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2012 Annual Science Report

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Icy Worlds Reporting  |  SEP 2011 – AUG 2012

Executive Summary

Our goal in the Astrobiology of the Icy Worlds Investigation is to advance our understanding of the role of ice in the broad context of astrobiology through a combined laboratory, numerical, analytical, and field investigations. Icy Worlds team will pursue this goal through four major investigations namely, the habitability, survivability, and detectability of life of icy worlds coupled with “Path to Flight” Technology demonstrations. We will also use a wealth of existing age-appropriate educational resources to convey concepts of astrobiology, spectroscopy, and remote sensing, and especially how these area interplay for learning new information; develop standards-based, hands-on activities to extend the application of these resources to the search for life on icy worlds. Our classification of “icy world” extends to planets, dwarf planets and small solar system bodies composed of a significant fraction (≥10%) of H2O under conditions of pressure and temperature that ... Continue reading.

Field Sites
14 Institutions
4 Project Reports
49 Publications
4 Field Sites
Roadmap
Objectives

Project Reports

  • Path to Flight

    The (Field Instrumentation and) Path to Flight investigation’s purpose is to enable in-situ measurements of organics and biological material with field instrumentation that have high potential for future flight instrumentation. The preceding three Investigations (Habitability, Survivability and Detectability) provide a variety of measurable goals that are used to modify or “tune” instrumentation that can be placed in the field. In addition the members involved with Investigation provide new measurement capabilities that have been developed with the specific goal of life-detection and organic detection using both non-contact/non-destructive means and ingestion based methods. The developments under this investigation (Inv 4) incorporate state-of-the-art laboratory instruments and next generation in-situ instrumentation that have been developed under programs that include NASA as well as NSF and DOD. These include mass-spectrometers, gas analyzers, and fluorescence/Raman spectrometry instruments.

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 7.1 7.2
  • Detectability of Life

    Detectability of Life investigates the detectability of chemical and biological signatures on the surface of icy worlds, with a focus on spectroscopic techniques, and on spectral bands that are not in some way connected to photosynthesis.Detectability of life investigation has three major objectives: Detection of Life in the Laboratory, Detection of Life in the Field, and Detection of Life from Orbit.

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.2 2.1 2.2 4.1 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2
  • Survivability of Icy Worlds

    Survivability of Icy worlds (Investigation 2) focuses on survivability. As part of our Survivability investigation, we examine the similarities and differences between the abiotic chemistry of planetary ices irradiated with ultraviolet photons (UV), electrons, and ions, and the chemistry of biomolecules exposed to similar conditions. Can the chemical products resulting from these two scenarios be distinguished? Can viable microbes persist after exposure to such conditions? These are motivating questions for our investigation.

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2 3.2 5.1 5.3 7.1 7.2
  • Habitability of Icy Worlds

    Habitability of Icy Worlds investigates the habitability of liquid water environments in icy worlds, with a focus on what processes may give rise to life, what processes may sustain life, and what processes may deliver that life to the surface. Habitability of Icy Worlds investigation has three major objectives. Objective 1, Seafloor Processes, explores conditions that might be conducive to originating and supporting life in icy world interiors. Objective 2, Ocean Processes, investigates the formation of prebiotic cell membranes under simulated deep-ocean conditions, and Objective 3, Ice Shell Processes, investigates astrobiological aspects of ice shell evolution.

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 4.1 5.1 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2

Education & Public Outreach

Publications

  • Barge, L. M., Doloboff, I. J., Russell, M. J., VanderVelde, D., White, L. M., Stucky, G. D., … Kanik, I. (2014). Pyrophosphate synthesis in iron mineral films and membranes simulating prebiotic submarine hydrothermal precipitates. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 128, 1–12. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2013.12.006

  • Barge, L. M., Doloboff, I. J., White, L. M., Stucky, G. D., Russell, M. J., & Kanik, I. (2012). Characterization of Iron–Phosphate–Silicate Chemical Garden Structures. Langmuir, 28(8), 3714–3721. doi:10.1021/la203727g

