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By NASA
3 min read
NASA Selects Two Teams to Advance Life Sciences Research in Space
NASA announced two awards Thursday to establish scientific consortia – multi-institutional coalitions to conduct ground-based studies that help address the agency’s goals of maintaining a sustained human presence in space. These consortia will focus on biological systems research in the areas of animal and human models, plants, and microbiology. When fully implemented, the awards for these consortia will total about $5 million.
Space biology efforts at NASA use the unique environment of space to conduct experiments impossible to do on Earth. Such research not only supports the health and welfare of astronauts, but results in breakthroughs on diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders to help protect humanity down on the ground.
The awards for the two consortia are for the following areas:
Studying space biosphere. The Biology in Space: Establishing Networks for DUrable & REsilient Systems consortium involves a collaborative effort between human/animal, plant, and microbial biologists to ensure an integrated view of the space flight biosphere by enhancing data acquisition, modeling, and testing. It will include participation of more than thirty scientists and professionals working together from at least three institutions. Led by Kristi Morgansen at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. Converting human waste into materials for in-space biomanufacturing. The Integrative Anaerobic Digestion and Phototrophic Biosystem for Sustainable Space Habitats and Life Supports consortium will develop an anaerobic digestion process that converts human waste into organic acids and materials that can be used for downstream biomanufacturing applications in space. It will include eight scientists from six different institutions in three different states, including Delaware and Florida. The consortium is led by Yinjie Tang at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Proposals for these consortia were submitted in response to ROSES 2024 Program Element E.11 Consortium in Biological Sciences for a consortium with biological sciences expertise to carry out research investigations and conduct activities that address NASA’s established interests in space life sciences.
NASA’s Space Biology Program within the agency’s Biological and Physical Sciences division conducts research across a wide spectrum of biological organization and model systems to probe underlying mechanisms by which organisms acclimate to stressors encountered during space exploration (including microgravity, ionizing radiation, and elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide). This research informs how biological systems regulate and sustain growth, metabolism, reproduction, and development in space and how they repair damage and protect themselves from infection and disease.
For more information about NASA’s fundamental space-based research, visit https://science.nasa.gov/biological-physical
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Last Updated Oct 17, 2024 Contact NASA Science Editorial Team Location NASA Headquarters Related Terms
Biological & Physical Sciences For Researchers Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) Science & Research View the full article
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Researchers think meltwater beneath Martian ice could support microbial life.
The white material seen within this Martian gully is believed to be dusty water ice. Scientists believe this kind of ice could be an excellent place to look for microbial life on Mars today. This image, showing part of a region called Dao Vallis, was captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009.NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona These holes, captured on Alaska’s Matanuska Glacier in 2012, are formed by cryoconite — dust particles that melt into the ice over time, eventually forming small pockets of water below the glacier’s surface. Scientists believe similar pockets of water could form within dusty water ice on Mars.Kimberly Casey CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 While actual evidence for life on Mars has never been found, a new NASA study proposes microbes could find a potential home beneath frozen water on the planet’s surface.
Through computer modeling, the study’s authors have shown that the amount of sunlight that can shine through water ice would be enough for photosynthesis to occur in shallow pools of meltwater below the surface of that ice. Similar pools of water that form within ice on Earth have been found to teem with life, including algae, fungi, and microscopic cyanobacteria, all of which derive energy from photosynthesis.
“If we’re trying to find life anywhere in the universe today, Martian ice exposures are probably one of the most accessible places we should be looking,” said the paper’s lead author, Aditya Khuller of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Mars has two kinds of ice: frozen water and frozen carbon dioxide. For their paper, published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, Khuller and colleagues looked at water ice, large amounts of which formed from snow mixed with dust that fell on the surface during a series of Martian ice ages in the past million years. That ancient snow has since solidified into ice, still peppered with specks of dust.
Although dust particles may obscure light in deeper layers of the ice, they are key to explaining how subsurface pools of water could form within ice when exposed to the Sun: Dark dust absorbs more sunlight than the surrounding ice, potentially causing the ice to warm up and melt up to a few feet below the surface.
The white edges along these gullies in Mars’ Terra Sirenum are believed to be dusty water ice. Scientists think meltwater could form beneath the surface of this kind of ice, providing a place for possible photosynthesis. This is an enhanced-color image; the blue color would not actually be perceptible to the human eye.NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona Mars scientists are divided about whether ice can actually melt when exposed to the Martian surface. That’s due to the planet’s thin, dry atmosphere, where water ice is believed to sublimate — turn directly into gas — the way dry ice does on Earth. But the atmospheric effects that make melting difficult on the Martian surface wouldn’t apply below the surface of a dusty snowpack or glacier.
