NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)

Welcome to the NAI Newsletter! The Newsletter is a compendium of announcements, events, updates, and news items related to the NAI and its research. If you have news items or suggestions you can send them to the editor, Marco Boldt at: Marco.Boldt@nasa.gov.

NAI News

Three New NASA Postdoctoral Fellows Join The NAI

The NAI has selected three new postdoctoral fellows, Siobhan Wilson, Sanchaya Gupta, and Nancy Akerman as they join NAI teams through the NASA Postdoctoral Program.

Nancy Akerman will work with Julie Huber at the Marine Biological Laboratory (Carnegie Insitution of Washington Team), to examine "Habitability in Extreme Environments: Microbial Function and Activity in Deep and Shallow Marine Hydrothermal Systems".

Sanchaya (Neal) Gupta will work with both the MIT and CIW teams on the research topic, "Polymeric Biosignatures in Organismic Fossils and Environmental Controls on their Preservation", working with Roger Summons and George Cody.

Siobhan (Sasha) Wilson will be working with David Bish at Indiana University, on a project entitled, “Hydrated Sulfate Minerals: a Habitat for Martian Microorganisms?"

The next application deadline for the NASA Postdoctoral Program is November 1, 2009. See http://nasa.orau.org/postdoc/ for more information.

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Recently Published Research from the NAI

NAI Research Reveals Major Insight into Evolution of Life on Earth

Humans might not be walking on Earth today if not for the ancient fusing of two microscopic, single-celled organisms called prokaryotes, NASA-funded research has found.

By comparing proteins present in more than 3000 different prokaryotes – a type of single-celled organism without a nucleus – molecular biologist James A. Lake from the University of California at Los Angeles’ Center for Astrobiology showed that two major classes of relatively simple microbes fused together more than 2.5 billion years ago. Lake’s research reveals a new pathway for the evolution of life on Earth. These insights are published in the Aug. 20 online edition of the journal Nature.

This endosymbiosis, or merging of two cells, enabled the evolution of a highly stable and successful organism with the capacity to use energy from sunlight via photosynthesis. Further evolution led to photosynthetic organisms producing oxygen as a byproduct. The resulting oxygenation of Earth’s atmosphere profoundly affected the evolution of life, leading to more complex organisms that consumed oxygen, which were the ancestors of modern oxygen-breathing creatures including humans.

“Higher life would not have happened without this event,” Lake said. “These are very important organisms. At the time these two early prokaryotes were evolving, there was no oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere. Humans could not live. No oxygen-breathing organisms could live.”

The genetic machinery and structural organization of these two organisms merged to produce a new class of prokaryotes, called double membrane prokaryotes. As they evolved, members of this double membrane class, called cyanobacteria, became the primary oxygen-producers on the planet, generating enough oxygen to alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere and set the stage for the evolution of more complex organisms such as animals and plants.

“This work is a major advance in our understanding of how a group of organisms came to be that learned to harness the sun and then effected the greatest environmental change Earth has ever seen, in this case with beneficial results,” said Carl Pilcher, director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., which co-funded the study with the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va.

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NASA Researchers Make First Discovery of Life's Building Block in Comet

NASA scientists have discovered glycine, a fundamental building block of life, in samples of comet Wild 2 returned by NASA’s Stardust spacecraft.

“Glycine is an amino acid used by living organisms to make proteins, and this is the first time an amino acid has been found in a comet,” said Dr. Jamie Elsila of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “Our discovery supports the theory that some of life’s ingredients formed in space and were delivered to Earth long ago by meteorite and comet impacts.”

Elsila is the lead author of a paper on this research accepted for publication in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science. The research will be presented during the meeting of the American Chemical Society at the Marriott Metro Center in Washington, DC, August 16.

“The discovery of glycine in a comet supports the idea that the fundamental building blocks of life are prevalent in space, and strengthens the argument that life in the universe may be common rather than rare,” said Dr. Carl Pilcher, Director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute which co-funded the research.

Proteins are the workhorse molecules of life, used in everything from structures like hair to enzymes, the catalysts that speed up or regulate chemical reactions. Just as the 26 letters of the alphabet are arranged in limitless combinations to make words, life uses 20 different amino acids in a huge variety of arrangements to build millions of different proteins.

