NASA Astrobiology Academy
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
Application Materials
The NASA Academy program is an important part of training our future leaders. Preliminary selection of candidates will be made by the Space Grant Consortium office (or other sponsoring organization) in your state. Final selection of Academy summer Research Associates is made by a panel of scientists and engineers within NASA Ames Research Center. This panel will be looking for appropriate matches to the research projects, as well as a variety of unique individual characteristics and interests. Selection criteria includes: demonstrated enthusiasm and interest in space, leadership potential, interest in research projects, overall academic quality (honors, awards, GPA, etc.).
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Please read through
the entire application before filling it out. TYPE OR PRINT NEATLY (blue
or black ink) and pay special attention to the following:
ï Listing ethnic status is optional; your response or lack of response
will not affect consideration of your application. See item 8,
ï List the Space Grant Consortium Office (or other sponsoring organization)
that you are seeking to provide your stipend and round-trip travel. See
item 12,
ï The application you have received should include the descriptions of
research projects and the Academy program. The "Research Opportunities"
are found in a separate section in this application or on the web sight.
ï The essay questions (items 18 A and B) are among the most important
elements of this application. Please pay particular attention to these
items. Your selection will be based, in part, on a suitable match to a
project.
ï Please return application materials in this order: I. General Data sheets,
II. Application Essays (A,B), III. Additional Application Materials (in
number order), Resume, and Transcripts.
FINAL APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Applications are due to your state's Space Grant Consortium Office by January 31, 2001. To get information about the Space Grant Offices in your state, call (301) 286-6167 or access the NASA Space Grant Consortium at http://calspace.ucsd.edu/spacegrant/. Space Grant has two types of sponsored organizations in each state; one lead institution and several (or several dozen) Affiliate organizations. Support for the NASA Academy program can come from either of these two types of Space Grant Consortia. Consult with the Space Grant Office in your state to determine if that office is supporting the NASA Academy program for 2001. The Space Grant Office will review your application to ensure it meets the minimum requirements. The Space Grant Office will forward to the appropriate NASA Center all the applications they are willing to support. Please include all requested materials with your mailing. Notification letters will be mailed the second week of March.
LIFE SCIENCES
Charting the History of
Earthís Earliest Microbial Ecosystems
Principal Investigator: David Des Marais
Microorganisms are the primary engines of our biosphere, and so they play major roles in the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and metals. The hierarchical organization of microbial ecosystems determines the rates of processes that shape Earthís environment, create the sedimentary and atmospheric signatures (biomarkers) of life, and define the stage upon which major evolutionary events occurred. To learn how microbes fulfill these roles on Earth and, potentially, other worlds, we must therefore understand the structure and function of microbial ecosystems. Photosynthetic microbial mats have been major players for billions of years. They are self-sustaining, complete ecosystems in which light energy that is absorbed over part of a diel (24 hour) cycle drives the synthesis of spatially-organized, diverse biomass. Thus mats offer an opportunity to study how microbial populations associate to control the biogeochemical cycles.
This project involves experiments with cyanobacterial microbial mats maintained in a simulated natural environment. We will explore various conditions that represent stages in the long-term (billion year) evolution of our environment. The effects of seawater composition, oxygen and dissolved inorganic carbon contents will be measured for ecosystem properties such as population sizes, elemental cycling and gas production. We will seek a better understanding of how the environment influences biomarkers such as atmospheric gases and also chemicals and minerals preserved in sedimentary rocks.
The student will participate in experiments with microbial mats as part of a team. He/she will measure the production and consumption of oxygen and carbon compounds using microelectrodes and chromatographs. These measurements will be compiled and interpreted as rates of ecosystem processes. The student will thereby contribute to an improved understanding of how ancient photosynthetic ecosystems interacted with changing environments and recorded their legacy. Coursework in chemistry and/or biology, and a working knowledge of word processing and spreadsheets, is necesssary.
Detecting Microbial Activity
in Microbes
Principle Investigator: David P. Summers
One question of interest in the study of microbes from old samples, considering transit of materials between planets, and general studies of microbes in extreme environments is how long microbes can remain viable when they are dormant. Are the totally dormant? Or can they, under some conditions (such as frozen in ice) undergo any repair of damage they occur while dormat? This project seeks to invesigate the lower limits of metabolic activity.
The proceedure is to take tyrosine that has been radiolabeled with 125 I and feed it to microbes to test their metabolic activity. Any radiolabel taken up can then be measure by MultiPhoton Detection, a technique that allows the detection of radioiodine at below background levels. This work would involve handling microbes, preparation of radiolabled materials, measurement of labelling, and possibly techniques such as protein gels. A candidate ideally should have a background in biological or chemical work and be willing to work radioisotopes.
