Europa 

NASA is asking scientists to think about what would be the best instruments to include on a mission to land on Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The space agency recently asked the science community to prepare for a planned competition to select science instruments for a potential Europa lander.

Even though a mission to land on the scientifically tantalizing Jovian moon Europa has not yet approved by the space agency, NASA's Planetary Science Division has funding this year to conduct the announcement of opportunity process.

"The possibility of placing a lander on the surface of this intriguing icy moon, touching and exploring a world that might harbor life is at the heart of the Europa lander mission."

“The possibility of placing a lander on the surface of this intriguing icy moon, touching and exploring a world that might harbor life is at the heart of the Europa lander mission,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “We want the community to be prepared for this announcement of opportunity, because NASA recognizes the immense amount of work involved in preparing proposals for this potential future exploration.”

Image - NASA/JPL-Caltech

The formal community announcement provides advance notice of NASA’s plan to hold a competition for instrument investigations for a potential Europa lander mission. Proposed investigations will be evaluated and selected through a two-step competitive process to fund development of a variety of relevant instruments and then to ensure the instruments are compatible with the mission concept.

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Approximately 10 proposals may be selected to proceed into a competitive first phase. The Phase A concept study will be limited to approximately 12 months with a $1.5 million budget per investigation. At the conclusion of these studies, NASA may select some of these concepts to complete Phase A and subsequent mission phases.

NASA has stated the goals of the instruments should be:

1. to search for evidence of life on Europa
2. to assess the habitability of Europa via in situ techniques uniquely available to a lander mission
3. and to characterize surface and subsurface properties at the scale of the lander

Last year, in response to a congressional directive, NASA’s Planetary Science Division began a study to assess the science and engineering design of a future Europa lander mission. NASA routinely conducts such studies long before the start of any mission to gain an understanding of the challenges, feasibility and science value of the potential mission. The research team began work almost one year ago.

The proposed Europa lander is separate from and would follow its predecessor, the Europa Clipper multiple flyby mission – which now is in preliminary design phase and planned for launch in the early 2020s. Arriving in the Jupiter system after a journey of several years, the spacecraft would orbit the planet about every two weeks, providing opportunities for 40 to 45 flybys in the prime mission.

The Clipper spacecraft will image Europa’s icy surface at high resolution, and investigate its composition and structure of its interior and icy shell.

Of course, many of us remain quietly excited by the Europa missions, and have a secret wish for Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction vision to be at least a little bit on the mark.

SOURCE  NASA

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 Evolution  

The author of a new study of evolutionary convergence argues that the development of life on Earth is predictable, meaning that similar organisms should therefore have appeared on other, Earth-like planets by now. So why do we appear to be all alone in the universe?

Extra-terrestrials that resemble humans should have evolved on other, Earth-like planets, making it increasingly paradoxical that we still appear to be alone in the universe, according to the author of a new study on convergent evolution.

The argument is one of several that emerge from The Runes of Evolution: How the Universe became Self-Aware, a new book in which the leading evolutionary biologist, Professor Simon Conway Morris, makes the case for a ubiquitous “map of life” that governs the way in which all living things develop.

Morris's theory builds on the established principle of convergent evolution, a widely-supported theory – although one still disputed by some biologists – that different species will independently evolve similar features. 

Morris argues that convergence is not just common, but everywhere, and that it has governed every aspect of life’s development on Earth. Proteins, eyes, limbs, intelligence, tool-making – even our capacity to experience orgasms – are, he argues, inevitable once life emerges. The book claims that evolution is therefore far from random, but a predictable process that operates according to a fairly rigid set of rules. 

If that is the case, then it follows that life similar to that on Earth would also develop in the right conditions on other, equivalent planets. Given the growing number of Earth-like planets of which astronomers are now aware, it is increasingly extraordinary that aliens that look and behave something like us have not been found, he suggests. 

“Convergence is one of the best arguments for Darwinian adaptation, but its sheer ubiquity has not been appreciated,” Morris, who is a Fellow at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, said. “Often, research into convergence is accompanied by exclamations of surprise, describing it as uncanny, remarkable and astonishing. In fact it is everywhere, and that is a remarkable indication that evolution is far from a random process. And if the outcomes of evolution are at least broadly predictable, then what applies on Earth will apply across the Milky Way, and beyond.” 

"The consensus offered by convergence, however, is that life is going to evolve wherever it can."

Morris has previously raised the prospect that alien life, if out there, would resemble earthlings – with limbs, heads, and bodies. His new book goes even further, however, adding that any Earth-like planet should also evolve thunniform predators (like sharks), pitcher plants, mangroves, and mushrooms, among many other things. Limbs, brains and intelligence would, similarly, be “almost guaranteed”. 

