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NASA NTRS2012

Abiotic Versus Biotic Pathogens: Replicative Growth in Host Tissues Key to Discriminating Between Biotoxic Injury and Active Pathogenesis

Life can be defined as a self-sustaining chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution; a self-bounded, self-replicating, and self-perpetuating entity [1]. This definition should hold for terrestrial as well as extraterrestrial life-forms. Although, it is reasonable to expect that a Mars life-form would be more adaptable to Mars-like conditions than to Earth-like environments, it remains possible that negative ecological or host interactions might occur if Mars microbiota were to be inadvertently released into the terrestrial environment. A biogenic infectious agent can be defined as a self-sustaining chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution and derives its sustenance from a living cell or from the by-products of cell death. Disease can be de-fined as the detrimental alteration of one or more ordered metabolic processes in a living host caused by the continued irritation of a primary causal factor or factors; disease is a dynamic process [2]. In contrast, an injury is due to an instantaneous event; injury is not a dynamic process [2]. A causal agent of disease is defined as a pathogen, and can be either abiotic or biotic in nature. Diseases incited by biotic pathogens are the exceptions, not the norms, in terrestrial host-microbe interactions. Disease induction in a plant host can be conceptually characterized using the Disease Triangle (Fig. 1) in which disease occurs only when all host, pathogen, and environ-mental factors that contribute to the development of disease are within conducive ranges for a necessary minimum period of time. For example, plant infection and disease caused by the wheat leaf rust fungus, Puccinia recondita, occur only if virulent spores adhere to genetically susceptible host tissues for at least 4-6 hours under favorable conditions of temperature and moisture [3]. As long as one or more conditions required for disease initiation are not available, disease symptoms will not develop.

Schuerger, Andrew C.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Plasma processing of interstellar PAHs into solar system kerogen

Processes resulting in the formation of hydrocarbons of carbonaceous chondrites and the identity of the interstellar molecular precursors involved are an objective of investigations into the origin of the solar system and perhaps even life on earth. We have combined the resources and experience of an astronomer and physicists doing laboratory simulations with those of a chemical expert in the analysis of meteoritic hydrocarbons, in a project that investigated the conversion of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) formed in stellar atmospheres into alkanes found in meteorites. Plasma hydrogenation has been found in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Astrophysics Laboratory to produce from the precursor PAH naphthalene, a new material having an IR absorption spectrum (Lee, W. and Wdowiak, T.J., Astrophys. J. 417, L49-L51, 1993) remarkably similar to that obtained at Arizona State University of the benzene-methanol extract of the Murchison meteorite (Cronin, J.R. and Pizzarello, S., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 54, 2859-2868, 1990). There are astrophysical and meteoritic arguments for PAH species from extra-solar sources being incorporated into the solar nebula, where plasma hydrogenation is highly plausible. Conversion of PAHs into alkanes could also have occurred in the interstellar medium. The synthesis of laboratory analogs of meteoritic hydrocarbons through plasma hydrogenation of PAH species is underway, as is chemical analysis of those analogs. The objective is to clarify this heretofore uninvestigated process and to understand its role during the origin of the solar system as a mechanism of production of hydrocarbon species now found in meteorites. Results have been obtained in the form of time-of-flight spectroscopy and chemical analysis of the lab analog prepared from naphthalene.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗

NASA NTRS2016

Benefits of Mars ISRU Regolith Water Processing: A Case Study for the NASA Evolvable Mars Campaign

ISRU of Mars resources was baselined in 2009 Design Reference Architecture (DRA) 5.0, but only for Oxygen production using atmospheric CO2. The Methane (LCH4) needed for ascent propulsion of the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) would need to be brought from Earth. However: Extracting water from the Martian Regolith enables the production of both Oxygen and Methane from Mars resources: Water resources could also be used for other applications including: Life support, radiation shielding, plant growth, etc. Water extraction was not baselined in DRA5.0 due to perceived difficulties and complexity in processing regolith. The NASA Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) requested studies to look at the quantitative benefits and trades of using Mars water ISRUPhase 1: Examined architecture scenarios for regolith water retrieval. Completed October 2015. Phase 2: Deep dive of one architecture concept to look at end-to-end system size, mass, power of a LCH4/LO2 ISRU production system

