Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 11, Number 39, 4 October 2004 Editor/Publisher: David J. Thomas, Ph.D., Science Division, Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas 72503-2317, USA. dthomas@lyon.edu

Marsbugs is published on a weekly to monthly basis as warranted by the number of articles and announcements. Copyright of this compilation exists with the editor, except for specific articles, in which instance copyright exists with the author/authors. Opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors, and are not necessarily endorsed by the editor or by Lyon College. E-mail subscriptions are free, and may be obtained by contacting the editor. Information concerning the scope of this newsletter, subscription formats and availability of back-issues is available at http://www.lyon.edu/projects/marsbugs. The editor does not condone "spamming" of subscribers. Readers would appreciate it if others would not send unsolicited e-mail using the Marsbugs mailing lists. Persons who have information that may be of interest to subscribers of Marsbugs should send that information to the editor. Articles and News Page 1 COMING SOON: "GOOD" JUPITERS

By Henry Bortman Page 2 MARS DRILL WILL SEEK KNOWLEDGE & RESOURCES

NASA release 04-318 Page 2 STUDY SUGGESTS SPACEFLIGHT MAY DECREASE

HUMAN IMMUNITY NASA release 04-320

Page 3 SPACESHIPONE SURPASSES 100 KM ALTITUDE ON

FIRST X-PRIZE FLIGHT Scaled Composites release

Page 3 NASA SALUTES SPACESHIPONE TEAM AFTER SECOND

FLIGHT NASA release 04-323

Page 4 EXPEDITION TURNS UP LIFE ON PSEUDO-MARS

By Michael Schirber Page 4 ARE WE THE GALAXY'S YOUNGEST RESIDENTS?

By Seth Shostak Page 4 EVIDENCE SHAKY FOR SUN'S MAJOR ROLE IN PAST

CLIMATE CHANGES National Center for Atmospheric Research release

Page 5 CLIMATE CHANGE PLUS HUMAN PRESSURE CAUSED

LARGE MAMMAL EXTINCTIONS IN LATE PLEISTOCENE By Robert Sanders

Page 6 DIATOM GENOME REVEALS KEY ROLE IN

BIOSPHERE'S CARBON CYCLE DOE Joint Genome Institute release

Page 7 CU PROPOSAL TO IMAGE DISTANT PLANETS FUNDED

FOR FURTHER STUDY BY NASA University of Colorado release

Page 8 SPACESHIPONE LAUNCHES FOR X PRIZE By William Harwood

Announcements Page 8 NASA RECRUITS COMMUNITY OUTREACH

VOLUNTEERS FOR 2005 NASA/JPL release 2004-243

Page 8 REVIEW OF SCIENCE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

TERRESTRIAL PLANET FINDER: LETTER REPORT National Research Council release

Page 9 EXPLORATION AND HISTORY COME TOGETHER ON

NASA WEB PORTAL NASA release 04-321

Page 9 36TH LUNAR AND PLANETARY SCIENCE CONFERENCE

Lunar and Planetary Institute release Mission Reports Page 9 CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENTS FOR 23-29 SEPTEMBER

2004 NASA/JPL release

Page 10 DEEP IMPACT MISSION UPDATE

By Lucy McFadden Page 11 GENESIS MISSION STATUS REPORT

NASA/JPL release 2004-245 Page 11 MARS EXPRESS: OPHIR CHASMA, PART OF VALLES

MARINERIS ESA release

Page 13 MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES

NASA/JPL/MSSS release Page 13 MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES

NASA/JPL/ASU release

COMING SOON: "GOOD" JUPITERS By Henry Bortman From Astrobiology Magazine 29 September 2004 We tend to think of Earth as the most important planet in our solar system. But if you were to eavesdrop on a group of astronomers from a distant world, discussing their initial investigation of our sun and its planets, Earth might not even be on the agenda. More likely, they'd be talking about Jupiter. Jupiter is huge. Its mass is 318 times that of the Earth. All of the planets in our solar system, even puny Pluto, do a gravitational dance with the sun, tugging the star this way and that as they sweep through their orbits. But Jupiter's effect is by far the greatest. It is this wobble, the sun's change in radial velocity caused by the tug of Jupiter's gravity, that would offer astronomers on faraway worlds the most obvious evidence that there are planets orbiting our sun. Indeed, it is the gravitational effect of giant planets on other stars that has enabled

astronomers on Earth to find more than 130 extrasolar planets. Most of these planets are Jupiter-sized or larger. Planets that orbit close to their stars also have a detectability advantage. The closer in a planet is, the more quickly it completes a full orbit, so astronomers don't have to wait long to see a pattern emerge in its star's wobble. Some extrasolar planets complete their orbits in just a few days. These close-in giant planets have come to be known as "hot Jupiters." They comprise one of the two major groups of extrasolar planets discovered so far. Planets in the second group are known as "eccentric Jupiters." These massive worlds have elongated orbits that, like comets, dip in close to their stars and then swing out to great distances. "Between half and 1 percent of the stars are showing hot Jupiters. And then about another 7 percent are showing eccentric giant planets," says Greg Laughlin, a UC Santa Cruz astronomer who works with the UC Berkeley-based planet-hunting team headed by Geoff Marcy. The discovery of both hot Jupiters and eccentric Jupiters surprised astronomers. Work is ongoing to understand how solar systems so unlike our own could

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have formed. There is also debate about whether systems like those discovered so far can host habitable planets like Earth. What planet hunters would really like to find, though, is a third group of Jupiters, so-called "good Jupiters". These are planets that orbit their stars in circular orbits at roughly the same distance that Jupiter orbits our sun, about 5 times the Earth-sun distance. The "good" thing about a solar system that contained a good Jupiter is that it might also harbor an Earth-like—and possibly life-bearing—planet. In our solar system, Jupiter plays two roles believed to be important to life on Earth. It helps to stabilize the orbits of the inner planets, which in turn helps to stabilize Earth's climate. And it keeps the inner solar system relatively free of comets and asteroids that could cause devastating impacts. Planetary systems that contain good Jupiters, therefore, will make excellent targets for future missions, such as Kepler, Darwin and the Terrestrial Planet Finder, that will be designed to hunt for Earth-sized planets.

Detail stripes from rotating storms in background, one of Jupiter's moons in foreground. Image credit: NASA/JPL Cassini.

Why the delay in finding good Jupiters? Planets so far from their stars take many years to complete an orbit. Jupiter, for example, takes nearly 12 Earth years to make a full trip around the sun. And astronomers need to observe a complete orbit to be confident that they have found a planet. "It's easy to get fooled if you don't see a full [orbital] period," Laughlin says. Planet hunting began in earnest only about 10 years ago. So it wasn't until 2002 that the first good Jupiter was found. The planet, slightly more massive than Jupiter, takes about 7 years to orbit its star, Gliese 777A. It is about 3.5 times as far from its star as Earth is from the sun. But astronomers are studying a number of other stars that also hold the promise of hosting good Jupiters. Over the next few years, we can expect to see the announcement of such planets to become commonplace. "Within 5 years," Laughlin says, "the announcement of a Jupiter-like planet on a truly Jovian orbit [won't even be reason to call] a press conference." Read the original article at http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1222.html. MARS DRILL WILL SEEK KNOWLEDGE & RESOURCES NASA release 04-318 29 September 2004 It will be drilling for information first, then for resources, though oil is not likely to be among exploration targets. The futuristic drilling rig, under development at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston, is designed for use on the moon or on Mars. It is being tested, in conditions in some ways similar to Mars, through October 3, at the Eureka Weather Station. The station is on Ellesmere Island in Canada's Artic Nunayut province about 690 miles from the North Pole. Jeffrey A. George is manager of the Mars Drill Project at JSC. The Canadian tests are being done in cooperation with NASA's Ames Research Center (ARC), CA, and with faculty members from two Canadian institutions, McGill University in Montreal and the University of Toronto. Baker Hughes Inc. of Houston, a company with a rich oil field history, is participating in the project under a Space Act Agreement with NASA.

