In the midst of the unraveling of the national fabric, an enormous contingent of inspired and dedicated Americans had committed themselves to doing the impossible. And at 4:53 pm on Sunday, July 20 1969, the words of Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong crackled back from the surface of the moon across a quarter of a million miles of space to Houston Texas, proclaiming to all the world that “The Eagle has landed,” and the impossible had been achieved.

Only a dozen years earlier, the post World War II optimism of America and the rest of the free world had been completely shattered by news of the successful Soviet effort to orbit Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. Gliding silently across the night sky with a menacing serenity, it alerted the West of a serious technology deficiency that many feared was a harbinger of eventual Soviet dominance, not only in space, but on earth as well.

Of course the Soviets zealously exploited their accomplishment, shortly following it with the spectacular launch of Sputnik 2, a much larger satellite in which rode “Laika” the dog. Weeks later, an American attempt to orbit its own artificial satellite ended with the humiliating explosion of Vanguard One. With each passing day, the grim possibility of Soviet hegemony in space and on the ground increased.

America scrambled to keep apace, finally getting Explorer 1 into orbit in January of 1958. Nevertheless, early efforts to narrow the technology gap appeared futile. On April 12, 1961, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became history’s first man in space, making a single orbit of the earth before safely landing deep inside Russia. It seemed that the Soviet Union was destined to dominate the high frontier.

Yet in retrospect, the United States was only warming up to the challenge. On May 5, less than a month after Gagarin’s journey, Alan Shepard completed the successful suborbital flight of Freedom 7. And, in a bold move coming on the heels of that comparatively minor venture, President Kennedy presented his famous challenge to America to land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth before the end of the decade. The space race was on.

Very quickly, it became apparent that once the America of that era set itself upon such a course, little could stop it. By the middle of the decade, American space technology had far surpassed the Soviets. Worse still for them, a series of major catastrophes rendered a manned Soviet moon mission, clearly their early intent, to be an impossibility. So they changed the rules of the game.

On one front, they made a frenzied effort to return a sample of lunar soil, via an automated probe, to earth prior to the Americans, stridently promoting the notion that an unmanned mission would be technologically superior and less costly. Their desperation became glaringly obvious in 1969 as they frantically made two failed launch attempts of their “Luna” moon probe, one on June 14, and the other on July 13. Either of which, had they been successful, might conceivably have given their propaganda minions sufficient political ammunition to make claims that the mantle of Soviet superiority remained within the Iron Curtain.

On another front, they began a propaganda blitz deriding the exorbitant American expenditures required for manned lunar travel. In this endeavor, and with the help of the increasingly left-leaning American media, they were far more successful. By the time Armstrong planted his boot on the lunar surface, many media minions and cultural icons had taken the bait and essentially became embarrassed over the whole event. America’s greatness had been turned into a liability. What should have been a day of shining achievement had degenerated into a heated national debate.

As an omen of the eventual collapse of America’s former recognition of its own greatness, the Apollo 11 episode is difficult to surpass. Before long, other great achievements and milestones were regularly being assessed from a completely derisive and negative perspective. It was no longer surprising to hear the most defamatory and biased coverage of any prominent historical figure or event, from the character of George Washington, to the 1992 half-millennium commemoration of the landing of Christopher Columbus, to the 1995 fiftieth anniversary of the Enola Gay mission to drop the atom bomb on Japan and thus end the Second World War.

So jaundiced has the media “prism” since become that now, every noteworthy episode of its rich history is predictably formed and flaked into the public relations advantage for the left. Thus, President Bush’s carrier landing aboard the Abraham Lincoln, which once might have been cheered by the press and public alike as a stirring boost to troop morale, was instead perversely recast into a major controversy.

Somehow, arriving on deck in the rear seat of a U.S. Navy fighter jet and declaring “Mission Accomplished” to America’s victorious military troops, as well as to their vanquished enemies, constituted a grave impropriety. In contrast, Barack Obama continues to receive gushing media accolades for swatting a fly.

Consequently, in 2009, Barack Obama presents America to the rest of the world not as its great hope of liberation, justice, and prosperity, but as a penitent former antagonist, regretful of supposed wrongs committed against the entirety of humanity. Yet with telling hypocrisy, he studiously ignores the flagrant abuses of human rights regularly perpetrated by those he seeks to impress with his fawning.

With so much of the nation’s culture and history being evaluated from this warped perspective, it is small wonder that any celebration of the moon landing, perhaps the greatest technological accomplishment of all human history, will in retrospect be thoroughly eclipsed by something as trifling as the funeral of a notoriously bizarre pop singer. Sadly, few Americans can even name any of the courageous dozen of their countrymen who have walked on another world.

If real America truly wants to reclaim its culture and its heritage from the diseased mouthpieces of the political left and its “useful idiots” of the pop culture, it can start by giving proper credit to its real heroes, starting with the men of Apollo 11 who first journeyed to the moon, along with all those others throughout the country who by their talents, diligence, and commitment to the greatness of America dared to send them there.

Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer and staff writer for the New Media Alliance. He lives in southeastern Wyoming. He has been active in local and state politics for many years and is a managing partner in Best American Buy (www.bestamericanbuy.com), an e-commerce business that markets products exclusively made in America. His contact information and archives can be found at www.chrisadamo.com

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The test reportedly shook the windows of houses 5 miles away, causing agitation among residents who felt that they had not received adequate warning. “I appreciate the fact that the company notified [the City of] McGregor, but did they not think the test would affect the surrounding communities?” asked commenter Lorena Resident on the website for the Waco Tribune-Herald. Waco lies just east of McGregor.

The Falcon 9 rocket, and its smaller sibling the Falcon 1, are the first rockets capable of entering Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to have their design be privately funded in its entirety. According to SpaceX the Falcon 9 can generate 4 times the maximum thrust of a Boeing 747 while firing in a vacuum, and will eventually be able to perform interplanetary missions in addition to its initial role as an orbital launch vehicle. SpaceX is also designing a crew and cargo capsule for the Falcon 9, which it has named the “Dragon”.

SpaceX is a contender for future commercial contracts from various government run space agencies, with NASA expressing particular interest. NASA will be retiring their fleet of Columbia Class Space Shuttles in 2010, but will not have the Shuttles’ replacements (the Ares I and Ares V rockets) ready until at least 2014. NASA hopes to fill some of this gap using commercial launches from companies such as SpaceX. SpaceX has already reached an agreement with NASA to conduct three test flights of the Dragon capsule in conjunction with the Falcon 9. The first of these flights is expected in 2009.

Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said, “The full mission-length test firing clears the highest hurdle for the Falcon 9 first stage before launch. In the next few months, we will have the first Falcon 9 flight vehicle on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, preparing for lift-off in 2009.”

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HAWTHORNE, CA – November 23, 2008 – Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) successfully conducted a full mission-length firing of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle’s first stage at its McGregor Test Facility in Texas, on November 22. For the static test firing, the first stage remains firmly secured to the massive vertical test stand, where it fired for 178 seconds or nearly three minutes — simulating the climb of the giant rocket from the surface of the Earth towards orbit.

At full power, the rocket generated 855,000 pounds of force at sea level. In vacuum, the thrust increases to approximately one million pounds or four times the maximum thrust of a 747 aircraft. The test consumed over half a million pounds of propellant. All nine engines fired for 160 seconds, then two engines were shut down to limit the acceleration and the remaining seven engines continued firing for 18 more seconds, as would occur in a typical climb to orbit.

The test firing validated the design of SpaceX’s use of nine engines on the first stage, as well as the ability to shut down engines without affecting the functioning of the remaining engines. This demonstrates the ability of Falcon 9 to lose engines in flight and still complete its mission successfully, much as a commercial airliner is designed to be safe in the event of an engine loss. Like an airliner, the Falcon 9 engines are enclosed in a protective sheath that ensures a fire or destructive loss of an engine doesn’t affect the rest of the vehicle.

The Falcon 9 will be the first vehicle since the Saturn V and Saturn 1 to have the ability to lose any engine/motor and still be able to complete its mission without loss of crew or spacecraft. Engine out reliability proved crucial to mission success on two of the Saturn V flights.

“In the past month, we performed significant upgrades to the test stand and flame trench in preparation for this test,” said Tom Mueller, Vice President of Propulsion for SpaceX. “We added the flight base heat shields around the engines to protect the bottom of the rocket from the prolonged blast of heat and vibration.”

“The full mission-length test firing clears the highest hurdle for the Falcon 9 first stage before launch,” said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX. “In the next few months, we will have the first Falcon 9 flight vehicle on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, preparing for lift-off in 2009.”

About SpaceX

SpaceX is developing a family of launch vehicles intended to increase the reliability and reduce the cost of both manned and unmanned space transportation, ultimately by a factor of ten. With its Falcon line of launch vehicles, powered by internally-developed Merlin engines, SpaceX offers light, medium and heavy lift capabilities to deliver spacecraft into any altitude and inclination, from low-Earth to geosynchronous orbit to planetary missions.

On September 28, 2008, Falcon 1, designed and manufactured from the ground up by SpaceX, became the first privately-developed liquid fuel rocket to orbit the Earth.

As a winner of the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services competition (COTS), SpaceX is in a position to help fill the gap in American spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) when the Space Shuttle retires in 2010. Under the existing Agreement, SpaceX will conduct three flights of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft for NASA, culminating in Dragon berthing with the ISS. SpaceX is the only COTS contender with the capability to return cargo to Earth and demonstrate the capability to carry crew to and from the ISS.

Founded in 2002, the SpaceX team now numbers nearly 600, located primarily in Hawthorne, California, with four additional locations: SpaceX’s Texas Test Facility in McGregor near Waco; offices in Washington DC; and launch facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the Marshall Islands in the Central Pacific.

Click for video: Falcon 9 Nine Engine Test – MDC

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Chandrayaan-1 (meaning ‘Moon craft’ in Sanskrit) reached its target lunar orbit on Wednesday. The orbiter will remain in a circular orbit 102 kilometres above the Moon’s surface for two years. Its instruments will be gradually commissioned over the next few days.

With this landing, India became both the fourth group to place a flag on the Moon and the fifth country to send a spacecraft to the Moon. The other countries which have sent spacecraft to the Moon are the United States, the former Soviet Union, Japan, and China, along with the European Space Agency (ESA), a consortium of 17 countries. Japan and China currently each have scientific satellites orbiting the Moon, though China has not yet put a spacecraft on the moon’s surface.

