MARSBUGS:  
The Electronic Exobiology Newsletter
Volume 5, Number 4, 3 March, 1998.

Editors:

David Thomas, Department of Biological Sciences, University of 
Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844-3051, USA, thoma457@uidaho.edu or 
Marsbugs@aol.com.

Julian Hiscox, Division of Molecular Biology, IAH Compton 
Laboratory, Berkshire, RG20 7NN, UK.  Julian.Hiscox@bbsrc.ac.uk or 
Marsbug@msn.com

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.
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INDEX

1)	EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
	by David J. Thomas

2)	CURRENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE IN KEY AREAS OF ASTROBIOLOGY
from the Ames Astrobiology Home Page

3)	ASTROBIOLOGY AT NASA
from the Ames Astrobiology Home Page

4)	NASA ASTROBIOLOGY ACADEMY, AMES RESEARCH CENTER
from the Ames Astrobiology Home Page

5)	DETAILED IMAGES FROM EUROPA POINT TO SLUSH BELOW SURFACE
from the Brown University News Bureau

6)	MARS SURVEYOR 98 PROJECT STATUS REPORT
	by John McNamee

7)	CD-ROM TO CARRY NAMES TO MARS
from the "JPL Universe"

8)	CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENT REPORT
JPL release

9)	DUST AND SOIL EXPERIMENT CHOSEN FOR MARS 2001 MISSION
	JPL release

10)	MARS SOCIETY FOUNDING CONVENTION 
by the Mars Society
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EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
by David J. Thomas

Greetings fellow exobiology enthusiasts.  Last week, while I was 
searching the web for new and interesting things, I came across 
the Astrobiology Page on the Ames Research Center home page.  I 
had not visited the Ames page for quite some time, and the 
Astrobiology page was new to me.  I have included three article 
from that page in this issue of Marsbugs, and I strongly encourage 
everyone to visit the site (http://astrobiology.arc.nasa.gov).

The life sciences aspect of space exploration appears to be 
becoming more prominent, both in the public's eye and in the 
interests of professional sciences.  Ames Research Center is not 
the only place studying astrobiology.  Labs at Goddard, Dryden and 
Marshall space centers are also involved in astrobiology.  I 
recently returned from a visit to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
where an astrobiology program is just getting started.  With the 
current and near-future missions to Mars, Titan and Europa, I 
think the field of astrobiology is going to become more and more 
prominent.  Only time will tell what the future will hold, but it 
looks to be exciting.
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CURRENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE IN KEY AREAS OF ASTROBIOLOGY
from the Ames Astrobiology Home Page

Formation and Diversity of Planetary Systems

Fundamental to understanding the distribution of life in the 
cosmos is understanding the formation and diversity of planetary 
systems, which are the retinues of planets and satellites of 
different mass and composition orbiting stars of different 
luminosities.  The conditions under which these systems form and 
evolve will determine the diversity of habitable environments in 
space and in time.  Understanding planetary phenomena will rely on 
three key approaches:  direct, multi-wavelength observations of 
planetary systems across the entire range of formative and mature 
stages; theoretical studies of the behavior of multiple, complex, 
and interacting processes under diverse conditions; and laboratory 
and astronomical measurements of primitive materials preserved 
since the formative stages of our own system.

A consensus theory of planetary formation is generally in hand:  
gradual accumulation of solids within a primarily gaseous, 
flattened circumstellar accretion disk, which itself is a 
byproduct of the formation of its parent star from a dense, 
rotating interstellar cloud of gas and dust.  However, this theory 
has been studied in only a very narrow range of initial 
conditions, possibly important physics has been neglected, and it 
has little or no predictive capability.  For example, recent 
discoveries of giant planets in circular orbits very close to 
solar-type stars were unexpected and are still not completely 
understood.  There are, as of this writing, eight new giant 
planets known to orbit solar-like stars; at least one of these 
orbits within the "habitable zone" of its parent star.  These new 
data provide not only a challenge to the current theoretical 
paradigms, but clear direction as to parts of parameter space in 
which both theoretical models and observations of extrasolar 
systems need more exercise.  Furthermore, given the wide range of 
conceivable environments, we might ask "what makes a planet 
habitable?" (An associated question is "habitable for what kind of 
organism?")

Advances in technology are enabling not only new observations of 
these mature (if unanticipated) extrasolar planetary systems, but 
also of "protoplanetary nebulae" within which the planetary 
formation process is still ongoing.  These observations are 
capable of telling us the extent, mass, gas and solid content, and 
thermal structure of the material from which planets form.  In 
order to comprehend the new, surprising diversity of planetary 
systems, we must continue to study the early stages of planetary 
formation under a range of conditions, as well as to establish the 
full range of ultimate outcomes of the process.

In addition to observations of remote extrasolar planetary systems 
from ground and space, we are fortunate to have in hand, or 
accessible by spacecraft, actual material which survives from the 
days of the early accumulation of our own planets.  So-called 
"primitive material" preserves clues as to the materials from 
which, and the processes by which, planets formed.  To be found in 
these primitive materials are presolar grains which carry clues as 
to the variety and number of stellar precursors of our own system, 
complex organic material which might preserve the signature of 
interstellar chemistry, once-molten silicate "chondrules" with 
composition, size, and mineralogy diagnostic of the pre-
accretionary environment, and, in one recent case, suggestive 
evidence for past life on another planet.

Origin of Life

The occurrence of organic compounds in interstellar clouds, 
planets of the outer solar system, comets and meteorites suggests 
a chain of astrophysical processes which link the chemistry of 
interstellar clouds with the prebiotic evolution of organic matter 
in the solar system and on the early Earth.  Although there is no 
record of the evolutionary pathway from this simple organic matter 
to present-day life on Earth, the main steps along this pathway 
can be deduced from basic physical and chemical principles, 
environmental conditions on the early Earth, and the cellular 
biology and phylogeny of contemporary organisms.

There is compelling evidence that cellular life existed on Earth 
3.56 billion years ago.  Recently, a persuasive argument was made 
that terrestrial life was already present toward the end of the 
period of heavy bombardment of the early Earth by asteroids and 
comets from 4.0 to 3.9 billion years ago.  This implies that 
ancestors of contemporary life emerged rather quickly, on a 
geological time scale, and perhaps also survived the effects of 
large impacts.  Such catastrophic events would have strongly 
favored survival of thermophilic organisms which thrive at high 
temperatures.  This scenario is consistent with the phylogenetic 
record, which indicates that the last common ancestor was 
thermophilic.  This record also supports the view that life might 
have arisen first near marine hydrothermal vents.  The possibility 
remains, however, that the first common ancestor lived at moderate 
temperatures and only later adapted to thermophilic conditions, in 
which case ocean surfaces and near-shore shallow environments 
might have spawned life.