Jeffrey A. George, manager of the Mars Drill Project, center, and Brian Derkowski, right, project engineer, test drill setup procedures at Johnson Space Center's Mars Yard, an area designed to resemble in some way the red planet's surface. Image credit: NASA/JSC. Setup exercises with the drill were held recently at JSC. Because it is designed for use on other planetary bodies, the drill has weight, size and power consumption limits, said project engineer Brian Derkowski. Power consumption is about 100 watts, enough to illuminate a bright household light bulb. Drill components are designed for minimum weight and size. Because of weight and volume constraints, it cannot, like traditional drilling rigs, use drill pipe or drilling mud. The apparatus consists of a power source, a control box and the drill itself. The drill looks like a vertical pipe mounted on a support in the bottom of half a suitcase. A laptop computer is attached to the control box to record data. The base is anchored to the surface and an electrically powered bit rotates beneath it. The pipe-like drill module follows the bit down. The drill is periodically pulled to the surface by its tether to remove the core and cuttings. "This is the second generation of the drill," George said. "Initially the drill will be used to secure core samples for scientific study. Later versions eventually would drill for resources, like, possibly, subsurface water on Mars. We believe the third or fourth generation will be ready for the moon or Mars. "It should ultimately be able to drill to depths of several hundred meters," he said. At Eureka, the drill is being used on sandstone and rock outcrops, and to drill through ice. Canadian geologists will study retrieved core samples to better understand the geology and biology of the high Arctic. The JSC team is relatively small with four members at Eureka. But, George said, it has gotten considerable support from other organizations at JSC, ARC and Baker Hughes. George believes the concept shows considerable promise. "It is a unique technology," he said. For still images of the drill setup exercises at JSC on the Internet, visit http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/news/marsdrill.html. NASA TV is available on the Internet at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov. Contacts: Michael Braukus NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1979 John Ira Petty NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX Phone: 281-483-5111 STUDY SUGGESTS SPACEFLIGHT MAY DECREASE HUMAN IMMUNITY NASA release 04-320 29 September 2004 A NASA-funded study has found the human body's ability to fight off disease may be decreased by spaceflight. The effect may even linger after an astronaut's return to Earth following long flights. In addition to the conditions

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experienced by astronauts in flight, the stresses experienced before launch and after landing also may contribute to a decrease in immunity. Results of the study were recently published in Brain, Behavior and Immunity. The results may help researchers better understand the affects of spaceflight on the human immune response. They may also provide new insights to ensure the health, safety and performance of International Space Station crewmembers and future spacefarers on extended missions. "Astronauts live and work in a relatively crowded and stressful environment," said Duane Pierson, the study's principal investigator and NASA Senior Microbiologist at Johnson Space Center, Houston. "Stresses integral to spaceflight can adversely affect astronaut health by impairing the human immune response. Our study suggests these effects may increase as mission duration and mission activity demands increase," he added. The white blood cell count provides a clue to the presence of illness. The five main types of white cells work together to protect the body by fighting infection and attacking foreign material. The most prevalent white blood cells are called neutrophils.

Neutrophils engulf and destroy invading organisms (note the small bacteria inside several of the neutrophils shown here). Elevated neutrophil counts can be indicators of stress. Image credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 1999 to 2002, scientists from NASA, Enterprise Advisory Services, Inc., of Houston, and the Boston University School of Medicine compared neutrophil functions in 25 astronauts. They made comparisons after five-day Space Shuttle missions and after nine to 11 day missions. Researchers found the number of neutrophils increased by 85 percent at landing compared to preflight levels. Healthy ground control subjects, who did not fly, exhibited no more than a two percent increase. Researchers also discovered functions performed by these cells, specifically ingestion and destruction of microorganisms, are affected by factors associated with spaceflight. The effect becomes more pronounced during longer missions. The increase in astronaut neutrophil numbers resulted in a corresponding increase (more than 50 percent) in total white blood cell counts at landing. The increase is a consistent consequence of stress. Pierson emphasized that "no astronauts in the study became ill; however, longer exploration missions may result in clinical manifestations of decreased immune response." Researchers concluded the general effect of spaceflight, pre- and post flight-related stress decreases the ability of crewmembers' neutrophils to destroy microbial invaders. This finding suggests crewmembers returning from longer missions may be briefly more susceptible to infections than before launch, because these cells are not as efficient in ingesting and destroying infectious agents. "Having a better understanding of the impact of stress on immunity will help us better understand the risks of infectious disease for Space Station crewmembers and future travelers on long-duration missions," Pierson said. For information about NASA's space research on the Internet, visit http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/. Contact: Dolores Beasley

NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1753 William Jeffs NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX Phone: 281-483-5111 Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/spacetravel-04zze.html http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0409/29immune/ SPACESHIPONE SURPASSES 100 KM ALTITUDE ON FIRST X-PRIZE FLIGHT Scaled Composites release 29 September 2004 At 8:13 this morning PDT, SpaceShipOne (SS1) coasted above the 100 km altitude point and successfully completed the first of two X-Prize flights. The peak altitude reached was 337,500 ft. The motor was shut down when the pilot, Mike Melvill, noted that his altitude predictor exceeded the required 100 km mark. The motor burn lasted 77 seconds—1 second longer than on the June 21st flight. Melvill was prepared to burn the motor up to 89 seconds, which indicates significant additional performance remains in SS1. The second X-Prize flight is tentatively scheduled for Monday, October 4. Read the original news release at http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/040929_spaceshipone_x-prize_flight_1.html. Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/09/29/spaceshipone.attempt.cnn/index.html http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/xprize_success_040929.html http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/xprize_full_coverage.html http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/xprize_postflight_040929.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/xprize-04zb.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/xprize-04zc.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/xprize-04zd.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/xprize-04ze.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/xprize-04zf.html http://spaceflightnow.com/ss1/status.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/spaceshipone_goes_to_space_again.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/spaceshipone_launch_monday.html NASA SALUTES SPACESHIPONE TEAM AFTER SECOND FLIGHT NASA release 04-323 29 September 2004 NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe congratulated the SpaceShipOne team on the second successful flight of a human on a private spacecraft. Administrator O'Keefe was in the Mojave Desert, CA, today to watch SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill take off and safely land. "Burt Rutan and Paul Allen and the rest of the team are great examples of the kind of determination and creativity that is helping America achieve its exploration goals," Administrator O'Keefe said. "We at NASA applaud their terrific achievement today, as well as the spirit of competition behind the Ansari X Prize.We wish Mike continued safe travels to space," he said. From the orbiting International Space Station, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke took note of the SpaceShipOne flight. "Well, it was nice that [cosmonaut] Gennady [Padalka] and I weren't the only two humans off the planet, even if it was only for a little while," he said during space-to-ground transmissions today. "So, good job and congratulations to the SpaceShipOne team!" Fincke's comments are available on the NASA TV Video File available on the Web and via satellite in the continental U.S. on AMC-6, Transponder 9C, C-Band, at 72 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. In Alaska and Hawaii, NASA TV is available on AMC-7, Transponder 18C, C-Band, at 137 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 4060.0 MHz. Polarization is

