MARSBUGS:  The Electronic Exobiology Newsletter

Volume 2, Number 6, 12 May 1995.



Co-editors:



David Thomas, Life Sciences Department, Belleville Area College, 

Belleville, IL 62221, USA, thomasd@basenet.net (basegrp.com).



Julian Hiscox, Microbiology Department, BBRB 17, Room 361, 

University of Alabama at Birmingham, 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)	SPACE STATION COMPLETES MAJOR LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM TESTS

	NASA press release.



2)	LOCAL STUDENTS WIN NATIONAL AEROSPACE COMPETITIONS

	NASA press release.



3)	MARS PATHFINDER STATUS

	by Tony Spear.



4)	AVIONICS HARDWARE ENGINEERING MODEL COMPLETED

	by David H. Lehman.



5)	MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS

	by Glenn E. Cunningham.



6)	WATER:  THE COMMON THREAD OF A MARS EXPLORATION STRATEGY

	by Donna Shirley.



7)	EOSDIS WANTS INPUT FROM USERS



8)	MISSION AND PAYLOAD SPECIALISTS NAMED FOR LIFE, MICROGRAVITY 

FLIGHT

	NASA press release.

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SPACE STATION COMPLETES MAJOR LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM TESTS

NASA press release:  95-61



The international Space Station's water purification system has 

passed a series of tests designed to evaluate new components and 

configurations of the Water Recovery System and to challenge the 

system's capability to remove bacteria, fungi and for the first 

time, live viruses.



The test series, begun in August 1994 at NASA's Marshall Space 

Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, characterized the physical, 

chemical and microbiological composition of the Space Station's 

expected waste water (shower water, oral hygiene, urine 

distillate, wet shave, human perspiration).  The tests produced 

recycled water using new performance procedures and hardware 

dictated by changes in Space Station requirements and lessons 

learned during earlier water system testing.



The tests featured the first use of a new fully- integrated water 

processor which automatically tested for the presence of chemical 

substances, such as organic carbons, iodine and overall water 

purity.  Also, special computer software was developed for 

automated control very similar to that planned for use on the 

Space Station.



"This test allowed design engineers to assess the water 

purification system under the operating conditions that would be 

expected on the international Space Station," explained Don 

Holder, life support design engineer in Marshall's Thermal 

Control and Life Support Systems Division and principal 

investigator for the test. "Overall, the system was very 

effective in producing high quality potable water from waste 

water," said Holder.



"The purification equipment effectively removed high 

concentrations of microbes in the waste water and provided water 

with little detectable bacteria and fungi," explained Monsi 

Roman, life support system microbiologist.  "The test series was 

very challenging, and we are very pleased with the excellent 

results and overall efficiency of the system."



The final phase of the water purification tests included, for the 

first time, an assessment of the system's capability to eliminate 

viral particles.  During the five- day viral test, high 

concentrations of viruses were steadily introduced in the system.  

While special filters are used to remove larger contaminants such 

as skin particles and hair fragments, the smaller viral 

organisms, along with fungi and bacteria, were destroyed by 

exposure to the purification system's synthetic cleaning resins 

and high temperature processor.  Throughout the viral test, water 

samples were collected in order to study the effectiveness of 

each element of the system and evaluate its role in viral 

removal.



The viruses selected for the test, MS2, T-1, VD13 and 23356-B1 

can only infect specific bacteria.  These viruses are common and 

non-pathogenic for humans.  MS2 is frequently used by the 

Environmental Protection Agency as an indicator for determining 

the viral effectiveness of drinking water disinfection processes.



"The viral removal capability of the water recycling system 

appears excellent based upon our preliminary test results," said 

Christon Hurst, a virologist of the Environmental Protection 

Agency's Drinking Water Research Division in Cincinnati, OH.  

Hurst provided on-site support to the viral tests series and 

supervised post-test evaluation of the data.



Additional testing of the water purification system is planned to 

determine the actual lifespan of some system hardware, such as 

filters.  The water processor is scheduled to be launched in the 

U.S. habitation module in 2002.



Marshall is conducting a variety of water purification tests in 

support of the Space Station Program Office.