The MIP has a mass of 29 kg, is about the size of a microwave oven, and was designed and assembled in India. After the orbiter ejected it, the probe took about 25 minutes to reach the Moon’s surface. On-board digital cameras made a high resolution movie of the surface during descent, and scientists also conducted measurements with the probe’s mass spectrometer and radar altimeter. Data was beamed back to India via the orbiter, and it is currently being processed and analysed.

Data from the altimeter experiments will be used to refine the instrument in order to control the soft landing of a future probe. Plans are already being prepared for the Chandrayaan-2 to be launched by 2012.

India’s first lunar mission was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the Andhra Pradesh coast on October 22. The launch vehicle was an Indian designed and built rocket that had been previously proven by carrying scientific and commercial payloads to earth orbit, including weather and communications satellites. The cost of this mission is estimated at 3.4 billion rupees (US$78 million). The mission carries five scientific instruments built by India’s technology sector, and six developed cooperatively with foreign nations.

Goals for the orbiter include making a detailed map of the Moon’s chemical make-up and mineral resources, as well as a three-dimensional digital map of the entire surface. The mission will examine the surface for sources of water, and take comparison photos of the light side and dark sides of the surface.

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It is now in a circular orbit 102 kilometres from the Moon. It will stay in this orbit for two years and conduct various experiments to gain a better understanding of the Moon.

According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials, the Moon Impact Probe (MIP), with an Indian flag painted on it, will be dropped late tonight. The MIP has a mass of 29 kg and it will take 20 minutes to reach the moon’s surface. On-board cameras will film the surface during descent.

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Mission engineers last received a signal from the lander on Nov. 2. Phoenix, in addition to shorter daylight, has encountered a dustier sky, more clouds and colder temperatures as the northern Mars summer approaches autumn. The mission exceeded its planned operational life of three months to conduct and return science data.

The project team will be listening carefully during the next few weeks to hear if Phoenix revives and phones home. However, engineers now believe that is unlikely because of the worsening weather conditions on Mars. While the spacecraft’s work has ended, the analysis of data from the instruments is in its earliest stages.

“Phoenix has given us some surprises, and I’m confident we will be pulling more gems from this trove of data for years to come,” said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Launched Aug. 4, 2007, Phoenix landed May 25, 2008, farther north than any previous spacecraft to land on the Martian surface. The lander dug, scooped, baked, sniffed and tasted the Red Planet’s soil. Among early results, it verified the presence of water-ice in the Martian subsurface, which NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter first detected remotely in 2002. Phoenix’s cameras also returned more than 25,000 pictures from sweeping vistas to near the atomic level using the first atomic force microscope ever used outside Earth.

“Phoenix not only met the tremendous challenge of landing safely, it accomplished scientific investigations on 149 of its 152 Martian days as a result of dedicated work by a talented team,” said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Phoenix’s preliminary science accomplishments advance the goal of studying whether the Martian arctic environment has ever been favorable for microbes. Additional findings include documenting a mildly alkaline soil environment unlike any found by earlier Mars missions; finding small concentrations of salts that could be nutrients for life; discovering perchlorate salt, which has implications for ice and soil properties; and finding calcium carbonate, a marker of effects of liquid water.

Phoenix findings also support the goal of learning the history of water on Mars. These findings include excavating soil above the ice table, revealing at least two distinct types of ice deposits; observing snow descending from clouds; providing a mission-long weather record, with data on temperature, pressure, humidity and wind; observations of haze, clouds, frost and whirlwinds; and coordinating with NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to perform simultaneous ground and orbital observations of Martian weather.

“Phoenix provided an important step to spur the hope that we can show Mars was once habitable and possibly supported life,” said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Phoenix was supported by orbiting NASA spacecraft providing communications relay while producing their own fascinating science. With the upcoming launch of the Mars Science Laboratory, the Mars Program never sleeps.”

The University of Arizona leads the Phoenix mission with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin Corporation in Denver. International contributions came from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus in Denmark; the Max Planck Institute in Germany; the Finnish Meteorological Institute; and Imperial College of London.

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The lunar orbit insertion (LOI) began at 4:50 P.M and lasted for 817 seconds (14 minutes). The ground control station at Peenya in Bangalore fired the satellite’s rockets to move it into position. This was considered to be a most critical moment of the entire mission. The satellite has now been placed in a 7,502 km X 500 km elliptical orbit around the moon. Chandrayaan will be lowered to a circular orbit at a distance of 100 km from lunar surface gradually. It will then land the lunar probe on the moon’s surface and plant the flag of India on the moon. ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said everything onboard Chandrayaan-1 is working fine.

With this, India becomes the fifth country to send a spacecraft to Moon. The other countries, which have sent spacecraft to Moon, are the United States, former Soviet Union, Japan and China. Besides, the European Space Agency (ESA), a consortium of 17 countries, has also sent a spacecraft to moon.

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Opaline minerals were first found recently on Mars by Spirit rover in the Gusev crater. The present find points to more widespread occurrence of the minerals in comparatively younger strata of Mars. The find indicates that liquid water might have been present on the surface of Mars for a longer time than previously thought. The previous view was that liquid water disappeared from the Martian surface three billion years ago. Now it is estimated that water could have been present as late as two billion years ago.

The presence of opal not only indicates water, but also that it was there long enough to alter some of the rocks. CRISM, which detected the mineral measures visible and infrared reflection spectra in 544 channels and has 20 times better resolution than previously deployed instruments.

Hydrated minerals such as opal that indicates presence of water is yet another evidence of presence of liquid water on Mars. Opal found on Earth’s surface usually contain 3 – 10% water, but can be as high as 20%. Other water bearing minerals found earlier are phyllosilicates and hydrated sulfates. Presence of liquid water is also suggested by suspected water-sculpted land forms on Mars, such as gullies and river channels. Presently water is present only as ice at both polar caps of Mars.

A number of outcrops of opaline minerals are found as thin layers over large distances, rimming the Valles Marineris canyon. It is expected that Martian explorations for past or present life will have to focus on similar younger terrains with hydrated minerals.

“This is an exciting discovery because it extends the time range for liquid water on Mars, and the places where it might have supported life,” said Scott Murchie, from John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland one of the co-authors.

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The primary payload for this flight was the Trailblazer satellite, which was to have been operated by the United States Air Force, and MDA. Two CubeSats, Pharmasat Risk Evaluation Satellite (PREsat) and Nanosail-D, were also to have been deployed. The CubeSats would have been operated by NASA and Santa Clara University. The space burial capsules, named Explorers and operated by Celestis, were to have intentionally remained bolted to the second stage of the rocket. The remains of several famous individuals were flown, most notably Project Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and actor James Doohan, best known for his role as Montgomery Scott in the science fiction television series Star Trek. Director John Meredyth Lucas, who also worked on Star Trek, had some of his ashes on the flight as well, as did Mareta West an astrogeologist who was responsible for choosing the landing sites for the Apollo missions to the Moon. This is the second consecutive failure of a major orbital space burial mission, following a failed Taurus launch in September 2001. The last successful major orbital space burial was conducted in December 1999, although a single burial capsule was launched aboard the New Horizons spacecraft in 2006.

This launch was originally planned to occur in early 2004, with the TacSat-1 satellite and the Explorers payload. It would have been the maiden flight of the Falcon 1. A number of procurement delays pushed it to 2005, and subsequent issues with the availability of Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg AFB, from where it was originally scheduled to launch, led to the first attempts to launch being made in late 2005. During the second attempted countdown, a faulty valve caused the first stage fuel tank to be deformed, leading to a delay.

In March 2006, a flight which was originally scheduled to be conducted after this one, with the FalconSat-2 spacecraft, was launched as the maiden flight, and ended in failure less than a minute after lift-off due to a fuel leak. This caused delays for all other Falcon launches, and a test flight without a functional payload was added to the schedule in order to ensure that the problems with the rocket had been resolved. This was launched in March 2007, and also failed – this time due to a sequence of events started by human error in setting the fuel ratio for the first stage. Despite the failure to reach orbit, most critical systems were tested, so the third flight was cleared to launch an operational payload.

In the meantime, the satellite that was to replace TacSat-1, TacSat-2, was launched, and TacSat-1 was subsequently cancelled as obsolete. During early 2008, the US Air Force announced that they would replace it with a satellite for a programme called Jumpstart, which would be selected a few weeks before launch. Trailblazer was chosen in late May, over two other options, PnPSat, or a pair of CubeSats. The launch was at that time scheduled for late June, but it was subsequently delayed due to small cracks in one of the rocket’s engines.

Today’s launch followed an eventful countdown, lasting almost to the end of the five hour launch window, with the loading of helium onto the rocket taking longer than expected, and requiring several long holds. Following this, an attempt to launch was made at 03:00 GMT, which resulted in a last-second abort at T-0, just after ignition of the main engine, due to a marginal performance issue with the turbopump. The launch was recycled, and the rocket lifted off 34 minutes later.

This was the first flight of an uprated version of the Merlin engine, which powers the first stage. The new version, named Merlin-1C, features regenerative cooling as opposed to ablative cooling used on the earlier launches. It is believed that the failure of the launch was unrelated to the presence of the new engine, the performance of which was described as “picture-perfect” by Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX.

The next Falcon 1 launch was scheduled to have been launched in September with the Razaksat spacecraft for ATSB of Malaysia, and up to three CubeSats. This will almost certainly be delayed whilst the failure is investigated. It is unclear whether this failure will affect the maiden flight of the larger Falcon 9, currently scheduled for 2009, on a demonstration mission for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services programme. Today’s launch is the 38th orbital launch of 2008, and following the resale and recovery of the AMC-14 satellite, the first outright failure of the year.

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Now Arecibo is facing severe budget cuts which could ultimately close the facility. In an in depth exclusive report, Wikinews examined how much of the observatory’s budget was at risk, and what the possible outcomes could be for the programs currently relying on Arecibo as their main research tool. Wikinews spoke to several individuals closely affiliated with projects and facilities who use significant time at the observatory.