The traits of human-like intelligence have evolved in other species – the octopus and some birds, for example, both exhibit social playfulness – and this, the book suggests, indicates that intelligence is an inevitable consequence of evolution that would characterize extraterrestrials as well. Underpinning this is Morris’ claim that convergence is demonstrable at every major stepping stone in evolutionary history, from early cells, through to the emergence of tissues, sensory systems, limbs, and the ability to make and use tools. The theory, in essence, is that different species will evolve similar solutions to problems via different paths. 

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A commonly-cited example is the octopus, which has evolved a camera eye that is closely similar to that of humans, although distinctive in important ways that reflect its own history. Although octopi and humans have a common ancestor, possibly a slug-like creature, this lived 550 million years ago and lacked numerous complex features that the two now share. The camera eye of each must therefore have evolved independently. 

Morris argues that this process provides an underlying evolutionary framework that defines all life, and leads to innumerable surprises in the natural world. The book cites examples such as collagen, the protein found in connective tissue, which has emerged independently in both fungi and bacteria; or the fact that fruit flies seem to get drunk in the same manner as humans. 

Morris contends that all life navigates across this evolutionary map, the basis of what he describes as a “predictive biology”. “Biology travels through history,” he writes, “but ends up at much the same destination”. This, however, raises fascinating and problematic questions about the possibility of life occurring on other planets. 

“The number of Earth-like planets seems to be far greater than was thought possible even a few years ago,” Morris said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that they have life, because we don’t necessarily understand how life originates. The consensus offered by convergence, however, is that life is going to evolve wherever it can.” 

“I would argue that in any habitable zone that doesn’t boil or freeze, intelligent life is going to emerge, because intelligence is convergent. One can say with reasonable confidence that the likelihood of something analogous to a human evolving is really pretty high," he says. "Given the number of potential planets that we now have good reason to think exist, even if the dice only come up the right way every one in 100 throws, that still leads to a very large number of intelligences scattered around, that are likely to be similar to us.” 

If this is so, as the book suggests in its introduction, then it makes Enrico Fermi’s famous paradox – why, if aliens exist, we have not yet been contacted – even more perplexing. 

“The almost-certainty of ET being out there means that something does not add up, and badly,” Morris said. “We should not be alone, but we are.” 

SOURCE  University of Cambridge

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 Space  

In a recent panel, NASA scientists said we may be 10 to 20 years away from finding life beyond Earth.  They are not talking about intelligent aliens, but confirmation of microbe life.

C ould there be life on other planets and moons? While widely believed to be the case, just based on the shear numbers of habitable bodies, we still have no authoritative answer. Now, NASA authorities say, we might soon be on the cusp of a definite answer.

"I believe we are going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth in the next decade and definitive evidence in the next 10 to 20 years," Ellen Stofan, chief scientist for NASA, said at a public panel earlier this week in Washington, as was reported in the Los Angeles Times.

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"It's definitely not an if, it's a when," said Jeffery Newmark, one of Stofan’s colleagues.

One of the reasons the organization is so sure: Water—thought to be vital for life, it keeps turning up in more places. Peering through telescopes, researchers have discovered it in space rocks, bodies smaller than planets like Ceres, monster mists in the middle of stars and on a large portion of the planets in our solar system.

"We are going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth in the next decade and definitive evidence in the next 10 to 20 years."

The findings suggest that previous ideas about where to find "habitable zones" may have been too limited. "We now recognize that habitable zones are not just around stars, they can be around giant planets too," Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA said. "We are finding out the solar system is really a soggy place."

Scientists now widely accept that Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune all contain water in their inside and/or environments. There is likewise solid proof that  water is present on the five frosty moons of Jupiter and Saturn: Jupiter's Ganymede, Europa and Callisto, and Saturn's satellites Enceladus and Titan.

"We are not talking about little green men," Stofan said. "We are talking about little microbes."

Enceladus and Europa more likely than not have fluid seas that rest upon mineral-containing rocks, as based on the observations of spacecraft and telescopes, and both are geographically dynamic. These bodies have the three segments which astrobiologists believe are vital for the advancement of life: water, a source of energy (e.g., volcanic movement) and chemicals used as a part of biological processes, conceivably including nucleic acids.

Information from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has also recently shown that Ganymede most likely has a saltwater sea.

Scientists have also discovered water in the polar ice tops of Mars, and the planet likely once had a fluid sea. Ice has even been recorded on the moon and Mercury.



SOURCE  LA Times

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 Mars  

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover on Mars has produced new results—methane and other organic chemicals. Researchers do not know what caused the spikes, but the most intriguing  possible explanation is "biological."