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vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. For NASA TV information and schedules on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv. For information about NASA's exploration and discovery programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov. Contact: Glenn Mahone NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1898 EXPEDITION TURNS UP LIFE ON PSEUDO-MARS By Michael Schirber From Space.com 29 September 2004 An international team of scientists has found life on a Norwegian island. No surprises there, but the successful field test of a collection of life-detection instruments may be a stepping stone for future endeavors to sniff out life on Mars. "It's the first time we have employed a package of tools ranging form spectroscopy to microbial techniques," said the lead investigator, Hans Amundsen of the University of Oslo, Norway. The Arctic Mars Analogue Svalbard Expedition (AMASE) is a collaboration of geologists, biologists, engineers and even artists, who recently lugged their instruments into the Bockfjorden region on Svalbard, an archipelago about 900 miles above the Arctic Circle. The team chose the site for its geological similarities to Mars. Read the full article at http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/life_detection_040929.html. ARE WE THE GALAXY'S YOUNGEST RESIDENTS? By Seth Shostak From Space.com 30 September 2004 We don't know, but there could be thousands, and possibly millions, of Earth-like planets studding the dark latitudes of the Milky Way. Our Galaxy could be thick with worlds that host not just life, but intelligence. In this putative club of sentients, is it possible that we are the newest arrivals? This question can be trivially answered. Although Homo sapiens has been plodding the planet for a few hundred thousand years, our technical competence to build rockets and radios is only a century old. Anyone who's mastered seventh grade science knows that's not a heck of a lot of time compared to the age of the Earth. As a kid, you were probably encouraged to make a paper strip chart of the history of our planet from its formation 4.6 billion years ago, through bacteria, trilobites, dinosaurs and humans. If the chart ran the walls from the back of the classroom to the front blackboard, the representation of time since the invention of radio was only a hundredth of a hair's-width wide. If your chart began with the formation of the Galaxy, 13 billion years ago, the era of technological competence would be even thinner. So we're surely among the newest pledges in the frat house, if club membership requires radio technology or better. That means that if we pick up a signal from extraterrestrials, you can be smugly confident that those broadcasters are far beyond our own level. But there are other matters of relevance: how many club members exist and how much more advanced would they be? Read the full article at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_galaxy_040930.html.

EVIDENCE SHAKY FOR SUN'S MAJOR ROLE IN PAST CLIMATE CHANGES National Center for Atmospheric Research release 30 September 2004 Computer models of Earth's climate have consistently linked long-term, high-magnitude variations in solar output to past climate changes. Now a closer look at earlier studies of the Sun and Sun-like stars casts doubt on the evidence of such cycles, their intensity, and their possible influence on Earth's climate. The findings, by a solar physicist and two climate experts, appear in the October 1 issue of the journal, Science.

Changes in solar activity appear to have less impact on climate change than previously thought. Image credit: SOHO/Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) consortium. The authors write, "...long-term irradiance variations used in climate models in the past decade may be a factor of 5 [five times] larger than can be justified. The full impact of this changed outlook on attempts to explain past climate variations and estimates of climate sensitivity to external forcing remains to be seen." Scientists have attributed observed climate changes to a combination of natural variations and human activities. Computer models of global climate reproduced an observed global warming during the first half of the 20th century when two solar influences were combined: a well-documented 11-year sunspot cycle and the decades-long solar cycles now in dispute. A more pronounced warming observed during the century's late decades is attributed to greenhouse gases accumulating in Earth's atmosphere and is not part of the new study. "Removing these long-term solar cycles from the input to climate models takes away about a tenth of a degree [Celsius] of the early 20th century warming," says Tom Wigley, a climate expert at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and a co-author of the paper. "Although this makes it harder to explain the warming, the difference falls within the noise range for natural variability. This suggests that other influences on past climate changes may play a greater role than the solar one." Peter Foukal of Heliophysics Inc., Gerald North of Texas A&M University, and Wigley authored the paper. The National Science Foundation, NCAR's primary sponsor, and NASA funded the research. Climate models have also linked long-term changes in solar energy to preindustrial climate changes, such as the so-called Little Ice Age of the 17th and 18th centuries.

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"Removing or reducing the long-term solar influence is most important for understanding the Little Ice Age," says Wigley. Although this cooling occurred primarily in Europe, it has commonly been attributed to a lethargic Sun. The authors scrutinize a considerable range of previous evidence related to solar cycles, including:

• brightness variations of selected stars; • whether the selected stars are actually Sun-like; • the long-term relation between stellar brightness and magnetic

field; • the magnitude of the supposed solar variations.

One of the earlier studies mentioned by the authors examined other stars to observe brightness changes at various stages, with the idea that similar activity occurs on the Sun. Researchers have questioned whether those stars' mass, age, and chemical composition were truly Sun-like. The 11-year sunspot cycle is not questioned in the Science paper, but its effect alone is "probably too little for a practical influence on climate," the authors write. They also briefly consider possible influences of ultraviolet and cosmic ray fluxes in Earth's climate. The authors allow that long-term brightness variations of the Sun may exist, but more convincing evidence is needed, they say. New technologies now available can provide better data for understanding Sun-climate relations, they conclude. Read the original news release at http://www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2004/wigley.shtml. An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/climate-04zzzd.html. CLIMATE CHANGE PLUS HUMAN PRESSURE CAUSED LARGE MAMMAL EXTINCTIONS IN LATE PLEISTOCENE By Robert Sanders University of California, Berkeley release 30 September 2004 A University of California, Berkeley, paleobiologist and his colleagues warn that the future of the Earth's mammals could be as dire as it was between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago, when a combination of climate change and human pressure resulted in the extinction of two-thirds of all large mammals on the planet. Paleobiologist Anthony D. Barnosky and his colleagues reached this conclusion after review of studies of the extensive large mammal, or megafauna, extinctions that occurred in the late Pleistocene, when animals such as mammoths and mastodons, the saber-toothed cat, ground sloths and native American horses and camels went extinct. In the forensic quest for who done it, many have pointed fingers squarely at humans. But in a review appearing in the October 1 issue of Science, Barnosky and his colleagues conclude that climate change also played a big role in driving these extinctions. Barnosky's colleagues in the study are Paul Koch, professor of earth sciences at UC Santa Cruz; Scott Wing, a paleobotanist in the Department of Paleobiology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History; UC Berkeley graduate student Alan Shabel; and recent UC Berkeley Ph.D. Bob Feranec, now a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University. "There's been a lot of talk about people causing the extinction of the megafauna by killing everything they saw, like a blitzkrieg," said Barnosky, professor of integrative biology and a curator in UC Berkeley's Museum of Paleontology. "But if you look at all the evidence, it's clear that while humans had a major role in these extinctions, in many cases climate change was a key part of the recipe. "Humans and climate change were the one-two punch that drove extinction between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago, and the same thing is happening in a major way today." Because climate change is occurring more rapidly today than even in the late Pleistocene, when the majority of megafauna went extinct, serious consequences for many large animal species that weathered the Pleistocene extinction could be just down the road, Barnosky said. And the impact could

be even greater today because of impoverished large animal populations and surging populations of humans taking over former large-animal habitats.

