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Exploring Ocean Worlds: Ocean System Science to Support the Search for Life

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Exploring Ocean Worlds: Ocean System Science to Support the Search for Life Exploring Ocean Worlds: Ocean System Science to Support the Search for Life Principal Investigator Christopher R German Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 266 Woods Hole Road Woods Hole, MA 02543 Additional Investigators Exploring Ocean Worlds: Ocean System Science to Support the Search for Life TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Executive Summary 1 2. Summary of Personnel and Commitments 4 3. Research Plan 3.1 Goals and Objectives 5 3.2 Expected Significance 7 3.3 Expanding the State of Knowledge 8 3.4 Technical Approach 9 Investigation 1 10 Investigation 2 13 Investigation 3 16 Investigation 4 22 Investigation 5 29 Investigation 6 33 Synthesis 41 4. Science Management 4.1 Project Structure 45 4.2 Roles and Responsibilities: An Integrated Matrix for Interdisciplinary Research 45 4.3 Project Plan, including anticipated Milestones 47 4.4 Within-Project Communication 49 4.5 Cost Analysis 49 5. Data and Sample Management Plan 50 6. References 53 7. Other Institute Objectives 7.1 Community and Collaboration 73 7.2 Training 75 7.3 Engagement and Collaboration with Minority Institutions 75 7.4 Professional Community Development 79 7.5 Innovative and Effective use of Communications 80 8. Relevance 8.1 Mission Relevance 83 8.2 Fundamental Research to meet NASA’s Long-Term Strategic Needs 86 8.3 Synergistic Collaborations 87 9. Facilities and Resources 88 10. Curricula Vitae 92 11. Current and Pending Support 107 12. Letters of Support from Consortium Institutions 130 13. Budget Summary and Details 141 Exploring Ocean Worlds: Ocean System Science to Support the Search for Life 1. Executive Summary Ocean worlds have become a prominent focus of NASA’s Planetary Sciences endeavor, driven largely by their potential to host extant life. In recent years, NASA has selected instruments for the Europa Clipper mission, initiated a new study for a Europa Lander mission, identified Enceladus and Titan as targets of interest in the current New Frontiers mission opportunity, and established the Roadmap to Ocean Worlds strategic planning activity. Astrobiology is prominent in all of these activities and we consider it timely, therefore, to bring together the astrobiology, planetary science, and ocean science communities in a new, collaborative partnership to provide the scientific underpinning and context needed to explore these worlds in an informed, rigorous manner. Anticipating that geophysical and geochemical differences among ocean worlds will lead to a corresponding diversity in both an ocean world’s biological potential (the abundance and productivity of life that it has the capacity to support) and its biosignature potential (the nature and abundance of evidence for life that is manifest), we ask: On which ocean worlds, and with what measurements, will we have the greatest potential to successfully detect the presence of life? We will integrate astrobiology, ocean system, and planetary sciences to pursue this question, guided by two basic principles: (i) both biological potential and biosignature potential are governed by a network of geophysical and (bio)geochemical processes, not just static conditions; (ii) to be of greatest utility, efforts to quantify biological potential and biosignature potential must identify which observable features are most diagnostic of that network of processes. With this basis, our principle objectives are: Objective 1: Quantify the dependence of biological potential and biosignature potential on physical & (bio)geochemical processes. Objective 2: Identify which observable features would be most powerfully diagnostic of the processes that determine biological and biosignature potential. We will address these objectives by constructing a comprehensive theoretical framework, informed and ground-truthed by experimental efforts, that connects the broad spectrum of physical and chemical processes that likely govern material and energy flux within an ocean system, and thereby determine biological and biosignature potential. Because of their high potential to release chemical energy in association with sub-seafloor fluid flow, we will focus exclusively on ocean worlds on which liquid water oceans are in contact with an underlying rocky seafloor. Our approach is designed to provide a predictive framework applicable to all ocean worlds of this type, but will have clear, immediate and direct relevance to two high priority astrobiology targets: Europa and Enceladus. Throughout our project, theoretical modelers will work synergistically and iteratively with experimentalists to identify key processes and conditions that contribute to the system-wide function and evolution of ocean worlds. The