace Web site.

The theme of this year's webcast series is "Explorers and Exploration." Each installment focuses on one of NASA's Enterprises: Aeronautics, Biological and Physical Research, Earth Science, Education, Exploration Systems, Space Flight, and Space Science.

"It is exciting for us to give students and their families the opportunity to learn about what we do in each Enterprise," said Dr. Adena Williams Loston, NASA's Associate Administrator for Education. "By focusing on space food, long a topic of interest among young people, we hope to both educate them about nutrition in space and, hopefully, inspire them to want to learn even more through the study of biological or physical sciences," she added.

The Earth Crew is an initiative of NASA's Educator Astronaut Program. Crewmembers receive updates about new projects; participate in exploration-related activities and webcasts, which occur approximately every two months. They also have the opportunity to provide suggestions to NASA that may help in planning future missions.

The program is available on the Internet and on NASA TV at AMC- 9, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. For NASA TV information on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

To view the webcast on the Internet, more information about the Educator Astronaut Program and the Earth Crew, visit http://edspace.nasa.gov.

For information about NASA's Education programs on the Internet, visit http://education.nasa.gov.

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov.

Contact:Gretchen Cook-AndersonNASA Headquarters, Washington, DCPhone: 202-358-0836

BIOSPHERE UNDER THE GLASSFrom Astrobiology Magazine

28 February 2004

The $150 million Biosphere 2 first opened in 1991 as a massive closed system that would last for 100 years of testing nature, technology and human endurance. It is the world's largest experimental site and was given the mission name, Biosphere 2, in deference to the much larger Biosphere 1: the Earth itself. Two early human survival missions lasted for two years and six months respectively. Organizers have announced this month that visitors can enter the giant glass-covered pyramid for the first time.

The Biosphere 2 complex occupies 3.15 acres in Oracle, Arizona—20 minutes north of Tucson. Since opening in the early 90's nearly two million visitors have toured the sprawling site and the Bio2 complex. "In the past we had to limit the number of people that went inside which made it a premium tour," said Rick Neter, Director of Business Operations. "We are now able to offer the under-the-glass tour to everyone."

Left: Biosphere 2 complex. Right: Interior view of Biosphere 2's glass ceiling and biomes. Image credits: Biosphere.

What awaits are mini-worlds, or biome habitats. The glass ceiling is so high, that one can create rain that is like real rain. The biomes feature a cliff above the one million gallon saltwater ocean, a walk through the upper and lower savannahs, thorn scrub, desert and technosphere, finally investigations inside the south lung complex. Visitors then continue to the underwater ocean viewing gallery exhibit before returning to the starting point on the hill overlooking Biosphere 2. "[As] the only one of its kind in the world, we provide a unique experience that you just cannot get anywhere else," said Gilbert LaRoque, one of Biosphere's Manager. "People come from all over the world."

What are biospherians?

The early Biosphere inhabitants kept extensive psychological and medical logs, thus studying themselves as well as their environment while daily farming, cooking or hunting did not otherwise occupy their days. These first subjects became known as "biospherians".

From its outset, the Biosphere 2 project sought to model the influence of life on the environment and vice versa. As planetary scientist, Dr. David Grinspoon, pointed out about our own planet: "Earth wouldn't have 'Earth-like' conditions without life, because life has shaped the world we know. For instance, photosynthetic organisms created the oxygenated atmosphere, as well as the ozone layer that protects us from the Sun's most destructive rays. So to say another planet must be Earth-like in order to support life is to put the cart before the horse. Instead, a planet must support life in order to be Earth-like... I suspect that life can only survive on a planet for billions of years if it has become deeply embedded in the geochemical, physical, and climatic cycles of that planet in a way that stabilizes the environment."

Among the aquatic types of biomes at Oracle, one finds an artificial ocean, coral reefs, lagoons, and beaches. Angelfish, parrot fish, and sergeant majors are among the 300 fish that inhabit this self-sustaining environment, alongside crustaceans, sea-urchins, sponges, and algae.

Among the land forms in the greenhouse are an equatorial rainforesst, desert, savannah, marsh and a three-chambered, managed forest. One challenge for the multi-user experiments has been that each biome can only sustain one set of environmental conditions at a time, and always has the ability to leak its influence just like the natural biosphere introduces complex feedbacks that may compensate for a given change in carbon dioxide, temperature, humidity or species. To simplify maintenance, the rainforest today lacks a typical Amazonian biodiversity, since that biome sustains only small creature like ants, cockroaches, spiders, and snails.

Living in a fishbowl

First sealed as a simulator of future closed space habitats, the longest period that the project tried to sustain its diverse ecosystems with eight human biospherians spanned September 26, 1991-1993. During this first mission, oxygen levels fell to threatening levels for human respiration, along with an accompanying fall in carbon dioxide which limited plant productivity. One cause of this anomaly was later diagnosed as adsorption of the gases into various parts of the concrete foundation (forming calcium carbonates for

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example). When the biosphere's seal was broken to supplement oxygen and other supplies, the habitability tests in closed ecosystems became less of a priority.

A second six month stint was undertaken in 1994. Since 1995, the Biosphere 2 management has been handled by Columbia University, with over 1200 graduate students spending a year in the center. The Columbia "western campus" was partly undertaken to transform the research focus from human survival in space to global warming issue related to the effects of carbon dioxide. On December 22, 2003, Columbia turned over the complex to a holding group, which has announced their recent public visitation plan. Two other projects, including a Japanese Biosphere J and Biosphere 3, have been proposed to supplement the history of closed ecosystem research, along with the BIOS series.

The term "biosphere" dates to 1875, when geologist Eduard Suess began to acknowledge how Charles Darwin's ideas about natural selection were influencing earth science. Along with the term, "ecosystem", the concept of how cycles are regulated between land, water and air has taken hold in diverse fields ranging from astronomy to meteorology. "We don't know how hard it is for a planet to evolve a biosphere, or to become a 'living world,' but once it gets to that state," Grinspoon told Astrobiology Magazine, "I would bet that such biospheres survive for billions of years."

The "Gaia hypothesis" as popularized by the English atmospheric scientist, James Lovelock, introduced feedback from biology into traditional geochemistry, with a view towards how the Earth might behave as a self-regulating living system or single organism. Although debated among the various disciplines, this cross-disciplinary approach to defining key parts of a biosphere has introduced new ways of considering how environmental change is regulated and co-evolves in a variant on biological homeostasis. In addition to Lovelock's, scientific approaches to this problem have been formulated by Lynn Margulis, Richard Dawkins and Carl Sagan, among others.

In the spirit of viewing the earth's complex biosphere as a single unit, the World Wildlife Fund has recently identified 200 ecoregions as the most critical for conservation. Their initiative was partly in response to how much rainforests as home to fifty percent of the planet's species had come to dominate other threatened or shrinking ecosystems such as coral reefs. The Global 200 actually lists 233 ecoregions, which include 136 terrestrial, 36 freshwater, and 61 marine ecoregions.

Terraform a planetary terrarium?

One of the key questions about Mars in the context of a biosphere is, "Is there enough nitrogen on the planet to support life?" John Rummel, NASA's Planetary Protection Officer, is one who has doubts about the advisability of implementing remodeling projects on other planets. Rummel believes that to try "to grow plants on Mars would take power and other resources" that could be put to better use. "We would need to do a lot of analysis of Mars surface material before sending a biological experiment there."