Mars Exploration↗

NASA NTRS1998

Prebiotic Polymer Synthesis and the Origin of Glycolytic Metabolism

Our research resulted in several discoveries which contributed to understanding the origin and operation of life. (1) Most importantly, we discovered a new pathway of prebiotic amino acid synthesis in which formaldehyde and glycolaldehyde (formose reaction substrates) react with ammonia to give alanine and homoserine in the presence of thiol catalysts. The thiol-dependent synthesis of amino acids undoubtedly occurs via amino acid thioester intermediates capable of forming peptides. This 'one-pot' reaction system operates under mild aqueous conditions, and like modern amino acid biosynthesis, uses sugar intermediates which are converted to amino acids by energy-yielding redox disproportionation. Preliminary evidence suggests that this type of process can be "evolved" by a serial transfer methods that lead to enrichment of autocatalytic molecules. (2) We established that prebiotic peptide polymers can be made by condensation of amino acid thioesters (homocysteine thiolactone and S-(N-beta-orotidyl- diaminopropionic acid) ethanethiol), and that prebiotic polydisulfide polymers can be generated by oxidation of dithiols with iron(III) in minerals. (3) In our analysis of metabolism we discovered the primary energy source of biosynthesis -- chemical energy made available by the redox disproportionation of substrate carbon groups. We concluded that the energy and reactivity of sugars make them the optimal substrate for the origin and operation of terrestrial (or extraterrestrial) life. (4) Since it is likely that the use of optimal sugar substrates in biosynthesis sets the average oxidation number of functional biocarbon throughout the Universe near 0.0 (the reduction level of formaldehyde), we proposed that a line(s) in the microwave spectrum of formaldehyde could be rationally selected as a frequency for interstellar communication that symbolizes life. (5) Finally, in preparation for the analysis of Martian meteorite samples, we upgraded our HPLC system to one femtomole sensitivity, and developed a new electrophoretic method of sample preparation for HPLC analysis of the meteoritic amino acids. In a sample of the KT boundary layer from Sussex Wyoming, we found about 300 picomoles per gram of meteoritic alpha-aminoisobutyric acid per gram of KT layer.

Weber, Arthur L.↗

NASA NTRS2003

The impact of the new biology on radiation risks in space

Radiation is considered to be one of three or four major hazards for personnel in space and has emerged as the most critical issue to be resolved for long-term missions, both orbital and interplanetary. Space habitats are stressful and dangerous environments. Health and medical consequences arising from microgravity, stress, and trauma include weakened immune systems, increased viral activity, and loss of bone mass. The greatest risks from radiation are generally assumed to be cancers and possibly damage to the central nervous system. Synergistic effects arising from the other environmental hazards along with abscopal and exogenic factors are likely. Space programs represent an exceptional opportunity for examining the biological consequences of low-dose exposures of humans to radiation at every level of progression. Although astronauts are a relatively small population, they are healthy, physically active volunteers who undergo extensive testing and medical examinations before, during, and after protracted exposures with periodic follow-up examinations. The radiation environments along with other hazards are likewise monitored and documented. Extensive international research programs are in progress. Seven years ago the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration established the National Space Biomedical Research Institute through a cooperative agreement with a consortium of research and academic institutions in order to address radiation issues through a concerted, programmatic effort. Advanced technologies are rapidly being incorporated into these programs to determine the significance of new biological data and to evaluate the interplay among the different medical hazards. Programmatic in vivo and in vitro studies of the processes leading to carcinogenesis are in progress. Drugs and dietary supplements are being examined at the cellular and in vivo levels to assess their potential as dose-modifying agents. The infrastructure of this new approach, recent results, and research in progress are reviewed and discussed.

NASA Discipline Radiation Health↗

NASA NTRS2011

Cold and Cryogenic Curation of Lunar Volatile Samples Returned to Earth

The study of volatile compounds and volatile elements, such as H, He, C, N, O, H2O, CH4, SO2, CO, CO2, NH3, HCN, etc., are commonly used for constraining evolutionary processes on planets, satellites, and asteroids, as well as formulating models of solar system formation. For Lunar science, the recent evidence of regolith and rocks containing small amounts of OH- and/or H2O has renewed scientific interest into the study of lunar volatiles [1, 2]. Future lunar sample return missions will include the study of volatiles as a high priority. Comet particles from the Stardust mission, asteroid particles from Hayabusa, meteorites, and subsurface lunar samples all occupied subfreezing environments prior to collection. Valuable geochemical information on volatiles is often lost when these samples are allowed to reach ambient temperatures on Earth. The ability to store, document, subdivide, and transport extraterrestrial geologic samples while maintaining below freezing or cryogenic temperatures is required for the complete scientific study of such samples, as well as future samples from a wide range of solar system bodies.

