MARSBUGS:  The Electronic Exobiology Newsletter
Volume 2, Number 16, 19 December, 1995.

Co-editors:

David Thomas, Department of Biological Sciences, University of 
Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83843, USA, thoma457@uidaho.edu.

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 weekly 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 
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submitted to either of the two editors. Contributions should 
include a short biographical statement about the author(s) along 
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advised to make appropriate inquiries before joining societies, 
ordering goods etc.
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INDEX

1) MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR SLIDE SHOW
by Ron Baalke.

2) SCIENCE INSTRUMENTS SELECTED FOR 1998 MARS MISSIONS
NASA press release.

3) NASA LEWIS RESEARCH CENTER AND THE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION 
FORM LONG-TERM COLLABORATION
NASA press release.

4) NASA SCIENTISTS GAIN INSIGHT INTO DEADLY DISEASE
NASA press release.

5) NASA AWARDS LIFE AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH GRANTS
NASA press release.
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1) MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR SLIDE SHOW
by Ron Baalke, JPL

A slide show is now available on the Mars Global Surveyor home 
page:

http://mgs-www.jpl.nasa.gov/

Mars Global Surveyor is an Mars orbiting mission due for launch 
in November 1996. The slide show consists of 18 images which 
includes the science objectives, spacecraft trajectories, and 
science instruments that will be used on the mission.
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2) SCIENCE INSTRUMENTS SELECTED FOR 1998 MARS MISSIONS
NASA press release

An extremely lightweight camera and a variety of instruments 
designed to study daily weather patterns and the icy south pole 
on Mars have been selected by NASA officials to fly aboard an 
orbiting spacecraft and lander in late 1998.  Known as the Mars 
Surveyor '98 Orbiter and the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander, the 
robotic missions will enable detailed scientific studies of the 
planet's atmosphere, climate, meteorology and surface volatiles 
such as water ice and frozen carbon dioxide.  The lander will be 
the first mission ever sent to the poles of Mars, where it will 
settle on terrain that appears to consist of alternating layers 
of clean and dust-laden ice.

"These investigations will collect data that is fundamental to a 
better knowledge of the climate of Mars, both in the past and in 
the present," said Dr. Wesley T. Huntress Jr., associate 
administrator for Space Science at NASA Headquarters.  "Landing 
in a polar region is particularly interesting and exciting.  
These areas probably hold the key to understanding what appear to 
be quasi- periodic climate fluctuations on the planet over 
thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years, and the nature 
of the orbit of Mars makes this our only opportunity to send a 
mission to a pole during the next decade."

The orbiter will carry an advanced technology optical camera 
called the Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter Color Imager, to be provided 
by Dr. Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems, Inc., San 
Diego.  With a total mass of only 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs), the 
camera system is less than 1/20th the mass of the Mars Observer 
camera spare, also provided by Malin, that will fly aboard NASA's 
Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, scheduled for launch in November 
1996.

The camera consists of two elements:  a wide-angle camera that 
will acquire daily weather maps of Mars with a surface resolution 
of 0.8 kilometers up to 7.2 kilometers (0.5 miles to 4.5 miles), 
and a medium-angle camera with a resolution of 40 meters (131 
feet) that will study alterations in the planet's surface over 
time due to changing atmospheric conditions and winds.

The orbiter also will carry an atmospheric instrument called the 
Pressure Modulator Infrared Radiometer (PMIRR), which was 
selected for flight in July.  PMIRR will measure temperature 
profiles of the Martian atmosphere and monitor its water vapor 
and dust content.

Malin Space Science Systems Inc. will provide another low- mass 
camera for the Mars '98 lander, called the Mars Surveyor '98 
Descent Imager.  It will produce wide-angle views of the Martian 
surface beginning about 10 seconds after the lander's parachute 
has been deployed, at approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) in 
altitude, until its landing. These pictures will be used to 
provide a larger geographic context for local landforms around 
the landing zone, and to help tie together images from the 
orbiter with the exact landing site.

Once on the surface, the lander will power up an integrated 
science payload to be supplied by Dr. David Paige of the 
University of California at Los Angeles. Known as the Mars 
Volatile and Climate Surveyor, this payload achieves a mass of 
just 17 kilograms (37 lbs) through the use of common electronic 
components and other shared subsystems.

