Marsbugs Vol. 12, No. 7

Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005

Editor/Publisher: David J. Thomas, Ph.D., Science Division, Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas 72503-2317, USA. [email protected]

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, but individual authors retain the copyright of specific articles. 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.

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the remains of two impact craters that were filled, buried, and then exhumed from within layered sedimentary rock in the martian crater, Gale. Wind erosion has sculpted tapered yardang ridges in the uppermost rock layers exposed at this location. This is the 1000 th captioned image release from the MGS MOC team. The first release occurred in July 1997, when the spacecraft was still speeding toward the red planet. Many people have asked, "Why are the releases numbered starting with 'MOC2'?" The MGS MOC is the second MOC, so it is designated "MOC2". The first MOC was flown on the Mars Observer spacecraft, which was lost just before arrival at Mars in August 1993. The MOC science investigation was originally selected by NASA in 1986. The MGS MOC effort is currently in its third extended mission, and is funded through at least October 2006. [http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/02/12/]

Articles and News Page 7 EVIDENCE FOR LARGE WATER RESOURCES FOUND NEAR MARS EQUATOR Page 1 PLANETS GALORE: 12 NEW DISCOVERIES Mars Society release ANNOUNCED By Randall Jackson Page 7 OPEN UNIVERSITY SCIENTIST HELPS DISCOVER FROZEN SEA OF WATER ON MARS Page 2 ULTRASOUND FOR ASTRONAUTS Open University release By Karen Miller Announcements Page 3 SOMETHING BIGGER THAN LIFE (INTERVIEW WITH AL DIAZ) Page 8 LIFE AT THE LIMITS: EARTH, MARS, AND BEYOND By Michael Benson Lunar and Planetary Institute release

SCRIPPS RESEARCHERS FIND CLEAR EVIDENCE OF Mission Reports HUMAN-PRODUCED WARMING IN WORLD'S OCEANS Scripps Institute release Page 8 CASSINI UPDATES NASA/JPL releases Page 5 WATER SPREAD ACROSS MUCH OF ANCIENT MARS, CREATING CONDITIONS FOR LIFE Page 12 MARS EXPLORATION ROVERS UPDATES By Robert Roy Britt Adapted from NASA/JPL releases

NASA OBSERVES ONE OF BRIGHTEST COSMIC Page 12 SCIENCE FROM MARS EXPRESS AFTER ONE YEAR IN EXPLOSIONS ORBIT NASA release 05-051 ESA release 10-2005

TITAN'S ATMOSPHERE MAY HAVE COME FROM Page 13 MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES AMMONIA, HUYGENS DATA SAY NASA/JPL/MSSS release By Lori Stiles Page 13 MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES Page 7 NASA STATEMENT ON FALSE CLAIM OF EVIDENCE OF NASA/JPL/ASU release LIFE ON MARS NASA release 05-052

PLANETS GALORE: 12 NEW DISCOVERIES ANNOUNCED followed, and now dozens of ongoing search efforts around the globe add By Randall Jackson steadily to the roster of worlds. Most of these planets differ markedly from NASA/JPL/PlanetQuest release the planets in our own solar system. They are more similar to Jupiter or 15 February 2005 Saturn than to Earth, and are considered unlikely to support life as we know it. The news of the past four weeks has included: The past four weeks have been heady ones in the planet-finding world. Three  The discovery of six new gas-giant planets by two teams of European teams of astronomers announced the discovery of 12 previously unknown planet-hunters was announced this week. Two of these planets are worlds, bringing the total count of planets outside our solar system to 145. similar in mass to Saturn; three belong to a class known as "hot jupiters" because of their close proximity to the host stars. The sixth is a gas Just a decade ago, scientists knew of only the nine planets—those in our local giant at least four-and-a-half times the mass of Jupiter. All were solar system. In 1995, improved detection techniques produced the first solid discovered as part of the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Search evidence of a planet circling another star. A proliferation of discoveries Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005 2

(HARPS), an ongoing search program based at La Silla Observatory in space, but astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) are using Chile. ultrasound, looking inside themselves as part of a NASA project called  On January 20, a paper posted in the online edition of the Astrophysical ADUM, short for "ADvanced Ultrasound in Microgravity." Dr. Scott Journal described five new gas-giant type planets detected by a team of Dulchavsky, a surgeon at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, heads the U.S. astronomers. These planets provide further statistical information project. His team, which includes co-investigators Doug Hamilton, Shannon about the distribution and properties of planetary systems, according to Melton and Ashot Sargsyan, of Wyle Laboratories, in Houston, is studying the paper. The U.S. team based its finding on observations obtained at how ultrasound can be used to diagnose medical problems onboard the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, which is jointly operated by the spaceships. University of California and Caltech. Observation time was granted by both NASA and the University of California.  Last week, Penn State's Alex Wolszczan and Caltech's Maciej Konacki announced the discovery of the smallest planet-like body detected beyond our solar system. The object belongs to a strange class known as "pulsar planets." It is about one-fifth the size of Pluto and orbits a rapidly spinning neutron star, called a pulsar.

New discoveries were announced based on observations made with the W. M. Keck Observatory (left) and the La Silla Observatory (right).

A pulsar is a dense and compact star that forms from the collapsing core left over from the death of a massive star. The new pulsar planet is the fourth to be discovered; all orbit the same pulsar, named PSR B1257+12. Because the Onboard the International Space Station, Gennady Palalka performs planets around the pulsar are continually strafed by high-energy radiation, an ultrasound exam on Mike Fincke. they are considered extremely inhospitable to life. (The current planet count posted on the PlanetQuest web site includes only planets around normal stars Here on Earth, doctors can look at broken bones with an x-ray machine, they —http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/.) can look for tumors with a CAT scanner, and they can examine your brain with an MRI. None of those bulky instruments is available on any NASA Two methods of detection spacecraft. There is, however, an ultrasound machine onboard the ISS.

The pulsar planet was discovered by observing the neutron star's pulse arrival Ultrasound offers several advantages: Compared to other diagnostic imaging times, called pulsar timing. Variations in these pulses give astronomers an tools, ultrasound machines are compact and lightweight. This is important on extremely precise method for detecting the phenomena that occur within a cramped spaceships where every ounce of payload costs money to launch. pulsar's environment. Furthermore, ultrasound images appear instantly. You don't have to wait for, say, x-ray films to be developed. Got a problem? Ultrasound can find it The gas-giant planets were detected using the radial velocity method, which quickly. infers the presence of an unseen companion because of the back-and-forth movement induced in the host star. This movement is detectable as a periodic An ultrasound probe works somewhat like radar. It sends high-frequency red shift and blue shift in the star's spectral lines. (For more about this sound waves into the body. When those waves encounter an organ—say, the method, see the article, "Finding Planets," at liver—some bounce back immediately, and some continue, bouncing back http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/science/finding_planets.html.) when they reach the next organ—say, the kidney. Because sound waves travel through each organ, or tissue, at a different speed, the probe is able to The names of the new planets around main sequence stars are: "see" what the reflected sound waves have found. HD 2638 b Typically, ultrasound has been used to look at internal organs. It's often used HD 27894 b to examine fetuses. But Dulchavsky and his team have been expanding its HD 63454 b repertoire. They're working out ways to look at eyes, teeth, lungs, bones and HD 102117 b muscles. They believe that ultrasound can be used for about two-thirds of a HD 93083 b list of approximately 500 medical conditions that might hypothetically occur HD 142022A b on a spacecraft. HD 45350 b HD 99492 b HD 117207 b HD 183263 b HD 188015 b

Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1447.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/extrasolar-05i.html http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/12_new_planets.html

ULTRASOUND FOR ASTRONAUTS By Karen Miller From NASA Science News 16 February 2005

When you hear the word "ultrasound" you probably think of pregnant moms and their babies. Add one more to that list: astronauts. Nobody's pregnant in Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005 3

ultrasound probes on ambulances." Emergency room doctors could set up a treatment before the patient even arrives at the hospital.