Currently, the NSF funds the operations of Arecibo with just over US$10 million every year. By 2011 they plan to drastically cut that funding to only $4 million a year, nearly 65% less than the current budget. To counter that loss, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill that would authorize NASA to spend at least 2 million dollars of their nearly $21 billion budget to fund portions of Arecibo until 2009. But that still leaves more than half of the loss to be recovered, and if something isn’t done soon the facility will be closed by 2011 — or sooner if additional cuts are made.

Arecibo is 305 meters in diameter and 300 meters tall at its highest point. It also has an on-site remote sensing LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) system to detect light and range of a given object in space. Construction began in 1960 and the observatory officially opened on November 1, 1963. Since then, several projects, programs and discoveries were made possible because of the telescope.

In 1989, the first images of an asteroid named 4769 Castalia were captured using Arecibo. In 1992 Aleksander Wolszczan, an astronomer from Poland used Arecibo to discover pulsar PSR B1257+12 which then led him to discover the first three extrasolar planets in history, and possibly a comet. Scientists with the Near Earth Object Program also use the observatory to track possible meteors and asteroids that have the potential to strike the Earth. Arecibo is also part of the Express Production Real-time e-VLBI Service (EXPReS) project which is aimed at connecting telescopes from Africa, Europe and North and South America to create a 6,000 mile wide telescope. This allows all connected telescopes to observe the exact same spot in the sky giving scientists images 100 times better than any single telescope on Earth. A successful test of this system was completed on May 22.
Artist’s impression of the three extrasolar planets discovered in 1992. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC).
Artist’s impression of the three extrasolar planets discovered in 1992.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC).

Perhaps the most well known use of Arecibo is its ongoing attempt to find and or communicate with extraterrestrial life. The popular distributed computing SETI@home project launched in 1999 (started by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley), uses Arecibo on a daily basis to record radio data. SETI@home users from around the world can then donate computer time to analyze the data for potential artificial signals, and maybe some day find a message from another intelligent civilization.

“If this occurs [budget cuts], all projects using Arecibo would stop, including uncompleted surveys looking for pulsars, mapping Galactic hydrogen and of course our SETI surveys (SETI@home and SERENDIP V),” stated Eric Korpela, the project scientist for SETI@home, to Wikinews. This would also include the NEO Program. Currently the NEO is mandated by Congress to keep a record of all near-Earth objects that are more than 1 kilometer in diameter.

According to Korpela, the cuts began several years ago when United States senators earmarked funds for other observatories located in West Virginia and New Mexico. He says that those actions “diverted money away from the rest of astronomy” causing the NSF to take the shortfall from the Arecibo budget.

“About two years ago, NSF decided that because of additional funding problems Arecibo would have to close in 2011 with substantial budget cuts before then,” added Korpela who also said the he is sure that SETI@home and SERNDIP V could find an alternative science source, but nothing as powerful and as sensitive as Arecibo. Korpela also adds that there is not yet any planned move of SETI@home, and no agreements between them and other observatories.

“I’m certain the both SETI@home and SERENDIP V would find another telescope to use. But no other telescope comes close to the sensitivity of Arecibo, with the next largest telescopes having a factor of 10 less collecting area and therefore a factor of 10 less sensitivity. The same is true for the pulsar searches. For the hydrogen mapping Arecibo has 3 times the angular resolution of the nearest competitors,” added Korpela but also stated that “there currently aren’t any plans” to move SETI@home and that they don’t “have any agreements from any of the telescopes” to host SETI@home; there are several possible telescopes SETI@home could use adds Korpela.
SETI@home logo. Image: SETI@home.
SETI@home logo.
Image: SETI@home.

“Of course we’d like the largest telescopes available if we could get them. Parkes (a 64m telescope in Australia) would be a good candidate. Effelsberg (a 100m dish in Germany) or the 100m Green Bank Telescope in the U.S. would also be good candidates, but as I said much discussion would need to take place before a change could happen,” said Korpela.

In June, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea visited the observatory in an effort to bring awareness to the importance of Arecibo; he called the funding for the facility “gravely inadequate.” He also stated that his wife, and former 2008 U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, supports the need for “basic science”, and notes Hillary’s continued support for a defeated congressional bill that would have given Arecibo the funding it needed.

The bill, named H.R. 2862 ‘Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill’, was rejected by the House of Representatives because “it exceed[ed] the President’s request by $1.4 billion.” The House stated that the need for more funding for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was more important.

“The Administration shares the priority the Senate Committee affords basic research and fundamental science and education at NSF, but is concerned that the bill does not fully support the President’s request,” stated the bill which also added that “the Committee has identified areas, such as facilities oversight, that need increased investment to maintain NSF’s efficient operations” and that the NSF didn’t “provide [a] full request for salaries and expenses that would allow NSF to continue to perform to high standards.”
Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea at Arecibo. Image: NAIC – Arecibo Observatory, a facility of the NSF. Photo by Tony Acevedo.
Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea at Arecibo.
Image: NAIC – Arecibo Observatory, a facility of the NSF. Photo by Tony Acevedo.

A new bill was then resubmitted and reintroduced as H.R. 3737 on October 3, 2007. It is specifically aimed at providing the “National Science Foundation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) utilization of the Arecibo Observatory.”

“[This bill will] ensure that the Arecibo Observatory is fully funded to continue its research on Earth’s ionosphere, continue its research in radio astronomy, and continue research on the solar system; and coordinate with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to ensure that the capabilities of the Arecibo Observatory continue to be available for National Aeronautics and Space Administration research in characterizing and mitigating Near Earth Objects, and other research as needed,” states the Bill.

If Arecibo were to close, Korpela states that it would take only a short time for SETI@home to move its project elsewhere, but that any agreements made with other observatories will take a much longer time to work out. “Setting up the equipment at a new telescope would be a matter of days, arranging an agreement to do so would take much longer. If we can’t find an alternative telescope after an Arecibo shutdown, the project would end once the existing data was analyzed. We’re still hoping that Arecibo will be spared,” added Korpela. He calls for more support of bill H.R. 3737 to continue Arecibo’s science, and SETI@home urges individuals to write to Congress to show support for the bill.

As for the NEO Program, packing up and moving to another location is not possible. There are no other observatories sensitive or large enough to perform the task of tracking near-Earth objects, especially ones at great distances. If Arecibo were to close, the NEO Program, despite a U.S. Congressional mandate and recognition from the Astronomical Science Senior Review Committee, would come to a screeching halt. Wikinews contacted the NSF for a statement, but a Dan MacMillan directed us to the Committee’s report.

“The SR endorses its future discovery potential and archival value. The SR recognizes the significant and unique scientific contributions that the Arecibo Observatory has made to astronomy and astrophysics and it congratulates NAIC and Cornell on operating the facility so effectively,” said the Committee in a 94 page report on the NSF’s budget.

“However, the committee was not persuaded of the primacy of the science program beyond the end of the decade and found that the case for long term support at the present level was not as strong as that for other facilities. The SR recommends that NAIC plan either to close Arecibo or to operate it with a much smaller AST budget. The SR recommends closure after 2011 if the necessary support is not forthcoming. It recommends that operation of the Angel Ramos Visitor Center continue,” added the Committee which also said that “that there were no reliable de-commissioning estimates and recommends that AST engage an independent study to advise on the viability and cost of decommissioning the telescope.”

In an attempt to cover the budget shortfall Arecibo faces, Don Campbell, Professor of Astronomy at Cornell’s Department of Astronomy, who specializes in radio and radar astronomy, tells Wikinews that the university is looking at all possible sources of funding to keep Arecibo open.

“Cornell/NAIC is looking at all possibilities for raising the funds needed to keep the Observatory operating as a forefront institution for research in astronomy and atmospheric sciences. This includes funding from federal agencies, from within Puerto Rico, via international agreements and from private sources,” said Campbell who added that “the NSF’s Division of the Senior Review (SR) panel recommended that NAIC’s budget – NAIC is head quartered at Cornell University and manages the Arecibo – from NSF/AST be reduced from about $10.5M to $8M in FY 2010. It also recommended that there be a further 50% reduction in FY 2011 and that Cornell must find the additional funds needed to operate Arecibo from other sources.”

Campbell also adds that Arecibo is so unique and sensitive, closing it makes no sense.

“Closing Arecibo would be closing the world’s largest and most sensitive single dish radio telescope. It is 4 to 5 times more sensitive, and has a higher resolving power at the same frequencies, than the next largest single dish radio telescope, the 100 m Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope,” said Campbell.

“Arecibo is also, of course, the source of the data that is processed by all the volunteers working with the SETI@home project. Given its relatively small operating budget, closing Arecibo makes no sense,” added Campbell.

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Thirty nine years ago on that date (also a Sunday), the nation was anything but normal. Americans huddled around their TV sets and radios, listening to the almost unintelligible exchange of technical jargon, watching crude network animations, trying desperately to comprehend the unfolding events a quarter of a million miles away. Few realized just how close the mission was to total failure, with only seconds of fuel remaining in the spacecraft.

Then, at 4:53 pm eastern time, after a heart-stopping momentary hush, an eight word message, crisp, clear, and easily discernible, crackled across the void of space and into the homes and businesses of anxiously awaiting Americans. Eight words that, from that day forward, might well have irrefutably defined the course of this nation, its history, and its legacy in terms of “before” and “after.” “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” In the aftermath of Neil Armstrong’s brief declaration, some aspects of life on earth would be changed forever.

During the following twenty one hours, a fantastic drama unfolded as Armstrong set foot on the moon, accompanied a few moments later by his co-pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. A crude black-and-white television transmission allowed earthlings to share in the occasion, as the astronauts collected samples, raised the American flag over lunar soil, and talked with the President via telephone from the Oval Office. Finally they launched their spacecraft back towards their awaiting colleague overhead for the journey home.

Back on earth, other forces, more typical of humanity in all of its futility and flailing, were working hard to undo the stunning success for America that was Apollo 11, along with everything patriotic and good that it represented. Modern academia vastly prefers instead to recall the summer of 1969 with remembrances of “Woodstock,” a four-day tribute to the self absorption and debauchery of the hippie and flower-child movement.

Even in the midst of the massive parades and celebrations that characterized America’s immediate response to the successful Apollo mission, its larger significance as a defining event of the Cold-War escaped the comprehension of many. During the years since, this aspect of the “Space Race” between America and the Soviet Union has been all but erased from consideration. Yet, as an event no less pivotal in its age than was the D-Day invasion of Normandy in World War II, the significance of Project Apollo cannot be overstated.