The payload includes a mast-mounted imager to take stereo photos 
of the surrounding landscape; a 2-meter (6.5-foot) robot arm that 
will dig up and deliver surface samples to a thermal and evolved 
gas analyzer to determine their content of ice and frozen carbon 
dioxide; and a mast-mounted meteorological package with sensors 
to record atmospheric pressure, temperature and winds.  During 
its planned 86-day surface mission, the lander's robot arm will 
attempt to dig trenches in the icy polar soil and then use a 
small arm-mounted camera to transmit close-up pictures of any 
stratified layers.

"Like the exposed walls of the Grand Canyon on Earth, these 
layers should reveal a fascinating record of gross fluctuations 
in the Martian environment, telling us more about why a planet 
that appears to have been so wet in the past is so cold and dry 
now," said Huntress.

NASA is continuing discussions with the Russian Space Agency 
(RSA) about the possibility of Russia supplying a science 
instrument for the lander, in addition to hardware that the RSA 
is contributing for the PMIRR orbiter instrument.  Options for 
the lander include a laser-ranging device that measures 
atmospheric dust and haze or an electromagnetic sounder that 
would map soil density variations and possible subsurface water.  
A final decision on these lander instruments should be made by 
the end of November, Huntress said.

The Mars '98 Orbiter and Lander are scheduled for separate 
launches aboard Med-Lite expendable launch vehicles in December 
1998 and January 1999, respectively.  The missions are part of 
NASA's Mars Surveyor program, a 10-year series of cost-capped 
missions to Mars featuring two launches every 26 months.
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3) NASA LEWIS RESEARCH CENTER AND THE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION 
FORM LONG-TERM COLLABORATION
NASA press release

CLEVELAND, OH -- NASA Lewis Research Center and The Cleveland 
Clinic Foundation today signed a Space Act Agreement, 
establishing a three-year relationship for cooperative research.  
This is the first such agreement between NASA and an academic 
medical center which provides an opportunity for long-term 
collaboration.

Under the agreement, NASA Lewis and The Cleveland Clinic 
Foundation's Department of Biomedical Engineering will engage in 
mutually beneficial research activities to develop products and 
technologies, and solve technological problems related to 
orthopedic and cardiovascular devices, medical imaging and 
microelectrical mechanical systems.

"This agreement brings together two of the leading scientific and 
technological institutions in Cleveland," said NASA Lewis 
Director Donald Campbell.  "NASA Lewis has been and continues to 
be a major contributor to the Cleveland economy.  Indirectly 
through jobs and salaries, but more directly in sharing our 
technological wealth and expertise that exists at the Center.  
This is a multiplying factor of taxpayer dollars that benefit the 
public through new products and services."

NASA Lewis and The Cleveland Clinic Foundation currently are 
collaborating to develop an artificial heart pump; a technique 
that places a microtexture on the surface of titanium biomedical 
implants; and computer assisted minimally invasive surgery, in 
cooperation with the Ohio Aerospace Institute and Wright 
Patterson Air Force Base.  The Cleveland Clinic's Department of 
Biomedical Engineering also recently was awarded a three-year 
grant to study the effects of microgravity on bone strength.

"This agreement forms the basis for greatly expanded technical 
cooperation between NASA Lewis and The Cleveland Clinic 
Foundation.  The goal of this joint venture is the development of 
innovative medical products, devices and methods to better 
diagnose and treat the sick," said J. Fredrick Cornhill, D. 
Phil., Chairman of The Cleveland Clinic Foundation's Department 
of Biomedical Engineering.

NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin, NASA Lewis Director Donald 
Campbell, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Chairman of the Board 
of Governors, Floyd Loop, M.D., and Chairman of The Cleveland 
Clinic Foundation's Department of Biomedical Engineering,
J. Fredrick Cornhill, D. Phil., participated in the signing 
ceremony.  A number of local, state and federal government 
officials were also in attendance.

Since its inception in 1958, NASA has been a prime source of much 
of the Nation's new technology.  NASA Lewis Research Center is 
committed to expanding its technology transfer and 
commercialization efforts for the benefit of the American people 
and for the Nation's economy.  NASA Lewis Research Center 
currently is engaged in over 500 cooperative efforts with 
industry, universities and other agencies.

