8,261 research outputs found
Survey of the US materials processing and manufacturing in space program
To promote potential commercial applications of low-g technology, the materials processing and manufacturing in space program is structured to: (1) analyze the scientific principles of gravitational effects on processes used in producing materials; (2) apply the research toward the technology used to control production process (on Earth or in space, as appropriate); and (3) establish the legal and managerial framework for commercial ventures. Presently federally funded NASA research is described as well as agreements for privately funded commercial activity, and a proposed academic participation process. The future scope of the program and related capabilities using ground based facilities, aircraft, sounding rockets, and space shuttles are discussed. Areas of interest described include crystal growth; solidification of metals and alloys; containerless processing; fluids and chemical processes (including biological separation processes); and processing extraterrestrial materials
The ecology of microorganisms in a small closed system: Potential benefits and problems for space station
The inevitble presence on the space station of microorganisms associated with crew members and their environment will have the potential for both benefits and a range of problems including illness and corrosion of materials. This report reviews the literature presenting information about microorganisms pertinent to Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) on the space station. The perspective of the report is ecological, viewing the space station as an ecosystem in which biological relationships are affected by factors such as zero gravity and by closure of a small volume of space. Potential sites and activities of microorganisms on the space station and their environmental limits, microbial standards for the space station, monitoring and control methods, effects of space factors on microorganisms, and extraterrestrial contamination are discussed
Life-Detection Technologies for the Next Two Decades
Since its inception six decades ago, astrobiology has diversified immensely
to encompass several scientific questions including the origin and evolution of
Terran life, the organic chemical composition of extraterrestrial objects, and
the concept of habitability, among others. The detection of life beyond Earth
forms the main goal of astrobiology, and a significant one for space
exploration in general. This goal has galvanized and connected with other
critical areas of investigation such as the analysis of meteorites and early
Earth geological and biological systems, materials gathered by sample-return
space missions, laboratory and computer simulations of extraterrestrial and
early Earth environmental chemistry, astronomical remote sensing, and in-situ
space exploration missions. Lately, scattered efforts are being undertaken
towards the R&D of the novel and as-yet-space-unproven life-detection
technologies capable of obtaining unambiguous evidence of extraterrestrial
life, even if it is significantly different from Terran life. As the suite of
space-proven payloads improves in breadth and sensitivity, this is an apt time
to examine the progress and future of life-detection technologies.Comment: 6 pages, the white paper was submitted to and cited by the National
Academy of Sciences in support of the Astrobiology Science Strategy for the
Search for Life in the Univers
Galactic-scale macro-engineering: Looking for signs of other intelligent species, as an exercise in hope for our own
If we consider Big History as simply 'our' example of the process of cosmic
evolution playing out, then we can seek to broaden our view of our possible
fate as a species by asking questions about what paths or trajectories other
species' own versions of Big History might take or have taken. This paper
explores the broad outlines of possible scenarios for the evolution of
long-lived intelligent engineering species---scenarios which might have been
part of another species' own Big History story, or which may yet lie ahead in
our own distant future. A sufficiently long-lived engineering-oriented species
may decide to undertake a program of macro-engineering projects that might
eventually lead to a re-engineered galaxy so altered that its artificiality may
be detectable from Earth. We consider activities that lead ultimately to a
galactic structure consisting of a central inner core surrounded by a more
distant ring of stars separated by a relatively sparser 'gap', where star
systems and stellar materials may have been removed, 'lifted' or turned into
Dyson Spheres. When one looks to the sky, one finds that such galaxies do
indeed exist---including the beautiful ringed galaxy known as 'Hoag's Object'
(PGC 54559) in the constellation Serpens. This leads us to pose the question:
Is Hoag's Object an example of galaxy-scale macro-engineering? And this
suggests a program of possible observational activities and theoretical
explorations, several of which are presented here, that could be carried out in
order to begin to investigate this beguiling question.Comment: 17 pages. Published in: Teaching and Researching Big History:
Exploring a New Scholarly Field; L. Grinin, D. Baker, E. Quaedackers and A.
Korotayev (eds). Uchitel Publ House, Volgograd, Russia, 2014, Chapter 14, pp.
283-304. ISBN: 978-5-7057-4027-
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Microbial D/H fractionation in extraterrestrial materials: application to micrometeorites and Mars
High D/H terrestrial alteration of micrometeorites is described and suggested to be a result of microbial isotopic fractionation by methanogens. Applications to other planetary materials, including martian meteorites, are also considered
Extrasolar Asteroid Mining as Forensic Evidence for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
The development of civilisations like ours into spacefaring, multi-planet
entities requires significant raw materials to construct vehicles and habitats.
Interplanetary debris, including asteroids and comets, may provide such a
source of raw materials. In this article we present the hypothesis that
extraterrestrial intelligences (ETIs) engaged in asteroid mining may be
detectable from Earth. Considering the detected disc of debris around Vega as a
template, we explore the observational signatures of targeted asteroid mining
(TAM), such as unexplained deficits in chemical species, changes in the size
distribution of debris and other thermal signatures which may be detectable in
the spectral energy distribution (SED) of a debris disc. We find that
individual observational signatures of asteroid mining can be explained by
natural phenomena, and as such they cannot provide conclusive detections of
ETIs. But, it may be the case that several signatures appearing in the same
system will prove harder to model without extraterrestrial involvement.
Therefore signatures of TAM are not detections of ETI in their own right, but
as part of "piggy-back" studies carried out in tandem with conventional debris
disc research, they could provide a means of identifying unusual candidate
systems for further study using other SETI techniques.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in the International
Journal of Astrobiolog
Biological generalizations and the search for extraterrestrial life
Biological exploration for extraterrestrial lif
A philosophical outlook on potential conflicts between planetary protection, astrobiology and commercial use of space
The aim of this chapter is to use philosophy and, in particular ethical theory, to identify and explore some potential conflicts
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Experimental Simulation of Volatile Organic Contributions to Planetary Atmospheres and Surfaces
We present the results of a new simulation of the atmospheric entry heating experienced by extraterrestrial dust particles, quantifying their volatile loss into the early Earth atmosphere and characterising their organic volatile components
Second Symposium on Chemical Evolution and the Origin of Life
Recent findings by NASA Exobiology investigators are reported. Scientific papers are presented in the following areas: cosmic evolution of biogenic compounds, prebiotic evolution (planetary and molecular), early evolution of life (biological and geochemical), evolution of advanced life, solar system exploration, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
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