  • Barnett, I. L., Lignell, A., & Gudipati, M. S. (2012). SURVIVAL DEPTH OF ORGANICS IN ICES UNDER LOW-ENERGY ELECTRON RADIATION (⩽2 keV). The Astrophysical Journal, 747(1), 13. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/747/1/13

  • Bhartia, R., Salas, E. C., Hug, W. F., Reid, R. D., Lane, A. L., Edwards, K. J., & Nealson, K. H. (2010). Label-Free Bacterial Imaging with Deep-UV-Laser-Induced Native Fluorescence. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 76(21), 7231–7237. doi:10.1128/aem.00943-10

  • Boduch, P., Da Silveira, E. F., Domaracka, A., Gomis, O., Lv, X. Y., Palumbo, M. E., … Strazzulla, G. (2011). Production of Oxidants by Ion Bombardment of Icy Moons in the Outer Solar System. Advances in Astronomy, 2011, 1–10. doi:10.1155/2011/327641

  • Boduch, P., Domaracka, A., Fulvio, D., Langlinay, T., Lv, X. Y., Palumbo, M. E., … Strazzulla, G. (2012). Chemistry induced by energetic ions in water ice mixed with molecular nitrogen and oxygen. A&A, 544, A30. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201219365

  • Brad Dalton, J., Cruikshank, D. P., & Clark, R. N. (2012). Compositional analysis of Hyperion with the Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer. Icarus, 220(2), 752–776. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2012.05.003

  • Branscomb, E., & Russell, M. J. (2013). Turnstiles and bifurcators: The disequilibrium converting engines that put metabolism on the road. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Bioenergetics, 1827(2), 62–78. doi:10.1016/j.bbabio.2012.10.003

  • Cooper, P. D. (2012). Oxygen in the Outer Solar System. Journal of Chemical Education, 89(2), 181–182. doi:10.1021/ed200013q

  • Dalle Ore, C. M., Fulchignoni, M., Cruikshank, D. P., Barucci, M. A., Brunetto, R., Campins, H., … Strazzulla, G. (2011). Organic materials in planetary and protoplanetary systems: nature or nurture?. A&A, 533, A98. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201116599

  • Dalton, J. B., & Pitman, K. M. (2012). Low temperature optical constants of some hydrated sulfates relevant to planetary surfaces. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 117(E9), n/a–n/a. doi:10.1029/2011je004036

  • Dalton, J. B., Cassidy, T., Paranicas, C., Shirley, J. H., Prockter, L. M., & Kamp, L. W. (2013). Exogenic controls on sulfuric acid hydrate production at the surface of Europa. Planetary and Space Science, 77, 45–63. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.05.013

  • Dalton, J. B., Shirley, J. H., & Kamp, L. W. (2012). Europa’s icy bright plains and dark linea: Exogenic and endogenic contributions to composition and surface properties. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 117(E3), n/a–n/a. doi:10.1029/2011je003909

  • Do, N. H., & Cooper, P. D. (2013). Formation and Reaction of Oxidants in Water Ice Produced from the Deposition of RF-Discharged Rare Gas and Water Mixtures. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 117(1), 153–159. doi:10.1021/jp3090556

  • Goodman, J. C., & Lenferink, E. (2012). Numerical simulations of marine hydrothermal plumes for Europa and other icy worlds. Icarus, 221(2), 970–983. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2012.08.027

  • Gudipati, M. S., & Yang, R. (2012). IN-SITU PROBING OF RADIATION-INDUCED PROCESSING OF ORGANICS IN ASTROPHYSICAL ICE ANALOGS—NOVEL LASER DESORPTION LASER IONIZATION TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS SPECTROSCOPIC STUDIES. The Astrophysical Journal, 756(1), L24. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/756/1/l24

  • Hand, K. P., & Carlson, R. W. (2012). Laboratory spectroscopic analyses of electron irradiated alkanes and alkenes in solar system ices. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 117(E3), n/a–n/a. doi:10.1029/2011je003888

  • Hodyss, R., Howard, H. R., Johnson, P. V., Goguen, J. D., & Kanik, I. (2011). Formation of radical species in photolyzed CH4:N2 ices. Icarus, 214(2), 748–753. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.05.023

