MARSBUGS:  
The Electronic Exobiology Newsletter
Volume 4, Number 5, 18 March, 1997.

Editors:

David Thomas, Department of Biological Sciences, University of 
Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844-3051, USA, thoma457@uidaho.edu or 
Marsbugs@aol.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 weekly to quarterly basis as warranted 
by the number of articles and announcements.  Copyright of this 
compilation exists with the 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.  
Subscribers are advised to make appropriate inquiries before 
joining societies, ordering goods etc.  Back issues may be 
obtained via anonymous FTP at:  ftp.uidaho.edu/pub/mmbb/marsbugs.

The purpose of this newsletter is to provide a channel of 
information for scientists, educators and other persons 
interested in exobiology and related fields.  This newsletter is 
not intended to replace peer-reviewed journals, but to supplement 
them.  We, the editors, envision MARSBUGS as a medium in which 
people can informally present ideas for investigation, questions 
about exobiology, and announcements of upcoming events.  
Exobiology is still a relatively young field, and new ideas may 
come out of the most unexpected places.  Subjects may include,  
but are not limited to:  exobiology proper (life on other  
planets), the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), 
ecopoeisis/ terraformation, Earth from space, planetary biology, 
primordial evolution, space physiology, biological life support  
systems, and human habitation of space and other planets.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

INDEX

1)	MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR FLIGHT STATUS REPORTS
	JPL releases

2)	MARS PATHFINDER MISSION STATUS REPORTS
	JPL releases

3)	SMALL FIRE EXTINGUISHED ON MIR
	NASA release 97-30

4)	PLANET THEORY 'EXPLODED' BY NEW RESEARCH
	University of Western Ontario release

5)	MARTIAN SAMPLES POSE LITTLE RISK, BUT STILL WILL REQUIRE 
CAREFUL HANDLING
	NAS publication announcement

6)	IMPACT!  BOOK REVIEW
	by Julian Hiscox

7)	THE PLANETARY SOCIETY'S NEAR-EARTH OBJECT GRANT PROGRAM

8)	NASA-ESA AGREEMENT ENHANCES STATION WITH ADDITIONAL NODE
	NASA release 97-36

9)	MARS ROCK COOLS DOWN, LIFE DEBATE HEATS UP
	From the Science website

10)	NEW STUDY BOOSTS IDEA OF PAST LIFE ON MARS
	University of Wisconsin-Madison release

11)	WHEN MODELS AND SATELLITES MISLEAD:  NCAR SCIENTISTS 
PRESCRIBE CAUTION IN MARCH 13 NATURE
	National Center for Atmospheric Research release
	by Bob Henson

12)	GLOBAL CLIMATE MONITORING:  THE ACCURACY OF SATELLITE DATA
	NASA/Marshall Space Sciences Lab release
	by Roy Spencer, John Christy, John Horack

13)	TRW DELIVERS TWO CERES INSTRUMENTS TO NASA; CERES TO STUDY 
ROLE OF CLOUDS AND RADIATION
	TRW release

14)	NASA SELECTS INSTITUTION FOR LIFE SCIENCES RESEARCH
	NASA release 97-37

15)	NASA ESTABLISHES NEW NATIONAL MICROGRAVITY CENTER
	NASA release 97-40

16)	PRESS BRIEFING TO PRESENT NEW DATA AND STATUS OF 'PAST LIFE 
ON MARS' DEBATE SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 19
	NASA release

17)	NASA NAMES A NEW NATIONAL BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
	NASA release 97-43

18)	(FAIRLY) RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST TO EXOBIOLOGISTS
	Compiled by Julian Hiscox
----------------------------------------------------------------

MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR FLIGHT STATUS REPORTS
JPL releases

Friday, 14 February 1997

On Tuesday, the Surveyor spacecraft rotated to a position that 
pointed the Mars Orbiter Camera at a cluster of stars called the 
Pleiades.  Over the course of an hour, the camera imaged stars 
within the cluster.  These images were used by the camera team to 
determine the focus of the narrow-angle camera following the 
bakeout period that ended two weeks ago.

During that five-day bakeout period, a 53-Watt heater was used to 
remove residual moisture from the camera's graphite epoxy 
structure.  This moisture affects the camera's focus.  
Preliminary results from this week's activity indicates that 
additional bakeout will not be necessary.  Over the next two 
weeks, the camera will image the Pleiades on four separate 
opportunities to allow the camera team to make adjustments to the 
focus settings.

Friday, 21 February 1997

Today, in an activity similar to the one that occurred last week, 
the Surveyor spacecraft rotated to a position that pointed the 
Mars Orbiter Camera at a cluster of stars called the Pleiades.  
Over the course of an hour, the camera imaged stars within the 
cluster.  Images from today's opportunity, combined with three 
image sets that will be taken between February 24th and February 
28th, will allow the camera team to determine settings to control 
the instrument's focus.

Other major events this week included a complete memory read-out 
of Surveyor's on-board flight computers on Monday.  During this 
activity, the flight team commanded the spacecraft's computers to 
transmit the contents of its memory banks back to Earth.  The 
read-out was performed to allow the flight team to verify the 
values of critical flight software parameters that control the 
spacecraft.  Because some of these parameters are periodically 
updated, the results of the memory read-out were entered into a 
tracking system that provides a historical record of the changes.  
Monday's activity was only the second time during the mission 
that the memory has been completely read out.

After a mission elapsed time of 106 days from launch, Surveyor is 
27.71 million kilometers from the Earth, 90.93 million kilometers 
from Mars, and is moving in an orbit around the Sun with a 
velocity of 28.25 kilometers per second.  This orbit will 
intercept Mars on September 12th, 1997.  The spacecraft is 
currently executing the C5 command sequence, and all systems 
continue to be in excellent condition.

Friday, 28 February 1997

On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of the week that began on 
February 24th, the Surveyor spacecraft rotated to a position that 
allowed the Mars Orbiter Camera to obtain images within a cluster 
of stars called the Pleiades.  Images were gathered over the 
course of one hour on each day's opportunity.  These images, 
combined with the images obtained on February 21st, will allow 
the camera team to determine settings to control the instrument's 
focus.

Late in the afternoon on Friday, the spacecraft experienced a 
minor glitch with the star scanner.  Normally, this device 
constantly scans a set of reference stars in deep space.  These 
distant stars serve as fixed reference points that allow the 
spacecraft to determine its proper pointing orientation relative 
to the Earth and Sun.  This process is called attitude control 
and is not related to the camera's star imaging for focus 
determination purposes.

This glitch occurred during Friday's playback of Mars Orbiter 
Camera data from Surveyor's recorders.  At that time, the star 
scanner began misidentifying stars.  As a consequence, the flight 
team transmitted a command to the flight software to reset the 
portion of the attitude control software that controls the star 
scanner.  After several hours, all conditions returned to normal.

Although the cause of the glitch has not yet been determined, the 
flight team suspects that the star scanner was fooled by sunlight 
reflecting off of dust particles in the vicinity of the 
spacecraft.  In order to further investigate this event, a 
playback of spacecraft engineering data recorded during the 
glitch will occur later this week.

