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PubMed2001

Discovery of 12 satellites of Saturn exhibiting orbital clustering.

The giant planets in the Solar System each have two groups of satellites. The regular satellites move along nearly circular orbits in the planet's orbital plane, revolving about it in the same sense as the planet spins. In contrast, the so-called irregular satellites are generally smaller in size and are characterized by large orbits with significant eccentricity, inclination or both. The differences in their characteristics suggest that the regular and irregular satellites formed by different mechanisms: the regular satellites are believed to have formed in an accretion disk around the planet, like a miniature Solar System, whereas the irregulars are generally thought to be captured planetesimals. Here we report the discovery of 12 irregular satellites of Saturn, along with the determinations of their orbits. These orbits, along with the orbits of irregular satellites of Jupiter and Uranus, fall into groups on the basis of their orbital inclinations. We interpret this result as indicating that most of the irregular moons are collisional remnants of larger satellites that were fragmented after capture, rather than being captured independently.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Identification of molecular-cloud material in interplanetary dust particles.

Interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) collected in the Earth's stratosphere and meteorites are fragments of comets and asteroids. These are 'primitive' meteorites in part because they have preserved materials which predate the formation of the Solar System. The most primitive (least altered) meteorites contain a few parts per million of micrometre-sized dust which formed in the atmospheres of giant stars. Some meteorites have elevated D/H and 15N/14N ratios that are attributed to surviving interstellar organic molecules which have probably been strongly diluted and altered by parent-body processes. Most IDPs are chemically, mineralogically, and texturally primitive in comparison to meteorites. Here I show that H and N isotopic anomalies among fragile 'cluster' IDPs are far larger, more common, and less equilibrated than those previously observed in other IDPs or meteorites. In some cases, the D/H ratios that we measure reach the values of interstellar molecules, suggesting that molecular-cloud material has survived intact. These observations indicate that cluster IDPs are the most primitive class of Solar System materials currently available for laboratory analysis.

Carbon Isotopes↗

PubMed2000

Implementing planetary protection requirements for sample return missions.

NASA is committed to exploring space while avoiding the biological contamination of other solar system bodies and protecting the Earth against potential harm from materials returned from space. NASA's planetary protection program evaluates missions (with external advice from the US National Research Council and others) and imposes particular constraints on individual missions to achieve these objectives. In 1997 the National Research Council's Space Studies Board published the report, Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations, which reported advice to NASA on Mars sample return missions, complementing their 1992 report, The Biological Contamination of Mars Issues and Recommendations. Meanwhile, NASA has requested a new Space Studies Board study to address sample returns from bodies other than Mars. This study recognizes the variety of worlds that have been opened up to NASA and its partners by small, relatively inexpensive, missions of the Discovery class, as well as the reshaping of our ideas about life in the solar system that have been occasioned by the Galileo spacecraft's discovery that an ocean under the ice on Jupiter's moon Europa might, indeed, exist. This paper will report on NASA's planned implementation of planetary protection provisions based on these recent National Research Council recommendations, and will suggest measures for incorporation in the planetary protection policy of COSPAR.

Containment of Biohazards↗

PubMed1995

Production and evolution of light elements in active star-forming regions.

Collisions between cosmic rays (energetic protons and alpha-particles) and carbon, nitrogen and oxygen in the interstellar medium have been considered to be the main source of lithium, beryllium and boron, through fragmentation of the larger nuclei. But this mechanism is unable to account for the observed Solar System abundances of the isotopes 7Li and 11B. The recent detection of an excess of gamma-rays in the direction of the star-forming region in the Orion cloud has been interpreted as arising from the excitation of carbon and oxygen nuclei ejected from supernovae when they collide with the surrounding gas, which is primarily molecular and atomic hydrogen. Here we investigate the consequences of the two-body interactions of the ejected carbon and oxygen nuclei (and the alpha-particles ejected with them) with the hydrogen and helium in the surrounding gas, using a model developed previously. We show that these interactions offer a way to make lithium, beryllium and boron that is independent of the abundance of heavy elements in the surrounding medium. Such supernova-driven interactions, combined with the effect of galactic cosmic rays, can explain the observed Solar System abundances of these light elements.

Beryllium↗

PubMed2005

Short-lived chlorine-36 in a Ca- and Al-rich inclusion from the Ningqiang carbonaceous chondrite.

