Serpentinization and its implications for life on the early Earth and Mars

Ophiolites, sections of ocean crust tectonically displaced onto land, offer significant potential to support chemolithoautotrophic life through the provision of energy and reducing power during aqueous alteration of their highly reduced mineralogies. There is substantial chemical disequilibrium between the primary olivine and pyroxene mineralogy of these ophiolites and the fluids circulating through them. This disequilibrium represents a potential source of chemical energy that could sustain life. Moreover, E (h)-pH conditions resulting from rock- water interactions in ultrabasic rocks are conducive to important abiotic processes antecedent to the origin of life. Serpentinization--the reaction of olivine- and pyroxene-rich rocks with water--produces magnetite, hydroxide, and serpentine minerals, and liberates molecular hydrogen, a source of energy and electrons that can be readily utilized by a broad array of chemosynthetic organisms. These systems are viewed as important analogs for potential early ecosystems on both Earth and Mars, where highly reducing mineralogy was likely widespread in an undifferentiated crust. Secondary phases precipitated during serpentinization have the capability to preserve organic or mineral biosignatures. We describe the petrology and mineral chemistry of an ophiolite-hosted cold spring in northern California and propose criteria to aid in the identification of serpentinizing terranes on Mars that have the potential to harbor chemosynthetic life.     

Mars Science Laboratory Mission and Science Investigation

Scheduled to land in August of 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mission was initiated to explore the habitability of Mars. This includes both modern environments as well as ancient environments recorded by the stratigraphic rock record preserved at the Gale crater landing site. The Curiosity rover has a designed lifetime of at least one Mars year (～23?months), and drive capability of at least 20?km. Curiosity’s science payload was specifically assembled to assess habitability and includes a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer and gas analyzer that will search for organic carbon in rocks, regolith fines, and the atmosphere (SAM instrument); an x-ray diffractometer that will determine mineralogical diversity (CheMin instrument); focusable cameras that can image landscapes and rock/regolith textures in natural color (MAHLI, MARDI, and Mastcam instruments); an alpha-particle x-ray spectrometer for in situ determination of rock and soil chemistry (APXS instrument); a?laser-induced breakdown spectrometer to remotely sense the chemical composition of rocks and minerals (ChemCam instrument); an active neutron spectrometer designed to search for water in rocks/regolith (DAN instrument); a weather station to measure modern-day environmental variables (REMS instrument); and a sensor designed for continuous monitoring of background solar and cosmic radiation (RAD instrument). The various payload elements will work together to detect and study potential sampling targets with remote and in situ measurements; to acquire samples of rock, soil, and atmosphere and analyze them in onboard analytical instruments; and to observe the environment around the rover. The 155-km diameter Gale crater was chosen as Curiosity’s field site based on several attributes: an interior mountain of ancient flat-lying strata extending almost 5?km above the elevation of the landing site; the lower few hundred meters of the mountain show a progression with relative age from clay-bearing to sulfate-bearing strata, separated by an unconformity from overlying likely anhydrous strata; the landing ellipse is characterized by a mixture of alluvial fan and high thermal inertia/high albedo stratified deposits; and a number of stratigraphically/geomorphically distinct fluvial features. Samples of the crater wall and rim rock, and more recent to currently active surface materials also may be studied. Gale has a well-defined regional context and strong evidence for a progression through multiple potentially habitable environments. These environments are represented by a stratigraphic record of extraordinary extent, and insure preservation of a rich record of the environmental history of early Mars. The interior mountain of Gale Crater has been informally designated at Mount Sharp, in honor of the pioneering planetary scientist Robert Sharp. The major subsystems of the MSL Project consist of a single rover (with science payload), a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, an Earth-Mars cruise stage, an entry, descent, and landing system, a launch vehicle, and the mission operations and ground data systems. The primary communication path for downlink is relay through the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The primary path for uplink to the rover is Direct-from-Earth. The secondary paths for downlink are Direct-to-Earth and relay through the Mars Odyssey orbiter. Curiosity is a scaled version of the 6-wheel drive, 4-wheel steering, rocker bogie system from the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) Spirit and Opportunity and the Mars Pathfinder Sojourner. Like Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity offers three primary modes of navigation: blind-drive, visual odometry, and visual odometry with hazard avoidance. Creation of terrain maps based on HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) and other remote sensing data were used to conduct simulated driving with Curiosity in these various modes, and allowed selection of the Gale crater landing site which requires climbing the base of a mountain to achieve its primary science goals. The Sample Acquisition, Processing, and Handling (SA/SPaH) subsystem is responsible for the acquisition of rock and soil samples from the Martian surface and the processing of these samples into fine particles that are then distributed to the analytical science instruments. The SA/SPaH subsystem is also responsible for the placement of the two contact instruments (APXS, MAHLI) on rock and soil targets. SA/SPaH consists of a robotic arm and turret-mounted devices on the end of the arm, which include a drill, brush, soil scoop, sample processing device, and the mechanical and electrical interfaces to the two contact science instruments. SA/SPaH also includes drill bit boxes, the organic check material, and an observation tray, which are all mounted on the front of the rover, and inlet cover mechanisms that are placed over the SAM and CheMin solid sample inlet tubes on the rover top deck.     