After a mission elapsed time of 113 days from launch, Surveyor is 
31.76 million kilometers from the Earth, 83.40 million kilometers 
from Mars, and is moving in an orbit around the Sun with a 
velocity of 27.74 kilometers per second.  This orbit will 
intercept Mars on September 12th, 1997.  The spacecraft is 
currently executing the C5 command sequence, and all systems 
continue to be in excellent condition.

Friday, 7 March 1997

On Monday, the on-board command sequence controlling Surveyor 
executed a test called the "Solar Array Feather." During the 
several-hour test, the solar arrays were rotated back and forth 
several times in a similar fashion to the motion that a person 
makes when rotating the wrist joint.

This activity was performed for the benefit of the Magnetometer 
science team.  The test simulated the rotation of the solar 
arrays that will occur as the arrays automatically track the Sun 
during Mars mapping operations.  Because the Magnetometer sensors 
sit at the end of the solar arrays, the data collected from the 
test will allow the science team to determine the effect of the 
solar array rotation on the quality of their data.

On Tuesday, the flight team loaded new parameters to Surveyor's 
attitude control software.  These parameters deal with the 
performance of the star scanner that controls the spacecraft's 
ability to point at targets in space.  With this parameter 
update, the spacecraft will be able to point its science 
instruments at objects with better accuracy than previously 
possible.

Later on Tuesday, the Ka-band communications team accomplished a 
major milestone in their experiment.  Over a several hour time 
period, an antenna at the Goldstone tracking station recorded 
data transmitted simultaneously from Surveyor's X-band and Ka-
band transmitters.  Normally, the spacecraft utilizes the 25-
Watt, X-band transmitter for communicating with the Earth.  The 
main difference between the two signals is that the 1-Watt, Ka-
band transmitter operates at a frequency near 32 gigaHertz versus 
8 gigaHertz for X-band.

An analysis of the experiment indicated that no disagreements 
existed between the X-band and Ka-band data for all 12 million 
data bits observed on Tuesday.  This positive result marks the 
first verified data transmission by an interplanetary spacecraft 
using a Ka-band signal.  The result affirms a long-held belief 
that the use of Ka-band signals can allow a spacecraft to 
transmit information at faster data rates with transmitters that 
consume much less power.

After a mission elapsed time of 120 days from launch, Surveyor is 
36.46 million kilometers from the Earth, 76.39 million kilometers 
from Mars, and is moving in an orbit around the Sun with a 
velocity of 27.23 kilometers per second.  This orbit will 
intercept Mars on September 12th, 1997.  The spacecraft is 
currently executing the C5 command sequence, and all systems 
continue to be in excellent condition.

Friday, 14 March 1997

On Monday of this week, the flight team loaded new parameters to 
Surveyor's attitude control software.  These parameters deal with 
the alignment of the Inertial Measurement Unit.  This device 
contains three gyroscopes that provide the flight computers with 
critical information regarding the spacecraft's pointing 
orientation in space.  The new parameters, combined with the new 
parameters for the star scanner that were loaded last week, will 
enable Surveyor to point its science instruments at objects with 
better accuracy than previously possible.

Today marked the first day since the launch of both Mars 
Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor that Pathfinder's distance to 
Mars was less than Surveyor's.  However, because the two 
spacecraft are on different types of flight paths to Mars, they 
did not physically fly past each other.  At the time of closest 
approach, Pathfinder and Surveyor were separated by 4.7 million 
kilometers.  Pathfinder was launched after Surveyor, but will 
reach Mars first because it is traveling on a shorter, more 
direct flight path.

This week was a relatively quiet week as the flight team prepared 
for next week's trajectory correction maneuver.  This engine 
firing will refine Surveyor's flight path to Mars and will take 
place on Thursday, March 20th at 10:00 a.m.  PST.

After a mission elapsed time of 127 days from launch, Surveyor is 
41.78 million kilometers from the Earth, 69.86 million kilometers 
from Mars, and is moving in an orbit around the Sun with a 
velocity of 26.74 kilometers per second.  This orbit will 
intercept Mars on September 12th, 1997.  The spacecraft is 
currently executing the C5 command sequence, and all systems 
continue to be in excellent condition.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

MARS PATHFINDER MISSION STATUS REPORTS
JPL releases

28 February 1997

The spacecraft remains in excellent health and is currently about 
32 million kilometers from Earth.  No significant operational 
activities were conducted this week.  Continued investigation of 
the recent reset and attitude control software problems now 
indicates that they are related to the Command Detector Unit 
erroneous lock problem.  A bug was found in the codeblock error 
detection software which causes a corruption to the floating 
point registers.  The reset and attitude control problems were 
caused by floating point error conditions and can be tied 
directly to this corruption.  We are currently in the process of 
developing a patch to correct this problem.  Congratulations to 
Steve Stolper and Glenn Reeves for quickly identifying the 
problem and developing the required fix.

A combined Project Science Group meeting involving Mars 
Pathfinder, Mars Global Surveyor, and Mars Surveyor '98 was held 
on Thursday and Friday, February 27-28.  Although there is not a 
great deal of overlap between Pathfinder and these other 
projects, there are some synergistic investigations that can be 
performed.

The Rover Operations Team completed a Rover Operational Readiness 
Test in the Mars Yard this week.  Preparations are proceeding for 
next week's project wide surface Operations Readiness Test in the 
Pathfinder Sandbox.  The current plan is to conduct nominal Sol 1 
and 2 operations.

For further information, please visit our website at
http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

SMALL FIRE EXTINGUISHED ON MIR
NASA release 97-30

A problem with an oxygen-generating device on the Mir space 
station last night set off fire alarms and caused minor damage to 
some hardware on the station.  No injuries to any of the six 
crewmembers on board were reported.  The fire was located in the 
Kvant 1 module.

The fire, which began at 10:35 p.m.  Sunday, Moscow time, burned 
for about 90 seconds.  The crew was exposed to heavy smoke for 
five to seven minutes and donned masks in response.  After 
completing physical exams of everyone on board, U.S.  astronaut 
Jerry Linenger, a physician, reported that all crewmembers are in 
good health.  Medical personnel have directed them to wear 
goggles and masks until an analysis of the Mir atmosphere has 
been completed.

Lithium perchlorate candles are burned to generate supplemental 
oxygen when more than three people are on board the space 
station.  
-----------------------------------------------------------------

PLANET THEORY 'EXPLODED' BY NEW RESEARCH
University of Western Ontario release

February 26, 1997

A new planet, discovered and announced to much excitement two 
years ago, probably doesn't exist at all, indicates research by a 
University of Western Ontario astronomer.

In an article being published in the Feb.  27 issue of the 
international science journal Nature, astronomy professor David 
Gray reports that the likelihood of a planet being next to the 
51st star in the Pegasus constellation is "vanishingly small."

