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Ichnological Evidence of Bioturbation at Vera Rubin Ridge
by Barry E. DiGregorio.
Ichnological evidence for bioturbation in an ancient lake at Vera Rubin Ridge, Gale Crater, Mars.
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Mars - No Longer The Red Planet But Rather, The Golden Brown Planet
by Barry E. DiGregorio.
Why is Mars still referred to as the Red Planet? Photographs from NASA's Curiosity rover operating on Mars since 2012 clearly show it is not red
but rather a golden-brown world similar to perhaps what Earth might look like without vegetation . So why has almost every other spacecraft visiting
the surface of the planet rendered Mars either orange as a pumpkin or red as blood?
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The Case for Extant Life on Mars and Its Possible Detection by the Viking Labeled Release Experiment
by Gilbert V. Levin and Patricia Ann Straat.
In "The Case for Extant Life on Mars and Its Possible Detection by the Viking Labeled Release Experiment," coauthors Gilbert V. Levin, Arizona
State University, Tempe, and Patricia Ann Straat, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (retired), clearly outline the evidence to support
the "biological hypothesis", which argues that the results of the 1976 Viking Labeled Release experiment were positive for extant microbial life
on the surface of Mars.
Further, Drs. Levin and Straat evaluate the "non-biological hypotheses" to explain the Viking results, which many scientists support, but the
authors conclude that the experimental evidence supports a biological explanation and the likelihood that microorganisms were able to evolve and
adapt to be able to survive in the harsh conditions of the Martian environment.
"Even if one is not convinced that the Viking LR results give strong evidence for life on Mars, this paper clearly shows that the possibility must
be considered," says Chris McKay, PhD, Senior Editor of Astrobiology and an astrobiologist with NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. "We
cannot rule out the biological explanation. This has implications for plans for sample return from Mars and for future human missions."
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University of Buckingham Astrobiologists Endorsed by UK Space Agency to Look for Life on Mars
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New NASA close-up images of freshly broken open rocks by the Curiosity rover wheels could incidentally verify that the 1976 Viking Mission found microbial life
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Astrobiological Implications of Rock Varnish in Tibet
ASTROBIOLOGY, Volume 9, Number 6, 2009 DOI: 10.1089=ast.2008.0238 - David Krinsley, Ronald I. Dorn, and Barry DiGregorio.
The study of terrestrial geomicrobiology and its relationship to rock weathering processes is an essential tool in developing
analogues for similar processes that may have occurred on Mars. Most studies of manganese-enhanced rock varnish have focused
on samples taken from warm arid desert regions. Here, we examine samples obtained from eolian-abraded lava flows of the
4700-4800 m high Ashikule Basin in Tibet.
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NASA Mars Exploration Program Status - Briefing to the Decadal Survey Committee July 6, 2009
NASA changes its "FOLLOW THE WATER" on Mars mantra to "THE SEARCH FOR LIFE".
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Strong Release of Methane on Mars in Northern Summer 2003
Published Online January 15, 2009. Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1165243
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Scientists Discover Concealed Glaciers On Mars at Mid-Latitudes (Press Release)
November 20, 2008
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Glaciers Reveal Martian Climate Has Been Recently Active (Press Release)
April 23, 2008
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Mars Express closes in on the origin of Mars' larger moon
October 16, 2008
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Martian Meteorites Do Not Eliminate The Need For Back Contamination Precautions On Sample Return Missions
by Benton C. Clark, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, POB 179, MS 5-8000, Denver, CO 80201, USA. Advances in Space Research, Volume 30, Issue 6, p. 1593-1600.
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Dissolution cavities in upper Ordovician sandstones from Lake Ontario:
analogs to vesiculated rocks on Mars?
Author: DiGregorio, Barry E.
Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology V. Edited by Richard B.
Hoover, Alexei Yu. Rozanov, Roland R. Paepe. Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume
4859, pp. 57-71 (2003).
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The Stability of Liquid-Water Films on the Surface of Mars
DPS Pasadena Meeting 2000, 23-27 October 2000 Session 62. Mars Surface and Satellites II.
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Rock Varnish As A Habitat For Extant Life On Mars
by Barry E. DiGregorio, Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology, Cardiff, UK.
Barry E. DiGregorio's 2001 SPIE Conference paper regarding rock varnish and life on
Mars: from Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology IV.