Thriving Microcosms
On Earth, dust within ice can create what are called cryoconite holes — small cavities that form in ice when particles of windblown dust (called cryoconite) land there, absorb sunlight, and melt farther into the ice each summer. Eventually, as these dust particles travel farther from the Sun’s rays, they stop sinking, but they still generate enough warmth to create a pocket of meltwater around them. The pockets can nourish a thriving ecosystem for simple lifeforms..
“This is a common phenomenon on Earth,” said co-author Phil Christensen of Arizona State University in Tempe, referring to ice melting from within. “Dense snow and ice can melt from the inside out, letting in sunlight that warms it like a greenhouse, rather than melting from the top down.”
Christensen has studied ice on Mars for decades. He leads operations for a heat-sensitive camera called THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System) aboard NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter. In past research, Christensen and Gary Clow of the University of Colorado Boulder used modeling to demonstrate how liquid water could form within dusty snowpack on the Red Planet. That work, in turn, provided a foundation for the new paper focused on whether photosynthesis could be possible on Mars.
In 2021, Christensen and Khuller co-authored a paper on the discovery of dusty water ice exposed within gullies on Mars, proposing that many Martian gullies form by erosion caused by the ice melting to form liquid water.
This new paper suggests that dusty ice lets in enough light for photosynthesis to occur as deep as 9 feet (3 meters) below the surface. In this scenario, the upper layers of ice prevent the shallow subsurface pools of water from evaporating while also providing protection from harmful radiation. That’s important, because unlike Earth, Mars lacks a protective magnetic field to shield it from both the Sun and radioactive cosmic ray particles zipping around space.
The study authors say the water ice that would be most likely to form subsurface pools would exist in Mars’ tropics, between 30 degrees and 60 degrees latitude, in both the northern and southern hemispheres.
Khuller next hopes to re-create some of Mars’ dusty ice in a lab to study it up close. Meanwhile, he and other scientists are beginning to map out the most likely spots on Mars to look for shallow meltwater — locations that could be scientific targets for possible human and robotic missions in the future.
News Media Contacts
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
2024-142
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Last Updated Oct 17, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
Name: Christine Knudson
Title: Geologist
Formal Job Classification: Research Assistant
Organization: Planetary Environments Laboratory, Science Directorate (Code 699)
Christine Knudson is a geologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. She began graduate school in August 2012, the same month that NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on Mars. “It is very exciting to be part of the rover team and to be involved in an active Mars mission,” she says. “On days when we’re downlinking science data and I’m on shift, I am one of the first people to see data from an experiment done on Mars!”Courtesy of Christine Knudsen What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard?
I am a geologist doing both laboratory and field work, primarily focusing on Mars analog research. I work on the Curiosity rover as part of the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument team.
Why did you become a geologist?
As a child, I always loved being outside and I was really interested in all things related to the Earth. In college, I figured out that I wanted to be a geologist after taking an introduction to geology course. I wanted to learn more about the Earth and its interior, specifically volcanism.
What is your educational background?
In 2012, I received a B.S. in geology and environmental geoscience from Northern Illinois University. In August 2012, the same month that Curiosity landed on Mars, I started graduate school and in December 2014, I received a M.S. in geology from the same university. I focused on igneous geochemistry, investigating the pre-eruptive water contents of a Guatemalan volcano.
Why did you come to Goddard?
I came to Goddard in February 2015 to perform laboratory analyses of Mars analog materials, rock and mineral samples, from Earth, that the Curiosity rover and spectral orbiters have also identified on Mars. It is very exciting to be part of the rover team and to be involved in an active Mars mission.
What is a highlight of your work as a laboratory geologist doing Mars analog research?
Using laboratory analyses to interpret data we are getting back from Curiosity is incredibly exciting! I perform evolved gas analysis to replicate the analyses that the SAM instrument does on the rover. Curiosity scoops sand or drills into the rocks at stops along its drive through Gale Crater on Mars, then dumps the material into a small cup within the SAM instrument inside the rover. The rock is heated in a small oven to about 900 C [about 1650 F], and the instrument captures the gases that are released from the sample as it is heated. SAM uses a mass spectrometer to identify the different gases, and that tells us about the minerals that make up the rock.
