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Contamination Control Technology Study for Achieving the Science Objectives of Life-Detection Missions
Contamination Control Technology Study for Achieving the Science Objectives of Life-Detection Missions Study Team: Chris McKay, NASA ARC, (650)604-6864, [email protected] (submitting author) Alfonso Davila, NASA ARC, [email protected] Jennifer Eigenbrode, NASA GSFC, [email protected] Chris Lorentson, NASA GSFC, [email protected] Rob Gold, JHU/APL, [email protected] John Canham, Northrop Grumman/NASA GSFC, [email protected] Anthony Dazzo, KBR Inc./NASA GSFC, [email protected] Therese Errigo, NASA GSFC, [email protected] Faith Kujawa, JHU/APL, [email protected] Dave Kusnierkiewicz, JHU/APL, [email protected] Charles Sandy, ILC Dover, crsandy @ilcdover.com Erich Schulze, JHU/APL, Erich.Schulze@jhuapl Antonios Seas, NASA GSFC [email protected] Science Contamination Control Technology Study Summary: This white paper summaries technological advances in science-required contamination-control engineering for in situ and sample-return life-detection missions in the Solar System. Key study results are: 1) New spacecraft !arrier design that accommodates MMRT$s% is cleana!le% and is repaira!le. &) 'urge gas cleanliness of 1 part per trillion HC impurity limit is feasible. )) The !arrier reduces particle contamination *likely !iological) from fairing to spacecraft !y 1, -&-1,-). -) Spacecraft surfaces protected !y !arrier are 1,-&,. cleaner after launch than !efore launch. /) 0n-1ight !a+e-out of critical surfaces significantly reduced molecular contamination *!y 1,-3 to 1,-1&). 0mplementing a full spacecraft !arrier% collector cover and purge% and in-1ight cleaning steps will achieve cleanliness levels required of science instruments *down to femtomolar levels of !iomolecules). -
Periodic Habitability in Northern Plains Ground Ice: the Icebreaker Life Mission Plan
Astrobiology Science Conference 2017 (LPI Contrib. No. 1965) 3478.pdf PERIODIC HABITABILITY IN NORTHERN PLAINS GROUND ICE: THE ICEBREAKER LIFE MISSION PLAN. C. Stoker1, C. McKay1, A. Davila1 , B. Glass2, V. Parro3, 1 Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field CA, 2Exploration Technology Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field CA, 3Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC), Madrid, Spain Introduction:The results from the 2008 Phoenix and future proposals are planned. The mission returns mission that sampled ground ice at 68oN latitude, along to the well-characterized Phoenix landing site with a with climate modeling studies, indicate that the high N. payload designed to address the following science latitude ice-rich regolith at low elevations is likely to goals: (1) search for biomolecular evidence of life; (2) be a recently habitable place on Mars [1]. search for organic matter from either exogeneous or Habitable Conditions Evidence: Ice was found endogeneous sources using methods that are not within 3-5 cm of the surface. If warmer conditions spoiled by the presence of perchlorate; (3) characterize occur, the ice could provide a source of liquid water. oxidative species that produced reactivity of soils seen Phoenix found evidence for liquid water processes by Viking; and 4) assess the habitability of the ice including 1) beneath 3 -5 cm of dry soil, segregated bearing soils. The Icebreaker Life payload hosts a 1-m pure ice was discovered in patches covering 10% of drill that brings cuttings samples to the surface where the area explored, 2) calcite mineral was detected in they are delivered to three instruments. -
Underground Astronauts Preparing for Space 24 June 2016
Underground astronauts preparing for space 24 June 2016 The CAVES – Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising – course focuses on multicultural approaches to leadership, following orders, teamwork and decision-making. By the end, the astronauts have a better understanding of how they function in a multicultural team and what they are skilled at, as well as areas for self-improvement. "We are very pleased to include the first female astronaut and first 'taikonaut' in this CAVES course," says mission director Loredana Bessone, "creating an even better mix of cultures and experience to put the astronauts' behaviour to the test." Credit: ESA–A. Boesso We usually send them 400 km up, but next week ESA will be sending six astronauts 800 m underground into the rocky caves of Sardinia, Italy. The caving course recreates aspects of a space expedition with an international crew and has become an essential part of ESA's astronaut training. This year's participants are ESA astronaut Pedro Duque, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Richard Arnold, Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide, Chinese astronaut Ye Guangfu and cosmonaut Sergei Korsakov. Credit: ESA–S. Sechi Astronauts in ESA's 2014 underground training course climbing the cave walls. Credit: ESA–S. Sechi Caves offer a dark and alien underground environment with many analogies to space. Deep underground, our senses are deprived of many sounds and natural light. The procedure for moving Science and technology along a cave wall resembles spacewalking and cave explorers need to stay alert, take critical As with any astronaut mission, science and decisions both as an individual and as a team, just technology are an important part of the as in space. -