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LOCAL STUDENTS WIN NATIONAL AEROSPACE COMPETITIONS

NASA press release



Several local students are national winners in NASA's 15th annual 

Space Science Student Involvement Program competition.  Twenty-

six national winners will present their projects at the National 

Space Symposium, May 6-10, Hotel Washington, 515 15th St., N.W., 

Washington, DC.



In the Mars Expedition competition, the following eight semi-

finalists will compete for first place by presenting proposals of 

a trip to Mars to a panel of scientists on Monday, May 8, at 1:30 

p.m. EDT:



Kathleen Cusick, Glastonbury H.S., Glastonbury, CT 

Amita Danak, Parma Senior H.S., Parma, OH 

Sara Shelton, Robinson Secondary School, Fairfax, VA 

Brian Pierce, Bonnabel H.S., Metairie, LA 

Travis Caddell, Springtown H.S., Springtown, TX 

Michelle DeDecker, Davis H.S., Kaysville, UT 

Bryn Daisy, East Anchorage H.S., Anchorage, AK 

Luke Bergmann, Montgomery Blair H.S., Silver Spring, MD



On Monday, May 8 at 9 a.m., students in the following competition 

categories will present their award winning projects:



Interplanetary Art (artwork will be displayed)

Gregory Metcalf, Quail Summit Elementary School, Diamond Bar, CA 

Jon Frey, Precious Blood Middle School, Dayton, OH

Jaime Behrens, Rosemount H.S., Rosemount, MN



Future Aircraft/Spacecraft Design

Ariel Overstreet, Jerick Graves, Megan Brewer, Daniel Karlin, Big 

Timber Grade School, Big Timber, MT



Mission To Planet Earth

Laura Elliott, Angela Feuerborn, Stephanie Spiegal, Holy Trinity 

Elementary School, Paola, KS



Aerospace Internships

Supercomputer:  Raffi Krikorian, Clarkstown South H.S., West 

Nyack, NY 

Space Station:  Rose Koba, Parma Senior H.S., Parma, OH 

Wind Tunnel:  Jason Ernst, Montgomery Blair H.S., Silver Spring, 

MD 

Microgravity:  Nathan Hulse, Davis H.S., Kaysville, UT

Spacelab:  Rachel Mandel, Montgomery Blair H.S., Silver Spring, 

MD 

Space Telerobotics:  Alex Epstein, Montgomery Blair H.S., Silver 

Spring, MD 

Space Astronomy:  Brendan Connell, Montgomery Blair H.S., Silver 

Spring, MD 

Launch Operations:  Brian Blum, Shoreham-Wading River H.S., 

Shoreham, NY



At 6:30 p.m. on May 9, the students and their teachers will be 

honored at a banquet at the Hotel Washington.  The banquet 

speaker will be Col. Charlie Bolden, former astronaut and 

currently the Deputy Commandant of the U.S.  Naval Academy.



The Space Science Student Involvement Program is a national 

competition, co-sponsored by NASA and the National Science 

Teachers Association, to promote science, mathematics and 

technology achievement.  Over 4,000 students in elementary, 

junior high and high school competed in five competition 

categories.

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MARS PATHFINDER STATUS

Tony Spear, Mars Pathfinder Project Manager

[From the MARTIAN CHRONICLE]



By this time next year--only 8 months from launch--the Mars 

Pathfinder project will be just over 3 years old, having 

completed 19 months of pre-project activities and 18 months of 

full-scale development in a record inception-to-launch timeframe. 

The Project is now changing from design activities to subsystem 

fabrication. Detailed designs are complete for the spacecraft 

structure, power system, attitude control system, command and 

data finding system, and most of the entry, descent, and landing 

hardware. Most fabrication will be completed by June 1995, at 

which time spacecraft assembly, test, and launch operations 

(ATLO) will begin.



Initial tests of the retrorocket system were completed 

successfully in March 1995 at the China Lake Naval Testing 

Station in California. These tests showed that the retrorocket 

system was conceptually sound and could provide the required 

performance on Mars. This testing is required to ensure that 

Pathfinder is ready for launch.



Testing is critical to the success of Pathfinder. ATLO planning 

is underway to assemble the spacecraft quickly and maximize the 

amount of test time before launch. The ATLO phase will take about 

18 months, more than twice the primary mission duration (7 months 

of cruise time plus 1 month of surface operations).  The flight 

system will acquire up to 2000 hours of testing, effectively 

"burning in" the electronics before the launch.