The process has already been used successfully on the ground—in the locker room of the Red Wings, Detroit's hockey team. "Players get hurt a lot in NHL games," says Dulchavsky, a fan. "Last season, we trained one of their trainers to use the probe. It worked famously."

It works well in space, too. In the ISS experiment, Fincke and Padalka examined each others' shoulders. That joint was picked, says Dulchavsky, because it's so complicated. And, even though the shoulder is one of the most challenging ultrasound examinations to do, the astronauts were able to obtain clear, diagnostic-quality views. A paper describing the procedure was published in the February issue of the journal, Radiology; it's the first article ever submitted from orbit.

Right now, Dulchavsky and his colleagues are analyzing their data. The next step, he says, is to put together a program that will teach the astronauts to do more and more on their own. This would enable ultrasound to be used even An ultrasound view of ISS astronaut Mike Fincke's biceps tendon. "D" on long-range exploration missions, like trips to Mars, where guidance from denotes the deltoid muscle. "T" is the proximal intracapsular end of the ground is less practical. The ADUM project is significant, says the long biceps tendon. Dulchavsky, because it has pushed the limits of what ultrasound technology can do. He and his colleagues plan to push those boundaries even more. And, in some cases, ultrasound works even better in space than it does on Earth. That's because in low gravity, internal organs move around. "The Read the original article at heart shifts up... The liver moves about three inches north." The result is that http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/16feb_ultrasound.htm. organs often end up closer to each other. That's good. Sound waves move from one to the other with less distortion, providing a clearer ultrasound SOMETHING BIGGER THAN LIFE (INTERVIEW WITH AL DIAZ) picture. By Michael Benson From Astrobiology Magazine Traditionally, ultrasound probes are operated by technicians with several 16 February 2005 hundred hours of training. Astronauts only get about four hours training. How do they manage? "We're helping them," says Dulchavsky. As the The successful arrival of the European Space Agency's Huygens atmospheric astronauts work the probe, they're in constant contact with experts on the probe on the distant Saturnian moon of Titan in mid-January was a moving ground. event. Many in the multinational contingent of scientists, engineers and administrators that had gathered at ESA's control facility in Darmstadt, Recently, the procedure was tested with ISS astronauts Mike Fincke and Germany had worked on the mission for a decade or more. Once it was clear Gennady Padalka. The ground crew and the astronauts relied on a satellite that the probe was working as planned, a palpable euphoria—a compound of downlink to share information. "[Mike] puts the probe to the skin, and then, relief and pride—pervaded the proceedings. One of ESA's high-ranking two seconds later we in the Johnson Space Center get to see the same image NASA visitors was Al Diaz, director of the agency's new science he sees," says Dulchavsky. organization, the Science Mission Directorate. Although the Huygens part of Cassini-Huygens was designed and built in Europe and led by ESA, the It's an interactive process: "We go, 'Mike, that's not quite right. Can you mission was conducted in close collaboration with NASA. Huygens itself had move the probe an inch closer to the elbow?' So, Mike slides it down an inch been brought to Saturn by Cassini. The interview took place at ESA closer. 'Ah, that's really good, you need to push harder.' Mike pushes harder. Headquarters in Darmstadt on January 15th, the day after Huygens's pictures 'Almost perfect, move it half-an-inch to the back. Ahh, you've got it. of smoggy Titan revealed an icy orange-tinged topography sculpted by liquid Perfect!'" ethane rivers and lakes—a place of shorelines, creeks and fog that's utterly alien, and yet also fascinatingly Earth-like in many respects.

Dr. Scott Dulchavsky (far right) shows Detroit Red Wings trainer Piet Van Zant (far left) how to use an ultrasound machine.

This technique, non-doctors using ultrasound to obtain diagnostic quality pictures under the guidance of remote experts, turns out to have important applications on Earth—on battlefields, for instance, or in rural areas where doctors are far away.

"We're looking at modifying how we transmit the information, so we could do it through a cell phone," says Dulchavsky. Picture this: "we could put Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005 4

Texture of landing sites. Upper left, the moon; AD: That's a good question, and it's the focus of a whole discipline called upper right, Venus; middle left, Pathfinder 1997 interplanetary protection. For every mission that we send, we have to do a Mars; middle right, Viking 1977 Mars; lower left, consequence analysis that looks at what the impact is to the planet in terms of airbag imprint in Eagle Crater, Meridiani Planum introducing any overburden of biology. For Mars, every analysis that we've 2004; lower right, airbag drag mark, Meridiani done has indicated that the introduction is so small as to be considered Planum, 2004 Opportunity site. Image credit: innocuous in terms of any consequence. NASA/ JPL. Now, you're right, at some point in time, we are going to have to do Michael Benson (MB): You were head of NASA's Goddard Space Flight something more substantial. I think, between now and the human landings on Center. Mars, we want to do analyses that would indicate whether or not there is life extant there. We need to determine that before the human landings. We also Al Diaz (AD): I was. don't want to disturb the pristine environment for future attempts to search for life. That discussion is taking place right now, in our strategic road mapping MB: So you know about earth science. about the Mars Sample Return mission. So that debate is ongoing.

AD: I do. MB: What's your sense of what really motivates people when it comes to their interest in space exploration? MB: To what extent is the exploration of the solar system about discovering processes on Earth? For instance, taking information about the atmospheres AD: People are interested in space exploration for the same reason that I got of Titan, Mars, or Venus, and then using this larger context of the solar system emotional about the Huygens probe landing on Titan. This is something that's to learn about atmospheric processes here on Earth. bigger than life! And it's an opportunity for people to participate in something that has historic proportions. I believe that it is not motivated by economic AD: That's an excellent question, because what we're learning about earth returns, although there are people that have that vision. It is not motivated by science can be informed by our exploration of the solar system, as well as national defense, although it has that benefit as well. I really believe that the benefit our exploration of the solar system, in a far more substantial way than public's interest in it is that it's an activity of historic proportions that they we've taken advantage of. When you think about the kinds of issues that we're have an opportunity to be involved in. And I think in the future, they won't going to be dealing with if humans are going to go to Mars, many of them are be satisfied with being able to visit web sites to see what we are doing. I think the same kinds of issues that we've tried to deal with on the Earth. So we in the future, they are going to demand that they be involved, and that they think that there's a lot of competency, capability, and a lot of tools that have have the opportunity to participate in some significant way. been developed for earth science that we can apply to missions to Mars. We've already seen evidence of that. Read the original article at http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1444.html.

