Archive for the 'alien life forms' Category
Phoenix Landing on Mars
Author: Nina Munteanu28.05.2008
“It is good to renew one’s wonder, said the philosopher. “Space travel has again made children of us all.”—Ray Bradbury (from The Martian Chronicles)
“The Phoenix spacecraft successfully landed in the north arctic plains of Mars today,” Carolyn Porco, Cassini Imaging Team Leader, announced to my friend Danny Bloom. “This is the first landing in 32 years — since the Viking spacecraft made landfall on Mars in 1976 — that we have soft-landed a craft on Mars using retrorockets.”
“The Phoenix spacecraft successfully landed in the north arctic plains of Mars today,” Carolyn Porco, Cassini Imaging Team Leader, announced to my friend Danny Bloom. “This is the first landing in 32 years — since the Viking spacecraft made landfall on Mars in 1976 — that we have soft-landed a craft on Mars using retrorockets.”
The lander successfully parachuted and touched down on the surface of Mars Sunday, despite some fears about the spacecraft’s ability to penetrate the atmosphere and remain upright after landing. Had the Phoenix tipped over, it would not have been able to dig into Martian soil, and it would have been impossible for the craft to complete its mission, reported K.C. Jones of InformationWeek .
“I’m floored. I’m absolutely floored,” said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, Calif. Mars Society executive director Chris Carberry said that one of the greatest challenges in modern engineering is to land a craft safely on another planet. “The data collected from this mission could have a tremendous impact on planning for future human missions,” he said.
“From the pictures returned, the spacecraft is in a completely uprig
ht position, the solar arrays are perfectly deployed, and the surroundings show no large rocks or boulders but a rather hummocky surface, perhaps created by the action of sub-surface ice,” said Porko. “This spacecraft is not meant to rove but to dig and analyze. So, now begins three months of gradual digging with the spacecraft’s robotic arm and scoop until eventually it reaches the ice layer beneath the surface. The goal [is] to determine if the icy sub-surface environment is rich in organics and suitable for living organisms, and perhaps if there are any organisms living there today. It will be three months of great anticipation.”
ht position, the solar arrays are perfectly deployed, and the surroundings show no large rocks or boulders but a rather hummocky surface, perhaps created by the action of sub-surface ice,” said Porko. “This spacecraft is not meant to rove but to dig and analyze. So, now begins three months of gradual digging with the spacecraft’s robotic arm and scoop until eventually it reaches the ice layer beneath the surface. The goal [is] to determine if the icy sub-surface environment is rich in organics and suitable for living organisms, and perhaps if there are any organisms living there today. It will be three months of great anticipation.”
“Our long-term goals are to determine whether life ever arose on Mars, to examine climate, characterise geology and prepare for human exploration,” said Peter Smith, Phoenix Project Lead Investigator. “Mars is a cold desert planet with no liquid water on its surface. However, discoveries made by the Mars Odyssey Orbiter in 2002 showed large amounts of subsurface water ice. The Phoenix Lander targets this region.”
“Phoenix will probe the history of liquid water that may have existed in the arctic as recently as 10
0,000 years ago,” added Smith. “Evidence from other missions suggest that water once flowed in canyons. It is important because all known life forms require it to survive. Chemical experiments will assess the soil’s composition of life-giving elements such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and hydrogen. Certain bacterial spores lie dormant in cold, dry and airless conditions for millions of years and become activated in favourable conditions. Such dormant microbial colonies may exist in the Martian arctic.”
0,000 years ago,” added Smith. “Evidence from other missions suggest that water once flowed in canyons. It is important because all known life forms require it to survive. Chemical experiments will assess the soil’s composition of life-giving elements such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and hydrogen. Certain bacterial spores lie dormant in cold, dry and airless conditions for millions of years and become activated in favourable conditions. Such dormant microbial colonies may exist in the Martian arctic.”
“Images sent back from the Red Planet by NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander after its picture-perfect Sunday touchdown provide the first close-up views of a barren landscape honeycombed with cracks that may represent the effects of seasonal freezing and thawing of subsurface ice,” reported J.R. Minkel of Scientific American Online.
The robotic arm camera on board the Phoenix Mars lander features the first motor-adjustable focusing system to be deployed on an inter-planetary spacecraft, Nasa revealed (Chris Cheesman of Amateur Photographer). Scientists are now analyzing photographs captured by the spacecraft, the first taken since it touched down on 25 May. Phoenix’s robotic arm camera aims to provide close-up color images of Martian soil and ice samples that could
establish whether the planet could support life. The camera is positioned just above the ’scoop’ that aims to collect samples dug by the robotic arm, says Cheesman. “The camera has a double Gauss lens system, a design commonly used in 35mm cameras,” explains the space agency. “Images are recorded by a charge-coupled device (CCD) similar to those in consumer digital cameras. The instrument includes sets of red, green and blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for illuminating the target area.” Nasa claims that the camera can focus down to 11mm and record images at a resolution of ‘23 microns per pixel’ at the closest focusing distance – allowing the camera to show details ‘much finer than the width of a human hair’. The camera is similar to one used on the failed Mars Polar Lander spacecraft but with a revamped illumination system.
establish whether the planet could support life. The camera is positioned just above the ’scoop’ that aims to collect samples dug by the robotic arm, says Cheesman. “The camera has a double Gauss lens system, a design commonly used in 35mm cameras,” explains the space agency. “Images are recorded by a charge-coupled device (CCD) similar to those in consumer digital cameras. The instrument includes sets of red, green and blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for illuminating the target area.” Nasa claims that the camera can focus down to 11mm and record images at a resolution of ‘23 microns per pixel’ at the closest focusing distance – allowing the camera to show details ‘much finer than the width of a human hair’. The camera is similar to one used on the failed Mars Polar Lander spacecraft but with a revamped illumination system.