Rummel doesn't disagree that growing a plant on Mars could serve as a powerful symbol. He wonders, though, what the symbolic impact would be if the experiment failed. "If we want to think of Mars as a place where Earth organisms can grow, we want to know it will work."

"There are many logical reasons not to send a plant to Mars on a near-term mission," concede Dr. Chris McKay, one of the organizers of a NASA terraforming conference. But, he counters, "It is a bold and dramatic step that will, in my humble opinion, push the biological agenda for Mars ahead significantly."

Read the original article at http://www.astrobio.net/news/article850.html.

KEY TO MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE FOUNDJoint Astronomy Centre release

1 March 2004

Astronomers have detected hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the atmosphere of Mars for the first time. This is the first time that a chemical catalyst of this sort has been found in a planetary atmosphere other than the Earth's. Catalysts control the reactions of the most important chemical cycles in the Earth's atmosphere. The result shows that scientists' knowledge of the Earth's atmosphere can be used to explain the chemistry of atmospheres on other

planets, and vice versa. The work is announced in the March issue of the journal, Icarus. The observations were made at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), situated near the 14,000-foot summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

Dr. Todd Clancy, at the Space Science Institute (SSI) in Boulder, Colorado, led the research team. He says "Mars is one of three observable terrestrial atmospheres. Unlike Venus, Mars is hospitable enough to be considered a possible human habitat in the future. And unlike the Earth, Mars is not extensively explored and so presents an opportunity to discover new and exciting phenomena."

Dr. Brad Sandor, also at SSI, explains "We took advantage of the excellent 2003 opposition of Mars, when the Earth and Mars passed close by each other in their orbits around the sun, to measure martian atmospheric H2O2 for the first time."

Image of Mars made with the Hubble Space Telescope during the 2003 opposition. The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope spectral observations of hydrogen peroxide were made during the same period. Image credit: J. Bell (Cornell U.), M. Wolff (SSI), NASA, ESA.

The Earth's atmosphere has been studied much more than that of Mars. Scientists have had to rely on their terrestrial experience to guess how the martian atmosphere reacts to solar radiation, and how its overall photochemical balance is controlled. Models predicted that hydrogen peroxide was the key catalytic chemical that controls Mars atmospheric chemistry. Until now, scientists were unable to detect the predicted amount of H2O2, so some researchers argued that the models were wrong.

However, the new measurements of hydrogen peroxide made with the JCMT agree with the predictions of standard photochemistry. Dr. Clancy continues, "We have largely confirmed that the chemical balance of the Mars atmosphere is determined by the products of the photolysis of water vapor, without the need for special or unknown changes to current theory."

Dr. Gerald Moriarty-Schieven of the National Research Council of Canada worked on the project with Dr. Clancy and Dr. Sandor, and is based at the Joint Astronomy Centre in Hawaii, which operates the JCMT. He explains more about the JCMT observations, "The 2003 opposition was especially favorable since it occurred when Mars was closest to the sun in its orbit, and hence unusually close to us as we passed by. Mars was at its warmest, when the most H2O2 is available to observe, and the JCMT can make especially sensitive H2O2 measurements."

What impact does this result have for the search for life on Mars? Dr. Clancy says "Hydrogen peroxide is actually used as an antiseptic here on Earth, and so it would tend to retard any biological activity on the surface on Mars. For

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this reason, as well as the ultraviolet radiation and lack of water, bacteria-like organisms are not expected to be viable on the surface. Most arguments for finding life on Mars now center on subsurface regions."

Photograph of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, atop Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. Image credit: Nik Szymanek.

Read the original news release at http://outreach.jach.hawaii.edu/pressroom/2004-marsperoxide/.

Additional articles on this subject are available at:http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0403/01marsatmosphere/http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/new_insights_mars_atmosphere.html

TITAN IN A TEST TUBE: INTERVIEW WITH JEAN-MICHEL BERNARDFrom Astrobiology Magazine

1 March 2004

It takes at least three elements to harbor life as we know it: water, energy and an atmosphere. Among Mars and the moons around both Jupiter and Saturn, there is evidence of one or two of these three elements, but less is known if a complete set is available. Only Saturn's moon, Titan, has an atmosphere comparable to Earth's in pressure, and is much thicker than the martian one (1% of Earth's sea level pressure).

The most interesting point about simulations of Titan's hydrocarbon haze is that this smoggy component contains molecules called tholins (from the Greek word, muddy) that can form the foundations of the building blocks of life. For example, amino acids, one of the building blocks of terrestrial life, form when these red-brown smog-like particles are placed in water. As Carl Sagan pointed out, Titan may be regarded as a broad parallel to the early terrestrial atmosphere with respect to its chemistry and in this way, it is certainly relevant to the origins of life.

This summer, NASA's Cassini spacecraft, launched in 1997, is scheduled to go into orbit around Saturn and its moons for four years. In early 2005, the piggybacking Huygens probe is scheduled to plunge into the hazy Titan atmosphere and land on the moon's surface. There are 12 instruments onboard the Cassini Spacecraft orbiter, and 6 instruments onboard the Huygens Probe. The Huygens probe is geared primarily towards sampling the atmosphere. The probe is equipped to take measurements and record images for up to a half an hour on the surface. But the probe has no legs, so when it sets down on Titan's surface its orientation will be random. And its landing may not be by a site bearing organics. Images of where Cassini is in its current orbit are continuously updated and available for view as the mission progresses.

Astrobiology Magazine had an opportunity to talk with research scientist, Jean-Michel Bernard of the University of Paris, about how to simulate Titan's complex chemistry in a terrestrial test tube. His simulations of Titan's environment build on the classic prebiotic soup, first pioneered fifty years ago by University of Chicago researchers, Harold Urey and Stanley Miller.

This summer, NASA's Cassini spacecraft, launched in 1997, is scheduled to go into orbit around Saturn and its moons for four years. In early 2005, the

piggybacking Huygens probe is scheduled to plunge into the hazy Titan atmosphere and land on the moon's surface. There are 12 instruments onboard the Cassini Spacecraft orbiter, and 6 instruments onboard the Huygens Probe. The Huygens probe is geared primarily towards sampling the atmosphere. The probe is equipped to take measurements and record images for up to a half an hour on the surface. But the probe has no legs, so when it sets down on Titan's surface its orientation will be random. And its landing may not be by a site bearing organics. Images of where Cassini is in its current orbit are continuously updated and available for view as the mission progresses.

Huygens parachutes onto Titan. ESA's Huygens probe descends through Titan's mysterious atmosphere to unveil the hidden surface (artist's impression) Image credit: ESA.

Astrobiology Magazine had an opportunity to talk with research scientist, Jean-Michel Bernard of the University of Paris, about how to simulate Titan's complex chemistry in a terrestrial test tube. His simulations of Titan's environment build on the classic prebiotic soup, first pioneered fifty years ago by University of Chicago researchers, Harold Urey and Stanley Miller.

Astrobiology Magazine (AM): What first stimulated your interest in the atmospheric chemistry of Titan?

Jean-Michel Bernard (JB): How do two simple molecules (nitrogen and methane) create a very complex chemistry? Does chemistry become biochemistry? The recent discoveries of life in extreme conditions on Earth (bacteria in the South Pole at -40°C and archaea at more than +110°C in the vicinity of hydrothermal sources) allow to suppose that life could be present on other worlds and other conditions.