In the case of the Spirit and Opportunity Mars landings, earth science- SCRIPPS RESEARCHERS FIND CLEAR EVIDENCE OF HUMAN- developed models were used to better design the second landing, based on the PRODUCED WARMING IN WORLD'S OCEANS uncertainty in the density of the atmosphere. I don't believe that would have Scripps Institute release happened 10 years ago, because the modeling hadn't reached that level, and 17 February 2005 people weren't as aware of the kinds of capabilities that the models could introduce. So we think there's a tremendous opportunity to integrate earth Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of science and space science for the benefit of both. And that's what we're trying California, San Diego, and their colleagues have produced the first clear to do. evidence of human-produced warming in the world's oceans, a finding they say removes much of the uncertainty associated with debates about global MB: What about vice versa. I mean, Venus has a runaway greenhouse. Mars warming. In a new study conducted with colleagues at Lawrence Livermore has lost most of its atmosphere and is exposed to merciless ultraviolet National Laboratory's Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and radiation. We are in the middle... Intercomparison (PCMDI), Tim Barnett and David Pierce of Scripps Institution used a combination of computer models and real-world "observed" AD: This is Goldilocks and the three bears. data to capture signals of the penetration of greenhouse gas-influenced warming in the oceans. The authors make the case that their results clearly MB: You mean, which bowl of porridge is just right... indicate that the warming is produced anthropogenically, or by human activities. AD: And Earth is just right. But why is it just right? Why is the water cycle on Mars apparently inactive? Why do we have a runaway greenhouse on "This is perhaps the most compelling evidence yet that global warming is Venus? And to what extent does that inform our understanding of what is happening right now and it shows that we can successfully simulate its past happening on Earth, and where we might end up? So, yeah, there's a lot of and likely future evolution," said Tim Barnett, a research marine physicist in comparative planetology that we think will benefit both earth science and the Climate Research Division at Scripps. Barnett says he was "stunned" by solar system exploration. the results because the computer models reproduced the penetration of the warming signal in all the oceans. "The statistical significance of these results MB: Recently there was a call for papers from the scientific community, is far too strong to be merely dismissed and should wipe out much of the connected to this Moon, Mars and Beyond vision. It seems like all the uncertainty about the reality of global warming." examples given had to do with finding water. At a news briefing (February 17 at 2:00 PM EST) and symposium AD: We've had some discussions about that recently in developing our Mars presentation (February 18 at 1:45-4:45 PM EST) during the 2005 American strategy. The whole Mars strategy has been following water. The whole Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Washington, search for life strategy has been following water. That's really because of this DC, Barnett will discuss the details of the study and explain why the results habitability issue. Astrobiologists tell us that, without water, there isn't any hold implications for millions of people in the near future. evidence that life as we know it can be supported. According to Barnett, the climate mechanisms behind the ocean study will MB: The Galileo probe was ordered to dive into Jupiter at the end of its produce broad-scale changes across the atmosphere and land. In the decades mission for planetary protection reasons. There may have been Earth immediately ahead, the changes will be felt in regional water supplies, microbes that had survived on Galileo, so they wanted to make sure that there including areas impacted by accelerated glacier melting in the South was no chance the probe would impact on Europa. We don't know if there's American Andes and in western China, putting millions of people at risk any life on Mars, but we have landed a number of missions on the surface that without adequate summertime water. Similarly, recent research by Barnett were sterilized as much as possible. Now we're planning on landing and his colleagues with the Accelerated Climate Prediction Initiative analyzed astronauts, eventually. How are we going to protect the potential biosphere climate warming impacts on the western United States using one of the there from our own microbes, our own life? models involved in the new study. The earlier study concluded that climate warming will likely alter western snow pack resources and the region's hydrological cycle, posing a water crisis in the western U.S. within 20 years. Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005 5

The flash was brighter than anything ever detected from beyond our Solar "The new ocean study, taken together with the numerous validations of the System, and it lasted over a tenth of a second. NASA and European satellites same models in the atmosphere, portends far broader changes," said Barnett. and many radio telescopes detected the flash and its aftermath on December "Other parts of the world will face similar problems to those expected—and 27, 2004. Two science teams are reporting about this event at a special press being observed now—in the western U.S. The skill demonstrated by the conference today at 2:00 PM EST at NASA Headquarters, Washington. climate models in handling the changing planetary heat budget suggests that these scenarios have a high enough probability of actually happening that they need to be taken seriously by decision makers."

In the new study, Barnett and his colleagues used computer models of climate to calculate human-produced warming over the last 40 years in the world's oceans. In all of the ocean basins, the warming signal found in the upper 700 meters predicted by the models corresponded to the measurements obtained at sea with confidence exceeding 95 percent. The correspondence was especially strong in the upper 500 meters of the water column. It is this high degree of visual agreement and statistical significance that leads Barnett to conclude that the warming is the product of human influence. Efforts to explain the ocean changes through naturally occurring variations in the climate or external forces- such as solar or volcanic factors—did not come close to reproducing the observed warming.

In addition to Barnett and Pierce, coauthors of the study include Krishna Achutarao, Peter Gleckler and Benjamin Santer of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The global climate models used in the study included the Parallel Climate Model from the National Center for Atmospheric Artist conception of the December 27, 2004 gamma ray flare Research and Department of Energy (DOE) and the HadCM3 from the Hadley expanding from SGR 1806-20 and impacting Earth’s Centre (United Kingdom). The sharing of these model results made this study atmosphere. Image credit: NASA. possible, says Barnett. The work was a contribution on behalf of the NASA's Swift satellite and the National Science Foundation-funded Very International Detection and Attribution Group (IDAG), which is sponsored by Large Array (VLA) were two of many observatories that observed the event the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate arising from neutron star SGR 1806-20. It is a unique neutron star called a Change Data Detection Program, a jointly funded NOAA and DOE program. magnetar, about 50,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. Additional support was provided by DOE through support of PCMDI and The apparent magnitude was brighter than a full moon and all historical star Scripps. explosions. The light was brightest in the gamma-ray energy range, far more energetic than visible light or X-rays and invisible to our eyes. Scripps Institution of Oceanography: http://scripps.ucsd.edu Scripps News: http://scrippsnews.ucsd.edu "This might be an once-in-a-lifetime event for astronomers, as well as for the neutron star," said Dr. David Palmer of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Contacts: NM. He is lead author on a paper describing the Swift observation. "We Mario Aguilera know of only two other giant flares in the past 35 years, and the December Mobile: 858-245-3175 event was 100 times more powerful," he added.

Scripps Communications Phone: 858-534-3624 E-mail: [email protected]

WATER SPREAD ACROSS MUCH OF ANCIENT MARS, CREATING CONDITIONS FOR LIFE By Robert Roy Britt From Space.com 17 February 2005

Water was common across a vast region of ancient Mars, creating habitable conditions for long stretches of time billions of years ago, scientists said Thursday. New data reveal water in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars extended across hundreds of thousands of square miles, at least as groundwater and possibly as shallow lakes or seas. The work significantly expands the amount of surface area on Mars known to have once been water- laden, and it extends the period of time that the water was present. An artist conception of the SGR 1806-20 magnetar including Rocks that clearly formed in water extend throughout 980 feet (300 meters) of magnetic field lines. After the initial flash, smaller pulsations layered material in several locations across the plains, said Ray Arvidson, an in the data suggest hot spots on the rotating magnetar’s Earth and planetary sciences expert at Washington University in St. Louis, surface. The data also show no change in the magentar’s Missouri. The layers were built up over time, which means water was present, rotation after the initial flash. Image credit: NASA. at least off and on, for extended periods of the early martian history. The findings mean that the conditions for life were present. Dr. Bryan Gaensler of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA, is lead author on a report describing the VLA observation, Read the full article at which tracked the ejected material as it flew out into interstellar space. Other http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_water_050217.html. key scientific teams are associated with radio telescopes in Australia, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, India and the United States, as well as with NASA OBSERVES ONE OF BRIGHTEST COSMIC EXPLOSIONS NASA's High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). NASA release 05-051 18 February 2005 Neutron stars form from collapsed stars. They are dense, fast-spinning, highly magnetic, and only about 15 miles in diameter. Only about 12 magnetars are Scientists detected a flash of light from across the Galaxy so powerful; it known among the millions of regular neutron stars in our Galaxy and bounced off the moon and lit up the Earth's upper atmosphere. neighboring galaxies. SGR 1806-20 is also a soft gamma repeater (SGR) because it randomly flares and releases gamma rays. Only four SGRs are Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005 6 known. The giant flare on SGR 1806-20 was millions to billions of times believe GRB are the birth cries of black holes. Image credit: more powerful than typical SGR flares. For a tenth of a second, the giant flare NASA. unleashed more energy than the sun emits in 150,000 years. Magnetic fields around magnetars are responsible for SGR outbursts, but the details remain Contacts: unclear. Dolores Beasley NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1753

Nancy Neal Jones NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD Phone: 301-286-0039

Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/bright_flash_050218.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/stellar-05g.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gamma-05b.html http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0502/19grb/ http://story.news.yahoo.com/news? tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050218/sc_afp/astronomyspaceflare_050218192323 http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/gamma_ray_flare.html

SGR-1806 is an ultra-magnetic neutron star, called a magnetar, located about 50,000 light years away from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. Image credit: NASA.