A jumble of fossil mammoth bones being excavated from a fossil site in southeastern Washington State. Mammoths, which looked like shaggy elephants, were hunted by prehistoric humans who arrived in North America about 11.4 thousand years ago, as shown by the close intermingling of spearpoints with fossil mammal skeletons. However, they also went extinct coincident with climate change in areas where significant human presence has not been shown, such as Alaska, and coincident with climate change in areas where they had coexisted with humans for hundreds of thousands of years, such as parts of Europe. Image credt: Anthony D. Barnosky.

"Human activities today, combined with climate change, probably are going to result in inevitable extinction of many more species and unpredictable ecosystem changes," he said. The authors' warnings are based on a review of previous studies of Pleistocene animal extinctions around the world, from Australia to Europe to North America. The Pleistocene, a period starting about 1.8 million years ago, was a time of glacial comings and goings, with more than 20 cycles of cooling and warming that concluded only about 10,000 years ago with the end of the last ice age. In previous studies of animal remains layered in caves in the American West, Barnosky has found that during some of the last few glacial/interglacial cycles between 1 million and 600,000 years ago, the number of small, medium and large mammals in a given community remained fairly stable, though different species may have filled the various ecosystem niches. In the late Pleistocene, however, something happened to make the number of large mammals nosedive continent-wide. This new analysis of archeological, climatic, ecological and simulation studies shows that these extinctions happened around the world. Of more than 150 genera of megafauna—that is, animals weighing more than 44 kilograms (97 pounds)—living on Earth 50,000 years ago, at least 97 were extinct by 10,000 years ago. If you look at localized extinctions instead of global extinctions, 121 genera disappeared from at least one continent. Those blaming humans ascribe the extinctions to human hunting, either through overkill—hunting that could have led to extinction in about 1,500 years—or through a "blitzkrieg" of hunting that could have knocked off a species in less than 500 years. Another suggestion, dubbed "sitzkrieg" after the term for a "sitting" war that shows slow or no progress, is that humans caused extinction through long-term habitat alteration. Barnosky and his colleagues found sparse evidence outside Australia that humans were the sole cause of extinction. Data are sketchy for the Australian continent, Barnosky cautioned, but little climate change was going on at the time of extinction between 40,000 and 50,000 years ago. However, humans were certainly on the scene, and some scientists think that fires set by humans had as much to do with extinction as direct hunting. Over a few thousand years, Barnosky said, an extended sitzkrieg may have led to the extinction of large mammals such as kangaroos, wombats, the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) and the largest ever marsupial, the 2 1/2-ton Diprotodon. Elsewhere, human activities combined to a greater or lesser degree with climate change to lead to extinctions. In Europe and parts of Asia, mammals such as the giant Irish deer or Irish elk died out broadly toward the end of the late Pliestocene, in some areas before humans were present. Earlier, though, warm-adapted megafauna such as straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon) and hippos, which were abundant during preceding interglacials, disappeared

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with the cooling of the last ice age, starting around 45,000 years ago and persisting up to the height of the glacial period 20,000 years ago. "This is a very clear case of climate-caused extinction without the significant input of humans," Barnosky said. Similarly, in Alaska and the Yukon, the disappearances of short-faced bears, such as the grizzly-like Arctodus simus—the largest land carnivore ever to inhabit North America—mammoths, and two horse species occurred before apparent signs of human contact. A second pulse of climate-caused extinctions began in Europe and Asia about 12,000 years ago as cold-adapted animals—the wooly rhino and the mammoth—died out with warming temperatures. But it's possible, Barnosky said, that the rise of modern humans—Homo sapiens sapiens—with their broad variety of tools and diverse diet, negatively impacted these animals to an extent not seen in Europe with earlier human species, such as Homo erectus and Neanderthals. North America, in particular, is an example of a place where humans speeded the process of climate-caused extinction, in many cases by overkill. Evidence of mammoth kills date from near the first appearance of stone spearheads made by the human Clovis civilization 11,400 years ago. Only mammoths and mastodons have been found with incontrovertible evidence that they were killed by humans in North America, though human artifacts have been found in association with extinct megafauna fossils on all continents, including Africa. Over a period of, at most, 1,500 years—following the appearance of Clovis-style hunters—camels and horses, rhinos and peccaries, short-faced bears and saber-toothed tigers, as well as the armadillo-like glyptodonts and the giant ground sloths (Megatheriadae), all disappeared from the North American continent. "Humans and climate change came together at exactly the same time" to lead to these great megafauna extinctions, Barnosky said. The case in South America is still muddled, he noted, but there, too, human incursions combined with climate change possibly coincided with the departure of large mammals, such as a variety of armadillos and llama- and camel-like animals, in a case similar to that in North America. In Africa, as well, it is unclear why any large mammals went extinct, since humans arose in concert with these animals and, by some arguments, they should have been in balance with one another. There, as in South America, the uncertainty comes from lack of data. In these fairly recent large-mammal extinctions, Barnosky sees lessons for the future. "Humans tend to impact the bigger animals, with the smaller animals as collateral damage," he said. "Climate change is just the opposite—it affects the little guy first and then, through them, the big guys. Today, we see humans taking out the bigger animals and climate change affecting the smaller animals, so we can expect to see some pretty dramatic changes in the ecosystem." One major problem today is that, because of human encroachment, there are no refuges for animals that might want to relocate because of climate change. "One thing we can do, as conservationists, is to create and connect natural areas" to allow animals to move around, he added. "Because species can no longer do this by themselves, maybe the solution is to do it for them." The work was supported by the National Science Foundation. Read the original news release at http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/09/30_.shtml. An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-04zzzx.html. DIATOM GENOME REVEALS KEY ROLE IN BIOSPHERE'S CARBON CYCLE DOE Joint Genome Institute release 30 September 2004 The first genetic instruction manual of a diatom, from a family of microscopic ocean algae that are among the Earth's most prolific carbon dioxide assimilators, has yielded important insights on how the creature uses nitrogen, fats, and silica to thrive. The diatom DNA sequencing project, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and conducted at the DOE Joint Genome

Institute, provides insight into how the diatom species Thalassiosira pseudonana prospers in the marine environment while it contributes to absorbing the major greenhouse gas CO2, in amounts comparable to all the world's tropical rain forests combined.

Thalassiosira pseudonana, like other diatoms, builds an exquisite species-specific frustule, or cell wall. Photo by Nils Kröger, Universität Regensburg.