Calaway, M. J.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Synthesis of Amino Acid Precursors with Organic Solids in Planetesimals with Liquid Water

Amino acids are important ingredients of life that would have been delivered to Earth by extraterrestrial sources, e.g., comets and meteorites. Amino acids are found in aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrites in good part in the form of precursors that release amino acids after acid hydrolysis. Meanwhile, most of the organic carbon (greater than 70 weight %) in carbonaceous chondrites exists in the form of solvent insoluble organic matter (IOM) with complex macromolecular structures. Complex macromolecular organic matter can be produced by either photolysis of interstellar ices or aqueous chemistry in planetesimals. We focused on the synthesis of amino acids during aqueous alteration, and demonstrated one-pot synthesis of a complex suite of amino acids simultaneously with IOM via hydrothermal experiments simulating the aqueous processing

Kebukawa, Y↗

NASA NTRS1999

Molecules from Space and the Origin of Life

There is a growing concensus among space scientists that frozen molecules from space helped to make the Earth the pleasant place that it is today, and helped Life start on Earth, and perhaps elsewhere. The chain of logic that led scientists to posit a connection between extraterrestrial molecules and the origin of life is as follows. 1) The rapidity with which life arose demands that conditions on Earth were conducive to the formation of life very early on. 2) There is reason to believe that comets and meteorites fell oil the Earth from its inception. 3) We now know that comets and meteorites are replete with complex organic compounds, some of which resemble those in living systems. 4) Perhaps the input of molecules from comets and meteorites provided crucial constituents to the primordial soup and Jump started life on Earth. 5) These molecules formed out in deep space long before the Earth ever existed, by processes that we can reproduce in the laboratory. 6) The fact that organic molecules are seen by astronomers throughout our galaxy and in others makes it seem likely that they were (and are) available to help start life in other planetary systems.

Bernstein Max P.↗

NASA NTRS2021

Strategies for the Design and Operation of Resilient Extraterrestrial Habitats

An Earth-independent permanent extraterrestrial habitat system must function as intended under continuous disruptive conditions, and with significantly limited Earth support and extended uncrewed periods. Designing for the demands that extreme environments such as wild temperature fluctuations, galactic cosmic rays, destructive dust, meteoroid impacts (direct or indirect), vibrations, and solar particle events, will place on long-term deep space habitats represents one of the greatest challenges in this endeavor. This context necessitates that we establish the know-how and technologies to build habitat systems that are resilient. Resilience is not simply robustness or redundancy: it is a system property that accounts for both anticipated and unanticipated disruptions via the design choices and maintenance processes, and adapts to them in operation. We currently lack the frameworks and technologies needed to achieve a high level of resilience in a habitat system. The Resilient Extra Terrestrial Habitats Institute (RETHi) has the mission of leveraging existing novel technologies to provide situational awareness and autonomy to enable the design of habitats that are able to adapt, absorb and rapidly recover from expected and unexpected disruptions. We are establishing both fully virtual and coupled physical-virtual simulation capabilities that will enable us to explore a wide range of potential deep space Smart Hab configurations and operating modes.

Space habitats↗

NASA NTRS2008

Curation of Frozen Samples

NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) and the Astromaterials Curator are charged by NPD 7100.10D with the curation of all of NASA s extraterrestrial samples, including those from future missions. This responsibility includes the development of new sample handling and preparation techniques; therefore, the Astromaterials Curator must begin developing procedures to preserve, prepare and ship samples at sub-freezing temperatures in order to enable future sample return missions. Such missions might include the return of future frozen samples from permanently-shadowed lunar craters, the nuclei of comets, the surface of Mars, etc. We are demonstrating the ability to curate samples under cold conditions by designing, installing and testing a cold curation glovebox. This glovebox will allow us to store, document, manipulate and subdivide frozen samples while quantifying and minimizing contamination throughout the curation process.