Titan has astrobiological interest because it is the only satellite in the solar system with a dense atmosphere. Titan's atmosphere is made of nitrogen and methane. The energetic particles coming from the Sun and Saturn's environment allow complex chemistry, such as formation of hydrocarbons and nitriles. The particles also generate a permanent haze around the satellite, rains of methane, winds, seasons. Recently, lakes of hydrocarbons seem to have been detected on Titan's surface. I think that this discovery, if it is confirmed by the Cassini-Huygens mission, will be of great interest. It would make Titan an analog to the Earth, since it would have an atmosphere (gas), lakes (liquid), haze and soil (solid), the three necessary environments for the appearance of life. The composition of Titan's haze is unknown. Only optical data are available and they are difficult to analyze due to the complexity of this carbonaceous material. Many experiments have been carried out in order to mimic the chemistry of Titan's atmosphere, most notably the aerosols analogs named "tholins" by Carl Sagan's group. It seems that tholins could be involved in the origin of life. Indeed, hydrolysis of these Titan aerosol analogs gives rise to the formation of amino acids, the precursors of life.

AM: Can you describe your experimental simulation for extending the Miller-Urey experiments in a way that is customized for Titan's low temperatures and unique chemistry?

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JB: Since the Miller-Urey experiments, many experimental simulations of supposed prebiotic system have been carried out. But after the retrieval of Voyager's data, it appeared necessary to come back to this approach to simulate Titan's atmosphere. Then several scientists carried out such simulation experiments by introducing a nitrogen-methane mixture in a system like Miller's apparatus. But a problem became obvious due to the difference between the experimental conditions and Titan's conditions. The pressure and temperature were not representative of Titan's environment. Then we decided to carry out experiments which reproduce the pressure and the temperature of Titan's stratosphere: a gas mixture of 2% of methane in nitrogen, a low pressure (about 1 mbar) and a cryogenic system in order to have a low temperature. Furthermore, our system is placed in a glove box containing pure nitrogen in order to avoid contamination by ambient air of the solid products.

View of the experimental setup. The reactor is immersed in a cryogenic fluid in order to simulate the cold temperature in the stratosphere. Credit: J. Bernard.

AM: What do you consider the best energy source for triggering Titan's synthetic chemistry: the magnetosphere of Saturnian particles, solar radiation, or something else?

JB: Scientists debate about what energy source would best simulate the energy sources in Titan's atmosphere. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation? Cosmic rays? Electrons and other energetic particles coming from Saturn's magnetosphere? All these sources are involved, but their occurrence depends of the altitude: extreme ultraviolet radiation and electrons in the ionosphere, UV light in the stratosphere, while cosmic rays occur in the troposphere.

I think the appropriate question should be: "What is the experimental goal?" If it is to understand the hydrogen cyanide (HCN) chemistry in Titan's stratosphere, a simulation with UV radiation of HCN is appropriate. If the goal is to determine the effects of electric fields generated by galactic cosmic rays in the troposphere, a corona discharge of a simulated Titan-atmosphere is preferable.

In studying Titan's stratospheric conditions, we chose to use an electric discharge in our simulation. This choice is contested by a minority of scientists because the main energy source in Titan's stratosphere is UV radiation. But our results validated our experiment. We detected all the organic species observed on Titan. We predicted the presence of CH3CN (acetonitrile) before its observation. We detected for the first time dicyanoacetylene, C4N2, an unstable molecule at room temperature that has also been detected in Titan's atmosphere. The middle infrared signature of the solid products created in our experiment was in line with Titan observations.

AM: How are your results part of the planned atmospheric testing for the Cassini-Huygens probe?

JB: After collaborating with a team from the Observatoire Astronomique de Bordeaux in France, we determined the dielectric constants of aerosol analogs. This will allow us to estimate how Titan's atmosphere and surface properties could affect the performance of the Cassini-Huygens radar experiments. The altimeter onboard the Huygens probe could be affected by the aerosol properties, but complementary experiments must be carried out to confirm this result.

Two years ago, we introduced a gas mixture, N2/CH4/CO (98/1.99/0.01). The goal was to determine the impact of carbon monoxide, the most abundant oxygenated compound on Titan. Surprisingly, we detected oxirane in the gaseous phase as the major oxygenated product. This unstable molecule was discovered in the interstellar medium but theoretical models do not predict it for Titan's chemistry. Yet maybe this molecule is present on Titan.

Currently, we are analyzing the first molecules, radicals, atoms and ions (or "species") created inside our experimental reactor. We are using infrared spectrometry and UV-visible emission to study excited species like CN, CH, NH, C2, HCN, C2H2. Next, we will observe the correlation between the abundance of these species and the structures of the solid products. . Coupling these experimental results with a theoretical model developed in collaboration with the University of Porto in Portugal, we will have a better understanding about the chemistry occurring into the experimental reactor. This will allow us to analyze the Cassini-Huygens data and Titan's haze formation.

Our team is involved at the mission science level as well, as one of the scientists of the mission is also in our group at the Laboratoire Inter-Universitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques, LISA). Our laboratory tholins will be used as guides to calibrate several of the instruments on the Huygens probe and the Cassini orbiter.

There are 18 instruments on board the probe and orbiter. Calibration tests are needed for gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy [GC-MS]. The GC-MS will identify and measure chemicals in Titan's atmosphere.

Calibration tests are also needed for the Aerosol Collector and Pyrolyser (ACP). This experiment will draw in aerosol particles from the atmosphere through filters, then heat the trapped samples in ovens to vaporize volatiles and decompose the complex organic materials.

The Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS), a thermal measuring instrument on the orbiter, also needs to be calibrated. Compared to previous deep space missions, the spectrometer onboard Cassini-Huygens is a significant improvement, with a spectral resolution ten times higher than the Voyager spacecraft's spectrometer.

AM: Do you have future plans for this research?

JB: Our next step is an experiment developed by Marie-Claire Gazeau, called "SETUP". The experiment has two parts: a cold plasma in order to dissociate nitrogen, and a photochemical reactor in order to photodissociate methane. This will give us a better global simulation of Titan's condition.

Read the original article at http://www.astrobio.net/news/article853.html.

An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/simulating_titan_l_ab.html.

NASA SCIENTISTS WIN GRANTS FOR NEW RESEARCHNASA/ARC release 04-13AR

1 March 2004

NASA has selected two scientists from NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, to receive grants to conduct research in advanced human support technologies. In accordance with the president's new space exploration program, NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research chose Michael Flynn and Dr. Stephen Ellis to develop technologies that would advance humans' ability to conduct long-duration space flight missions safely. Flynn and Ellis are two of 22 researchers selected from across the nation.

"We are delighted that two prominent NASA Ames researchers, Michael Flynn and Stephen Ellis, have been selected to receive a grant from NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research," said NASA Ames Research Center Director G. Scott Hubbard. "We are very proud of this early contribution to the president's vision for space exploration."

Ellis's project on Virtual Environment Interfaces for Remote Operation involves studying simulation and user interface issues for small free-flying vehicles that may be used to inspect a spacecraft for damage while in orbit.

"People have been using virtual environments for remote operations for many years, yet there are few operational examples of such interfaces," said Ellis.

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"This project will help NASA advance the system and improve virtual environment user interfaces by establishing performance criteria and providing high graphics."

NASA researchers use virtual environments (VE) because of their lower mass, lower power requirements, and reduced volume. Equipped with sufficient dynamic and visual accuracy, VE also can be a great training tool. Using VE, astronauts can rehearse extra-vehicular activities (space-walks) during repair missions and practice experiments requiring maximum precision while working in very restricted time frames.