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Microbes In Rocks And Meteorites: A New Form Of Life
Unaffected By Time, Temperature, Pressure
Giuseppe Geraci1, Rosanna del Gaudio1, and Bruno D'Argenio2;
1 Dipartimento di Genetica, Biologia Generale e Molecolare, Universitŕ di
Napoli "Federico II", Naples, Italy; 2 Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra,
Universitŕ di Napoli "Federico II", Naples, Italy and Istituto di Ricerca Geomare Sud,
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Naples, Italy
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Probable Evidences Of Recent Biological Activity On Mars: Appearance And
Growing Of Dark Dune Spots In The South Polar Region.
A. Horváth1,3, T. Gánti2, A. Gesztesi3, Sz. Bérczi4,
E. Szathmáry2, 1Konkoly Observatory, P. O. Box 67, Budapest H-1525,
Hungary, 2Collegium Budapest, Institute for Advanced Study,H-1014 Budapest,
Szentháromság tér 2. Hungary, 3Budapest Planetarium, H-1476 Budapest, P. O. Box. 47,
Hungary, 4Eötvös University, Dept. G. Physics, Cosmic Mat. Sp. Res. Gr. H-1117 Budapest,
Pázmány P. s. 1/a. Hungary, (szathmary@zeus.colbud.hu)
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Thinking About Life On Mars: Dangers And Visions
by A. H. Treiman. Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX 77058.
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Support Experiments to the Pyrolysis/Gas Chromatographic/Mass Spectrometric,
Analysis of the Surface of Mars
by Lavoie, J. M., Ph.D. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1979.
This is the 1979 MIT Doctoral Thesis Barry E. DiGregorio cited in his book Mars: The Living Planet as
evidence the Viking GCMS silver paladium separator could be crippled by excess sulfur in
Martian soil. It also mentions the Viking GCMS could not find organic matter in some Earth
soils that had millions of living microbes in them.
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Organic Matter In SNC Meteorites: Is It Time To Re-Evaluate
The Viking Biology Experimental Data? (Lunar and Planetary Science XXXII 2001) by
D. M. Warmflash1, S. J. Clemett2 and D. S. McKay1,
1Mail Code SN, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058,
2Lockheed Martin Space Operations, Houston TX 77058.
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Detecting pyrolysis products from bacteria on Mars by
Daniel P. Glavin, Michael Schubert, Oliver Botta, Gerhard Kminek and Jeffrey L. Bada,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
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The Antaeus Report: Orbiting Quarantine Facility -
Scientific and Technical Information Branch, NASA, Washington D.C. 1981.
The Antaeus Report: Orbiting Quarantine Facitlity is NASA's 1981 hard hitting report
summarizing detailed plans to protect Earth's biosphere from any back contamination
from Mars. So serious did NASA consider the possibility of back contamination from
Mars in 1981 that they were willing to look at building a specially designed CDC-like
examination laboratory in Earth orbit. Since the time this report was written,
NASA funding for such a massive effort has dwindilled and is now instead considering
the direct return of Martian soil samples to the surface of the Earth in a capsule
which may or may not have a parachute (see ICAMSR Sample Return section). This risky
method uses the Earth as a catchers mit and by-passes any inspection in space to make
sure the capsule is properly sealed. To illustrate the seriousness of this issue Dr.
Carl Sagan once told JPL engineers that returning samples of Martian soil directly to
the Earth is extremely risky. He challenged the JPL engineers who thought it was safe
to return Martian soil samples directly to the surface of the Earth to place live
Anthrax germs in a prototype MSR capsule they thought was safe and then launch it into
space. Sagan then said the MSR prototype should be made to return on the same trajectory
as a real MSR mission. Then once the sample capsule landed on earth, scientists would
run the capsule through the planetary quarantine protocols to see if all systems
contained the organisms inside and that no contamination occured. None of the engineers
were willing to take Sagan up on his Anthrax challenge. Dr. Sagan's example set a
chilling tone for any planetary samples that might be returned from planets capable of
sustaining microbes.
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Light Flashes, Dust Clouds, and Electric Discharges Caused by Meteoroid Impacts onto Mars
from 63rd Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting (August 28 - September 1, 2000) by
I. B. Kosarev, I. V. Nemtchinov, V. A. Rybakov, and V. V. Shuvalov,
Institute for Dynamics of Geospheres, Russian Academy of Sciences,
38 Leninsky Prosp., Building 6, Moscow 117979, Russia.
Do frequent impacts on the Martian surface make it impossible for human exploration?
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Evidence of Martian Land of Lakes Discovered
by Michael Malin et al, of Malin Space Science Systems, December 4, 2000.
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Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) Images Suggest Early Mars History is Recorded in Sedimentary Rocks
- MGS MOC Releases MOC2-259 to MOC2-265, 4 December 2000 from the Malin Space Science Systems, Mars Global
Surveyer, Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC).