"This critical information enables us to better understand the vital role that diatoms and other phytoplankton play in mediating global warming," says Dan Rokhsar, who heads computational genomics at the JGI and is one of the co-authors of a research article in the October 1 issue of Science. "Now that we have a glimpse at the inner workings of diatoms, we're better positioned to understand how changes in their population numbers will translate into environmental changes and the global carbon management picture." "These organisms are incredibly important in the global carbon cycle," says Virginia Armbrust, a University of Washington associate professor of oceanography and lead author of the Science paper. Together, the single-celled organisms generate as much as 40 percent of the 50 billion to 55 billion tons of organic carbon produced each year in the sea and in the process use carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. And they are an important food source for many other marine organisms. Scientists would like to better understand how these organisms react to changes in sea temperatures, the amount of light penetrating the oceans, and nutrients. "Oceanographers thought we understood how diatoms use nitrogen, but we discovered they have a urea cycle, something no one ever suspected," Armbrust says. A urea cycle is a nitrogen waste pathway found in animals and has never before been seen in a photosynthetic eukaryote like a diatom, she says. Nitrogen is crucial for diatom growth and is often in short supply in seawater, depending on ocean conditions. The genome work revealed that the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana has the genes to produce urea-cycle enzymes that may help to reduce its dependence on nitrogen from the surrounding waters. The genome work also shed additional light on how this diatom species uses fats, or lipids, which it is known to store in huge amounts. "Learning the actual pathways they use to metabolize their fats helps explain the ability of diatoms to withstand long periods with little sunlight—even to overwinter—and then start growing really rapidly once they return to sunlight," she says. Three or four microns in width—as many as 70 could fit in the width of a human hair—Thalassiosira pseudonana is among the smallest diatoms. Like its brethren, it is encased by a frustule, a rigid cell wall delicately marked with pores in patterns distinctive enough for scientists to tell the species apart. Another new finding reported in Science concerns the unusual way the diatom metabolizes silicon to form its characteristically ornate silica frustule. "Diatoms can manipulate silica in ways that nanotechnologists can only dream about. If we understood how they can design and build their patterned frustule as part of their biology, perhaps this could be adapted by humans," Rokhsar says.

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Scientists on the project, which includes 46 researchers from 26 institutions, also considered the evolutionary implications revealed by the genomic work. The research provided direct genetic confirmation of a hypothesis that diatoms evolved when a heterotroph, a single-cell microbe, engulfed what scientists say was likely a kind of red alga. The two became one organism, an arrangement called endosymbiosis, and swapped some genetic material to create a new hybrid genome. "This project helps illustrate the amazing diversity of life on our planet," Armbrust says. "Diatoms display features traditionally thought to be restricted to animals and other features thought to be restricted to plants. Diatoms, with complete disregard for these presumed boundaries, have mixed and matched different attributes to create an incredibly successful microorganism. It's exciting to imagine the novelty in the oceans that still awaits our discovery." Other JGI co-authors were Diego Martinez, Nicholas Putnam, J. Chris Detter, Tijana Glavina, David Goodstein, Uffe Hellsten, Susan Lucas, Mónica Medina, and Paul Richardson. The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute was established in 1997 as part of the Human Genome Project by combining the DNA sequencing resources from the three DOE national laboratories managed by the University of California: Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories in California, and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. JGI has since extended the scope of its sequencing to whole-genome projects devoted to microbes and microbial communities, model system vertebrates, aquatic organisms, and plants. Funding for the JGI is predominantly from the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the DOE Office of Science. Contact: David Gilbert Joint Genome Institute Phone: 925-296-5643 E-mail: DEGilbert@lbl.gov Read the original news release at http://www.jgi.doe.gov/News/news_9_30_04.html. An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-04zzzy.html. CU PROPOSAL TO IMAGE DISTANT PLANETS FUNDED FOR FURTHER STUDY BY NASA University of Colorado release 30 September 2004 A NASA institute has selected a new University of Colorado at Boulder proposal for further study that describes how existing technologies can be used to study planets around distant stars with the help of an orbiting "starshade". The concept by CU-Boulder Professor Webster Cash of the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy was one of 12 proposals selected for funding September 28 by the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, or NIAC. Cash's proposal details the methods needed to design and build what essentially is a giant "pinhole camera" in space. The football field-sized starshade would be made of thin, opaque material and contain an aperture, or hole, in the center roughly 30 feet in diameter to separate a distant planet's light from the light of its adjacent parent star, Cash said. A detector spacecraft equipped with a telescope would trail tens of thousands of miles behind the orbiting starshade to collect the light and process it. Such a system could be used to map planetary systems around other stars, detect planets as small as Earth's moon and search for "biomarkers" such as methane, water, oxygen and ozone. Known as the New Worlds Imager, the system also could map planet rotation rates, detect the presence of weather and even confirm the existence of liquid oceans on distant planets, he said. "In its most advanced form, the New Worlds Imager would be able to capture actual pictures of planets as far away as 100 light-years, showing oceans, continents, polar caps and cloud banks," said Cash. If extra-terrestrial rainforests exist, he said, they might be distinguishable from deserts.

Estimates suggest that up to a quarter of all stars have planets. Image credit: NASA/STScI/ESA.

"To me, one of the most interesting challenges in space astronomy today is the detection of exo-solar planets," said Cash. "We have created an affordable concept with very practical technology that would allow us to conduct planet imaging in visible and other wavelengths of light." The beauty of the pinhole as an optical device is that it functions as an almost perfect lens, said Cash, who is a professor in CU-Boulder's astrophysical and planetary sciences department. "This device would remove the limiting problem of light scattered from the parent star due to optical imperfections." The successful proposal was authored by Cash, Princeton University's Jeremy Kasdin and Sara Seager of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Nine other proposal advisers from universities and industry contributed to the New Worlds Imager concept, said Cash. In 1999, Cash headed a winning NIAC proposal for a new, powerful x-ray telescope technology that will allow astronomers to peer into the mouths of black holes. That telescope package is now under development by NASA as the multi-million dollar MAXIM mission and is slated for launch next decade. NIAC was created in 1998 to solicit revolutionary concepts from people and organizations outside the space agency that could advance NASA's missions. The winning concepts, chosen because they "push the limits of known science and technology," are expected to take at least a decade to develop if they eventually are selected for a mission flight, according to NASA. Other concepts funded in 2004 by NIAC include a proposal for a lunar space elevator, new super-conducting magnet technology for astronaut radiation protection and a magnetized beam plasma-propulsion system. Teams that submitted winning proposals to NIAC this year were awarded $75,000 for a Phase 1, six-month viability study. Those proposals that go on to win approval for Phase 2 studies next year by the space agency will be funded with up to $400,000 for two additional years, according to NASA. "We are thrilled to team up with imaginative people from industry and universities to discover innovative systems that meet the tremendous challenge of space exploration and development," said NIAC Director Robert Cassanova. Cassanova also is a member of the Universities Space Research Association, which administers NIAC for NASA. Contacts: Webster Cash Phone: 303-492-4056 E-mail: cash@origins.colorado.edu Jim Scott Phone: 303-492-3114 Read the original news release at http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2004/293.html.

