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Project Reports

• Chemical Investigations of Hydrogen Cyanide Polymers and Their Possible Role in the Origin of Protein/Nucleic Acid Based Life (Minard)

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2 3.4

• Module 1: The Building Blocks of Life

  This module is concerned with examining the contribution of interstellar chemistry to the biochemistry that led to living systems on Earth. One focus of this investigation is the simple sugar ribose and its precursors, starting with formaldehyde, but other possible pre-biotic species are being investigated as well

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2 4.3

• VLA Observations of a Hot Molecular Core in the Young Stellar Object NGC1333 IRAS4A

  Pedelty, Mundy, and Charnley performed Very Large Array (VLA) λ7mm observations of the hot molecular core in the low mass star formation region NGC 1333 IRAS 4A in November 2005

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1

• Planetary Biology, Evolution, and Intelligence

  Chris Chyba, Cynthia Phillips, Kevin Hand- The project has two components. The first, an overview of the astrobiological potential of various geological features on Europa, is proceeding well — we are continuing the study of various proposed formation mechanisms for different feature types such as ridges, bands, and chaotic terrain.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1

• Project 6. Molecular and Isotopic Biosignatures

  Co-Investigator Steele and Postdoctoral Fellow Marc Fries used the new WiTec Raman imaging system to begin the examination of in situ carbon formation in a variety of samples, including Precambrian rocks and samples from a Mars analog site in Svalbard.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 3.1 4.1 4.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2

• The Impact of Atmospheric Particles on Life

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 2.2 3.1 4.3

• Metamorphism, Organic Synthesis and the Emergence of Life on Earth

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 4.1

• Important Carbon Oxides in the Planetary Atmospheres and Surfaces

  Radiation-induced chemistry of carbon dioxide (CO₂) is important in a variety of regions from the atmospheres of Venus, Earth, and Mars to the ices of comets, Mars, and planetary satellites. As carbon dioxide molecules are degraded by radiation, carbon monoxide and high energy oxygen atoms can be produced.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2

• Project 1. From Molecular Clouds to Habitable Planetary Systems

  The work this year of Co-Investigator Chambers involved the development of a model for the oligarchic growth stage of planet formation, a key stage that determines many of the final characteristics of a planetary system

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 2.1 3.1 7.2

• Constraints on the Chemical Nature of the Lunar Impact Basin Forming Impactors

  The purpose of this work is to fingerprint the late additions to the Moon using the relative abundances of the highly-siderophile elements (HSE) that occur in generally high abundance in likely impactors, but extremely low abundance in the indigenous lunar crust.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1

• Project 2. Extraterrestrial Materials: Origin and Evolution of Organic Matter and Water in the Solar System

  The abundant organic compounds in primitive meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) are thought to originate largely in the interstellar medium. However, this material may have been modified in the protoplanetary disk and has been modified to varying extents in the asteroidal parent bodies.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 3.1

• RNA Activities Relevant to Ribocytes

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.1 3.2 3.4 6.2

• Project 4. Prebiotic Molecular Selection and Organization

  Studies in molecular self-organization continued to focus on amphiphilic molecules, which are molecules that possess both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions. These molecules tend to self-organize spontaneously in an aqueous environment.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2 3.4 4.1 7.1

• Studies of Oxidized Carbon in Cometary Ice

  The accomplishments of Dr. Michael DiSanti (Co-I, Goddard Center for Astrobiology, NAI) in the past year fall into two distinct although related categories: (1) Ongoing research on the organic volatile composition of comets, and (2) E/PO-related activities

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1

• Project 3. Prebiotic Chemical and Isotopic Evolution on Earth

  In the past year Doctoral Student David Johnston and Co-I Farquhar determined for the first time the different types of isotopic signatures produced by different sulfur metabolisms. including sulfate-reducing bacteria, sulfite-disproportionating bacteria, and sulfur-disproportionating bacteria. These observations permitted calibration of the first global sulfur isotope models.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 4.1 4.2 7.1

• Prebiotic Organics From Space

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.1 3.4 4.3 7.1 7.2

• The Evolution of Organics in Space

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1

• Project 5. Life in Extreme Environments

  The behavior of H₂O under pressure underlies the work of Co-Investigator Hemley and his colleagues in prebiotic chemistry and high-pressure microbiology. Collaborator Yukihiro Yoshimura documented new transformations in ice by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 5.1 5.3 6.2

• From Proto-Metabolism to the RNA World

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2 5.3

• Origins and Signatures of Biogenic Hydrocarbons – Controls on the Transition From Abiogenic Geochemistry to Biotic Systems in the Deep Subsurface and Identification of Signature for Life

  Studies of deep subsurface, ecosystems hosted by ancient groundwater are directly relevant to the exploration for extant life in the subsurface of Mars. Laboratory investigations focus on determining the types of prebiotic compounds that form in the subsurface and assessing whether life itself could have been spawned beneath a planet’s surface. Field investigations focus on deep subsurface groundwater sampled at commercial mines in South African and Canadian Archaean rocks.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 3.1 4.1 4.2 6.1 7.1 7.2