Ultimately, man’s journey to the moon entailed not just the skill and courage of the three astronauts who flew the mission, but rather was the summation of American technical expertise and commitment to the cause. Thus, the feats of Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong, Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Aldrin, and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins represented a pivotal moment in a life or death struggle against Soviet Russia for technological dominance of the world. It was in that realm, far more than in the arena of the traditional military battle, that the encounters of the Cold War would be fought, and its outcome decided.

Barely a dozen years prior, the gauntlet of this conflict had been thrown down by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. On October 4, 1957, the world was electrified by the Soviet announcement that it had successfully orbited the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. Visible from earth, it sailed dispassionately through the night skies with a menacing silence that at once promised greater horizons for humanity, accompanied by the appalling threat that such a future might be realized in a world under the iron fisted dominion of the Soviet Union.

America’s technological superiority, unquestioned at the close of the Second World War as it ushered in the atomic age, was now seriously in jeopardy. Not only had the Soviets managed to appropriate the secrets of the atomic bomb within five years of its invention, with the advent of Sputnik and the advances in rocketry it represented, they were quite possibly equipped to deliver a nuclear warhead, via intercontinental ballistic missile, to selected targets within the United States.

The future of the entire free world would thus be determined by the arms race, the space race, and ultimately the moon race that ensued. And in the dark days immediately following news of Sputnik, an American win was by no means assured. In truth, the Soviets had every intention of beating America to the moon, having even chosen their premier Cosmonaut, Alexi Leonov, to fly the mission.

However, several catastrophic space-hardware failures during the 1960s eventually rendered their chances for success a virtual impossibility. Meanwhile, America had risen to the occasion, inspired by President John Kennedy’s momentous May 25, 1961 speech in which he challenged the nation to achieve a manned moon landing before the end of the decade.

Apollo 11, derided by the Soviets as technologically insignificant, excessively expensive and indifferent to the suffering of common citizens (an indictment immediately echoed by America’s leftists and eventually accepted and carried by the nation’s liberal media), was nonetheless the crowning jewel of that challenge.

So on that twentieth of July thirty nine years ago, America did indeed realize a decisive victory in the Cold War. American heroism and greatness was on display. Flags were flying then. And they should be flown every July 20 lest we ever forget.

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The report released by the magazine Nature explains the 1984 observation of the unusual shape of Mars terrain in the northern hemisphere against the southern hemisphere.

An asteroid with a body of 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) smashed into the planet some 3.9 billion years ago, creating the vast Borealis basin (measuring 8,500km [5,300 miles] by 10,600km [6,600 miles] across), which occupies nearly 40 per cent of the Martian surface.

The new data has convinced a lot of scientists, but the theory will need further proof before being accepted by the wider scientific community.

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Scientists at NASA or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration claimed that they were “flabbergasted” by their discovery on the possibility that life could grow on Martian soil.

“It is the type of soil you would probably have in your back yard, you know, alkaline. You might be able to grow asparagus in it really well. … It is very exciting for us,” said Sam Kounaves, the lead wet chemist at NASA.

The project did not elaborate any further if there was indeed life on Mars, down to the microbe level and instead stated that their discovery was only preliminary and more analysis will be needed.

There was still no evidence in the soil that “would preclude life,” and instead of an assumption of a toxic environment, Martian soil is actually, “very friendly.”

The discovery was made after the Mars Phoenix Lander scooped up Martian soil for analysis. The lander touched down on Mars on May 25, 2008 and has been conducting several survey projects.

Asteroid slammed into Mars’ northern hemisphere

In other Mars news, An asteroid the size of Pluto slammed into the Northern hemisphere of Mars creating the Borealis basin, based on the latest survey of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Global Surveyor.

The report released by the magazine Nature, explains the 1984 observation of the unusual shape of Mars terrain in the northern hemisphere against the southern hemisphere.

An asteroid with a body of 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) smashed into the planet some 3.9 billion years ago, creating the vast Borealis basin measuring 8,500km (5,300 miles) by 10,600km (6,600 miles) across and occupies nearly 40 per cent of the Martian surface.

The new data is said to have convinced a lot of scientists on the impact scenario but there were still a need to prove the theory further.

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“It is with great pride and a lot of joy that I announce today that we have found proof that this hard bright material is really water ice and not some other substance,” said Peter Smith, the primary investigator for Phoenix, at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

The chunks were left at the bottom of a trench informally called “Dodo-Goldilocks” when Phoenix’s Robotic Arm enlarged that trench on June 15, during the 20th Martian day, or sol, since landing. Several were gone when Phoenix looked at the trench days later. The chunks were visible on June 16, but when Phoenix looked at the trench again on June 19, some of the material had disappeared, implying that it may have evaporated or melted.

“This tells us we’ve got water ice within reach of the arm, which means we can continue this investigation with the tools we brought with us,” said primary investigator for Phoenix’s stereo imager, Mark Lemmon.

Scientists are planning to examine the substance and the soil surrounding it more closely. They plan to test it for signs of organic material and minerals, and hope to find out if the ice was ever a liquid which could have supported microbial life.

In December of 2006, scientists announced that the Mars Global Surveyor captured images of deposits in gullies on the surface of the planet Mars which have been created since the areas were photographed nine years ago. These deposits were believed to be the residue of liquid water breaking out of cliffs and crater walls, carrying sediment downhill through the gullies, and later evaporating. The gullies are located inside the Terra Sirenum crater and the Centauri Montes regions.

In June 2007 the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft discovered ice deposits in the South Pole of Mars that are larger than the state of Texas. Scientists say that there is enough water in the deposits to cover the entire planet with up to 36 feet of water if the ice was to melt.

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“Life is all about information – its replication and processing.” — Professor Paul Davies

A team of scientists from the United States, United Kingdom and the Netherlands have determined that chemicals in a meteorite that form the building blocks of DNA and RNA had formed before the meteorite fell to Earth. In a paper published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters on June 15, the team documents an examination of molecules found in the Murchison meteorite, fragments of which landed near the village of Murchison, Victoria in Australia in 1969.

Previous studies had identified amino acids and sugars in the meteorite that were believed to have formed in space. The samples the current study examined included molecules of uracil and xanthine, which belong to the class of nucleobases – chemicals which, when combined with sugars, form a crucial part of DNA and RNA. These molecules contained a form of carbon, known as carbon 13, in much higher concentrations than would be expected if they had come from contamination through exposure from Earth sources. The study, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging, had not been undertaken before due to its laborious and time-consuming nature – the low concentration of nucleobases in the meteorite meant that 15 grams of space rock had to be processed to get a large enough sample, compared to the milligrams required for previous studies.

Co-author Dr Zita Martins, a chemist and astrobiologist from Imperial College London, believes their findings suggest that some of the chemicals that generated life on Earth came from meteorite bombardments. “We are not saying that only meteorites contributed to the building blocks of life,” she said, “but it’s a very great contribution.” Other scientists, however, do not believe that meteoritic chemicals played such a significant role. According to Emeritus Professor Robert Shapiro of New York University, “They’re a subunit of a subunit of DNA. My opinion is that their amounts were utterly unimportant and insignificant.”

Wikinews contacted Professor Paul Davies, a physicist and astrobiologist presently at Arizona State University, about the recent findings. While he agreed with the findings, he said that he thinks such discoveries are “a red herring in the origin of life story – a hangover from the Miller-Urey experiment. Life is all about information – its replication and processing.”

Backgrounder on Panspermia

Panspermia (Gk. πάς/πάν (pas/pan, all) σπέρμα (sperma, seed)) is the hypothesis that “seeds” of life exist already all over the Universe, that life on Earth may have originated through these “seeds”, and that they may deliver or have delivered life to other habitable bodies.

Hypothesis

The first known mention of the idea was in the writings of the 5th century BC Greek philosopher Anaxagoras. The panspermia hypothesis was dormant until 1743 when it appeared posthumously in the writings of Benoît de Maillet, who suggested that germs from space had fallen into the oceans and grown into fish and later amphibians, reptiles and then mammals. In the nineteenth century it was again revived in modern form by several scientists, including Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1834), Kelvin (1871),  Hermann von Helmholtz (1879) and, somewhat later, by Svante Arrhenius (1903). Panspermia can be said to be either interstellar (between star systems) or interplanetary (between planets in the same star system). Mechanisms for panspermia include radiation pressure (Arrhenius) and lithopanspermia (microorganisms in rocks) (Kelvin). Directed panspermia from space to seed Earth (Orgel and Crick, 1973) or sent from Earth to seed other solar systems (Mautner 1979, 1997) has also been proposed.

There is as yet no compelling evidence to support or contradict it, although the majority view holds that panspermia — especially in its interstellar form — is unlikely given the challenges of survival and transport in space. One new twist to the theory by engineer Thomas Dehel (2006) proposes that plasmoids ejected from the magnetosphere may move the few spores lifted from the Earth’s atmosphere with sufficient speed to cross interstellar space to other systems before the spores can be destroyed.

Sir Fred Hoyle (1915–2001) and Chandra Wickramasinghe (born 1939) were important proponents of the hypothesis who further contended that lifeforms continue to enter the Earth’s atmosphere, and may be responsible for epidemic outbreaks, new diseases, and the genetic novelty necessary for macroevolution. This extension has also been adopted by proponents of Cosmic ancestry.

Panspermia per se does not remove the need for life to originate somewhere, but does extend the time frame and environments available. Similarly, it does not necessarily suggest that life originated only once and subsequently spread through the entire Universe, but instead that once started it may be able to spread to other environments suitable for replication. (In the strongest version of panspermia, life never originated, but always existed — this axiom would require amending the big bang theory.) The mechanisms proposed for interstellar panspermia are hypothetical and currently unproven. Interplanetary transfer of material is well documented, as evidenced by meteorites of Martian origin found on Earth. However, claims that these carry evidence of extraterrestrial lifeforms — let alone viable dormant lifeforms — have either been proven unfounded as a result of terrestrial contamination, misinterpretation, or hoaxing; or are currently hotly disputed.

Interestingly, space probes may also be a viable transport mechanism for interplanetary cross-pollination in our solar system (or even beyond). However, NASA has implemented strict abiotic procedures to avoid planetary contamination.