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An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1226.html. SPACESHIPONE LAUNCHES FOR X PRIZE By William Harwood From CBS News and Spaceflight Now 4 October 2004 SpaceShipOne, flown by veteran test pilot Brian Binnie, rocketed into space history today, climbing higher than 62 miles for the second time in five days in a bid to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize for designer Burt Rutan and financial backer Paul Allen. Carried to an altitude of nearly 50,000 feet by the sleek twin-engine White Knight carrier jet - another innovative Rutan design - SpaceShipOne was released at 10:49 a.m. EDT (1449 GMT) to begin its historic climb to sub-orbital space. Seconds later, Binnie ignited the craft's hybrid rocket motor and the spaceplane shot skyward on a near-vertical trajectory. During the first X Prize flight last Wednesday, SpaceShipOne began rolling rapidly 50 seconds into powered flight at a velocity of 2.7 times the speed of sound. Pilot Mike Melvill, 63, shut down the craft's engine 11 seconds early in agreement with advice from the ground, reaching an altitude of 337,600 feet, or 63.9 miles, more than enough to meet the X Prize requirement. He quickly damped out the rolls using the ship's maneuvering jets and completed a picture-perfect return to Earth. Read the full article at http://spaceflightnow.com/ss1/041004x2launch.html. NASA RECRUITS COMMUNITY OUTREACH VOLUNTEERS FOR 2005 NASA/JPL release 2004-243 29 September 2004

Calling all space buffs! NASA's Solar System Ambassadors program is recruiting more volunteers to spread the marvel of space science and exploration across the nation. Applications for Solar System Ambassador positions are being accepted through NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, until October 15. Those from underserved areas are especially encouraged to apply. "Ideal candidates are ambitious and able to actively personalize the space program for their communities," said Kay Ferrari, national coordinator for the Solar System Ambassadors program, based at JPL. "These volunteers are enthusiastic about space exploration and come from all walks of life."

"As a Solar System Ambassador in Rochester, NY, I have made a number of presentations in the last few years to minority, inner-city, underserved groups such as low-income rural schools, church organizations and fraternity youth events," said Earle Kyle, a consultant and former engineer and physicist for military and aerospace organizations. He has been a Solar System Ambassador for two years. "I think the best answer to today's challenge of getting kids interested in pursuing engineering and science degrees is the cutting edge technology of NASA and JPL," Kyle said. "We need as many bright brains as we can gather to keep us at the forefront of all the relevant technologies. The Solar System Ambassadors program can play a significant role." The program consists of more than 370 volunteer ambassadors who have committed to organizing and carrying out at least four public outreach activities a year. JPL provides them with educational materials and training sessions, including videos, NASA mission updates and contacts with mission scientists. "Living in Corbin, a small town in rural southeastern Kentucky, space exploration often seemed a distant dream that was seldom mentioned in the local media," said Solar System Ambassador Jenny Iley, a teacher at West Knox Elementary School in Corbin. "Children in our area rarely heard about discoveries and advances in our nation's space program. This has changed greatly as a result of the Solar System Ambassadors program. The training has prepared me to answer my students' questions and bring the excitement of space exploration to both them and their parents." "Because of this program, my outlook on space science and its benefits has changed in size and scope," said Miguel Rodriguez-Galbe from Alpena, MI, a Solar System Ambassador who holds daylong community sessions at his local public library about NASA missions and activities, astronomy and astrophysics. "I knew of many benefits already, and studying space science was 'right up my alley,' yet I found great insight into space technology, science, investigation and the hard work of people behind the scenes w make those projects happen." JPL ambassadors are based throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, serving widespread public interest about robotic missions throughout the solar system. Each state has at least one ambassador. New ambassadors will strengthen the program's nationwide presence and include more underserved regions. More information about the Solar System Ambassadors program is available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador , or by contacting Kay Ferrari at ambassadors@jpl.nasa.gov or 818-354-7581. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. Contact: Charli Schuler Phone: 818-393-5467 REVIEW OF SCIENCE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE TERRESTRIAL PLANET FINDER: LETTER REPORT National Research Council release 1 October 2004 The NRC, in its 2000 report, Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium, ranked the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TFP) project third among major NASA missions and sixth overall in its research priority recommendations to NASA for the coming decade. In January 2004, NASA asked the NRC for an updated assessment of the TPF mission. In April 2004, NASA also announced its intention to proceed with both coronagrahic and interferometric planet finder missions (TPF-C and TPC-I) on an accelerated schedule. This letter report presents the findings of that updated assessment in light of NASA's announcement. In it, the NRC concludes that the mission's goals are consistent with the 2000 report, but raises two primary concerns. First, the current schedule for TPF-C does not leave enough time for vital precursor missions, and second, proceeding with the TPF-C now would disrupt the scientific balance of NASA's space science portfolio. Read the report at http://www.nap.edu/html/terrestrial/NI000566.pdf.

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EXPLORATION AND HISTORY COME TOGETHER ON NASA WEB PORTAL NASA release 04-321 1 October 2004 Forty-six years ago today, NASA began its unprecedented journey of exploration and discovery. As NASA celebrates its "birthday," reflecting on the past and focusing on the future, we are proud to introduce "Why We Explore," a series of online essays offering historical perspectives on fulfilling the Vision for Space Exploration. As NASA plans bold new journeys to the moon, Mars and beyond, NASA Chief Historian Steven J. Dick examines humanity's age-old need to seek out new worlds. In the first essay, Dick argues, "the question 'Should we explore?' must be seen in deep historical context, not in the context of present-day politics or whims." Dick looks back at how past cultures answered that question, and looks forward as well. "Some day historians will be writing about whether or not we chose wisely, not only to make a proposal to explore, but also to fund it," Dick said. A future essay will address the broad consequences of exploration and how it changes cultures as well as individuals. Another will discuss "knowns and unknowns" against the backdrop of the Apollo program. "Why We Explore," other news and multimedia features about the Vision for Space Exploration are available on the Web at http://www.nasa.gov/newvision. A multimedia feature about NASA's history, produced in 2003 to honor the agency's 45th anniversary, is available at http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/NASA45th. For more about NASA's history on the Web, visit the History Office at http://history.nasa.gov/. Contact: Brian Dunbar NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-0873 36TH LUNAR AND PLANETARY SCIENCE CONFERENCE Lunar and Planetary Institute release 1 October 2004 Date and place: March 14-18, 2005; League City, Texas Sponsors: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lunar and Planetary Institute NASA Johnson Space Center Conveners: Dr. Stephen Mackwell, Lunar and Planetary Institute Dr. Eileen Stansbery, NASA Johnson Space Center The 36th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference will be held March 14-18, 2005, at the South Shore Resort and Conference Center in League City, Texas. For further information regarding the format and scientific objectives of the conference, please check the full text of this announcement at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2005/. Further details regarding the program, topics for discussion, opportunities for participation, as well as guidelines for abstract and poster preparation, will be included in the second announcement that will be posted on this LPI Web site in November 2004. CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENTS FOR 23-29 SEPTEMBER 2004 NASA/JPL release 1 October 2004 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Madrid tracking station on Wednesday, September 29. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating normally. Information on the present position and speed of the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the "Present Position" web page located at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm.