Fletcher, L. A.↗

NASA NTRS2023

Space Weathering of Genesis Mission Solar-wind Collectors with Inferences for Weathering on Airless Bodies

Samples from the Genesis Solar Wind Sample Return (NASA Discovery 5) are a unique opportunity to study the initial stages of space weathering, i.e., the physical and chemical effects of solar-wind irradiation. Arrays of collectors containing multiple materials were each exposed to a different solar-wind regime (fast, slow, bulk, or coronal mass ejection) at the L1 point for long durations (years). Materials exposed to the solar wind included metals, semiconductors, and insulators. Although the time of exposure was obviously short relative to samples having extraterrestrial origins, optical properties, surface chemical properties, and matrix structure have changed in many collectors due to exposure to solar wind. The thickness of amorphous zones, where present, appears to correspond with the depth of the peak of the solar-wind H distribution in each regime. Damage from high-energy particles was negligible because the collectors were 700 μm or less in thickness and shielded from the back by the spacecraft. Micrometeorite impacts and sputtering were also negligible because of the short exposure times. Our current results are preliminary: We hope future workers will extend this study both to support Genesis characterization efforts and to further understand space-weathering processes on a geologic timescale.

space weathering↗

NASA NTRS1981

SETI - The search for extraterrestrial intelligence - Plans and rationale

The methodology and instrumentation of a 10 yr search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) program by NASA, comprising 5 yr for instrumentation development and 5 yr for observations, is described. A full sky survey in two polarizations between 1.2 and 10 GHz with resolution binwidths down to 32 Hz, and a two polarization can between 1.2-3 GHz with resolution binwidths down to 1 Hz of 700 nearby solar type stars within 20 light years of earth will extend the sensitivity of previous surveys by 300 times and cover 20,000 times more frequency space. EM signals are perceived as the only means for detecting life outside the solar system, and the SETI effort is driven by the empirical experience that once a physical process has been observed to occur, its occurrence elsewhere is assured. Further discussion is given of the history of searches for life in the Universe, the SETI search strategy, instrumentation, and signal identification.

Wolfe, J. H.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Thermal Management by Engineering the Alignment of Nanocellulose

One of the grand current research challenges is to improve the energy efficiency of residential and commercial buildings, which cumulatively consume more than 40% of the energy generated globally. In addition to improving the comfort of the inhabitants and mitigating the growing energy consumption problem, new building materials and technologies could provide a safe strategy for geoengineering to mitigate global climate change. Herein, recent progress in developing such advanced materials from nanocellulose, which is often derived from wood or even dirty feedstocks like waste, is reviewed. By using chemical and bacteria-enabled processing, nanocellulose can be used to fabricate broadband photonic reflectors, thermally super-insulating aerogels, solar gain regulators, and low-emissivity coatings, with potential applications in windows, roofs, walls, and other components of buildings envelopes. These material developments draw inspiration from advanced energy management found in nature, such as the nanoporous photonic structures that evolved in cuticles of beetles. Fabrication of such materials takes advantage of mesoscale liquid crystalline self-assembly, which allows for pre-designed control of cellulose nanoparticle orientations at the mesoscale. Finally, with the potential fully realized, such materials could one day transform the current energy-lossy buildings into energy plants on Earth and possibly even enable extraterrestrial habitats.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

NASA NTRS1986

Analysis of a crossed Bragg-cell acousto optical spectrometer for SETI

The search for radio signals from extraterrestrial intelligent (SETI) beings requires the use of large instantaneous bandwidth (500 MHz) and high resolution (20 Hz) spectrometers. Digital systems with a high degree of modularity can be used to provide this capability, and this method has been widely discussed. Another technique for meeting the SETI requirement is to use a crossed Bragg-cell spectrometer as described by Psaltis and Casasent (1979). This technique makes use of the Folded Spectrum concept, introduced by Thomas (1966). The Folded Spectrum is a two-dimensional Fourier Transform of a raster scanned one-dimensional signal. It is directly related to the long one-dimensional spectrum of the original signal and is ideally suited for optical signal processing.