Flynn's proposal addresses the development of a water recycling system called the Direct Osmotic Concentration System (DOC). DOC separates salt and water from wastewater and purifies human liquid wastes, such as urine and non-potable water, into water that is safe to drink.

NASA's goal is to develop a low-weight, -power and -volume resupply system that will have a significant impact on the ability of humans to conduct long-duration space flight missions safely.

"Water composes 87 percent of all chemical and physical requirements to keep an astronaut alive in space," said Flynn. "Providing the capability to recycle water with no resupply requirements may potentially reduce the costs of the missions by reducing launch mass and will reduce their risk by providing self-sufficiency."

Scientists believe versions of NASA's DOC system will benefit not only astronauts in space, but also people on Earth. This technology has already been used to remove water from food products and to purify highly contaminated liquid wastes by removing salts and other chemicals.

NASA received 122 proposals in response to its March 2003 NASA Research Announcement. The proposals were peer reviewed by scientific and technical experts from academia, government and industry before selections were made. In addition to technical and scientific merit, selection criteria also included cost, relevance to NASA programs and feasibility of utilization by NASA.

For more information about space research, visit http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/.

Contact:Victoria Steiner NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CAPhone: 650-604-0176E-mail: Victoria.L.Steiner@nasa.gov

OPPORTUNITY ROVER FINDS STRONG EVIDENCE MERIDIANI PLANUM WAS WETNASA/JPL release 2004-074

Scientists have concluded the part of Mars that NASA's Opportunity rover is exploring was soaking wet in the past. Evidence the rover found in a rock outcrop led scientists to the conclusion. Clues from the rocks' composition, such as the presence of sulfates, and the rocks' physical appearance, such as niches where crystals grew, helped make the case for a watery history.

"Liquid water once flowed through these rocks. It changed their texture, and it changed their chemistry," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, principal investigator for the science instruments on Opportunity and its twin, Spirit. "We've been able to read the tell-tale clues the water left behind, giving us confidence in that conclusion."

Dr. James Garvin, lead scientist for Mars and lunar exploration at NASA Headquarters, Washington, said, "NASA launched the Mars Exploration Rover mission specifically to check whether at least one part of Mars ever had a persistently wet environment that could possibly have been hospitable to life. Today we have strong evidence for an exciting answer: Yes."

Opportunity has more work ahead. It will try to determine whether, besides being exposed to water after they formed, the rocks may have originally been laid down by minerals precipitating out of solution at the bottom of a salty lake or sea.

This mosaic of images taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rock region dubbed "El Capitan," which lies within the larger outcrop near the rover's landing site. "El Capitan" is being studied in great detail using the scientific instruments on the rover's arm; images from the panoramic camera help scientists choose the locations for this compositional work. The millimeter-scale detail of the lamination covering these rocks can be seen. The face of the rock to the right of the mosaic may be a future target for grinding with the rover's rock abrasion tool. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell.

These plots, or spectra, show that a rock dubbed "McKittrick" near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site at Meridiani Planum, Mars, has higher concentrations of sulfur and bromine than a nearby patch of soil nicknamed "Tarmac." These data were taken by Opportunity's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, which uses curium-244 to assess the elemental composition of rocks and soil. Only portions of the targets' full spectra are shown to highlight the significant differences in elemental concentrations between "McKittrick" and "Tarmac." Intensities are plotted on a logarithmic scale. A nearby rock named Guadalupe similarly has extremely high concentrations of sulfur, but very little bromine. This "element fractionation" typically occurs when a watery brine slowly evaporates and various salt compounds are precipitated in sequence. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Max Planck Institute.

The first views Opportunity sent of its landing site in Mars' Meridiani Planum region five weeks ago delighted researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, because of the good fortune to have the spacecraft arrive next to an exposed slice of bedrock on the inner slope of a small crater. The robotic field geologist has spent most of the past three weeks surveying the whole outcrop, and then turning back for close-up inspection of selected portions. The rover found a very high concentration of sulfur in the outcrop with its alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, which identifies chemical elements in a sample.

"The chemical form of this sulfur appears to be in magnesium, iron or other sulfate salts," said Dr. Benton Clark of Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver. "Elements that can form chloride or even bromide salts have also been detected."

At the same location, the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer, which identifies iron-bearing minerals, detected a hydrated iron sulfate mineral called jarosite. Germany provided both the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and the Moessbauer spectrometer. Opportunity's miniature thermal emission spectrometer has also provided evidence for sulfates. On Earth, rocks with as much salt as this Mars rock either have formed in water or, after formation,

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have been highly altered by long exposures to water. Jarosite may point to the rock's wet history having been in an acidic lake or an acidic hot springs environment.

The water evidence from the rocks' physical appearance comes in at least three categories, said Dr. John Grotzinger, sedimentary geologist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge: indentations called "vugs," spherules and crossbedding. Pictures from the rover's panoramic camera and microscopic imager reveal the target rock, dubbed "El Capitan," is thoroughly pocked with indentations about a centimeter (0.4 inch) long and one-fourth or less that wide, with apparently random orientations. This distinctive texture is familiar to geologists as the sites where crystals of salt minerals form within rocks that sit in briny water. When the crystals later disappear, either by erosion or by dissolving in less-salty water, the voids left behind arec called vugs, and in this case they conform to the geometry of possible former evaporite minerals.

The image, taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows an extreme close-up of the "El Capitan" region, part of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. As seen in panoramic images of "El Capitan," this region appears laminated, or composed of layers of firmly united material. The upper left portion of this image shows how the grains of the region might be arranged in planes to create such lamination. At the upper right, in the zone surrounding two larger sphere-shaped particles, this image also shows another apparent characteristic at the scale of individual grains. The granularity of the matrix—the rock in which the spherules are embedded—is modified near the spherules compared with grains farther from the spherules. Around the upper spherule, the grain size is increased. This change in grain size might represent a "reaction rim," a feature produced by fluid interaction with the matrix material adjacent to the spherule during the growth of the spherule. Image credit: NASA/JPL/US Geological Survey.

Round particles the size of BBs are embedded in the outcrop. From shape alone, these spherules might be formed from volcanic eruptions, from lofting of molten droplets by a meteor impact, or from accumulation of minerals coming out of solution inside a porous, water-soaked rock. Opportunity's observations that the spherules are not concentrated at particular layers in the outcrop weigh against a volcanic or impact origin, but do not completely rule out those origins.

Layers in the rock that lie at an angle to the main layers, a pattern called crossbedding, can result from the action of wind or water. Preliminary views by Opportunity hint the crossbedding bears hallmarks of water action, such as the small scale of the crossbedding and possible concave patterns formed by sinuous crestlines of underwater ridges.

The images obtained to date are not adequate for a definitive answer so scientists plan to maneuver Opportunity closer to the features for a better look.

"We have tantalizing clues, and we're planning to evaluate this possibility in the near future," Grotzinger said.

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, DC. For information about NASA and the Mars mission on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov. Images and additional information about the project are also available at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov and http://athena.cornell.edu.

This spectrum, taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's Moessbauer spectrometer, shows the presence of an iron-bearing mineral called jarosite in the collection of rocks dubbed "El Capitan." "El Capitan" is located within the rock outcrop that lines the inner edge of the small crater where Opportunity landed. The pair of yellow peaks specifically indicates a jarosite phase, which contains water in the form of hydroxyl as a part of its structure. These data suggest water-driven processes exist on Mars. Three other phases are also identified in this spectrum: a magnetic phase (blue), attributed to an iron-oxide mineral; a silicate phase (green), indicative of minerals containing double-ionized iron (Fe 2+); and a third phase (red) of minerals with triple-ionized iron (Fe 3+). Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Mainz.

