50 Years of Astrobiology Science

Astrobiology Science Conference 2010 Logo

http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/

Report about the die Astrobiology Science Conference 2010 „ Evolution and Life: Surviving Catastrophes and Extremes on Earth and Beyond“, 26. - 29. April 2010 and the NASA Audio Teleconference „The Search for Life beyond Earth“, 28. April 2010.

A real long title, that should be followed by a long, long article, dealing with the hundreds of papers presented and reporting about the subconferences which took place between the 26^th and the 29^th of april 2010. Too long indeed, but some insight mixed together with some personal commentaries should be posssible .

The program you`ll find in :

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/abscicon2010/pdf/program.pdf

From the cradle: Introduction and summary.

For certain, during the last 50 years, progressing chemical, biological, geological, astronomical and astrophysical discoveries with participation of social sciences, archaeology and anthropology, have opened astrobiology to a broader basis of reality in its search for extraterrestial life.

Todays Astrobiology research encircles three main aspects. First of all: How does life come into being? The präbiotic operational sequence as preliminary stages of organic life connecting the organic nature with the dead nature, biology with chemistry and the role of minerals involved into these transition processes, receive increasing attention. This will go on. ( Hopefully soon- ) we will find out , that there is no exact borderline separataing the anorganic from the organic, - after expanding our consciousness more „out of limits“.

Second.

Proofing the existence of terrestrial life in, as so far to be completely sterile or extremely life-hostile regarded environments, brought the understanding, that life, as we define it, is substantially much more flexible, than so far assumed. This presents to us and to astrobiology, an extension of the understanding under which conditions life is be able to exist , an extension of the palette of localities where to look for life and a much broader spectrum of its adaption qualities. In the scientific community life outside of our present ( -ed ) definition frame becomes more and more accepted.

Our third point deals with the discovery of water ice occurrences in the solar system, precisely, the intentional publication of these discoveries, some of them already took place decades ago!

12 years ago , on 6th of march 1998, the Rheinpfalz newspaper ( Germany ) came up with the headline „NASA discovers ice on the moon “: „During the investigation of the lunar surface by the NASA probe „Lunar “ several places with ice under the surface were discovered, - first reference that there is water on the earths satellite ......... The occurrences were discovered on a several thousand square kilometers large surface in the pole regions of the moon. ...... The ice volume Mr. FELDMAN estimated from 11 to 330 million tons. …

Today there seems to be water everywhere.

Low atmospheric pressures, temperature influences, even the vacuum, nothing seems to set a barrier. Ice appears on Luna and on other moons, on Mars and on asteroids in quantities, their postulation and estimations one decade ago, would have shifted an academic into the academic offside.

Puzzling together the three mentioned main factors, the processes by which life itself organizes, the dependence of life on water ( This „dependence on water“ should be questioned too. osd ) and its adaptability on hostile conditions, then we may realize the basement in outlines, on which we hopefully will take a clear step onto the realization that life perhaps could be no rarity in the universe.

Solar astrobiology focuses on microbes in „ancient environments “, which means by using Mars as an example, that if life would be or have had been possible there, many astrobiologists assume it only on a small scale on a primitive level and millions of years in the past. Small and temporally away reduces potentiel dangers of all kinds and makes it more comfortable to accept.

In my opinion the acceptance of extraterrestial life seems to be still a psychological problem, not at least a problem of the astrobiologists themselves. Influencing controls regulating the interpretation of research results, done by political, religious and economic groups („Lobbyism“ driven by „concerns“, is in its consequences simple corruption. osd ) is taking place. Astrobiology starts with microbes, tiny organisms used in some sort of bridge function. Crossing this bridge cautiously, which takes some time, depending on courage and the speed of the movement, astrobiology will make contact with some bigger organisms. With some really big organisms.

In addition the astro - biology trys to understand the appearance of life, by analysing chemical structures and simple organisms. An important step, if there is a beginning. The search for extraterrestial life concentrates on our solar system. However the future exploration focusses on the study of extra-solar planets. Detection and observation will be driven forward using much more sophisticated observation instruments , which are under construction now ( Detection of potential Dyson spheres, detection of civilisations handling solar power on a stellar scale etc. ).