Excesses of sulfur-36 in sodalite, a chlorine-rich mineral, in a calcium- and aluminum-rich inclusion from the Ningqiang carbonaceous chondrite linearly correlate with chorine/sulfur ratios, providing direct evidence for the presence of short-lived chlorine-36 (with a half-life of 0.3 million years) in the early solar system. The best inferred (36Cl/35Cl)o ratios of the sodalite are approximately 5 x 10(-6). Different from other short-lived radionuclides, chlorine-36 was introduced into the inclusion by solid-gas reaction during secondary alteration. The alteration reaction probably took place at least 1.5 million years after the first formation of the inclusion, based on the correlated study of the 26Al-26Mg systems of the relict primary minerals and the alteration assemblages, from which we inferred an initial ratio of (36Cl/35Cl)o > or = 1.6 x 10(-4) at the time when calcium- and aluminum-rich inclusions formed. This discovery supports a supernova origin of short-lived nuclides [Cameron, A. G. W., Hoeflich, P., Myers, P. C. & Clayton, D. D. (1995) Astrophys. J. 447, L53; Wasserburg, G. J., Gallino, R. & Busso, M. (1998) Astrophys. J. 500, L189-L193], but presents a serious challenge for local irradiation models [Shu, F. H., Shang, H., Glassgold, A. E. & Lee, T. (1997) Science 277, 1475-1479; Gounelle, M., Shu, F. H., Shang, H., Glassgold, A. E., Rehm, K. E. & Lee, T. (2001) Astrophys. J. 548, 1051-1070]. Furthermore, the short-lived 36Cl may serve as a unique fine-scale chronometer for volatile-rock interaction in the early solar system because of its close association with aqueous and/or anhydrous alteration processes.

China↗

PubMed1993

The effects of prolonged weightlessness and reduced gravity environments on human survival.

The manned exploration of the solar system and the surfaces of some of the smaller planets and larger satellites requires that we are able to keep the adverse human physiological response to long term exposure to near zero and greatly reduced gravity environments within acceptable limits consistent with metabolic function. This paper examines the physiological changes associated with microgravity conditions with particular reference to the weightless demineralizatoin of bone (WDB). It is suggested that many of these changes are the result of physical/mechanical processes and are not primarily a medical problem. There are thus two immediately obvious and workable, if relatively costly, solutions to the problem of weightlessness. The provision of a near 1 g field during prolonged space flights, and/or the development of rapid transit spacecraft capable of significant acceleration and short flight times. Although these developments could remove or greatly ameliorate the effects of weightlessness during long-distance space flights there remains a problem relating to the long term colonization of the surfaces of Mars, the Moon, and other small solar system bodies. It is not yet known whether or not there is a critical threshold value of 'g' below which viable human physiological function cannot be sustained. If such a threshold exists permanent colonization may only be possible if the threshold value of 'g' is less than that at the surface of the planet on which we wish to settle.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A transparently scalable visualization architecture for exploring the universe.

Modern astronomical instruments produce enormous amounts of three-dimensional data describing the physical Universe. The currently available data sets range from the solar system to nearby stars and portions of the Milky Way Galaxy, including the interstellar medium and some extrasolar planets, and extend out to include galaxies billions of light years away. Because of its gigantic scale and the fact that it is dominated by empty space, modeling and rendering the Universe is very different from modeling and rendering ordinary three-dimensional virtual worlds at human scales. Our purpose is to introduce a comprehensive approach to an architecture solving this visualization problem that encompasses the entire Universe while seeking to be as scale-neutral as possible. One key element is the representation of model-rendering procedures using power scaled coordinates (PSC), along with various PSC-based techniques that we have devised to generalize and optimize the conventional graphics framework to the scale domains of astronomical visualization. Employing this architecture, we have developed an assortment of scale-independent modeling and rendering methods for a large variety of astronomical models, and have demonstrated scale-insensitive interactive visualizations of the physical Universe covering scales ranging from human scale to the Earth, to the solar system, to the Milky Way Galaxy, and to the entire observable Universe.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2000

Integrating public perspectives in sample return planning.