The detection of the planet was first reported by researchers in 
Nature in late 1995.  Although the researchers had not observed 
the planet directly, they based their conclusion on the periodic 
movements in the position of lines in the spectrum of light 
surrounding the star, 51 Pegasi (pronounced Peg-a-see).  The 
movements, it was proposed, could have been caused by the 
presence of a nearby planet.

Gray's examination of the lines around 51 Pegasi  called 
spectral lines  indicates that they are not only moving, but 
changing shape.

"While the presence of nearby planets can make spectral lines 
move, it is well established in astronomy that they cannot make 
them change shape," says Gray.

"This new research explodes the theory that there must be a 
planet near 51 Pegasi.  A planet could not produce the phenomena 
that I observed and recorded around the star," he says

"Spectral lines are known to change shape when a star pulsates or 
has spots on its surface.  That may be all that's happening in 
this case," he says.

Since the original discovery in 1995, approximately 10 other 
planets outside our solar system have been reported using the 
same research and data collection techniques.  Four of them are 
similar to 51 Pegasi.

"They may be hot telescope subjects in the next year," says Gray.

Gray's report in Nature was based on work conducted between 1989 
and 1996 in the University's Elginfield Observatory near Lucan, 
Ont.

Although faint, the Pegasus constellation is visible to the human 
eye and is about the size of the Big Dipper.

For more information, please contact David Gray, professor of 
astronomy, at (519) 679-2111 ext.  6715 (E:mail:  
dfgray@uwovax.uwo.ca) or Judy Noordermeer, public affairs 
officer, at (519) 661-2046 (E-mail:  jnoorder@julian.uwo.ca).
-----------------------------------------------------------------

MARTIAN SAMPLES POSE LITTLE RISK, BUT STILL WILL REQUIRE CAREFUL 
HANDLING
NAS publication announcement

With NASA's plan to bring back samples of material from the 
Martian surface early in the next century, the need has arisen to 
examine the potential for contamination of Earth by microscopic 
organisms from another world.  A new report from a task group of 
the National Research Council says that samples from Mars pose 
little risk to life on Earth but will still require special 
handling.

Life as we know it is unlikely to exist on the surface of Mars, 
the task group said.  Even if microorganisms do exist and were 
somehow brought here in a sample, it is doubtful that they could 
adapt to Earth's environment or cause significant harm.  The task 
group cautioned, however, that uncertainties are involved in any 
assessment of the potential for harm, and the risk is not zero.  
It is possible that life developed on Mars when the planet was 
young, and may have survived in more hospitable oases on or near 
the surface of the planet.

Because there are plausible scenarios in which samples taken from 
Mars could contain either active or dormant organisms, these 
samples should be isolated physically and biologically and 
regarded as hazardous until proved otherwise.  If instruments 
cannot verify the isolation of a sample while en route to Earth, 
the sample and any spacecraft components that may have been 
exposed to it should be either sterilized in space or not 
returned to Earth.  Further research and testing are needed to 
develop sterilization technologies, possibly using heat, 
chemical, or radiation treatment.

Once a spacecraft has returned to Earth, samples should be 
contained and processed at a special receiving facility.  This 
facility should be established as soon as possible once serious 
planning for a sample return mission has begun, the report says.  
The facility should be operational at least two years prior to 
launch to allow sufficient time for developing the necessary 
technologies for life-detection, sample containment, and 
sterilization.

NASA also should ensure that an administrative structure is in 
place to verify that protection requirements are fulfilled at 
each critical stage of a mission, including launch, reentry, and 
sample distribution.  Distribution of unsterilized samples from 
NASA's special receiving facility to researchers should be 
allowed only after rigorous analysis to determine that no 
biological entities are present, the report says.  In addition, 
the public's interest in planetary protection issues should be 
acknowledged; the public should be fully informed about sample 
return and handling decisions.

The study was funded by NASA.  The National Research Council is 
the principal operating agency of the National Academy of 
Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.  It is a 
private, non-profit institution that provides science and 
technology advice under a congressional charter.  A task-group 
roster follows.

Copies of Mars Sample Return:  Issues and Recommendations are 
available from the National Academy Press for $15.00 (prepaid) 
including shipping; tel.  (202) 334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242.  
Reporters may obtain copies from the Office of News and Public 
Information (contacts listed above).

[This announcement is available on the World Wide Web at 
<www.nas.edu/new>.]
-----------------------------------------------------------------

IMPACT!  BOOK REVIEW
by Julian Hiscox

Title:		Impact!
Subtitle:		The threat of comets & asteroids.
Author:		Gerrit L.  Verschuur.
Publisher:	Oxford University Press.
Year:		1996.
ISBN:		0-19-510105-7.
Pages:		237, illustrated throughout.
Price:		$25.00.


A couple of years ago, in the October 1995 issue of Astronomy, I 
learnt a worrying statistic.  According to David Morrison (whose 
article "Target Earth" was featured on the front cover) there 
were more people working in a medium sized burger joint than 
there were on detecting and plotting the orbits of near-Earth 
asteroids -- those most likely to impact with the Earth.  Before 
the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into Jupiter in July 1994, 
the public at large was not really concerned with the very real 
threat of extinction caused by an asteroid hitting the Earth.  
Not even the fact that the dinosaurs and about 60% of all life 
was wiped out by an asteroid impacting with the Earth 65 million 
years ago, caused too much of a stir.  Prior to this time the 
subject was perhaps treated some what in jest.  But nothing 
stirred the public imagination and galvanised those in charge 
into action as the 1994 Jupiter impact.  With the advent of the 
World Wide Web, data gathered from the Hubble Space Telescope, 
Galileo, and Voyager space probes (amongst others) was widely 
distributed to the public (who after all fund the research).

Since this time a number of books, riding on the crest of 
publicity, have reached the high street shelves about this topic.  
One of the latest is Impact!:  The threat of comets & asteroids, 
by Gerrit L.  Verschuur.  Verschuur is a radio astronomer and 
author of many articles and books popularising astronomy and one 
can see why after reading this book.  Impact! was very hard to 
put down as Verschuur's writing style is so readable.  The book 
is divided into eighteen chapters, with black and white 
photographs and illustrations throughout, and comprehensively 
indexed with an excellent bibliography.  The book contains a 
wealth of information on asteroids and comets, charting their 
formation and their sometimes devastating affects if they strike 
the Earth and other planets.  All of the content is impressive 
and obviously the K/T impact and Jupiter impact are featured in 
great detail.  The saga of these events is recounted from both 
the perspective of the personalities involved and from a science 
point of view.  Apart from the modern day perspective of 
asteroids and comets I also liked the historical treatment of the 
topic that Verschuur provides.

Verschuur ends Impact! by arguing passionately that humanity must 
address the issue that asteroids and comets can, do, and have 
impacted with the Earth and thus present a very real threat.  He 
describes the on going efforts in this direction and concludes 
that the establishment of some type of defence mechanism should 
be conceived if we as a species are ultimately to avoid 
extinction.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

THE PLANETARY SOCIETY'S NEAR-EARTH OBJECT GRANT PROGRAM

Objectives

The Planetary Society Near-Earth Object (NEO) Grant Program seeks 
to encourage the discovery and exploration of NEOs by supporting 
observation projects and related research around the world.  The 
Society intends these grants to accelerate the NEO discovery 
rate, to improve and increase observations, and to encourage 
international cooperation in this field.

