美“凤凰”探测器登陆火星（下）

仪器 凤凰探测器携带的探测仪器和设备包括: (1)机械臂(RA):机械臂对于凤凰着陆器的探测工作非常重要,用于挖掘沟槽、铲取土壤和水冰样品以及将这些榈、样品以及将这些样品送到热与放出气体分析仪(TEGA)和显微、电化学与传导性分析仪(MECA)进行详细的化学和地质分析.     

Gypsum-permineralized microfossils and their relevance to the search for life on Mars

Abstract Orbital and in situ analyses establish that aerially extensive deposits of evaporitic sulfates, including gypsum, are present on the surface of Mars. Although comparable gypsiferous sediments on Earth have been largely ignored by paleontologists, we here report the finding of diverse fossil microscopic organisms permineralized in bottom-nucleated gypsums of seven deposits: two from the Permian (～260?Ma) of New Mexico, USA; one from the Miocene (～6?Ma) of Italy; and four from Recent lacustrine and saltern deposits of Australia, Mexico, and Peru. In addition to presenting the first report of the widespread occurrence of microscopic fossils in bottom-nucleated primary gypsum, we show the striking morphological similarity of the majority of the benthic filamentous fossils of these units to the microorganisms of a modern sulfuretum biocoenose. Based on such similarity, in morphology as well as habitat, these findings suggest that anaerobic sulfur-metabolizing microbial assemblages have changed relatively little over hundreds of millions of years. Their discovery as fossilized components of the seven gypsiferous units reported suggests that primary bottom-nucleated gypsum represents a promising target in the search for evidence of past life on Mars. Key Words: Confocal laser scanning microscopy-Gypsum fossils-Mars sample return missions-Raman spectroscopy-Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument-Sulfuretum. Astrobiology 12, 619-633.     

A hydrothermal system associated with the Siljan impact structure, Sweden--implications for the search for fossil life on Mars

The Siljan ring structure (368 +/- 1.1 Ma) is the largest known impact structure in Europe. It isa 65-km-wide, eroded, complex impact structure, displaying several structural units, including a central uplifted region surrounded by a ring-shaped depression. Associated with the impact crater are traces of a post-impact hydrothermal system indicated by precipitated and altered hydrothermal mineral assemblages. Precipitated hydrothermal minerals include quartz veins and breccia fillings associated with granitic rocks at the outer margin of the central uplift, and calcite, fluorite, galena, and sphalerite veins associated with Paleozoic carbonate rocks located outside the central uplift. Two-phase water/gas and oil/gas inclusions in calcite and fluorite display homogenization temperatures between 75 degrees C and 137 degrees C. With an estimated erosional unloading of approximately 1 km, the formation temperatures were probably not more than 10-15 degrees C higher. Fluid inclusion ice-melting temperatures indicate a very low salt content, reducing the probability that the mineralization was precipitated during the Caledonian Orogeny. Our findings suggest that large impacts induce low-temperature hydrothermal systems that may be habitats for thermophilic organisms. Large impact structures on Mars may therefore be suitable targets in the search for fossil thermophilic organisms.     

过氧化氢催化剂床结构研究

提出了分解过氧化氢的几种方法,特别介绍了银网结构的催化剂床.同时给出了计算催化剂床尺寸的方程式,分析了催化剂床各个组成部分的结构,列出了部分零件的尺寸示例以及催化剂床工作的常见故障.     

Fluid inclusion studies of chemosynthetic carbonates: strategy for seeking life on Mars

Fluid inclusions in minerals hold the potential to provide important data on the chemistry of the ambient fluids during mineral precipitation. Especially interesting to astrobiologists are inclusions in low-temperature minerals that may have been precipitated in the presence of microorganisms. We demonstrate that it is possible to obtain data from inclusions in chemosynthetic carbonates that precipitated by the oxidation of organic carbon around methane-bearing seepages. Chemosynthetic carbonates have been identified as a target rock for astrobiological exploration. Other surficial rock types identified as targets for astrobiological exploration include hydrothermal deposits, speleothems, stromatolites, tufas, and evaporites, each of which can contain fluid inclusions. Fracture systems below impact craters would also contain precipitates of minerals with fluid inclusions. As fluid inclusions are sealed microchambers, they preserve fluids in regions where water is now absent, such as regions of the martian surface. Although most inclusions are < 5 microns, the possibility to obtain data from the fluids, including biosignatures and physical remains of life, underscores the advantages of technological advances in the study of fluid inclusions. The crushing of bulk samples could release inclusion waters for analysis, which could be undertaken in situ on Mars.     