All present-day forms of life are cellular, with lipid bilayer 
membranes forming the primary barrier that separates the interior 
of a cell from the external environment.  It has been proposed 
that similar, encapsulating structures (vesicles) made of simple 
membrane-forming material could have self-assembled in the 
protobiological environment.  The presence of such membrane-
forming material in carbonaceous meteorites is consistent with 
this idea.  Furthermore, recent experiments showed that vesicular 
lipid bilayer structures can grow by spontaneous addition of 
membrane-forming material from the surrounding medium, and can 
encapsulate both ions and macromolecules.  Besides separating 
intracellular components from the diluting effect of the 
environment, cell membranes also provide a barrier for separating 
charges, a fundamental process in bioenergetics.  From 
phylogenetic data we infer that the earliest cells probably used 
chemical rather than photochemical energy sources.  It has also 
been proposed that membranes helped stabilize the secondary 
structure of peptides (protein precursors) having appropriate 
sequences of polar and nonpolar amino acids.  Some of these 
peptides may have been capable of performing basic protocellular 
functions, such as catalysis, signaling, and energy transduction, 
without requiring the existence of separate molecules capable of 
storing and transmitting genetic information (i.e., nucleic 
acids).

Alternatively, it has been postulated that there was a time in 
protobiological evolution when RNA played a dual role as both 
genetic material and a catalytic molecule ("the RNA world").  
However, this appealing concept encounters significant 
difficulties.  RNA is chemically fragile and difficult to 
synthesize abiotically.  The known range of its catalytic 
activities is rather narrow, and the origin of an RNA synthetic 
apparatus is unclear.  Therefore, it may be more likely that RNA 
and proteins co-evolved in protocells, rather than evolving 
independently.  The co-evolutionary process leading to division of 
cellular functions between these molecules, however, is not at all 
clear.  Understanding the emergence of life requires studies that 
extend beyond the origin of biopolymers and cellular structures.  
All these components necessarily assembled into auto-catalytic, 
self-reproducing systems capable of evolution and selection.  
Based on theoretical arguments, it has been suggested that sets of 
mutually catalytic molecules can reproduce and evolve without 
templating, resulting in a primitive metabolism without a genome.  
However, only a limited number of experimental studies have been 
performed in this area.

The recent discovery of organic, possibly even biogenic, material 
in a martian meteorite (ALH84001) opens the exciting possibility 
of extending the search for the origin of life to places beyond 
the Earth.  Although current findings on ALH84001 are inconclusive 
regarding possible life on Mars, future exploration might lead to 
fundamentally new insights into prebiotic chemistry and 
protobiological evolution, the record of which is lost on the 
Earth.

Interactions Between Earth and Its Biosphere

The history of life on Earth was directed, at least in part, by 
changes in the surface environment.  Today we are experiencing 
rapid environmental changes of our own making, and our biosphere 
must adapt and, perhaps eventually, evolve to a different state.  
Environmental change surely has occurred in the past, but can 
studies of our past help to predict our future?  Also, to the 
extent that rocky planets have followed similar evolutionary 
paths, at least during the early chapters of their history, can 
studies of our own biosphere assist us in our search for 
extraterrestrial life, past or present?

The processes which modified the environment vary widely both in 
their magnitude and time scales.  For example, the increase in 
solar luminosity, the declining rates of comet and meteorite 
impacts, the exchange of volatile materials between Earth's mantle 
and crustal reservoirs, and the stabilization of continents have 
all exerted dominant controls on the surface environment.  
However, because these processes themselves evolved very slowly, 
they required 108 to 109 year time scales to cause global changes.  
The effects of plate tectonics, erosion, sedimentation, and 
glaciation acted more quickly, causing changes over 104 to 108 
year time scales.  Faster still have been the effects of ocean and 
climate dynamics and ocean-atmosphere-biosphere interactions, 
which can vary on 1 to 104 year time scales.  Already, human 
activity has dramatically altered patterns of erosion, 
sedimentation, climate patterns, species biodiversity, primary 
productivity and ocean-atmosphere-biosphere exchange.  These 
changes are happening over a few decades.  In the earlier 
"natural" world, such changes would have required typically 
thousands to millions of years to occur.  How will plants, animals 
and the microbial world respond to such rapid change?

Microorganisms are supremely adapted for coping with change.  
Should global conditions deteriorate, the small size of microbes 
allows them to "hide" in niches.  Small cell size imparts a high 
surface/volume ratio, which allows rapid rates of chemical 
exchange with the cell's surroundings.  Thus microbes can rapidly 
exploit favorable conditions.  The diverse biochemistry of 
microbes permits them not only to survive, but even to prosper 
under environmental extremes.  Already by 3.5 billion years ago, 
widespread microbial communities accommodated large meteorite 
impacts, UV irradiation, desiccation, wide excursions in 
temperature and salinity, and a long menu of chemical substrates 
as sources of energy and organic matter.  For example, our early 
biosphere adapted to major changes in volcanism, coastal 
environments, atmospheric composition, and the oxidation state of 
the oceans and atmosphere.  On the other hand, microorganisms can 
themselves contribute to environmental change by, for example, 
affecting rates of erosion and sedimentation or by influencing the 
atmosphere's inventory of reactive gases.  Microbes responsible 
for infectious diseases evolve to circumvent medical treatments, 
thereby continually challenging human populations.

In contrast with the bacteria, plants and animals are much larger, 
more complex and highly specialized.  They typically depend upon a 
more limited suite of nutrients and a relatively narrow range of 
conditions for their survival.  Accordingly, environmental change, 
human-induced or otherwise, can more easily trigger catastrophe 
within ecosystems which sustain these complex eukaryotic 
organisms.  Modern challenges to the biosphere include rising 
atmospheric levels of CO2, SO2, CH4, CO, and N2O due to fossil fuel 
burning and agriculture (causing greenhouse climate effects as 
well as direct biospheric effects), declining ozone levels 
(leading to increased ultraviolet radiation), invasions of foreign 
species, and land use changes whose effects include the following:  
soil salinization, overgrazing, increased soil erosion, altered 
energy balance, loss of biodiversity, species extinctions, 
declines in food and fisheries, and chemical pollution.