The Phoenix also carries a Canadian weather station. The $37 million station is no larger than a 
shoebox and wrapped in a thermal blanket bearing a tiny Maple Leaf flag. The station will help in the search for life-giving water. It’s the first Canadian science instrument to land on the surface of an alien world, said Alicia Chang, of the Associated Press. A Canadian scientific team hopes to spend 90 days studying data sent back from Mars, including daily measurements of temperature, atmospheric pressure, cloud height, humidity and wind speeds. A specially developed laser called a lidar will be used to track clouds around the landing area. Steve MacLean, chief astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency, told the Canadian Press that Canada got involved because of its expertise operating in frigid northern environments.
shoebox and wrapped in a thermal blanket bearing a tiny Maple Leaf flag. The station will help in the search for life-giving water. It’s the first Canadian science instrument to land on the surface of an alien world, said Alicia Chang, of the Associated Press. A Canadian scientific team hopes to spend 90 days studying data sent back from Mars, including daily measurements of temperature, atmospheric pressure, cloud height, humidity and wind speeds. A specially developed laser called a lidar will be used to track clouds around the landing area. Steve MacLean, chief astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency, told the Canadian Press that Canada got involved because of its expertise operating in frigid northern environments.Yup, I can vouch for that…
read users' comments (14)Aliens Among Us
Author: Nina Munteanu02.12.2007
In a remarkable article in the Scientific American, Paul Davies reports on scientists’ pursuit of evidence that life arose on Earth more than once, providing evidence for a plethora of life in the universe.
“The origin of life is one of the great unsolved problems of science,” writes Davies. “Nobody knows how, where or when life originated. About all that is known for certain is that microbial life had established itself on Earth by about three and a half billion years ago. In the absence of hard evidence of what came before, there is plenty of scope for disagreement.”
And a plethora of disagreement there is. Earlier existentialist notions that life resulted from a chemical fluke so improbable it would be unlikely to have happened twice in the observable universe are being challenged by more optimistic views that the univers
e is teaming with life. In 1995, biochemist Christian de Duve declared that life was “bound to arise” on any Earth-like planet. Robert Shapiro of New York University agreed with de Duve’s “cosmic imperative” for life to exist and suggested that this “biological determinism” is “written into the laws of nature.”
e is teaming with life. In 1995, biochemist Christian de Duve declared that life was “bound to arise” on any Earth-like planet. Robert Shapiro of New York University agreed with de Duve’s “cosmic imperative” for life to exist and suggested that this “biological determinism” is “written into the laws of nature.”
How can we prove biological determinism? Well, checking for life on other planets like ours would be the most direct way. Unfortunately these sorts of sophisticated missions may take a while. Impatient for answers, scientists came up with the notion that Earth itself may reveal answers: if life emerges readily under terrestrial conditions, then perhaps it formed many times on our planet. Scientists began to search exotic extreme and isolated environments like deserts, scalding volcanic vents, deep caverns, or the dry valleys of Antartica for evidence of “alien” life forms—organisms that would differ fundamentally from all known living creatures. Such “extremophiles” could survive in salt-saturated lakes, highly acidic mine tailings, and waste pools of nuclear reactors.
Davies goes on to describe a “shadow biosphere” (coined by Carol Cleland and Shelley Copley of the University of Colorada) which describes alternative life-forms that have survived and are still present on Earth. Making up part of a large microbial world, this “shadow life” may have easily been overlooked by scientists, says Davies. Some scientists are suggesting that “shadow life” may even share the same general biochemistry with familiar life but use a different set of amino acids or nucleotides to store information. Steve Banner of the Foundation for Applied 
Molecular Evolution uses the field of synthetic or artificial life to study and engineer new organisms by inserting additional amino acids into proteins. Astrobiologists have long speculated on forms of life in which some other solvent (such as ethane or methane; found on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon) replaced water. Another popular notion is that different elements (other than carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and phosphorus) constituted the life form.
Molecular Evolution uses the field of synthetic or artificial life to study and engineer new organisms by inserting additional amino acids into proteins. Astrobiologists have long speculated on forms of life in which some other solvent (such as ethane or methane; found on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon) replaced water. Another popular notion is that different elements (other than carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and phosphorus) constituted the life form.
I am Particularly intrigued by the observation that, while all known organisms manufacture proteins from amino acids using large molecular machines called ribosomes, some autonomous (self-reproducing) have been identified. An example of this is the controversial discovery of Philippa Uwins of the University of Queensland who found “nanno-bacteria” in a deep-ocean borehole off the coast of Western Australia.
Davies concludes by saying that “it is clear that we have sampled only a tiny fraction of Earth’s microbial population. Each discovery has brought surprises and forced us to expand our notion of what is biologically possible. As more terrestrial environments are explored, it seems very likely that new and ever more exotic forms of live will be discovered. If this search were to uncover evidence for a second genesis, it would strongly support the theory that life is a cosmic phenomenon and lend credence to the belief that we are not alone in the universe.”
…I could have told him that…