Red Dragon

NASA scientist Chris McKay and his team are working with SpaceX to develop a low cost unmanned mission to Mars using the company's Falcon/Dragon stack. In the concept, a Dragon capsule would deliver a large science payload to the surface of Mars. The major experiment of the mission would look for prebiotic compounds by drilling three feet below the surface in a region known to have underground water. If NASA gives the project a green light, it would launch in 2018. McKay informally calls the project "Red Dragon."

SpaceX has other plans for Mars, as well. It is developing the Falcon Heavy, a heavy-lift launcher that could throw a Dragon to Mars. That rocket could be ready by 2015. SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said the company intends to send an astronaut to Mars within a decade or two. A private company undertaking such a project might have an advantage in being able to focus resources without having to worry about Congress. On the other hand, SpaceX is in business to make a profit. How a private manned mission to Mars could make enough money to cover the cost of the enterprise, let alone turn a profit, is not immediately clear. If SpaceX were able to develop a business model that allowed manned planetary exploration on an ongoing, profitable basis, however, that would be a fundamental turning point in the human expansion into space.

Moons And Life

A new study of the chaotic early solar system suggests that only about ten percent of terrestrial planets will have a satellite comparable to Earth's Moon. Because the Moon's gravitational influence serves to stabilize Earth's axial orientation, thus tending to help produce predictable climates over some long term, scientists argue that such large moons are important to the development of life. If so, and if only ten percent of terrestrial planets have large moons, some argue, life may be relatively rare in the cosmos.

Well, the study suggests that arrangements like the Earth-Moon system are rare. In fact, any specific arrangement is rare, and the more exacting we get, the more rare that arrangement becomes. It's perfectly possible to define ourselves into uniqueness. The study puts a rough number to a situation already understood, however, and that is useful.

The past few decades have hosted a revolution in our understanding of life's ability to adapt to and thrive in seemingly hostile environments, so we should careful in suggesting life, or even civilization, could not survive on a world in which the climate radically changed over hundreds of thousands or millions of years. Such a situation may produce life that is aggressive, resourceful, and keenly intelligent. Understanding that Earth-like life may well be only one strand in the fabric of life in the universe is probably a good idea, too.

Sulfur And ET

Scientists trying to develop techniques to find life on exoplanets similar to Earth have added sulfur to their quiver. Since some molecules on Earth eat sulfur and release sulfurous oxide, for example, they reason finding either of those in the atmosphere of an Earth-like exoplanet could suggest life.

Of course, sulfur would be only one marker. Evidence of photosynthesis occurring would be an obvious indicator of possible life, for example. Since oxygen quickly combines with other elements, the presence of free oxygen in an atmosphere would suggest some process is constantly replenishing the oxygen. That process may be life.

The spectroscopic signature of a vibrant biosphere is likely to be extremely complex. Teasing several markers from the data instead of relying on any single one will probably be what finally clinches the case for science.

Trojans of Earth

Trojan asteroids are asteroids that orbit in the same orbit as a planet, but 60 degrees ahead of or behind the planet. Jupiter has perhaps hundreds or thousands of Trojans. Mars has some. Until this year, however, no Trojans of Earth had been found.

That has changed. The asteroid 2010 TK7 has been confirmed as an Earth Trojan. It's a body about a thousand feet across, and leads Earth through space. Actually, this particular little world has a complex orbit that is also extremely inclined to Earth's path, but for all its gyrations 2010 TK7 maintain the relative position to Earth that classifies it as a Trojan.

Finding more Earth Trojans, in simpler orbits, would be a real boon. Such bodies, in terms of energy requirements, would be easier to reach than the Moon. If NASA wants to send humans to an asteroid as a precursor of missions to Mars, therefore, going to an Earth Trojan might be the ideal choice. Trojans could also contain huge amounts of useful and valuable natural resources. Given that, coupled with their energy proximity, Earth Trojans could easily become home to the first human bases beyond the Moon. Of course, first we'll have to find more of them.

Speeding Up SpaceX

NASA and SpaceX are quickly moving towards an agreement to speed up the shakedown of the company's Falcon 9/Dragon stack. The plan originally called for SpaceX to demonstrate Dragon could rendezvous with ISS on one flight, and actually dock with the space station on a second flight. Now, however, if final agreement is reached, both of those milestones will be attempted on the next flight, scheduled to launch in late November.

Assuming the new plan works out, it will bring forward the time when Dragon can begin delivering cargo to ISS. That, in turn, may hasten the day Dragon ferries humans to and from low Earth orbit.

Haumea

Haumea is a curious denizen of the Kuiper Belt. Cigar-shaped, it's about 1,200 miles long, and astronomers have recently determined it is largely covered by crystalline water ice, as is at least one of its moons. The fact that it's crystalline water ice is important because water molecules so organized imply a nearby heat source. In the case of Haumea, scientists think the heat source likely is radioactive elements under the ice.

If the Haumea system is in fact rich both in water and in elements that could fuel nuclear reactors, it might become an important base in centuries to come as humans venture into the outer Solar System and beyond.

Gale Crater

NASA has selected Gale Crater as the landing site for its Mars Science Laboratory, which features the huge, sophisticated Curiosity rover. MSL is due to land on Mars in August, 2012.

Gale is a large crater-- 96 miles across, with a three mile high central peak. It also has a fascinating geology. Many features strongly suggest the presence of liquid water on the surface for extended periods of the past, for instance. The central peak also looks to be geologically layered. If Curiosity can reach the peak, scientists believe the layers can tell them the geologic history of Mars going well back in time just as sediment layering on Earth tells geologists about our world.

Given the timescales accessible for study in Gale coupled with the likely presence of past water, scientists believe the crater is also an excellent place to pursue the question of whether life ever existed on Mars.