On-board activities this week included the continuation of Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) mosaics of Saturn's magnetosphere and solar wind measurements by the Magnetospheric and Plasma Science instruments. Cassini's Optical Navigation team took images twice a day to help refine Cassini's trajectory and improve knowledge of the satellites' orbits. The Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) also obtained Saturn mosaics and recorded long-duration ring spoke movies.

In its own way, the shepherd moon Prometheus (102 kilometers, 63 miles across) is one of the lords of Saturn's rings. The little moon maintains the inner edge of Saturn's thin, knotted F ring, while its slightly smaller cohort Pandora (84 kilometers, or 52 miles across) guards the ring's outer edge. This view is a composite of nine raw images combined in a way that improves resolution and reduces noise. The final image was magnified by a factor of five. The image clearly shows that Prometheus is not round, but instead has an oblong, potato-like shape. The moon was discovered during the Voyager mission, and scientists then noted ridges, valleys and craters on its surface. Hints of its varied topography are present in this view, although Cassini will likely obtain much better images of Prometheus later in the mission. On Friday of last week, a Software Requirements and Certification Review was held for version A8.7.1 of the Attitude Control Subsystem (ACS) flight software (FSW). After passing the review, the software was uplinked on Monday and Tuesday of this week by Spacecraft Operations Office Command and Data Subsystem engineers. Version A8.7.1 now resides on both solid-state recorders and non-default partitions 2 and 3. This and other activities are in preparation for the ACS Flight Computer (AFC) reload and checkout that will begin Saturday, October 2. Over this next weekend ACS engineers will reset the prime AFC and load the FSW. A limited checkout will then be performed to verify the implementation of the Probe Release sequence

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followed by a memory readout that will be used for the Titan A flyby later in October. An ACS end-to-end pointing analysis of the products from official port#1 was delivered this week as part of the Science Operations Plan (SOP) Implementation process for tour sequences S37/S38. Teams are reviewing the report and adjusting input where necessary. In last week's Significant Event Report it was mistakenly reported that the process for S37/S38 had wrapped. S35/S36 held a wrap up meeting last week. Those products have now been archived and will be dusted off in July of 2007 when the Aftermarket process begins. A Project Briefing and Waiver Disposition meeting was held as part of the SOP update process for S07. The handoff product for the following development process is being prepared.

Saturn's bright equatorial region displays prominent swirls and eddies in this Cassini image taken on September 15, 2004. The bright arc across the top of the image is Saturn's B ring, which was overexposed in this atmosphere-targeted image. Beneath this bright swath, the sheer C ring grants Cassini a view of thin shadows the rings cast onto the planet. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera at a distance of 8.5 million kilometers (5.6 million miles) from Saturn through a filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light. The image scale is 101 kilometers (63 miles) per pixel. The S09 SOP Update process began this week. This development process is 10 weeks long, twice as long as a normal SOP Update process. This sequence was one of the first four to go through SOP implementation back in May of 2002. Due to modifications in SOP implementation since then, S09-S12 require additional effort to produce the required input for the Science and Sequence Update Process (SSUP), the final step in sequence development before it is uplinked to the spacecraft. As part of the SSUP process, Preliminary Sequence Integration and Validation Cycle 2 merged products were delivered for S05, merged Sub-Sequence Generation products were released for S06, and a Space Flight Operations Schedule was generated in preparation for the kick-off meeting for S07. In the last week, 1205 ISS images were received along with 74 Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) cubes. Since Approach Science began in January of this year, 24525 ISS images and 5410 VIMS cubes have been returned. A delivery coordination meeting was held last week for version 2 of the Cassini Archive Tracking Tool. The Cassini Archive Tracking System is a web application tool that tracks required archive submissions into the Planetary Data System (PDS). It allows the project and PDS to accurately and efficiently report on archive submission status. It facilitates communication between teams, projects, and PDS. Version 1 was delivered in April of this year.

The icy moon Rhea, Saturn's second largest satellite, hangs before Cassini in this narrow angle camera image, showing just a hint of its crater-pocked surface. Rhea is 1,528 kilometers (950 miles) across. The image was taken in visible light on August 25, 2004, at a distance of 8.8 million kilometers (5.5 million miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 84 degrees. The image scale is 53 kilometers (33 miles) per pixel. The image has been magnified by a factor of four and contrast enhanced to aid visibility. Cassini Outreach and Saturn Observation Campaign (SOC) members showed the lunar crater Cassini and Mount Huygens—both on the moon—to 117 members of the public at Monrovia Library Park, near Pasadena's Jet propulsion Labor atory this week. Cassini bookmarks, and NASA lunar lithographs and trading cards were passed out to all who stopped by. Several local teachers requested school visits including one high school teacher who teaches science writing to 11th and 12th graders. Saturn will not be visible in the early evening for public viewing until January 2005, when SOC members will be out in force showing the ringed planet and Titan to their communities. To find your nearest of the 362 SOC members, visit the web site, http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/members.cfm. Cassini-Huygens made a guest appearance on the television show, Jack & Bobby, on Sunday September 26th. A spacecraft model, computer animation, and posters were used as set pieces and information on the Huygens mission as well as Cassini's journey to Saturn was included in the script. Jack & Bobby airs on the WB network on Sunday evenings. For the most recent Cassini information, press releases, and images, go to http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter. Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-04zzzd.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/saturn_irregular_shepherd_moon.html DEEP IMPACT MISSION UPDATE By Lucy McFadden NASA/JPL release September 2004 There is a great deal of activity on the Deep Impact project these days and the project team is hard at work to track it all. A series of shipping readiness reviews are being held at Ball Aerospace in preparation for shipping the spacecraft to the Cape next month. The science team submitted papers to Space Science Reviews with their summary of the mission, primary engineering aspects of the mission, current knowledge of Tempel 1, and expectations for the outcome of the experiments defining the mission. Proposals for ground based telescopes that will observe the Deep Impact encounter in July 2005 are also due soon and the science team is furiously collaborating with colleagues to prepare for ground-based observing of Tempel 1 which will place our spacecraft data in perspective.

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This is an artist's rendition of the flyby spacecraft releasing the impactor, 24 hours before the impact event. Pictured from left to right are comet Tempel 1, the impactor, and the flyby spacecraft. The impactor is a 370-kilogram mass with an onboard guidance system. The flyby spacecraft includes a solar panel (right), a high-gain antenna (top), a debris shield (left, background), and science instruments for high and medium resolution imaging, infrared spectroscopy, and optical navigation (yellow box and cylinder, lower left). The fly spacecraft is about 3.2 meters long, 1.7 meters wide, and 2.3 meters high. The launch payload has a mass of 1020 kilograms. Final software and alignment tests on the instruments are being carried out. Plans for an educator workshop at launch and final science team meetings are forming and we are all looking forward to the spacecraft being shipped to the Cape in October. Read the original news release at http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/update-200409.html. GENESIS MISSION STATUS REPORT NASA/JPL release 2004-245 30 September 2004 The Genesis team is preparing to ship its samples of the Sun from the mission's temporary cleanroom at the U.S. Army Proving Ground, Dugway, Utah, to NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston.

