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Project Reports

• 1. From Molecular Clouds to Habitable Planetary Systems

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 3.1

• Advancing Techniques for in Situ Analysis of Complex Organics

  Our research in laser mass spectrometry is part of the overall program of the Goddard Center for Astrobiology to investigate the origin and evolution of organics in planetary systems. Laser mass spectrometry is a technique that is used to determine the chemical composition of sample materials such as rocks, dust, ice, meteorites in the lab. It also may be miniaturized so it could fit on a robotic spacecraft to an asteroid, a comet, or even Mars. On such a mission it could be used to discover any organic compounds preserved there, which in turn would give us insight into how Earth got its starting inventory of organic compounds that were necessary for life. The technique uses a high-intensity laser to “zap” atoms and molecules directly off the surface of the sample. The mass spectrometer instantly captures these particles and provides data that allow us to determine their molecular weights, and therefore their chemical composition. We are developing this technique to understand the mass spectra that would be obtained from a meteorite or an unknown rock sample encountered on a remote planetary mission.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 7.1

• Amorphization of Crystalline Water Ice in the Solar System

  Our laboratory simulations show that crystalline water ice can never be completely turned into amorphous ice by cosmic rays or solar wind at temperature over 50K. Temperatures of most icy objects in the Solar System, including Jovian satellites, Saturnian satellites, and Kuiper Belt Objects, are equal to or above 50 K; this explains why water ice detected on those objects is mostly crystalline.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2

• A Search for Main Belt Comets in Pan-Starrs 1

  We are developing methods to search for Main Belt Comets (MBCs) in upcoming Pan-STARRS1 all-sky survey telescope data. MBCs, asteroids displaying weak cometary activity, are the solar system’s third known reservoir of water, and may be a source of water for the formation of terrestrial planets.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2

• Earthbound Microbial and Geological Robotic Based Observations for Mars

  This project explores robotic aids to astrobiology in the form of remotely controlled mobile agents with the ability to do human-like tasks in earth and mars like environments. Ethnographic studies are conducted to determine the microgeobiologist and geochemists abilities to use robotic interfaces to collect data and samples in liquid based and liquid-solid interface locations such as seeps, shallow water, surf-zone etc. Several robots are designed and constructed: Robots capable of achieving astrobiologist tasks (in situ testing, sample acquisition) Robots with high mobility to reach harsh environments (amphibious, acidic, saline) Astrobiologist-capable interfaces (long distance teleoperation, multi-modal)

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 5.1 5.3

• Design, Construction and Testing of a Cavity-Ring Down Spectrometer for Determination of the Concentration and Isotopic Composition of Methane

  The recent detection of CH₄ in the Martian atmosphere and observations suggesting that it varies both temporally and spatially argues for dynamic sources and sinks. CH₄ is a gaseous biomarker on Earth that is readily associated with methanogens when its H and C isotopic composition falls within a certain range. It is imperative that a portable instrument be developed that is capable of measuring the C and H isotopic composition of CH₄ at levels comparable to that on Mars with a precision similar to that of an isotope ratio mass spectrometer and that such an instrument be space flight capable. Such an instrument could guide a rover to a site on Mars where emission of biogenic gases is occurring and samples could be collected for Mars sample return.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 3.3 4.1 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2

• Planetary Habitability

  In this research project, members of the VPL team explore different aspects of planetary habitability, and the detectability of habitability and life, using a combination of theoretical models, astronomical observations and Earth-based field work.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 4.1 5.3 6.1 7.2

• A Spectroscopically Unique Main Belt Asteroid: 10537 (1991 RY16)

  We have discovered an asteroid with an optical and infrared spectrum that is unlike any other known asteroid. The discovery of this new type of asteroid spectrum allows the investigation of previously unstudied mineralogies and/or processes in the Solar Sytem.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2

• 7. Astrobiotechnology

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 5.3 6.2 7.1

• Surface Processes and Surface-Subsurface Transport on Europa

  This project looks at Jupiter’s moon, which has a subsurface ocean under its icy surface. We have three main components — we are studying images taken by the Galileo spacecraft, we are looking at different geological features to determine their potential to be involved in the vertical transport of material to and from the surface ,and we are studying one process, impact gardening by small micrometeorites that churn the surface, in detail.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2

• Prebiotic Organics From Space

  This project has three components, all aimed to better our understanding of the connection between chemistry in space and the origin of life on Earth and possibly other worlds. Our approach is to trace the formation and evolution of compounds in space, with particular emphasis on identifying those that are interesting from a prebiotic perspective, and understand their possible roles in the origin of life on habitable worlds. We do this by first measuring the spectra and chemistry of materials under simulated space conditions in the laboratory. We then use these results to interpret astronomical observations made with ground-based and orbiting telescopes. We also carry out experiments on simulated extraterrestrial materials to analyze extraterrestrial samples returned by NASA missions or that fall to Earth in as meteorites.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.4 4.3 7.1 7.2