In the Spring of 1996, system-level environmental tests will be 

performed, including thermal/vacuum, acoustic, and static load 

tests. The rover will be included in all flight system tests and 

will also be subjected to surface operations tests in a simulated 

Mars environment at JPL.



There are also plans for an extensive series of entry, descent, 

and landing tests. Pioneer Aerospace will test the low-altitude 

parachute. At the NASA Lewis Research Center's Plum Brook vacuum 

chamber in Ohio, ILC Dover will test the airbag drop in a 

simulated Mars atmosphere. And JPL will conduct final tests of 

the retrorocket system, as well as airbag retraction and lander 

uprighting.



[The latest issue of the Martian Chronicle has been released, and 

this is one of the articles from that issue.  If you would like 

to see other articles and the images associated with the 

articles, then you can view them from the Martian Chronicle home 

page:  http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mars/.]

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AVIONICS HARDWARE ENGINEERING MODEL COMPLETED

David H. Lehman

[From the MARTIAN CHRONICLE]



On February 24, 1995 the Mars Pathfinder Attitude and Information 

Management (AIM) completed the "build" phase of its engineering 

model hardware. This milestone represents a significant step on 

the road to launching the Pathfinder lander in early December of 

1996. The AIM subsystem is the electronics and control center (or 

"brain" ) of the Mars Pathfinder flight system. Its performance 

is critical to the collection, storage, processing, and 

distribution of the mission's engineering and science data. This 

subsystem is also responsible for issuing commands for all other 

subsystems, performing attitude control, and for operating the 

lander's interfaces with the micro-rover and the mission 

operations system.



This engineering model allows Pathfinder's AIM engineers to fully 

test the electronics and control center. When all testing is 

finished, the actual flight subsystem will be delivered in June 

1995 and then integrated with the remainder of the spacecraft.



The AIM subsystem is built around a low-cost, centralized system 

architecture using a radiation-hardened IBM RS 6000 computer. The 

computer operates at speeds of up to 22 million instructions per 

second (MIPS), contains 128 megabytes of memory, and has a total 

mass of 0.9 kg. As the "brain" of the spacecraft, its functions 

are complex, providing the following operations:



Control of power, propulsion, telecommunications, and attitude 

control during Pathfinder's cruise to Mars 

Sequencing, pyro firing, and telecommunications control during 

Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL)Power and telecom-

munications control for lander operations once on the 

surface  

Process engineering, rover, and instrument data for transmission 

back to scientists and engineers on Earth

Support rover surface operations

Flight system fault management and safety functions during 

cruise, EDL, and lander surface operations





The subsystem is also used to point the high-gain antenna to 

track the Earth from the Mars surface in order to maintain 

communications with the Pathfinder operations team at JPL.



The AIM subsystem has a total mass of 29 kg during the cruise to 

Mars; after separation from the cruise stage of the spacecraft, 

where it leaves some of its electronics behind, it has a mass of 

16 kg. During cruise its maximum power usage is 52 W. While on 

the surface it consumes up to 33 W during normal day operations 

and 8 W at night. It also has the capability, in an emergency, to 

operate in a "hibernation" mode, where it consumes only 1 W of 

power. This mode of operation is used only if there is 

insufficient sunlight on the surface of Mars to charge the 

lander's batteries.



The AIM subsystem is now well along in the development phase, 

having passed the critical design review point in June of 1994.

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MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS

Glenn E. Cunningham, Mars Global Surveyor Project Manager

[From the MARTIAN CHRONICLE]



The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) project is finishing up the design 

of the mission and the spacecraft, and is beginning to build new 

hardware for the spacecraft and two science instruments.



Project engineers have now specified what path the spacecraft 

will take on its journey to Mars, the characteristics of the 

orbit it will fly around the planet, and how NASA's deep space 

tracking network of antennas will send commands and receive data 

from the spacecraft. One of the biggest pieces of work is 

developing the aerobraking techniques that will be used to slow 

the spacecraft's speed around Mars, lowering the spacecraft's 

orbit into the desired circular orbit from which to map the 

surface. A group of experts in the sciences and technologies 

required for aerobraking has advised the project on this effort 

(also see the aerobraking model article in this issue).



