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1.
Des Marais DJ Harwit MO Jucks KW Kasting JF Lin DN Lunine JI Schneider J Seager S Traub WA Woolf NJ 《Astrobiology》2002,2(2):153-181
The major goals of NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) and the European Space Agency's Darwin missions are to detect terrestrial-sized extrasolar planets directly and to seek spectroscopic evidence of habitable conditions and life. Here we recommend wavelength ranges and spectral features for these missions. We assess known spectroscopic molecular band features of Earth, Venus, and Mars in the context of putative extrasolar analogs. The preferred wavelength ranges are 7-25 microns in the mid-IR and 0.5 to approximately 1.1 microns in the visible to near-IR. Detection of O2 or its photolytic product O3 merits highest priority. Liquid H2O is not a bioindicator, but it is considered essential to life. Substantial CO2 indicates an atmosphere and oxidation state typical of a terrestrial planet. Abundant CH4 might require a biological source, yet abundant CH4 also can arise from a crust and upper mantle more reduced than that of Earth. The range of characteristics of extrasolar rocky planets might far exceed that of the Solar System. Planetary size and mass are very important indicators of habitability and can be estimated in the mid-IR and potentially also in the visible to near-IR. Additional spectroscopic features merit study, for example, features created by other biosignature compounds in the atmosphere or on the surface and features due to Rayleigh scattering. In summary, we find that both the mid-IR and the visible to near-IR wavelength ranges offer valuable information regarding biosignatures and planetary properties; therefore both merit serious scientific consideration for TPF and Darwin. 相似文献
2.
David Blake David Vaniman Cherie Achilles Robert Anderson David Bish Tom Bristow Curtis Chen Steve Chipera Joy Crisp David Des?Marais Robert T. Downs Jack Farmer Sabrina Feldman Mark Fonda Marc Gailhanou Hongwei Ma Doug W. Ming Richard V. Morris Philippe Sarrazin Ed Stolper Allan Treiman Albert Yen 《Space Science Reviews》2012,170(1-4):341-399
A principal goal of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity is to identify and characterize past habitable environments on Mars. Determination of the mineralogical and chemical composition of Martian rocks and soils constrains their formation and alteration pathways, providing information on climate and habitability through time. The CheMin X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrument on MSL will return accurate mineralogical identifications and quantitative phase abundances for scooped soil samples and drilled rock powders collected at Gale Crater during Curiosity’s 1-Mars-year nominal mission. The instrument has a Co X-ray source and a cooled charge-coupled device (CCD) detector arranged in transmission geometry with the sample. CheMin’s angular range of 5° to 50° 2θ with <0.35° 2θ resolution is sufficient to identify and quantify virtually all minerals. CheMin’s XRF requirement was descoped for technical and budgetary reasons. However, X-ray energy discrimination is still required to separate Co?Kα from Co?Kβ and Fe?Kα photons. The X-ray energy-dispersive histograms (EDH) returned along with XRD for instrument evaluation should be useful in identifying elements Z>13 that are contained in the sample. The CheMin XRD is equipped with internal chemical and mineralogical standards and 27 reusable sample cells with either Mylar? or Kapton? windows to accommodate acidic-to-basic environmental conditions. The CheMin flight model (FM) instrument will be calibrated utilizing analyses of common samples against a demonstration-model (DM) instrument and CheMin-like laboratory instruments. The samples include phyllosilicate and sulfate minerals that are expected at Gale crater on the basis of remote sensing observations. 相似文献
3.
Summons RE Amend JP Bish D Buick R Cody GD Des Marais DJ Dromart G Eigenbrode JL Knoll AH Sumner DY 《Astrobiology》2011,11(2):157-181
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) has an instrument package capable of making measurements of past and present environmental conditions. The data generated may tell us if Mars is, or ever was, able to support life. However, the knowledge of Mars' past history and the geological processes most likely to preserve a record of that history remain sparse and, in some instances, ambiguous. Physical, chemical, and geological processes relevant to biosignature preservation on Earth, especially under conditions early in its history when microbial life predominated, are also imperfectly known. Here, we present the report of a working group chartered by the Co-Chairs of NASA's MSL Project Science Group, John P. Grotzinger and Michael A. Meyer, to review and evaluate potential for biosignature formation and preservation on Mars. Orbital images confirm that layered rocks achieved kilometer-scale thicknesses in some regions of ancient Mars. Clearly, interplays of sedimentation and erosional processes govern present-day exposures, and our understanding of these processes is incomplete. MSL can document and evaluate patterns of stratigraphic development as well as the sources of layered materials and their subsequent diagenesis. It can also document other potential biosignature repositories such as hydrothermal environments. These capabilities offer an unprecedented opportunity to decipher key aspects of the environmental evolution of Mars' early surface and aspects of the diagenetic processes that have operated since that time. Considering the MSL instrument payload package, we identified the following classes of biosignatures as within the MSL detection window: organism morphologies (cells, body fossils, casts), biofabrics (including microbial mats), diagnostic organic molecules, isotopic signatures, evidence of biomineralization and bioalteration, spatial patterns in chemistry, and biogenic gases. Of these, biogenic organic molecules and biogenic atmospheric gases are considered the most definitive and most readily detectable by MSL. 相似文献
4.