Categories

The Planetary Society invites applications in one or more of the 
following categories:

1.	NEO Observational Programs.  Projects in this category could 
include discovery programs and those projects that might increase 
the rate of discovery.  For example, an observation program by an 
amateur or at a small observatory could provide follow-up to 
discoveries, and thereby free observers at larger telescopes for 
more discovery work.  Such a program would qualify for a 
Planetary Society grant.

2.	NEO Research Programs.  The category will include all those 
fields relating to understanding NEOs and their roles in the 
evolution of Earth and the solar system.  Spectroscopy 
measurements and analysis would be an example of a project in 
this category.

3.	International Collaboration in NEO Observations.  Projects 
in this category include those that develop international 
collaboration through cooperative research, or those that enable 
amateurs and researchers at smaller observatories to participate 
in NEO observations and data analysis.

Selection criteria

The selection committee will consider how a project enables 
discoveries, advances knowledge, and/or enhances international 
scientific collaboration.  Projects will also be judged on their 
feasibility, creativity, originality, significance and likelihood 
of completion.

The committee will give special consideration to "seed" grants -- 
where a little help now can generate high leverage for future 
work.  Amateurs and scientists and observers from developing 
countries will be given special consideration.

Amounts of grants

The average grant will be $5,000 to $10,000, although the 
selection committee will consider a range from $1,000 to $25,000, 
depending on need and expected results.  The amount available is 
made possible by the donations of Planetary Society members.

Eligibility

Anyone anywhere may submit an application for a Planetary Society 
Near-Earth Object grant.  We will accept only one application per 
individual or group.

An application submitted on behalf of a group must clearly 
indicate the person acting as the group's representative or 
principal investigator.  That person must sign the application 
form.  Should a group project be chosen, the grant will be 
presented to the group's representative or principal 
investigator.  The Planetary Society will have no obligation to 
any other member of the group.

Applications

Applications may be submitted at anytime.  To be considered, an 
application must be neatly printed in English by letter, no more 
than three pages in length.  Supporting documentation may be 
submitted or referenced.

Send your application to:

NEO Grant Program
The Planetary Society
65 North Catalina Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91106-2301
USA

Applicants should send copies, not originals, of supporting 
documents, figures or photographs.  No applications will be 
returned.  Supporting materials must arrive with the application 
form unless prior arrangements are made.

Notification

Grant recipients will be notified of their award as soon as a 
decision is made.  No other notification will be sent by The 
Planetary Society before this date, except for requests by the 
selection committee for supplementary information.

Selection advisory committee

The selection advisory committee for the NEO grants will be 
composed of internationally renowned scientists.  The final 
selection will be made by the Board of Directors of The Planetary 
Society.  The committee's procedures and deliberations will be 
kept confidential.


Publication of awards

Winners of the Planetary Society NEO grants will be published in 
The Planetary Report and The NEO News.  The Society reserves the 
right to publish summaries of the most interesting projects in 
either publication.  The Society also encourages professional 
publications and other popular promotion and articles, so long as 
proper credit is given for any support.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

NASA-ESA AGREEMENT ENHANCES STATION WITH ADDITIONAL NODE
NASA release 97-36

The planned final configuration of the International Space 
Station has been enhanced under a recent agreement signed by NASA 
with the European Space Agency (ESA) that will have ESA construct 
two station docking nodes, one of which is a new addition, in 
exchange for the planned NASA launch of the station's ESA-
supplied Columbus laboratory module.

The launch-offset barter agreement, a type of agreement common 
within the International Space Station Program, exchanges ESA 
services to construct the nodes as payment to NASA for the launch 
of the Columbus module.  Under the agreement, ESA will supply 
Node 2, a docking node planned to be launched in mid-2000 and 
connected to the United States Laboratory Module, and Node 3, a 
new addition to the station planned to be launched after station 
assembly is completed in the current assembly sequence.

Node 3 will attach to the station's habitation module and provide 
valuable additional docking ports to the orbital outpost.  
Construction of the two nodes will be delegated to the Italian 
Space Agency.  Plans to convert the Node 1 structural test 
article, located at Boeing's facilities at the Marshall Space 
Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, into the Node 2 flight article 
will be revised accordingly.

Although the construction of the two nodes by ESA is the primary 
service supplied to NASA under the barter agreement, the 
agreement also includes requirements for ESA to supply a crew 
refrigerator/freezer unit for the station's habitation module; a 
cryogenic freezer unit for the U.S.  laboratory module; and a 
variety of other minor hardware.

The next step is for NASA and ESA to negotiate an implementing 
arrangement for this activity.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

MARS ROCK COOLS DOWN, LIFE DEBATE HEATS UP
From the Science website

Thursday, 13 March 1997, 7:00 p.m.

The famous martian meteorite, ALH84001, may be cool enough for 
life again.  After NASA scientists claimed last August to have 
found evidence of past life in carbonate intrusions in the rock, 
skeptics argued that the chemical composition of the carbonate 
could only have formed at temperatures of 650 degrees Celsius or 
above--too high for life.  But in tomorrow's issue of Science, 
two papers fuel the argument with new evidence that the rock 
formed at comfortably low temperatures.

Both groups see abrupt changes in the properties of the 
carbonates that would have been washed out at high temperatures, 
they say.  In one study, John Valley, a petrologist at the 
University of Wisconsin, and his colleagues found that isotopic 
ratios of several elements vary widely throughout the rock.  "The 
gradients are very steep," he says.  "[At high temperatures], 
these sorts of gradients diffuse away in hours to days," leaving 
the rock rather uniform in isotopic composition.  He concludes 
that the carbonates must have formed at relatively low 
temperatures, perhaps less than 100 degrees Celsius.

Similarly, geologist Joseph Kirschvink and his colleagues at the 
California Institute of Technology looked at a tiny inclusion in 
the carbonate, composed of two separate mineral crystals that had 
been crushed together.  After sawing the crystals apart, the team 
measured their magnetic fields and found that each had a field 
pointing in a different direction, presumably because the 
crystals were reoriented when they were crushed.  If the rock had 
ever been heated above about 320 degrees Celsius, its 
magnetization would have been wiped out.  If it had been 
remagnetized, the fields would have been aligned in the same 
direction, says Altair Maine, a member of the team.  The pattern 
of the meteorite's magnetic signals thus indicates that it "has a 
cool history," he concludes.

Ralph Harvey, a geologist at Case Western Reserve University in 
Cleveland who has argued that the carbonates formed at high 
temperatures, isn't convinced by either finding.  For one, he 
says, if the carbonate formed rapidly at high temperatures and 
then cooled, steep isotopic gradients could have been frozen in.  
As for the magnetic data, he argues that the crystals might have 
been magnetized and then crushed into different orientations long 
after the carbonate formed.

The heat is still on the life-on-Mars claim, it seems.  "Isotope 
people think it was formed at low temperature, and chemical-
composition people high temperature," says Robert Clayton, a 
geologist at the University of Chicago.  "Will anybody budge?"