With less than 2 years until launch, scientists and engineers who 

will do the imaging science experiments have just completed 

assembly of the very high resolution camera that will take 

pictures of the Martian planet surface, and are readying the 

camera for its environmental tests. Assembly has also started on 

the Thermal Emission Spectrometer and the Mars Orbital Laser 

Altimeter, the two inherited instruments from the Mars Observer 

mission that have to be rebuilt because no spare units existed.



The project's principal industrial partner, Martin Marietta, has 

just completed building an "engineering development unit" 

structure assembly. This is a full-size test model of the large 

box-like honeycomb and composite material structure that houses 

the electronic heart of the spacecraft and provides the mounting 

surface for the science instruments. It will be used very soon 

for a series of special tests that will demonstrate how the 

spacecraft attaches to the Delta II launch rocket.



Most of the electronic assemblies that regulate the spacecraft's 

electrical power, control the pointing of the science instruments 

toward the planet's surface (as well as the solar panels toward 

the sun and the radio communications antennas toward the Earth), 

provide communications, and sequence the spacecraft's activities 

are being upgraded and retested by their manufacturers.



The project has just successfully demonstrated to NASA that plans 

for building and operating the spacecraft are affordable within 

the budget that has been approved by Congress, and that there is 

sufficiently high probability of mission success to continue to 

work toward launch.



The project is moving ahead rapidly with a very enthusiastic team 

of people who are working very hard. We even have a new logo!   

While small design and manufacturing problems crop up on an 

almost daily basis, the ingenuity of the team has been successful 

in overcoming them, and there are no significant problems in 

MGS's path at this time.

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WATER:  THE COMMON THREAD OF A MARS EXPLORATION STRATEGY

Donna Shirley

[From the MARTIAN CHRONICLE]



The "Water Strategy"



NASA Administrator Dan Goldin and NASA Associate Administrator 

for Space Science Wes Huntress have agreed on a strategy for the 

exploration of Mars for the next 10 years. The strategy is to 

explore and study Mars in three areas:



Evidence of past or present life

Climate (weather, processes and history)

Resources (environment and utilization)



Each of these areas is connected with the search for water on 

Mars. When and where was water present in the past, and what is 

its current form and amount? We know from previous missions that 

the Martian polar caps include water ice as well as frozen carbon 

dioxide. The Viking and Mariner 9 orbiter images show evidence of 

past great floods (the Pathfinder lander is planning to land in 

such an area), and of dry rivers and lake beds. Where did the all 

the water go?



If life ever did arise on Mars it would almost surely have been 

connected with water. And understanding the processes which led 

(or didn't lead!) to life on Mars will help us understand the 

potential for life elsewhere in the Universe.



Water is a key to climate, both on Earth and Mars, and 

understanding the history of the Martian climate will help us 

better understand the Earth's climate change processes.



Water will be a major resource for future human exploration of 

Mars, and if we understand how the solid Mars evolved (including 

what happened to produce water and make it disappear), we may be 

able to predict or find reservoirs of water available for human 

use.



How do we go about finding out about water on Mars? Dan McCleese 

of JPL, the Mars Exploration Program Scientist, and Steve Squyres 

of Cornell, the head of the Mars Science Working Group, led that 

group to define a strategy for the "water search." They looked at 

how small Mars orbiters, landers, "networks" of landers, and 

sample returns could be combined in a logical progression of 

missions that will build up an understanding of how water existed 

and exists now on Mars.



The small orbiter missions will search for accessible water (we 

know that ice is accessible at the poles, but are there reserves 

underground or in the soil?).  They will search for ancient 

sediments and hydrothermal deposits (dry lake beds and geysers). 

They will provide data to understand the present Mars climate and 

study how water escapes from the atmosphere into space. The 

orbiters will also study the surface of Mars and identify good 

landing sites for the landers, and will provide a radio link 

between the landers and the Earth.



