MARSBUGS:  The Electronic Exobiology Newsletter  
Volume 2, Number 2, March 1995 
 
Co-editors: 
 
David Thomas, Life Sciences Department, Belleville Area College,  
Belleville, IL 62221, USA, marsbugs@delphi.com or  
thomasd@basegrp.com. 
 
Julian Hiscox, Microbiology Department, BBRB Room 361, University  
of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35294-2170, USA, 
julian_hiscox@micro.microbio.uab.edu. 
 
MARSBUGS is published on a monthly to quarterly basis as  
warranted by the number of articles and announcements.  Copyright  
exists with the co-editors, except for specific articles, in  
which instance copyright exists with the author/authors.  E-mail  
subscriptions are free, and may be obtained by contacting either  
of the editors.  Contributions are welcome, and should be  
submitted to either of the two editors.  Contributions should  
include a short biographical statement about the author(s) along  
with the author(s)' correspondence address. 
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INDEX:
 
1)	HUBBLE FINDS OXYGEN ATMOSPHERE ON JUPITER'S MOON EUROPA 
	NASA press release. 
 
2)	LAUNCH OF RUSSIAN FOTON-10 CAPSULE WITH ESA PAYLOAD 
	ESA press release. 
 
3)	SPACE RADAR STUDIES ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE IN CAMBODIA 
	NASA press release. 
 
4)	NEW TECHNOLOGY USED TO DEVELOP MEDICAL INSTRUMENT 
	NASA press release. 
 
5)	NEW ROBOTIC ARM WILL PERFECT DELICATE SURGICAL PROCEDURES 
	NASA press release. 
 
6)	LIFE SCIENCES AND SPACE MEDICINE CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION  
'95 
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HUBBLE FINDS OXYGEN ATMOSPHERE ON JUPITER'S MOON EUROPA  
NASA release 95-17 
 
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have  
identified the presence of an extremely tenuous atmosphere of  
molecular oxygen around Jupiter's second moon, Europa.  The  
planets Mars and Venus are the only two other solar system  
objects beyond Earth known to have traces of molecular oxygen in  
their atmospheres. 
 
This detection was made by a team of researchers at the Johns  
Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute,  
both in Baltimore, and is reported in the Feb. 23 issue of the  
journal "Nature." 
 
"Europa's oxygen atmosphere is so tenuous that its surface  
pressure is barely one hundred billionth that of the Earth," said  
Principal Investigator Doyle Hall, of Johns Hopkins.  "If all the  
oxygen on Europa were compressed to the surface pressure of  
Earth's atmosphere, it would fill only about a dozen Houston  
Astrodomes.  It is truly amazing that the Hubble Space Telescope  
can detect such a tenuous trace of gas so far away." 
 
Scientists had predicted previously that Europa might have an  
atmosphere containing gaseous oxygen, but had to wait for  
Hubble's sensitive instruments for confirmation.  The HST  
researchers caution that the detection should not be 
misinterpreted as evidence for the presence of life on the small,  
frigid moon.  Located 490 million miles (780 million kilometers)  
from the Sun, Europa's surface is too cold, measured at -230  
degrees Fahrenheit (-145 degrees Celsius), to support life as we  
know it. 
 
Unlike Earth, where organisms generate and maintain a 21% oxygen  
atmosphere, Europa's oxygen atmosphere is produced by purely non-  
biological processes.  Europa's icy surface is exposed to  
sunlight and is impacted by dust and charged particles trapped  
within Jupiter's intense magnetic field.  Combined, these  
processes cause the frozen water ice on the surface to produce  
water vapor as well as gaseous fragments of water molecules. 
 
After the gas molecules are produced, they undergo a series of  
chemical reactions that ultimately form molecular hydrogen and  
oxygen.  The relatively lightweight hydrogen gas escapes into  
space, while the heavier oxygen molecules accumulate to form an  
atmosphere which may extend 125 miles (200 kilometers) above the  
surface.  The oxygen gas slowly leaks into space and must be  
replenished continuously. 
 
Europa is approximately the size of Earth's Moon, but its  
appearance and composition are markedly different.  The satellite  
has an unusually smooth and nearly craterless surface of solid  
water ice.  Mysterious dark markings crisscross the surface,  
giving the moon a "cracked eggshell" appearance.  Under the  
apparently fragmented icy crust, tidal heating by Jupiter might  
heat the icy material enough to maintain a subsurface ocean of  
liquid water. 
 
Of the 61 identified moons in the solar system, only three other  
satellites are known to have atmospheres:  Jupiter's volcanically  
active moon Io (sulfur dioxide), Saturn's largest moon Titan  
(nitrogen/methane) and Neptune's largest moon Triton  
(nitrogen/methane). 
 