While large meteorite impacts, such as the one which marks the 
Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, were perhaps more severe than modern 
human-induced changes, impacts still serve as useful models for 
the effects of catastrophic change on the biosphere.  For example, 
the severe "winter" which had been predicted to follow a large 
impact alerted us to the "nuclear winter" which might follow 
thermonuclear war.  Also, impacts remind us that catastrophism 
probably does play at least a limited, but still important, role 
in the long-term evolution of our biosphere.  The role of impacts 
in evolution was perhaps most pronounced during the earliest 
stages of Earth's history, when impact rates were much higher.

Sustaining Life in Space

Because life evolved and developed on the Earth, it is uniquely 
adapted to function on this planet.  To sustain life beyond the 
Earth's biosphere for prolonged periods of time will require a 
better understanding of the processes underlying biological 
adaptation and the interactions among organisms and their 
environments.  The relationships among the behavioral, structural, 
and genetic bases of survival remain to be elucidated.  
Adaptability in biological systems is a given, but the limits of 
adaptability and the issue of irreversibility of adaptive changes 
are major concerns.  A concerted effort in enhancing our knowledge 
of biological adaptation, and developmental and evolutionary 
biology, will be needed if we are to sustain terrestrial life 
beyond the Earth's biosphere.

Electromagnetic radiation and gravity are two fundamental 
environmental variables that dramatically affect biological 
systems.  On Earth, gravity is effectively constant in magnitude 
and direction, and the natural radiation environment has modest 
variability.  These physical variables are difficult to control in 
space, and consequently can severely limit our ability to sustain 
life beyond the surface of the Earth.

How the radiation environment beyond the Earth affects biological 
systems is only partially understood.  In space, galactic cosmic 
rays and particles from solar events can be lethal to terrestrial 
life forms.  We have a very limited ability to predict solar 
events, and our understanding of shielding techniques to manage 
radiation risks is poor.  Further, our ability to characterize the 
radio-biological effectiveness of various ionized and non-ionized 
particles, is limited.  Space travelers beyond low Earth orbit 
must, therefore, monitor the Sun for solar storms as a matter of 
life or death.

Clearly, the effects of various forms of radiation on RNA and DNA 
are issues of major concern.  Currently we are ignorant of the 
relationships among chromosomal damage, chromosomal aberrations, 
and carcinogenesis.  The direct effects of high energy particles 
on the nervous system are also poorly understood, as are 
biological mechanisms for the repair of radiation damage.

Gravity profoundly affects many biological systems, both directly 
and indirectly.  The cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and 
neurovestibular systems all undergo dramatic changes in space, 
where organisms are deprived of terrestrial gravity.  For example, 
fluids shift from the lower limbs and lower torso to the upper 
torso and the head; blood volume is reduced; anti-gravity muscles 
in the lower limbs and torso tend to atrophy; bones that formerly 
supported the organism against gravity become less dense and more 
fragile; vestibular-ocular reflexes are altered, and the nervous 
system re-calibrates itself to function in the absence of gravity.  
Although these changes are generally benign for functioning in 
space, they can seriously compromise an organism's ability to 
function in a new gravitational environment and upon return to the 
Earth.

Humans currently use multiple countermeasures to minimize the 
effects of non-terrestrial environments on physiological systems 
for periods of more than one year.  These countermeasures, which 
include training procedures, protective garments, physical 
exercise, conditioning devices, and various pharmacological 
agents, may be of only limited value to sustain life beyond the 
Earth's biosphere for prolonged periods of time that ultimately 
will include multiple generations.  Artificial gravity, provided 
by continuous or intermittent centrifugation, lower-body negative 
pressure exercise chambers, or other techniques, may be necessary.  
Our experience with artificial gravity for humans in space is 
limited to a single, brief, Gemini flight experiment, and our 
current knowledge base is inadequate to assess the need for 
artificial gravity to sustain life beyond the Earth's biosphere.

Critical psychological variables in small group interactions 
during prolonged isolation in a perpetually hostile environment 
away from the home society are not well understood.  The 
interactions of gravity, radiation, and isolation in non-
terrestrial environments have never been studied systematically.  
Thus, many fundamental questions in the life sciences will need to 
be answered before we can assure that terrestrial life forms can 
be sustained beyond the Earth's biosphere for prolonged periods.

With current technology, we are able to maintain terrestrial life 
beyond the Earth for periods in excess of one year.  To sustain 
terrestrial life beyond the Earth for longer periods, it is 
necessary to create a micro-environment that is similar to that on 
Earth, at least initially.  This environment must provide an 
atmosphere with a ppropriate partial pressures of O2 and allow for 
gas exchanges to support metabolism; it must provide adequate 
liquid water, appropriate microorganisms, adequate gravity, food, 
thermal protection, and radiation protection; it must allow for 
the partial recycling of nutrients and waste-products; finally, it 
must be stable and reliably sustainable for an indefinite period 
of time.

Human Exploration of Mars

As described in the section above, we still lack much of the 
fundamental knowledge necessary to send humans on extended space 
journeys beyond the protection of the Earth's biosphere (including 
its magnetic field).  Only modest progress is being made towards 
actually carrying out the life science experiments and technology 
tests needed to ensure that a crew arriving at Mars will be at a 
sufficient fitness level (albeit that fitness level needs 
definition) to assure their well being and the success of their 
mission.  Thus, fully effective countermeasures to deal with long 
duration exposure to microgravity have not yet been demonstrated, 
and the appropriate shielding requirements to deal with extended 
exposure to heavy galactic cosmic rays have not been fully 
defined.  However, these issues appear tractable if appropriate 
experiments are conducted on the International Space Station and 
if appropriate particle accelerator experiments are carried out.

A program to extend human presence to Mars will inevitably have 
both exploration and what we may term habitability goals.  If 
evidence that life once evolved on Mars is discovered, human 
explorers will provide much of the scientific capability needed 
(beyond robotic capabilities projected for the next several 
decades) to investigate how the pre-biotic seeds of microbial life 
evolved and subsequently prospered or perished.