Celebrating 75 years of world-class care, The Cleveland Clinic 
Foundation continues to advance the frontiers of medicine by 
providing state-of-the-art care in a multispecialty academic 
medical center model.  Since the Cleveland Clinic's founding in 
1921, clinical and hospital care have been integrated with 
research and education in a private, non-profit group practice, 
which has distinguished the Cleveland Clinic in American 
medicine.
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4) NASA SCIENTISTS GAIN INSIGHT INTO DEADLY DISEASE
NASA press release

Scientists at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, 
AL, have taken an important step in understanding the molecular 
structure of a disease that afflicts 200 to 300 million people 
and is second only to malaria in cause of death worldwide.  The 
disease, known as Schistosomiasis, is caused by parasites found 
in contaminated water.

"We were able to determine a three-dimensional atomic structure 
of an important enzyme from one of four species of parasites 
known to cause schistosomiasis," explained Dr.  Daniel Carter, 
research director and chief of Marshall's Biophysics and Advanced 
Materials Branch of the Space Sciences Laboratory.  "That allowed 
us to identify critical parts of the enzyme's surface structure 
which elicit the immune responses to the disease.  This important 
step seems to offer the most potential for developing vaccines 
that protect people against the entire species of schistosomiasis 
parasites, not just one species," said Carter.

Using highly specialized X-ray equipment and protein 
crystallization techniques developed for space-based microgravity 
research, biophysics researchers were able to locate key 
positions of individual atoms in the enzyme, also a major target 
for drugs used in the treatment of schistosomiasis, and build a 
computer picture or blueprint of the schistosoma enzyme 
structure.

The determination of the enzyme structure offers the possibility 
of combining such techniques as the use of disease fighting drugs 
with the development of preventative vaccines to form an 
effective barrier against the transmission of schistosomiasis.

"Building a person's immunity is one way to fight 
schistosomiasis," explained Carter.  "Many people are repeatedly 
infected with the disease.  If we can break the life cycle of the 
parasite by vaccinating people against transmission of the 
disease, we can make a major step toward eliminating the threat 
of schistosomiasis in those parts of the world where it poses a 
major health hazard."

The research has paid dividends in other areas as well, said 
Carter. "Information gained in the search for a particular atomic 
structure often helps us learn more quickly about other research 
targets," he said.  "For instance, a three-dimensional crystal 
structure of a schistosomiasis enzyme joined with atomic 
structural components of Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 
(HIV-1) has also been resolved.  This structural, building-block 
approach to HIV research has helped us learn more about the 
structure of HIV proteins, which have proven very difficult to 
crystallize and thus study more thoroughly," said Carter.

Schistosomiasis research at Marshall was performed in 
collaboration with the Institute of Applied Microbiology in 
Vienna, Austria, and the Center For Advanced Research in 
Biotechnology of the National Institute of Standards in 
Washington, DC.

Also known as bilharzia, schistosomiasis is a disease caused by 
any of four parasitic flatworms or flukes.  Persons can become 
infected with schistosomiasis when they wade or swim in 
contaminated fresh water by exposure to skin-penetrating, free-
swimming larvae.  Schistosomiasis is known to occur in parts of 
Brazil, Egypt, sub-Saharan Africa, southern China, the 
Philippines and Southeast Asia.  There is no vaccine against the 
disease.
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5) NASA AWARDS LIFE AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH GRANTS
NASA press release

NASA has selected 46 proposals to receive two and three-year 
grants for conducting ground-based or space-borne life sciences 
research, totaling approximately $15 million.  The purpose of 
these grants is to encourage science and technology research in 
the space life sciences.  The grants funded through this annual 
NASA research announcement support a program of research that 
conducts experiments on Earth and in space to provide the basic 
understanding of the role of gravity in biological processes.

Sponsored by NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and 
Applications, Washington, DC, this research offers investigators 
the opportunity to take advantage of NASA's life and biomedical 
sciences research facilities to improve the understanding of 
fundamental biological processes.

