Crew autonomy for deep space exploration: Lessons from the Antarctic Search for Meteorites

Future piloted missions to explore asteroids, Mars, and other targets beyond the Moon will experience strict limitations on communication between vehicles in space and control centers on Earth. These limitations will require crews to operate with greater autonomy than any past space mission has demonstrated. The Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) project, which regularly sends small teams of researchers to remote parts of the southern continent, resembles a space mission in many ways but does not rely upon a control center. It provides a useful crew autonomy model for planners of future deep space exploration missions. In contrast to current space missions, ANSMET gives the crew the authority to adjust competing work priorities, task assignments, and daily schedules; allows the crew to be the primary monitor of mission progress; demands greater crew accountability for operational errors; requires the crew to make the most of limited communication bandwidth; adopts systems designed for simple operation and failure recovery; and grants the crew a leading role in the selection and stowage of their equipment.     

The Extinct Radionuclide Timescale of the Early Solar System

The tendency of iodine to be mobilised during secondary processing is reflected both in the presence of ¹²⁹Xe_XS in secondary minerals and in the bulk ¹²⁹Xe_XS/I ratios in meteorites. Comparison of absolute ages derived through calibration of chronometers based on ¹²⁹Xe, ⁵³Mn and ²⁶Al against the Pb-Pb system yields a plausible timescale for the early solar system. In this system, the earliest chondrule ages are most readily interpreted as representing formation after the beginning of parent body processing. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Short-Lived Radionuclides in Meteorites: Constraints on Nebular Timescales for the Production of Solids

Variations in the abundances of short-lived radionuclides such as ²⁶Al (τ_1/2 ≈ 0.74 Ma) and ⁵³Mn (τ_1/2 ≈ 3.7 Ma) in meteoritic solids may be used to infer relative formation intervals of these solids in the nebula at precisions of less than 1 Ma. In a strict chronometric interpretation of the isotopic variations, whereby criteria such as spatial and temporal isotopic homogeneity and closed system isotopic evolution are met, solid formation occurred in the nebula for at least several million years. This is longer than some theoretical and astronomical estimates for the duration of the active nebula. The evidence for live ⁴¹Ca (τ_1/2 ≈ 0.10 Ma) in meteoritic inclusions further indicates that the onset of solid formation occurred quite early, perhaps within a few hundred thousand years after the onset of the collapse of the sun's parent molecular cloud. Failure of the chronometric interpretation may arise for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to, the late, inhomogeneous injection of material from a nearby stellar source or the local production of short-lived radionuclides by an energetic particle irradiation, e. g., from T Tauri (X-wind) or galactic cosmic ray sources. Although some isotopic evidence exists that the criteria required for a strict chronometric interpretation are not met by each of the short-lived chronometers, there is no compelling reason to shorten the interval of solid formation in the nebula to less than 1 Ma. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Mid 19th century minimum of galactic cosmic ray flux inferred from Ti in Allegan meteorite

Measurements of ⁴⁴Ti activity in meteorites show that the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) intensity has been declining in the interplanetary space during the past three centuries and has a component of cyclic variation, with periodicity of about 87 years [Taricco, C., Bhandari, N., Cane, D., et al. Galactic cosmic ray flux decline and periodicities in the interplanetary space during the last 3 centuries revealed by ⁴⁴Ti in meteorites. J. Geophys. Res. 111, A08102, 2006.]. In order to verify these results, we have measured ⁴⁴Ti activity in Allegan meteorite which fell in 1899 and in some other meteorites with better precision. The measurements confirm low cosmic ray flux and consequently high solar activity near the middle of 19th century.     

Presolar Grains in Meteorites and Their Compositions

Small amounts of pre-solar “stardust” grains have survived in the matrices of primitive meteorites and interplanetary dust particles. These grains—formed directly in the outflows of or from the ejecta of stars—include thermally and chemically refractory carbon materials such as diamond, graphite and silicon carbide; as well as refractory oxides and nitrides. Pre-solar silicates, which have only recently been identified, are the most abundant type except for possibly diamond. The detailed study with modern analytical tools, of isotopic signatures in particular, provides highly accurate and detailed information with regard to stellar nucleosynthesis and grain formation in stellar atmospheres. Important stellar sources are Red Giant (RG) and Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, with supernova contributions apparently small. The survival of those grains puts constraints on conditions they were exposed to in the interstellar medium and in the early solar system.     

Johannes Geiss: Explorer of the Elements

The extraordinary life and scientific achievements of Johannes Geiss span an almost impossible breadth of scientific topics, from the study of rocks to tenuous plasmas, from volcanoes to meteorites. But, his impact also extends way beyond the field of science. Professor Geiss is a well-known teacher and a highly successful science leader whose impact has been felt at the University of Bern, in Switzerland, and around the globe. We present here a brief summary of this highly successful career via a pictorial overview and a movie compiled by a former student who had the good luck to work with Professor Geiss during his years at the University of Bern. Electronic Supplementary Material The online version of this article () contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Standard Solar Composition

We review the current status of our knowledge of the chemical composition of the Sun, essentially derived from the analysis of the solar photospheric spectrum. The comparison of solar and meteoritic abundances confirms that there is a very good agreement between the two sets of abundances. They are used to construct a Standard Abundance Distribution. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.