"The next biggest flare ever seen from any soft gamma repeater was peanuts compared to this incredible December 27 event," Gaensler said. "Had this happened within 10 light years of us, it would have severely damaged our atmosphere. Fortunately, all the magnetars we know of are much farther away than this," he added.

During the 1980s scientists wondered whether gamma-ray bursts were star explosions from beyond our Galaxy or eruptions on nearby neutron stars. By the late 1990s it became clear gamma-ray bursts did indeed originate far away. But the extraordinary giant flare on SGR 1806-20 reopens the debate, according to Dr. Chryssa Kouveliotou of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, who coordinated multiwavelength follow-up observations. A small percentage of short gamma-ray bursts, less than two seconds, could be from SGR flares.

"An answer to the short gamma-ray burst mystery could come any day now that Swift is in orbit", said Swift lead scientist Neil Gehrels.

Scientists around the world have been following the December 27 event. RHESSI detected gamma rays and X-rays from the flare. Drs. Kevin Hurley and Steven Boggs of the University of California, Berkeley, are leading the effort to analyze these data. For more information about the event on the Internet, visit http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/watchtheskies/swift_nsu_0205.html.

Swift is a first-of-its-kind multi-wavelength observatory dedicated to the study of gamma ray burst (GRB) science. Its three instruments will work together to observe GRBs and afterglows in the gamma ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical wavebands. Swift is designed to solve the 35-year-old mystery of the origin of gamma-ray bursts. Scientists Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005 7

TITAN'S ATMOSPHERE MAY HAVE COME FROM AMMONIA, In addition to the question about why Titan has an atmosphere, there are two HUYGENS DATA SAY other great questions about Saturn's giant moon, Lunine added. A second By Lori Stiles question is how much methane has been destroyed throughout Titan's history, University of Arizona release and where all that methane comes from. Earth-based and space-based 18 February 2005 observers have long known that Titan's atmosphere contains methane, ethane, acetylene and many other hydrocarbon compounds. Sunlight irreversibly Cassini-Huygens supplied new evidence about why Titan has an atmosphere, destroys methane in Titan's upper atmosphere because the released hydrogen making it unique among all solar system moons, a University of Arizona escapes Titan's weak gravity, leaving ethane and other hydrocarbons behind. planetary scientist says. Scientists can infer from Cassini-Huygens results that Titan has ammonia, said Jonathan I. Lunine, an interdisciplinary scientist for When the Huygens probe warmed Titan's damp surface where it landed, its the European Space Agency's Huygens probe that landed on Titan last month. instruments inhaled whiffs of methane. That is solid evidence that methane rain forms the complex network of narrow drainage channels running from "I think what's clear from the data is that Titan has accreted or acquired brighter highlands to lower, flatter dark areas. Pictures from the UA-led significant amounts of ammonia, as well as water," Lunine said. "If ammonia Descent Imager-Spectral Radiometer experiment document Titan's fluvial is present, it may be responsible for resurfacing significant parts of Titan." features.

He predicts that Cassini instruments will find that Titan has a liquid ammonia- The third question—one that Cassini was not really instrumented to answer— and-water layer beneath its hard, water-ice surface. Cassini will see—Cassini Lunine calls the "astrobiological" question. It is, given that liquid methane radar has likely already seen—places where liquid ammonia-and-water slurry and its organic products rain down from Titan's stratosphere, how far has erupted from extremely cold volcanoes and flowed across Titan's landscape. organic chemistry progressed on Titan's surface? The question is, Lunine Ammonia in the thick mixture released in this way, called "cryovolcanism," said, "To what extent is any possible advanced chemistry at Titan's surface at could be the source of molecular nitrogen, the major gas in Titan's all relevant to prebiotic chemistry that presumably occurred on Earth prior to atmosphere. the time life began?"

Lunine and five other Cassini scientists will discuss the latest results from the The Cassini-Huygens mission is a collaboration between NASA, ESA and Cassini-Huygens mission at the American Association for the Advancement ASI, the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a of Science meeting in Washington, DC, tomorrow (February 19). division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, is managing Cassini scientists are also presenting some of these results at a 1:00 PM EST the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. JPL news briefing at AAAS today. designed, developed and assembled the Cassini oribter while ESA operated the Huygens probe. Cassini radar imaged a feature that resembles a basaltic flow on Earth when it made its first close pass by Titan in October 2004. Scientists believe that Contacts: Titan has a rock core, surrounded by an overlying layer of rock-hard water Lori Stiles ice. Ammonia in Titan's volcanic fluid would lower the freezing point of UA News Services water, lower the fluid's density so it would be about as buoyant as water ice, Phone: 520-621-1877 and increase viscosity to about that of basalt, Lunine said. "The feature seen in the radar data suggests ammonia is at work on Titan in cryovolcanism." Jonathan I. Lunine University of Arizona Both Cassini's Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer and Huygen's Gas Phone: 520-621-2789 Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GCMS) sampled Titan's atmosphere, Mobile: 520-241-4739 covering the uppermost atmosphere down to the surface. But neither detected E-mail: [email protected] the non-radiogenic form of argon, said Tobias Owen of the University of Hawaii, a Cassini interdisciplinary scientist and member of the GCMS science Additional articles on this subject are available at: team. That suggests that the building blocks, or "planetesimals," that formed http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0502/21titan/ Titan contained nitrogen mostly in the form of ammonia. http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/ammonia_key_titan.html.

Titan's eccentric, rather than circular, orbit can be explained by the moon's NASA STATEMENT ON FALSE CLAIM OF EVIDENCE OF LIFE ON subsurface liquid layer, Lunine said. Gabriel Tobie of the University of MARS Nantes (France), Lunine and others will publish an article about it in a NASA release 05-052 forthcoming issue of Icarus. 18 February 2005

"One thing that Titan could not have done during its history is to have a liquid News reports on February 16, 2005, that NASA scientists from Ames layer that then froze over, because during the freezing process, Titan's rotation Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, have found strong evidence that life may rate would have gone way, way up," Lunine said. "So either Titan has never exist on Mars are incorrect. NASA does not have any observational data from had a liquid layer in its interior—which is very hard to countenance, even for any current Mars missions that supports this claim. The work by the scientists a pure water-ice object, because the energy of accretion would have melted mentioned in the reports cannot be used to directly infer anything about life on water—or that liquid layer has been maintained up until today. And the only Mars, but may help formulate the strategy for how to search for martian life. way you maintain that liquid layer to the present is have ammonia in the Their research concerns extreme environments on Earth as analogs of possible mixture." environments on Mars. No research paper has been submitted by them to any scientific journal asserting martian life. Cassini radar spotted a crater the size of Iowa when it flew within 1,577 kilometers (980 miles) of Titan on Tuesday, February 15. "It's exciting to see For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit a remnant of an impact basin," said Lunine, who discussed more new radar http://www.nasa.gov. For more information about NASA's Mars programs on results that NASA released today. "Big impact craters on Earth are nice the Web, visit http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/. places for getting hydrothermal systems. Maybe Titan has a kind of analogous 'methanothermal' system," he said. Read the news articles in question at: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_life_050216.html. Radar results that show few impact craters are consistent with very young http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6981361/ surfaces. "That means Titan's craters are either being obliterated by http://www.marsdaily.com/news/mars-life-05a.html resurfacing, or they are being buried by organics," Lunine said. "We don't know which case it is." Researchers believe that hydrocarbon particles that fill Contacts: Titan's hazy atmosphere fall from the sky and blanket the ground below. If Dolores Beasley/Gretchen Cook-Anderson this has occurred throughout Titan's history, Titan would have "the biggest NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC hydrocarbon reservoir of any of the solid bodies in the solar system," Lunine Phone: 202-358-1753/0836) noted. Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005 8