processes active within any ocean are integrated at the system scale, respecting no disciplinary boundaries. Accordingly, we have assembled a team with a diversity of expertise in astrobiology together with leaders in the study of processes across the various interfaces of the Earth-Ocean-Life system. Our team members will work across a network of six Investigations. Each Investigation is inherently interdisciplinary but, as in Earth’s oceans, we predict that it will be at the interfaces among 1 them that our most exciting and original discoveries will be made. An innovative goal for this project, therefore, is to move beyond the modeling and experimental efforts planned for each “compartment” of the system. Rather, we seek to explore the feedbacks and interconnections among those Investigations and integrate them into a coherent whole, through Synthesis Activities conducted across the lifetime of the project. In meeting our objectives, we will establish a template that can be used to evaluate the biological and biosignature potential of any ocean world – whether based on observations already obtained or those yet to be acquired. This work will be challenging. Resolving the intricacies for system predictions that cross interfaces between physical, chemical and biological disciplines will require intense and intimate deliberations among our diverse team members. It is for this reason that we have selected a small but suitably motivated team for this work: commitment to repeatedly step outside of one’s own “comfort space” and be challenged is a requirement. Implicit in this effort will be the development of a new culture at the intersection of astrobiology and ocean science, one which leverages off these and other disciplines to develop its own distinct area of focus. Project Management and Coordination: The project will be led by PI German (WHOI), an international expert in deep ocean exploration with recognized expertise in leading and managing complex interdisciplinary projects of this magnitude. He will work directly with a four member Executive Committee (ExComm) selected for balance among the Co-Is, who will serve on a rotating (~2y) basis. ExCom will advise the PI via bi-weekly management tag-ups and help coordinate education, outreach, mentoring and data management activities. At WHOI, the PI will be supported by a strong team including expertise in Project Administration and Multimedia IT/Communications. Additionally: Co-I Girguis (Harvard) will serve as liaison for our collaboration with Roxbury Community College, a Boston area minority serving institution and Co-I Hoehler (NASA-Ames) will oversee ingestion of a complete set of our data products into the Astrobiology and Habitability Environmental Database (AHED), also at NASA-Ames. Effective communication will be key to the success of our collaboration. PI German has pioneered the use of telepresence for remote coordination of research within the ocean science community including recent completion of an NSF multi-divisional program that included collaboration with social scientists to establish best practices for telepresence- enabled collaborations. He will bring that same skill set to bear in this research. Cohesiveness will be ensured through regular meetings of all team members: 90 minute monthly video-conferences and annual 3-day in person meetings, the last of which will be held in the vicinity of the Kennedy Space Center to coincide with the launch of the Europa Clipper mission. We will also be excited to make meaningful use of NAI’s Workshops Without Walls (WWW) as a cornerstone of our project plan, to ensure that our team’s activities remain firmly tethered to those of the wider astrobiology community. Throughout our planned project-work, Synthesis Activities, both within our team and through engagement with the broader NAI community, will feature prominently. Our first Synthesis Activity, starting at the outset of the project and including the first WWW (#1) will establish a robust, community-validated conceptual model for assessing the biological potential and biosignature potential of ocean worlds. This first of four key Milestones for our project will capture, documents and employ the current State of Knowledge. Milestone 2 will be timed to occur at mid-project so that we can take best advantage of further community 2 consultation (WWW #2) between the first and second phases of our modelling and experimental work. This milestone will also represent the start-point for our quantitative Synthesis Activities. At Milestone 3 (mid-Y5) we will coordinate a final WWW (#3), coincident with completion of all modelling and experimental work, to share the preliminary results and recommendations arising from our work with the wider NAI community. Our fourth and final Milestone will correspond to completion of the project with all objectives met. Other NAI Objectives: Our program
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