Stardust passed through dense gas and dust surrounding the icy nucleus of Wild 2 (pronounced “Vilt-2”) on January 2, 2004. As the spacecraft flew through this material, a special collection grid filled with aerogel – a novel sponge-like material that’s more than 99 percent empty space – gently captured samples of the comet’s gas and dust. The grid was stowed in a capsule which detached from the spacecraft and parachuted to Earth on January 15, 2006. Since then, scientists around the world have been busy analyzing the samples to learn the secrets of comet formation and our solar system’s history.

“We actually analyzed aluminum foil from the sides of tiny chambers that hold the aerogel in the collection grid,” said Elsila. “As gas molecules passed through the aerogel, some stuck to the foil. We spent two years testing and developing our equipment to make it accurate and sensitive enough to analyze such incredibly tiny samples.”

Earlier, preliminary analysis in the Goddard labs detected glycine in both the foil and a sample of the aerogel. However, since glycine is used by terrestrial life, at first the team was unable to rule out contamination from sources on Earth. “It was possible that the glycine we found originated from handling or manufacture of the Stardust spacecraft itself,” said Elsila. The new research used isotopic analysis of the foil to rule out that possibility.

Isotopes are versions of an element with different weights or masses; for example, the most common carbon atom, Carbon 12, has six protons and six neutrons in its center (nucleus). However, the Carbon 13 isotope is heavier because it has an extra neutron in its nucleus. A glycine molecule from space will tend to have more of the heavier Carbon 13 atoms in it than glycine that’s from Earth. That is what the team found. “We discovered that the Stardust-returned glycine has an extraterrestrial carbon isotope signature, indicating that it originated on the comet,” said Elsila.

The team includes Dr. Daniel Glavin and Dr. Jason Dworkin of NASA Goddard. “Based on the foil and aerogel results it is highly probable that the entire comet-exposed side of the Stardust sample collection grid is coated with glycine that formed in space,” adds Glavin.

“The discovery of amino acids in the returned comet sample is very exciting and profound,” said Stardust Principal Investigator Professor Donald E. Brownlee of the University of Washington, Seattle, Wash. “It is also a remarkable triumph that highlights the advancing capabilities of laboratory studies of primitive extraterrestrial materials.”

The research was funded by the NASA Stardust Sample Analysis program and the NASA Astrobiology Institute. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Stardust mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operated the spacecraft.

To learn more about the mission, visit http://stardustnext.jpl.nasa.gov/ .

For more about the NASA Goddard astrobiology team, visit http://astrobiology.gsfc.nasa.gov/analytical

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For Students and Young Investigators

Postdoc Position Available at the Marine Biological Lab, Woods Hole

A postdoctoral position in microbial ecology with secondary emphases in evolutionary ecology, information theory and/or modeling is available at the Marine Biological Lab, Woods Hole. This NSF-funded project seeks to determine the principles governing how energy and matter flow through biological systems using laboratory microcosms as experiment systems. In addition, the project will advance a mathematical framework for modeling biogeochemistry orchestrated by microbial communities using a distributed metabolic network representation constrained by thermodynamics. We are seeking an individual with expertise in molecular microbial ecology with an interest in theoretical ecology or systems biology. Approximately 10% of the successful applicant's time will be devoted to program outreach that involves development of educational web resources as well as dissemination of project results. Funding support is available for 2.5 years.

For more information, please see: http://ecosystems.mbl.edu/MEP/

The successful applicant must hold a Ph.D. in microbiology, systems biology, or a related field. Expected skills include molecular biology and microscopy with some bioinformatics proficiency; chemostat operation and nutrient analyses are considered advantageous. While not required, expertise in theoretical ecology, systems biology, information theory, and/or biogeochemical modeling is highly desirable.

Application details are available on-line at https://mbl.simplehire.com/

Please email Joe Vallino (jvallino@mbl.edu) or Julie Huber (jhuber@mbl.edu) with any questions about the position.