A microbial oasis in the hypersaline Atacama subsurface discovered by a life detector chip: implications for the search for life on Mars

The Atacama Desert has long been considered a good Mars analogue for testing instrumentation for planetary exploration, but very few data (if any) have been reported about the geomicrobiology of its salt-rich subsurface. We performed a Mars analogue drilling campaign next to the Salar Grande (Atacama, Chile) in July 2009, and several cores and powder samples from up to 5?m deep were analyzed in situ with LDChip300 (a Life Detector Chip containing 300 antibodies). Here, we show the discovery of a hypersaline subsurface microbial habitat associated with halite-, nitrate-, and perchlorate-containing salts at 2?m deep. LDChip300 detected bacteria, archaea, and other biological material (DNA, exopolysaccharides, some peptides) from the analysis of less than 0.5?g of ground core sample. The results were supported by oligonucleotide microarray hybridization in the field and finally confirmed by molecular phylogenetic analysis and direct visualization of microbial cells bound to halite crystals in the laboratory. Geochemical analyses revealed a habitat with abundant hygroscopic salts like halite (up to 260?g kg(-1)) and perchlorate (41.13?μg g(-1) maximum), which allow deliquescence events at low relative humidity. Thin liquid water films would permit microbes to proliferate by using detected organic acids like acetate (19.14?μg g(-1)) or formate (76.06?μg g(-1)) as electron donors, and sulfate (15875?μg g(-1)), nitrate (13490?μg g(-1)), or perchlorate as acceptors. Our results correlate with the discovery of similar hygroscopic salts and possible deliquescence processes on Mars, and open new search strategies for subsurface martian biota. The performance demonstrated by our LDChip300 validates this technology for planetary exploration, particularly for the search for life on Mars.     

Searching for life on Mars: selection of molecular targets for ESA's aurora ExoMars mission

The European Space Agency's ExoMars mission will seek evidence of organic compounds of biological and non-biological origin at the martian surface. One of the instruments in the Pasteur payload may be a Life Marker Chip that utilizes an immunoassay approach to detect specific organic molecules or classes of molecules. Therefore, it is necessary to define and prioritize specific molecular targets for antibody development. Target compounds have been selected to represent meteoritic input, fossil organic matter, extant (living, recently dead) organic matter, and contamination. Once organic molecules are detected on Mars, further information is likely to derive from the detailed distribution of compounds rather than from single molecular identification. This will include concentration gradients beneath the surface and gradients from generic to specific compounds. The choice of biomarkers is informed by terrestrial biology but is wide ranging, and nonterrestrial biology may be evident from unexpected molecular distributions. One of the most important requirements is to sample where irradiation and oxidation are minimized, either by drilling or by using naturally excavated exposures. Analyzing regolith samples will allow for the search of both extant and fossil biomarkers, but sequential extraction would be required to optimize the analysis of each of these in turn.     

The potential for lithoautotrophic life on Mars: application to shallow interfacial water environments

We developed a numerical model to assess the lithoautotrophic habitability of Mars based on metabolic energy, nutrients, water availability, and temperature. Available metabolic energy and nutrient sources were based on a laboratory-produced Mars-analog inorganic chemistry. For this specific reference chemistry, the most efficient lithoautotrophic microorganisms would use Fe(2+) as a primary metabolic electron donor and NO(3)(-) or gaseous O(2) as a terminal electron acceptor. In a closed model system, biomass production was limited by the electron donor Fe(2+) and metabolically required P, and typically amounted to approximately 800 pg of dry biomass/ml ( approximately 8,500 cells/ml). Continued growth requires propagation of microbes to new fecund environments, delivery of fresh pore fluid, or continued reaction with the host material. Within the shallow cryosphere--where oxygen can be accessed by microbes and microbes can be accessed by exploration-lithoautotrophs can function within as little as three monolayers of interfacial water formed either by adsorption from the atmosphere or in regions of ice stability where temperatures are within some tens of degrees of the ice melting point. For the selected reference host material (shergottite analog) and associated inorganic fluid chemistry, complete local reaction of the host material potentially yields a time-integrated biomass of approximately 0.1 mg of dry biomass/g of host material ( approximately 10(9) cells/g). Biomass could also be sustained where solutes can be delivered by advection (cryosuction) or diffusion in interfacial water; however, both of these processes are relatively inefficient. Lithoautotrophs in near-surface thin films of water, therefore, would optimize their metabolism by deriving energy and nutrients locally. Although the selected chemistry and associated model output indicate that lithoautotrophic microbial biomass could accrue within shallow interfacial water on Mars, it is likely that these organisms would spend long periods in maintenance or survival modes, with instantaneous biomass comparable to or less than that observed in extreme environments on Earth.     

