Yellowstone Could Help Find Life on Mars

Yahoo! News ^ | 3/12/04 | AP - Yellowstone Park, WY

[NormsRevenge]

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -

A study of microscopic organisms that inhabit the park's hot springs may help NASA (news - web sites) researchers in their efforts to find life on Mars.

The organisms, called thermophiles, have lived in the boiling waters of springs in Yellowstone National Park for billions of years.

By studying their fossil remains and how they have changed over time, scientists with NASA and Lockheed Martin Corp. are forming a picture of the history of life on Earth and the planet's climate, according to the Yellowstone Park Foundation.

Definitive evidence of life on the Red Planet may be found by comparing the fossil records of thermophiles on Earth to rocks found on Mars.

"Volcanic activity has interacted with water on Mars, as well as on Earth," said Dr. David Des Marais, a member of the Mars Rover Science Operations working group and lead of the astrobiology team. "Thermal springs like those in Yellowstone are natural oases for diverse life forms, and hot springs mineral deposits can preserve fossils.

"Yellowstone's natural wonders thus guide our search for evidence of ancient Martian thermal springs and, potentially, for traces of Martian life."

NASA's twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are exploring the history of climate and water at two Mars sites where conditions would have been suitable for life.

If the rovers uncover evidence of hot springs similar to those in Yellowstone, their discovery might pave the way for a future mission to discover the past existence of life on another planet, researchers said.

To give the public a glimpse into their work, NASA and Lockheed Martin have given the foundation a $66,000 grant to build outdoor interpretive exhibits for park visitors.

The exhibits will feature Yellowstone's hydrothermal features, describing them as extreme habits that may help explain the origins of life and provide clues in the search for life on other planets.

Installation of the new exhibits is expected to begin this summer. Future plans include educational pamphlets and indoor exhibits at the Visitor Education Center to be built at Old Faithful.

"Ultimately, the astrobiology-related exhibits will help visitors understand the multiple values of preserving a place like Yellowstone," said Linda Young, deputy chief of interpretation.

____

On the Net:

Yellowstone National Park: http://www.nps.gov/yell

[GeronL]

It seems a little big to fit on a rocket.

[Phil V.]

<1/1,000,000th%; If you'd like to be on or off this MARS ping list please FRail me

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Not exactly a geyser . . . more like a capillary . . .

[Phil V.]

LINK to (I say) berry stem - the brine/nutrient conveyance that "grows" the berries . . . http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/m/046/1M132267223EFF05AMP2937M2M1.JPG

[GeronL]

Still looks like an anthill.

How big is it anyways... geyser??? hhmmmm

[Phil V.]

The "geyser" is at most a pencil lead in diameter - 1 to 2 mm.

[GeronL]

Has NASA tried seriously to explain any of this?

[Iberian]

Hope not. Looks like Anti-Indegestion to me.

[djf]

Ah, yes, our archeon bacterial friend, Thermus Aquaticus. Supplier of the enzyme Thermus Aquaticus polymerase, the basis of the PCR DNA technology!

What does that have to do with Mars? They should be down in the Antarctican deserts. (Yes, there are deserts in Antarctica... thousands of square miles of broken rock. )

[Phil V.]

Opportunity Status for sol 47
Aiming for Shark's Tooth
posted Mar. 12, 6:30 pm PST

On sol 47, which ended at 2:10 p.m. PST on Friday March 12, Opportunity awoke to "No Particular Place to Go" by Chuck Berry in recognition of the stay at "Berry Bowl." Engineers also played "That's Amore" by Dean Martin in honor of the Phobos moon's transit across the sky.

Opportunity finished remnants of activities from the past sol's research at "Berry Bowl." The sol started with the hazard avoidance camera taking a picture of the "Berry Bowl" area as a context picture. The miniature thermal emission spectrometer then performed some "sky stares" of the atmosphere. At 11:30 Local Solar Time, the robotic arm started moving. It picked up the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and moved to a new location nearby, then switched to the Moessbauer spectrometer. Both spectrometers are searching for clues about the chemical composition of the mysterious "blueberries."

Later, Opportunity took panoramic camera images of the suite magnet on the rover itself, which is collecting atmospheric dust samples to understand why the martian dust is so magnetic. The panoramic camera also took images of a target dubbed "Fool's Silver," which contains an interesting angular feature in the outcrop.

After all the morning's hard work, Opportunity took a short siesta to rest and recharge. Opportunity reawakened a few hours later to take more images of the atmosphere with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and panoramic camera. Those were taken in the same locations as the morning measurements to compare the atmospheric data throughout the sol.

At 15:40 Local Solar Time, Opportunity took about a dozen images of the Sun to catch the eclipse by the martian moon, Phobos. Opportunity once again shut down for a nap and woke up at 4:53 Local Solar Time, sol 48, for a tool change and a communications session with the Odyssey orbiter. While the rover was awake for the Odyssey pass, the rover heated up the robotic arm, which had chilled to almost -80 degrees Celsius (-112 degrees Fahrenheit). The motors cannot move at that frigid temperature, so the rover arm heated for 32 minutes to surpass the operational temperature of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). As the rover arm quickly cooled, the heat lasted long enough (5 minutes) for the arm to twist its wrist and change instruments from the Moessbauer spectrometer back to the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.

The rest of the plan for sol 48, which will end at 2:49 p.m. PST on Saturday, March 13, is to perform quite a few complicated maneuvers. Opportunity plans to brush an area with the rock abrasion tool, analyze the brushed area with the spectrometers, then drive 10 meters (33 feet) along the slippery slopes of the outcrop to "Shark's Tooth" in "Shoemaker's Patio."

[NormsRevenge]

I had heard mention that Spirit may head for the hills named "Endurance", I think it is. Had you seen any recent mention on that?

[NormsRevenge]

recent conjecture by some says that Mars looks like "desert" lands.

if, at one time, it may have had ocean vents or other features that could render similar life forms thus tying earth and mars together from a environ point of view.

good point about deserts in antarctica. thanks.

[Phil V.]

sorry . . . I can't say . . . perhaps . . . IMO both are farting around looking at the sky. Spirit will sit for two or three days on the crater rim "looking around"

Opportunity should have brushed off the area in "berry bowl" to get a better look at / search for "berry stem plumbing".

[NormsRevenge]

yes , this staring at the sky or lingering at the berry patch is not berry productive .. (sorry)

listened to Richard Hoagland last night w/ George Snorey and he raised issue of why would you destroy a potential fossil with the RAT.

no mention of the other little fellas that showed up in some earlier shots. but they did talk about the crinoids at length.

[Cold Heat]

Opportunity should have brushed off the area in "berry bowl" to get a better look at / search for "berry stem plumbing".

I would love to be the proverbial "fly on the wall" during the staff meetings.

The varied opinions on how to use the remaining limited time on the bots must be intense.

[Phil V.]

The varied opinions on how to use the remaining limited time on the bots must be intense.

DAMMIT!!!
All they need do is pay attention to us "experts" on FreeRepublic!!!

[Phil V.]

. . . listened to Richard Hoagland last night . . .

I'm sorry to hear that.

But . . . Last Wednesday night I was doing an all-nighter and (by accident) my truck radio was on the Eisenhower alien treaty program . . . multiple times . . .

[NormsRevenge]

Ike negotiated a treaty with aliens....lol

now, that was a good one. ;-)

[Cold Heat]

All they need do is pay attention to us "experts" on FreeRepublic!!!

Berry good idea!

[Cold Heat]

Ike negotiated a treaty with aliens....lol

Careful, there are some that really believe that.

Post Roswell negotiations.............