Evidence

Until a large portion of the galaxy is surveyed for signs of life or contact is made with other civilizations, the panspermia hypothesis in its fullest meaning will remain difficult to test. There is, however, circumstantial evidence for exogenesis:

The Precambrian fossil record indicates that life appeared soon after the Earth was formed. This would imply that life appears within several hundred million years when conditions are favorable.

* Generally accepted scientific estimates of the age of the Earth place its formation (along with the rest of the Solar system) at about 4.55 Ga.
* The oldest known sedimentary rocks are somewhat altered Hadean formations from the southern tip of Akilia island, West Greenland. These rocks have been dated as no younger than 3.85 Ga. The Greenland sediments include banded iron beds, thought to be the result of oxygen released by photosynthetic organisms combining with dissolved iron to form insoluble iron oxides. Carbon deposits in the rock show low levels of carbon-13. Kerogen deposits (derived from organic matter) are isotopically light (i.e. more negative δ13C values) which is indicative of photosynthesis (see Schidlowski, 1988). However, this interpretation is under doubt as the Akilia rocks have undergone high-temperature metamorphosis which is known to be fractionating itself (Gilmour & Wright, 1997). There is also a lack of corroborating sulphur isotope fractionation (Nisbet, 2000). Both the sedimentary origin and the carbon content of the rocks have been questioned (Lepland et al, 2005).
* Fossilized stromatolites or bacterial aggregates, the oldest of which are dated at 3.5 billion years old, suggest that photosynthesis might be exogenic. The bacteria that form stromatolites, cyanobacteria, are photosynthetic. Most models of the origin of life have the earliest organisms obtaining energy from reduced chemicals, with the more complex mechanisms of photosynthesis evolving later.
* During the Late Heavy Bombardment of the Earth’s Moon about 3.9 Ga (as evidenced by Apollo lunar samples) impact intensities may have been up to 100x those immediately before or after (Cohen et al., 2000). From analysis of lunar melts and observations of similar cratering on Mars’ highlands, Kring and Cohen (2002) suggest that the LHB was caused by asteroid impacts that affected the entire inner solar system. This is likely to have effectively sterilised Earth’s entire planetary surface, including submarine hydrothermal systems that would be otherwise protected (Cohen et al., 2000).
* The best estimate of the origin of the Universe, from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, is 13700 million years ago (13.7 Ga). However, at least one subsequent cycle of star birth/death is required for nucleosynthesis of the C, N and O essential to life, and this process may have taken up to several Ga to produce sufficient quantities (Gilmour et al., 1997). This puts the earliest possible emergence of life in the Universe at ~12.7 Ga, although there is large uncertainty in the length of the necessary time period.

If life originated on Earth it did so in a window of at most 1 Ga (4.55 Ga to 3.5 Ga), most plausibly 400 Ma (3.9 Ga to 3.5 Ga), and possibly <100 Ma (3.9 Ga to 3.85 Ga) if the Greenland (3.85 Ga) isotope signal is correct. If life originated elsewhere, the window expands to ~9 Ga. That full length of time might not be available on a single planet, but the Earth has provided a life-friendly environment for at least 3.5 Ga.

Extremophiles

Evidence has accumulated that some bacteria and archaea are more resistant to extreme conditions than previously recognized, and may be able to survive for very long periods of time even in deep space. These extremophiles could possibly travel in a dormant state between environments suitable for ongoing life such as planetary surfaces.

* Bacteria and more complex organisms have been found in more extreme environments than thought possible, such as black smokers or oceanic volcanic vents. Some extremophile bacteria have been found living at temperatures above 100 °C; A study revealed that a fraction of bacteria survive heating pulses up to 250 degrees C in vacuum, while similar heating at normal atmospheric pressure leads to the total sterilization of samples. Other bacteria can thrive in strongly caustic environments, and others at extreme pressures 11 km under the ocean.
* Semi-dormant bacteria found in ice cores over a mile beneath the Antarctic lends credibility to the idea that the components of life might survive on the surface of icy comets.
* There are bacteria that do not rely on photosynthesis for energy. In particular, endolithic bacteria using chemosynthesis have been found inside rocks and in subterranean lakes.
* Deinococcus radiodurans is a radioresistant bacterium that can survive high radiation levels.
* Dormant bacteria have been isolated from insects in amber 10s Ma old.
* Recent experiments suggest that if bacteria were somehow sheltered from the radiation of space, perhaps inside a thick meteoroid, they could survive dormant for millions of years.
* Duplicating the harsh conditions of cold interstellar space in their laboratory, NASA scientists have created primitive cells that mimic the membranous structures found in all living things. These chemical compounds may have played a part in the origin of life.

Spores

Spores are another potential vector for transporting life through inhospitable and inimical environments, such as the depths of interstellar space. Spores are produced as part of the normal life cycle of many plants, algae, fungi and some protozoans, and some bacteria produce endospores or cysts during times of stress. These structures may be highly resilient while metabolically inactive, and some can function when favorable conditions are restored after exposure to radiation, temperature extremes, desiccation, or other conditions fatal to the parent organism.

Wider range of potential habitats for life

Another line of evidence comes from research that shows there are many more potential habitats for life than Earth-like planets.

* The presence of past liquid water on Mars, suggested by river-like formations on the red planet, was confirmed by the Mars Exploration Rover missions. In December of 2006, Michael C. Malin of Malin Space Science Systems published a paper in the journal Science which argued that his camera (the Mars Observer Camera) had found evidence suggesting water was occasionally flowing on the surface of Mars within the last five years.
* Water oceans might exist on Europa, Enceladus, Triton and perhaps other moons in the Solar system. Even moons that are now frozen ice balls might earlier have been melted internally by heat from radioactive rocky cores. Bodies like this may be extremely common throughout the Universe. Lake Vostok in Antarctica, which has been sealed for millions of years, and which may contain unusual life or be sterile, is a possible testing ground for ways to explore these moons.
* Bacteria have been discovered living within warm rock deep in the Earth’s crust.

Evidence of extraterrestrial life

Although clearly speculative, the majority view in the scientific community seems to be an acceptance that the existence of life elsewhere in the Universe is highly probable due to the sheer number of potential sites where life could take hold. Today’s estimates of values for the Drake Equation suggest the probability of intelligent life in a single galaxy like our own Milky Way may be much smaller than once was thought while the sheer numbers of galaxies in our Universe make it seem inevitable somewhere nevertheless. Space travel over such vast distances would be limited to below the speed of light by the theory of relativity alone, taking such an incredibly long time to the outside observer, with vast amounts of energy required. Nevertheless small groups of researchers like the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) continue to monitor the skies for transmissions from within our own galaxy at least.

Moreover, the expanded Drake equation of astrobiological proponents like the Rare Earth hypothesists reduces this probability further still. They argue that the conditions required for the evolution of complex multicellular life here on Earth – and therefore by extension intelligent life – may be exceedingly rare in the universe whilst simultaneously conceding that simple single-celled microorganisms might well be abundant.

Still under investigation/undetermined

* The Red Rain of Kerala. In 2003, Satyanarayana et al. proposed that the rain was coloured red by a dust cloud from the Persian Gulf.  Their paper was then published in Aerosol Science and Technology. Dr. Godfrey Louis has analyzed the dust and reported finding spores that he has hypothesised are of extraterrestrial origin. In April 2006, Louis published his findings in Astrophysics and Space Science. Louis claimed that the red particles “reproduce plentifully”, and that they did so even in “water superheated to nearly 300 °C”.

* A meteorite originating from Mars known as ALH84001 was shown in 1996 to contain microscopic structures resembling small terrestrial nanobacteria. When the discovery was announced, many immediately conjectured that the fossils were the first true evidence of extraterrestrial life — making headlines around the world, and even prompting U.S. President Bill Clinton to make a formal televised announcement to mark the event. As of 2003 however, most experts agree that these are not indicative of life, but may instead be formed abiotically from organic molecules. It has not yet conclusively been shown how they formed and recent advances in nanobe research has made the find interesting again.

* An Indian and British team of researchers led by Chandra Wickramasinghe reported evidence at the 46th annual meeting of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) in San Diego, California on April 29, 2001 that air samples gathered from the stratosphere by the Indian Space Research Organization contained clumps of living cells. Wickramsinghe calls this “unambiguous evidence for the presence of clumps of living cells in air samples from as high as 41 kilometers, well above the local tropopause, above which no air from lower down would normally be transported”. A reaction report at NASA Ames indicated skepticism towards the premise that Earth life cannot travel to and reside at such altitudes, but noted that some microbes can remain dormant for millions of years, possibly long enough for an interplanetary voyage. Max Bernstein, a space scientist associated with SETI and Ames, argues the results should be interpreted with caution, noting that “it would strain one’s credulity less to believe that terrestrial organisms had somehow been transported upwards than to assume that extraterrestrial organisms are falling inward”.

* On May, 2001, two researchers from the University of Naples claimed to have found live extraterrestrial bacteria inside a meteorite. Geologist Bruno D’Argenio and molecular biologist Giuseppe Geraci claim the bacteria were wedged inside the crystal structure of minerals, but were resurrected when a sample of the rock was placed in a culture medium. They believe that the bacteria were not terrestrial because they survived when the sample was sterilized at very high temperature and washed with alcohol. They also claim that the bacteria’s DNA is unlike any on Earth. They presented a report on May 11, 2001, concluding that this is the first evidence of extraterrestrial life, documented in its genetic and morphological properties. Some of the bacteria they discovered were found inside meteorites that have been estimated to be over 4.5 billion years old, and were determined to be related to modern day Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus pumilus bacteria on Earth but appears to be a different strain.

* Narlikar et al. (2003) took air samples at 41 km over Hyderabad, India — above the tropopause where mixing from the lower atmosphere is unexpected — from which rod and coccoid bacteria were isolated. Two bacterial and one fungal species were later independently isolated from these filters which were identified as Bacillus simplex, Staphylococcus pasteuri and Engyodontium album respectively (Wainwright, 2003).