EVIDENCE FOR LARGE WATER RESOURCES FOUND NEAR might still be surviving now. Clearly this must now be considered as a prime MARS EQUATOR site for future missions looking for life. Mars Society release 21 February 2005

An article in the New Scientist reports that a team of scientists working on the European Mars Express orbiter have found evidence of large amounts of pack ice lying within a few centimeters of the martian surface in parts of the planet's equatorial regions. The evidence was judged to be "fairly plausible" by Dr. Michael Carr. Carr is the former head of NASA's Mars Science Working Group, the author of the books, The Surface of Mars, and Water on Mars" and is widely considered to be the dean of martian geology.

The Mars Express team's discovery, if confirmed, is of extraordinary importance. Up until now, the only pure water resources known to exist on Mars have been found in its polar regions. Water is known to exist in significant percentages the soil and in hydrates all over Mars, but processing these involves solid handling procedures of significantly greater complexity and power requirements greater than those needed to deal with ice. The availability of pure ice easily accessible from the surface would be of enormous benefit to future martian explorers and settlers, as combined with the known plentiful carbon dioxide resources of the martian atmosphere, would allow synthesis of hydrocarbon fuels and oxidizers, the production of food, fiber, fabrics, plastics, and innumerable other necessary items. Water is The fractured plate-like features on Mars range in size from 30 m to also needed for many other essential industrial processes involving the greater than 30 km. Image credit: ESA/DLR/F. U. Berlin/G. Neukum. production of metals and other chemicals. The discovery was made by Dr. Murray, Jan-Peter Muller (University College This is a vastly more favorable resource prospect that exists on the London), Gerhard Neukum (Free University, Berlin & Principal Investigator) impoverished Moon, where water is only present in parts per million and a team of international scientists working on the pictures sent back from quantities in deeply frozen permanently shadowed craters near the lunar poles, Mars, and is to appear in the scientific journal Nature. and carbon is absent entirely. In addition, frozen bodies of water in the martian tropics may hold enormous scientific value, as they could contain Mars Express, Europe's first ever space mission to another planet, entered the preserved, or even dormant but viable, microbial martian life forms. The orbit of Mars successfully on Christmas Day 2003, and since January 2004 the detection and analysis of such life could provide the Rosetta Stone for human high resolution stereo camera on board has been taking a massive number of understanding of the nature, prevalence, and potential diversity of life in the stereo images of the surface from altitudes as low as 270 km, showing details cosmos. down to 10 meters.

A complete discussion of the breaking discoveries from the American and Read the original news release at European Mars probes will be held at the 8th International Mars Society http://www3.open.ac.uk/events/9/2005222_52769_nr.doc. Convention, August 11-14, 2005, University of Colorado, Boulder. Registration is now open at www.marssociety.org. An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/frozen_sea_water_mars.html. The New Scientist article may be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7039. LIFE AT THE LIMITS: EARTH, MARS, AND BEYOND Lunar and Planetary Institute release OPEN UNIVERSITY SCIENTIST HELPS DISCOVER FROZEN SEA 18 February 2005 OF WATER ON MARS Open University release The Lunar and Planetary Institute invites you to join an Earth-bound 22 February 2005 exploration of astrobiology on July 10-17, 2005!

The discovery of a frozen sea close to the equator of Mars has brought the "Life at the Limits: Earth, Mars, and Beyond" is a NASA-sponsored training possibility of life on Mars one step closer. Open University scientist, Dr. John workshop for middle-and high-school science teachers (others welcome, Murray, is among the scientists who made the discovery from the High including pre-service teachers, informal educators, education specialists, early Resolution Stereo Camera images on board the Mars Express probe—the first college instructors, and junior college instructors). At field sites in Nevada European mission to another planet. Dr. Murray, of the Department of Earth and California participants will investigate some extreme geological and Sciences, said, "The fact that there have been warm and wet places beneath chemical conditions in which life on Earth can thrive. This hands-on, real- the surface of Mars since before life began on Earth, and that some are world experience will enhance classroom teaching about earth and space probably still there, means that there is a possibility that primitive micro- science, especially about what organisms need to survive and the search for organisms survive on Mars today. This mission has changed many of my past and present extraterrestrial life. long-held opinions about Mars—we now have to go there and check it out". Astrobiologists and planetary scientists will lead the field and laboratory The water that formed the sea appears to have originated beneath the surface experiences, helping to connect the field observations with the search for life of Mars, and to have erupted from a series of fractures known as the Cerberus in our solar system and beyond through discussions and proven, hands-on, Fossae, from where it flowed down in a catastrophic flood, and collected in a standards-based classroom and laboratory activities that are ready to share vast area 800 x 900 km about 5 million years ago. It initially averaged 45 with students! For more information and to access the on-line application, meters deep, making it about the same size and depth as the North Sea. It was please visit http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/fieldtrips/2005/. Applications the pack-ice which formed on the surface of the sea that drew the attention of are due March 23, 2005. Mars Express scientists.

The young age of this feature has caused excitement among scientists. Although formed at the time when early hominids on Earth were evolving from apes, this is very young in geological terms, and suggests that vast flooding events, which are known to have occurred from beneath Mars' surface throughout its geological history, are still continuing to happen. The presence of liquid water for thousands of millions of years, even beneath the surface, is a possible habitat in which primitive life may have developed, and Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005 9

CASSINI UPDATES NASA/JPL releases "Both Earth's and Saturn's auroras are driven by shock waves in the solar wind and induced electric fields," said Crary. "One big surprise was that the NASA Spacecraft Help Solve Saturn's Mysterious Auroras magnetic field imbedded in the solar wind plays a smaller role at Saturn." NASA/JPL release 2005-028, 16 February 2005 At Earth, when the solar wind's magnetic field points southward (opposite to Scientists studying data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft and Hubble Space the direction of the Earth's magnetic field), the magnetic fields partially cancel Telescope have found that Saturn's auroras behave differently than scientists out, and the magnetosphere is "open". This lets the solar wind pressure and have believed for the last 25 years. The researchers, led by John Clarke of electric fields in, and allows them to have a strong effect on the aurora. If the Boston University, found the planet's auroras, long thought of as a cross solar wind's magnetic field isn't southward, the magnetosphere is "closed" and between those of Earth and Jupiter, are fundamentally unlike those observed solar wind pressure and electric fields can't get in. "Near Saturn, we saw a on either of the other two planets. The team analyzing Cassini data includes solar wind magnetic field that was never strongly north or south. The Dr. Frank Crary, a research scientist at Southwest Research Institute in San direction of the solar wind magnetic field didn't have much effect on the Antonio, Texas, and Dr. William Kurth, a research scientist at the University aurora. Despite this, the solar wind pressure and electric field were still of Iowa, Iowa City. strongly affecting auroral activity," added Crary.