Mrs. Mary A. Voytek - NASAs Senior Astrobiology Scientist http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/

NASA Audio Teleconference „The Search for Life beyond Earth“, 28th April 2010.

„Life is about patterns. We `re going to look for patterns.“

Mary Voytek

( Addition by osd: Dear Mss. Voytek,  recognition of patterns depends itsself on patterns. It depends on those patterns which our consciousness + the preselected knowledge incorporated by education allows us to select to be our tool. Select out of an ocean of patterns. We try to learn by using comparision. But from where do we start our hunt for objective results ? Using which protopattern ?)

Like always during NASA teleconferences the program was divided into a lecture and into an asking part of approx. 30 minutes of length.. An audio transmission is a pure tone transmission, the reporters are connected by telephone lines. The reporters ar working for newspapers, internet portals and radio-and television companies. These meetings are broadcasted over the Internet, everyone is be able to listen or to watch. Sometimes there are Internet video conferences too, transferred over the Internet, during which correspondents are directly present in the conference hall.

NASA conferences are announced on NASAs homepage at short notice, a practice that already very often has provoced harsh criticism, without changing NASAs practice yet. Contrary to the more or less „closed community “conference of astrobiology in Texas with its 700 participants and a few hundred meetings taking place, „The search for Life beyond Earth“ took place in the public, making it „publicly legitimized“ thereby.

Participients:

Mary Voytek, Astrobiology Senior Scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington

Steve Squyres, researcher, Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y.

Bill Schopf, researcher, University of California in Los Angeles

Jack Farmer, researcher, Arizona State University, in Tempe, Arizona

John Peters, researcher, Montana State University in Bozeman

Bill Schopf reported about the unsuspected discovery of 6 million year old fossils in Italy preserved inside of the mineral gypsum. This is sensational, `cause so far nobody has detected fossils, enclosed directely in gypsum (calcium sulfate) in gypsum deposits . There`s just one small note published before, in the news sheet of the New South Wales Geological Survey 1922 , where it is reported that a miner had found a small insect wing embedded in gypsum 200 feet under the surface..

Mr. Schopf uses the RAMAN- spectroscopy and the Laserscanning microscopy for his investigations. Schopf said, he has developed these techniques further in a way to make possible now, the observation and the studying of tiniest fossil life in three dimensions inside of the rock, without having the risk of destruction or modifying them in any way. Thereby he `s be able to study even their chemistry (!). His inventions and the devellopment of research methods are directed towards the preparation of the first Mars mission, which will supply us with test samples. If those would arrive tomorrow, he said , you may be shure, my laboratory and I would be ready. Literally: „ I think we need to study the samples here on earth, rather than roboticly. I think we know, how to do. If we would have the rocks back tomorrow morning and I had them in my lab, I think, we could solve this problem .“ Problem means proofing the exiszence ( or the missing ) of fossil life on planet Mars in the choosen probes..

Schopf mentioned that they started to build up a collection of sulfate samples from all over the world and that some other imbedding medias seem to be possible too , e.g. Borates. Literally: „Farmer (Arizona State University) has got 35 probes from different deposits. We started a big study now, to see how common these fossils are, what they are ......... There are borates…., that appeared to have captured organic material, so they may have microfossils as well. “

He explained that certain sulfates and borates are ingredients of former solutions and are formed in the areas of dried up oceans or widespread lakes (Evaporites). And there we meet the water again. Normally (micro) fossils in carbonates would be destroyed by the crystal growth of the rock, he said, what apparently does not happen inside of some certain sulfates and therefore the discoveries came unexpectedly.

Question by the Christian Science monitor: „Would you please tell us a little more about, which organic material you`ve found in the Italian gypsum stores? “ Schopf: „Different types of Cyanobacterias, various plankton, individual cells, tiny small and some larger cells, which were embedded into the gypsum. And then there are diatomeeas, silicon-containing microorganisms, which operate photoysynthesis and which still are present in the oceans and in fresh water lakes. They belong to the recent family Navicula, latin „small ship “. These are relativly young sediments, only 6 million years old. I am shure, we will discover a lot more.

