[meteorite-list] Field Of Astrobiology Gains Legitimacy, Catches On

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:44:11 2004
Message-ID: <200106040001.RAA03621_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.flatoday.com/news/space/stories/2001a/jun/spa060301a.htm

     Field of astrobiology gains legitimacy, catches on
     By Kelly Young
     FLORIDA TODAY
     June 3, 2001

     CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - There was never a "Eureka!" moment for David
     McKay.

     Instead, a slow, gradual process that led to the announcement that
     fossilized minerals produced by bacteria may lie deep inside a
     4-billion-year-old potato-sized Martian meteorite found in
     Antarctica in 1984. It was one of the first pieces of credible
     evidence that remnants of life, however tiny, may have come from
     Mars to Earth.

     That was five years ago. Afterward, scientists still debated
     whether the fossils truly were of non-Earth origin.

     The discovery and the professional disagreement led in 1998 to the
     establishment of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, which was charged
     with looking further at all aspects of life in the universe.
     Broadly defined, astrobiology focuses on how life forms and
     develops, whether it exists beyond Earth and the future of life on
     this planet.

     The institute, a conglomeration of five universities, three
     research institutions and three NASA field centers, brought
     legitimacy to a field of study that once had been marginalized. It
     received $9 million from NASA in 1999, $20 million from NASA in
     2000, and that number is expected to double in the coming years.

     "All the excitement about our initial discovery, our initial
     hypothesis, caused NASA and NASA's science advisory committee to
     decide that the search for life elsewhere in the solar system is
     really exciting and is a worthwhile science endeavor," McKay said
     from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "Everyone is really
     interested in whether there is life beyond Earth. It seems to be a
     fundamental need to know that."

     Until three years ago, biochemist Steven Benner had to pursue his
     studies in Switzerland, where it was easier to get funding and peer
     reviews were not as intense as they are in the United States. One
     of his projects studies how life might look at the chemical level
     if it had evolved separately from life on Earth.

     "It becomes quite clear that had things been different, we would
     all be dead," Benner said.

     Today, Benner is back in the United States, doing research at the
     University of Florida in conjunction with Scripps Research
     Institute and the NASA Astrobiology Institute.

     Physicists, geologists, paleontologists and marine biologists have
     joined research efforts too. They develop theories on life outside
     Earth by looking at what's happening on Earth.

     Several have taken their search for primitive life underwater near
     hydrothermal vents, hot springs bubbling up from the ocean floor.
     They have found small life can survive under such conditions.

     This could be useful to finding life on Europa, a moon of Jupiter
     that scientists believe has salty oceans under its icy crust.
     Europa's orbit is far from the sun, meaning life would have to draw
     its energy from another source, such as hydrothermal vents.

     The discovery of at least 60 planets outside the solar system also
     has boosted the field. Most of these are about the size of Jupiter.

     But that is vital to finding an Earthlike planet, Benner said.

     With its large size and its intense gravitational pull, a Jupiter
     would draw potentially dangerous space projectiles away from an
     Earth.

     In early 1996, NASA Administrator Dan Goldin started the NASA
     Origins program, which looks at development of galaxies, stars,
     planets and the conditions required to support life. It also
     searches for new planets.

     Lately, the international science community has been getting more
     involved in the field. Spain recently opened the Centro de
     Astrobiologia, and late last month, Europe held its first workshop
     on astrobiology.

     Meanwhile, universities are starting to formalize astrobiology
     studies. In 1998, the University of Washington-Seattle became the
     first to offer a doctoral program, which recently received a $5
     million grant from NASA.

     Arizona State University also has an astrobiology track, where
     students take classes in at least six departments. "Student
     interest has been really high at all levels," said geology
     Professor Jack Farmer.

     As with any science, each new announcement is scrutinized. Two
     weeks ago, for instance, Italian researchers said they had revived
     alien bacteria. McKay said he doubts the claim. He said scientists
     didn't release enough data to support it.

     He noted that even his own discovery prompted much criticism.

     "The critics have helped us improve our story, get more data. Now
     we feel stronger than ever that there is fossil life in that
     meteorite."
Received on Sun 03 Jun 2001 08:01:29 PM PDT