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Project Reports

• Planetary Biology, Evolution, and Intelligence

  The results of a two and a half day workshop on the topic of the Habitability of Planets Orbiting M Stars was published recently. Thirty scientists from nineteen institutions in the US and UK participated. Thirteen of the participants were from six other NAI Teams

  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 7.2

• Climate, Habitability, and the Atmosphere on Early Mars

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.2 2.1 2.2 3.1 7.1

• Construction of a Borehole Apparatus for Sampling of Fluids and Microbes in Sub-Permafrost Groundwater, Nunavut Territory, Canada

  As part of the Indiana-Princeton-Tennessee Astrobiology Initiative, investigating physical and chemical limitations of life on earth with potential application for life-detecting strategies on Mars, Barry Freifeld at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab designed and constructed a borehole sampling device intended for installation at the High Lake project site (67°22’N, 110°50’W). This device will allow for long-term sampling of geofluids (gas and water) and microbes in an extreme groundwater environment.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 5.1 5.2 5.3

• Drilling a Borehole for Sampling of Gases, Water, and Microbes in Sub-Permafrost Groundwater at High Lake, Nunavut Territory, Canada

   

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2

• Earthbound Microbial and Geological Robotic Based Observations for Mars

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 5.1 5.3

• Evolution of Abiotic Environments to Ecosystems

  Field work in 2006-2007 included trips to the high Arctic and to the Precambrian Canadian Shield. Study sites were selected on the basis of temperature and contrasting levels of hydrogen. Study sites included environments impacted by permafrost and environments at latitudes south of persistent permafrost. The level of free hydrogen gas is temperature-dependent and appears to be an important controlling factor on microbial processes.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 3.3 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2

• Experimental Study of Radiolytic Oxidation of Pyrite as a Source of Sulfate and Hydrogen to Sustain Microbial Metabolism

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.3 5.3 6.1 6.2

• Project 7. Astrobiotechnology

  Co-Investigator Andrew 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. This year has been a milestone in the use of this technology in space with involvement in two missions, one to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the STS 116 shuttle launch, the other a Biopan low earth orbit exposure mission that will launch in September.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 4.2 5.3 6.2 7.1

• History and Evolution of Surface Water on Mars

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 2.2

• Cosmic Ice Laboratory

  In the Cosmic Ice Laboratory we simulate the low-pressure, low-temperature environment of space using a high-vacuum chamber and a cryostat. Ice samples are prepared on a pre-cooled mirror inside the cryostat and then exposed to energetic processing.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2 3.1 7.1

• Saline Lakes and Gypsum Dunes in the Rio Grande Rift System as Analogues for Sulfate Deposits on Mars

  Sulfates appear to be a significant part of rocks and regolith exposed at or near the surface of Mars. Important occurrences of sulfate minerals have been detected at latitudes extending from the polar region to lower latitudes in Meridiani Planum and Vallis Marineris. We are pursuing, therefore, a latitudinal study of Salt Basins developed along the Rio Grande Rift as a terrestrial analog to sulfate deposition in the past on Mars.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 7.1 7.2

• Simulating Preservation of Amino Acids and Peptides in Evaporitic Sulfate Deposits on the Surface of Mars

  In anticipation of human exploration, analytical strategies are urgently needed to characterize organic molecules in chemical and clastic deposits inferred to be present on or near the surface of Mars.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 6.1 6.2 7.1

• Stability of Methane Hydrates in the Presence of High Salinity Brines on Mars

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 3.1 7.1 7.2

• Laser Mass Spectrometry for Planetary Analog and in Situ Chemical Analyses

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

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 7.1

• The Impact of Atmospheric Particles on Life

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 2.2 4.3

• Survival Capability of a Cold-Loving Microbe in a Mars Simulation Chamber

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 7.1

• Summary of Activities in the Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory

  Dworkin and collaborators have 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. His lab was largely created with GCA funds, and Dworkin leveraged them by obtaining internal GSFC funds sufficient to double its space and equipment.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 2.2 3.1 7.1

• Origin of Irregular Satellites

  Despite the differences in their composition, structure, and the mechanisms of formation, the giant planets of our solar system have one common feature: they all host irregular satellites. Marked by their highly eccentric orbits, and/or high orbital inclinations, irregular satellites revolve around their host planets at large distances. The dynamics of these objects is affected by perturbation from the Sun, and their precessions are controlled by solar tugs.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2

• Understanding the Effect of the Atmosphere of a Growing Jupiter on Capturing Planetesimals

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2