Contacts:Guy WebsterJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CAPhone: 818-354-5011

Donald SavageNASA Headquarters, Washington, DCPhone: 202-358-1547

NASA UPDATES SPACE STATION IMPLEMENTATION PLANNASA note N04-035

26 February 2004

The latest version of NASA's "Implementation Plan for International Space Station Continuing Flight" will be available Friday, February 27. The plan demonstrates NASA's commitment to implementing the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, where applicable, to the International Space Station program. The plan will be posted on the Internet by approximately 9:00 AM EST at http://www.nasa.gov/news/highlights/returntoflight.html. The original version of the plan, released in November 2003, is also available at the same Web site.

For information about NASA and exploration programs on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov.

For more information about the International Space Station, visit http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov.

Contact:Allard BeutelNASA Headquarters, Washington, DCPhone: 202-358-4769

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JPL ANNOUNCES NEW EXPLORATION OFFICE, MANAGEMENT CHANGESNASA/JPL release 2004-072

27 February 2004

In a move designed to align the lab with NASA's new exploration agenda outlined by President George W. Bush, Dr. Charles Elachi, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, has announced personnel changes and the formation of a new office at JPL.

"We are adding an Exploration Systems and Technology Office at JPL," said Elachi. "This new office will focus and develop JPL's skills to best support America's future space endeavors."

Mike Sander has been appointed manager of the new Exploration Systems and Technology Office. He will be responsible for all JPL activities and missions related to NASA's new Office of Exploration Systems, except the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter. Sander had served as project manager for the upcoming Mars Science Laboratory mission.

"It is an exciting vision and a wonderful opportunity for the country," said Sander. "We will need the best and the brightest people to carry it through, and I know the Exploration Systems and Technology Office will do its part."

Mars Exploration Rover project manager Pete Theisinger has been selected as the new project manager for the Mars Science Laboratory offices. The Mars Science Laboratory, the next generation of Mars rover, is slated for launch in the fall of 2009.

"It is an easy transition for me," observed Theisinger, "because I leave the rover mission in such capable hands. While I will be watching and observing the many discoveries of Spirit and Opportunity to come, I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead of me with the Mars Science Lab."

Replacing Theisinger at the helm of the Mars Exploration Rover mission is Richard Cook, who had served as deputy project manager. As the new project manager, Cook will lead the 400 people working around the clock on NASA's current mission of discovery to the red planet.

For additional information about NASA on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov.

Contact:D. C. AgleJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CAPhone: 818-393-9011

An additional article on this subject is available at http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0402/29jplexpl/.

CONTACT THE PRESIDENT'S SPACE COMMISSIONBy Chris CarberryMars Society release

27 February 2004

Those who have not contacted the President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy, should do so soon. We need to make sure they hear our message loud and clear. They can be contacted at http://www.moontomars.org/notices/contact.asp. The message that we want to convey goes as follows (Thanks to Lyle Kelly of the Ohio chapter for putting these points together).

1. The Goal: Mars by 2020. We heartily welcome the stated purpose of the human exploration of space. We believe that our destination should be Mars, and that we should aim to get there by 2020.

2. Ongoing Independent Consultation and Review. We believe that a panel of competent reviewers independent of NASA and its contractors will be vital to sustain the effort long-term with minimal political add-ons and minimal organizational (inter-agency and intra-agency) conflict.

3. Develop for Mars. We can lower costs, and accelerate development progress, by committing to a coherent mission architecture across all destinations. We urge that the focus of technology development be

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human missions to Mars, with appropriate adaptations for work on the Moon.

4. Modest Cost. We believe this can be accomplished with very modest expenditures, as exemplified by the Mars Direct Plan ($30B) and by the original NASA Mars Reference Mission plan ($55B). The vast sums floated by some commentators are irresponsible and wrong.

5. Technology. We commend the re-directed investment of NASA resources into technology development for human exploration. We especially endorse two technologies: (1) nuclear power for Moon and Mars on-ground operations, and (2) in situ resource utilization processes.

6. Robotics. We urge the inclusion of human exploration research requirements in the design of robotic missions. This likely will require modifying missions already in the pipeline for this decade.

7. Heavy Lift. We urge the production of heavy-lift boosters using existing technology—the shuttle launch stack and/or modular medium-lift boosters. This saves aerospace jobs, avoids or minimizes assembly in orbit, and greatly reduces overall cost and schedule. While we should plan for advances in propulsion systems, we do not need to wait for upstream technologies to mature.

8. Regulation. We believe in a strong role in space by private enterprise. We urge Congress to reduce the regulatory burden on the commercial development, use and enjoyment of space.

9. Hubble. We urge NASA to reverse immediately its decision to abandon the planned upgrade and reboost of the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble is one of the outstanding examples of the need for, and benefits of, humans in space. The benefits far outweigh the incremental cost.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Contact:Chris CarberryPolitical Director, The Mars SocietyE-mail: Marspolitics@yahoo.com

For further information about the Mars Society, visit our web site at www.marrsociety.org.

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEXBy David J. Thomashttp://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/astrobiology/

2 March 2004

Astrobiology and planetary engineering articleshttp://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/astrobiology/online_articles1.html

Joint Astronomy Centre, 2004. Mars atmosphere discovery. Spaceflight Now.

C. Phillips, 2004. Magnetic fields and water on Europa. Space.com.

Evolution (biological, chemical and cosmological) articleshttp://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/astrobiology/online_articles5.html

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 2004. Interplanetary dust anomalies help explain history of organic matter. SpaceDaily.

University of California at Berkeley, 2004. Observatory's new optics show how stars form. Spaceflight Now.

Extrasolar planets articleshttp://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs/astrobiology/online_articles7.html

University of California at Berkeley, 2004. Closest youngest star found. Universe Today.

CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENTSNASA/JPL release

19-25 February 2004

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone tracking station on Tuesday, February 17. 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=ZKHCpbGHrmRO-3BCLCXxIg.

C42 successfully completed execution and deregistered on-board the spacecraft. Final activities included a Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument flight software RAM 36-minute spin patch, a memory read out of the Radio and Plasma Wave Science RTI loss counter, and a reaction wheel bias activity. A total of 809 ISS images and 498 VIMS cubes were returned by the C42 sequence. C43 began execution with initialization and Instrument Expanded Blocks (IEB) loads for the instruments. Additional activities included checkout of the most recent version of Cosmic Dust Analyzer instrument flight software, uplink of Cassini Plasma Spectrometer power cycle reset and flight software IEB reload mini-sequence, the start of RADAR power-on and Remote Engineering Unit rerouting, optical navigation image acquisition, Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer load of build 2 flight software into RAM, and a number of high water mark clear commands.

Cassini continued obtaining data for Saturn approach movies to study the planet's atmosphere and its temporal variations, determine wind speeds and cloud properties, and to build up global temperature and composition maps. Mapping of Saturn's magnetosphere in the ultraviolet also continues. One goal of this activity is to obtain enough data to create a 3-dimensional map of the distribution of atomic hydrogen. Cassini continues to monitor the solar wind as it approaches Saturn, including looking for upstream ions and upstream wave phenomena.

