Did NASA discover evidence of life on Mars and then misplace it for almost 25 years? A University of Southern California scientist argues that is just what happened and that once-lost data collected by the 1975 Viking probes suggest the existence of Martian microbes. The significance of that finding was overlooked — along with the data itself — after NASA concluded that its experiments showed only signs of chemical activity on the surface of the “Red Planet,” said Joseph Miller, a USC neurobiologist. But a careful reexamination of a fragment of the recovered NASA record showed a surprising pattern: gas released by the Martian soil and tracked by Viking followed the same kind of rhythms followed by all Earth-bound organisms from humans to fruit flies in a cycle akin to feeding and respiration by colonies of microbes.
Australian ‘scramjet’ test flight delayed
The Australian test flight of a hypersonic “scramjet” engine which researchers believe will one day allow people to fly at 8,000 km (5,000 miles) per hour or more has been set back several months. Originally due for its maiden launch in the Australian outback on August 13, the prototype engine — built by the University of Queensland’s Center for Hypersonics — will now be fired off into the upper atmosphere on October 23, a university spokesman said.
Greek Composer Vangelis Says Music Shaped Space
Whether it’s exploring space, conquering an athlete’s inner limits or discovering a new continent, Greek Oscar-winning composer Vangelis has made the music to match. The top-selling artist, who has an asteroid between Jupiter and Mars named after him, has merged his love of music, space and mythology in an ode to the 2001 NASA mission to Mars. Vangelis, who won an Academy Award for his theme to “Chariots of Fire,” performed his new choral symphony Mythodea amid the ruins of the temple of Zeus in central Athens last week to an audience of thousands.
Vangelis to honor space at ancient Athens temple
Greek Oscar-winning composer Vangelis says his latest composition, commemorating a NASA mission to Mars, stems from a long love affair with space. “Science and mythology were the topics which fascinated me since my early childhood,” the composer said in a pre-concert statement Wednesday. Vangelis, who won an Academy Award for the soundtrack to 1982 film “Chariots of Fire,” will unveil his new composition “Mythodea” at Athens’ Temple of Zeus archeological site on Thursday. The choral symphony, which will feature opera divas Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle, was composed to mark NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey which was launched in April.
NASA Readies Solar-Powered, High-Altitude Plane
When U.S. space scientists send a $15 million, solar-powered experimental plane into the skies over Hawaii sometime in July, it will achieve top speeds no faster than a bicycle, powered by 14 electric motors not much stronger than hair dryers. But NASA project scientists hope the Helios prototype — which appears to be made of a translucent wing 250 feet long and looking like a flying boomerang — will shatter altitude records, help them understand how to fly on Mars and ultimately pioneer a new era in satellites.
2001 Mars Odyssey to Map Minerals, Check Radiation
NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, set for launch on April 7, aims to find out what Earth’s planetary neighbor is made of and evaluate radiation that could be risky to humans, space agency officials said on Monday. Admittedly snake-bit by earlier failed missions, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has spent about $12 million on additional reviews to cut down on the possibility of failure. The total cost of the unmanned orbital mission is $297 million.
Mutant bacteria next threat from Mir?
Forget the danger of heavy-weight debris raining down from space when Russia sends the Mir orbiter to a watery grave this month — the real threat could be mutant fungi, a researcher said on Tuesday. Yuri Karash, an expert on the Russian space program, said there was a possibility that micro-organisms, which have spent the last 15 years mutating in isolation aboard Mir, could present a threat if they survived the fall to Earth.
Clinton Defends ‘Cheaper’ U.S. Space Program
NASA needed to learn how to manage its multi-billion-dollar budget better and recent disasters, including the loss of two expeditions to Mars, were part of the price we pay for space exploration, President Clinton said in an interview to be published on Friday. The “faster, better, cheaper” policy, which the National Aeronautics and Space Administration now admits probably cut things a bit too close, was a necessary discipline, Clinton said in an interview with the magazine Science marking the end of his eight-year administration.
Space Mission Aims to Man Station Forever
If all goes well, Monday will be the last day for mankind as a strictly terrestrial species. On Monday man will take up permanent residency in space, a dream for a generation of space sojourners and the stuff of science fiction for even longer. At the Russian-owned cosmodrome near Baikonur, Kazakhstan, three astronauts — Russians Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalyov and their American commander, Bill Shepherd — are in final preparations for their launch on Tuesday to the International Space Station, in orbit some 230 miles above Earth. The station is designed to last at least 10 years, but could last 25 or more, and then be replaced by a newer, bigger station. Expeditions to the moon or Mars may be launched from there.
Antarctic Study Paves Way for Search for Martians
Experiments in Mars-like areas in Antarctica could provide clues about how best to search for signs of life on the inhospitable red planet, U.S. scientists said on Wednesday. Scientists from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) found that mysteriously high salt concentrations in the exposed soils of Antarctica’s Dry Valleys — areas perennially devoid of snow and ice cover — were due to sulfur-emitting marine algae. In a discovery important for Martian exploration, the scientists also found that digging more deeply into the soil of the Dry Valleys yielded higher concentrations of biologically produced sulfates.