The Genesis team is preparing to ship its samples of the Sun from the mission's temporary cleanroom at the U.S. Army Proving Ground, Dugway, Utah, to NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston. "We have essentially completed the recovery and documentation process and now are in the business of preparing everything for transport," said Eileen Stansbery, Johnson Space Center assistant director of astromaterials research and exploration science.

"We have essentially completed the recovery and documentation process and now are in the business of preparing everything for transport," said Eileen Stansbery, Johnson Space Center assistant director of astromaterials research and exploration science. "We still have a way to go before we can quantify our recovery of the solar sample. I can tell you we have come a long way from September 8, and things are looking very, very good." A major milestone in the process was the recovery of the Genesis mission's four separate segments of the concentrator target. Designed to measure the isotopic ratios of oxygen and nitrogen, the segments contain within their structure the samples that are the mission's most important science goal. "Retrieving the concentrator target was our number one priority," Stansbery said. "When I first saw three of the four target segments were intact, and the fourth was mostly intact, my heart leapt. Inside those segments are three years of the solar samples, which to the scientific community, means eons worth of history of the birth of our solar system. I saw those, and I knew we had just overcome a major hurdle." Other milestones in the recovery process included the discovery that the gold foil collector was undamaged and in excellent condition. The gold foil, which is expected to contain almost a million billion atoms of solar wind, was considered the number two priority for science recovery. The polished aluminum collector was misshapen by the impact. However, it is intact and expected to also yield secrets about the Sun. Another occurred when the cleanroom team disassembled the collector arrays. They revealed—among large amounts of useable array material, some almost whole—a sapphire and coated sapphire collectors and a metallic glass collector. Packing solar samples for transport is a little different than packing a house-worth of belongings for a cross-country move. After the meticulous process of inspection and documentation, each segment of collector gets its own ID number, photograph and carrying case. The samples and shipping containers fill the space of about two full size refrigerators. The Genesis material will probably move to the Johnson Space Center within the next week. "If you had told me September 8 that we would be ready to move Genesis samples to Houston within the month I would have replied, 'no way,'" said Genesis Project Manager Don Sweetnam of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. "But here we are, with an opportunity to fulfill our major science objectives. It is a great day for Genesis, and I expect many more to come." For more information about the Genesis mission on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov/genesis. For background information about Genesis on the Internet, visit http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov/. Contacts: D. C. Agle Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA Phone: 818-393-9011 Gretchen Cook-Anderson NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-0836 Bill Jeffs NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX Phone: 281-483-5035 Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1227.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/genesis-04t.html MARS EXPRESS: OPHIR CHASMA, PART OF VALLES MARINERIS ESA release 27 September 2004 These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show the Ophir Chasma, a northern part of the Valles Marineris canyon. The images were taken during orbit 334 in April 2004 with a ground resolution of approximately 36 metres per pixel. The displayed region is located at about longitude 288° East and latitude 4° South. Although the region has been mapped in detail during several missions, many secrets of the geological history of Valles Marineris still remain a mystery.

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This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows the Ophir Chasma, a northern part of the Valles Marineris canyon. Image credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum).

Map of the section of the surface of Mars showing context and the region covered by the Ophir Chasma images. This is situated to the north of Melas Chasma, about halfway along the Valles Marineris system. Image credits: USGS/NASA.

Valles Marineris is a huge canyon system around 4000 kilometers long, up to 240 kilometers wide and up to 6.5 kilometers deep. Its connected "chasma" or valleys may have formed from a combination of erosion and tectonic activity. The floor of the canyon shows morphological evidence of volcanic, fluvial or even glacial activity. The northern scarp of Ophir Chasma, towards the left in these images, has an elevation of up to 5000 meters. Several slopes of collapsed material, indicating slope instabilities, can be seen at the base of the scarp and can be traced southwards along the valley floor for more than 70 kilometers. In the south, east of the rounded and apparently smooth Baetis Mensa ridge, the dark chaotic terrain of Candor Chaos can be seen. This terrain is characterized by polygonal blocks that suggest material movements in north-south and east-west directions. Chaotic terrain on Mars is often connected to outflow channels, indicating the catastrophic release of large subsurface water reservoirs, and the subsequent collapse of tye above-lying rock.

This perspective view was calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels. It shows a view looking west across the slopes of collapsed material at the northern end of the valley, with the scarp on the right. Image credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum).

This perspective view was calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels. It shows a view looking north-east, from the southern end of the Chasma, showing the Candor Chaos region in the foreground. Image credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum).

This close-up perspective view was calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels. It shows a view looking north towards the 5000-meter high northern scarp with its piles of collapsed material, seen at the top of the image. The smooth, rounded Baetis Mensa ridge can be seen on the left. Image credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum).

Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 11, Number 39, 4 October 2004 13

This perspective view was calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels. It shows a view looking east, with the rounded and apparently smooth Baetis Mensa ridge in the center of the image. Image credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum). With the help of HRSC stereo and color data, it is possible to map distinct geological features in more detail in order to reconstruct the history of a region. The color images have been processed using the nadir and color channels, and the perspective views have been calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels. The anaglyph image has been created from the nadir and one stereo channel. Image resolution has been decreased for use on the internet. Read the original news release at http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMAYV0XDYD_0.html. An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1224.html. MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES NASA/JPL/MSSS release 23-29 September 2004 The following new images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are now available. Impact Crater (Released 23 September 2004) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2004/09/23/index.html East Candor Rocks (Released 24 September 2004) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2004/09/24/index.html Valley Segment (Released 25 September 2004) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2004/09/25/index.html Lomonosov in Spring (Released 26 September 2004) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2004/09/26/index.html cPROTO Views of Spirit's Rover Tracks and Athabasca Vallis Flood Features(Released 27 September 2004) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2004/09/27/index.html Solar Conjunction Ends: Nirgal Vallis (Released 28 September 2004) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2004/09/29/index.html Buried Crater (Released 29 September 2004) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2004/09/29/index.html All of the Mars Global Surveyor images are archived at http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/index.html.

Over the past year and a half, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) operations teams have been developing and testing a technique through which the MOC can acquire images that have a higher resolution than the camera was originally designed to achieve. The technique is tricky and the spacecraft does not always hit its target. However, when it does, the results can be spectacular. This is one example. MOC2-862b shows the Mars Exploration Rover (MER-A), Spirit, and the tracks it made during the first 85 sols of work in Gusev Crater. Mars Global Surveyor was launched in November 1996 and has been in Mars orbit since September 1997. It began its primary mapping mission on March 8, 1999. Mars Global Surveyor is the first mission in a long-term program of Mars exploration known as the Mars Surveyor Program that is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES NASA/JPL/ASU release 27 September - 1 0ctober 2004 Candor Chasma Plateau (Released 27 September 2004) http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20040927a.html Layered Rock in Candor Chasma (Released 28 September 2004) http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20040927a.html Wind Etching in Candor Chasma (Released 29 September 2004) http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20040927a.html Candor Chasma Landslide (Released 30 September 2004) http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20040927a.html Candor Chasma Landslides (Released 1 October 2004) http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20040927a.html All of the THEMIS images are archived at http://themis.la.asu.edu/latest.html. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. End Marsbugs, Volume 11, Number 39.