Carbon Monoxide As a Metabolic Energy Source for Extremely Halophilic Microbes: Implications for Microbial Activity in Mars Regolith
Carbon monoxide as a metabolic energy source for extremely halophilic microbes: Implications for microbial activity in Mars regolith Gary M. King1 Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 Edited by David M. Karl, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, and approved March 5, 2015 (received for review December 31, 2014) Carbon monoxide occurs at relatively high concentrations (≥800 that low organic matter levels might indeed occur in some deposits parts per million) in Mars’ atmosphere, where it represents a poten- (e.g., 12). Even so, it is uncertain whether this material exists in a tially significant energy source that could fuel metabolism by a local- form or concentrations suitable for microbial use. ized putative surface or near-surface microbiota. However, the The Martian atmosphere has largely been ignored as a potential plausibility of CO oxidation under conditions relevant for Mars in energy source, because it is dominated by CO2 (24, 25). Ironically, its past or at present has not been evaluated. Results from diverse UV photolysis of CO2 forms carbon monoxide (CO), a potential terrestrial brines and saline soils provide the first documentation, to bacterial substrate that occurs at relatively high concentrations: our knowledge, of active CO uptake at water potentials (−41 MPa to about 800 ppm on average, with significantly higher levels for −117 MPa) that might occur in putative brines at recurrent slope some sites and times (26, 27). In addition, molecular oxygen lineae (RSL) on Mars. Results from two extremely halophilic iso- (O2), which can serve as a biological CO oxidant, occurs at lates complement the field observations. -
Space Showcase
SPACE SHOWCASE Inspiration for your World Space Week celebrations I’m so h ot Contents ! 1 Space tech in everyday life Introduction 2 Earth observations 3 Manned space-flight World Space Week What’s out there? 4 World Space Week is a global celebration that takes place every year from 4-10 October as designated by the UN. The dates represent two important events that opened up the exploration of Space; the launch of the first man- made satellite Sputnik-1 on 4 October 1957, and 10 October a decade later, when the treaty on the peaceful use and exploration of space was signed. During this week, events take place across the globe that range from conveying the broad range of benefits space activities provide to the public, to inspiring the next generation of scientists and explorers. In 2012 the UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC) in partnership with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) offered small grants to ASDC members to help them to celebrate World Space Week in their communities. These grants were again offered in 2013 to ASDC members to increase awareness of the celebration, with a strong focus on highlighting contemporary activities that the UK and Europe is involved with. It is widely accepted that space has the power to engage a broad range of audiences with all the sciences, a context that can bring many subjects to life. Space is an exciting topic that has the power to spark the imagination. From looking at what life on other planets might be like, and learning how our own solar system formed, to discovering the host of technological innovations inspired by space research. -
Thomas-Pesquet-L-Etoffe-D-Un-Heros
DISTRIBUTION ContAct PRESSE AGENCE MIAM LA VINGT-CINQUIÈME HEURE DISTRIBUTION Blanche Aurore DUAULT et Nathalie IUND +33 (7 ) 60 38 89 64 +33 (0)1 55 50 22 22 [email protected] [email protected] www.25eheure.com [email protected] « L’EXPLORATION SPATIALE C’EST UNE QUÊTE DE SENS, UNE AVENTURE D’INTROSPECTION... EN AllANT DANS L’ESPACE, ON ESPÈRE QU’ON REVIENDRA DES HOMMES ET DES FEMMES MEIllEURS. » THOMAS PESQUET 5 SYNOPSIS Le 16 novembre 2016, l’astronaute français Thomas Pesquet s’envolait pour une aventure de 6 mois dans la station spatiale internationale. Pour préparer cette mission et affronter l’environnement hostile de l’espace, il s’est entraîné durant 7 ans dans les lieux mythiques de la conquête spatiale. De Houston à Baïkonour, les réalisateurs Jürgen Hansen et Pierre Emmanuel Le Goff ont suivi au plus près cette préparation physique et men- tale qu’il devra à nouveau endurer avant sa prochaine mission dans l’espace, et peut être un jour son départ vers la Lune. 3 LES REALISATEURS Jürgen Hansen maîtrise parfaitement les codes de la télévision et a réalisé de nombreux documentaires ani- maliers et scientifiques, dont Gravité Zéro, retraçant la mission de l’astronaute allemand Alexander Gerst. Il possède une connaissance aigüe des spécificités d’un tournage de documentaire spatial, notamment dans les lieux d’entraînement des spationautes et dans la Station Spatiale Internationale en particulier. Pierre-Emmanuel Le Goff apporte quant à lui une méthodologie nourrie de l’univers cinématographique, une écriture plus scé- narisée et sensorielle et un esprit novateur inspiré par les nouveaux médias. -
CV Marcia P..Pdf