Bebout BM Carpenter SP Des Marais DJ Discipulo M Embaye T Garcia-Pichel F Hoehler TM Hogan M Jahnke LL Keller RM Miller SR Prufert-Bebout LE Raleigh C Rothrock M Turk K 《Astrobiology》2002,2(4):383-402
Photosynthetic microbial mat communities were obtained from marine hypersaline saltern ponds, maintained in a greenhouse facility, and examined for the effects of salinity variations. Because these microbial mats are considered to be useful analogs of ancient marine communities, they offer insights about evolutionary events during the >3 billion year time interval wherein mats co-evolved with Earth's lithosphere and atmosphere. Although photosynthetic mats can be highly dynamic and exhibit extremely high activity, the mats in the present study have been maintained for >1 year with relatively minor changes. The major groups of microorganisms, as assayed using microscopic, genetic, and biomarker methodologies, are essentially the same as those in the original field samples. Field and greenhouse mats were similar with respect to rates of exchange of oxygen and dissolved inorganic carbon across the mat-water interface, both during the day and at night. Field and greenhouse mats exhibited similar rates of efflux of methane and hydrogen. Manipulations of salinity in the water overlying the mats produced changes in the community that strongly resemble those observed in the field. A collaboratory testbed and an array of automated features are being developed to support remote scientific experimentation with the assistance of intelligent software agents. This facility will permit teams of investigators the opportunity to explore ancient environmental conditions that are rare or absent today but that might have influenced the early evolution of these photosynthetic ecosystems. 相似文献
5.
Des Marais DJ Nuth JA Allamandola LJ Boss AP Farmer JD Hoehler TM Jakosky BM Meadows VS Pohorille A Runnegar B Spormann AM 《Astrobiology》2008,8(4):715-730
The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap provides guidance for research and technology development across the NASA enterprises that encompass the space, Earth, and biological sciences. The ongoing development of astrobiology roadmaps embodies the contributions of diverse scientists and technologists from government, universities, and private institutions. The Roadmap addresses three basic questions: how does life begin and evolve, does life exist elsewhere in the universe, and what is the future of life on Earth and beyond? Seven Science Goals outline the following key domains of investigation: understanding the nature and distribution of habitable environments in the universe, exploring for habitable environments and life in our own Solar System, understanding the emergence of life, determining how early life on Earth interacted and evolved with its changing environment, understanding the evolutionary mechanisms and environmental limits of life, determining the principles that will shape life in the future, and recognizing signatures of life on other worlds and on early Earth. For each of these goals, Science Objectives outline more specific high priority efforts for the next three to five years. These eighteen objectives are being integrated with NASA strategic planning. 相似文献
6.
Our scientific forefathers discuss the interrelationships between water, climate, the atmosphere, and life on Earth and other
terrestrial planets at a workshop in Nichtchatel, Switzerland. 相似文献
7.
Des Marais DJ Allamandola LJ Benner SA Boss AP Deamer D Falkowski PG Farmer JD Hedges SB Jakosky BM Knoll AH Liskowsky DR Meadows VS Meyer MA Pilcher CB Nealson KH Spormann AM Trent JD Turner WW Woolf NJ Yorke HW 《Astrobiology》2003,3(2):219-235
The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap provides guidance for research and technology development across the NASA enterprises that encompass the space, Earth, and biological sciences. The ongoing development of astrobiology roadmaps embodies the contributions of diverse scientists and technologists from government, universities, and private institutions. The Roadmap addresses three basic questions: How does life begin and evolve, does life exist elsewhere in the universe, and what is the future of life on Earth and beyond? Seven Science Goals outline the following key domains of investigation: understanding the nature and distribution of habitable environments in the universe, exploring for habitable environments and life in our own solar system, understanding the emergence of life, determining how early life on Earth interacted and evolved with its changing environment, understanding the evolutionary mechanisms and environmental limits of life, determining the principles that will shape life in the future, and recognizing signatures of life on other worlds and on early Earth. For each of these goals, Science Objectives outline more specific high-priority efforts for the next 3-5 years. These 18 objectives are being integrated with NASA strategic planning. 相似文献
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9.
Emilie Habart Malcolm Walmsley Laurent Verstraete Stephanie Cazaux Roberto Maiolino Pierre Cox Francois Boulanger Guillaume Pineau Des Forêts 《Space Science Reviews》2005,119(1-4):71-91
Observations of H2 line emission in galactic and extragalactic environments obtained with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) are reviewed.
The diagnostic capability of H2 observations is illustrated. We discuss what one has learned about such diverse astrophysical sources as photon-dominated
regions, shocks, young stellar objects, planetary nebulae and starburst galaxies from ISO observations of H2 emission. In this context, we emphasise use of measured H2 line intensities to infer important physical quantities such as the gas temperature, gas density and radiation field and
we discuss the different possible excitation mechanisms of H2. We also briefly consider future prospects for observation of H2 from space and from the ground.
Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA Member States (especially the PI countries:
France, Germany, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom), and with the participation of ISAS and NASA. 相似文献
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