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has found a tenfold spike in methane, an organic chemical, in the atmosphere around it and detected other organic molecules in a rock-powder sample collected by the robotic laboratory’s drill.

The research is published in the journal Science.

"This temporary increase in methane—sharply up and then back down—tells us there must be some relatively localized source," said Sushil Atreya of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Curiosity rover science team.

"There are many possible sources, biological or non-biological, such as interaction of water and rock."

Researchers used Curiosity’s onboard Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) laboratory a dozen times in a 20-month period to sniff methane in the atmosphere. During two of those months, in late 2013 and early 2014, four measurements averaged seven parts per billion. Before and after that, readings averaged only one-tenth that level.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drilled into the rock target, "Cumberland," (shown above) during the 279th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars and collected a powdered sample of material from the rock's interior.

Curiosity also detected different Martian organic chemicals in powder drilled from the rock, the first definitive detection of organics in surface materials of Mars. These Martian organics could either have formed on Mars or been delivered to Mars by meteorites.

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Organic molecules, which contain carbon and usually hydrogen, are chemical building blocks of life, although they can exist without the presence of life. Curiosity's findings from analyzing samples of atmosphere and rock powder do not reveal whether Mars has ever harbored living microbes, but the findings do shed light on a chemically active modern Mars and on favorable conditions for life on ancient Mars.

"We will keep working on the puzzles these findings present," said John Grotzinger, Curiosity project scientist of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena (Caltech). "Can we learn more about the active chemistry causing such fluctuations in the amount of methane in the atmosphere? Can we choose rock targets where identifiable organics have been preserved?"

"This first confirmation of organic carbon in a rock on Mars holds much promise. Organics are important because they can tell us about the chemical pathways by which they were formed and preserved. In turn, this is informative about Earth-Mars differences."

Researchers worked many months to determine whether any of the organic material detected in the Cumberland sample was truly Martian. Curiosity’s SAM lab detected in several samples some organic carbon compounds that were, in fact, transported from Earth inside the rover. However, extensive testing and analysis yielded confidence in the detection of Martian organics.

Identifying which specific Martian organics are in the rock is complicated by the presence of perchlorate minerals in Martian rocks and soils. When heated inside SAM, the perchlorates alter the structures of the organic compounds, so the identities of the Martian organics in the rock remain uncertain.

"This first confirmation of organic carbon in a rock on Mars holds much promise," said Curiosity participating scientist Roger Summons of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. "Organics are important because they can tell us about the chemical pathways by which they were formed and preserved. In turn, this is informative about Earth-Mars differences and whether or not particular environments represented by Gale Crater sedimentary rocks were more or less favorable for accumulation of organic materials. The challenge now is to find other rocks on Mount Sharp that might have different and more extensive inventories of organic compounds."

Researchers also reported that Curiosity's taste of Martian water, bound into lakebed minerals in the Cumberland rock more than three billion years ago, indicates the planet lost much of its water before that lakebed formed and continued to lose large amounts after.

SAM analyzed hydrogen isotopes from water molecules that had been locked inside a rock sample for billions of years and were freed when SAM heated it, yielding information about the history of Martian water. The ratio of a heavier hydrogen isotope, deuterium, to the most common hydrogen isotope can provide a signature for comparison across different stages of a planet's history.

"It's really interesting that our measurements from Curiosity of gases extracted from ancient rocks can tell us about loss of water from Mars," said Paul Mahaffy, SAM principal investigator of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and lead author of a the report.


SOURCE  NASA

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 Extraterrestrial Origins  

Scientists from the University of Sheffield believe they have found evidence of life continually arriving to Earth from space after sending a balloon 27 km into the stratosphere.

Scientists from the University of Sheffield believe they have found life arriving to Earth from space after sending a balloon to the stratosphere.

The team, led by Professor Milton Wainwright, from the University’s Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology found small organisms that could have come from space after sending a specially designed balloon to 27 km into the stratosphere during the recent Perseid meteor shower.

Balloon used to sample the stratosphere for microbes in an attempt to demonstrate neopanspermia-the view that life (microbes) are continually arriving to Earth from space

Wainwright said: “Most people will assume that these biological particles must have just drifted up to the stratosphere from Earth, but it is generally accepted that a particle of the size found cannot be lifted from Earth to heights of, for example, 27 km. The only known exception is by a violent volcanic eruption, none of which occurred within three years of the sampling trip.

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“In the absence of a mechanism by which large particles like these can be transported to the stratosphere we can only conclude that the biological entities originated from space. Our conclusion then is that life is continually arriving to Earth from space, life is not restricted to this planet and it almost certainly did not originate here.”