 1997 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science
-----------------------------------------------------------------

NEW STUDY BOOSTS IDEA OF PAST LIFE ON MARS
University of Wisconsin-Madison release

13 March, 1997

New isotopic analyses of the meteorite that provided hints of 
past life on Mars reveal a low-temperature origin, boosting the 
idea that features of the meteorite may have been formed by 
living organisms.

The study, published March 14 in the journal Science by a team 
led by University of Wisconsin-Madison geochemist John W.  
Valley, lends powerful new support to the notion that the 
carbonate globules found within the meteorite, dubbed ALH84001, 
were formed on the Red Planet under conditions consistent with 
life.

The isotopic procedures employed by Valley and his colleagues 
were developed specifically for the Mars rock.  Results 
contradict claims that the carbonate globules found in the rock 
were formed at blistering temperatures too hot to support life, 
or were formed on Earth, two primary arguments advanced against 
the meteorite as evidence of past life on Mars.  "Everything we 
see is consistent with biological activity, but I still wouldn't 
rule out low-temperature inorganic processes as an alternative 
explanation" said Valley.  "We have not proven that this 
represents life on Mars, but we have disproven the high-
temperature hypothesis."

Valley said the high-temperature origin hypothesis relies on a 
set of thermodynamic assumptions that don't measure up on Earth, 
and therefore don't apply to an ancient Mars that may have had 
conditions more conducive to life.

"If the same assumptions are applied to the carbonates found in 
the Earth's oceans, one would erroneously conclude that the water 
temperatures are over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit and the surface 
pressures are several thousand atmospheres," Valley said.

"These carbonates in the meteorite are easily explained by low-
temperature processes similar to those commonly found on Earth," 
he said.

The meteorite at the center of the scientific controversy was 
blasted off the surface of Mars about 15 million years ago and 
fell to Earth about 13,000 years ago.

There is also widespread agreement that the rock is very old, 
probably 4.5 billion years, and that it formed in the Martian 
crust.  The age of the rock sparked interest, because it formed 
at a time when the Red Planet was warmer, wetter and potentially 
more hospitable to life.

The new study was conducted by a team that includes Valley, John 
M. Eiler and Edward M. Stolper of the California Institute of 
Technology, Colin M. Graham of the University of Edinburgh, 
Everett K. Gibson of NASA's Johnson Space Center, and Christopher 
S. Romanek of the University of Georgia.

The analysis was made with a device designed to analyze minute 
samples of material gleaned from spots less than one-quarter of 
the diameter of a human hair.  Known as an ion microprobe, it 
uses a beam of high-energy plasma to burn tiny craters on the 
surface of a sample, in this case a polished sample no bigger 
than a grain of rice.  The vaporized material is held in a vacuum 
and drawn into a mass spectrometer for isotopic analysis.

The advantage of the ion microprobe, said Valley, is that it 
allows for minuscule amounts of material to be sampled, one 
million times less than would typically be necessary.  Employing 
the microprobe, Valley and his colleagues were able to look deep 
within the carbonates themselves and make the first in situ 
measurements of the controversial globules.

"Making these analyses in situ has never been done before," he 
said.  "For the first time, we can actually see what we analyze."

He described the carbonates as "pancakes within pancakes" having 
a distinct chemistry in each.  "We can go in and look for 
differences or similarities within the carbonates themselves."

"Without the ion microprobe, one doesn't really know what's being 
analyzed.  We found that the globules are different.  There is a 
very intricate concentric mineral, chemical and isotopic zonation 
(within the globules)."

Valley's team measured the ratios of two different isotopic 
species of oxygen and two of carbon.  They found that the carbon 
ratios in the meteorite are high, higher than in Earthbound 
rocks.

"This rules out the idea that these features formed while the 
meteorite was lodged in the Antarctic ice," said Valley.  "Such 
ratios have never been measured in a terrestrial sample."

Oxygen isotope ratios are also high, Valley said, but he noted 
that the significant discovery is that the oxygen isotopes are 
not evenly distributed within the sample.  "The ion microprobe 
allows us to determine which parts of the meteorite have more of 
a particular oxygen isotope."

The life on Mars hypothesis has been challenged on the grounds 
that the carbonates formed in chemical equilibrium above 1200 
degrees Fahrenheit.  The new data prove that the meteorite is not 
in isotopic or chemical equilibrium.

"There is no self-consistent evidence to suggest such a high-
temperature genesis," said Valley.  "All of the chemical, 
mineralogical and isotopic evidence that we present is consistent 
with a low-temperature origin."

The upshot of the analysis is that the carbonates most likely 
precipitated at temperatures below 200 degrees Fahrenheit, under 
conditions hospitable to some forms of microscopic life.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

WHEN MODELS AND SATELLITES MISLEAD:  NCAR SCIENTISTS PRESCRIBE 
CAUTION IN MARCH 13 NATURE
National Center for Atmospheric Research release
by Bob Henson

March 11, 1997

BOULDER -- Computer models and temperature-gleaning satellites 
are useful tools in the quest to diagnose global change, but only 
when their limitations are well understood.  This is the message 
conveyed by two scientists from the National Center for 
Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, in two articles 
appearing in the journal Nature on March 13.  One article 
provides new findings on an ongoing controversy involving the 
reliability of global temperature trends obtained via satellite.  
The other provides an overview of how to use -- and how not to 
use -- computer models that mimic the earth's atmosphere for 
research on climate change.

NCAR is managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric 
Research under sponsorship by the National Science Foundation.

Satellite- versus surface-derived temperatures:  Why the 
disagreement?

A puzzling discrepancy between global temperature trends 
ascertained by surface instruments versus satellites is analyzed 
by NCAR's James Hurrell and Kevin Trenberth in the article 
"Spurious trends in satellite MSU temperatures from merging 
different satellite records." Since 1979, microwave sounder units 
(MSUs) have been deployed aboard polar-orbiting satellites of the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  MSUs measure 
the brightness of oxygen in the earth's atmosphere and thus infer 
the temperature across the globe at various heights.

MSU readings for the lowest several kilometers have been averaged 
and yearly trends calculated since 1989.  These show a drop in 
global temperature of -0.03 to -0.05 degree Celsius per decade 
since 1979.  More traditional global temperature averages taken 
near the ground show a rise of about 0.1 degree C/decade over the 
same period.  The difference in trends has been a subject of 
spirited debate because of its implications for the projection 
and measurement of global warming.  (The projected rate of 
warming is typically around 0.2 degree C/decade.)

In their Nature article, Hurrell and Trenberth argue that the MSU 
data, while useful for many purposes, are poorly suited for 
gauging long-term surface temperature trends.  MSUs monitor the 
globe more thoroughly than surface reports, which are 
concentrated over land and approximated over oceans.  However, 
each MSU lasts only a few years, to be replaced by another 
deployment on a different satellite.  According to the NCAR 
scientists, the transitions between satellites may be producing 
spurious temperature drops that mask an actual rise in global 
readings.  "The surface and MSU records measure different 
physical quantities," write Hurrell and Trenberth, "so that 
decadal trends should not be expected to be the same." However, 
they add, "unreconciled discrepancies among the different records 
remain."