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For the Astrobiology Community

AbSciCon 2010 First Announcement

The Astrobiology Science Conference 2010 will be held at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) April 26–29, 2010. Please submit the Indication of Intent form [ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/abscicon2010/iofi/ ] by October 1, 2009, in order to be added to the mailing list to receive reminders and other pertinent information related to the conference.

View the Announcement Now!!

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AGU Session B30: Revisiting the Habitable Zone

This year, the AGU meeting in San Francisco, CA will have a session on the habitable zone organized by colleagues from the NAI. The conveners would like the session to be interdisciplinary in nature, and invite astrobiologists from all disciplines to present concepts related to habitability and the definition of the habitable zone.

For more information see
http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm09/program/scientific_session_search.php?show=detail&sessid=523

The deadline to submit an abstract is 03 September 2009.

Session Abstract:
Traditionally the habitable zone has been defined as the region around a main sequence star in which terrestrial-like planets, with Earth-like atmospheres, can support surface water. This definition has served as an intellectual framework for interpreting potential habitability of exoplanets, but has not been significantly revised in the 16 years since the calculations of Kasting et al. (1993). With the first unambiguous discovery of terrestrial exoplanets made this year, as well as the recent launch of Kepler, there is renewed interest in determining additional constraints on, alternative routes to, and outstanding issues for planetary habitability. This session will explore various types of habitable zones, including, but not limited to, surface and subsurface habitable zones related to radiative, geophysical, and compositional effects. Selected abstracts will present new concepts, and will foster an interdisciplinary dialogue among geophysicists, atmospheric scientists, planetary scientists, and astronomers as the physical phenomena of habitability are modeled, and ultimately observed.

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AGU Session B14: Early Oxygen

Session Abstract:
During most of the geologic past, life and the surface environments on Earth were profoundly different than they are today. In particular, it is generally accepted that the atmosphere was devoid of O2, or nearly so, until the "Great Oxidation Event" approximately 2.4 billion years ago. However, considerable uncertainty remains about the abundances of O2 and other oxidants during the first half of Earth history, as well as processes that constrained these abundances to seemingly trace levels. Emerging data should allow tighter constraints on Archean free oxygen concentrations, the variability of redox conditions at high temporal resolution, and the evolutionary and biogeochemical consequences of oxygenation. At the same time there is a need to refine existing proxies, assess their limitations, and develop new ones. This session will explore these issues. We encourage abstracts from a variety of areas ranging from analytical and theoretical geochemistry to genomics.

For more information see
http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm09/program/scientific_session_search.php?show=detail&sessid=219

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Nominations Solicited for ExoPAG Executive Committee

The Astrophysics Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate is soliciting nominations for the Executive Committee of a newly established Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG). The inaugural ExoPAG Chair will be Jim Kasting, a long-time member of the astrobiology community and the NAI. The ExoPAG will be responsible for soliciting and coordinating community input into the development and execution of NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program.

Interested members of the astrobiology community are encouraged to nominate colleagues or themselves to serve on the ExoPAG Executive Committee. The deadline for receipt of nominations is Sept. 4, 2009.

For more information: http://exep.jpl.nasa.gov/exep_exoPAG.cfm

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Seeking Nominees for COSPAR Awards and Medals

COSPAR, the Committee on Space Research of the International Council for Science, is seeking candidates to be nominated for COSPAR awards and medals, which recognize the outstanding achievements of space scientists throughout the world. The awards will be presented at the 38th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, to be held in Bremen, Germany, 18-25 July, 2010.

It is important to honor the contributions of your colleagues. Please take a moment to consider nominees for the following awards and medals:

• COSPAR Space Science Award honors a scientist who has made outstanding contributions to space science.


• COSPAR International Cooperation Medal is awarded to a scientist (or group of scientists) who has made distinguished contributions to space science and whose work has contributed significantly to the promotion of international scientific cooperation.


• COSPAR William Nordberg Medal is presented to a scientist who has made a distinguished contribution to the application of space science.


• COSPAR Distinguished Service Medal serves to honor extraordinary services rendered to COSPAR over many years.