Gulkis, S.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Two systems analyses of SETI

The problem of receiving and identifying a single microwave signal transmitted by extraterrestrial intelligent beings is analyzed in the cases where the signal is designed to catch our attention and the signal is designed for internal purposes of another civilization. Six variables which yield uncertainty as to the exact signal which should be searched for are described: polarization, modulation, flux level, direction, frequency (including bandwidth and drift rate), and time. It is shown that if all reasonable variations of these parameters are to be examined sequentially for 1000 seconds, the search would take over a million times longer than the age of the Universe. Ways to simplify the search are considered, including widening the frequency bin, selecting specific targets, cutting the observation time, using a Fourier transform device for data processing, and building larger antennas as well as better low-noise receivers.

Machol, R. E.↗

NASA NTRS1997

A survey of the chemical properties of the M17 and Cepheus A cloud cores

We present the results of a systematic survey of the chemical properties of two giant molecular cloud (GMC) cores in M17 and Cepheus A. In all, we have mapped the emission from 32 molecular transitions of 13 molecules and seven isotopic variants over a 4' x 5' region in each core. Each map includes known sites of massive star formation, as well as the more extended quiescent material. In M17 most molecules have emission peaks away from the H II region/molecular cloud interface, while two species, HC3N and CH3C2H, deviate from this structure with sharp maxima closer to this interface. In Cepheus A the core is influenced by a compact high-velocity molecular outflow and a more extended low-velocity flow. The molecular emission distributions in this source are generally quite similar, with most molecules peaking near the center of the core to the east of the compact H II region HW 2. A few molecules, SO, CH3OH, H13CN, and C18O, have more extended emission. Only two molecules, CO and HCO+, appear to trace the high- and low-velocity outflows; all other species are tracing the quiescent core. We have used the results of previous studies of the density and temperature of the dense gas in the same cloud cores to derive accurate abundances relative to CO for several positions in each core. The principal result is that the chemical composition of all the cores we have surveyed (which include OMC-1 as well as M17 and Cepheus A) show remarkable similarity, both within a given core and among the cores. This suggests that the chemical processes are similar in quiescent GMC core material. In M17 the lack of variation of molecular abundances is remarkable because the radiation field and the gas temperature are known to vary appreciably throughout the surveyed region, suggesting that the bulk of the emission arises from gas that is well shielded from radiation.

Non-NASA Center↗

NASA NTRS2004

Mineralogy at Gusev Crater from the Mossbauer spectrometer on the Spirit Rover

Mossbauer spectra measured on Mars by the Spirit rover during the primary mission are characterized by two ferrous iron doublets (olivine and probably pyroxene) and a ferric iron doublet (tentatively associated to nanophase ferric iron oxide). Two sextets resulting from nonstoichiometric magnetite are also present, except for a coating on the rock Mazatzal, where a hematite-like sextet is present. Greater proportions of ferric-bearing phases are associated with undisturbed soils and rock surfaces as compared to fresh rock surfaces exposed by grinding. The ubiquitous presence of olivine in soil suggests that physical rather than chemical weathering processes currently dominate at Gusev crater.

Minerals↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Atom Probe Tomography and Three-Dimensional Atomic Scale Characterisation of Interplanetary Dust Particles: Inorganic and Organic, Hydrous and Anhydrous Assemblages

Interplanetary dust particles (IDPs)preserve primordial fragments from our Solar System and external stellar systems, sampled from a vast range of dust forming bodies that often display smaller degrees of parent body processing than is seen in meteorites. IDPs preserve some of the smallest astromaterials from our Solar System, many of which are believed to be among the most important materials for studying physical and chemical processing, and formation mechanisms occurring within the interstellar medium (ISM), Solar Nebula and external planetary systems[1]. However, their formation processes and provenance are poorly constrained, owing in part to spatial resolution limitations of traditional analytical techniques. Atom probe tomography (APT) uses a pulsed laser to field-evaporate material at the atomic scale from needle-shaped samples, and time-of-flight spectrometry for 3D reconstruction of element and isotope distribution in samples after data acquisition. This technique has the highest spatial resolution available of any technique used within the geoscience field[2]. However, measuring multi-phase specimens and porous media in APT can be challenging, two primary characteristics of IDPs. Here we present a custom method for APT needle design and the first results of a 3Datomic scale study of interplanetary dust particles, salt crystals and extraterrestrial insoluble and soluble organic matter designed to overcome the challenges of studying IDP-like materials.

N D Nevill↗