The final timeline to illustrate Spacecraft Operations Office (SCO) and Science activities during the C44 ACS flight software update real time command window beginning April 26 was presented to the C44 Sequence Team. It was decided that all targeted science observations during this window would be removed from the background sequence and sent to the spacecraft via mini-sequences following ACS real-time activities for the given day. This is to ensure a nominal background state for the science instruments without using consumables. ACS will also be responsible for ensuring their update activities are consistent with expected spacecraft states.

Official port#1 occurred this week for the Science Operations Plan update of S01, the first tour sequence. The Spacecraft Activity Sequence Files were merged and delivered to ACS for the end-to-end pointing validation. The Assessment meeting was held for the S03 Aftermarket process to scope out the list of proposed changes to the sequence. The number of requested changes was well within scope and the Target Working Teams were asked to evaluate the requested changes over the next two weeks. Delivery coordination meetings were held for the Reaction Wheel Bias Optimization

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Tool 2.0, Telemetry Forecaster Predictor 3.3, and for the multi-mission Navigation tool set version T1.1

Mission Support & Services Office, SCO, Instrument Operations, and Huygens teams have been preparing for next week's Probe Relay demonstration. The Cassini ACE will continue to support all real-time activities during this event. System Administration, the Cassini internal help desk, and Infrastructure support will be staffed for critical support beginning March 3 at midnight through March 4. Presentations on Cassini were given by Outreach personnel at the Children's Creative Workshop in Malibu, California and at Castaic Elementary School in Castaic, California.

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.

CASSINI CAPTURES STUNNING VIEW OF SATURNNASA/JPL release 04-073

27 February 2004

Four months before its scheduled arrival at Saturn, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft sent its best color postcard back to Earth of the ringed world. The spacecraft is expected to send weekly postcards, as it gets closer to the ringed giant. The view from Cassini shows Saturn growing larger and more defined as the spacecraft nears a July 1, 2004, arrival date. On February 9, Cassini's narrow angle camera, one of two cameras onboard the spacecraft, took a series of exposures through different filters, which were combined to form the color image released today.

"We very much want everyone to enjoy Cassini's tour of this magnificent planetary system," said Dr. Carolyn Porco, leader of the Cassini imaging science team at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. "And I can say right now the views out the window will be stunning," Porco said.

Cassini was 69.4 million kilometers (43.2 million miles) from Saturn when the images were taken. The smallest features visible in the image are approximately 540 kilometers (336 miles) across. Finer details in the rings and atmosphere than previously seen are beginning to emerge and will grow in sharpness and clarity over the coming months. The thickness of the middle B ring of Saturn, and the comparative translucence of the outer A ring, when seen against the planet, as well as subtle color differences in the finely banded Saturn atmosphere, are more apparent.

"I feel like a kid on a road trip at the beginning of our tour," said Dr. Dennis Matson, project scientist for the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and its largest moon Titan. "We've been driving this car for nearly 3.5 billion kilometers (2.2 billion miles) and it's time to get off and explore this ringed world and its many moons. I can hardly wait, but in the meantime, these weekly color images offer a glimpse of our final destination," Matson said.

In the coming months, imaging highlights will include near daily, multi-wavelength imaging of Saturn and its rings; imaging of Titan beginning in April; Titan movie sequences starting in late May, when the resolution exceeds that obtainable from Earth; and a flyby of Saturn's distant moon, Phoebe, in June, at a spacecraft altitude of 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles).

Through Cassini, about 260 scientists from 17 countries hope to gain a better understanding of Saturn, its famous rings, its magnetosphere, Titan, and its other icy moons. "Cassini is probably the most ambitious exploration mission ever launched and is the fruit of an active international collaboration," said Dr. Andre Brahic, imaging team member and professor at Universite Paris 7-Denis Diderot, France. "It should be the prelude of our future, the exploration of our surroundings by humanity," Brahic said.

Cassini will begin a four-year prime mission in orbit around Saturn when it arrives July 1. It will release its piggybacked Huygens probe about six months later for descent through Titan's thick atmosphere. The probe could impact in what may be a liquid methane ocean.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington. The Space Science Institute is a non- profit organization of scientists and educators engaged in research in astrophysics, planetary science, Earth sciences, and in integrating research with education and public outreach. Cassini-Huygens is a cooperative mission of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.

For the first image and other weekly images on the Internet each Friday, visit http://www.nasa.gov or http://ciclops.org. For information about Cassini-Huygens on the Internet, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

Contacts:Donald SavageNASA Headquarters, Washington, DCPhone: 202-358-1727

Carolina MartinezJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CAPhone: 818-354-9382

Heidi FinnSpace Science Institute, Boulder, COPhone: 720-974-5859

Additional articles on this subject are available at:http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/cassini_saturn_040227.htmlhttp://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0402/27cassinisaturn/http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/cassini_saturn_view.html

MARS EXPLORATION ROVERS UPDATESNASA/JPL releases

Mars Sunset Clip Tells Dusty TaleNASA/JPL release 2004-070, 26 February 2004

Dust gradually obscures the Sun during a blue-sky martian sunset seen in a sequence of newly processed frames from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

The amount of dust indicated by Opportunity's observations of the Sun is about twice as much as NASA's Mars Pathfinder lander saw in 1997 from another site on Mars. The sunset clip uses several of the more than 11,000 raw images that have been received so far from the 18 cameras on the two Mars Exploration Rovers and publicly posted at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov. During a briefing today at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, Bell showed some pictures that combine information from multiple raw frames.

A patch of ground about half the area of a coffee table, imaged with the range of filters available on Opportunity's panoramic camera, has soil particles with a wide assortment of hues— "more spectral color diversity than we've seen in almost any other data set on Mars," Bell said.

Opportunity is partway through several days of detailed observations and composition measurements at a portion of the rock outcrop in the crater where it landed last month. It used its rock abrasion tool this week for the first time, exposing a fresh rock surface for examination. That surface will be studied with its alpha particle X-ray spectrometer for identifying chemical elements and with its Moessbauer spectrometer for identifying iron-bearing minerals. With that rock-grinding session, all the tools have now been used on both rovers.

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On Sol 20 of its journey, Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity woke up around 5:30 p.m. in the martian afternoon to watch the sunset. This is a still image from the rover's panoramic camera showing Sun just over the horizon. The rover is looking to the southwest. This image is only approximate true color, using infrared, green and violet filters, rather than the human red-green-blue, so that the maximum panoramic camera wavelength range could be covered by the observations, enhancing the scientific value of the measurements. The rapid dimming of the Sun near the horizon is due to the dust in the sky. There is nearly twice as much dust as there was when the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft, which landed on Mars in 1997, imaged the sunset. This causes the Sun to be many times fainter. The sky above the Sun has the same blue tint observed by Pathfinder and also by Viking, which landed on Mars in 1976. This is because dust in the martian atmosphere scatters blue light forward toward the observer much more efficiently than it scatters red light forward. Therefore, a "halo" of blueish sky color is always observed close to the Sun. Only half of this halo can be seen in this image because the other half is below the horizon. Image credit: NASA/JPL/ Texas A&M/Cornell.

"It's inspirational and beautiful, but there's good science in there, too," said Dr. Jim Bell of Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, lead scientist for the panoramic cameras on Opportunity and its twin, Spirit.

Dr. Ray Arvidson of Washington University, St. Louis, deputy principal investigator for the rovers' science work, predicted that in two weeks or so, Opportunity will finish observations in its landing-site crater and be ready to move out to the surrounding flatland. At about that same time, Spirit may reach the rim of a larger crater nicknamed "Bonneville" and send back pictures of what's inside. "We'll both be at the rims of craters," he said of the two rovers' science teams, "one thinking about going in and the other thinking about going out onto the plain."