The definitive detection of Europa's tenuous atmospheric oxygen  
was made possible by the ultraviolet sensitivity provided by  
HST's Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) instrument.   
The GHRS recorded the spectral signature of molecular oxygen (O2)  
on Europa in ultraviolet light during observations made on June  
2, 1994, over a period of six Hubble orbits.  Europa was then at  
a distance of 425 million miles (684 million kilometers) from  
Earth. 
 
The Hubble observations will be invaluable for scientists who are  
planning close-up observations of Europa as part of NASA's  
Galileo mission, which will arrive at Jupiter in December 1995.   
During its initial entry into the Jovian system on Dec. 7,  
Galileo will fly by Europa at a distance of less than 22,000  
miles (35,000 kilometers).  The Hubble Space Telescope is a  
project of international cooperation between NASA and the  
European Space Agency. 
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LAUNCH OF RUSSIAN FOTON-10 CAPSULE WITH ESA PAYLOAD  
ESA press release 
 
A Russian Soyuz launcher carrying the Foton-10 satellite, a  
retrievable capsule carrying a set of biological experiments in  
an incubator named Biobox, was successfully launched on 16  
February from the Plesetsk cosmodrome (Northern Russia) at 20h40  
Moscow time (18h40 Paris time). 
 
This is the fourth time that ESA is present with a major  
microgravity payload facility on an unmanned Russian satellite.   
The retrievable Foton-10 capsule, that is scheduled to land in  
the Russian-Kazakh border region on 3 March, carries the Biobox-2  
incubator with experiments on cells responsible for bone  
mineralization and on small living organism (fruit flies and  
algae) from research institutes in Belgium, France, the  
Netherlands, Spain and Russia. These experiments will contribute  
to a better understanding of the phenomenon of bone mass loss  
experienced by astronauts in space and will help identify and  
quantify the influence of absence of gravity on living systems. 
 
The previous missions in this domain with large ESA involvement  
have been: 
-October 1992:  Foton-8 capsule carrying ESA's Biopan facility  
(Biopan-0, with a set of pilot experiments). 
-December 1992:  Bion-10 mission with Biobox-1 on board. (Biobox  
contained experiments on cell biology). 
-June 1994:  Foton-9/ second flight of Biopan (Biopan-1, with  
experiments on radiation and exobiology). 
 
During the current flight of the Foton-10 capsule, Biobox data  
will be passed on from the Foton Flight Control Centre in Moscow  
to ESA's microgravity Laboratory Moslab, in Moscow, from where  
they will be distributed via a Wide Area Network to the  
investigators' home institutes.  After landing, the entire ESA  
payload will be dismounted from the capsule and flown back to  
Moslab within 48 hours for final disassembly and first data  
analysis. 
 
The Foton 10 payload development and mission management was  
carried out under the responsibility of ESA's Microgravity  
Payload Division at ESA's research and technology centre ESTEC in  
the Netherlands. Biobox was developed under the industrial prime  
contractorship of Dornier (Germany) while all flight and ground  
operations in Russia are run for ESA by Kayser Italia (Italy). 
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SPACE RADAR STUDIES ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE IN CAMBODIA  
NASA Release 95-12 
 
Images from the international Space Radar Laboratory (SRL) may  
help researchers find previously unknown settlements near the  
ancient city of Angkor in Cambodia.  The radar data was obtained  
during the October flight of NASA's Space Shuttle Endeavour,  
processed and sent to the World Monuments Fund (WMF) in January.   
The group had approached the radar science team about observing  
the Angkor area after SRL's first flight in April 1994. 
 
"I had read about the radar mission while the April flight was in  
progress and instantly surmised that it would have applications  
to the international research efforts at Angkor," said John  
Stubbs, program director for the fund. "I didn't really know  
where to start, but I was hopeful NASA would be willing to image  
the area around Angkor." 
 
Angkor, a vast complex of more than 60 temples dating back to the  
ninth century A.D., served as the spiritual center for the Khmer  
people.  At its height, the city housed an estimated population  
of one million people and was supported by a massive system of  
reservoirs and canals. 
 
The April flight of SRL's complementary radars, the Spaceborne  
Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-SAR), first  
demonstrated their capability to obtain vast amounts of data  
applicable to ecological, oceanographic, geologic and  
agricultural studies. 
 
"We realized after the huge success of the first flight that we  
could be more flexible in adding new sites to the timeline of  
flight two," said Dr.  Diane Evans, the SIR-C project scientist  
at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA.  "Since  
our science team was interested in studying as much of the  
tropical rain forest as possible, Cambodia and the Angkor site  
seemed to be a great complement to our ecology objectives." 
 