The experimental procedure suggested that these were not the result of laboratory contamination, although similar isolation experiments at separate laboratories were unsuccessful. That these are common terrestrial organisms is not necessarily contraindicative of panspermia, since a prediction of the hypothesis is that life throughout the Universe is derived from the same ancestral stock. Assuming they are not contaminants, did the micro-organisms come from the Earth or space? That there were no volcanic eruptions — the only known way for terrestrial particles to mix up beyond the tropopause — prior to sampling suggests against a terrestrial source. In either case, Wainright (2003) points out that some part of the panspermia hypothesis is validated: either terrestrial micro-organisms are indeed derived from space, or they are capable of contaminating our local space in a viable form. Measuring the isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in the micro-organisms from the stratosphere could reveal whether they come from Earth or space.

* Of three biological experiments on the Mars lander Viking, two gave results that were initially indicative of life. However, the similar results from heated controls, how the release of indicative gas tapered off, and the lack of organic molecules in soil samples all suggest that the results were the result of an abiotic chemical reaction rather than biological metabolism. Later experiments showed that terrestrial clays could reproduce the results of the two positive Viking experiments. Despite this, some of the Viking experiments’ designers remain convinced that they are diagnostic for life.

Widely discounted

* A NASA research group found a small number of Streptococcus mitis bacteria living inside the camera of the Surveyor 3 spacecraft when it was brought back to Earth by Apollo 12. They believed that the bacteria survived since the time of the craft’s launch to the moon. However, these reports are no longer tenable: see Reports of Streptococcus mitis on the moon.

* Over the past century thousands of people have reported UFO sightings in countries all over the world. Nevertheless, these reports have caused disagreements among experts as to their validity, and no widely accepted evidence has yet been published in mainstream scientific writings to suggest that intelligent alien species have ever visited the Earth.

Falsified

* In 1962, Claus et al. announced the discovery of ‘organised elements’ embedded in the Orgueil meteorite. These elements were subsequently shown to be either pollens (including that of ragwort) and fungal spores (Fitch & Anders, 1963) that had contaminated the sample, or crystals of the mineral olivine.

* In 2002, the discovery of glycine (the simplest amino acid) in interstellar clouds was reported. Subsequent investigation has refuted these claims.

Hoaxes

* A separate fragment of the Orgueil meteorite (kept in a sealed glass jar since its discovery) was found in 1965 to have a seed capsule embedded in it, whilst the original glassy layer on the outside remained undisturbed. Despite great initial excitement, the seed was found to be that of a European Juncaceae or Rush plant that had been glued into the fragment and camouflaged using coal dust. The outer ‘fusion layer’ was in fact glue. Whilst the perpetrator of this hoax is unknown, it is thought he sought to influence the 19th century debate on spontaneous generation — rather than panspermia — by demonstrating the transformation of inorganic to biological matter.

Objections to panspermia and exogenesis

* Life as we know it requires heavy elements carbon, nitrogen and oxygen (C, N and O, respectively) to exist at sufficient densities and temperatures for the chemical reactions between them to occur. These conditions are not widespread in the Universe, so this limits the distribution of life as an ongoing process. First, the elements C, N and O are only created after at least one cycle of star birth/death: this is a limit to the earliest time life could have arisen. Second, densities of elements sufficient for the formation of more complex molecules necessary to life (such as amino acids) only occur in molecular dust clouds (109–1012 particles/m³), and (following their collapse) in solar systems. Third, temperatures must be lower than those in stars (elements are stripped of electrons: a plasma state) but higher than in interstellar space (reaction rates are too low). This restricts ongoing life to planetary environments where heavy elements are present at high densities, so long as temperatures are sufficient for plausible reaction rates. Note this does not restrict dormant forms of life to these environments, so this argument only contradicts the widest interpretation of panspermia — that life is ongoing and is spread across many different environments throughout the Universe — and presupposes that any life needs those elements, which the proponents of alternative biochemistries do not consider certain.

* Space is a damaging environment for life, as it would be exposed to radiation, cosmic rays and stellar winds. Studies of bacteria frozen in Antarctic glaciers have shown that DNA has a half-life of 1.1 million years under such conditions, suggesting that while life may have potentially moved around within the Solar System it is unlikely that it could have arrived from an interstellar source. Environments may exist within meteors or comets that are somewhat shielded from these hazards.

* Bacteria would not survive the immense heat and forces of an impact on Earth — no conclusions (whether positive or negative) have yet been reached on this point. However most of the heat generated when a meteor enters the Earth’s atmosphere is carried away by ablation and the interiors of freshly landed meteorites are rarely heated much and are often cold. For example, a sample of hundreds of nematode worms on the space shuttle Columbia survived its crash landing from 63 km inside a 4 kg locker, and samples of already dead moss were not damaged. Though this is not a very good example, being protected by the man-made locker and possibly pieces of the shuttle, it lends some support to the idea that life could survive a trip through the atmosphere. The existence of Martian meteorites and Lunar meteorites on Earth suggests that transfer of material from other planets to Earth happens regularly.

* Occam’s Razor implies that when developing a hypothesis, we should avoid making evidentially unsupported presumptions about things if at all possible. See heuristic arguments. From this perspective, geogenesis appears to be the default assumption when compared with panspermia or exogenesis. The former assumes a single step: that life originated on Earth, where it is now commonly observed, excluding the presumption that life formed elsewhere, in places where it has never been observed before. Geogenesis eliminates the unsupported presumption of life existing beyond the Earth, but requires a lot to happen in a relatively short time frame in order for life to arise. Exogenesis allows for a longer period of time than could be offered on Earth. Given that an understanding of life’s emergence remains speculative, however, the perception of which presumption (life beyond Earth or life emerging rapidly) is preferable can be less than clear.

* Supporters of exogenesis also argue that on a larger scale, for life to emerge in one place in the Universe and subsequently spread to other planets would be simpler than similar life emerging separately on different planets. Thus, finding any evidence of extraterrestrial life similar to ours would lend credibility to exogenesis. However, this again assumes that the emergence of life in the entire Universe is rare enough as to limit it to one or few events or origination sites. Exogenesis still requires life to have originated from somewhere, most probably some form of geogenesis. Given the immense expanse of the entire Universe, there is a higher probability that there exists (or has existed) another Earth-like planet that has yielded life (geogenesis) than not. This explanation is more preferred under Occam’s Razor than exogenesis since it theorizes that the creation of life is a matter of probability and can occur when the correct conditions are met rather than in exogenesis that assumes it is a singular event or that Earth did not meet those conditions on its own. In other words, exogenesis theorizes only one or few origins of life in the Universe, whereas geogenesis theorizes that it is a matter of probability depending on the conditions of the celestial body. Consider that even the most rare events on Earth can happen multiple times and independent of one another. However, since to date no extraterrestrial life has been confirmed, both theories still suffer from lack of information and too many unidentified variables.

Directed Panspermia

A second prominent proponent of panspermia was the late Nobel prize winner Professor Francis Crick, OM FRS, who along with Leslie Orgel proposed the theory of directed panspermia in 1973. This suggests that the seeds of life may have been purposely spread by an advanced extraterrestrial civilization. Crick argues that small grains containing DNA, or the building blocks of life, fired randomly in all directions is the best, most cost effective strategy for seeding life on a compatible planet at some time in the future. The strategy might have been pursued by a civilization facing catastrophic annihilation, or hoping to terraform planets for later colonization. Later, after biologists had proposed that an “RNA world” might be involved in the origin of life, Crick noted that he had been overly pessimistic about the chances of life originating on Earth.

Directed panspermia in reverse, from Earth to new solar systems, has been proposed to expand life in space. For example, microbial payloads launched by solar sails at speeds up to 0.0001 c (30,000 m/s) would reach targets at 10 to 100 light-years in 0.1 million to 1 million years. Fleets of microbial capsules can be aimed at clusters of new stars in star-forming clouds where they may land on planets, or captured by asteroids and comets and later delivered to planets. Payloads may contain extremophiles for diverse environments and cyanobacteria similar to early microorganisms. Hardy multicellular organisms (rotifer cysts) may be included to induce higher evolution.

The probability of hitting the target zone can be calculated from P(target) = \frac{A(target)}{\pi (dy)^2} = \frac{a r(target)^2 v^2}{(tp)d^4} where A(target) is the cross-section of the target area, dy is the positional uncertainty at arrival; a – constant (depending on units), r(target) is the radius of the target area; v the velocity of the probe; (tp) the targeting precision (arcsec/yr); and d the distance to the target (all units in SIU). Guided by high-resolution astrometry of 1×10−5 arcsec/yr, almost nearby target stars (Alpha PsA, Beta Pictoris) can be seeded by milligrams of launched microbes; while seeding the Rho Ophiochus star-forming cloud requires hundreds of kilograms of dispersed capsules. The figure shows the launching of solar sail ships with effective thicknesses that will achieve final velocities as shown. The figure also shows the dispersion and capture of the microbial payload at the target solar system.

Directed panspermia is altruistic and may be motivated by life-centered “panbiotic ethics” that aims to secure and propagate our form of gene/protein organic life, and to establish life as a controlling force in nature.

Theoretically, by humans traveling to other celestial bodies such as the moon, there is a chance that they carry with them microorganisms or other organic materials ubiquitous on Earth, thus raising the curious possibility that we can seed life on other planetary bodies. The same can be said for unmanned probes manufactured on Earth. This is a concern among space researchers who try to prevent Earth contamination from distorting data, especially in regards to finding possible extraterrestrial life. Even the best sterilization techniques can not guarantee that potentially invasive biologic or organic materials will not be unintentionally carried along. So far, however, in the limited amount of space exploration conducted by humans, “terrestrial pollution” does not appear to be a problem although no concrete studies have investigated this. The harsh environments encountered throughout the rest of the solar system so far do not seem to support complex terrestrial life. However, it should be noted that matter exchange in form of meteor impacts has existed and will exist in the solar system even without human intervention. As evidence, some argue that anomalies found within Martian meteorite ALH 84001 indicate that bacteria could travel from planet to planet without intelligent help.

Deliberate directed panspermia would seed space objects. The securing of future life would need to balance against interference with science. This interference can be minimized by targeting remote solar systems where life would not have evolved yet. Seeding a few hundred young solar systems would secure future life while leaving billions of stars pristine for exploration.