To study the matter further, the scientists focused on the 
tropics between 20 degrees N and S, where "noise" from short-term 
weather variations is lower than it is in temperate and polar 
zones.  Hurrell and Trenberth compared simultaneous MSU records 
to each other, to sea-surface temperatures (SSTs), and to air 
temperatures simulated by an NCAR climate model using SSTs.  They 
found that most of the difference between MSU and surface trends 
could be explained by two significant drops in MSU data for 1981 
and 1991, years when satellite transitions took place.

Some newspaper and magazine articles now cite only the MSU or 
only the surface data in reporting on global temperature trends, 
without noting the counterpart to each.  Hurrell and Trenberth 
stress that both data sets are needed to unravel the mysteries of 
global climate.  "The MSU data are excellent for analyzing year-
to-year changes, but not necessarily for longer-term trends," 
says Hurrell.

Thoughts on interpreting climate models and their results

Trenberth provides an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of 
global atmospheric models in his article "The use and abuse of 
climate models." He points out that humankind is now "performing 
a great geophysical experiment" by modifying the environment in a 
way that threatens to change the climate.  Lacking a spare earth 
on which to run a true experiment, "we have to do the next best 
thing -- try to understand the climate system well enough to 
build a good model of the planet earth system ...  a virtual 
model of the earth in a computer."

However, Trenberth notes, a climate model is only as realistic as 
the theoretical understanding behind it and the complexity 
allowed in it.  Computer resources, while growing rapidly, still 
restrict the detail and sophistication of current models.  NCAR's 
climate system model, for example, requires weeks of actual time 
for a single 100- or 200-year climate simulation.  "Computing 
power is one key to future progress," says Trenberth.  Another is 
to improve the representation of common processes such as cloud 
formation and ocean circulation in order to minimize the number 
of "flux adjustments" -- shifts in energy, water, and momentum 
exchange that are artificially prescribed in order to make a 
model more stable.  These adjustments run the risk of causing 
unforeseen and unrealistic side effects in the modeled climate.

In his article, Trenberth describes a strategy for carrying out 
climate experiments that removes much of the impact of flux 
adjustments and other potential sources of error.  However, this 
strategy does not eliminate the possibility of complicated 
feedback effects.  Among other sources of difficulty, clouds 
represent "probably the single greatest uncertainty in climate 
models," notes Trenberth.  "The enormous variety of cloud types, 
their variability on all space scales...  and time scales 
(microseconds to weeks) poses a special challenge."

To help gain confidence in model results, Trenberth advocates the 
use of such tools as sensitivity tests, to see how much a result 
varies with small changes in the input conditions or model 
procedures, and simplified models, which require less computer 
time, to check approximations and assumptions.  He also suggests 
that the burden of proof for claims that model results are 
incorrect should be on the critic, not the modeler.

For policymakers hoping for guidance from computer models, 
Trenberth emphasizes the value of using pooled knowledge and 
results from a number of different models, such as those used in 
the estimates from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 
of a projected global warming from 1.3 to 2.9 degrees C by the 
year 2100.  "Statements such as these, given with appropriate 
caveats, are likely to be the best that can be made because they 
factor in the substantial understanding of many processes 
included in climate models.  Such projections cannot offer 
certainty, but they are far better than declaring ignorance and 
saying nothing at all."
-----------------------------------------------------------------

GLOBAL CLIMATE MONITORING:  THE ACCURACY OF SATELLITE DATA
NASA/Marshall Space Sciences Lab
by Roy Spencer, John Christy, John Horack
[Rebuttal to previous article]

March 12, 1997

Recently, much scientific debate has focused on the global 
temperature of the Earth's lower atmosphere as measured by 
orbiting satellites.  And while these data are exceedingly 
precise, verified by multiple satellite observations, and balloon 
measurements taken in-situ, they reveal no discernable warming 
trend in the Earth's lower atmosphere over the last 18+ years.

Dr. Roy W. Spencer (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center) and Dr. 
John Christy (The University of Alabama in Huntsville) have used 
the Microwave Sounding Units (MSUs) flying aboard NOAA's TIROS-N 
weather satellites to construct a continuous record of lower 
tropospheric (from the surface to about 4 miles) temperatures 
since the first MSU was launched in late 1978.  The lower 
tropospheric temperature trend has been calculated to be -0.04 
degrees C/decade.

In the latest (March 13, 1997) edition of Nature, two scientists, 
James Hurrell and Kevin Trenberth, report that sea-surface 
temperatures monitored by buoys and ships at various locations in 
the tropics show, for the same period as the satellite record, a 
warming trend of +0.12 deg.  C/decade, in apparent disagreement 
with the satellites.  This so-called "disagreement" between 
satellite and surface temperature measurements is not new.

Despite the fact that Hurrell and Trenberth begin with a 
measurement of sea-water temperature and make an estimate of the 
temperature of the atmosphere from a linear regression model, 
while the MSU data actually measure the temperature of the free 
atmosphere, Hurrell and Trenberth conclude that the satellite 
data must be wrong.

The recent paper's conclusion is based on two apparent "breaks" 
in the satellite versus sea-water temperature record, one in late 
1981 and the other in late 1991.  "During the first period, we 
had two separate satellites, operating simultaneously, and 
agreeing with each other to about 0.02 degrees C.  So their 
estimate of the late 1981 break is inconsistent with these 
observations," observed Dr. Spencer, an atmospheric scientist at 
NASA.

"There isn't a problem with the measurements that we can find," 
Spencer explained.  "In fact, balloon measurements of the 
temperature in the same regions of the atmosphere we measure from 
space are in excellent agreement with the satellite results." Dr. 
Christy explained further, "In particular, we've examined these 
two `breaks' claimed by Hurrell and Trenberth.  Even in these 
disputed intervals, we find excellent agreement between the two 
independent, direct atmospheric temperature measurements from 
balloons and satellites."

The disagreement between satellites and surface-based 
thermometers, furthermore, is not geographically uniform.  "Over 
Northern Hemisphere land areas, where the best surface 
thermometer data exist, the satellites and thermometers agree 
almost perfectly", said Dr. Christy of UAH.  "It is primarily 
over the oceans where they disagree by a couple of tenths of a 
degree C.  This is most likely a well-known phenomenon in which 
the temperature in the deep atmosphere is not as strongly linked 
to the surface temperature as it is over land."

While Hurrell and Trenberth attempt to account for possible 
differences between the surface and deep-layer measurements by 
forcing a computerized atmospheric general circulation model 
(GCM) with the observed sea-water temperatures, this methodology 
is likely flawed.  "It is well known that GCMs will produce 
atmospheric temperatures that vary in lock-step with the surface 
temperatures.  In addition, the GCM did not include the direct 
forcing on the atmosphere from this century's two largest 
volcanoes," noted Spencer.  "The physics in these models is not 
refined enough to do anything else.  The satellite measurements 
provide the first observational evidence that the surface and 
deep layer temperatures can vary slightly differently (a couple 
of tenths of a degree) over a decade or so."