Theory, laboratory experimentation, subterranean terrestrial 
sampling and meteoritic evidence suggest that microbial life could 
have evolved on early Mars.  Our present lack of direct knowledge 
about subterranean martian environments should make us cautious, 
therefore, about concluding (as seems common) that any such early 
life would inevitably have become extinct on a planet where 
present surface conditions are indeed extremely hostile.  To 
answer questions about possible extant life we need to explore the 
subsurface below the cryosphere, which extends to kilometer 
depths, and into the warmer martian hydrosphere.  Although a 
thorough exploration of the martian subsurface by robots alone is 
feasible in principle, the combined effects of great communication 
distances and intrinsically limited machine intelligence might 
well require postponement of such exploration for many 
generations.  Therefore, some astrobiologists are considering 
whether human exploration of Mars may be legitimately identified 
as a real scientific priority as the only efficient and timely way 
in which we will be able to study, at first hand, a second sample 
of life (all terrestrial life being linked to a common ancestor).

The consequences of the discovery of life, past or present, on 
Mars in the coming decades will have profound implications beyond 
just the intense interest of molecular biologists.  (Likewise, 
although it will be much harder to disprove the case, the 
determination that Mars never evolved life would also have 
profound implications.)  Scientists and non-scientists alike will 
immediately appreciate the improbability that humans are "alone" 
in our galaxy.  The discovery of life on Mars will surely add 
priority to the search for life elsewhere in our solar system 
(e.g.  in the subterranean oceans of Europa), to the search for 
Earth-like planets orbiting other stars in our galaxy, and to the 
search for extraterrestrial intelligence.  More generally, the 
stimulation of such a discovery of martian life is also likely to 
lead us to a recognition that, having the technological means at 
hand, we can be on the verge of becoming a multi-planet 
civilization, with Mars as our second abode.

Responsible NASA Official:  Dr. Larry Caroff
Webmaster:  Ken Bollinger

[Find out more about astrobiology from the NASA Ames Astrobiology 
web page at http://astrobiology.arc.nasa.gov/]
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ASTROBIOLOGY AT NASA

from the Ames Astrobiology Home Page

Astrobiology is the scientific study of the origin, distribution, 
and future of life in the universe.  Recent exciting discoveries 
have set the stage for NASA's astrobiology initiative:

* We have analyzed complex organic chemistry in interstellar 
clouds of gas and dust and have discovered planets circling other 
stars.

* On Earth, life has been found thriving in Antarctic rocks, in 
boiling hot springs, at the ocean depths, and deep underground.

* We know that liquid water, the essential ingredient for life as 
we know it, once flowed on the surface of Mars and probably exists 
today below the icy crust of Jupiter's moon Europa.

* A rock from the ancient martian crust has revealed tantalizing 
hints of fossil microorganisms that may have lived more than 3 
billion years ago.

* Life on Earth has been traced back 3.8 billion years to the 
period when heavy cometary bombardment brought life-giving water 
and organic chemicals while battering Earth with lethal quantities 
of impact energy.

* We are discovering both the fragility and robustness of life, as 
we investigate the history of mass extinctions on our planet, 
subtle alterations in climate triggered by atmospheric changes, 
and the partial destruction of our protective shield of ozone.

* While we celebrate the ability of astronauts to live and achieve 
wonderful feats of engineering in space, we ponder the 
implications of baffling physiological and chemical changes 
induced by the space environment.  We are only beginning to probe 
the adaptability of life to conditions beyond our home planet 
Earth.

NASA's Astrobiology Program

NASA initiative in astrobiology is a broad science effort 
embracing basic research, technology development, and flight 
missions.  It is conducted at several NASA Centers and in the 
academic and industrial communities, with a lead role assigned to 
NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.  This 
initiative involves:

* Basic research, carried out by scientists in universities and 
other laboratories across the nation.  These research programs are 
supported in response to peer reviewed proposals to carry our 
specific interdisciplinary studies.

* Missions to space.  These include biological aspects of the 
study of stellar nurseries in which planets form and organic 
molecules are synthesized, search for life on Mars, identification 
of habitable planets circling distant stars, and experimental 
studies of the adaptation and evolution of life in space.

* Astrobiology Institute.  The Institute, managed by Ames Research 
Center, is a national consortium of scientists focused on 
interdisciplinary research, while also training a new generation 
of researchers with the broad skills, intellect and enthusiasm to 
realize the future potential of astrobiology.

Astrobiology will take advantage of the world-wide web and other 
information systems to share the excitement of exploration with 
the public.  As with all NASA programs, there will be a strong 
educational component -- because we wouldn't dream of exploring 
the living universe without taking the kids along!

Astrobiology Research Opportunities

* How did life begin?  Modern science is able to approach this 
question from many directions.  How did life originate on Earth?  
What are the processes of self-organization that led to the 
formation of membranes and cells?  How did the first living 
systems acquire the ability to metabolize and reproduce?  Within 
15 years, we expect to have the answers to many of these 
questions.

* To understand life's beginnings, we need to place it in its 
cosmic context.  Are there other habitable worlds besides the 
Earth, either in our solar system or far beyond it?  What is the 
origin of the water and organic chemicals that are the raw 
materials for life?  Several NASA missions, such as the Space 
Infrared Telescope Facility, the Stratospheric Observatory for 
Infrared Astronomy, and the Next Generation Space Telescope will 
answer many of these questions.

* We seek to understand our place in the universe, and to answer 
the age-old question, "Are we alone?" If we find Earth-size 
planets circling distant stars, can we determine their potential 
for life?  What features are key for recognizing habitable 
planetary systems?  Within 15 years we should be able to study 
individual Earth-like planets if they exist around nearby stars.

* The Earth was a very different place 3.8 billion years ago, the 
age of the oldest fossils.  How have the Earth and its biosphere 
evolved and interacted?  And what are the implications of the 
environmental changes happening today?  Comprehensive monitoring 
of our planet by the Earth Observing System in combination with 
ongoing academic research efforts will provide many answers.

* Is there life on Mars or in the ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa?  
Where on these bodies should we search for life and its fossils, 
and how can we recognize them?  Will all life be much like us, or 
will it differ in exciting ways?  Study of life in extreme Earth 
environments and retrieval of martian samples should answer some 
question within 10 years, while others may require human flights 
to Mars.

* The first outposts of life are now in orbit, and within the next 
generation we may move outward to the planets.  How will 
terrestrial life adapt and evolve in extraterrestrial 
environments?  Can we study evolution experimentally in space or 
on other planets?  Research on the Space Station will address 
these basic questions within the next decade.

* How can we understand how physical factors such as gravity and 
radiation influenced our genetic history?  What are the prospects 
for establishing stable ecosystems on Mars that can support long-
term human presence on that planet?  These questions are addressed 
by a combination of laboratory studies, experiments on the Space 
Station, and the unfolding of the NASA Integrated Mars Exploration 
Program.