Advanced Animal Habitat-Centrifuge
Project
Principle Investigator: Paul Espinosa
Astronauts who have been exposed to long periods of microgravity have experienced harmful physiological effects. To develop countermeasures, NASA must conduct studies to improve understanding of how bones and muscles change in space and after return to Earth, and how hormones and the immune system respond to long exposure to microgravity. Because of the similarity of animal and human physiological systems, the most effective way to obtain large amounts of data is by using animals and fly them in microgravity. The Space Station Biological Research Project (SSBRP) has contracted out the development of the Advanced Animal Habitat-Centrifuge (AAH-C) to fly rats and mice on the International Space Station (ISS) beginning in 2005. The AAH-C will allow both scientists on Earth and astronauts in space to view the animals and monitor their physiology and behavior while the rodents live in space. The rodents will be exposed to microgravity conditions or to different levels of artificial gravity created when the hardware is attached to the Space Stationís centrifuge. In addition to acting as a scientific instrument, the habitat must include all the basic facilities to support the animals for up to 90 days onboard the ISS. These habitats can also be attached to an on-orbit glovebox allowing astronauts to reach into the cages to retrieve animals and perform experiments.
Although this habitat sounds rather simple to develop, it is in face very complicated requiring highly skilled engineers, and scientists to develop. Each habitat which can house up to 6 rats or 12 mice must be able to support the rodents on the station for up to 90 days. The habitats must provide air, water, food, waste management, light and dark cycles and temperature control for the rodents. It must also contain all waste and odors generated inside the cage and meet the stringent hardware fabrication requirements imposed by the space station.
The contractor developing the hardware is STAR Inc., located in Bloomington, Indiana with the support of the prime sub-contractor SHOT Inc. in Floyd Knobs, Indiana. The development, design, fabrication and testing of the hardware will be performed by the contractors. The government (Ames Research Center) stipulates the requirements for the hardware through various documents, monitors the hardware development through daily contact with the contractor to make sure the governmentís requirements are being met, maintains the contract, and provides technical advice, review and concurrence on tasks to the contractor. Currently the contractor is in the design phase of the project with a Critical Design Review (drawings 90% complete) scheduled for 2002. The AAH-C project team at Ames Research Center, consisting of the Project Manager and Engineer with the support of other engineers and scientists, is currently supporting the development of the hardware.
The student will be a member of the NASA AAH-C project team and participate in the management of the hardware development. The student will be assigned a specific task to accomplish during the summer related to the project management aspect of the hardware design. This could include validating the technical feasibility and compliance to the specifications of a proposed aspect of the design, researching the foundation of specific requirements and recommending changes to the requirements to support problem design issues, performing tests to validate the functionality and operationally of a specific design, etc. They will be expected to attend weekly project meetings at which will be discussed the development status, problems that may have arisen, etc. and to work any actions which will be assigned to them.
This position is best suited for an engineer or scientist in an undergraduate program currently attending a university. The candidate should be able to type well and have had experience with Macintosh computers and programs such as Word and Excel.
Hypergravity Effects on
the Maternal-Fetal System
Principal Investigator: April E. Ronca, Ph.D.
Life on earth, and thus the reproductive and ontogenetic processes of all extant species and their ancestors, evolved under the constant influence of the earthís 1-g gravitational field. Opportunities to observe biological processes under gravitational conditions that deviate from earth-normal are infrequent and have historically been dedicated predominantly to understanding adult processes. Research in my laboratory focuses on the role(s) of gravity in reproductive and developmental processes in mammals with particular emphasis on effects of increased (hyper-) and decreased (hypo-) gravity on pregnancy, birth and the transition from prenatal to postnatal life. Studies of mammalian development are dynamic and complex. The mother plays crucial roles in offspring'sí development, providing necessary resources that promote and foster growth and development. Offspring, in turn, provide stimulation that helps maintain and regulate maternal responses. We focus on bi-directional linkages within the maternal-offspring system and therefore, analyze the effects of altering the gravitational field on both mothers and neonates. Our approach is multidisciplinary, performing integrative analyses in conjunction with other laboratories at Ames and several universities.