• COSPAR/Massey Award is awarded by the Royal Society of London in recognition of outstanding contributions to the development of space research in which a leadership role is of particular importance.


• COSPAR/Zeldovich Medal is conferred by the Russian Academy of Sciences to scientists 35 years of age or younger, for excellence and achievements. Medals are presented to a scientist in each of COSPAR’s Scientific Commissions.


• COSPAR/Jeoujang Jaw Award is bestowed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and is intended to recognize scientists who have made distinguished pioneering contributions to promoting space research, establishing new space science research branches, and founding new exploration programs.

Additional details concerning the awards, together with instructions and nomination forms, can be found at http://cosparhq.cnes.fr/Awards/awards.htm . Completed nominations forms must be received by the COSPAR Secretariat in Paris no later than 30 November, 2009. Questions can be addressed to David H. Smith, executive secretary of the U.S. National Committee for COSPAR, at dhsmith@nas.edu

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Call for Nominations: National Academy of Science Awards

The Academy presents a number of awards, spanning a wide range of scientific disciplines, to recognize outstanding achievements in science.

Nominations for awards to be presented in the year 2010 will be accepted through September 15, 2009.

Stanley Miller Medal
The award recognizes research on Earth's early development as a planet, including prebiotic chemistry and the origin of life; planetary accretion, differentiation, and tectonics; and early evolution of the atmosphere and oceans.

James Craig Watson Medal
Awarded for contributions to the science of astronomy.

Alexander Agassiz Medal
Awarded for an original contribution in the science of oceanography.

NAS Award in Molecular Biology
Awarded for recent notable discovery in molecular biology by a young scientist (45 and younger) who is a citizen of the United States.

NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing (Geosciences)
Presented since 1979 to recognize authors whose reviews have synthesized extensive and difficult material, rendering a significant service to science and influencing the course of scientific thought. Scheduled for presentation in 2010 in the area of geosciences.

G. K. Warren Prize
Awarded for noteworthy and distinguished accomplishment in fluviatile geology and closely related aspects of the geological sciences.

For more information: http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Awards_Main

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Hubble Space Telescope Multi-Cycle Treasury (MCT) Programs Call for Proposals

Release Date: August 14, 2009 Proposal Deadline: November 18, 2009

NASA and The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) are pleased to announce the Multi-Cycle Treasury Programs Call for Proposals for Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Observations. Participation in this program is open to all categories of organizations, both domestic and foreign, including educational institutions, profit and nonprofit organizations, NASA Centers, and other Government agencies.

This solicitation for proposals will be open through November 18, 2009, 5:00 pm EST. The Astronomer's Proposal Tools (APT) version 17.4.3, which is required for Phase I Proposal Submission, has been released. Results of the selection will be announced in late January 2010, 6-7 weeks before the Cycle 18 Phase I Deadline.

All programmatic and technical information, as well as specific guidelines for proposal preparation, are available electronically from the STScI at http://www.stsci.edu/institute/org/spd/mctp.html/.

Questions can be addressed to the STScI Help Desk (email: help@stsci.edu; phone: 410-338-1082).

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Kepler Science Openings

The Kepler Science Office has recently posted two positions and requests your help in recruiting good candidates. Currently, the positions are posted on the SETI Institute's website at:

http://www.seti.org/jobs/kepler-analysis
http://www.seti.org/jobs/kepler-archive

The first is for a data analyst to help with image artifact mitigation and other data processing/analysis. The second is for a data archiver to help with the post-processing, archiving, and operation of KSAS, the Kepler Science Analysis System. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply.

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SEPM Field Conference on Microbial Mats in Siliciclastic Deposits (Archean to Today)

May 21 - 23, 2010
Denver, Colorado and Dinosaur Ridge, Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone, Denver

The conference presents an important and novel review on microbial mats and the sedimentary structures they form in siliciclastic settings through Earth times, from the early Archean to the present. The meeting brings together the expertise and knowledge of an international panel of leading researchers to provide a state-of-the art overview of the field. The participants give a timely review of the current and most topical areas of research, essential for all scientists interested in this rapidly growing field.

For more information: http://www.sepm.org/activities/researchconferences/microbial/microbial_home.htm

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