Spencer and Christy point out that the surface versus satellite 
temperature controversy will likely not die away soon.  Through 
NASA's Earth Observing System, researchers will continue to 
improve our ability to monitor the Earth system so that we may 
understand the subtleties of variations in the global atmosphere 
as noted in the current discussion.  It is only with direct 
observations of the earth that we will be able to sort out the 
issues of climate variability and change that affect the planet.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

TRW DELIVERS TWO CERES INSTRUMENTS TO NASA; CERES TO STUDY ROLE 
OF CLOUDS AND RADIATION
TRW release

REDONDO BEACH, Calif.  -- March 13, 1997 -- TRW Inc.  is 
delivering next week to NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, 
Va., two instruments that will be used to study the role of 
clouds and radiation on the environment.

The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) 
instruments will measure reflected solar and emitted thermal 
radiation from the Earth's surface to determine the influence of 
clouds on the Earth's temperature.  CERES will be integrated onto 
the Earth Observing System AM-1 (EOS AM-1) satellite, which is 
set for launch in June 1998.

The CERES instruments are part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth
(MTPE), an ambitious, long-term program that includes the 
development of instruments and spacecraft to monitor natural and 
human-induced changes to Earth's climate and environment.

As part of the CERES contract, TRW is also providing two 
instruments for the EOS PM-1 spacecraft -- which will be built by 
TRW.  These instruments are currently beginning fabrication and 
assembly.

"Clouds are still a mystery to scientists," said Steve Carman, 
CERES program manager at TRW's Space & Electronics Group in 
Redondo Beach.  "We know that clouds act as an umbrella to shield 
the Earth against the sun's radiation and as a blanket to warm 
the Earth, but clouds remain the single largest area of 
uncertainty in climate models today."

"CERES will gather data to help scientists build more accurate 
models to forecast long-range climatic trends, and to better 
understand the effects of clouds on the climate," he said.

These instruments represent two of six units that TRW is under 
contract to build and deliver by 2001.  The first instrument, set 
for launch on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite, 
was delivered to NASA Langley in October 1995.  The remaining 
three instruments will be delivered for integration on the EOS 
PM-1 satellite and the EOS AM-2 mission.

CERES is a scanning broadband radiometer that measures reflected 
sunlight and emitted thermal energy from the surface of the Earth 
and the atmosphere.  The radiometer is made up of three sensors, 
each with its own telescope mounted on a gimbaled platform that 
continuously scans across the Earth in a 6.6-second cycle.

The two CERES instruments will operate in different scan modes 
(one, cross-track scanning and the other, biaxial scanning), 
allowing scientists to view the Earth's surface and atmosphere 
from different angles simultaneously.  The additional data will 
enable scientists to build better models of the Earth and make 
more accurate predictions.

CERES radiometric measurement accuracy requirements are at the 
state-of-the-art level of greater than 99 percent.  To meet this 
requirement, CERES sensors have been precisely calibrated using 
standards from the National Institute of Standards and Technology 
at TRW's absolute radiometric calibration facility.  In recent 
tests, the instruments have demonstrated accuracy better than 
specifications.

CERES data will be combined with data from supporting imaging 
instruments that identify cloud conditions.  NASA Langley is 
responsible for CERES data reduction.  The CERES science 
investigation will be conducted by an international team of 
scientists, led by Co-Principal Investigators Bruce Barkstrom and 
Bruce Wielicki of NASA Langley Research Center.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

NASA SELECTS INSTITUTION FOR LIFE SCIENCES RESEARCH
NASA release 97-37

NASA has selected the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 
Berkeley, CA, to serve as a NASA Specialized Center of Research 
and Training (NSCORT) to conduct research into the biological 
effects of exposures to galactic and cosmic radiation.  The 
research will help define the radiation risks experienced by 
space travelers.

The selection was made on the basis of merit as judged by a peer 
review panel assembled under the supervision of NASAs Office of 
Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, Washington, DC.  
NASA plans to award the center approximately $1 million a year 
for five years.  The selection is a competitive renewal award for 
the NSCORT at Lawrence Berkeley, after an initial and very 
successful five-year period.  The Colorado State University in 
Fort Collins, CO, is a collaborating partner.

The NSCORT radiation health program is an integral part of NASA's 
research and analysis activities to understand the hazards 
associated with radiation exposures in humans and to develop 
effective methods to limit the associated risks in space.  This 
program is established exclusively to support ground research and 
analysis, including education and training of future scientists.

In addition to the NSCORT in radiation health, there are six 
other NASA-funded NSCORTs.  The other previously selected 
institutions and their specialties include:

* Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL (funded 
jointly by National Institutes of Health) -- Vestibular 
Research 
* Ohio State University, Columbus (funded jointly by National 
Science Foundation) -- Plant Biology
* University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, Austin --
Integrated Physiology
* Purdue University, Lafayette, IN -- Bioregenerative Life 
Support:  Biomass Productivity and Sustainability Of
	Bioregenerative Life Support Systems; and
* Kansas State University, Manhattan -- Gravitational Studies in 
Cellular and Developmental Biology.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

NASA ESTABLISHES NEW NATIONAL MICROGRAVITY CENTER
NASA release 97-40

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Cleveland, OH, and the 
Universities Space Research Association (USRA) will partner with 
NASA's Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH, to advance 
microgravity research in fluid physics and combustion science 
through a new National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids 
and Combustion, according to NASA Administrator Daniel S.  
Goldin.  Administrator Goldin was at CWRU to sign a cooperative 
agreement among the three parties.

The new center, located at CWRU's Case School of Engineering, is 
the first national center dedicated to microgravity research.  
This research is critical for carrying the space program into the 
next century and achieving the promised scientific and economic 
payoffs from the International Space Station.

NASA will provide $17.8 million in funding over the next five 
years to support the center.  The university-based science 
community will own and operate the center through USRA, a 
consortium of 80 colleges and universities which includes CWRU.

The center's principal responsibilities can be grouped into five 
areas -- fundamental research and technology development, science 
program outreach and development, scientific support to principal 
investigators, technology transfer to industry, and public 
education initiatives.

"The National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and 
Combustion represents a commitment to our goal to strengthen the 
partnership between NASA and our nation's research community in 
universities and industry so that together we can increase the 
scientific and economic payoffs from NASA's Microgravity Science 
Program," Goldin said.

The center will enhance the value of the nation's investment in 
microgravity fluid and combustion research.  This research is 
essential for developing the knowledge base to generate 
technology for long-term space missions and human space 
exploration.  It is also expected to lead to applications of new 
technologies that can be used on Earth to advance such things as 
more efficient power generation, pollution abatement, improved 
manufacturing processes, and biomedical innovations.

Simon Ostrach, the Wilbert J. Austin Distinguished Professor of 
Engineering at CWRU, and the recently named Director of the 
National Center, said "the center will be a catalyst for creating 
a knowledge base to advance our basic understanding of many of 
natures processes.  It also will provide a better way to get 
that knowledge into the hands of those who can really apply it in 
order to benefit us all."