Responsible NASA Official:  Dr. Larry Caroff
Webmaster:  Ken Bollinger
[Find out more about astrobiology from the NASA Ames Astrobiology 
web page at http://astrobiology.arc.nasa.gov/]
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NASA ASTROBIOLOGY ACADEMY, AMES RESEARCH CENTER
from the Ames Astrobiology Home Page

Program Description and 1998 Activities--June 21 to August 29

Introduction

The NASA Astrobiology Academy is a unique summer institute of 
higher learning whose goal is to help guide future leaders of the 
U.S. Space Program by giving them a glimpse of how the whole 
system works.  The success of the Space Program results from the 
interaction of government, academia, and the private sector, each 
playing a critical and different role in the 35 year old civil 
program.  Responsibilities overlap, leaders migrate from one 
sector to another and interdependence changes with each new 
administration.

NASA's Charter, written in the 1958 Space Act, gives it the main 
role of using and exploring space for the betterment of humankind.  
Congress and the President have both supported and restrained NASA 
as its programs have evolved.  President John F. Kennedy's vision 
of putting a man on the moon within the decade included much more 
than the Apollo spectacular of newspaper fame.  After Apollo's 
success, NASA has constantly sought to redefine its goals and fine 
tune its schedule every year seeking a budget to match its 
imagination.  We have explored most of the planets, measured the 
solar system, flown humans in long term endurance missions and 
short term operational missions, invented new technology and 
trained Congress, teachers, students, businesspeople, and 
engineers, developing a whole new generation familiar with the 
expertise of the "Space Age."

The NASA Ames Research Center

The Ames Research Center (ARC), located at Moffett Field, 
California, in the heart of Silicon Valley, specializes in 
revealing new knowledge about the universe, planetary systems, and 
life and in creating new technologies that enable exciting new 
ventures in aeronautics and space exploration.  Throughout its 
history, results from Ames research have significantly influenced 
national and international policy, enabled most of the major space 
missions of the past twenty years, and contributed science 
discoveries and engineering insights that have rewritten the 
textbooks.  In the process of these endeavors, Ames has made 
numerous contributions to environmental protection, public health, 
and the nation's economic well-being.

Ames is unique in having world class ground, airborne, and space 
flight research capabilities in aeronautics, astrophysics, earth 
sciences, exobiology, fluid dynamics, gravitational biology, 
thermal protection technology, computational chemistry, planetary 
atmospheres, space laboratories, information sciences, and 
spacecraft life support.

As a result, Ames is the only NASA center to support all NASA 
Strategic Enterprises and acts as technical bridge to transfer 
skill, knowledge and technologies among the NASA Enterprises.  
This multidisciplinary synergy has created the world's only 
capability for the comprehensive study of astrobiology--life's 
origin, evolution, distribution in the universe and destiny, from 
the protection of our planet to the evolution of terrestrial life 
into space.

Ames is the lead NASA Center for astrobiology and is also the lead 
NASA Center for understanding the effects of gravity on living 
things.  Ames plays a major role in understanding the origin, 
evolution, and distribution of stars, planets, and life in the 
universe.  One important activity is Ames' unique research in 
atmosphere and ecosystems science in support of Mission to Planet 
Earth and the protection of the global environment.  In space 
technologies Ames is also the lead center in providing the thermal 
protection systems that are critical for future access to space 
and planetary atmospheric entry vehicles.

Ames is NASA's Center of Excellence in Information Systems 
technologies, encompassing research in supercomputing, networking, 
numerical computing software, artificial intelligence, and human 
factors to enable bold advances in aeronautics and space.

In aeronautics, Ames is the agency lead center in airspace 
operations systems, including air traffic control and human 
factors, and the lead center for rotorcraft technology.  Ames also 
has major responsibilities in the creation of design and 
development process tools and in wind tunnel testing.

About 1600 civil servants and over 2000 contractor personnel are 
employed at Ames.  In addition, Ames is proud to host more than 
500 graduate students, cooperative education students, post-
doctoral fellows and university faculty members who work in 
collaboration with Ames' preeminent scientists and technologists.

Ames is a pioneer in the application of the multidisciplinary 
approach in science, technology, and projects.  That is, combining 
the perspectives, training, and technologies of a variety of 
discipline experts to attack problems of exceptional difficulty.  
Multidisciplinary approaches are flexible and tend to stimulate 
cutting edge concepts.  Successful application of this technique 
requires a deep appreciation for the talents, skills, and insights 
of others and an ability to cross organizational lines to reveal 
hidden treasures of understanding.  Today, more and more 
scientists and high tech industries are using this approach with 
remarkable results.

It is in this spirit of shared discovery and the synthesis of 
diverse talents that Ames offers the Astrobiology Academy.  
Students will contribute to every aspect of successful 
multidisciplinary research on Earth, in the air, and in space, 
from the formulation of an idea to the procurement of goods and 
services necessary to develop it, through the management, 
marketing, and manufacturing necessary to turn a concept into a 
reality.

The Astrobiology Academy

One goal of the Academy is to provide insight into all of the 
elements that make the NASA missions possible, while at the same 
time assigning the student to one of our best researchers to 
contribute towards one of our missions.  Each student will be hand 
picked by a series of gates--panels, interviews, etc., starting 
with their own State Space Grant Consortium who has selected and 
agreed to sponsor them.  The Ames researchers have been selected 
through a highly competitive process for selecting only the best, 
the brightest, and the most innovative.  The "match" between 
student (Research Associate) and researcher (Principal 
Investigator) will be done by mutual selection.

About 50% of the working time and most of the social time of the 
students will be spent as a "group" or "team" in plenary sessions.  
This time will be devoted to exchange of ideas, on forays into the 
highest level of decision making, prioritizing, planning and 
executing our space missions.  This will be done by interviews 
with leaders and motivators of the space program.  Besides the 
domestic Ames experts, we will bring in leaders from the 
aerospace, high-tech, and genetic engineering firms in Silicon 
Valley; local, state, and national political decision makers; 
international partners; advocates and adversaries of space 
exploration.  The other 50% of the working time will be spent in 
the laboratory of the selected Principal Investigator working on 
the technical project.

Activities--June 21 to August 29

These dates were selected to give most students a breather before 
returning to school.  We know this is a compromise, as no two 
schools have identical schedules.  It is important that you all 
begin together and all end together.  The success of this Academy 
depends not on us as much as all of the students.  We do not 
accept people who are not able to attend this entire period.  All 
students must be U.S. citizens or hold a "green card."

