John D. Rummel

A New Analysis of Mars “Special Regions”: Findings of the Second MEPAG Special Regions Science Analysis Group (SR-SAG2)

A committee of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) has reviewed and updated the description of Special Regions on Mars as places where terrestrial organisms might replicate (per the COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy). This review and update was conducted by an international team (SR-SAG2) drawn from both the biological science and Mars exploration communities, focused on understanding when and where Special Regions could occur. The study applied recently available data about martian environments and about terrestrial organisms, building on a previous analysis of Mars Special Regions (2006) undertaken by a similar team. Since then, a new body of highly relevant information has been generated from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (launched in 2005) and Phoenix (2007) and data from Mars Express and the twin Mars Exploration Rovers (all 2003). Results have also been gleaned from the Mars Science Laboratory (launched in 2011). In addition to Mars data, there is a considerable body of new data regarding the known environmental limits to life on Earth-including the potential for terrestrial microbial life to survive and replicate under martian environmental conditions. The SR-SAG2 analysis has included an examination of new Mars models relevant to natural environmental variation in water activity and temperature; a review and reconsideration of the current parameters used to define Special Regions; and updated maps and descriptions of the martian environments recommended for treatment as Uncertain or Special as natural features or those potentially formed by the influence of future landed spacecraft. Significant changes in our knowledge of the capabilities of terrestrial organisms and the existence of possibly habitable martian environments have led to a new appreciation of where Mars Special Regions may be identified and protected. The SR-SAG also considered the impact of Special Regions on potential future human missions to Mars, both as locations of potential resources and as places that should not be inadvertently contaminated by human activity.

Ethical Considerations for Planetary Protection in Space Exploration: A Workshop

With the recognition of an increasing potential for discovery of extraterrestrial life, a diverse set of researchers have noted a need to examine the foundational ethical principles that should frame our collective space activities as we explore outer space. A COSPAR Workshop on Ethical Considerations for Planetary Protection in Space Exploration was convened at Princeton University on June 8-10, 2010, to examine whether planetary protection measures and practices should be extended to protect planetary environments within an ethical framework that goes beyond science protection per se. The workshop had been in development prior to a 2006 NRC report on preventing the forward contamination of Mars, although it responded directly to one of the recommendations of that report and to several peer-reviewed papers as well. The workshop focused on the implications and responsibilities engendered when exploring outer space while avoiding harmful impacts on planetary bodies. Over 3 days, workshop participants developed a set of recommendations addressing the need for a revised policy framework to address harmful contamination beyond biological contamination, noting that it is important to maintain the current COSPAR planetary protection policy for scientific exploration and activities. The attendees agreed that there is need for further study of the ethical considerations used on Earth and the examination of management options and governmental mechanisms useful for establishing an environmental stewardship framework that incorporates both scientific input and enforcement. Scientists need to undertake public dialogue to communicate widely about these future policy deliberations and to ensure public involvement in decision making. A number of incremental steps have been taken since the workshop to implement some of these recommendations.

Glycerol enhances fungal germination at the water-activity limit for life.

Summary For the most‐extreme fungal xerophiles, metabolic activity and cell division typically halts between 0.700 and 0.640 water activity (approximately 70.0–64.0% relative humidity). Here, we investigate whether glycerol can enhance xerophile germination under acute water‐activity regimes, using an experimental system which represents the biophysical limit of Earths biosphere. Spores from a variety of species, including Aspergillus penicillioides, Eurotium halophilicum, Xerochrysium xerophilum (formerly Chrysosporium xerophilum) and Xeromyces bisporus, were produced by cultures growing on media supplemented with glycerol (and contained up to 189 mg glycerol g dry spores−1). The ability of these spores to germinate, and the kinetics of germination, were then determined on a range of media designed to recreate stresses experienced in microbial habitats or anthropogenic systems (with water‐activities from 0.765 to 0.575). For A. penicillioides, Eurotium amstelodami, E. halophilicum, X. xerophilum and X. bisporus, germination occurred at lower water‐activities than previously recorded (0.640, 0.685, 0.651, 0.664 and 0.637 respectively). In addition, the kinetics of germination at low water‐activities were substantially faster than those reported previously. Extrapolations indicated theoretical water‐activity minima below these values; as low as 0.570 for A. penicillioides and X. bisporus. Glycerol is present at high concentrations (up to molar levels) in many types of microbial habitat. We discuss the likely role of glycerol in expanding the water‐activity limit for microbial cell function in relation to temporal constraints and location of the microbial cell or habitat. The findings reported here have also critical implications for understanding the extremes of Earths biosphere; for understanding the potency of disease‐causing microorganisms; and in biotechnologies that operate at the limits of microbial function.

Carl Woese, Dick Young, and the roots of astrobiology

The beginning of the space age in the late 1950s gave rise to innovative and interdisciplinary research concepts and perspectives, including the concept of “exobiology” as a way to approach the fundamental aspects of biology through a study of life outside of the Earth, if it existed. This concept was embodied by NASA into its formal Exobiology Program and into the philosophy of the program both before and after the Viking missions that were launched to Mars to search for signs of life in 1975. Due to both management flexibility and an acceptance of the interdisciplinary nature of the problem of “life in the universe,” NASA program managers, and particularly Richard S Young who ran the Exobiology Program beginning 1967, have made some excellent investments in paradigm altering science of great use both on Earth and on future space missions. The work of Carl Woese is one such example, which has revolutionized our understanding of the microbial world and the relationships of all life on Earth.

Providing for Sustainable Exploration and Use of Outer Space Environments

Due to the policies and investments made by spacefaring nations and international space agencies over the last five decades, non-State Parties are now developing significant capabilities in space exploration and use. This is essential if there is to be the development of a true space economy. To ensure that these capabilities can lead to an economy that is both beneficial and sustainable, legal and regulatory regimes associated with the use of other planetary environments must anticipate them, and the roles that can be played by non-State Parties in the future development of space. While non-State Parties launching from a State signatory to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST) are subject to the Treaty’s articles, there are many shortcomings of the OST with respect to future space development. For example, it is clear that different launching venues could differ greatly in their implementation and enforcement of the Treaty provisions, inviting abuses of those provisions if a State’s enforcement is ineffective. The possible short-term economic advantages of a “soft” interpretation of OST provisions may lead to conflicting uses of outer space resources, while a blind eye to the potential for “harmful contamination” of other planetary environments or the Earth could destroy the benefits of space exploration. It is thus timely to consider steps by which it would be possible to clarify and complement the OST’s legal regime for the exploration of the Moon and other celestial bodies. There appear to be several approaches for extending the provisions of the OST and developing an international framework to accomplish these goals while providing for both protection and use of outer space as part of a future era of exploration, commercialization, and human habitation.

Book Review: Why Mars: NASA and the politics of space exploration:

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