There exists speculation on a connection to the Titius-Bode Law, arguing that Earth may have received seeds of life by directed panspermia, because the extraterrestrial senders knew that Earth belonged to a solar system with stable Titius-Bode structure. See: External Link “Directed Panspermia and Titius-Bode”

Recent Experiment

After enduring a 12-day orbital mission and a fiery reentry, an unmanned spacecraft, Foton-M3, awaits retrieval in a field in Kazakhstan. The 5,500-pound capsule, seven-feet in diameter, housed experiments testing the lithopanspermia theory. The capsule contained, among other things, lichen that were exposed to the radiation of space. Scientists also strapped basalt and granite disks riddled with cyanobacteria to the capsule’s heat shield to see if the microorganisms could survive the brutal conditions of reentry. Alas, this batch didn’t arrive alive but the scientists believe that it was at a disadvantage.

“When compared to a real meteorite,” says Rene Demets, the European Space Agency’s coordinator for space biological experiments for this mission, “the heat penetrates quite deeply into our test samples”.

Panspermia References

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A month before Obama made this stereotypical and plainly false assertion, Boston University professor Rebekah Levine Coley, in a comprehensive study on the black family, found that black fathers who aren’t in the home are much more likely to sustain regular contact with their children than absentee white fathers, or for that matter, fathers of any other ethnic group. The study is not an obscure study buried in the thick pages of a musty academic journal. It was widely cited in a feature article on black fathers in the May 19, 2008 issue of Newsweek. There was no excuse then to spout this myth. The facts are totally contrary to Obama’s knock.

But then again, this kind of over the top, sweeping talk about alleged black father irresponsibility from Obama isn’t new. In stump speeches, he’s pounded black men for their alleged father dereliction, irresponsibility and negligence. Whether Obama is trying to shore up his family values credentials with conservatives, or feels the need to vent personal anger from the pain and longing from being raised without a father, or criticizes out of a genuine concern about the much media-touted black family breakup is anybody’s guess. But Obama clearly is fixated on the ever-popular notion of the absentee black father. And that fixation for whatever reason is fed by a mix of truth, half truths and outright distortion.

Obama commits the cardinal error that every critic from the legions of sociologists, family experts, politicians and morals crusader Bill Cosby who have hectored black men for being father derelict have made. He omits the words “some,” “those,” or “the offenders” before black fathers. Instead, he makes, or at least gives the impression, that all, or most, black men aren’t in the home, and are irresponsible. That being the case ipso facto they are the cause for the much fingered crime-drugs-violence-gross underachievement syndrome that young black males are supposedly eternally locked into.

Obama presents absolutely no evidence to back up this devastating indictment. The worst case estimate is that slightly less than half of black children live in fatherless homes. But that’s only a paper figure. When income, education, individual background, and middle-class status are factored in the gap between black and white children who live in intact, two-parent households is much narrower.

This points to the single greatest reason for the higher number of black children who live in one-parent households. That reason is poverty. A 2007 study noted that a black father’s ability to financially contribute the majoor support in the home is the major determinant of whether he remains in the home. That’s no surprise considering that despite changing gender values and emphasis society still dumps the expectation and burden on men to be the principal breadwinner and financial provider. Put bluntly, men and the notion of manhood are still mainly defined by their ability to bring home the bacon. A man who falls short of that standard is considered a failure and loser.

The chronic near Great Depression levels of unemployment, not to mention rampant job discrimination, endemic failing public schools, and stigma of a criminal record virtually condemn many young black men to wear the tag of societal failures as men and fathers. Obama in his rap against black men as fathers says nothing about the economic devasation that drives many black men from the home or prevents them from being in the home in the first place.

Obama, undoubtedly is well intentioned in his criticism of black family problems and certainly doesn’t mean to slander all, or even most black men, as derelict, laggards and slackers as fathers. Obama, as Cosby and others who beat up on black males for alleged father dereliction, would almost certainly publicly bristle at criticism that he takes the worst of the worst behavior of some black men and publicly hurls that out as the warped standard of black America. Yet that’s precisely what he’s done. And since every utterance by him is instant news and is taken as fact by legions of supporters and admirers, that makes his fan of stereotypes about black men even more painful.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book is The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Decides the Race to the White House.

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Images taken by the lander’s camera shows that the robotic arm has dumped a large portion of soil over the TEGA, but it failed to register any soil which might have passed through the screens leading into the analyzer. The screen is designed to let through particles up to one-millimeter (0.04 inch) across while keeping out larger particles, in order to prevent clogging a funnel pathway to a tiny oven inside. An infrared beam crossing the pathway checks whether particles are entering the instrument and breaking the beam. It is now believed that the particles are either too large to pass through the screen, or the soil is too clumpy.

“I think it’s the cloddiness of the soil and not having enough fine granular material. In the future, we may prepare the soil by pushing down on the surface with the arm before scooping up the material to break it up, then sprinkle a smaller amount over the door,” said Ray Arvidson of Washington University located in St. Louis, Missouri. Arvidson is the Phoenix team’s science lead researcher for Saturday and digging czar for Phoenix’s mission.

NASA also plans to use a shaker inside the TEGA to shake any material or samples longer than previously planned in an attempt to break up the larger particles and clumps. Phoenix already utilized this method on Friday June 6, shaking the soil for five minutes before dumping it onto the screen. NASA plans to tell Phoenix to shake the material a little longer in order for the soil to be tested.

While scientists ponder ways to fix the issue, TEGA will not be analyzing any samples. Instead Phoenix is expected to have completed tasks today such as horizontally extending a trench where the lander dug two practice scoops earlier this week, and taking additional images of a small pile of soil that was scooped up and dropped onto the surface during the second of those practice digs.

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“This first touch allows us to utilize the Robotic Arm accurately. We are in a good situation for the upcoming sample acquisition and transfer,” stated Phoenix’s surface mission manager from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, David Spencer.

Scientists named the initial impression Yeti in an area they describe as ‘The King of Hearts’. NASA has decided to name the various tasks and operations performed by Phoenix after fairy tale and mythological characters.

On Friday May 30, 2008, the same camera captured images of what appears to be ice under the lander. Scientists, who named the exposed area Snow Queen, say that as Phoenix landed the exhaust from its thrusters cleared away a three- to four-inch layer of Martian soil which exposed a flat layer of a white substance that NASA says could be ice. The image shows the white layer which is shiny and smooth. Scientists expect to find more of the alleged ice when Phoenix begins its digging mission not far from the initial test dig.

“What we see in the images is in agreement with the notion that it may be ice, and we suspect we will see the same thing in the digging area,” stated Uwe Keller, Robotic Arm Camera lead scientist for Phoenix.

Phoenix is searching for evidence of water and microbial life on Mars. Its mission is to determine Mars’s ability or inability to host life and hold water. The Phoenix lander uses a robotic arm to dig through the protective top soil layer to the alleged water ice below and ultimately bring both soil and water ice to the lander platform for sophisticated scientific analysis.

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This is the third Space Shuttle mission of 2008. STS-124 is the second of three missions to assemble the Japanese Experiment Module, also known as Kibo. The JEM Pressurised Module (JEM PM or JPM) is the largest laboratory module of the International Space Station, and one of the largest payloads ever launched by the Space Shuttle. The main Japanese robot arm, or RMS, will also be launched on this mission. Discovery’s mission is scheduled to last for fourteen days, however it can be extended by two days if necessary. Three spacewalks, or EVAs, are planned to be conducted.

STS-124 has a crew of seven astronauts; Mission Commander Mark E. Kelly, Pilot Kenneth Ham, Mission specialists Karen L. Nyberg, Ronald J. Garan, Michael E. Fossum and Akihiko Hoshide, and Expedition 17 crewmember Gregory Chamitoff. All crewmembers are American, except Hoshide, who is Japanese. The astronauts were awoken at 11:30 GMT on launch day, and began preparations for their launch. This is the first spaceflight for Ham, Nyberg, Garan, Hoshide and Chamitoff, the second for Fossum, and the third for Kelly. The launch coincides with Kelly’s father’s birthday.

Preparations for launch had been underway for several months. The External Tank arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in late March. Following tests in a checkout cell, it was mated with two solid rocket boosters which had been assembled on a Mobile Launch Platform. Discovery was then rolled from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building for mating with the External Tank and boosters. Rollover occurred in late April, and was followed by rollout to the launch pad about a week later.

The Kibo pressurised module arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in May 2003 by ship. It was then moved to the Space Station Processing Facility. Electrical interface tests with the Harmony node were conducted in August 2003. At the end of April 2008, the module was placed in a transportation canister, and moved to the launch pad. The payload arrived at the launch pad about a week ahead of the Shuttle. Once Discovery arrived at the launch pad, the module was placed into Discovery’s payload bay. Owing to the size of the payload, there was no room in Discovery’s’ payload bay for the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), a safety device used primarily to inspect the Shuttle Orbiter’s heat sheild. As a result of this, Endeavour left its OBSS at the International Space Station, during the last Shuttle Mission, STS-123. Discovery’s crew will collect this during an EVA.

Fuelling of Discovery’s External Tank in preparation for launch began at 11:50 GMT. By 12:50, it had been confirmed that initial tests on Engine Cutoff (ECO) sensors in the External Tank had been conducted successfully. ECO sensor failures had caused a number of delays to recent Shuttle launch attempts, and STS-124 is the first mission to use a modified tank, which is intended to eliminate such faults. At the time at which tanking began, weather forecasters predicted an 80 percent chance of acceptable conditions at the scheduled launch time. Fuelling was completed, and topping up of cryogenic propellent began, at 15:36. In addition to the ECO sensor modifications, this was the first mission to use an External Tank manufactured after the Columbia accident in 2003, and therefore the first tank to have all safety enhancements built into it, rather than retrofitted.

The terminal countdown resumed after a planned hold at T-3 hours, at 17:07 GMT. Crew walkout from the Operations and Checkout building at the Kennedy Space Center occurred at 17:12. Following walkout, the crew boarded a bus known as the “astrovan”, which was used to transport them to the launch pad. The crew arrived at the launch pad at 17:31, and began boarding Discovery at 17:38. As Mission Commander, Mark Kelly was the first to board the orbiter. He was followed by Chamitoff at 17:42, Ham at 17:52, Fossum at 17:55, Nyberg at 18:08 and Hoshide at 18:11. Ron Garan was the last to board the orbiter at 18:21. Pad technicians known as the closeout crew, assisted the astronauts with boarding the Shuttle, and getting strapped in. The pad technicians were cleared to close the orbiter’s access hatch at 19:02 GMT, and the hatch door was closed two minutes later at 19:04. Sealing the hatch was completed at 19:54.