Planning for extraterrestrial sample returns--whether from Mars or other solar system bodies--must be done in a way that integrates planetary protection concerns with the usual mission technical and scientific considerations. Understanding and addressing legitimate societal concerns about the possible risks of sample return will be a critical part of the public decision making process ahead. This paper presents the results of two studies, one with lay audiences, the other with expert microbiologists designed to gather information on attitudes and concerns about sample return risks and planetary protection. Focus group interviews with lay subjects, using generic information about Mars sample return and a preliminary environmental impact assessment, were designed to obtain an indication of how the factual content is perceived and understood by the public. A research survey of microbiologists gathered information on experts' views and attitudes about sample return, risk management approaches and space exploration risks. These findings, combined with earlier research results on risk perception, will be useful in identifying levels of concern and potential conflicts in understanding between experts and the public about sample return risks. The information will be helpful in guiding development of the environmental impact statement and also has applicability to proposals for sample return from other solar system bodies where scientific uncertainty about extraterrestrial life may persist at the time of mission planning.

Containment of Biohazards↗

PubMed2005

Lagrange L4/L5 points and the origin of our Moon and Saturn's moons and rings.

The current standard theory of the origin of the Moon is that the Earth was hit by a giant impactor the size of Mars causing ejection of debris from its mantle that coalesced to form the moon; but where did this Mars-sized impactor come from? Isotopic evidence suggests that it came from 1 AU radius in the solar nebula, and computer simulations are consistent with its approaching Earth on a zero-energy parabolic trajectory. How could such a large object form at 1 AU in a quiescent disk of planetesimals without having already collided with the Earth at an earlier epoch before having the chance to grow large? Belbruno and Gott propose that the giant impactor could have formed in a stable orbit from debris at the Earth's Lagrange point L(5) (or L(4)). It would grow quietly by accretion at L(5) (or L(4)), but eventually gravitational perturbations by other growing planetesimals would kick it out into a horseshoe orbit and finally into a chaotic creeping orbit, which Belbruno and Gott show would, with high probability, hit the Earth on a near zero-energy parabolic trajectory. We can see other examples of this phenomenon occurring in the solar system. Asteroid 2002AA29 is in a horseshoe orbit relative to the Earth that looks exactly like the horseshoe orbits that Belbruno and Gott found for objects that had been perturbed from L(4)/L(5). The regular moons of Saturn are made of ice and have the same albedo as the ring particles (ice chunks, plus some dust). We (J. R. Gott, R. Vanderbei, and E. Belbruno) propose that the regular icy moons of Saturn (out to the orbit of Titan), which are all in nearly circular orbits, formed out of a thin disk of planetesimals (ice chunks) rather like the rings of Saturn today only larger in extent. In such a situation formation of objects at L(4)/L(5) might be expected. Indeed, Saturn's moon Dione is accompanied by moons (Helene and Polydeuces) at both L(4) and L(5) Lagrange points, and Saturn's moon Tethys is also accompanied by moons (Telesto and Calypso) at both L(4) and L(5) Lagrange points. Epimetheus is in a horseshoe orbit relative to Janus that is exactly like the horseshoe orbit expected for an object that has been perturbed from a location at L(4)/L(5). We propose that the rings of Saturn visible today are all that remains of this original disk; they lie inside the Roche limit where tidal forces have simply prevented the formation of large moons by accretion. Further out, the icy particles have accumulated into icy moons. Objects in external solar systems on horseshoe orbits (like those of Epimetheus relative to Janus) could be detected by a slow sinusoidal variation with time of the calculated mass of a planet from radial velocity measurements.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Cosmic ray hits in the central nervous system at solar maximum.

It has been suggested that a manned mission to Mars be launched at solar maximum rather than at solar minimum to minimize the radiation exposure to galactic cosmic rays. It is true that the number of hits from highly ionizing particles to critical regions in the brain will be less at solar maximum, and it is of interest to estimate how much less. We present here calculations for several sites within the brain from iron ions (z = 26) and from particles with charge, z, greater than or equal to 15. The same shielding configurations and sites in the brain used in an earlier paper for solar minimum are employed so that direct comparison of results between the two solar activity conditions can be made. A simple pressure-vessel wall and an equipment room onboard a spacecraft are chosen as shielding examples. In the equipment room, typical results for the thalamus are that the probability of any particles with 7 greater than or equal to 15 and from 2.3 percent to 1.3 percent for iron ions. The extra shielding provided in the equipment room makes little difference in these numbers. We conclude that this decrease in hit frequency (less than a factor of two) does not provide a compelling reason to avoid solar minimum for a manned mission to Mars. This conclusion could be revised, however, if a very small number of hits is found to cause critical malfunction within the brain.

Aerospace Medicine↗

PubMed1999