The Astrobiology Academy student will participate in a project in which intrauterine pressure will be monitored in late pregnant female rats during hypergravity exposure using the Ames 24-ft centrifuge. We previously found that exposure to hypo- and hypergravity alters the frequency of labor contractions in pregnant rats. The new project will focus on concomitant changes in the force of contractions measured by telemetric biosensors in addition to changes in maternal uterine connexin proteins and in abdominal muscle. Correlated changes in neonatal neurodevelopmental outcome will also be studied.
The duties of an Astrobiology Academy student will include assisting in hypergravity experiments of the pregnant rats and their offspring and conducting data analysis using statistical programs. He/she would also be expected to attend weekly research meetings to discuss research progress and results. Background in biology and neuroscience and experience with general laboratory equipment is desirable.
Perception of Gravity
Principal Investigator: Robert Welch
The commonsense view of the relationship between human perception and motor actions is that we first perceive our environment and then, and only then, are we able to act, on the basis of this perceptual representation. However, recent exciting neuropsychological research with both brain-damaged and brain-intact individuals contradicts this view. These data suggest instead that perception and action are parallel processes. Thus it may be that perception and action can be quite different from each other. Evidence for such so-called perception-action dissociation for normal (i.e., brain-intact) observers comes from studies in which it has been shown that, despite the presence of a strong visual illusion, subjectsí motor responses are perfectly accurate. Thus, it appears possible for ìthe hand to know better than the eye.î If further evidence confirms this conclusion, it would inspire a true paradigm shift from the conventional view that perception must precede and guide action.
The proposed research will systematically examine the perception-action dissociation hypothesis, using strict research criteria to rule out alternative interpretations of the data. In one study subjects will be confronted with a pitched visual environment, which is already known from the Principal Investigatorís own research to cause a very large shift in visually perceived eye level, but only minor errors in pointing. This pattern of results must be examined more carefully to determine if it is really an example of perception-action dissociation as it appears to be. We will do this by delaying the subjectís pointing responses. Previous research indicates that perception-action dissociation that is found when observers act upon a stimulus that is present in their visual field disappears, to be replaced by association, when a delay is imposed between observing the stimulus and making the motor response. If this is found in the proposed study, it will support the conclusion that the incongruity between perceiving and pointing in a pitched environment is, indeed, a case of perception-action dissociation.
The duties of an Astrobiology Academy student will include testing human subjects, placing data in an electronic spreadsheet, and analyzing them by means of the appropriate statistical programs. He/she would also be expected to attend weekly research meetings where research results, problems that may have arisen, etc will be discussed. The candidate should be able to type well and have had experience with Macintosh computers and programs such as Word and Excel.
Physiology and Modeling
of Neural Networks
Principal Investigator: Dr. Richard Boyle
The vestibular system is located in the inner ear and is responsible for detecting forces due to gravitational and angular acceleration, and translating these inputs into a neural signal that is relayed to the central nervous system. It has been shown that significant morphological and physiological changes take place in the neural networks of the vestibular systems of rats and toadfish, respectively, flown in microgravity, and it has been postulated that these neural networks are ìrewiringî themselves to make up for the lower input signal coming in from acceleration due to gravity.The NASA Center for Bioinformatics develops and applies advanced technologies to understanding neurophysiology and the response of the terrestrial organisms to microgravity. Results of this research are applicable to understanding not only the adaptation of terrestrial organisms to space, but also to understanding neural diseases, trauma, and aging afflicting people here on Earth.
The Astrobiology Academy Research Associate would be able to choose from a wide variety of techniques and tools to study several problems in neurophysiological responses to the space environment. The project would involve either using existing data and employing computer techniques such as modeling or 3D reconstruction, or using more conventional methods such as electrophysiological techniques or light and/or TEM microscopy .
The student selected for this project should have a strong background in biology, electrical or mechanical engineering, and/or computer science. The project is flexible and can be modified somewhat according to student interest. This project may or may not include animal experimentation.
Training Microbes for Oxygen
Principal Investigator: Friedemann Freund
The early Earth atmosphere probably did not contain free oxygen. Yet there is evidence that phylogenetically ancient microbes already developed the enzymatic machinery to fend off the lethal effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Such ROS are normally associated with the presence of free oxygen in the environment. This project pursues the question whether common igneous rocks such as granite may have been the training ground for early microbes, forcing them to adjust to the presence of ROS in their immediate environment.