• Organic and Inorganic Acids From Ion-Irradiated Ices

  Scientists at the Cosmic Ice Laboratory with the Goddard Center for Astrobiology study the formation and stability of molecules under conditions found in outer space. During the past year, amino acids found in meteorites were investigated, including some acids not found in terrestrial biology. Carbonic acid, a very unstable molecule on Earth, also was studied since it will be stable under Martian conditions and environments in the outer solar system. These projects are part of the Comic Ice lab’s continuing contributions to understanding the chemistry of biologically-related molecules and chemical reactions in extraterrestrial environments.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2 3.1 7.1

• Chemistry of the NH3/H2O System

  Ammonia or ammonia hydrate has been reported to be present in the surfaces of some outer solar system icy bodies, such as, Saturn’s satellite Enceladus, Uranus’s satellite Miranda, Pluto’s satellite Charon, and Kuiper Belt Object (50000) Quaoar. We conducted a systematic study of the near-IR and mid-IR spectra of ammonia-water ices at various NH₃/H₂O ratios. These results are important for estimate the concentration of ammonia in the outer solar system ices.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2

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

  Laboratory experiments were used to monitor the influence of increasing salinity on the stability of ices composed of water, methane, and carbon dioxide. New data show that these types of hydrates decease in stability as salinity increases, suggesting that lateral or vertical migration of brines in the subsurface of Mars could cause release of methane and carbon dioxide to surface sediments and the atmosphere. These experimental results are important for interpreting reports of methane in the Martian atmosphere.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 3.1 7.1 7.2

• Research Activities in the Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory

  A little over 4.5 billion years ago, our solar system was a disk of gas and dust, newly collapsed from a molecular cloud, surrounding a young and growing protostar. Today most of the gas and dust is in the spectacularly diverse planets and satellites of our solar system, and in the Sun. How did the present state of the planetary system come to be from such undistinguished beginnings? The telling of that story is an exercise in forensic science. The “crime” occurred a long time ago and the “evidence” has been tampered with, as most planets and satellites display a rich variety of geological evolution over solar system history.

  Fortunately, not all material has been heavily processed. Comets and asteroids represent largely unprocessed material remnant from the early solar system and they a represented on Earth by meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs). Furthermore, telescopic studies of the birth places of other solar systems allow researchers to simulate those environments in the laboratory so that we may characterize the organic material produced.

  We are a laboratory dedicated to the study of organic compounds derived from Stardust and future sample return missions, meteorites, lab simulations of Mars, interstellar, proto-planetary, and cometary ices and grains, and instrument development. Like forensic crime shows, the Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory employs commercial analytical instruments. However, ours are configured and optimized for small organics of astrobiological interest instead of blood, clothing, etc.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 2.2 3.1 7.1

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  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 2.2 3.1 4.1

• Ice on Main Belt Comets

  Theoretical calculations shows that ice on main belt asteroids can survive within the shallow subsurface over the age of the solar system, if the surface of the body consists of dust-sized particles.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2

• Mechanistical Studies on the Non-Equilibrium Chemistry of Unusual Carbon Oxide in Solar System Ices

  Higher carbon oxides of the form COn (n=3-8) have long been known as important molecules in atmospheric (Earth, Mars) and solid state chemical reactions. For instance, the CO3 molecule is considered as an important reaction intermediate in the atmospheres of Earth and Mars for quenching electronically excited oxygen atoms and in contributing to the anomalous 18O isotope enrichment. The geometry of the CO3 intermediate plays an important role in explaining these effects; however, only the cyclic (C2v) isomer has been experimentally confirmed prior to the project.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2 3.1

• Observations and Models of Comet 17p/Holmes

  On October 23 2007, Comet 17P/Holmes abruptly brightened by a factor of a million, from 17th to 3rd magnitude, in an apparent abrupt outburst of material. We have applied image enhancement techniques to show that the ejected material includes discrete lumps thrown in many directions. Also, we have developed a novel modeling approach that combines dust with dust-emitting fragments, and we are using it to constrain the nature of Holmes’ eruption.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2

• Recovery of Comet 85p/Boethin for the Deep Impact Extended Mission

  We developed new image stacking techniques to attempt to recover comet 85P/Boethin as a target for the NASA EPOXI mission (retargeting of the Deep Impact probe). We were unable to recover Boethin using many nights of observations from the CFHT, Subaru, VLT, and Gemini telescopes. We found one candidate, but it was not deemed certain enough to justify retargeting EPOXI. At the time of this writing, the object has not been recovered, suggesting it may have broken up.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2

• The Main Belt Distribution of Basaltic Asteroids

  We have provided constraints on the distribution of basaltic asteroids in the main asteroid belt. Basaltic asteroids are fragments of larger bodies that reached high enough temperatures at the time of their formation that they melted and differentiated into a metallic core and a basaltic/silicate mantle and crust. This these asteroids trace the thermal processes that affected protoplanetary material during the epoch of planet formation in the Solar System.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2

• The Size Distribution of Small KBOs

  We are stacking ultra-deep images obtained using the wide-field Suprime-Cam imager on the Subaru telescope to measure the size distribution of small (~10 km) Kuiper Belt objects. Previous measurements of the size distribution have been limited to brighter magnitudes, but this survey exploits the sensitivity and wide field coverage of Suprime-Cam to reach a limiting magnitude >25 over a square degree, allowing us to study the distribution of very small objects.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2