Not counting occasional backup moves, Spirit has driven 171 meters (561 feet) from its lander. It has about half that distance still to go before reaching the crater rim. The terrain ahead looks different than what's behind, however. "It's rockier, but we're after rocks," Arvidson said.

Spirit can traverse the rockier type of ground in front of it, said Spirit Mission Manager Jennifer Harris of JPL. As it approached the edge of a small depression in the ground earlier this week, the rover identified the slope as a potential hazard, and "did the right thing" by stopping and seeking an alternate route, she said.

However, engineers are also planning to transmit new software to both rovers in a few weeks to improve onboard navigation capabilities. "We want to be more robust for the terrain we're seeing," Trosper said. The software revisions will also allow engineers to turn off a heater in Opportunity's arm, which has been wasting some power by going on during cold hours even when not needed.

As it heads toward "Bonneville" to look for older rocks from beneath the region's current surface layer, Spirit is stopping frequently to examine soil and rocks along the way. Observations with its microscope at one wavy patch of windblown soil allowed scientists to study how martian winds affect the landscape. Coarser grains are concentrated on the crests, with finer grains more dominant in the troughs, a characteristic of "ripples" rather than of dunes, which are shaped by stronger winds. "This gives us a better understanding of the current erosion process due to winds on Mars," said

Shane Thompson, a science team collaborator from Arizona State University, Tempe.

NASA Headquarters Mars-Rover Opportunity Press Briefing March 2NASA note N04-038, 1 March 2004

Significant findings from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, now exploring Meridiani Planum on Mars, will be announced at a press briefing at 2:00 PM EST, Tuesday, March 2, 2004, at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. The briefing will originate from the James E. Webb Auditorium, 300 E Street, SW, Washington, and will be carried live on NASA TV with two-way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the event from participating NASA centers.

Dr. Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator, Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters, will make opening remarks. The panelists include: Professor Steve Squyres, Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Principal

Investigator, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Professor John Grotzinger, MER science team geologist, Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. Dr. Benton C. Clark III, MER science team member and Chief Scientist of Space Exploration, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Astronautics Operations, Denver, CO. Dr. Joy Crisp, MER Project Scientist, NASA's Jet Propulsion

Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. Dr. Jim Garvin, Lead Scientist for Mars and the Moon, NASA

Headquarters.

NASA Television is available on AMC-9, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. Audio of the broadcast will be available on voice circuit at the Kennedy Space Center on 321-867-1220. For a live webcast of the briefing and information about NASA TV on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

The rovers' main task is to explore their landing sites for evidence in the rocks and soil about whether the sites' past environments were ever watery and possibly suitable for sustaining life. 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, DC. Images and additional information about the project are available from JPL at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov and from Cornell University at http://athena.cornell.edu.

Contacts:Guy WebsterJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CAPhone: 818-354-5011

Donald SavageNASA Headquarters, Washington, DCPhone: 202-358-1547

Additional articles on this subject are available at:http://www.astrobio.net/news/article851.htmlhttp://www.space.com/marsrover/http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/mars_rocks_040226.htmlhttp://www.space.com/missionlaunches/opportunity_sunset_040226.htmlhttp://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_science_040227.htmlhttp://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/opportunity_evidence_040229.htmlhttp://www.spacedaily.com/2004/040226200520.be4m0gkn.htmlhttp://www.spacedaily.com/2004/040301233340.azccha8y.htmlhttp://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mers-04zzn.htmlhttp://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mers-04zzo.htmlhttp://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mers-04zzp.htmlhttp://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/040301briefing.htmlhttp://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/rovers_losing_power_winter.htmlhttp://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/opportunity_watches_sunset.htmlhttp://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/both_rovers_working_rocks.htmlhttp://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/water_drenched_regions_mars.html

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MARS EXPRESS: HECATES THOLUS VOLCANO IN 3DESA release

1 March 2004

Hecates Tholus volcano as seen by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on Mars Express during orbit 32 from an altitude of 275 km. The 3D image on the left requires stereoscopic (red/green) glasses to view. The colour image (with north at the top) shows the summit caldera of Hecates Tholus, the northernmost volcano of the Elysium volcano group. The volcano reveals multiple caldera collapses. On the flanks of Hecates Tholus, several flow features related to water (lines radiating outwards) and pit chains related to lava can be observed. The volcano has an elevation of 5300 m; the caldera has a diameter of maximum 10 km and a depth of 600 m. The image center is located at 150° East and 31.7° North.

Read the original release at http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMTXD2PGQD_0.html.

An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/mars_express_hecates_tholus.html

MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGESNASA/JPL/ASU release

23-27 February 2004

THEMIS Images as Art #16 (Released 23 February 2004)http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=4zLNF20YJ21O-3BCLCXxIg

THEMIS Images as Art #17 (Released 24 February 2004)http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=IViLXebhUWhO-3BCLCXxIg

THEMIS Images as Art #18 (Released 25 February 2004)http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=QcpxAeNBIihO-3BCLCXxIg

THEMIS Images as Art #19 (Released 26 February 2004) http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=3IauIMMRKM9O-3BCLCXxIg

THEMIS Images as Art #20 (Released 27 February 2004)http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=VCVwAWq9vWBO-3BCLCXxIg

All of the THEMIS images are archived at http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=UQIuFivlXAlO-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.

ESA'S ROSETTA LAUNCH RE-SCHEDULEDESA release 13-2004

1 March 2004

After two successive delays, the launch of Rosetta is now scheduled for Tuesday 2 March at 04:17 AM or 04:37 AM Kourou time (08:17 or 08:37 AM CET) on board an Ariane-5 launcher from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Media representatives in Europe can follow the launch of Rosetta and initial orbital operations at ESA/Darmstadt (ESOC) in Germany—which will be acting as the main European press center—ESA/HQ in Paris, ESA/Noordwijk (ESTEC) in the Netherlands or ESA/Frascati (ESRIN) in Italy. At each site ESA specialists will be available for interviews.

The ESA TV Service will provide live televised coverage of the launch and initial orbital operations with English commentary, between 05:30 and 10:30 GMT. Satellite: ASTRA 2C at 19 degrees East, transponder 57, horizontal, MPEG-2, MCPC frequency 10832 MHz, Symbol Rate 22000 MS/sec, FEC=5/6, Service Name: ESA TV. Details of the transmission schedule and the various pre-launch Video News Releases can be found on http://television.esa.int.

For more information on the Rosetta mission and the launch activities, visit the ESA web pages at http://www.esa.int/rosetta. For more information on the ESA science program, visit http://www.esa.int/science.

Contact:ESA Media Relations DivisionPhone: +33(0)1.53.69.7155 Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690

Additional articles on this subject are available at:http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/02/26/space.power.reut/index.htmlhttp://www.space.com/missionlaunches/ariane5_scrub_040227.htmlhttp://www.spacedaily.com/2004/040226083401.n2f06p25.htmlhttp://www.spacedaily.com/2004/040227122107.l27q10ps.htmlhttp://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v158/status.htmlhttp://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/rosetta_delayed_technical_glitch.htmlhttp://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/rosetta_launch_delayed_weather.html

ROSETTA BEGINS ITS 10-YEAR JOURNEY TO THE ORIGINS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEMESA release 14-2004

2 March 2004

Europe's Rosetta cometary probe has been successfully launched into an orbit around the Sun, which will allow it to reach the comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014 after three flybys of the Earth and one of Mars. During this 10-year journey, the probe will pass close to at least one asteroid. Rosetta is the first probe ever designed to enter orbit around a comet's nucleus and release a lander onto its surface. For over a year it will conduct a thorough study of this remnant of the primitive nebula, which gave birth to our Solar System about 5 billion years ago.