A scheduled ten-minute hold at T-20 minutes began at 19:47 GMT. During this hold, the closeout crew put thermal insulation plugs into screwholes on the orbiter’s hatch, removed protective covers, and disassembled the white room, a collapsible structure at the end of the crew access arm which is used to access the spacecraft. The countdown resumed at 19:57. At that time, no problems were being worked.

The final built in hold, at T-9 minutes and lasting for 45 minutes and 12 seconds, began at 20:08. During this hold, flight controllers set the exact launch time to be 21:02:12 GMT, and confirmed that the launch window would end at 21:08:59 GMT. The countdown was set to resume at 20:53:12. Shortly before the end of the hold, the launch director described conditions as a “gorgeous day to launch”, and wished the crew “good luck and Godspeed”. Mark Kelly thanked him, and replied “whilst we tend to live for today, Discovery, with Kibo, will certainly deliver hope for tomorrow”. Countdown resumed on time at the end of the hold, and the automated Ground Launch Sequencer was initiated.

When giving clearance to retract the Orbiter Access arm from the Shuttle, seven minutes before launch, the Orbiter Test Conductor wished the crew “best of luck delivering JEM to the International Space Station”. Four minutes before launch, the engines were purged of gasses, and tests of the flight control surfaces began. Liquid hydrogen tanks were pressurised shortly after at T-3 minutes, and the fuel vent cap was retracted. Two minutes before lift-off, the crew were instructed to close and lock their visors, and the liquid oxygen tank was pressurised. At T-50 seconds, the orbiter switched to internal power, and the Shuttle’s flight computers took over control of the countdown at T-31 seconds.

Launch occurred on schedule at 21:02:12 GMT. The Solid Rocket Boosters separated about 120 seconds into the flight, and around eight and a half minutes after launch, the Main Engines (SSMEs) shut down, and the External Tank was jettisoned. At this time, Discovery was on a 65km x 217km x 51.6° sub-orbital trajectory. Orbital insertion followed about thirty minutes later, with a firing of Discovery’s OMS engines. This burn started at 21:39 GMT, and ended at 21:42, lasting two minutes and 44 seconds.

At the time of launch, the International Space Station was flying over the Atlantic Ocean, South-East of Canada. Following launch, a fault was detected with the backup electrical system controlling the left OMS engine gimbal actuator. As it was a backup, flight controllers predicted that it would have no effect on the mission, and all scheduled burns will go ahead. The fault was later traced to the failure of both transducers in the unit, and it was reported that the problem was probably due to an equipment malfunction as opposed to a faulty sensor. When asked about the faulty actuator, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin stated that at the “worst case it would be a loss of redundancy but we will still be able to use that system”. Discovery’s payload bay doors were opened at 22:35 GMT. At 23:09, the crew were cleared to begin on-orbit operations.

Processing and countdown progressed smoothly, and were described by Discovery’s processing and launch flow director, Stephanie Stilson, as being “a very clean flow”. Mission Commander Mark Kelly remarked that there had been a “historic low on spacecraft issues”. Around four hours prior to launch, Stilson remarked that there had been 73 anomalies detected so far. The smallest number of anomalies during the countdown for a previous mission was 76, for STS-103.

Moron AFB in Spain was considered the primary transoceanic abort landing (TAL) site, should an engine failure, or other major problem have occurred during early ascent. Istres in France was considered the backup TAL site. The weather at both of these sites was good, however no abort was required during the launch.

This is the 123rd Space Shuttle mission, and the 35th to be flown by Discovery. Ten further missions are planned, including two contingency logistics flights, prior to the Shuttle’s retirement in 2010. Discovery is assigned to three of these missions. It is next scheduled to fly in early 2009, on mission STS-119. The next Space Shuttle mission will be conducted by Atlantis, which will fly STS-125, the final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. This is the fourth manned, and 27th orbital launch of 2008.

At a press conference following launch, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin stated that it was “a huge day for the space station partnership”, and that the International Space Station was “a place in orbit where we can learn to live and work in space”. He congratulated JAXA on the launch of the Japanese Experiment Module, saying that “Japan has now built a first class laboratory…which is capable of supporting humans in space”, and that “with this step Japan has shown itself to be capable of performing at the highest levels of space exploration”. Griffin also stated the STS-124 is “an essential step” in the Space Station program. When asked by a reporter how he felt about recent NASA successes, including the STS-124 launch, and the landing of the Phoenix probe on Mars last Sunday, he joked that it felt “so great that not even having to do a press conference, two press conferences in a week can ruin it”. When asked about the difficulty of what NASA was doing, he remarked that flight controllers “make it look easy”, but “it is so far from being easy that I could talk until 6am tomorrow, and I wouldn’t touch on how difficult it is”.

NASA Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier said that it was “a great day for the launch”, and described STS-124 as a “pretty challenging mission”. Gerstenmair stated that five foam debris impacts had been identified during ascent, but that NASA “don’t consider this a big deal, they were all late”. When asked what he meant by ‘late’, he explained that after 123 seconds into the flight, pieces of falling foam debris “can’t build up enough velocity to hit the orbiter, or if they hit the orbiter they will just bounce off” He went on to say that “things look really well and look really good”, and that NASA have “no concern” about foam, “It’s not an issue to us”.

Launch Integration manager LeRoy Cain described it as a “flawless countdown and a flawless launch”. He said that STS-124 is “a big milestone for us”, and went on to explain that “this is the most important mission we have going right now”. He also stated that the “tank’s performance looks really good”.

Launch Director Mike Linebach stated that it was a “Fantastic launch”, that was tying for the lowest faults during a countdown, with 74 issues reported. Stephanie Stilson has previously stated that the record was 76 issues, so it is unclear whether STS-124 has set a new record, or is tying with the previous record. Linebach went on to describe the launch as “outstanding”.

Keiji Tachikawa, the President of JAXA said that he “was very delighted to see the Shuttle Discovery successfully launched”. He stated that the Kibo module would “significantly enhance the capability to perform experiments in orbit”, and that experiments conducted aboard the Space Station, and the Kibo module, would lead to “better daily lives for the people of our planet”. He also expressed his “profound appreciation to NASA, and all international and domestic organizations” involved in the launch, explaining that the mission is “very significant to Japan”.

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According to NASA, the collection fan motor broke sometime last week after one of the crew used the Russian-made toilet in the space station. The NASA status report quotes the crew as hearing “a loud noise and the fan stopped working”. Russian officials have yet to solve the cause of the breakage and fix it. The seven-year old toilet has broken once before but not for a long period of time.

The crew had been temporarily using the toilet in the Soyuz capsule, but this had a very limited capacity.

NASA officials are now considering flying in replacement parts for the toilet and putting them on Space Shuttle Discovery, which is due to launch on Saturday and scheduled to arrive at the ISS on Monday.

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Phoenix was launched atop a Delta II rocket last August. It is the first Mars Scout spacecraft to be sent to explore Mars. It will search for water and complex molecules at the North Pole of Mars. It is the third spacecraft currently operating on Mars, joining the Mars Expedition Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, which are currently operating on the planet’s surface. Phoenix is expected to operate on the surface of Mars for 90 Martian days, about 92 Earth days.

Scientists monitoring the landing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California cheered as the news was transmitted by the spacecraft, saying it had landed safely.

According to the live broadcast on NASA TV, a systems check began in final preparation for landing at 22:20 GMT (7:20 p.m. eastern time) which was given the “all green”. At 22:22, Phoenix was confirmed to be properly aligned for entry into the Martian atmosphere. At 22:30 Phoenix began to accelerate into the atmosphere, where it will hurtle towards the planet at nearly 11,000 miles an hour. At 22:41 the data stream was successfully sent to Earth, Phoenix successfully separated from its boosters and sent a UHF signal to NASA. At 22:44 its main radio was confirmed to be on.

Scientists monitoring the MRO then confirmed the signal from Phoenix at 22:45. Approximately 3 minutes later Phoenix was confirmed to have entered the Martian atmosphere.
Phoenix landing information. Times are based on expected confirmation of event from Earth.

According to predictions before the landing, based on the sequence of events programmed into onboard computers, the cruise stage, which had controlled the spacecraft during its journey from Earth to Mars, separated from the probe which was to enter the atmosphere at 23:24:15 GMT. Entry interface occurred at 23:31:15, and the parachute deployed at 23:34:58. The heat shield was jettisoned at 23:35:13, followed by the rest of the “aeroshell”, which had protected the spacecraft during decent, and the parachute, at 23:37:13. Landing itself occurred at 23:38:36 GMT. During descent, the spacecraft’s progress was monitored by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, already in Areocentric orbit. Mars Odyssey was in contact with Phoenix throughout the descent, including during the phase of the descent where maximum temperatures were reached, when controllers had predicted that data would be lost.

Phoenix’s goal is to gather environmental information about Mars to search for possible locations for the best signs of microbial life in the soil. It will also research the history of water on Mars. The mission is scheduled to last for at least 92 Earth days, or 90 Martian days.

The spacecraft landed in an area near the North Pole of Mars, unofficially named the Green Valley. It is an area about 250 kilometres wide, located in the Vastitas Borealis plains.

Phoenix is carrying a number of instruments to investigate Mars. Some of these were taken from the cancelled 2001 Mars Surveyor lander, and some others were derived from instruments flown on the Mars Polar Lander (MPL) spacecraft. MPL was launched in January 1999, but failed during its descent to the Martian surface. Landing on Mars is considered to be one of the most difficult challenges in space exploration, and one scientist working on today’s landing said that “this is not a trip to Grandma’s for the weekend”. More than half of previous missions to Mars have failed, leading to jokes that exploration of the planet is cursed.

This is the 38th spacecraft to be launched to Mars, and the 19th to arrive successfully, bringing the success rate to exactly 50 percent. It is also the 12th spacecraft to attempt a landing on Mars, and the 7th to successfully accomplish this.

Upon confirmation of landing, a flight controller was heard to exclaim “The Phoenix has landed, welcome to Vastitas Borealis!”, whilst others cheered, and congratulated each other on the successful landing.

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