Underlying this approach is the recognition that many, if not all rocks that crystallized from magmas contain an unusual form of oxygen in the crystal structures of their minerals. This form of oxygen is known as peroxy. Peroxy forms when, during crystallization from a fluid-laden magma, minerals incorporate small amount of ìwaterî. At first this dissolved ìwaterî forms hydroxyl anions, but during cooling pairs of the hydroxyl anions rearrange in such a way as to split off molecular hydrogen and oxidizing oxygen anions to the peroxy state. When such rocks become exposed to the surface and weathering sets in, the peroxy hydrolyze to hydrogen peroxide. Any microbes living in intimate contact with rock surfaces would therefore have been constantly exposed to this powerful oxidant and source of ROS.
As part of this Astrobiology project we seek to characterize the surfaces of freshly crushed rocks and look for ROS. We examine how microbes react, both aerobic and anaerobic when brought in wet contact with rock powders. We study cell damage and DNA damage, and the synthesis of shock proteins in response to the ROS challenge. The project requires familiarity with basic principles of handling microbial cultures and of conducting biochemical assays.
Plant Growth and Gravity
Sensitivity in a Hypergravity Environment
Principle Investigator: Jeff Smith
Background: Plants are at the base of our food web, and they perform such essential tasks as revitalizing oxygen, converting carbon dioxide into organic nutrients and purifying water. If long-term space habitation is ever to become feasible, plants must play a key role in these extraterrestrial life support systems; however, much remains to be learned about how plants adapt and respond to altered gravitational conditions beyond the Earth. Growing plants in hypergravity (on a slow-spinning centrifuge) is one approach that can allow us to make predictions about plant adaptations to microgravity or the low-gravity environments such as on the Moon and Mars. Also, the hypergravity environment can be created easily on Earth and, thus, experiments using hypergravity are much less expensive as well as easier to conduct than comparable spaceflight experiments. NASA Ames Research Center maintains a suite of outstanding centrifuge facilities available for life science research. Plant hypergravity research, examining both the gross morphological and cell biological effects of gravity on plants, will provide direction for future plant research in space. These studies will also lay the groundwork in the development of future bioregenerative life support systems for long term human habitation of space.
Research Activity: The Astrobiology Academy student will participate in an experiment growing seedlings on a centrifuge under hypergravity conditions. This activity will require an engineering component and a science component. The student will continue development and testing of existing image acquisition hardware and software for remote-viewing of plants while growing on-board the centrifuge. Baseline plant growth tests will be done to demonstrate the capabilities of the remote imaging system. Then a quantitative study of plant growth and gravity response will be performed by the student to answer a specific scientific question. Plant growth will be analyzed using time-lapse video taken during the experiment. Microscopy imaging will also be used in the analysis of plants at the conclusion of the growth experiment. Image measurements of plant growth will lead toward conclusions about how altered gravity quantitatively affects growing plants.
EARTH SCIENCES
Measuring Solar Radiation
in the Atmosphere: Implications in Climate and Remote Sensing Applications
Principle Investigator: Peter Pilewskie
The NASA Ames Radiation Group, part of the Atmospheric Physics Branch, is involved in research programs pertaining to the interaction between the earth's atmosphere and radiative energy from the sun, and the associated effects on climate processes. We are an experimental group, making both surface-based and aircraft-based observations of the spectral atmosphere. We are currently involved in a number of field programs using optical instrumentation which requires considerable laboratory and field calibration and testing. We also have data from past field experiments that will be used to infer specific properties of the atmospheres, such as cloud amount, water vapor amount,and total energy absorbed in the atmosphere. Our research has included studying the smoke fromoil fires in Kuwait; the climate effects of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo; Arctic ozone; and the climatic effects of clouds in the tropics.
Students with strong backgrounds in physics, mathematics, computer science and engineering would find the work in our laboratory both stimulating and rewarding. Students will have the opportunity to work on some of the major climate issues of our time, for example how much energy is absorbed in the Earth's atmosphere. Student tasks will include both data collection and analysis.
Modeling of Prebiotic Reduction
of Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen
Principle Investigator: David P. Summers
One of the prerequisites for the origin is life is a source of reduced carbon and nitrogen containing compounds from which to make such compounds as amino acids. This research centers around some of the earliest reactions involved in the origin of life. Reactions which occurred in the period before the first universal ancestor of modern life appeared but after the Earth had cooled enough to allow liquid water and was no longer being sterilized by large impacts. Specifically, studies address an early Earth with a carbon dioxide and nitrogen atmosphere and consider how the reduced carbon and nitrogen molecules that made up the "prebiotic soup" might have been formed. Research is conducted by postulating what reactions might have caused this to happen, seeing if they will run in the lab under conditions that might have existed back then, measuring how fast the reactions will go, and using kinetic models to determine how important those reactions would have been on the early Earth. Work also involves how such reactions may have produced reactions that are isotopically enriched or depleted in certain isotopes. Such isotope fractionation is considered a marker of biological activity, but controls from abiological reactions are lacking.