Our intention is to assure that the students interact as a "team." 
We will always try to spark your leadership qualities.

While we encourage the students to stay together as much as 
possible; we do not want you to feel trapped.  All students will 
be housed at a local university with access to mass transit.  This 
past Academy was housed at Stanford University.

We plan several trips on the weekends.  These include trips to the 
Jet Propulsion Laboratories, to the Desert Research Institute in 
Nevada, to Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, to the Dryden Flight 
Research Center, to Vandenburg Air Force Base and to other areas 
of interest in the West.  Other weekend trips will be planned by 
the selected students when they arrive.  Anyone with a car is 
encouraged to bring it to gain maximum flexibility.

Each of the ten weeks will be a unique group experience, but at 
the same time the student will be working on a research project 
with Investigators in the Ames laboratories or on our flight 
projects.  Every morning after breakfast at Ames the work starts 
at 8 a.m., lunch is at Ames, and dinner can be back at the student 
housing or at local eateries.

The Astrobiology Academy Experience

This past summer 11 student, interested in life, space, or Earth 
sciences, space technology, or space engineering came from all 
over the U.S., were selected for the 10 week session to share a 
unique experience resulting from their own ingenuity and free 
spirit.  This coming summer we expect to host 15 students.  Our 
goal is to 'guide' not instruct.

Teaching and learning are not the same.  Teaching is the orthodoxy 
of our universities and colleges; learning is the "ah-ha!" process 
of finding out and understanding.  That is our objective:  to 
foster curiosity, to spirit endeavor, and to inspire leadership.

All of these elements make the Astrobiology Academy a unique 
experience.  All that is missing are the unique individuals who 
can make these elements into a meaningful education.

[Find out more about astrobiology from the NASA Ames Astrobiology 
web page at http://astrobiology.arc.nasa.gov/]
------------------------------------------------------------------

DETAILED IMAGES FROM EUROPA POINT TO SLUSH BELOW SURFACE
from the Brown University News Bureau

2 March, 1998

The latest, most detailed pictures of the Jupiter moon Europa lend 
more support to the theory that slush or even liquid water lurks 
beneath the moon's surface.  Those pictures were presented and 
discussed by scientists from Brown University and NASA during a 
press briefing today on the Brown campus.

The most detailed images ever taken of the Jupiter moon Europa 
show more evidence for slush beneath the bright moon's icy 
surface, say planetary scientists from Brown University and NASA 
who have analyzed data recently transmitted from the Galileo 
spacecraft.

Slightly smaller than Earth's moon but many times brighter, 
Europa's icy surface has intrigued scientists ever since the 
Voyager spacecraft missions flew through the Jupiter system in 
1979.  At -260 F, the moon's surface temperature could deep-
freeze an ocean over several million years, but some scientists 
are beginning to think that warmth from a tidal tug of war with 
Jupiter and neighboring moons could be keeping large parts of 
Europa's ocean liquid.

The latest images released today were taken in December 1997 by 
the Galileo spacecraft and just received on Earth.  The new images 
provide three key pieces of evidence showing that Europa may be 
slushy just beneath the icy crust and possibly even warmer at 
greater depths.  The evidence includes a strangely shallow impact 
crater, chunky textured surfaces like icebergs, and gaps where new 
icy crust seems to have formed between continent-sized plates of 
ice.

Some of the new images focus on the shallow center of the impact 
crater known as Pwyll.  Impact rays and debris scattered over a 
large part of the moon show that a meteorite slammed into Europa 
relatively recently, about 10-100 million years ago.  The darker 
debris around the crater suggests the impact excavated deeply 
buried material.  But the crater's shallow basin and high set of 
mountain peaks may mean that subsurface ice was warm enough to 
collapse and fill in the deep hole, says Brown graduate student 
Geoffrey Collins, a member of the Galileo research team.

A subsurface ocean warm enough to be slushy also may explain the 
origins of an area littered with fractured and rotated blocks of 
crust the size of several city blocks, called "chaos" terrain.  
The new images show rough and swirly material between the 
fractured chunks, which may have been suspended in slush that 
froze at the very low surface temperatures, says Robert 
Pappalardo, a postdoctoral research scientist at Brown and a 
member of the Galileo research team.

On a larger scale, large plates of ice seem to be sliding over a 
warm interior on Europa, much like Earth's continental plates move 
around on our planet's partly molten interior.

The new images of Europa show that the darker wedge-shaped gaps 
between the plates of ice have many similarities to new crust 
formed at mid-ocean ridges on the Earth's sea floor, says Brown 
graduate student Louise Prockter, a member of the Galileo research 
team who has studied high-resolution sonar images of the Mid-
Atlantic Ridge and has visited the Pacific Ocean floor in the 
research submersible vehicle Alvin.  The new crust welling up 
between the separating plates on Europa was likely initially 
slushy ice or possibly liquid water that has frozen and fractured, 
Prockter says.

"Together, the evidence supports the hypothesis that in Europa's 
most recent history, liquid or at least partially liquid water 
existed at shallow depths below the surface of Europa in several 
different places," says James Head, Brown University professor of 
geological sciences and a group leader of the Galileo research 
team.

"The combination of interior heat, liquid water, and infall of 
organic material from comets and meteorites means that Europa has 
the key ingredients for life," Head says.  "Europa, like Mars and 
the Saturn moon Titan, is a laboratory for the study of conditions 
that might have led to the formation of life in the solar system."

Images are available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo and 
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov.

Background on Europa data from the Galileo Mission to Jupiter

Water or ice?  Liquid or slushy or frozen solid?  Ever since the 
Voyager spacecraft missions flew through the Jupiter system in 
1979, planetary scientists have wondered about the layer of ice 
surrounding the planet.  Europa's blindingly bright ice surface 
makes it one of the brightest objects in our solar system.  Recent 
Galileo spacecraft images have provided evidence that Europa had a 
liquid ocean underneath the frozen crust sometime in its history, 
but it is not clear if this ocean still exists.  Of the various 
explanations proposed by scientists, most scenarios of Europa's 
evolution have the water layer freezing solid earlier in its 
history.  The moon's surface is -260F, which could freeze an 
ocean over several million years.  But some scientists are 
beginning to think that the warming caused by a tidal tug of war 
with Jupiter and neighboring moons could be keeping large parts of 
the ocean liquid.