Today, Angkor is hidden beneath a dense rain forest canopy.  Its  
temples have been ravaged by weather, war and looters.  Its  
extensive irrigation system has fallen into disuse. 
 
"The radar's ability to penetrate clouds and vegetation makes it  
an ideal tool for studying Angkor," Stubbs said.  "I can see the  
canal-and- reservoir system very clearly in the radar imagery,  
and preliminary analysis reveals what may be evidence of  
organized settlements of large tracts of land to the north of the  
present archeological park, which until now, has gone unnoticed." 
 
The SIR-C/X-SAR data will be used by the WMF, the Royal Angkor  
Foundation and research teams from more than 11 countries to  
understand how the city grew and then fell into disuse over 800  
years. 
 
"The 'temple mountain' monuments at Angkor, such as Angkor Wat  
and the Bayon, are not unlike some of the pyramidal forms  
encountered in Central America," Stubbs said. "The sheer size and  
sophistication of Angkor's great city plan, now enveloped in  
dense jungle, sets this ancient capital apart as the ultimate  
jungle ruin." 
 
SIR-C/X-SAR is a joint mission of the United States, German and  
Italian space agencies.  JPL built and manages the SIR-C portion  
of the mission for NASA's Office of Mission to Planet Earth. 
 
NOTE:  SIR-C/X-SAR radar images are available from JPL's public  
access computer site, via Internet and the World Wide Web, at the  
address http://www.jpl.nasa.gov, by anonymous file transfer  
protocol (ftp) at the address jplinfo.jpl.nasa.gov, or by dialup  
modem to the telephone number 1-818-354-1333. 
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NEW TECHNOLOGY USED TO DEVELOP MEDICAL INSTRUMENT  
NASA release 95-20 
 
Technology developed by a team from NASA, a major university, and  
a small business is making it possible to directly and non-  
invasively measure the stiffness of long bones.  NASA is  
interested in using the technology to test the bones of  
astronauts, who lose calcium from their weight-bearing bones  
during space flight. 
 
The instrument, known as the Mechanical Response Tissue Analyzer  
(MRTA), is a portable device that detects the response of the  
bone to a brief vibratory stimulus to measure the bending  
stiffness of the bones.  The bones that can be tested are the  
ulna in the forearm and the tibia in the leg.  The instrument was  
developed by NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA,  
Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, and Gait Scan Inc., Ridge,  
NJ. 
 
"The major attraction of this technology is the speed and  
simplicity with which the measurement gives a complete picture of  
bone strength," said Sara Arnaud, M.D., of Ames' Life Sciences  
Division.  Arnaud said that a long bone will bend before it  
breaks, with a stiffer bone requiring more force to break it.   
Bending stiffness is a mechanical property of bone that reflects  
both the materials in the bone and its shape.  The MRTA is the  
only instrument that provides a direct and non-invasive measure  
of bending stiffness in the ulna and tibia, she said. 
 
Among the MRTA's advantages are its safety--because it uses no  
radiation--and the ease of measurement.  A technician places a  
small probe on the skin surface of the limb to be tested, which  
rests on a stable support.  The patient feels a "buzz" that lasts  
less than five seconds.  The frequencies from the resonating bone  
are detected at the same site as the stimulus and analyzed by  
unique software in an attached computer.  The result is an  
accurate measurement of the bending stiffness of the bone.  In  
addition, at an approximate cost of $20,000, the MRTA is fairly  
inexpensive. 
 
Arnaud noted that while the MRTA is not yet in clinical use, it  
has been used in several research studies of the forearm bones.   
She is using the device to measure the strength of the leg's  
tibia bone among working women at Ames.  In other research, the  
MRTA accurately showed the fragility of bones in patients with  
osteogenesis imperfecta, a disease marked by brittle bones and  
increased risk of fractures.  Scientists also have used the  
device to measure the strength of bones in the forearms of women  
with post-menopausal osteoporosis.  Ames' scientists plan to use  
the MRTA to measure the suspected decrease in bone strength in  
astronauts following space flight. 
 
Arnaud sees several other potential uses for the MRTA.  One  
promising application is in follow-up testing of patients being  
treated for osteoporosis.  It also may be useful in monitoring  
the healing of broken bones.  The physician could determine  
whether a healing bone is strong enough to allow the patient to  
resume using the limb. 
 
The more immediate applications of the MRTA may be in physical  
fitness, where long bone strength is essential.  The lack of  
radiation exposure and simplicity of measurement make it  
particularly well-suited to screening studies used to identify  
substandard levels of fitness in large groups, such as military  
recruits or students. 
 
