The temperature in the permafrost on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian high Arctic is nearly as cold as that of the surface of Mars. So the recent discovery by a McGill University led team of scientists of a bacterium that is able to thrive at -15oC, the coldest temperature ever reported for bacterial growth, is exciting.
Missions to Mars have only scratched its surface. To go deeper, scientists are proposing a spacecraft that can drill into the Red Planet to potentially find signs of life.
In an effort to determine if conditions were ever right on Mars to sustain life, a team of scientists, including a Michigan State University professor, has examined a meteorite that formed on the red planet more than a billion years ago. And although this team's work is not specifically solving the mystery, it is laying the groundwork for future researchers to answer this age-old question.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) invites scientists, technologists, and other qualified and interested individuals at U.S. institutions and elsewhere to apply for membership on the Science Definition Team (SDT) for the 2020 Mars science rover mission (hereafter Mars-2020). Mars-2020 is a strategic mission sponsored by NASA's Planetary Science Division, through the Mars Exploration Program, all of which are part of the Science Mission Directorate (SMD).
This mission will advance the scientific priorities detailed in the National Research Council's Planetary Science Decadal Survey, entitled "Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022," (the Decadal Survey is available at http://www.nap.edu ). Mars-2020 rover development and design will be largely based upon the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) architecture that successfully carried the Curiosity rover to the Martian surface on August 6, 2012 (UTC). The 2020 rover is intended to investigate an astrobiologically relevant ancient environment on Mars to decipher its geological processes and history, including the assessment of its past habitability and potential for preservation of biosignatures within accessible geologic materials.
Furthermore, because NASA is embarking on a long-term effort for eventual human exploration of Mars, the mission should provide an opportunity for contributed Human Exploration Mission Directorate (HEOMD) or Space Technology Program (STP) participation via payload elements aligned with their priorities and compatible with SMD priorities for Mars-2020 (e.g., MEPAG P-SAG report, posted June 2012 to MEPAG website: http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov ).
The members of the Mars-2020 SDT will provide NASA with scientific assistance and direction during preliminary concept definition (Pre-Phase A) activities. Near-term activities of the SDT will include the establishment of baseline mission science objectives and a realistic scientific concept of surface operations; development of a strawman payload/instrument suite as proof of concept; and suggestions for threshold science objectives/measurements for a preferred mission viable within resource constraints provided by NASA Headquarters. The products developed by the SDT will be used to develop the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Announcement of Opportunity (AO) that will outline the primary science objectives of the baseline mission and the character of the payload-based investigations solicited under open competition via the AO. The SDT will be formed in January 2013, and disbanded after the work is complete approximately four months later.
Notices of Intent are requested by January 11, 2013, and proposals are due by March 1, 2013
This solicitation is for investigations in the Participating Scientist program to enhance the scientific return from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/maven/ by broadening participation in the mission, augmenting the existing science team to include new investigations that broaden and/or complement the funded investigations, thus maximizing the contribution of the mission to the scientific understanding and future exploration of Mars. The second and equally important goal of this opportunity is to increase the number of scientists supporting mission planning and execution. While a large fraction of the planned observations will be planned in advance, real-time response to a brand-new set of observations is expected to result in an ongoing requirement for significant replanning. Additional investigators will contribute substantially to enhanced understanding of the data and to improved planning stimulated by the observations. Participating Scientist proposals can include investigations that are instrument specific or involve multiple instruments and, in all cases, must include both science analysis and a commitment to participate in operations planning in order to be considered.
On or about November 7, 2012, this Amendment to the NASA Research Announcement "Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2012" (NNH12ZDA001N) will be posted on the NASA research opportunity homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ and will appear on the RSS feed at: http://nasascience.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/grant-solicitations/roses-2012.
Questions concerning this program may be addressed to Kelly Fast, Planetary Science Division, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546-0001.
E-mail: kelly.e.fast@nasa.gov; Telephone: (202) 358- 0768.
Abstract Submission Deadline: December 15, 2012
The UCLA Institute for Planets and Exoplanets, The UK Center for Astrobiology and the NASA Astrobiology Institute invite you to participate in a two-day conference in February 2013 that will examine the present-day habitability of Mars.
For all the meeting details visit: http://planets.ucla.edu/meetings/mars-habitability-2013/
Scientists at Syracuse University - part of NAI's team at RPI - report new information about the history of water on Mars in the current issue of Planetary and Space Science. Focused on the hematite spherules known as the "blueberries" discovered by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in 2004, the study suggests that ages measured using the relative abundances of uranium, thorium, and helium in the blueberries could yield the time that has passed since water last wetted the sediments. [Source: NAI]
The 2012 MRO/CRISM Data Users Workshop will be held in association with the 43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center, The Woodlands, Texas. The workshop will be held in the Shenandoah Room, at 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM, on Sunday March 18, 2012 (the Sunday afternoon of LPSC week).
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) has been in operation since late 2006 and has acquired over 20,000 high spatial and spectral resolution targeted observations of the Martian surface. The 2009 CRISM Data Users' Workshop introduced the data set to the community, described data products in detail, and trained attendees on using CRISM-specific software to analyze the data.