Seen from space, an aurora appears as a ring of energy circling a planet's polar region. Auroral displays are spurred when charged particles in space interact with a planet's magnetosphere and stream into the upper atmosphere. Collisions with atoms and molecules produce flashes of radiant energy in the form of light. Radio waves are generated by electrons as they fall toward the planet.

The team observed that even though Saturn's auroras do share characteristics with the other planets, they are fundamentally unlike those on either Earth or Jupiter. When Saturn's auroras become brighter and thus more powerful, the ring of energy encircling the pole shrinks in diameter. At Saturn, unlike either of the other two planets, auroras become brighter on the day-night boundary of the planet which is also where magnetic storms increase in intensity. At certain times, Saturn's auroral ring is more like a spiral, its ends not connected as the magnetic storm circles the pole.

The new results do show some similarities between Saturn's and Earth's auroras. Radio waves appear to be tied to the brightest auroral spots. "We know that at Earth, similar radio waves come from bright auroral arcs, and the same appears to be true at Saturn," said Kurth. "This similarity tells us that, on the smallest scales, the physics that generate these radio waves are just like what goes on at Earth, in spite of the differences in the location and behavior of the aurora."

Now with Cassini in orbit around Saturn, the team will be able to take a more direct look at the how the planet's auroras are generated. They will next probe how the Sun's magnetic field may fuel Saturn's auroras and learn more details These images of Saturn's polar aurora were taken by NASA's Hubble about what role the solar wind may play. Understanding Saturn's Space Telescope on January 24, 26, and 28. Each of the three magnetosphere is one of the major science goals of the Cassini mission. images of Saturn combines ultraviolet images of the south polar region (to show the auroral emissions) with visible wavelength images of the Cassini's Radar Spots Giant Crater on Titan planet and rings. The Hubble images were obtained during a joint NASA/JPL release 2005-029, 16 February 2005 campaign with NASA's Cassini spacecraft to measure the solar wind approaching Saturn and the Saturn kilometric radio emissions. The A giant impact crater the size of Iowa was spotted on Saturn's moon Titan by strong brightening of the aurora on January 26 corresponded with the NASA's Cassini radar instrument during Tuesday's Titan flyby. Cassini flew recent arrival of a large disturbance in the solar wind. These results are within 1,577 kilometers (980 miles) of Titan's surface and its radar instrument presented in three papers, which appear in the February 17 issue of took detailed images of the surface. This is the third close Titan flyby of the the journal, Nature. Image credit: NASA/Hubble/Z. Levay and J. mission, which began in July 2004, and only the second time the radar Clarke. instrument has examined Titan. Scientists see some things that look familiar, along with scenes that are completely new. The new radar images are Hubble snapped ultraviolet pictures of Saturn's auroras over several weeks, available at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini. while Cassini's radio and plasma wave science instrument recorded the boost in radio emissions from the same regions, and the Cassini plasma "It's reassuring to look at two parts of Titan and see similar things," said Dr. spectrometer and magnetometer instruments measured the intensity of the Jonathan Lunine, Cassini interdisciplinary scientist from the University of aurora with the pressure of the solar wind. These sets of measurements were Arizona, Tucson. "At the same time, there are new and strange things." combined to yield the most accurate glimpse yet of Saturn's auroras and the role of the solar wind in generating them. The results will be published in the This flyby is the first time that Cassini's radar and the imaging camera February 17 issue of the journal, Nature. overlapped. This overlap in coverage should be able to provide more information about the surface features than either technique alone. The 440- The findings show that Saturn's auroras vary from day to day, as they do on kilometer-wide (273-mile) crater identified by the radar instrument was seen Earth, moving around on some days and remaining stationary on others. But before with Cassini's imaging cameras, but not in this detail. A second radar compared to Earth, where dramatic brightening of the auroras lasts only about image released today shows features nicknamed "cat scratches". These 10 minutes, Saturn's can last for days. The observations also show that the parallel linear features are intriguing, and may be formed by winds, like sand Sun's magnetic field and solar wind may play a much larger role in Saturn's dunes, or by other geological processes. auroras than previously suspected. Hubble images show that auroras sometimes stay still as the planet rotates beneath, like on Earth, but also show On Thursday, Cassini will conduct its first close flyby of Saturn's icy moon that the auroras sometimes move along with Saturn as it spins on its axis, like Enceladus (en-SELL-uh-duss) at a distance of approximately 1,180 kilometers on Jupiter. This difference suggests that Saturn's auroras are driven in an (730 miles). Enceladus is one of the most reflective objects in the solar unexpected manner by the Sun's magnetic field and the solar wind, not by the system, so bright that its surface resembles freshly fallen snow. direction of the solar wind's magnetic field. Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005 10

which appeared to be relatively free of impact craters. Smooth, crater-free surfaces on moons and planets indicate geologically young ages, while wrinkles may indicate tectonic activity or volcanism.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has had a busy week, snapping stunning new images of two of Saturn's moons—smoggy Titan on February 15 and wrinkled Enceladus on February 16. This image shows a crater, approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) in diameter, on the very eastern end of the radar image strip taken by the "Cassini has now viewed these terrains at almost 10 times better resolution Cassini orbiter on its third close flyby of Titan on February 15. The than Voyager," said Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader based at appearance of the crater and the extremely bright (hence rough) the Space Science Institute in Boulder, CO. "Interestingly, the icy surface of blanket of material surrounding it is indicative of an origin by impact, in Enceladus appears to have similarities to both Europa and Ganymede—two which a hypervelocity comet or asteroid, in this case, roughly 5-10 prominent icy satellites of Jupiter—and topographic relief of about 1 kilometers (3-6 miles) in size, slammed into the surface of Titan. The kilometer (0.6 mile). Both Europa and Ganymede are thought to have bright surrounding blanket is debris, or ejecta, thrown out of the crater. subsurface water layers, or 'oceans,' so the similarities with Enceladus are The asymmetric appearance of this ejecta blanket could be an effect of intriguing." atmospheric winds associated with the impact itself. Although clearly formed by impact, the feature lacks a central peak, suggesting that it One view released today is a high-resolution mosaic showing complex has been eroded or otherwise modified after formation. Rainfall, wind systems of fractures and resurfaced terrain. Among the most intriguing erosion, and softening of the solid material in which the crater formed features in the images are a series of small, dark spots, which in many places are all possible processes that might have altered this impact feature. seem to be aligned in chains parallel to narrow fractures. A false-color view shows some linear features on Enceladus with a slightly different color from Saturn's Moons Titan and Enceladus Seen by Cassini their surroundings. Different colors of ice may be caused by varying NASA/JPL release 2005-030 compositions or varying ice crystal sizes. Either one can indicate different 18 February 2005 formation mechanisms or different ages. Another early highlight from the flyby is a high-resolution stereo view of Enceladus. Stereo views are helpful NASA's Cassini spacecraft has had a busy week, snapping stunning new in interpreting the moon's complex topography. images of two of Saturn's moons—smoggy Titan on February 15 and wrinkled Enceladus on February 16. Visible in radar images released today are a crater, Other preliminary results from the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer channels, and terrain similar to the area where the European Space Agency's show a surface composed of only pure water ice, with no other compounds Huygens probe landed on January 14. The crater is approximately 60 detected. Ammonia or ammonium compounds and carbon dioxide were kilometers (37 miles) in diameter. Earlier this week, the radar team released expected, but not seen in the data. Further analysis may find trace amounts. an image of a giant impact crater dubbed "Circus Maximus," about 440 "The spectra look like laboratory fabricated water ice, indicating the ice is kilometers wide (273 miles). quite pure," said Dr. Roger N. Clark, Cassini science team member at the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver. "The appearance of the small crater and the extremely bright, hence rough, blanket of material surrounding it is indicative of an origin by impact," said During the latest flybys, Cassini was 1,577 kilometers (980 miles) above Dr. Jonathan Lunine, Cassini interdisciplinary scientist from the University of Titan, and 1,180 kilometers (730 miles) above Enceladus. Cassini will Arizona, Tucson. conduct an even closer flyby of Enceladus on March 9, coming within approximately 500 kilometers (310 miles) of its surface. More than 40 From the crater's size, scientists estimate that it was created when a comet or additional Titan flybys are planned. asteroid roughly 5 to 10 kilometers (3 to 6 miles) in size slammed into the surface of Titan. The feature lacks a central peak, suggesting that it has been The pictures are available at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov, eroded or otherwise modified since formation. http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://ciclops.org. Rainfall, wind erosion, and softening of the solid material in which the crater formed are all possible processes that might have altered this impact feature. Cassini Significant Events for 10-16 February 2005 NASA/JPL release Also visible in the radar images are channels located just east of Circus 19 February 2005 Maximus, the large impact crater. The longest channel is approximately 200 kilometers long (124 miles). The channels appear to flow from the slopes of The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired today from the Goldstone the crater. The fluid was most likely liquid methane, given the extremely cold tracking station. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is ambient conditions at the surface of Titan. The area somewhat resembles the operating normally. Information on the present position and speed of the rubble-strewn plains in the region where the Huygens probe landed. Cassini spacecraft may be found on the "Present Position" web page located at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm. Just one day after the Titan flyby, Cassini turned its sights on Saturn's moon Enceladus, revealing a fascinating, tortured world of ice. The spacecraft The fourth week of S08 began with the ongoing Visible and Infrared Mapping swept within 1,180 kilometers (730 miles) of the moon's wrinkled surface, Spectrometer (VIMS) observations of the Saturn atmosphere, focusing on the providing the first-ever high resolution images of this world with the detection of methane fluorescence. The Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) brightest, most reflective surface in the solar system. Since NASA's Voyager observed Titan and looked for shepherding satellites of the C-Ring. On spacecraft flew past Enceladus in 1980 and 1981, planetary scientists have Friday the first of the special events for this week occurred. Orbital Trim been intrigued by the moon's wrinkled terrain and smooth plains, some of Maneuver 13 successfully executed and was followed by a Titan targeted Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005 11 encounter. This very busy week wrapped up with some CIRS F-Ring Thursday, February 10: observations and ISS observations of Enceladus as Cassini approaches for next week's non-targeted flyby. The Project succeeded in providing another astronomy picture of the day. The image of Blue Saturn (with Mimas) can be found on the Cassini Web site. The rings are, as usual, gorgeous, but the detail that can be seen in Mimas is outstanding.