"The MRTA doesn't replace the bone density-measuring technology  
we now have," Arnaud said, "but it provides an excellent non-  
radiation measure of long bone strength.  It will, I am sure,  
find its place in the resources of physicians treating bone  
disease." 
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NEW ROBOTIC ARM WILL PERFECT DELICATE SURGICAL PROCEDURES  
NASA press release 
 
A new robotic arm -- steadier than a surgeon's hand -- promises  
to revolutionize the field of microsurgery and allow surgeons to  
perform very delicate operations of the eye and brain once it is  
transferred to the marketplace by scientists at NASA's Jet  
Propulsion Laboratory. 
 
Working with a commercial medical partner, JPL is developing the  
Robot-Assisted MicroSurgery (RAMS) workstation, which will make  
possible new types of microsurgery procedures of the brain, eye,  
ear, nose, throat, face and hand, said Dr. Paul Schenker, who  
leads the team of JPL developers. 
 
RAMS is being designed with the guidance of the microsurgical  
community, and a cooperative commercial development agreement has  
been signed with MicroDexterity Systems, Inc., of Memphis, Tenn.   
The resulting technology developments will be tested in actual  
clinical procedures and turned over to the private business  
sector through the cooperative NASA-industry venture, Schenker  
said. 
 
Several different directions in medical robotics are being  
explored worldwide, including imaging-guided biopsies, precision  
joint replacements, telesurgery in which surgery is performed at  
a remote location and, most recently, high dexterity operations  
under microscopic viewing. These are all aspects of the RAMS  
project under way at JPL. 
 
The primary RAMS control mode is teleoperation, in which the  
operator's hand motions are transferred by a sophisticated  
joystick-like hand controller device, and scaled down to  
dimensions as small as 20 to 30 microns, or 20 millionths to 30  
millionths of a meter.  RAMS not only refines the physical scale  
of current microsurgery techniques but also enables more positive  
outcomes for average surgeons during typical procedures, Schenker  
said. That is possible because the RAMS system will include  
control features to enhance manual positioning and tracking and  
overcome involuntary jerks and hand tremors that limit most  
surgeons' motion skills. 
 
The mechanical design and controls will allow relative  
positioning of surgical tools within 20 microns--or 20 millionths  
of a meter--while enabling the surgeon to range freely over a  
continuous work space as large as 20 cubic centimeters, or little  
more than a cubic inch. Surgeons would thus be able to scale down  
their hand motions as much as 5 to 10 times and perform new  
procedures in critical areas such as the inner eye. 
 
The first element of the RAMS workstation, now being tested, is a  
six degrees-of-freedom surgical robot, or slave, made up of a  
torso-shoulder-elbow body with a three-axis wrist. This robot  
manipulator is about 25 centimeters (10 inches) long and 2.5 
centimeters (1 inch) in diameter.	Each robot joint has a large  
continuous range of motion and the arm's base will not have to be  
repositioned frequently during tasks. The torso was designed with  
165 degrees of motion while both the shoulder and elbow have a  
full 360 degrees of motion. The wrist design has 180 degrees of  
pitch and yaw and 540 degrees of roll. Such large motion ranges  
greatly reduce the chances of a joint reaching a limit during an  
operation and interfering with a surgeon's natural hand motion. 
 
The work on the Robot-Assisted MicroSurgery workstation is being  
performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory under contract with  
NASA's Office of Space Access and Technology. 
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LIFE SCIENCES AND SPACE MEDICINE CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION '95 
 
NASA, in partnership with the American Institute of Aeronautics  
and Astronautics and in cooperation with the U.S. National  
Institutes of Health and the U.S. Air Force, is cosponsoring the  
Life Sciences and Space Medicine Conference and Exhibition '95,  
to be held April 3-5, 1995, at the Westin Galleria in Houston,  
Texas. The theme of this conference is "Application of Space Life  
Sciences: Bringing Space Benefits Down to Earth." This  
international conference will address a broad range of life  
sciences and space medicine topics illustrating how knowledge and  
techniques developed for human space flight can provide  
beneficial applications on Earth. These topics include  
environmental control and life support, medical sciences and  
systems, biological sciences and systems, human factors  
engineering, technology applications, extravehicular activity and  
international life sciences cooperation. The conference executive  
committee includes leaders from the National Aeronautics and  
Space Administration (NASA), major medical centers, Department of  
Defense, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health.  Discounted  
rates available until 3/3/95. 
 
For more information, contact AIAA at lifesci@aiaa.org or by  
calling 202/646-7463. 
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End Marsbugs Vol. 2, No. 2