NASA received 380 proposals in response to this research 
announcement. The proposals were subjected to a fully external 
peer-review through assembled panels made up of scientific and 
technical experts.  The selected proposals represent the 
following areas:  space biology (16); space physiology and 
countermeasures (11); environmental health (2); space radiation 
health (3); space human factors (3); advanced life support (5); 
advanced extravehicular activity systems (1); advanced technology 
development (2); data analysis (2) and interdisciplinary 
proposals (1).

NASA's life and biomedical sciences grants provide investigators 
with the opportunity to study and characterize basic biological 
mechanisms in ways not possible on Earth.  By using access to 
space as a research tool, NASA-sponsored research will advance 
fundamental knowledge of the way in which weightlessness, 
radiation, and other aspects of the spaceflight environment 
interact with biological processes.  These grants also seek to 
enhance the application of this knowledge to procedures and 
technologies that enable humans to live, work and explore in 
space and to benefit the health and well-being of people on 
Earth.

The scientists selected for NASA life sciences research grants 
are:

Clarence P. Alfrey, M.D., Ph. D., Baylor College of Medicine, 
Houston, TX.
Mark G. Allen, Ph. D., Physical Sciences, Inc., Andover, MA.
Gordon L. Amidon, Ph. D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Mary H. Barcellos-Hoff, Ph. D., Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, 
Berkeley, CA.
Wilhelm Becker, Ph. D., Universitat Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Volker Blum, Ph. D., Ruhr-Universitat of Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
David P. Cadogan, ILC Dover, Inc., Frederica, DE.
Daniel J. Cosgrove, Ph. D., Pennsylvania State University, 
University Park, PA.
Brian L. Davis, Ph. D., The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 
Cleveland, OH.
Daniel L. Feeback, Ph. D., NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, 
TX.
Arny A. Ferrando, Ph. D., Shriners Burns Institute, Galveston, 
TX.
Suzanne M. Fortney, Ph. D., NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, 
TX.
Alan S. Gevins, Sc. D., EEG Systems Laboratory, San Francisco, 
CA.
Ary L. Goldberger, M.D., Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA.
Karl H. Hasenstein, Ph. D., University of Southwest Louisiana, 
Lafayette, LA.
Eileen M. Hasser, Ph. D., University of Missouri-Columbia, 
Columbia, MO.
Bertold Hock, Ph.D., University of Munihen at Weikenstephan, 
Freising, Germany.
Michael F. Holick, M.D., Ph. D., Boston University School of 
Medicine, Boston, MA.
Kenneth C. Jenks, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX.
Christian J. Lambertsen, M.D., University of Pennsylvania Medical 
Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Terri L. Lomax, Ph. D., Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR. 
James C. Maida, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX.
Patrick H. Masson, Ph. D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Gordon A. McFeters, Ph. D., Montana State University, Bozeman, 
MT.
Robert J. Peterka, Ph. D., Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital, 
Portland, OR.
Duane L. Pierson, Ph. D., NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX.
Marc D. Porter, Ph. D., Iowa State University, Ames, IA.
Hinrich Rahmann, Ph. D., University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim, 
Stuttgart, Germany.
Stanley J. Roux, Ph. D., The University of Texas at Austin, 
Austin, TX.
David W. Rowe, M.D., University of Connecticut Health Center, 
Farmington, CT.
Mitchell B. Schaffler, Ph. D., Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI.
Heide Schatten, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Martin P. Schreibman, Ph. D., Brooklyn College, CUNY, Brooklyn, 
NY.
Daniel Serfaty, Alphatech, Inc., Burlington, MA.
Sergei I. Sukharev, Ph. D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Kwangjae Sung, Ph. D., NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX.
Arthur J. Sytkowski, M.D., Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
James G. Tidball, Ph. D., University of California, Los Angeles, 
CA.
Russell T. Turner, Ph. D., Mayo Foundation, Rochester, MN.
Charles A. Waldren, Ph. D., Colorado State University, Fort 
Collins, CO.
Ronald L. Walsworth, Ph. D., Smithsonian Institution, Cambridge, 
MA.
Raymond L. Warters, Ph. D., University of Utah School of 
Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT.
Randy O. Wayne, Ph. D., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Darrell J. Wiens, Ph. D., University of Northern Iowa, Cedar 
Falls, IA.
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End MARSBUGS Vol. 2, No. 16.