CURRICULUM VITAE Nome Paolo Marcia ISTRUZIONE E FORMAZIONE 9/10/2019 Conferimento da parte del consiglio di Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria Università di Sassari, dell’incarco di docente a contratto del corso denominato “Applied Entomology”, nell’ambito del corso di laurea magistrale, internazionale a ciclo unico in Wildlife management, conservation and control per l’A.A. 2019- 2020: 10/7/2019, Nomina in qualità di cultore della materia per il settore BIO/05 “Zoologia”., dal consiglio di Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria Università di Sassari. 2018, Coneguimento degli gli obiettivi formativi per l’insegnamento di cui agli allegati A, B e C al D.M. 616/2017( corso 24 CFU), nel rispetto delle condizioni di cui ai commi 3 e 4 del medesimo articolo, attraverso le sotto elencate attività formative: Didattica generale con elementi di Didattica dell’inclusione Ambito_a 6 m-ped/03 27/30 14/04/2018 superata Teoria e metodi di progettazione e Valutazione didattica Ambito_d 6 m-ped/03 25/30 17/03/2018 superata Antropologia culturale ambito_c 6 m-dea/01 26/30 30/01/2018 superata Psicologia dello sviluppo e Dell’apprendimento Ambito_b 6 m-psi/04 27/30 09/02/2018 superata Rilasciato da: università degli studi di sassari Titolo: Dottorato di Ricerca in biologia ambientale – XXI Ciclo Data: 13/02/2009 Votazione: Eccellente Titolo della tesi: Strategies for monitoring and conservation of troglobitic endemic fauna in some subterranean sites of Sardinia. Titolo: Laurea Magistrale in Scienze Naturali Data: 20/11/2003 Votazione: 105/110 Rilasciato da: Università degli Studi di Sassari Pagina 1 - Curriculum vitae di Autorizza il trattamento e la comunicazione dei dati personali contenuti nel presente Marcia Paolo Curriculum vitae ai sensi del D.lgs. -
Robotics and Automation for “Icebreaker” B.J
ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION FOR “ICEBREAKER” B.J. Glass (1), G. Paulsen(2), A. Dave (1), C. McKay(1) (1) NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 USA; Email: [email protected] (2) Honeybee Robotics, Pasadena, CA 91103 USA; Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT components that will penetrate below the ground, and place these inside a biobarrier. To prevent The proposed “Icebreaker” mission is a return to spores from traveling onto the drill auger/bit via the Mars polar latitudes first visited by the Phoenix sample transfer, there must be an air gap between mission in 2007-08. Exploring and interrogating the sterilized drill and a less-sterilized robotic the shallow subsurface of Mars from the surface sample delivery subsystem that could contact the will require some form of excavation and “dirty” spacecraft instruments (which will not be penetration, with drilling being the most mature heat sterilized to Viking standards). approach. A series of 0.5-5m automated rotary and rotary-percussive drills developed over the past Since 2006, NASA has developed a Discovery- decade by NASA Ames and Honeybee Robotics class mission concept, called "Icebreaker" (Fig. 1), provide a capability that could fly on a Mars which is a Lockheed-Martin (Phoenix-derived) surface mission within the next decade. Surface Mars polar lander with life and organics detection robotics have been integrated for sample transfer to instruments and a 1m sampling drill [4]. The deck instruments, and the Icebreaker sample Icebreaker science payload has since 2010 also acquisition system has been tested successfully in been the baseline science payload for developing a Mars chambers and analog field sites to depths joint NASA-commercial Mars astrobiology between 1-3m. -
Contamination Control Technology Study for Achieving the Science Objectives of Life-Detection Missions
NASA/TM-20205008709 Contamination Control Technology Study for Achieving the Science Objectives of Life-Detection Missions Chris McKay, Alfonso Davila, Jennifer Eigenbrode, Chris Lorentson, Rob Gold, John Canham, Northrop Grumman, Anthony Dazzo, Therese Errigo, Faith Kujawa, Dave Kusnierkiewicz, Charles Sandy, Erich Schulze and Antonios Seas, October 2020 NASA STI Program ... in Profile Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. to the advancement of aeronautics and space Collected papers from scientific and science. The NASA scientific and technical technical conferences, symposia, seminars, information (STI) program plays a key part in or other meetings sponsored or helping NASA maintain this important role. co-sponsored by NASA. The NASA STI program operates under the SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientific, auspices of the Agency Chief Information Officer. technical, or historical information from It collects, organizes, provides for archiving, and NASA programs, projects, and missions, disseminates NASA’s STI. The NASA STI often concerned with subjects having program provides access to the NTRS Registered substantial public interest. and its public interface, the NASA Technical Reports Server, thus providing one of the largest TECHNICAL TRANSLATION. collections of aeronautical and space science STI English-language translations of foreign in the world. Results are published in both non- scientific and technical material pertinent to NASA channels and by NASA in the NASA STI NASA’s mission. Report Series, which includes the following report types: Specialized services also include organizing and publishing research results, distributing TECHNICAL PUBLICATION. Reports of specialized research announcements and completed research or a major significant feeds, providing information desk and personal phase of research that present the results of search support, and enabling data exchange NASA Programs and include extensive data services. -
