Simulating Chemistry On Titan

A new study looks at what could be going on in the upper atmosphere of Saturn's extraordinary moon, Titan, by roughly replicating in a laboratory the chemical and energy environment there. The results are amazing. Many complex organics formed, including all the base acids of Earth's DNA molecules. The raw materials for the chemistry seems to come, at least partly, from another of Saturn's moons, Enceladus. Scientists are seeing meaningful interactions among the moons of both Jupiter and Saturn, a phenomenon not necessarily anticipated before the missions of Galileo and Cassini, respectively.

Not only does the study's findings make the case for life on Titan stronger, they also throw another possibility into the debate on how and where life started on Earth. The prevailing view is that water was critical to that event, but water plays no role in the study, as water is frozen on Titan. So, if Titan's atmosphere-- except for the temperature, which might be a major factor-- is similar to early Earth's, and if the basics of life are created in Titan's upper atmosphere without water, then it's possible life on Earth did not, in fact, require water to get started. That, as they say, would be a game changer.

Water In Asteroids

A second asteroid, 65 Cybele, has been found to contain both water and organic molecules. A view is emerging in the scientific community that water may be common on asteroids. If true, it would significantly change how we see the Solar System. First, it would further blur the line between comets and asteroids. If both are small bodies containing volatiles-- water-- the only differences between the two may be location in the Solar System and orbital characteristics.

Second, the discovery that water may be common in asteroids strengthens the theory that water, and possibly life, came to Earth from outside.

Third, if substantial amounts of water are easily accessible throughout the Solar System, exploring and settling space would be much easier. Water could be used as water, or split into its hydrogen and oxygen components and used as rocket fuel, or the oxygen could be used for breathing while hydrogen is used in another way. Water and rock are also good protection against radiation. Eventually, too, asteroids laden with water ice could be moved to where the water was needed. Space could be open to humanity.

Chemistry On Europa

A new study suggests that Jupiter's moon Europa may support chemical reactions both on its icy surface and below the surface, beyond the reach of sunlight. Scientists have found that water and sulfur dioxide react easily and quickly even in the extreme cold that reigns on Europa. The sulfur involved, in one of Nature's amazing twists, seems to come from the volcanic eruptions on another of Jupiter's moons, the volatile Io.

Scientists believe a huge ocean exists under the Europan ice shell. With complex molecules possibly migrating down into that ocean, and a heat and energy source that keeps the water in the ocean liquid, the case for at least the precursors of life existing on Europa seems to be strengthened by this study. Further, the results of the study do not apply solely to Europa. For example, they could also apply to the other two large moons of Jupiter, Callisto and Ganymede.

Explaining Enceladus' Eruptions

A new study of Saturn's intriguing moon Enceladus outlines a possible mechanism to explain the erupting geysers in the moon's southern polar region. Key to the new theory is the presence of a saltwater ocean of flowing liquid beneath the icy shell of the surface that also interacts with a solid core.

The theory is that the ocean is an active, dynamic environment that brings minerals, dust, and gas from the core to the upper levels. Heated, the gas expands and powers the geysers.

Perhaps the most important element of the theory is the fact that a water ocean is critical to its operation. Such an ocean had already been postulated to occupy the interior of Enceladus, but making a saltwater ocean integral to the explanation of an observed phenomenon-- the geysers-- also might suggest a stronger case for the existence of an ocean, though that reasoning, perhaps, cannot be pushed too far. Still, add up a huge, active, water ocean with access to various minerals, an energy source, and the established existence of organic compounds, and a case for possible life inside Enceladus is likely strengthened.

More Seed Money

NASA has announced a second round of monetary awards to private industry. The point of the awards is to encourage the development of specific technologies necessary to establish a commercial manned spaceflight capabiity, which is in line with President Obama's policy to foster such a capability.

The amount to be awarded has yet to be determined because Congress has yet to pass a budget, but NASA plans to give out the awards in March.

Sputnik Plus 53

Many historians date the birth of the modern world to the first voyage of Columbus to what became the "New World" to Europeans. That event marked the beginning of the dominance of Europe, and eventually of the United States, in world affairs.

Fifty-three years ago today, with the Soviet Union's launch of the first space probe, another age in the history of mankind was ushered in. Since then, the Space Age has brought successive revolutions in our understanding of the universe, and helped spark revolutions in technology and information handling that have, among other things, led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, and reshaped the economy and political reality of the world.

The Space Age seems poised for a new era-- that of commercial operations in space. If the cost of space projects can be brought down and controlled to allow actual, sustainable profits, the progress made so far in the Space Age, in knowledge and capability, could well quicken. The second fifty-three years of the Space Age may be even more extraordinary and transformative than the first.

Garver Weighs In

Lori Garver, deputy administrator of NASA, says that despite the new goal of sending a manned mission to a near-Earth asteroid by 2025, lunar exploration is not off the agency's radar. Indeed, NASA currently has a probe orbiting the Moon and plans for more in the years ahead.

Garver notes that the Moon is an obvious element in humanity's migration into space. It is, in fact, the world nearest to Earth, and a world rich in natural resources, including substantial reserves of water. Several nations are sending unmanned probes to the Moon, and several of the major nations have expressed at least some interest in participating in an international program to establish a manned lunar base. Private corporations like Bigelow Aerospace and Interorbital Systems are also planning manned bases on the Moon in the near future. If such private, for profit efforts successfully establish bases before a government-run program does, the Space Age will have taken what could be a decisive turn-- and with that turn, human civilization will begin a process of redefinition.

Garver is past executive director of the National Space Society, so she is aware of the role colonizing the Moon plays in the plans of many space advocates. Perhaps that perspective will yet have an influence on U. S. space policy.