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Organic Pigments On Mars Surface? S. Pershin,
Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 117810, GSP-7, Moscow, Russia.
Dr. Sergei Pershin's presentation of his research on
organic pigments on Mars at the 32-nd Vernadsky/Brown Microsymposium on Comparative Planetology.
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32th Vernadsky-Brown Microsymposium - Abstracts
- An excellent selection of Mars and planetary research abstracts.
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Sub-ice Volcanism and Ancient Oceans/Lakes on Mars
by M. G. Chapman from U.S. Geological Survey, 2255 No. Gemini Dr., Flagstaff, AZ 86001 United States
and M. H. Carr from U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd., Menlo Park, CA 94025 United States
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Oceans and the Evolution of the Martian Hydrosphere
by S. M. Clifford from Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3600 Bay Area Blvd, Houston, TX 77058 United States
and T. J. Parker from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, MS 183-501 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
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Short-Term Stability of Surface Water on Mars,
by M. H. Hecht from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, M.S. 302-231 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Passadena, CA 91109 United States
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The American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting 2000 -
Scientific abstracts concerning water and astrobiology on Mars. There is a wealth of
information about Mars to be gleaned from this important conference. Information on
the outer palnets and comets is included as well.
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Bacterial Activity in South Pole Snow
from Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2000;
by Edward J. Carpenter1, Senjie Lin2, and Douglas G. Capone3.
1-Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794;
2-Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, Groton, Connecticut 06340; and
3-Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089
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Martian Crater Lake May Have Harboured Life,
Professor Michael Russell and colleagues ongoing research on the unusual White Rock
structures that reside inside Martian craters thought to have once been filled with
liquid water.
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Completion of the Viking Labeled Release Experiment on Mars
by Gilbert V. Levin and Patricia Ann Straat, Biospherics Incorporated, 4928 Wyaconda Road,
Rockville, Maryland 20852, USA.
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Preliminary Thermal Analysis Of A Mars Sample Return Earth Entry Vehicle
by Ruth M. Amundsen, John A. Dec, Robert A. Mitcheltree, Michael C. Lindell,
Robert A. Dillman, National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681-2199.
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Mars Exploration Strategies: Forget About Sample Return!
by D.A. Paige, Dept. of Earth and Space Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90005.
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Approaches To Resolving The Question Of Life On Mars,
Dr. Arthur LaFleur joins Dr. Levin as a co-author on this ground breaking new SPIE
research paper about life on Mars. LaFleur helped develop the original Viking GCMS
system and knows intimately, its limits and flaws. He provides dramatic evidence of
why NASA should not have used the Viking GCMS data to render a negative verdict about
life on Mars. Also in this paper, Dr. Lawrence Kuznetz, of the University of California
at Berkley, Department of Planetary Sciences, demonstrates that Mars current atmospheric
pressures and temperatures during certain seasons are capable of sustaining liquid water
on the surface, in biologically significant quantities. This is perhaps the most signifcant
evidence to date, that Dr's. Levin and Straat found living microorganisms in the soil of
Mars 24 years ago.
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Martian Meteorites and the Need for Back Contamination Precautions -
Do meteorites from Mars negate the need for planetary protection?
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Preventing the Forward Contamination of Europa,
Task Group on the Forward Contamination of Europa, Space Studies Board,
Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications,
National Research Council
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Liquid water and life on Mars, Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, July 20 1998, San Diego, California.
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The Viking Labeled Release Experiment and Life on Mars, Proceedings of SPIE - The
International Society for Optical Engineering, "Instruments, Methods, and Missions
for the Investigation of Extraterrestial Microorganisms. July 29 - August 1, 1997, San
Diego, California.
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Viking Results, Chemistry or Biology?, Abstract of Report Presented at the
International Tesla Society Mars Forum, Colorado Springs, CO, November 13, 1993.
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A Search for a Nonbiological Explanation of the Viking Labeled Release Life
Detection Experiment, Icarus 45, 494-516 (1981).
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Color and Feature Changes at Mars Viking Lander Site, Journal of
Theoretical Biology, (1978) 75, 381-390.
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Recent Results From the Viking Labeled Release Experiment on Mars, Journal of Geophysical
Research, Vol. 82, No. 28; September 30, 1977.
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Life on Mars? The Viking Labeled Release Experiment, Biosystems, 9(1977) 165-174.
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Labeled Release - An Experiment in Radiorespirometry, Origins of Life 7(1976) 293-311.
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