The small lander missions will search for carbonates and 

evaporites, minerals that could only have formed in the presence 

of water. Landers can investigate water reserves in detail/ for 

example they can measure the amount of water that has been bonded 

to the soil, or drill into the polar ice caps to see how many 

layers of snow have been built up. Investigation of surface 

chemistry and how the rocks and soil have "weathered" due to 

water will tell us about the past climate. And the landers may be 

able to find organic compounds or even evidence that life may 

have been present at one time in Mars' past.



"Networks" of more than a dozen very small landers scattered over 

the planet could be used as weather stations to see how the 

Martian weather changes over the whole planet and the whole 

Martian year. If the networked landers have seismometers on 

board, and if they detect "marsquakes," that information will 

tell us about what Mars is like deep inside, and how it might 

have evolved.



Finally, sample return missions can bring back rocks and soil for 

analysis on Earth with very sensitive instruments (too large to 

take to Mars) which can tell us about the climate history, the 

dates of different rocks, and may even allow us to detect 

compounds that could have led to life, or which are evidence of 

past life. (The odds of being able to select a rock with a 

fossil, however, are very low, even if fossils exist on Mars.)



A "Strawman" Mission Set



All of these missions must be done within the very tight cost 

constraints of the Mars Exploration Program (about $100M per 

year). The Mars Science Working Group laid out a "strawman" 

strategy for fitting the science goals into a set of missions 

which can gradually build up our knowledge of Mars over the next 

10 years, following the themes of life, climate, and resources.



First Mars Global Surveyor, which will orbit Mars from 1997 

through 2002, will study the surface of the planet and acquire 

information on the weather, the magnetic and gravity fields, and 

the mineralogy. The 1997 landing of Mars Pathfinder, with its 

stereo camera and rover, will send back to Earth information on 

the geology and surface chemistry of a specific site.



Next, in 1998, another orbiter and lander (half the size and cost 

of Mars Global Surveyor and Pathfinder) will be launched. The 

orbiter will carry either a surface measuring instrument (the 

Gamma Ray Spectrometer - GRS) or an atmospheric instrument (the 

Pressure Modulated Infrared Radiometer - PMIRR), plus a small 

camera and a radio relay for the '98 lander. The lander will 

carry the first of a series of lander payloads specifically 

designed to carry out the "water strategy." The payloads will be 

selected as total packages in a competition between science and 

engineering teams. They may look for certain chemicals that give 

information on the history and existence of water, they may 

analyze rocks to tell the history of the climate, they may (if 

the lander is targeted to one of the poles), drill into polar 

ice. In 2001 and 2003 there are opportunities to send additional 

landers, which can continue to carry out the "water" 

investigations.



Any of these landers could be targeted to ancient lake beds to 

search for "fossil slime." They could be sent to river valleys to 

investigate how water once flowed on Mars. The landers could 

include rovers and/or sampling arms to put instruments on the 

surface or retrieve samples for analysis.



In 2003 an alternative to sending more "large" landers would be 

to send a network of meteorology/seismology stations, or a 

network of penetrators that can make chemical measurements below 

the surface all over the planet.



And finally, in 2005, the Mars Science Working Group recommended 

that the Mars Exploration Program attempt a Sample Return Mission 

- very challenging within the cost constraint of about $200M!





An Augmented Mission Set



Even better opportunities for the "water strategy" will occur if 

we can form teams with international partners. We are still 

exploring the possibilities of "Mars Together " in 1998 with the 

Russians, which would allow the U.S. to fly both the GRS and the 

PMIRR instruments on the U.S. orbiter. This would let us study 

both the atmosphere and the surface in a very complementary way 

starting in 1999. In 2003 the European Space Agency (ESA) is 

proposing to send a joint ESA/U.S. mission to orbit Mars and land 

three or four of the "large" U.S.  landers, supported with a 

radio link on a European orbiter.



And more instruments can be carried, or more landers sent, if new 

technology improvements can be introduced into U.S. spacecraft to 

make them smaller, lighter, and cheaper. A program called "New 

Millennium" is currently being planned to develop and demonstrate 

a new generation of space technologies to do this for both 

planetary and Earth missions. The Mars Exploration Program will 

be a "customer" for this new technology, and some of the New 

Millennium demonstrations may "piggyback" on Mars missions.

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EOSDIS WANTS INPUT FROM USERS

From USENET sci.bio.