The reduction/fixation work on this project involves running reactions and measuring the amounts and/or rates of product formation. The isotope fractionation involved running reactions and separating out the products for submission to collaborators for analysis. These experiments are conducted over a variety of conditions such a may have existed on the early Earth.
The duties of an Astrobiology Academy student would include running reactions and separations and conducting analyses of products. A candidate ideally should have a background in laboratory work with chemicals.
Organics from a Very Unlikely
Place ñ from inside Magmatic Minerals
Principal Investigator: Friedemann Freund
Many reaction pathways are known by which organic molecules can be synthesized under conditions that simulate those of the prebiotic Earth. Many such reactions take place in the atmosphere or in the water or at gas-mineral or water-mineral interfaces. Some such reactions also occur in the ìsoftî matrix of water ice or between the weakly bound sheets of layer minerals such as clays.
One reaction medium, however, has remained virtually unexplored: the dense, hard matrix of minerals. This project addresses the question how delicate organic molecules can be pre-assemble in the seemingly ìimpossibleî environment of minerals that crystallize from magmas.
In this case the lowñz, biogenic elements C, H and N derive from water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen ñ gases that are present in all geological environments. Whenever minerals crystallize from fluid-laden magmas, they incorporate small amounts of these gases into their crystal structures. During cooling solid state processes get underway that convert dissolved water into reduced H, dissolved carbon dioxide into reduced C, and dissolved nitrogen into reduced N, while oxide anions are oxidized to the peroxy state. Later C-C, C-H and C-N bonds begin to form through segregation, causing complex ìorganicsî to be pre-assembled at defects in the mineral structure. This sequence of events, represents a route to synthesize biochemically relevant organics on the early Earth. The Astrobiology project involves a infrared spectroscopic study of the C-H entities that form inside such minerals as well as the extraction and characterization of the organics using state-of-the-art analytical techniques. It requires familiarity with basic principles of solid state physics/material sciences/geology and organic chemistry.
SPACE SCIENCE
Search for Comets and Asteroids
Principal Investigator: William J. Borucki
An observation program is being conducted at the Lick Observatory to search for extrasolar planets by the transit method. Each night a photometric telescope continuously monitors the brightness of 6000 stars. If a planet transits one of the stars, the star brightness will decrease for a period of a few hours. The fractional reduction in the stellar flux provides the size of the planet relative to that of the star. The orbital period is determined from the time between transits. However many types of phenomena are also observed that serve to confuse the results. These include variable stars, aircraft passing overhead, meteors, comets, and asteroids. A method must developed to automatically identify and catalog these phenomena so that the effects of their presence can be removed.
Our project has already found methods of identifying variable stars and aircraft. A computer program that searches through the thousands of images to identify the meteors, comets, and asteroids must be developed. Because these objects are of interest to the science community, it is important to carefully characterize and catalog the comets and asteroids.
The duties of the Astrobiology Academy student would be to develop and test a computer program to identify meteors, comets, and asteroids in our data. Then the student would examine the individual images to determine their brightness and motions. For those objects that showed a substantial change in position before they faded from view, orbits will be calculated. The student will have the opportunity to participate in weekly research meetings and attend seminars. The candidate must have some programming experience in a language such as Fortran, C, or QuickBasic.
Delivery of Meteoric Organic
Matter to the Early Earth
Principle Investigator: Peter Jenniskens
Most meteoric matter accretes on Earth in the form of around 200 micron sized particles causing +8magnitude meteors. The colliding air molecules sputter the meteoric matter which is released inthe form of atoms and small molecules. Organic matter in the meteoroid is lost in the form of C2 and CN, emission lines of which have been detected in meteor spectra.
The summer Research Associate will analyze meteor spectra obtained by a new video imagingtechnique and search for the C2 and CN bands. Successful detection's are compared to thephysical properties of the meteors in order to characterize the conditions in which these moleculesare produced. The results will be interpreted in the context of seeding the early Earth with meteoricreduced organic matter, and will prepare for observations of the 1998 and 1999 Leonid meteor storms.