单喷注单元燃烧室试验中碳氢燃料与H2O2的燃烧性能

一个由Sierra工程公司(Sierra)、AFRL(空军试验室)和Nothrop Grumman公司(NGC)组成的研究小组在一个推力为5785N的单喷注单元过氧化氢/碳氢燃料火箭发动机燃烧室中,对几种不同的碳氢燃料进行了测试.试验中使用的各种燃料包括JP-8、RP-1、JP-10、甲苯、环丁烷、松节油以及上述燃料的不同混合物.试验用的燃烧室采用分解后的90%过氧化氢作为氧化剂.采用水冷的燃烧室及典型的燃料液膜冷却,燃烧室的总混合比(MR)的分布范围为3.75～7.4.试验中,燃烧室压力接近5.5MPa.将试验性能与计算出的理论性能进行了比较.在试验中,用红外光谱仪对排气羽流进行了监测.结果显示出了综合谱带强度,证实了羽流辐射对燃烧室工作条件变化的敏感性.在个别情况下,羽流强度的变化可能与燃烧室中的变化有关.但是,对羽流的测量比对燃烧室工作条件的直接测量(如压力和温度测量)更加灵敏.     

过氧化氢/煤油双组元推力室催化分解点火研究

针对小推力过氧化氢/煤油推力室催化分解点火进行研究.作为过氧化氢/煤油双组元发动机的技术途径之一,还可扩展应用于催化分解点火火炬、补燃循环发动机中.推力室采用细颗粒催化剂床分解90%浓度过氧化氢(90%H2O2),分解的高温燃气使煤油雾化、蒸发和点火并且自维持燃烧.研究工作包括了催化剂床和气液喷注器的设计、单组元分解特性、双组元点火可靠性、工作效率及稳定性研究.试验中采用热容式燃烧室,催化剂床采用轮毂式分配板和多孔式床支板,并检验了不同结构的分解燃气与燃料喷射、混合情况.研究结果显示,催化分解点火可靠性高,工作稳定,燃烧效率在95%以上.     

Glycine identification in natural jarosites using laser desorption Fourier transform mass spectrometry: implications for the search for life on Mars

The jarosite group minerals have received increasing attention since the discovery of jarosite on the martian surface by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Given that jarosite can incorporate foreign ions within its structure, we have investigated the use of jarosite as an indicator of aqueous and biological processes on Earth and Mars. The use of laser desorption Fourier transform mass spectrometry has revealed the presence of organic matter in several jarosite samples from various locations worldwide. One of the ions from the natural jarosites has been attributed to glycine because it was systematically observed in combinations of glycine with synthetic ammonium and potassium jarosites, Na(2)SO(4) and K(2)SO(4). The ability to observe these organic signatures in jarosite samples with an in situ instrumental technique, such as the one employed in this study, furthers the goals of planetary geologists to determine whether signs of life (e.g., the presence of biomolecules or biomolecule precursors) can be detected in the rock record of terrestrial and extraterrestrial samples.     

Hydrogeologic controls on episodic H2 release from precambrian fractured rocks--energy for deep subsurface life on earth and mars

Dissolved H(2) concentrations up to the mM range and H(2) levels up to 9-58% by volume in the free gas phase are reported for groundwaters at sites in the Precambrian shields of Canada and Finland. Along with previously reported dissolved H(2) concentrations up to 7.4 mM for groundwaters from the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa, these findings indicate that deep Precambrian Shield fracture waters contain some of the highest levels of dissolved H(2) ever reported and represent a potentially important energy-rich environment for subsurface microbial life. The delta (2)H isotope signatures of H(2) gas from Canada, Finland, and South Africa are consistent with a range of H(2)-producing water-rock reactions, depending on the geologic setting, which include both serpentinization and radiolysis. In Canada and Finland, several of the sites are in Archean greenstone belts characterized by ultramafic rocks that have under-gone serpentinization and may be ancient analogues for serpentinite-hosted gases recently reported at the Lost City Hydrothermal Field and other hydrothermal seafloor deposits. The hydrogeologically isolated nature of these fracture-controlled groundwater systems provides a mechanism whereby the products of water-rock interaction accumulate over geologic timescales, which produces correlations between high H(2) levels, abiogenic hydrocarbon signatures, and the high salinities and highly altered delta (18)O and delta (2)H values of these groundwaters. A conceptual model is presented that demonstrates how periodic opening of fractures and resultant mixing control the distribution and supply of H(2) and support a microbial community of H(2)-utilizing sulfate reducers and methanogens.     