At this second workshop, CRISM team members will review significant updates to PDS-delivered CRISM data products including updated radiometric calibration of both visible and near-infrared (VNIR) and infrared (IR) images, and implementation of a data filtering procedure that addresses systematic and stochastic instrument noise. In addition, a new family of highly derived CRISM data products - the Map Projected Targeted Reduced Data Record (MTRDR) product set - will be described in detail, and the utility of this product suite for scientific investigations will be demonstrated. The MTRDR product set represents a major advance in the accessibility of CRISM-derived spectral information and is expected to become the CRISM data product of preference for a large portion of the scientific community.
All attendees are requested to register for this event, and due to available space, attendance will be limited to the first 50 registrants. To register, please visit the workshop registration site at:https://secwww.jhuapl.edu/CRISM_Workshop/registration.aspx
A new study in Earth and Planetary Science Letters looks at the role of the mineral jarosite in determining when and under what conditions water was present on Mars. On Earth, jarosite can only form in the presence of water, so the detection by the Mars Rover Opportunity of its presence on Mars means that water had to exist at some point in the past. The new study, by scientists at NAI's Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Team, is the first in a series of experiments designed to provide a roadmap of sorts for scientists who may someday study Martian samples brought back to Earth.
The team discovered a way to use the noble gas argon, which accumulates in jarosite over time, to determine the age of the mineral and the surface conditions under which it formed. "Our experiments indicate that over billion-year timescales and at surface temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) or colder, jarosite will preserve the amount of argon that has accumulated since the crystal formed," says lead co-author Joseph Kula of Syracuse University, "which simply means that jarosite is a good marker for measuring the amount of time that has passed since water was present on Mars."
Moreover, since the development of life requires water, knowing when and for how long water was present on the Martian surface has implications for the search for potential habitats harboring life, the scientists say. "Jarosite requires water for its formation, but dry conditions for its preservation," says co-lead author Suzanne Baldwin, also of Syracuse University. "We'd like to know when water formed on the surface of Mars and how long it was there. Studying jarosite may help answer some of these questions."
Jarosite is a byproduct of the weathering of rocks exposed at the surface of a planet (such as Earth and Mars). The mineral forms when the right mixture of oxygen, iron, sulfur, potassium, and water is present. Once formed, the crystals begin to accumulate argon, which is produced when certain potassium isotopes in the crystals decay. Potassium decay is a radioactive process that occurs at a known rate. By measuring the isotopes of argon trapped within the crystals, scientists can determine the age of the crystals.
However, because argon is a gas, it can potentially escape rapidly from the crystals under hot conditions or slowly over long durations at cold conditions. In order to determine the reliability of the "argon clock" in jarosite, the scientists had to determine the temperature limits to which the crystals could be subjected and still retain the argon. Using a combination of experiments and computer modeling, the team found that argon remains trapped inside the crystals for long periods of time over a range of planetary surface temperatures.
"Our results suggest that 4 billion-year-old jarosite will preserve its argon and, along with it, a record of the climate conditions that existed at the time it formed," Baldwin says. The scientists are in the process of conducting further studies on jarosite that formed less than 50 million years ago in the Big Horn Basin in Wyoming, which they hope will reveal when the minerals formed and how fast environmental conditions changed from water-saturated to dry. The results can be used as a context for interpreting findings on other planets.
Source: NAI Newsletter
The purpose of the Landing Site Workshop is to begin to identify and evaluate potential landing sites for future Mars missions presently under study. This would focus on sites best suited to achieving science objectives as defined for a possible 2018 joint rover mission, which would conduct in-situ science investigations including drilling and cache samples for possible return to Earth and subsequent analysis within the constraints imposed by engineering requirements, planetary protection requirements, and the necessity of ensuring a safe landing.
The preliminary scientific objectives for the possible 2018 joint rover are being defined (subject to change). It is expected that the rover would land at a geologically diverse site interpreted to have strong potential for past habitability and for preserving the physical and chemical signs of life and organic matter. The rover would 1) analyse the local geology and define the local stratigraphy at km to sub-mm scales and down to ~2 m depth; 2) evaluate the nature of past habitable environments at the landing site, and search for evidence of abiotic, or pre-biotic carbon chemistry; 3) investigate favorable geological materials for preserving biosignatures at the site and analyse them for physical or chemical signs of life; and 4) select, document, collect, and cache samples that could be returned to Earth for definitive analysis. Cached samples would be selected to address the following broad science goals in order of priority: a) critically assess evidence for life, pre-biotic chemistry, or abiotic organic matter in samples and determine their preservation potential; b) determine the magmatic, magnetic and atmospheric history in samples to constrain the mechanisms and ages for the accretion, early differentiation and thermal evolution of Mars; c) reconstruct the history of surface and near surface processes and climate change using detailed geochemical and mineralogical analyses; and d) assess potential hazards and resources for future human explorers.
An ESA/NASA-appointed Landing Site Steering Committee will use the results of the workshop as the basis for establishing a list of potential landing sites for study. Community consensus with respect to high priority sites will also be solicited. The goal is to gather information on candidate landing sites and develop a list of high priority candidates for future joint missions in a timely manner utilising instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) while it is still operating. Candidate sites are also to be provided to the Mars Odyssey and Mars Express teams.
The workshop will be held during February 29 to March 2, 2012, in the Washington, DC area, and will be preceded by MEPAG #26.
Points of Contact: John Grant, Matt Golombek, and Nicolas Mangold, Co-Chairs, Mars Landing Site Steering Committee
Source: NAI Newsletter
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