Key images

New stereo and very high resolution images of Europa just 
transmitted to Earth from the Galileo Europa Mission fly-by in 
December 1997 may help support the theory that water or slush may 
slosh beneath Europa's frozen crust.  Detailed enough to see a 
truck-sized object on the surface, the new images are hundreds of 
times higher resolution than the best Voyager images and three to 
20 times higher than earlier Galileo pictures.  The Brown and NASA 
scientists point to three key pieces of evidence from the detailed 
images:

* The subdued topography of the young impact crater Pwyll, whose 
rays cover a significant part of the surface of Europa;

* Large plates of ice and iceberg-like structures called "chaos 
terrain"; and

* Gaps between plates of ice known as "wedges" where new crust 
appears to have formed recently.

Oceans and life

"Together, the craters, chaos and wedges support the hypothesis 
that in Europa's most recent history, liquid or at least partially 
liquid water existed at shallow depths below the surface of Europa 
in several different places," says James Head, Brown University 
professor of geological sciences.  "These and other data lend 
support to the hypothesis that Europa is warm and active today and 
potentially characterized by a global subsurface water layer or 
ocean.  Europa, like Mars and the Saturn moon Titan, is a 
laboratory for the study of conditions that might have led to the 
formation and evolution of life.  The combination of interior 
heat, liquid water, and infall of organic material from comets and 
meteorites means that Europa has the key ingredients for life, and 
it represents an exciting environment that is worthy of further 
detailed exploration."

Crater evidence

Rays and debris from the impact that formed Pwyll Crater radiate 
over a large part of the moon's surface.  Galileo took pictures of 
the impact crater from two perspectives to determine the three-
dimensional shape of the crater.  Colleagues at the DLR (German 
Aerospace Research Establishment) converted these images into a 
colored map showing the depth of the crater and the height of its 
peaks.  Unlike most young, deep impact craters, the floor of Pwyll 
is at the same level as the exterior, says Brown graduate student 
Geoffrey Collins.  The central peaks of the crater are more than 
2,000 feet high--four times higher than the Washington Monument--
and higher than the crater rim.  This means that this young crater 
was warm and weak and collapsed during or very shortly after the 
meteorite impact, in contrast to craters formed in cold, stiff 
material.  Debris that flowed from the violent impact is dark, 
suggesting excavation of different material from below the 
surface.  All this suggests that water just beneath the surface 
was warm enough to be slushy in the moon's recent history.

Chaos evidence

The new images from Galileo help answer some questions about other 
areas of Europa that are littered with fractured and rotated 
blocks of crust the size of several city blocks (dubbed chaos 
terrain).  These fractured ice chunks appeared to be either 
sliding on soft glacier-like ice below the surface or floating 
like icebergs in a more fluid material.  The new images show that 
the material between the cracked and separated plates of crust is 
rough and swirly, says Robert Pappalardo, a postdoctoral research 
scientist at Brown.  The pieces are immersed in what appears to be 
a slush that is now frozen solid.  The very low temperatures at 
the surface of Europa (-260 F) mean that any water exposed at the 
surface would freeze immediately and might create this kind of 
texture.  The rough chaos terrain, as well as the movement and 
rotation of the blocks, suggest that the crust was at least 
partially liquid at shallow depths.

Wedges Evidence

Other images are helping unravel more mysteries.  Pieces of the 
moon's glaringly white crust are separated by wedged-shaped pieces 
of darker, newer crust, welling up from below, freezing and 
cracking.  The separated pieces of white crust would fit back 
together like a jig-saw puzzle, suggesting that plate tectonic-
like activity might be occurring on Europa to form the wedges.  
Composed of a set of narrow linear ridges and parallel grooves, 
the dark wedge has many similarities to new crust formed at mid-
ocean ridges on the Earth's sea floor, says Brown graduate student 
Louise Prockter, who has studied high-resolution sonar images of 
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and has visited the Pacific Ocean floor in 
the research submersible vehicle Alvin.  Like Earth, new crust 
seems to be welling up, separating, and replacing older crust.  On 
Europa, the molten material solidifying on the surface was likely 
slushy ice or liquid water.

Next Step

To confirm the existence of such a layer, determine its depth and 
investigate its nature and global extent, further observations are 
planned for the Galileo Europa Mission, and other experiments are 
planned for a Europa Orbiter Mission to be launched in 2003, says 
Michael J. S. Belton of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory 
in Tucson, AZ, and team leader for the solid state imaging system.
------------------------------------------------------------------

MARS SURVEYOR 98 PROJECT STATUS REPORT
by John McNamee

27 February, 1998

Orbiter and lander integration and test activities are proceeding 
on schedule with no significant problems.  Acoustic testing of the 
orbiter was completed successfully on Feb 25.  Orbiter 
electromagnetic compatibility testing will be conducted next week.  
Mechanical integration of the lander to the cruise configuration 
is in process.  Installation of the landing legs, medium gain 
antenna, and solar arrays on the lander is complete and the 
vehicle will be encapsulated within the aeroshell next week.  The 
lander spacecraft in full cruise configuration will be transported 
to the acoustics lab at Lockheed Martin on March 9.

For more information on the Mars Surveyor 98 mission, please visit 
the following web site:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/
------------------------------------------------------------------

CD-ROM TO CARRY NAMES TO MARS
from the "JPL Universe"

20 February, 1998

NASA is inviting schoolchildren to be part of the Mars Polar 
Lander mission by submitting their names to the included on a CD-
ROM that will fly onboard the spacecraft.

Students who register online at http://comet.hq.nasa.gov/mars98 or 
http://spacekids.hq.nasa.gov/mars/home.htm will have their names 
recorded for the CD-ROM.  In addition, they can view and print a 
special certificate that commemorates their participation in the 
event.

The agency's goal is to collect 1 million names of schoolchildren 
from around the world for the CD-ROM.
------------------------------------------------------------------

CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENT REPORT
JPL release

27 February, 1998

Spacecraft Status:

The Cassini spacecraft is presently traveling at a speed relative 
to the sun of approximately 135,000 kilometers/hour (~83,000 mph) 
and has traveled approximately 343 million kilometers (~213 
million miles) since launch on October 15, 1997.

The most recent Spacecraft status is from the DSN tracking pass on 
Thursday, 02/26, over Canberra.  The Cassini spacecraft is in an 
excellent state of health and is operating nominally, with the C6 
sequence executing onboard.