We do the same analyses on rocks and minerals in our lab to compare to the SAM analyses. The other instruments on Curiosity also aid in the identification of the rocks, minerals, and elements present in this location on the Martian surface.
I also serve as a payload downlink lead for the SAM instrument. I check on the science and engineering data after we perform an experiment on Mars. On the days I’m on shift, I check to make sure that our science experiments finish without any problems, and that the instrument is “healthy,” so that the rover can continue driving and begin the science that is planned for the next sol.
On days when we’re downlinking science data and I’m on shift, I am one of the first people to see data from an experiment done on Mars!
What is some of the coolest field work you have done?
I have done Mars analog field work in New Mexico, Hawaii, and Iceland. The field work in Hawaii is exciting because one of our field sites was inside a lava tube on Mauna Loa. We expect that there are lava tubes on Mars, and we know that the interior of the tubes would likely be better shielded from solar radiation, which might allow for the preservation of organic markers. Scientifically, we’re interested in characterizing the rocks and minerals inside lava tubes to understand how the interior differs from the surface over time and to investigate differences in elemental availability as an accessible resource for potential life. Learning about these processes on Earth helps us understand what might be possible on Mars too.
“The field work in Hawaii is exciting because one of our field sites was inside a lava tube on Mauna Loa,” Knudson says. “We expect that there are lava tubes on Mars, and we know that the interior of the tubes would likely be better shielded from solar radiation, which might allow for the preservation of organic markers.”Courtesy of Christine Knudson I use handheld versions of laboratory instruments, some of which were miniaturized and made to fit on the Curiosity rover, to take in situ geochemical measurements — to learn what elements are present in the rocks and in what quantities. We also collect samples to analyze in the laboratory.
I also love Hawaii because the island is volcanically active. Hawaii Volcano National Park is incredible! A couple years ago, I was able to see the lava lake from an ongoing eruption within the crater of Kīlauea volcano. The best time to see the lava lake is at night because the glowing lava is visible from multiple park overlooks.
As a Mars geologist, what most fascinates you about the Curiosity rover?
When Curiosity landed, it was the largest rover NASA had ever sent to Mars: It’s about the size of a small SUV, so landing it safely was quite the feat! Curiosity also has some of the first science instruments ever made to operate on another planet, and we’ve learned SO much from those analyses.
Curiosity and the other rovers are sort of like robotic geologists exploring Mars. Working with the Curiosity rover allows scientists to do geology on Mars — from about 250 million miles away! Earth analogs help us to understand what we are seeing on Mars, since that “field site” is so incredibly far away and inaccessible to humans at this time.
What do you do for fun?
I spend most of my free time with my husband and two small children. We enjoy family hikes, gardening, and both my boys love being outside as much as I do.
I also enjoy yoga, and I crochet: I make hats, blankets, and I’m starting a sweater soon.
What is your “six-word memoir”? A six-word memoir describes something in just six words.
Nature-lover. Mom. Geologist. Cat-enthusiast. Curious. Snack-fiend.
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.
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Last Updated Oct 16, 2024 EditorRob GarnerContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By European Space Agency
With the initial images from each of the instruments aboard ESA’s EarthCARE satellite now in hand, it's time to reveal how these four advanced sensors work in synergy to measure exactly how clouds and aerosols influence the heating and cooling of our atmosphere.
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By NASA
6 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The puzzling surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa looms large in this reprocessed color view made from images taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s. The images were assembled into a realistic color view of the surface that approximates how Europa would appear to the human eye. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute With a spacecraft launching soon, the mission will try to answer the question of whether there are ingredients suitable for life in the ocean below Europa’s icy crust.
Deep down, in an ocean beneath its ice shell, Jupiter’s moon Europa might be temperate and nutrient-rich, an ideal environment for some form of life — what scientists would call “habitable.” NASA’s Europa Clipper mission aims to find out.
NASA now is targeting launch no earlier than Monday, Oct. 14, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Europa Clipper’s elongated, looping orbit around Jupiter will minimize the spacecraft’s exposure to intense radiation while allowing it to dive in for close passes by Europa. Using a formidable array of instruments for each of the mission’s 49 flybys, scientists will be able to “see” how thick the moon’s icy shell is and gain a deeper understanding of the vast ocean beneath. They’ll inventory material on the surface that might have come up from below, search for the fingerprints of organic compounds that form life’s building blocks, and sample any gases ejected from the moon for evidence of habitability.