• Instrumentation for the Analysis of Organic Materials in Natural Samples

  CM2 carbonaceous chondrites contain a wide variety of complex amino acids, while CI1 types Orgueil and Ivuna display a much simpler composition, with only glycine and β-alanine present in significant abundances

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1

• Delivery of Organic Materials to Planets

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.1

• Project 7. Astrobiotechnology

  Co-Investigator Steele and colleagues have continued to develop the Modular Assays for Solar System Exploration (MASSE) concept, which uses microfluidic technology to incubate a DNA or protein microarray.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 4.2 5.3 6.2 7.1

• Chondritic Meteorites as Records of Aqueous Activity on Asteroidal Parent Bodies

  The Fe-content in amoeboid olivine aggregates (AOAs) is a sensitive indicator of parent body hydrothermal alteration (Komatsu et al. 2001; Chizmadia et al. 2002; Krot et al. 2004).

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1

• Cosmic Ice Laboratory: Organic Synthesis in Energetically Processed Ices

  In the Cosmic Ice Laboratory we simulate the vacuum and low-temperature environment of space using a high-vacuum chamber and a cryostat. Ice samples condensed on a cooled mirror inside the cryostat are irradiated with 1 MeV protons to simulate cosmic-ray bombardment or are photolyzed to simulate vacuum-ultraviolet (UV) exposure.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2 3.1 7.1

• Molecular Survey of Microbial Diversity in Hypersaline Ecosystems

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2 3.4 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1

• Extraterrestrial Organics

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.2 3.1 4.1 4.3

• Large Scale Circulation and Organic Synthesis in the Primitive Solar Nebula

  Analytical studies of natural materials such as meteorite components, interplanetary dust particles and presolar grains, and telescopic observations of the solids in comets, protostellar nebulae, giant molecular clouds and the interstellar medium place important chemical and textural constraints on the processing of materials throughout the history of the solar system. Many of these same constraints may also apply to the materials in modern protostellar systems.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2

• Philosophical Issues in Astrobiology

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2 3.4 4.1 5.1 5.2

• Modeling Terrestrial Planet Formation and Composition

  We have run the most realistic simulations of the final stages in the formation of Earth-like planets to date (Raymond), including 10 times as many particles as previous simulations.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 3.1

• Keck Cosmochemistry Laboratory

  The W. M. Keck Cosmochemistry laboratory will soon begin analysis of extraterrestrial samples, including sample of interest to astrobiology. At its heart is a Cameca ims 1280 ion microprobe. This state-of-the-art instrument uses a focused ion beam to sputter and ionize atoms from sample surfaces. The sputtered ions are then extracted into a mass spectrometer and measured. The 1280 can measure isotopic compositions of most elements, with better precision and accuracy than previous ion probes.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 3.1 3.2

• Origin and Evolution of Organics in Planetary Systems

  This progress report summarizes astrobiology research done at Washington University in St. Louis under the direction of Professor Bruce Fegley, Jr. This research is part of the NASA Goddard Astrobiology Node.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.1

• X-Ray Emission From Young Stars and a Comet

  The high energy process in the young stellar environment would be important in stimulating chemical reaction of molecules and producing pre-biotic materials.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1

• Summary of Activities in the Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory

  Dworkin has been active in the lab section of the GCA Astrobiology Team by operating the Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory and collaborating with numerous other laboratories. This involves the creation and maintenance of a world-class organic analytical laboratory. In the last year he developed the methodology for the detection of chiral amino acids at the femtomole level in a variety of laboratory and natural samples.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 2.2 3.1 7.1

• Origin and Evolution of Organics in Planetary Systems

  As part of the overall Astrobiology Node at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, whose goal is an understanding of the Origin and Evolution of Organics in Planetary Systems (Mike Mumma, P.I.), Co-Investigator Blake is directing both laboratory and astronomical spectroscopy programs.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.2 3.1

• Progress Report for APL Effort in Goddard Center for Astrobiology

  Theme 4 work at JHU/APL using laser time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) techniques continues in collaboration with the Goddard Center for Astrobiology (GCA) team and external partners.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2 3.1 3.2 7.1

• Unveiling the Evolution and Interplay of Ice and Gas in Star-Forming Regions

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1

• Formation of Astrobiologically Important Molecules in Water-Rich Environments

  We installed a new FTIR spectrometer to our experimental apparatus (Fig. 1). The new spectrometer is in perfect condition, allowing us to take spectra of ices at near-IR and middle-IR regions, which are comparable to astronomy observations. We also designed some new parts to improve the experimental apparatus. For example, a new OFHC copper coldhead shield (Fig. 2) was made and installed into the machine. That reduces the mass spectral background significantly. Recently, we are assembling a proton source to simulate the effects of solar wind on low temperature ices

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2