  • Ivanov, M. A., Prockter, L. M., & Dalton, B. (2011). Landforms of Europa and selection of landing sites. Advances in Space Research, 48(4), 661–677. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2011.05.016

  • Johnson, P. V., Hodyss, R., Chernow, V. F., Lipscomb, D. M., & Goguen, J. D. (2012). Ultraviolet photolysis of amino acids on the surface of icy Solar System bodies. Icarus, 221(2), 800–805. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2012.09.005

  • Korablev, O., Gerasimov, M., Brad Dalton, J., Hand, K., Lebreton, J-P., & Webster, C. (2011). Methods and measurements to assess physical and geochemical conditions at the surface of Europa. Advances in Space Research, 48(4), 702–717. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2010.12.010

  • Lazcano, A., & Hand, K. P. (2012). Astrobiology: Frontier or fiction. Nature, 488(7410), 160–161. doi:10.1038/488160a

  • Lv, X. Y., De Barros, A. L. F., Boduch, P., Bordalo, V., Da Silveira, E. F., Domaracka, A., … Strazzulla, G. (2012). Implantation of multiply charged carbon ions in water ice. A&A, 546, A81. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201219886

  • McGlynn, S. E., Kanik, I., & Russell, M. J. (2012). Peptide and RNA contributions to iron-sulphur chemical gardens as life’s first inorganic compartments, catalysts, capacitors and condensers. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 370(1969), 3007–3022. doi:10.1098/rsta.2011.0211

  • Mielke, R. E., Robinson, K. J., White, L. M., McGlynn, S. E., McEachern, K., Bhartia, R., … Russell, M. J. (2011). Iron-Sulfide-Bearing Chimneys as Potential Catalytic Energy Traps at Life’s Emergence. Astrobiology, 11(10), 933–950. doi:10.1089/ast.2011.0667

  • Murray, A. E., Kenig, F., Fritsen, C. H., McKay, C. P., Cawley, K. M., Edwards, R., … Doran, P. T. (2012). Microbial life at -13  C in the brine of an ice-sealed Antarctic lake. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(50), 20626–20631. doi:10.1073/pnas.1208607109

  • Nitschke, W., & Russell, M. J. (2011). Redox bifurcations: Mechanisms and importance to life now, and at its origin. BioEssays, 34(2), 106–109. doi:10.1002/bies.201100134

  • Nitschke, W., & Russell, M. J. (2013). Beating the acetyl coenzyme A-pathway to the origin of life. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 368(1622), 20120258–20120258. doi:10.1098/rstb.2012.0258

  • Nitschke, W., McGlynn, S. E., Milner-White, E. J., & Russell, M. J. (2013). On the antiquity of metalloenzymes and their substrates in bioenergetics. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Bioenergetics, 1827(8-9), 871–881. doi:10.1016/j.bbabio.2013.02.008

  • Noell, A. C., Greenwood, A. R., Lee, C. M., & Ponce, A. (2013). High-density, homogeneous endospore monolayer deposition on test surfaces. Journal of Microbiological Methods, 94(3), 245–248. doi:10.1016/j.mimet.2013.05.003

  • Pearce, M. P., Bussemaker, M. J., Cooper, P. D., Lapere, K. M., Wild, D. A., & McKinley, A. J. (2012). Formation of methanol from methane and water in an electrical discharge. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 14(10), 3444. doi:10.1039/c2cp22135g

  • Russell, M. J., Nitschke, W., & Branscomb, E. (2013). The inevitable journey to being. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 368(1622), 20120254–20120254. doi:10.1098/rstb.2012.0254

  • Savin, D. W., Brickhouse, N. S., Cowan, J. J., Drake, R. P., Federman, S. R., Ferland, G. J., … Zweibel, E. G. (2012). The impact of recent advances in laboratory astrophysics on our understanding of the cosmos. Reports on Progress in Physics, 75(3), 036901. doi:10.1088/0034-4885/75/3/036901

  • Schoepp-Cothenet, B., Van Lis, R., Atteia, A., Baymann, F., Capowiez, L., Ducluzeau, A-L., … Nitschke, W. (2013). On the universal core of bioenergetics. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Bioenergetics, 1827(2), 79–93. doi:10.1016/j.bbabio.2012.09.005

