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Project Reports

• 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

• Understanding Mars Subsurface Methane Hydrates and Brines and Potentials for Microbial Habitats

  The sub-permafrost zone of Mars is acknowledged as having the greatest potential for habitability because water is readily available. CH₄ leakage from the sub-permafrost zone would occur wherever the permafrost zone has been breached by recent fracturing due to impacts or by geothermal heating.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 4.3 5.3 6.1 6.2

• The Impact of Atmospheric Particles on Life

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 2.2 3.1 4.3

• The Astrophysical Environment and Planetary and Lunar Habitability

  We worked to characterize the intermittent aspects of stellar radiation fields, namely flares and stellar cosmic rays, and their effects on biosignature detection, habitability, and space exploration.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 4.3 6.1 6.2

• Prebiotic Organics From Space

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.1 3.4 4.3 7.1 7.2

• Dynamics of Comets, Asteroids, and Planets

  In collaboration with Mayer, Quinn is exploring the viability of the gravitational instability model for the formation of gas giant planets.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.3

• Habitable Planets

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 2.1 4.1 4.3

• Extraterrestrial Impact History on Earth

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.3

• From Stars to Genes

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 4.3

• Model Synthesis and Architecture

  The VPL integrated model to develop self-consistent planetary environments has acquired several separate components into its model suite over the past year, including weathering, land model, and tectonic/solid earth components. These are now housed in a version controlled online database of all VPL software components, including the coupled online model as well as other model components under development.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 4.1 4.3 7.2

• Extraterrestrial Organics

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.2 3.1 4.1 4.3

• Evolution of Atmospheric O2, Climate, and Biosphere (Ohmoto)

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 4.1 4.3 5.1 5.2 6.1 7.1

• Search for Impacts at Extinction Boundaries Using 3He

  Earlier in this grant we (PI’s Ward and Farley and UW graduate student Garrison) completed a study (Farley et al. 2005) of the Permian/Triassic Boundary at Opal Creek, Canada, and showed that a) there is no evidence for any extraterrestrial ³He at this boundary, and b) the absence of extraterrestrial ³He is fully expected for sections (like this one) that have been evenly mildly metamorphosed.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.2 4.3 6.1

• Impacts and Extinction

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.2 4.3 6.1

• Causes of Mass Extinctions: Testing Impact Models

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.3

• Evolution of a Habitable Planet (Kump)

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.1 4.2 4.3 5.2 6.1

• Characterization of Terrestrial Planets From Disk-Averaged Spectra: Earths Around Other Stars

  The results of our coupled climate-chemical modeling of Earth-like planet atmospheres around M stars was published (Segura et al., 2005).

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.3 7.2

• Terrestrial Analog Study: Sierra Madera Impact Structure, Texas

  Sierra Madera impact crater is 12 km in diameter (Fig. 1) and is a well-exposed remnant of a complex impact crater, which contains impact-generated breccias (disrupted rock with sharp-angled fragments cemented in a fine matrix) and shatter cones (a cone-shaped fracture pattern found in rocks that have been exposed to a sudden release of energy, such as an impact) (Wilshire et al., 1972; Huson, 2006).

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.3

• The Deep Impact Mission and Astrobiology

  The Deep Impact mission is the first planetary mission to carry out direct experimentation on a cometary body by delivering a 364-kg impactor to comet 9P/Tempel 1 at 10.2 km/s on UT July 4, 2005.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2 4.3