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Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 11, Number 22, 25 May 2004
Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter
Volume 11, Number 22, 25 May 2004
Editor/Publisher: David J. Thomas, Ph.D., Science Division, Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas 72503-2317, USA.
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 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.
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Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 11, Number 22, 25 May 2004
Articles and News
Page 1ROUND-TRIP SURVIVOR, ANOTHER REALITY SHOW
Edited from the testimony of Mary Frey
Page 2RESEARCHERS TAKE FRUITFUL LOOK AT SPACE RADIATION HAZARDS TO BRAIN
By Tariq Malik
Page 2BATTLING PERSONALITY IN OUTER SPACE
Australian National University release
Page 2ASTEROID EATERS: ROBOTS TO HUNT SPACE ROCKS, PROTECT EARTH
By Tariq Malik
Page 3DEAD OR ALIVE?
By Jenny Hogan
Page 3THEORY PROPOSES NEW VIEW OF SUN AND EARTH'S CREATION
Arizona State University release
Announcements
Page 5SPACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE TAKES AIM AT HEALTH CHALLENGES OF EXPLORATION
National Space Biomedical Research Institute release
Page 5NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX
By David J. Thomas
Mission Reports
Page 5CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
NASA/JPL release
Page 6MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES
NASA/JPL/ASU release
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Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 11, Number 22, 25 May 2004
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Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 11, Number 22, 25 May 2004
ROUND-TRIP SURVIVOR, ANOTHER REALITY SHOW
Edited from the testimony of Mary Frey
18 May 2004
To the Presidential Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond, Dr. Marianne Frey, Professor Emeritus School of Aerospace Medicine, Wright State University, presented her views about the challenges to long-duration human exploration of the moon and Mars.
Our vision to send men and women to the moon and Mars can be an inspiration and a unifier for the people of the United States of America and for the world. However, exploration has risks. And ethically before these brave pioneers embark, we must be able to minimize their risks. And maximize their well-being, their ability to perform successfully in space, and their chances to return to a normal life on earth.
The risks come from at least four sources. First, the reduced gravity environment—from almost zero to about 1/3 earth's gravity, which will cause fluid shifts in the body, loss of normal stress on the bones and muscles, and changes in stimuli to the nervous system. Second, the environment inside the vehicle or habitat poses threats from floating particles, which might be inspired, toxic wastes, poor illumination, loud noise and poor thermal control. Third, the environment outside the vehicle or habitat poses threats, including radiation and meteorites or other debris. And fourth, the psychological and psychosocial stresses will be extreme.
Two risk factors that will rise to major importance for long distance, long-duration journeys are, first, the psychological and psychosocial challenges of these missions will be huge. Crewmembers will be isolated at great distances from earth with long lag times in communication. They'll be crowded into close quarters they will be in danger. And their sleep will be degraded. Interpersonal and group dynamics for intercultural and intergender groups must be understood and appropriate countermeasures developed.
The cosmic and solar radiation encountered outside of earth's protective magnetic field is unlike anything that we have here on earth. We must learn more about this radiation,about its effects on humans, including cancers and genetic problems and cataracts and how to provide effective shielding and other protective countermeasures.
Other risks of space flight, which were concerned in the short-duration missions of the past and the present will bemuch greater threats in the exploratory missions of the future. First the loss of bone mineral in space flight—about 1% per month. That's 10 times what people lose as they're aging. Cardiovascular changes, including arrhythmias and loss of exercise capacity and tendency to faint when hittinggravity on the moon, Mars, or on Earth. Muscle and strength loss. Neurological changes, including spatialdisorientation, space motion sickness and neuromuscular changes. The immune system's reduced effectiveness in space and allergic responses. Inadequate nutrition and food supply. And the requirement for extensive extra vehicular activity, including risk of decompression sickness.
A related daunting challenge that is critical to astronaut health on a mission to Mars is the necessity for advanced lifesupport capability. This includes a closed system for oxygen, water and food. And effective waste managementsystem. Accurate environmental monitoring, and user-friendly space suits and gloves to protect the astronauts and toEnable them to do protective work and to do productive work on the surface of the moon and on mars.
I've not addressed the very important challenge of providing medical care on exploration missions. Potentialcountermeasures include exercise programs, both aerobic and resistive. Pharmacological interventions, nutrition anddiet, light. Human factors design. Psychological testing and interventions. Selection criteria, including geneticscreening and training. And probably a short-arm human centrifuge to provide artificial gravity.