Rosetta's mission began at 08h17 CET (07h17 GMT) on 2 March when a European Ariane 5 launch vehicle lifted off from the Guiana Space Centre, Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The launcher successfully placed its upper stage and payload into an eccentric coast orbit (200 x 4000 km). About two hours later, at 10:14 CET (09:14 GMT) the upper stage ignited its own engine to reach an escape velocity in order to leave the Earth's gravity field and enter heliocentric orbit. The Rosetta probe was released about 18 minutes later.

"After the recent success of Mars Express, Europe is now heading to deep space with another fantastic mission. We will have to be patient, as the rendezvous with the comet will not take place until ten years from now, but I think it's worth the wait," said ESA's Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain witnessing the launch from Kourou.

ESA's Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, has established contact with the probe as it flies away from Earth at a relative speed of about 3.4 km/s. ESOC will be in charge of Rosetta operations and orbit determination throughout the mission. During the next eight months, the

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spacecraft's onboard systems will be checked and its science payload will be commissioned.

Rosetta successfully lifted off from Europe's Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, at 04:17 local time (08:17 CET) on 2 March 2004.

A 10-year odyssey

Rosetta will be reactivated for planetary flybys, which will be used to modify its trajectory through gravity assist maneuvers. During the trip, the probe could also observe one or more asteroids, observation of asteroids being one of the mission's secondary objectives.

The first planetary encounter will be in March 2005, as Rosetta flies by the Earth for the first time. The gravity assist will boost Rosetta into an orbit that will take it to Mars two years later. During its close encounter with Mars in February 2007, Rosetta will approach to a distance of about 200 km and conduct science observations. This martian flyby will be followed by another Earth flyby in November the same year. Both planetary encounters will increase the probe's orbital energy and boost it well into the asteroid belt. A third and last flyby of the Earth in November 2009 will send Rosetta toward the orbit of comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Earth fly-bys: March 2005, November 2007 and November 2009To gain speed through a series of gravitational 'kicks', Rosetta flies past the Earth three times during its journey. The fly-by distance is between 300 and 14 000 km. Manoeuvres to correct Rosetta's orbit take place before and after each fly-by. Image credit: ESA/AOES Medialab.

Then, by mid-2011, when it is about 800 million km from the Sun, Rosetta will ignite its main engine for a major deep-space maneuvers that will place it onto an interception trajectory with the comet, which will take nearly three

years to be reached. Rosetta will be reactivated for good in January 2014, as it enters a six-month approach phase, closing in slowly on the nucleus of comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The comet will then still be far from the Sun and should not be active. Rendezvous with a comet

Like comet 46P/Wirtanen, which was the planned target for Rosetta until its launch was postponed in early 2003, comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is one of the periodic comets that were "trapped" in the inner Solar System after they came too close to Jupiter. This comet was discovered in September 1969 at the Almaty Astrophysical Institute in Kazakhstan. It was detected by astronomer Klim Churyumov, from the University of Kiev, Ukraine, on pictures taken by his colleague Svetlana Gerasimenko, from the Institute of Astrophysics of Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

This artist's impression shows the Rosetta spacecraft, its lander, and a comet. Rosetta’s 11-year mission will begin in 2004, with an Ariane-5 launch from Kourou in French Guiana. The three-tonne spacecraft will first be inserted into a parking orbit around Earth, before being sent on its way towards the outer Solar System. Image credit: ESA.

Rosetta will start accompanying the comet's nucleus in August 2014. It will then conduct detailed mapping of its surface and a landing site will be selected for Philae, its 100 kg lander. Philae will be dropped from an altitude of about 1 km and, due to the tiny gravity of the nucleus, it will touch down at walking speed. The lander will even have to anchor itself to the surface with two harpoons to avoid bouncing back. Philae is expected to operate from the surface for several weeks, sending back very high resolution pictures and as information about the upper crust of the nucleus. These data will be relayed to Earth by the orbiter. Rosetta will continue its observations of the comet's nucleus for over a year, at least until December 2015, and will have a ringside seat to monitor the awakening of the comet's activity as it comes closer to the Sun and reached its perihelion, in October 2015.

Probing the comet

The Rosetta probe was built for ESA by an industrial team of over 50 European companies led by EADS Astrium. It is a 3 tonne spacecraft with solar arrays spanning an impressive 32 metres. This is the first probe designed to travel beyond the orbit of Mars to rely on solar cells for its power supply. In addition to the Philae lander, Rosetta incorporates a 165 kg science payload consisting of 11 instruments developed in partnership by ESA member countries and by the United States.

Four of these instruments are dedicated to observation of the nucleus: the ALICE ultraviolet spectrometer, the OSIRIS high-resolution camera, the VIRTIS imaging spectrometer and the MIRO microwave radiometer/ spectrometer. Three more instruments will study the composition of the nucleus and its emanations; the COSIMA and ROSINA spectrometers and the MIDAS microscope. The GIADA collector will analyse dusts in the vicinity of the nucleus while the RPC group of sensors will characterise the internal structure of the comet's coma and its interaction with the solar wind. The last two instruments, CONSERT and RSI, will use radio waves, one to probe the

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internal structure of the nucleus and the other to determine the distribution of masses inside the nucleus and the structure of the coma.

Artist's concept of the Philae lander. Image credit: DLR.

The Rosetta Stone, discovered in 1799, was the key to unraveling the civilization of ancient Egypt. The European Space Agency’s unprecedented mission of cometary exploration is named after the famous "Rosetta Stone". This slab of volcanic basalt—now in the British Museum in London—was the key to unraveling the civilization ancient Egypt. French soldiers discovered the unique Stone in 1799, as they prepared to demolish a wall near the village of Rashid (Rosetta) in Egypt’s Nile delta. The carved inscriptions on the Stone included hieroglyphics—the written language of ancient Egypt—and Greek, which was readily understood. After the French surrender in 1801, the 762 kg Stone was handed over to the British. Image courtesy of the British Museum.

The Philae lander, developed under the leadership of Germany's DLR aerospace research agency, carries 9 instruments provided by ESA member countries in partnership with the United States, Hungary and Russia. Among these, the ÇIVA/ROLIS set of cameras will provide panoramic and stereoscopic high-resolution views. The APXS, COSAC and Ptolemy

instruments will analyze soil compounds. The SESAME seismometer will probe the surface to a depth of 2 m, while its characteristics will be studied by the MUPUS instrument with sensors on the anchoring harpoon. The ROMAP magnetometer and a second model of the CONSERT experiment will study the magnetic field and its interactions with the solar wind.

The Rosetta Stone—unearthed in Egypt more than 200 years ago—gave 19th-century Egyptologists the keys to decipher hieroglyphic writing and to rediscover three millennia of forgotten Egyptian history and culture. The in-depth study of a comet's nucleus and asteroids by the Rosetta probe is expected to enable today's science community to decipher the mystery of the origins of our Solar System and to better understand the mechanisms ruling the formation of planetary systems around other stars.

Contact: ESA Media Relations Division Phone: +33(0) 1 5369 7155 Fax: +33(0) 1 5369 7690

Additional articles on this subject are available at:http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v158/040302launch.htmlhttp://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/rosetta_launched.html

End Marsbugs, Volume 11, Number 10.

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