The Radio Science Subsystem (RSS) team performed another operational readiness test (ORT) today. The tests are being performed to prepare the instrument and the DSN for an occultation during Titan-3 and for the Enceladus mass determination observations.

The S08 sequence leads uplinked a number of files to the spacecraft today. Among them were an ACS S08 telemetry schedule overlay for February 15, a RADAR instrument expanded block trigger for the Titan flyby, a Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) power cycle command for the Low Energy Magnetospheric Measurement Subsystem, and commands for the Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) involving data rate handling, uplink of the real time activity for the ring plane crossing on February 16, and threshold level adjustments for the Enceladus flyby.

Mission Assurance convened a risk team meeting to re-assess risks identified for orbital tour operations. The outcome of this risk team meeting was not only to re-assess existing risks, but also each risk item was re-assessed for placement into a 5X5 risk matrix. This is significant in that Cassini has used a 3X4 risk matrix since the inception of the risk management program for mission operations. The team met and reassessed a portion of the remaining open risk items. A follow-up meeting has been scheduled to complete the risk assessment activity.

Friday, February 11:

Orbit trim maneuver #13 (OTM-13) was successfully completed on the spacecraft tonight. This maneuver, also called the "T3 minus 3 day maneuver," refines Cassini's trajectory for the 1,577 km flyby of Titan on February 14.

The reaction control system maneuver began at 11:15 p.m. Pacific Time. A "quick look" immediately after the maneuver showed the burn duration was 220.5 seconds, giving a delta-V of approximately 207.2 mm/s. ACS reported the burn termination was a "nominal complete" with a "virtual accelerometer" cutoff. All spacecraft subsystems are nominal.

Preliminary port 2 of the Science Operations Plan Update process for tour sequence S11 was achieved today. The products were merged and output reports published.

Monday, February 14:

Early today RSS performed their final ORT in preparation for the Titan flyby. Titan 3 (T3), Cassini's third close flyby of Saturn's largest moon, occurred today. During the flyby, the Composite and Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) made two full-hemisphere temperature maps, inbound and outbound, to measure dynamics and atmospheric circulation. CIRS also conducted composition integrations in the far Infrared of the south tropical nadir, and mid-Infrared at the north polar limb, which should produce a great chance to detect new species. In particular, the mid-Infrared integration over the north pole gave CIRS a glimpse of stratospheric chemistry over the winter pole. This CIRS data will fold into the Huygens Titan atmospheric model effort. Cassini took this image of the ropy, taffy-like topography on Saturn's The Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) took movies to look for cloud motion moon Enceladus as it soared above the icy moon on February 17, and make wind measurements. The Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph 2005. This view, about 60 kilometers across (37 miles), shows several performed a series of Extreme Ultraviolet and Far Ultraviolet scans across different kinds of ridge-and-trough topography, indicative of a variety of Titan to create spectral images. The Radio and Plasma Wave Science horizontal forces near the surface of this 505-kilometer (314-mile) (RPWS) instrument measured the density and temperature of the thermal diameter satellite. Several different kinds of deformation are visible, electrons near Titan and in its ionosphere, searched for evidence of and a small population of impact craters shows that this is some of the atmospheric lightning, looked for evidence of the ion pickup process, and younger terrain on Enceladus. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the studied the interaction of Titan with Saturn's magnetosphere. The Cassini bottom. Interestingly, the topographic relief is only about one Plasma Spectrometer measured the plasma environment of Titan and searched kilometer, which is quite low for a small, low gravity satellite. However, for pickup ions resulting from atmospheric loss. The Dual Technique this is consistent with other evidence that points to interior melting and Magnetometer also studied the magnetic environment of Titan, its interactions resurfacing in Enceladus' history. This view was obtained in visible and plasma environment. light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera. Image scale is 60 meters (197 feet) per pixel. The image has been contrast- During closest approach the RADAR instrument performed Synthetic enhanced to aid visibility. Aperture Radar imaging, including the first real bright terrain, which includes part of Xanadu, to be the subject of a joint Optical Remote Sensing/RADAR Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005 12 investigation. RADAR altimetry measurements taken during the flyby will For the latest images and information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, establish whether the lack of topography identified during an earlier Titan visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini. flyby was atypical. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Processing of the downlinks for T3 was accelerated by running off the real- Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, time Telemetry Delivery Subsystem data stream. DSMS-provided image a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the display capabilities were used within the Project for real-time presentation of Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, the ISS data. In English, this means we got to watch the images as they came Washington, DC. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were down from the spacecraft. designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO. Tuesday, February 15: Contacts: A beautiful picture of Rhea taken by Cassini is today's Astronomy Picture of Carolina Martinez the Day. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA Phone: 818-354-9382 "The stars come out for Founders' Day" was the theme for the Santa Fe Middle School annual PTA Founders' Day celebration held tonight. Despite a Ann Marie Menting 60% chance of rain, Saturn Observation Campaign and Cassini Outreach Boston University, MA brought three easy-to-pack-up-in-the-rain telescopes to the school's annual Phone: 617-353-2240 PTA Founders' Day celebration. The first quarter moon, Pleiades star cluster, and of course Saturn, emerged from the clouds as if by magic. Over 300 Donna Weaver parents, teachers and students attended. A bonus for the event was a closing Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD talk given by a Cassini ITL member who graduated from the school. While a Phone: 410-338-4493 student at Santa Fe, she had listened to a visiting JPL engineer give a talk about the Viking mission, and this inspired her to pursue education leading to Dolores Beasley a career at JPL. NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1753 Today Science Planning dusted off the S13 sequence that had been archived in January of 2003 and began the Aftermarket process. An assessment meeting Additional articles on this subject are available at: was held to review all of the requested changes to the sequence. It appears http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1448.html that all of the requested changes can fit within the available resources. A final http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1449.html waiver and sequence change request meeting was held as part of development http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1451.html for S09. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/17feb_bluesaturn.htm http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050216_saturn_aurora.html Wednesday, February 16: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/ap_050218_titan.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-05x.html Today Cassini again passed through Saturn's ring plane. The CDA team http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-05y.html members are tremendously excited about the science they will gain with this http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-05z.html opportunity. http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-05za.html http://spaceflightnow.com/cassini/050218enceladus.html The wrap-up meeting for the Science Operations Plan (SOP) Implementation http://spaceflightnow.com/cassini/050219faults.html for S41 was held today. This sequence is now in the process of being http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/titan_fourth_flyby.html archived. This completes the development of the SOP for the entire prime http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/close_up_enceladus.html mission out to 2008. This task required 2 years and 9 months of intense effort http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/saturn_auroras_explained.html to complete and resulted in 41 tour sequences being developed down to the http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/giant_crater_titan.html command level. The S09 Final Sequence Integration and Validation products were released today for review by participating teams. MARS EXPLORATION ROVERS UPDATES Adapted from NASA/JPL releases ISS personnel at JPL conducted two tests in the Integrated Test Lab (ITL) 11-15 February 2005 using the ISS Engineering Models. The first test exercised the 1.4 flight software checkout sequence. The second test simulated instrument error conditions and exercised failure recovery. Analysis of the results is underway.