  • Schoepp-Cothenet, B., Van Lis, R., Philippot, P., Magalon, A., Russell, M. J., & Nitschke, W. (2012). The ineluctable requirement for the trans-iron elements molybdenum and/or tungsten in the origin of life. Scientific Reports, 2. doi:10.1038/srep00263

  • Shibuya, T., Tahata, M., Ueno, Y., Komiya, T., Takai, K., Yoshida, N., … Russell, M. J. (2013). Decrease of seawater CO2 concentration in the Late Archean: An implication from 2.6Ga seafloor hydrothermal alteration. Precambrian Research, 236, 59–64. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2013.07.010

  • Simoncini, E., Russell, M. J., & Kleidon, A. (2011). Modeling Free Energy Availability from Hadean Hydrothermal Systems to the First Metabolism. Orig Life Evol Biosph, 41(6), 529–532. doi:10.1007/s11084-011-9251-4

  • Sokol, E., Noll, R. J., Cooks, R. G., Beegle, L. W., Kim, H. I., & Kanik, I. (2011). Miniature mass spectrometer equipped with electrospray and desorption electrospray ionization for direct analysis of organics from solids and solutions. International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 306(2-3), 187–195. doi:10.1016/j.ijms.2010.10.019

  • Tsou, P., Brownlee, D. E., McKay, C. P., Anbar, A. D., Yano, H., Altwegg, K., … Kanik, I. (2012). LIFE: Life Investigation For Enceladus A Sample Return Mission Concept in Search for Evidence of Life. Astrobiology, 12(8), 730–742. doi:10.1089/ast.2011.0813

  • Vance, S., & Michael Brown, J. (2013). Thermodynamic properties of aqueous MgSO4 to 800MPa at temperatures from −20 to 100°C and concentrations to 2.5molkg−1 from sound speeds, with applications to icy world oceans. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 110, 176–189. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2013.01.040

  • Wilson, J. P., Grotzinger, J. P., Fischer, W. W., Hand, K. P., Jensen, S., Knoll, A. H., … Tice, M. M. (2012). DEEP-WATER INCISED VALLEY DEPOSITS AT THE EDIACARAN-CAMBRIAN BOUNDARY IN SOUTHERN NAMIBIA CONTAIN ABUNDANT TREPTICHNUS PEDUM. PALAIOS, 27(4), 252–273. doi:10.2110/palo.2011.p11-036r

  • Beaty, S.M., Connon, S.A. & et al.  (2012, In Preparation).  Microbial Diversity of Kilimanjaro’s Glacial Ice.  Environmental Microbiology.
  • Bhartia, R., Hug, W.F., Fries, M., Reid, R., White, L. & Salas, E.  (In Preparation).  Sample Alteration and Solutions for Planetary Science.  Astrobiology.
  • Gudipati, M.S. & Cooper, P.D.  Chemistry in Water Ices: From Fundamentals to Planetary Applications; The Science of Solar System Ices.  In: Gudipati, M.S. & Castillo, J. (Eds.).  New York: Springer.
  • Mastrapa, R.M.E., Grundy, W.M. & Gudipati, M.S.  (In Press).  Amorphous and Crystalline H2O-Ice;; The Science of Solar System Ices.  In: Gudipati, M.S. & Castillo-Rogez, J. (Eds.).  New York: Springer.
  • Noell, A.C., Abbey, W.J. & et al.  (2012, Submitted).  Age of Glacial Dust Layers and Soils at Kilimanjaro’s Northern Ice Field.  Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences.
  • Priscu, J.C. & Hand, K.P.  (2012).  Microbial Habitability of Icy Worlds.  Microbe, 7(4): 167-172.
  • White, L., Bhartia, R., Stucky, G., Kanik, I. & Russell, M.  (2012, Submitted).  Determining Catalytic Iron-sulfide Species in Ancient Alkaline Hydrothermal Vent Systems.  Earth and Planetary Science.
  • White, L.M., Bhartia, R., Stucky, G.D., Kanik, I. & Russell, M.J.  (In Review).  Characterizing compositional variations in catalytic iron-sulfide species in ancient alkaline hydrothermal vent systems.  Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

2012 Teams