Inertial attitude control is being maintained using the 
spacecraft's hydrazine thrusters (RCS system).  The spacecraft 
continues to fly in a High Gain Antenna-to-Sun attitude.  It will 
maintain the HGA-to-Sun attitude, except for planned trajectory 
correction maneuvers, for the first 14 months of flight.

Communication with Earth during early cruise is via one of the 
spacecraft's two low-gain antennas; the antenna selected depends 
on the relative geometry of the Sun, Earth and the spacecraft.  
The downlink telemetry rate is presently 40 bps.

Spacecraft Activity Summary:

On Friday, 02/20, the Solid State Recorder (SSR) record and 
playback pointers were reset, according to plan.  This 
housekeeping activity, done approximately weekly, maximizes the 
amount of time that recorded engineering data is available for 
playback to the ground should an anomaly occur on the spacecraft.

On Saturday, 02/21, Sunday, 02/22, and Monday, 02/23, there were 
no changes in spacecraft configuration.

On Monday, 02/23, the mini-sequence containing Cassini's second 
Trajectory Correction Maneuver was approved for uplink to the 
spacecraft.

On Tuesday, 02/24, the TCM2 mini-sequence was uplinked to the 
spacecraft.  Also on Tuesday, the SSR record and playback pointers 
were reset, per plan, in preparation for the TCM.

On Wednesday, 02/25, Cassini's second Trajectory Correction 
Maneuver (TCM) was performed at approximately Noon, PST.  Because 
the magnitude of the needed trajectory correction was very small, 
the TCM2 maneuver was conducted using the spacecraft's hydrazine 
thrusters, rather than one of its main engines.  Realtime data 
gave preliminary indications of a good burn; this result was 
confirmed later Wednesday afternoon using high-resolution 
telemetry played back from the SSR.  The total change in 
spacecraft velocity (delta-V magnitude) was approximately 0.18 
meters/sec, as planned.  All spacecraft and ground components 
performed superbly.  The TCM2 maneuver puts the spacecraft on 
target for its final adjustment (TCM3, scheduled for early April) 
prior to the 26 April flyby of Venus.

On Thursday, 02/26, there were no changes to spacecraft 
configuration.

Upcoming spacecraft events:

Events for the week of 02/27 through 03/05 include:  a reset of 
the SSR pointers (03/03), SSR Flight Software Partition 
Maintenance (03/04), and an adjustment of the PCA Panel HTR 
thresholds and unmasking of the 158bps telemetry mode (03/05).

DSN Coverage:

Over the past week Cassini had 14 DSN tracks occurring daily from 
Friday (02/20), through Thursday (02/26).  In the coming week 
there will be 8 DSN passes.

Nicole Rappaport has left the Science Office to take up duties on 
the Genesis Project at JPL.  She will remain, however, as a Team 
Member on RSS.  Two new people have been hired to work in the area 
of "science system engineering." Both have PhDs in the fields 
related to planetary science.  Kevin Grazier received his PhD from 
UCLA, and Stuart Stephens received his PhD degree at Caltech.

A presentation about the Cassini Mission (including the safety of 
the Earth swingby) was made by Reed Wilcox at the annual meeting 
of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer 
Space Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (UNCOPUOS/STSC) in 
Vienna, Austria.  During the meeting the STSC adopted a joint 
US/UK/Russia work plan that provides for a five year effort to 
develop a technical foundation for future UNCOPUOS deliberations 
on space nuclear power sources.  The French delegation stated that 
within the scope of the work plan, consideration should be given 
to NPS safety issues (e.g., the possibility of releases) on 
surfaces of the moon and other planets.  This concern could lead 
to public discussions of the controlled disposal of the Cassini 
RTGs later in the mission.
------------------------------------------------------------------

DUST AND SOIL EXPERIMENT CHOSEN FOR MARS 2001 MISSION
JPL release

27 February, 1998

Potential hazards that the soil and dust of Mars might pose to 
human explorers will be studied by an instrument recently selected 
by NASA to fly on the Mars Surveyor 2001 lander spacecraft.

The Mars Environmental Compatibility Assessment (MECA) was one of 
two experiments chosen by NASA this month from a field of 39 
proposals for instruments to perform studies that will benefit 
eventual human exploration of the red planet.

MECA will analyze the dust and soil of Mars to investigate 
potential hazards to human explorers.  The instrument will examine 
dust and soil using an optical microscope provided by the Max 
Planck Institute for Aeronomy in Germany and the University of 
Arizona.

In the experiment, soil will be mixed with water carried aboard 
the spacecraft to investigate such topics as the acidity or 
alkalinity of the soil; potential for oxidation; electrical 
conductivity; and the presence of potentially toxic dissolved ions 
on Mars.  The experiment will also monitor the charge buildup on 
the instrument's digging arm to learn about electrostatic buildup.

The 2001 Mars missions represent the first step in an agency 
initiative to fly experiments supporting NASA's Human Exploration 
and Development of Space program on robotic exploration missions 
carried out by NASA's Office of Space Science.  The 2001 lander is 
scheduled to launch in April 2001, while its companion orbiter 
spacecraft is set to launch approximately one month earlier.

NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications 
sponsors MECA.  Dr. Michael Hecht of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
is project manager, Dr. Thomas Meloy of West Virginia University 
is principal investigator and John Marshall of NASA's Ames 
Research Laboratory is deputy principal investigator.
------------------------------------------------------------------

MARS SOCIETY FOUNDING CONVENTION 
by the Mars Society

Mars Society Founding Convention to be held August 13-16, 1998 at 
the University of Colorado, Boulder CO.

The purpose of the Mars Society will be to further the exploration 
and settlement of the Red Planet through:
1.	Broad public outreach;
2.	Support of aggressive mars exploration programs around the 
world;
3.	Initiating Mars exploration on a private basis.

Speakers include Mike Griffin, Robert Zubrin, Chris McKay, Carol 
Stoker, Kim Stanley Robinson and others.  Conference Registration 
fee:  $140 before 6/30/98, $180 thereafter.  Send registration to 
the Mars Society address listed below, or fax the form from our 
web site, located at http://www.nw.net/mars

CALL FOR PAPERS - Papers for presentation at the convention are 
requested dealing with all matters (science, engineering, 
economics, and public policy) associated with the exploration and 
settlement of Mars.  Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be 
sent before 5/31 to mzubrin@aol.com, or mailed to:
Mars Society
P.O.  Box 273
IndianHills, CO 80454 USA

Help spread the word!  Post this notice on your web site and 
forward it to your friends.
------------------------------------------------------------------

End Marsbugs Vol. 5, No. 4.