Use of Mars Wind Tunnel
to Quantify Dust Transport on the 2001 Mars Lander
Principle Investigator: Garrett Kramer
Viking and Pathfinder surface operations have shown that widnblown dust is ubiquitous on Marsand will impact surface operations, including landers, rovers, and human operations. The Mars Wind Tunnel will be used to simulate effects of winds and resultant patterns of dust depositon anderosion on the operations associated with the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander. The Lander deck willinclude the following relevant experiments:
- a panoramic imaging system and emission spectrometer on a mast, with associated radiometric calibration targets on the deck;
- an experiment called MECA, which will focus on microscopic examination and wet chemistryof soil samples delivered to the experiment by a robotic arm and scoop; and
- MIP, an experiment which includes solar cells that can be rotated to remove accumulateddust, determination of dust thickness by examining solar transmissive losses, and a dustelectrostatic repulsion experiment.
Further, patch plates on the deck for MECA and a Moessbauer calibration target will be on the deck. Wind deposited dust and dust deposited onto the deck during delivery of samples to MECA willstrongly influence the calibration targets and the MIP experiments. The Pancam and infraredspectrometer will be used to monitor these effects. The intent of this task is to use the Mars Wind Tunnel and scale models of the deck and its instruments to understand the dynamics of dust deposition and erosion under various wind regimes on Mars. The scale models will be supplied by R. E. Arvidson, Washington University, a collaborator on the project. Working with the team, the student will develop and run experiments to simulate effects of dust on the various instruments and experiments on the deck. The student will also derive ramifications for mission operations for 2001 and beyond, including human expeditions.
Water and Exobiology Environments
on Mars
Principal Investigator: Nathalie A. Cabrol
Water is a pre-requisite for life as we know it on Earth. It has been demonstrated that Mars experienced abundant hydrological activity in the past, and that the planet's conditions were somewhat comparable to that of Earth at the beginning of its history. From these observations, it was suggested that Mars might have developed early environments favorable to the inception and the development of life, but as the conditions changed (thinner atmosphere, surface UV bombardment, decline of the hydrosphere) the survival of life at the surface was deemed unlikely. Current theories predict that fossils could be found at depth, and if extant life is to be discovered, it will in the subsurface. The evidence for recent lakes, recent volcanic activity, and the discovery of gullies and alluvial fans that could be recent or even current is suggesting that Mars is more active than predicted after the Viking mission, implying that we might have to revisit past theories and models. The presence of water and heat are fundamental for the survival of living organisms. If both are still present on Mars, there is a chance that life survived --if it appeared-- These discoveries need to be confirmed by more observations and modeling. If confirmed this new vision of Mars is of the utmost importance for the search of life, for the design of exploration strategy, and for the selection of candidate-landing sites.
Our project involves the documentation of this new vision of a hydrologically active Mars in current conditions and its consequences in terms of potential current environments for life. More evidence needs to be found in the Mars Global Surveyor data. Because of the MOC imagery resolution and precision of the MOLA altimetry, it is possible to perform accurate hydrogeological modeling that will tell us, for instance, what are the discharges and volumes of sediment involved, and what is the depth of the groundwater reservoir. These are critical parameters to define in order to obtain a better picture of what are potentially the current resources for living organisms. The student will participate in this reconstruction of the current Mars hydrological activity by collaborating in the search for new evidence. He/she will have access to the MGS data archive, extract relevant images, altimetric and spectral data, and process them. A training in image interpretation and processing will be given to the student. As the 2003 mission to Mars involves two rovers, her/his work will provide important information to designate high-priority regions to explore. The student work will include a documentation of the most favorable regions he/she identified, and the development of exploration strategies relevant to the identified environments.
The duties of an Astrobiology Academy student would involve observational, analytical, theoretical, and possibly field work in terrestrial analogs to Mars exobiology exploration sites. The duties can involve one or several aspects of the following: analysis and interpretation of Mars mission data from MGS, Viking, and Pathfinder (e.g., images, altimetry, and spectral data), theoretical hydrogeological modeling, support of field work in terrestrial analogs (e.g., collection of data, analysis of the data, collaborating in field experiments, and participation to rover field test if field test schedule permits). The skills required are a good background in geology and/or physics (both preferred but not mandatory), and a strong interest in exobiology and planetary surface missions. Candidates should type well and have experience with Macintosh computers, and programs such as Word, Excel, and Adobe Photoshop. Experience in organizing web pages will be considered as a plus.
For more information on your local state space grant consortium contact them through the following link: http://calspace.ucsd.edu/spacegrant/
If you have questions about the application or the application process please contact either Douglas A. O'Handley or Joseph Tamer.
Last Updated September 1, 1999
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Responsible NASA Official: Dr. Donald DeVincenzi