Professor Wainwright said the results could be revolutionary: “If life does continue to arrive from space then we have to completely change our view of biology and evolution,” he added. “New textbooks will have to be written!”

The balloon, designed by Chris Rose and Alex Baker from the University of Sheffield’s Leonardo Centre for Tribology, was launched near Chester and carried microscope studs which were only exposed to the atmosphere when the balloon reached heights of between 22 and 27km. The balloon landed safely and intact near Wakefield. The scientists then discovered that they had captured a diatom fragment and some unusual biological entities from the stratosphere, all of which are too large to have come from Earth.

Professor Wainwright said stringent precautions had been taken against the possibility of contamination during sampling and processing, and said the group was confident that the biological organisms could only have come from the stratosphere.

The group’s findings have been published in the Journal of Cosmology and updated versions will appear in the same journal, a new version of which will be published in the near future. Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe of the Buckingham, University Centre for Astrobiology also gave a presentation of the group’s findings at a meeting of astronomers and astrobiologists in San Diego last month.

In the report, the group concludes that their results show,

unequivocal evidence that a diatom fragment has been found in the lower stratosphere. Further studies by us are now underway on the biology of the stratosphere with a view to finally answering the question of where the organisms found in this region originate – are they exiting from Earth, or falling in to our planet from space? For the moment we are content to claim that diatom fragment isolated during these studies has an extraterrestrial origin.

Wainwright’s team is hoping to extend and confirm their results by carrying out the test again in October to coincide with the upcoming Haley’s Comet-associated meteorite shower when there will be large amounts of cosmic dust. It is hoped that more new, or unusual, organisms will be found.

He added: “Of course it will be argued that there must be an, as yet, unknown mechanism for transferring large particles from Earth to the high stratosphere, but we stand by our conclusions. The absolutely crucial experiment will come when we do what is called ‘isotope fractionation’. We will take some of the samples which we have isolated from the stratosphere and introduce them into a complex machine – a button will be pressed. If the ratio of certain isotopes gives one number then our organisms are from Earth, if it gives another, then they are from space. The tension will obviously be almost impossible to live with!”


SOURCE  University of Sheffield

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 Search for Extraterrestrial Life  

In a lecture earlier this year, Dr. Jeff Kuhn describes a new idea for completing a nearby extraterrestrial cosmic census and describe some of the large telescope technology that exists today to undertake it. Kuhn proposes looking for heat signatures will help us find extraterrestrial civilizations, or ETCs.

Where are the extrasterrestrial civilizations and do we have the technology to find them?

We now know that we're surrounded by habitable extrasolar planets. Even half a century ago, before we knew of any extrasolar planets, Enrico Fermi speculated that the absence of any "proof" for extraterrestrial civilization could be important new for life on Earth. This is now known as the "Fermi Paradox."

Today his query is even more compelling. In the video below, Dr. Jeff Kuhn describes a new idea for completing a nearby extraterrestrial cosmic census and describe some of the technology that exists today to undertake it.

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The detection of an extraterrestrial civilization (ETC), even without further communication, is important in many gnostic and practical aspects. For instance, one of the current burning issues for our civilization is surviving global climate changes because of increasing power generation.

Kuhn proposes that detecting more advanced civilizations will demonstrate a fundamental possibility that civilization can achieve a phase of sustainable global-scale power consumption.

For a half-century we have sought radio frequency evidence and, more recently, optical communications of ETCs. However, these approaches depend on finding alien transmissions, beam "leakage", or what could be called intentional electromagnetic signals from ETCs that are operating cosmic beacons.

The proposed Colossus telescope will employ a strategy for detecting an unintentional signal caused by alien planetary warming. Thanks to its large aperture and unique coronographic properties, it will be capable of detecting the thermodynamic signal from Earth-like ETC's within an interestingly large cosmic volume.

The outcome of such a dual wavelength, visible-IR, search will be largely independent of alien communication modes and will have quantifiable statistical completeness. Even a null result will help us understand the Fermi paradox, "why do we appear to be alone?"

Detecting an ETC signal is possible with current technology but requires a telescope and sensitive detector that can measure the planet's thermal flux and its reflected optical light, while distinguishing these from the star's scattered light and the terrestrial thermal noise background. Glare from the central star comes from the terrestrial atmosphere's distorting effect on the optical wavefront and from diffraction due to telescope optics. Suppressing this noise requires highly accurate adaptive optics (AO) and a coronagraph system. These requirements are implemented in the Colossus design.

With the Colossus telescope, which Kuhn says can be built in five years with sufficient funding, we will be able to see advanced civilization heat pattern as can be seen in night lights on the Earth from space.



SOURCE  IfA Maui, The Colossus Corporation

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