Polar CEPPAD/IPS energetic neutral atom (ENA) images of a substorm injection

The CEPPAD Imaging Proton Spectrometer on the POLAR spacecraft has proven to perform very well as an Energetic Neutral (ENA) atom imager, despite the fact that it was designed primarily for measuring energetic ions in-situ. ENAs emitted from the ring current can be detected during storm- as well as quiet-time conditions and can be monitored continuously for many hours at a time when Polar is situated in the polar cap. In addition, we are able to routinely detect ‘bursts’ of ENA emissions in response to substorm-associated ion injections. In this paper, we present ENA images of a single such event together with global auroral imager data from the POLAR VIS instrument. LANL geosynchronous energetic particle data, and ground magnetic Pi2 data in order to establish that such bursts are indeed caused by substorm injections.     

OS-CFAR theory for multiple targets and nonuniform clutter

The performance of a cell averaging constant false-alarm rate (CA-CFAR) detector degrades rapidly in nonideal conditions caused by multiple targets and nonuniform clutter. The ordered-statistic CFAR (OS-CFAR) is an alternative to the CA-CFAR. The OS-CFAR trades a small loss in detection performance relative to the CA-CFAR in ideal conditions for much less performance degradation in nonideal conditions. A formula is given for the detection probability of the OS-CFAR when there are multiple Swerling I targets in the CFAR window, and a formula is given for the probability of false alarm in nonuniform Raleigh clutter     

RAPID – The Imaging Energetic Particle Spectrometer on Cluster

The RAPID spectrometer (Research with Adaptive Particle Imaging Detectors) for the Cluster mission is an advanced particle detector for the analysis of suprathermal plasma distributions in the energy range from 20–400 keV for electrons, 40 keV–1500 keV (4000 keV) for hydrogen, and 10 keV nucl^-1–1500 keV (4000 keV) for heavier ions. Novel detector concepts in combination with pin-hole acceptance allow the measurement of angular distributions over a range of 180° in polar angle for either species. Identification of the ionic component (particle mass A) is based on a two-dimensional analysis of the particle's velocity and energy. Electrons are identified by the well-known energy-range relationship. Details of the detection techniques and in-orbit operations are described. Scientific objectives of this investigation are highlighted by the discussion of selected critical issues in geospace.     

The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) Emirates Mars InfraRed Spectrometer (EMIRS) Instrument

Space Science Reviews - Modern observatories have revealed the ubiquitous presence of magnetohydrodynamic waves in the solar corona. The propagating waves (in contrast to the standing waves) are...     

DebrisWatch I: A survey of faint geosynchronous debris

Recent anomalies exhibited by satellites and rocket bodies have highlighted that a population of faint debris exists at geosynchronous (GEO) altitudes, where there are no natural removal mechanisms. Despite previous optical surveys probing to around 10–20 cm in size, regular monitoring of faint sources at GEO is challenging, thus our knowledge remains sparse. It is essential that we continue to explore the faint debris population using large telescopes to better understand the risk posed to active GEO satellites. To this end, we present photometric results from a survey of the GEO region carried out with the 2.54 m Isaac Newton Telescope in La Palma, Canary Islands. We probe to 21st visual magnitude (around 10 cm, assuming Lambertian spheres with an albedo of 0.1), uncovering 129 orbital tracks with GEO-like motion across the eight nights of dark-grey time comprising the survey. The faint end of our brightness distribution continues to rise until the sensitivity limit of the sensor is reached, suggesting that the modal brightness could be even fainter. We uncover a number of faint, uncatalogued objects that show photometric signatures of rapid tumbling, many of which straddle the limiting magnitude of our survey over the course of a single exposure, posing a complex issue when estimating object size. This work presents the first instalment of DebrisWatch, an ongoing collaboration between the University of Warwick and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (UK) investigating the faint population of GEO debris.