"Most industrial systems are empirically derived and a chasm 
exists between existing industrial systems and what the laws of 
nature dictate," he noted.  "While we keep talking about the 
rubric of design, manufacturing, and marketing, we dont have the 
basic knowledge needed to design better products and processes to 
operate in microgravity or on Earth."

In its effort to enhance the value of microgravity research, the 
center will:  identify and nurture new research areas; transfer 
information, data, and technology to industry; provide technology 
for NASA's Enterprise for the Human Exploration and Development 
of Space program; and spur interest among tomorrow's young 
scientists through programs designed for students in kindergarten 
through grade 12.

The center also will develop a pool of highly-skilled 
microgravity investigators who can exploit the unique 
capabilities of the International Space Station to conduct world-
class research that is impossible to study in ground-based 
laboratories.

Ostrach will direct a team of over 30 people consisting of senior 
staff scientists who will be members of the CWRU faculty, 
visiting professors, staff scientists located at Lewis, CWRU 
graduate students, and an administrative staff.  They also will 
extend outreach efforts to the community to generate new research 
ideas and proposals.

Through their participation in the center, the researchers will 
have access to unique equipment and facilities, such as the drop 
towers at Lewis which test the effects of short-term microgravity 
on experiments.  They also will establish an interactive network 
with other universities and industry to encourage their use of 
Lewis's capabilities and facilities.

Center researchers will provide scientific and engineering 
support to principal investigators conducting microgravity 
research.  They also will contribute on-site scientific support 
to principal investigators and flight hardware developers during 
the design, development, and operation of flight experiments, and 
later during analysis and dissemination of their flight research 
results.

The Cooperative Agreement establishes a formal, long-term 
partnership between CWRU, USRA, and NASA which builds on the 
unique experience, expertise, and capabilities of each partner to 
achieve success, a success which is critical to seizing the vast 
opportunities and benefits made possible by microgravity 
research.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

PRESS BRIEFING TO PRESENT NEW DATA AND STATUS OF 'PAST LIFE ON 
MARS' DEBATE SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 19
NASA release

Seven months after NASA's initial announcement suggesting that a 
Martian meteorite shows life may have existed on ancient Mars, a 
panel of science experts will present new data and deliver a 
progress report on the continuing "Past Life on Mars" discussion 
at a press briefing scheduled for 1 p.m.  EST, Wednesday, March 
19, in the media briefing room at the Johnson Space Center (JSC), 
Houston, TX.

Douglas P.  Blanchard, Ph.D., Chief of JSC's Earth Science and 
Solar System Exploration Division, will moderate a six-person 
panel of co-authors of each of the six abstracts on the Mars 
issue that are scheduled for presentation later that day during a 
special plenary session of the Lunar and Planetary Science 
Conference in the adjacent Teague auditorium at JSC.

The briefing will be carried live on NASA Select TV.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

NASA NAMES A NEW NATIONAL BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
NASA release 97-43

NASA has selected Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, to 
lead the consortium for its new National Space Biomedical 
Research Institute.  In its role as an Institute, Baylor will 
conduct the focused biomedical research necessary to support 
human health in the exploration and development of space.

Following a 60-day cooperative agreement for detailed definition, 
a five year agreement with three, five-year extensions will be 
awarded on June 1, 1997.  The total value of the 20-year 
agreement is approximately $145 million.  The Johnson Space 
Center, Houston, TX, will sponsor the Institute.

NASA identified the concept of a science institute as a means of 
maintaining the scientific excellence of its applied biomedical 
research through a greater involvement of the scientific 
community in NASA's overall research program.

NASA believes this pilot program will be a national consortium of 
premier academic and research organizations, developing the 
solutions to medical risks associated with extended human space 
flight.

The members of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute 
consortium are:  Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA; Johns 
Hopkins Universitys Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD; 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA; Morehouse 
School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA; Rice University, Houston, TX; 
and Texas A & M University, College Station, TX.

The specific objectives of the Institute include:

--Implementation of a research plan that will leadto the 
knowledge and technologies required for long-duration space 
flight, including specific countermeasures;

--Ensure the dissemination of knowledge to the scientific 
community;

--Facilitate science community access to NASAs space biomedical 
research expertise and facilities;

--Ensure that technology development and knowledge are 
transferred to the private sector.

As the Institute's sponsor, the Johnson Space Center will make 
available to Baylor, NASA's considerable knowledge and expertise 
in the area of biomedical research in general and human space 
flight in particular, and the associated facilities and assets 
which were developed in more than 30 years of human space flight.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

(FAIRLY) RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST TO EXOBIOLOGISTS
Compiled by Julian Hiscox

Benaroya.  1997.  An engineering perspective on terraforming.  
Journal of the British Interplanetary Society.  v50, 105-108.

Cabrol et al.  1996.  Ma'adim Vallis revisited through new 
topographic data:  evidence for an ancient intravalley lake.  
Icarus.  v123, 269-283.

Cathcart.  1997.  Seeing is believing:  Planetographic data 
display on a spherical TV.  Journal of the British Interplanetary 
Society.  v50, 103-104.

Chyba.  1997.  Life on other moons.  Nature.  v385, 201.

Cregg and Williams.  1996.  Explosive mafic volcanoes on Mars and 
Earth:  Deep magma sources and rapid rise rate.  Icarus.  v122, 
397-405.

Fogg.  1997.  Planetary engineering bibliography.  Journal of the 
British Interplanetary Society.  v50, 117-119.

Fogg.  1997.  Book review of:  The Case for Mars by Zubrin and 
Wagner.  Journal of the British Interplanetary Society.  v50, 
120.

Gray.  1997.  Absence of a planetary signature in the spectra of 
the star 51 Pegasi.  Nature.  v385, 795-796.

Hiscox and Lindner.  1997.  Ozone and the habitability of Mars.  
Journal of the British Interplanetary Society.  v50, 109-114.

Holland.  1997.  Evidence for life on Earth more than 3850 
million years ago.  Science.  v275, 38-39.

Johnson and Liu.  1997.  The loss of atmosphere on Mars.  
Science.  v274, 1932-1933.

Mautner.  1997.  Directed panspermia.  3.  Strategies and 
motivation for seeding star-forming clouds.  Journal of the 
British Interplanetary Society.  v50, 93-102.

McDonald et al.  1996.  Production and chemical analysis of 
cometary ice tholins.  Icarus.  v122, 107-117.

Reichhardt.  1997.  Russian space module "in need of more 
protection".  Nature.  v385, 190.

Walker.  1997.  One of our planets is missing.  Nature.  v385, 
775-776.

Williams et al.  1997.  Habitable moons around extrasolar giant 
planets.  Nature.  v385, 234-236.

Zubrin and McKay.  1997.  Technological requirements for 
terraforming Mars.  Journal of the British Interplanetary 
Society.  v50, 83-92.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

End Marsbugs, Vol. 4, No. 5.