The platforms for research and testing to allow us to meet these challenges will include the following. The international space station will be ofmajor importance for testing countermeasures and for some of the research required to understand the threats and to develop countermeasures. However, the ISS will not be a useful platform unless it has a crew of at least seven, allowing at least four to five crewmembers to be researchersand subjects. It must also have necessary laboratory facilities. The moon could be a valuable laboratory for some research, and for some countermeasure testing for Mars. Knowledge can be gained in living inless than one g [gravity] environment the effects of transitions between g levels and radiation. And finally appropriate analogs on earth, such as human studies in bed rest or in the Antarctic, and animal research to learn about mechanisms ofsome of the medical and physiological stresses.
A much greater level of commitment and of funding for biomedical research and countermeasure research and development must be made thanhas ever existed before. After all, we're talking about sending people to Mars, human beings to Mars.
Read the original article at
RESEARCHERS TAKE FRUITFUL LOOK AT SPACE RADIATION HAZARDS TO BRAIN
By Tariq Malik
From Space.com
In addition to packing their space suits for a long trip through space, future astronauts may want to toss in some strawberries to take along for the ride. Fruits and vegetables, researchers said Monday, could help protect spacefaring humans from suffering severe neurological damage from radiation once they leave the protection of the Earth's magnetic field, which shields the Earth from harmful high-energy particles.
"[Radiation] may impair astronauts' ability to function, and may also continue to affect them once they come back home," said James Joseph, lead scientist for the Neuroscience Laboratory at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. "Maybe what we need out there is also a bit of nutritional shielding."
Read the full article at
BATTLING PERSONALITY IN OUTER SPACE
Australian National University release
19 May 2004
Defiance, detachment, disagreement—harmful emotions in any small group situation, but in Outer Space these feelings are particularly damaging and possibly life endangering. ANU psychologists are preparing to gather unique insights into the duress of space travel as part of a "Mars expedition" to be staged in the Australian desert later this year. The way that small groups of astronauts interact in the extreme, unfamiliar and isolating conditions of space travel will be closely scrutinized by Dr. Rachael Eggins, Dr. Kate Reynolds and Ph.D. student Mr. Phill Krins, from the Psychology Department in the ANU Faculty of Science. The researchers are set to record the interactions of participants of an expedition into the South Australian outback in August organized by the Mars Society of Australia. This follows on from an initial study of participants in a planetary simulation in the United States last year.
"The rigorous personality testing astronauts undergo in their relatively cozy, comfortable labs can not measure how their personality might change in a confined, socially stifling and unfamiliar space," Dr Eggins says. "In everyday life we are very socially dynamic and belong to a number of groups, such as family, work and friends. There are a number of psychological advantages to having such a dynamic social environment, which will be absent when people spend long periods of time in isolation."
Mr. Krins and Dr. Steve Dawson, a research psychologist with the Mars Society of Australia, will travel into the desert with the expedition and askparticipants—who try and replicate as closely as possible what it would be like living and working on Mars—to complete questionnaires designed tomonitor social dynamics. Participants will undergo a daily cortisol (a hormone produced by the body in reaction to stress) measurement test and cognitive testing to gauge stressand performance levels. Mr. Krins will also keep a daily journal to record important social events, such as leadership changes, likely to affect the social dynamics of theexpedition.
"One thing we are interested in is the question of whether or not groups are good or bad for your health," Dr Eggins says. "We know that in cohesivegroups people perform better, work harder and are more cooperative than in loose-knit groups. But do cohesive groups make us work too hard and what does that do to our stress levels?"
There are also other issues relating to the wrong sort of cohesion in a group, and small sub-groups forming within larger groups.
"There is a danger groups may become too cohesive,"Mr. Krins says. "When this occurs there may be intense pressure for individual crew members to behave in accordance with 'group norms'. For example, if there is agroup norm to not report safety breaches, this could put the entire crew in danger."
Also, past research on groups (whether isolated or not) has shown that it is common for the larger group to splinter into smaller subgroups.
"A number of problems can occur when large groups split off into these smaller groups,"Dr. Eggins says. "Polarization can lead to infighting and poordecision-making. But there are advantages—subgroups can become an important source of creative new ideas benefiting the larger group. Subgroups are also animportant source of identity and pride for people. They then work hard to achieve its goals, improving the mission as a whole."
With unmanned Mars missions underway and intensifying research interest in the red planet, the ANU researchers believe the human element of spaceexploration should be taken just as seriously as the technological or scientific. The team's research will focus on developing guiding principles to avoidproblems associated with groups in such stressful circumstances.