上面级飞行试验用H2O2/JP-8火箭发动机的催化剂床不稳定性

轨道科学公司和美国空军研究实验室所属的军用太空飞机技术规划办公室共同获得了NASA马歇尔空间飞行中心(MSFC)上面级飞行试验(USFE)项目合同.轨道公司正在设计研制一种廉价的新型液体火箭,火箭采用压力供应系统,推力为4,540N(10,000磅),推进剂为H2O2/JP-8.在NASA Stennis太空中心(SSC)进行的上面级飞行试验用燃烧室热试车时,当H2O2流量达到设计流量的1/3时,催化剂床发生了低频不稳定.本文介绍了上面级飞行试验催化剂床、燃烧室及其工作情况;讨论了催化剂床不稳定动力学;还介绍了用计算机动态模型模拟再现催化剂床的不稳定现象的情况.该计算模型建立在SSC试验数据的基础上,旨在探索解决催化剂床发生不稳定问题的可能方法.最后介绍了对催化剂床不稳定问题采取措施后,燃烧室的结构及其稳定工作情况.     

过氧化氢/煤油推力室试验件点火试验系统设计与实现

介绍了过氧化氢和煤油双组元推进剂采用火药进行点火试验的系统设计方案并对试验数据及录像进行了分析,结果表明该试验系统能满足设计要求.     

N2O/C3H8火炬式点火器工作性能数值模拟研究

采用数值计算方法对氧化亚氮/丙烷火炬式点火器的燃烧室和火炬流场特性进行了数值仿真研究,获得了点火器在定混合比工况下工质流量对火炬性能的影响以及定流量工况下余氧系数对火炬性能的影响:在定余氧系数0.350工况下点火器燃烧室压强、火炬功率和点火有效长度与点火器的流量基本呈线性关系,有效火炬长度与实验中所观察到的基本一致;在定流量9 g/s工况下点火器燃烧室压强、喷管出口温度、火炬功率和点火有效长度随余氧系数的不断增加均先迅速增加到最高值后开始逐渐减小,燃烧室压强、喷管出口温度、火炬功率和点火有效长度的计算最高值分别为1.73 MPa,2 823 K,33.14 kW和86.5 mm.     

Why O2 is required by complex life on habitable planets and the concept of planetary "oxygenation time"

Life is constructed from a limited toolkit: the Periodic Table. The reduction of oxygen provides the largest free energy release per electron transfer, except for the reduction of fluorine and chlorine. However, the bonding of O2 ensures that it is sufficiently stable to accumulate in a planetary atmosphere, whereas the more weakly bonded halogen gases are far too reactive ever to achieve significant abundance. Consequently, an atmosphere rich in O2 provides the largest feasible energy source. This universal uniqueness suggests that abundant O2 is necessary for the high-energy demands of complex life anywhere, i.e., for actively mobile organisms of approximately 10(-1)-10(0) m size scale with specialized, differentiated anatomy comparable to advanced metazoans. On Earth, aerobic metabolism provides about an order of magnitude more energy for a given intake of food than anaerobic metabolism. As a result, anaerobes do not grow beyond the complexity of uniseriate filaments of cells because of prohibitively low growth efficiencies in a food chain. The biomass cumulative number density, n, at a particular mass, m, scales as n (> m) proportional to m(-1) for aquatic aerobes, and we show that for anaerobes the predicted scaling is n proportional to m (-1.5), close to a growth-limited threshold. Even with aerobic metabolism, the partial pressure of atmospheric O2 (P(O2)) must exceed approximately 10(3) Pa to allow organisms that rely on O2 diffusion to evolve to a size approximately 10(3) m x P(O2) in the range approximately 10(3)-10(4) Pa is needed to exceed the threshold of approximately 10(2) m size for complex life with circulatory physiology. In terrestrial life, O(2) also facilitates hundreds of metabolic pathways, including those that make specialized structural molecules found only in animals. The time scale to reach P(O(2)) approximately 10(4) Pa, or "oxygenation time," was long on the Earth (approximately 3.9 billion years), within almost a factor of 2 of the Sun's main sequence lifetime. Consequently, we argue that the oxygenation time is likely to be a key rate-limiting step in the evolution of complex life on other habitable planets. The oxygenation time could preclude complex life on Earth-like planets orbiting short-lived stars that end their main sequence lives before planetary oxygenation takes place. Conversely, Earth-like planets orbiting long-lived stars are potentially favorable habitats for complex life.     

火星探测着陆系统开伞控制方法研究

文章通过对火星探测进入轨道的分析，提出了一种以动压为控制目标的开伞控制方法，并借鉴过载-时间控制法的相关思想，结合火星探测进入轨道的特点，研究了该开伞控制法的原理和实现方法。根据火星探路者的实际进入条件，采用该方法的分析结果与实际飞行中的开伞情况基本吻合。