GLACE Mission Concept: Ganymede's Life and Curious Exploration Mission H.E. Dijkstra 1, G.A.H.F. Van Der Sanden
49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2018 (LPI Contrib. No. 2083) 1058.pdf GLACE Mission Concept: Ganymede’s Life and Curious Exploration Mission 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 H.E. Dijkstra , G.A.H.F. van der Sanden , S. Peters , J. Zepper , M. Branchetti , W. van Westrenen and B.H. Foing 2 1 , V U University Amsterdam, de Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands ([email protected], 2 [email protected]), E SA ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands ([email protected]). 1. Introduction the material of these plains comes from deeper in the The exploration of the Jovian system contributes to icy shell and can therefore give us information on the our understanding on Giant Planet systems in the outer subsurface conditions of Ganymede. solar system. In addition, it helps us understand the emergence of habitable zones and environmental 2. GLACE mission profile conditions necessary for life. If the existence of As a follow up mission of the JUICE, the GLACE subsurface oceans are a common feature in the mission will focus on a landing on Jupiter’s largest planetary architecture of our outer solar system, then moon Ganymede. A satellite will go into orbit around the satellites of gas giants could possibly be high Ganymede and will collect the data from the lander. potential zones to support the emergence of life. The The GLACE mission profile can be divided into three dedication of a space mission to the Jovian system with major parts: a) the interplanetary transfer to Jupiter, b) special focus on the Galilean satellite Ganymede will the transfer to Ganymede’s orbit, and c) deepen understanding on the working of our own and propulsion-assisted landing on Ganymede’s surface. -
SS 2013 Symposium Agenda-1.Xlsx
NASA Ames Space Science and Astrobiology Symposium March 12, 2013 Space Science and Astrobiology Symposium 2013 1 Welcome to the Ames Space Science and Astrobiology Symposium! The Space Science and Astrobiology Division at NASA Ames Research Center consists of over 50 Civil Servants and more than 110 contractors, co-ops, post-docs and associates. Researchers in the division are pursuing investigations in a variety of fields including exoplanets, planetary science, astrobiology and astrophysics. In addition, division personnel support a wide variety of NASA missions including (but not limited to) Kepler, SOFIA, LADEE, JWST, and New Horizons. With such a wide variety of interesting research going on, distributed among three branches in at least 5 different buildings, it can be difficult to stay abreast of what one’s fellow researchers are doing. Our goal in organizing this Symposium is to facilitate communication and collaboration among the scientists within the division, and to give center management and other ARC researchers and engineers an opportunity to see what scientific research and science mission work is being done in the division. We also wanted to start a new tradition within the Space Science and Astrobiology Division to honor one senior and one early career scientist with the Pollack Lecture and the Early Career Lecture, respectively. With the Pollack Lecture, our intent is to select a senior researcher who has made significant contributions to any area of research within the space sciences, and we are pleased to honor Dr. Dale Cruikshank this year. With the Early Career Lecture, our intent is to select a young researcher within the division who, by their published scientific papers, shows great promise for the future in any area of space science research, and we are pleased to honor Dr. -
Meir, Jessica U
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas 77058 April 2021 Jessica U. Meir (Ph.D.) NASA Astronaut Summary: Jessica U. Meir was selected by NASA in 2013. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Brown University, a Master of Science in Space Studies from the International Space University, and a Doctorate in Marine Biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UCSD). From 2000 to 2003, Dr. Meir worked for Lockheed Martin’s Human Research Facility, supporting human physiology research. During this time, she also participated in research flights on NASA’s reduced gravity aircraft and served as an aquanaut in an underwater habitat for NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO). Prior to becoming an astronaut, her career as a scientist focused on the physiology of animals in extreme environments. Meir most recently served as flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 61 and 62. Personal Data: Born and raised in Caribou, Maine. Recreational interests include skiing, hiking, running, cycling, soccer and SCUBA diving. She is a private pilot and is conversational in Swedish and Russian. Education: Graduated from Caribou High School, Caribou, Maine. Earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Brown University in 1999. Earned a Master of Science degree in Space Studies from International Space University in 2000. Earned a Doctorate in Marine Biology (diving physiology) from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UCSD) in 2009. Experience: For her Ph.D. research, Dr. Meir studied the diving physiology of marine mammals and birds, focusing on oxygen depletion in diving emperor penguins (Antarctic field research) and elephant seals (northern California).