"It is important that group differences are managed properly and don't become a source of conflict or feelings of disenfranchisement,"Dr. Eggins says. "These principles will ensure that individuals maintain commitment to the whole, have avenues for input into decision making and follow leadershipguidelines."
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Read the original news release at
An additional article on this subject is available at
ASTEROID EATERS: ROBOTS TO HUNT SPACE ROCKS, PROTECT EARTH
By Tariq Malik
From Space.com
19 May 2004
At the movies, the best way to stop an asteroid from wiping out Earth is to lob a few nuclear missiles at the rocky beast or blow it apart from the inside with megaton bombs. While those methods promise some fantastic explosions—and maybe a blockbuster hit—a team of engineers are looking at a more patient approach. Their weapon: a swarm of nuclear-powered robots that could drill into an asteroid and hurl chunks of it into space with enough force to gradually push it into a non-Earth impacting course.
"We're aiming to examine the whole idea of these robots," said Matthew Graham, design project manager for the study at SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc. (SEI), an engineering consulting and concept analysis firm in Atlanta, Georgia.
Read the full article at
DEAD OR ALIVE?
By Jenny Hogan
From New Scientist
20 May 2004
Doctors in the U.S. have come up with the best evidence yet for the existence of nanobacteria, potentially a new form of life. Most scientists are sceptical because many of the structures claimed to be nanobacteria are simply too small to be alive—one biologist describes nanobacteria as "the cold fusion of microbiology". But the latest research suggests that nanobacteria taken from diseased arteries are not only capable of self-replication, but also contain DNA and RNA. The work could have important implications, because some claim nanobacteria cause a wide range of diseases in humans.
Left: nanobes can be as much as 10 times smaller than the smallest of these bacteria. Image credit: Connecticut Food Protection Program. Right: close-up of a Mars meteorite, showing what some have argued appears to be fossilized evidence of ancient microbial life. Image Credit: NASA
Read the full article at
An additional article on this subject is available at
THEORY PROPOSES NEW VIEW OF SUN AND EARTH'S CREATION
Arizona State University release
21 May 2004
Like most creation stories, this one is dramatic: we began, not as a mere glimmer buried in an obscure cloud, but instead amidst the glare and turmoil of restless giants. Or so says a new theory, supported by stunning astronomical images and hard chemical analysis. For years most astronomers have imagined that the Sun and Solar System formed in relative isolation, buried in a quiet, dark corner of a less-than-imposing interstellar cloud. The new theory challenges this conventional wisdom, arguing instead that the Sun formed in a violent nebular environment—a byproduct of the chaos wrought by intense ultraviolet radiation and powerful explosions that accompany the short but spectacular lives of massive, luminous stars.
The new theory is described in a "Perspectives" article appearing in the May 21 issue of Science. The article was written by a group of Arizona State University astronomers and meteorite researchers who cite recently discovered isotopic evidence and accumulated astronomical observations to argue for a history of development of the Sun, the Earth and our Solar System that is significantly different from the traditionally accepted scenario. If borne out by future work, this vision of our cosmic birth could have profound implications for understanding everything from the size and shape of our solar system to the physical makeup of the Earth and the development of the chemistry of life.
"There are two different sorts of environment where low-mass stars like the Sun form," explained ASU astronomer Jeff Hester, the essay's lead author. "In one kind of star-forming environment, you have a fairly quiescent process in which an undisturbed molecular cloud slowly collapses, forming a star here, a star there. The other type of environment in which Sun-like stars form is radically different. These are more massive regions that form not only low-mass stars, but luminous high-mass stars, as well."
More massive regions are very different because once a high-mass star forms, it begins pumping out huge amounts of energy that in turn completely changes the way Sun-like stars form in the surrounding environment.
Annotated photo of the Trifid Nebula showing the formation of low-mass stars (YSO's—Young Solar Objects). Image credit: NASA/Hubble Space Telescope/Jeff Hester.
Illustration showing a high-mass star's effect on a nearby molecular cloud, resulting in the formation of a low-mass star like our Sun. Image credit: Jeff Hester.
"People have long imagined that the Sun formed in the first, more quiescent type of environment," Hester noted, "but we believe that we have compelling evidence that this is not the case."
Critical to the team's argument is the recent discovery in meteorites of patterns of isotopes that can only have been caused by the radioactive decay of iron-60, an unstable isotope that has a half life of only a million and a half years. Iron-60 can only be formed in the heart of a massive star and thus the presence of live iron-60 in the young Solar System provides strong evidence that when the Sun formed (4.5 billion years ago) a massive star was nearby.