Mission scientists will analyze the results, probing beneath the moon’s frozen shell for signs of a water world capable of supporting life.
This artist’s concept (not to scale) depicts what Europa’s internal structure could look like: an outer shell of ice, perhaps with plumes of material venting from beneath the surface; a deep, global layer of liquid water; and a rocky interior, potentially with hydrothermal vents on the seafloor.NASA/JPL-Caltech “It’s important to us to paint a picture of what that alien ocean is like — the kind of chemistry or even biochemistry that could be happening there,” said Morgan Cable, an astrobiologist and member of the Europa Clipper science team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission.
Ice Investigation
Central to that work is hunting for the types of salts, ices, and organic material that make up the key ingredients of a habitable world. That’s where an imager called MISE (Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa) comes in. Operating in the infrared, the spacecraft’s MISE divides reflected light into various wavelengths to identify the corresponding atoms and molecules.
The mission will also try to locate potential hot spots near Europa’s surface, where plumes could bring deep ocean material closer to the surface, using an instrument called E-THEMIS (Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System), which also operates in the infrared.
Europa Clipper Press Kit Capturing sharply detailed pictures of Europa’s surface with both a narrow and a wide-image camera is the task of the EIS (Europa Imaging System). “The EIS imagers will give us incredibly high-resolution images to understand how Europa’s surface evolved and is continuing to change,” Cable said.
Gases and Grains
NASA’s Cassini mission spotted a giant plume of water vapor erupting from multiple jets near the south pole of Saturn’s ice-covered moon Enceladus. Europa may also emit misty plumes of water, pulled from its ocean or reservoirs in its shell. Europa Clipper’s instrument called Europa-UVS (Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph) will search for plumes and can study any material that might be venting into space.
Whether or not Europa has plumes, the spacecraft carries two instruments to analyze the small amount of gas and dust particles ejected from the moon’s surface by impacts with micrometeorites and high-energy particles: MASPEX (MAss SPectrometer for Planetary EXploration/Europa) and SUDA (SUrface Dust Analyzer) will capture the tiny pieces of material ejected from the surface, turning them into charged particles to reveal their composition.
“The spacecraft will study gas and grains coming off Europa by sticking out its tongue and tasting those grains, breathing in those gases,” said Cable.
Inside and Out
The mission will look at Europa’s external and internal structure in various ways, too, because both have far-reaching implications for the moon’s habitability.
To gain insights into the ice shell’s thickness and the ocean’s existence, along with its depth and salinity, the mission will measure the moon’s induced magnetic field with the ECM (Europa Clipper Magnetometer) and combine that data with measurements of electrical currents from charged particles flowing around Europa — data provided by PIMS (Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding).
In addition, scientists will look for details on everything from the presence of the ocean to the structure and topography of the ice using REASON (Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding to Near-surface), which will peer up to 18 miles (29 kilometers) into the shell — itself a potentially habitable environment. Measuring the changes that Europa’s gravity causes in radio signals should help nail down ice thickness and ocean depth.
“Non-icy materials on the surface could get moved into deep interior pockets of briny water within the icy shell,” said Steve Vance, an astrobiologist and geophysicist who also is a member of the Europa Clipper science team at JPL. “Some might be large enough to be considered lakes, or at least ponds.”
Using the data gathered to inform extensive computer modeling of Europa’s interior structure also could reveal the ocean’s composition and allow estimates of its temperature profile, Vance said.
Whatever conditions are discovered, the findings will open a new chapter in the search for life beyond Earth. “It’s almost certain Europa Clipper will raise as many questions or more than it answers — a whole different class than the ones we’ve been thinking of for the last 25 years,” Vance said.
More About Europa Clipper
Europa Clipper’s three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
To learn more about the science instruments aboard Europa Clipper and the institutions provide them, visit:
https://europa.nasa.gov/spacecraft/instruments
Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Planetary Missions Program Office at Marshall executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.
NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft, which will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy.
Find more information about Europa here:
https://europa.nasa.gov
8 Things to Know About Europa Clipper Europa Clipper Teachable Moment NASA’s Europa Clipper Gets Its Giant Solar Arrays Europa Clipper Launch Bingo News Media Contacts
Gretchen McCartney
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-6215
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
Written by Pat Brennan
2024-138
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Last Updated Oct 12, 2024 Related Terms
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