The EOSDIS Core System (ECS) Project is seeking input from 

potential users of EOSDIS to ensure that the system meets the 

needs of its users.  The user community consists of scientists, 

educators, students, state and federal agency personnel, policy-

makers, and commercial users.  Specifically, we are seeking input 

regarding the Earth Science data products that will be of 

interest to users in the 1998-2000 timeframe.



Currently, we are inviting scientists to complete our EOSDIS 

Product Use Survey that has been implemented on the World-Wide 

Web.  The results of the survey will aid developers in the design 

of data servers and communication networks, and in estimating the 

load on the system resulting from user activity.  The results of 

this survey will NOT be used to change the list of planned data 

products; changes to the data product list are not within the 

authority of ECS.



The survey takes approximately 15 to 30 minutes to complete.  

Please take the time to help the ECS Project ensure that its 

system will meet your individual needs, as well as the needs of 

its overall user community.



URL:	http://observer.gsfc.nasa.gov/egsus/intro.html or

	http://ecsinfo.hitc.com/egsus/intro.html

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MISSION AND PAYLOAD SPECIALISTS NAMED FOR LIFE, MICROGRAVITY 

FLIGHT

NASA press release:  95-63	



NASA has named mission and payload specialists for a 16-day 

flight aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in the summer of 1996 to 

conduct life and microgravity science experiments.  Designated 

STS-78, the mission will have astronauts Susan J. Helms (Lt. Col, 

USAF), Dr. Richard M. Linnehan and Dr. Charles E. Brady, Jr. 

(Commander, USN), as the mission specialists.  Also on the flight 

will be Dr. Jean-Jacques Favier, of the French Atomic Energy 

Commission (CEA) and astronaut of the French Space Agency (CNES), 

and Dr. Robert Brent Thirsk, of the Canadian Space Agency.  Both 

will serve as payload specialists on the mission.  Helms will 

serve as the flight engineer and Linnehan, Brady, Favier and 

Thirsk will serve as the payload crew.  The commander and pilot 

will be named later.



NASA has designated Dr. Pedro Duque of the European Space Agency 

and Dr. Luca Urbani of the Italian Space Agency to serve as 

alternates to Favier and Thirsk.  As alternates, Duque and Urbani 

will undergo the same training as Favier and Thirsk and will be 

ready to serve on the mission crew if necessary.	The mission's 

experiments will build on previous Shuttle spacelab flights 

dedicated to life sciences and microgravity investigations 

(Spacelab Life Sciences 1 and 2 -- STS-40 and STS-58, and 

International Microgravity Laboratory 1 and 2 -- STS-42 and STS-

65).	Helms, 37, has flown two previous Shuttle missions, STS-54 

in January 1993 and STS-64 in September 1994.  She received a 

master of science degree in aeronautics/astronautics from 

Stanford University in 1985.  Helms considers Portland, OR, her 

hometown.



Linnehan, 37, will be making his first flight.  He is a member of 

the astronaut class of 1992.  Linnehan earned his doctor of 

veterinary medicine degree from the Ohio State University College 

of Veterinary Medicine in 1985.  He was born in Lowell, MA.

	Brady, 43, also is a member of the astronaut class of 1992 

and STS- 78 will be his first flight.  He received his doctorate 

in medicine from Duke University in 1975.  He considers Robbins, 

NC, his hometown.



Favier, 46, earned a Ph.D. in engineering at the Mining School of 

Paris and a Ph.D. in metallurgy and physics from the University 

of Grenoble.  He is advisor to the director of the CEA's Center 

for Materials Studies and Research.  Detailed to CNES, Favier 

currently is working at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, 

Huntsville, AL, in the Payload Operations Laboratory and the 

Space Station Furnace Facility area.  Favier was an alternate 

payload specialist for STS-65, the International Microgravity 

Laboratory-2 mission.



Thirsk, 41, earned a Doctor in Medicine from McGill University 

Medical School, Montreal, Canada and a Master of Science in 

mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of 

Technology.  He is an adjunct professor of mechanical engineering 

at the University of Victoria and continues to practice clinical 

medicine in Canadian hospitals.  Thirsk was an alternate payload 

specialist for the STS-41G mission.	

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End MARSBUGS Vol. 2, No. 6.