In the area of Meridiani Planum on Mars, the Rover Opportunity was the first to discover very much expanded sulfate deposits. These occurrences were confirmed thereafter from orbit by Mars Express. Dominating components of these vast deposits are calcium sulfates, iron sulfates and magnesium sulfates. A very complex mixture. As said, gypsum is a calcium sulfate. Schopf literally:

„Thanks to Opportunity (2004), the rovers and orbital imaging ( Mars Express 2005 ) it is clear, there are literally vast areas of Mars, that are carpeted with various sorts of sulfates mixing, including gypsum.“ And : Considering past and expecting further proofs of micro fossils in sulfates these areas are excellent places to find evidence of ancient life, regardless of its age. “

Science News Magazine: „Why are sulfates so interesting in Astrobiology?“

Farmer: “ Fundamentally they are interacting , ’cause they are grown in water. Find them on Mars is important, `cause they follow the water there. Of course sulfates provide indications of ancient water on the surface. ...“ Sulfates follow the water...

An intermediate in the case of the sulfates. One may regard the following to be some sort of funny curiosity , - it is left to the reader.

In the year 1920 a brochure has been published in a small edition , entitled „The planet Mars and its inhabitants “. The text presents the medial received notes of „Eros Urides, a Martian “. Page 3 to 4 you ´ll find the following text passages:

„One of the large white circular spots observed by your astronomers located in a region on Mars named by them Elysium, and which has been a puzzle to all observers is an immense deposit of fertilizing chemicals. An immense well is located in this particular spot which gushes forth a never-ending saline solution, highly impregnated with sodium nitrate, potash and other salts (Sulfate). The country for many miles around is covered with a white precipitate which has been carried by the moist air ( siehe brines ) and deposited on the Martian earth. These chemical compounds are refined and used to replenish the soil with plant food.“

Now, please, one intending minute for Eros Urides, who according to his own statement was brought to death by a sudden radical decrease of the temperatue during a martian summer- before again returning to our conference. ------------------------------------------------------

Somebody asked for the Mars Sample Return Mission, a mission, which is about returning rock and soil samples from mars to earth.

Squyres answered to it: „To minimize the annual costs and to keep low the technical difficulties, we divide the mission into three parts.

1. We bring a rover on the martian surface to carefully selected areas, in order to collect samples over there.

2. We send a landing unit to Mars, which takes the samples from the rover and transfers it into orbit.

3. Followed by a rendez-vous mission, which ensures, that they are brought from out of orbit to earth.

Probably it will become the most expensive and the most complicated mission, ever done.“

Another question referred to the gully activities recently observed in the Russel crater dune field. Gullys are slopes cut into dunes or into crater walls transporting flows of debris to the bottom. Whether they are caused and changed by flowing debris, ice movements or by periodic melting water outlets , carrying down rocks and soil , is still unknown.

„Observing these changes in the dune field, gives you hope on the fact, that there could be free water? Squyres answered: „I did not see the publication yet, but I assume each message about the occurence of water also means , there supposed to be a good place to look out for life. “

Space.com: „Two papers appeared in the magazine Nature dealing with the discovery of ice and organic components on an asteroid ( 24 Themis ). Is this a real possibility, - looking for life on asteroids ?“

Answer: „…. we are convinced of it, water and organic components are the bases, in order to create life. I believe that each time where they determine such a thing, you have an object , which is worth to be studied. We should go, where the data lead us. “

The question was addressed, which future missions are planned. Farmer mentioned the number of 28 projects, by which 8 are dedicated exclusively to the search for life.

„Basicly“, he said, „the search for life is in the center of future studys“.

Besides the Mars Sample Return Mission there will be a mission, which will care about the methane question on Mars, a mission to Europe to go for the liquid ocean under the ice crust and to take probes to examine, a mission to Titane, equipped with a balloon sonde and a lander to land on the methane ocean and a comet sample return mission.

One question dealt with the search for technologically advanced life: „Should we broadcast, should we send radio signals ? How is NASAs official politics?

Mary Voytek answered: “ We are interested and prepared to discover any form of live and to protect the earth and our species.“ Further: „NASA concentrates on the solar system. The largest part of the search for intelligent life is financed by private funds. “

Male voice in the background: „The earth already sends radio signals for decades. Our signals are already out there anyway. “

Someone asked for costing and funding. The scientists summarized that they do not worry at all about getting not enough money to finance their important investigations during the next decades, the next 50 years. - The next 50 years.

( To be continued. )