VIMS personnel have resolved a long-standing flight software issue that resulted in lost science data unless a workaround was performed. The issue involved the compounding of the effects of two different software errors dating back to the original code. The resolution led to the prediction of potential lost data at T3. A precisely timed VIMS configuration command was sent to eliminate the risk. This command will need to be sent after every other sleep/wake cycle through the S09 sequence. S10 and subsequent sequences will be protected by a ground software change.

JPL put out a news release today regarding a giant crater the size of Iowa on Titan that was spotted by the RADAR instrument during Tuesday's Titan flyby. News Release: 2005-029

Friday and Saturday nights, February 18 and 19, weather permitting, the NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its panoramic camera to Saturn Observation Campaign will have a couple telescopes out in old town take the images combined into this mosaic view of the rover. The Pasadena and Monrovia for Saturn and moon viewing. It's definitely Saturn downward-looking view omits the mast on which the camera is time right now. The jewel of the Solar System is overhead, offering the best mounted. It shows dust accumulation on Spirit's solar panels. The views of the season. You can use the star chart on the Saturn Observation images were taken through the camera's 600-, 530- and 480- Campaign web site to see where to look—Saturn is near the Gemini Twins, nanometer filters during Spirit's 329th and 330th martian days, or sols Castor and Pollux right now. It's on the "Viewing Saturn" page, all freshly (December 7 and 7, 2004). Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell. updated for 2005. Scroll down to see the star chart (http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/viewing.cfm). Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005 13

Spirit's solar panels are collecting a fine layer of dust, which has reduced plans for future research. The briefing will include a summary of the energy levels, but Spirit keeps on keeping on. Spirit completed an discussions on exobiology and the search for life on Mars, and an overview of approximately 13-meter (43-foot) drive toward the "Cumberland Ridge" on European plans for future exploration of Mars. A question-and-answer sol 388. Spirit spent sol 389 performing the usual set of remote-sensing session will follow and ample time is set aside for one-on-one interviews. A observations. As of sol 393, Spirit's total odometry is 4,108 meters (2.55 detailed program of the conference can be found at miles). http://www.congrex.nl/05C05 .

Opportunity is in good health after more than a year on the martian surface. MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGES The rover completed its investigation of a trench and soil materials on sol 373 NASA/JPL/MSSS release and is ready for a software patch, which will be uploaded over next few sols. 10-16 February 2005 There have been no recent dust storm events, and tau—a measurement of atmospheric opacity—has remained close to 0.9 for the past two weeks. The following new images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are now available.

Dunes in Noachis (Released 10 February 2005) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/02/10/

Sedimentary Rock in Candor (Released 11 February 2005) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/02/11/

MOC 1000th Release! (Released 12 February 2005) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/02/12/

Polar Polygons (Released 13 February 2005) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/02/13/

Martian Valentine's Day (Released 14 February 2005) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/02/14/

Mars at Ls 160 Degrees (Released 15 February 2005) http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/02/15/

Antoniadi's Floor (Released 16 February 2005) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its panoramic http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/02/16/ camera to take the images combined into this mosaic view of the rover. The downward-looking view omits the mast on which the camera is All of the Mars Global Surveyor images are archived at mounted. It shows Opportunity's solar panels to be relatively dust-free. http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/index.html. The images were taken through the camera's 600-, 530- and 480- nanometer filters during Opportunity's 322nd and 323rd martian days, Mars Global Surveyor was launched in November 1996 and has been in Mars or sols (December 19 and 20, 2004). Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell. 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 Complete MER updates are available at Mars exploration known as the Mars Surveyor Program that is managed by http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status.html. JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) and the California Institute of Technology built the An additional article on this subject is available at MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates http://www.marsdaily.com/news/mars-mers-05r.html. the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global SCIENCE FROM MARS EXPRESS AFTER ONE YEAR IN ORBIT Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, ESA release 10-2005 from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. 16 February 2005 MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES After reaching its observational orbit around Mars a year ago, ESA's Mars NASA/JPL/ASU release Express has already delivered an avalanche of scientific data of unprecedented 14-18 February 2005 quality that have completely changed the way in which we think about the Red Planet. In order to compare views and discuss the implications of the THEMIS Images as Art #36 (Released 14 February 2005) new discoveries, over two hundred scientists will be attending the first Mars http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20050214A.html Express science conference, taking place from 21 to 25 February at ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Noordwijk, the THEMIS Images as Art #37 (Released 15 February 2005) Netherlands. http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20050214A.html With over a hundred presentations from scientists from Europe, the United THEMIS Images as Art #38 (Released 16 February 2005) States, Japan, Russia and other countries, the discussions will cover all aspects http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20050214A.html of this ground-breaking investigation, from an historical perspective to the latest surprising findings. The topics addressed include results from the THEMIS Images as Art #39 (Released 17 February 2005) interior and subsurface of Mars; its geology, mineralogical composition and http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20050214A.html surface chemistry; the polar regions and their ice caps; the climate and atmosphere of Mars and the interactions between surface and atmosphere; the THEMIS Images as Art #40 (Released 18 February 2005) space environment around Mars and its moons. A special session on http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20050214A.html exobiology and the search for life on Mars is being held on the afternoon of Thursday, 24 February. All of the THEMIS images are archived at http://themis.la.asu.edu/latest.html. Members of the media are invited to attend all sessions, but may be NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission particularly interested in the conference summary on Friday 25 February, at for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. The Thermal 14:00 CET. During the briefing, lasting about an hour, the Principal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State Investigators of all active experiments on board Mars Express will summarize University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote the major scientific achievements of the first year in orbit and outline the Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 7, 22 February 2005 14

Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. End Marsbugs, Volume 12, Number 7.