Astrobiology: Definition of life just keeps expanding (NASA scientist Dr. Pam Conrad)
Host Scott Simon speaks with NASA scientist Dr. Pam Conrad on the 50th anniversary of the space agency #39;s search for extraterrestrial life (October 23, 2010) ...

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Astrobiology: Definition of life just keeps expanding (NASA scientist Dr. Pam Conrad) - Video

How Personalized Medicine will transform Human Space Flight

Significant attention has been given to methods of shielding human space participants from radiation on missions. But what if some astronauts suffer from susceptible DNAbeforeentering the space radiation environment? Two American scientists have proposed that certain astronaut molecular profilesmay 1) reduce inherent DNA stability, 2) slow DNA repair, and 3) render DNA more susceptible to mutational events when exposed to the radiation of space.

Michael A. Schmidt, Ph.D. (Sovaris Aerospace) andThomas J. Goodwin, Ph.D. (NASA Johnson Space Center) have identified a novel approach to space radiation countermeasures, which is based on understanding the DNA stability, DNA repair capability, and oxidative susceptibility of individual astronautsbeforethey enter the space environment. This methodology is linked to individual genotype and micronutrient status, both of which are potentially modifiable by appropriate pre-flight and in-flight countermeasures.

For instance, common gene mutations affecting one carbon metabolism (MTHFR, MTR, MTRR) may result in the build-up of a faulty base (uracil) within the DNA backbone. This can lead to single strand DNA breaks and double strand DNA breaks, before astronauts enter space. The effect of this is amplified by folate and B12 deficiency.

Other common gene mutations (Hfe) trigger excessive iron accumulation, which creates unstable DNA through oxidative stress mechanisms, also before entering space. Magnesium is a central atom in most DNArepairenzymes. Significant serum, urine, and muscle loss of Mg has already been found in ISS astronauts on long missions, thus raising the question about whether we are already flying some astronauts with diminished capacity to repair DNA damage.

According to Schmidt, "We are examining how individual molecular influences affect DNA stability and repair before astronauts enter the elevated radiation conditions of space, and then how to manage those influences while they live in space. But we are looking well beyond DNA and into the vast network of molecular influences on astronaut physiology. We and our colleagues are using genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to develop a platform for personalized medicine that will guide the present and future of human space flight. As the field evolves, we expect to increasingly be able to individualize countermeasures, so that each astronaut receives the protocol that is most suitable to him or her. This will be crucial for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Of equal importance, we use what we've learned from the complexity of space to translate these benefits to earth-based medicine."

Goodwin states, "In the end, it is about advancing the science and about developing solutions, which we see evolving in phases. Our goal, at minimum, includes: (1) establish the criteria for ''best evidence'' that can be used to develop individualized countermeasurestoday; (2) establish the criteria for best evidence that prioritizes research, clinical assessment, and individualized countermeasures to be developed in the near term; and (3) establish a deliberate discovery path that seeks to develop sophisticated and more complex models for long-term deployment of personalized medicine, as the future standard of preparation and care in human space flight."

Their paper, entitledPersonalized Medicine in Human Space Flight: Using Omics Based Analyses to Develop Individualized Countermeasures that Enhance Astronaut Safety and Performance, was recently published in the journalMetabolomics(Schmidt, MA, Goodwin, TJ.MetabolomicsDec 2013;9(6):1134-1156).

Michael A. Schmidt, Ph.D.is co-chair of the Advanced Pattern Analysis & Countermeasures Group. He and his team have ongoing collaborations with NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Johnson Space Center, and commercial space flight companies that are focused on human missions to the ISS, Moon, Mars, and elsewhere. Dr. Schmidt is the founder ofSovaris Aerospace, LLCand Chairman ofMetaboLogics, LLC, based at the Infectious Disease Research Complex at Colorado State University. Sovaris Aerospace, LLC uses pattern analysis, signal processing, and predictive modeling to develop molecular/physiologic assessment and countermeasure solutions for humans in space. MetaboLogics, LLC, applies these methods to earth-based medicine.

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Novel Ways to Protect Astronaut DNA before Entering Space Radiation Environments

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, the Goddard Space Flight Center was named in honor of Dr. Robert Goddard, a pioneer in rocket development. Dr. Goddard received patents for a multi-stage rocket and liquid propellants in 1914 and published a paper describing how to reach extreme altitudes six years later.

That paper, "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes," detailed methods for raising weather-recording instruments higher than what could be achieved by balloons and explained the mathematical theories of rocket propulsion. The paper, which was published by the Smithsonian Institution, also discussed the possibility of a rocket reaching the moon a position for which the press ridiculed Goddard. Yet several copies of the report found their way to Europe, and by 1927, the German Rocket Society was established, and the German Army began its rocket program in 1931. Goddard, meanwhile, continued his work.

By 1926, he had constructed and tested the first rocket using liquid fuel. Goddard's work largely anticipated in technical detail the later German V-2 missiles, including gyroscopic control, steering by means of vanes in the jet stream of the rocket motor, gimbal-steering, power-driven fuel pumps and other devices.

The National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) was a precursor to NASA. NACA was created by Congress in 1915.

Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).

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Space History Photo: Dr. Robert Goddard

GREENBELT, Md., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- A common space weather phenomenon on the outskirts of Earth's magnetic bubble has larger -- much larger -- repercussions for Venus, NASA scientists say.

Giant explosions called hot flow anomalies in the solar wind can be so large when they encounter Venus they're bigger than the entire planet can happen multiple times a day, they said.

"Not only are they gigantic," Glyn Collinson, a space scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said, "but as Venus doesn't have a magnetic field to protect itself, the hot flow anomalies happen right on top of the planet. They could swallow the planet whole."

Collinson is the lead author of a paper based on observations from the European Space Agency's Venus Express, showing just how large and how frequent this kind of space weather is at Venus.

Earth is protected from the constant streaming solar wind of radiation by its magnetic bubble -- the magnetosphere -- while Venus, a barren, inhospitable planet with an atmosphere so dense spacecraft landing there are crushed within hours, Venus has no such magnetic protection.

At Earth, hot flow anomalies do not make it inside the magnetosphere, whereas on Venus they can create dramatic planet-scale disruptions, possibly sucking the planet's upper atmosphere up and away from the surface, the scientists said.

That suggests Earth without its magnetic field might be as barren and lifeless as Venus, they said.

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Space weather explosions on Venus engulf entire planet

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

20-Feb-2014

Contact: Susan Hendrix Susan.m.hendrix@nasa.gov 301-286-7745 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Researchers recently discovered that a common space weather phenomenon on the outskirts of Earth's magnetic bubble, the magnetosphere, has much larger repercussions for Venus. The giant explosions, called hot flow anomalies, can be so large at Venus that they're bigger than the entire planet and they can happen multiple times a day.

"Not only are they gigantic," said Glyn Collinson, a space scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "But as Venus doesn't have a magnetic field to protect itself, the hot flow anomalies happen right on top of the planet. They could swallow the planet whole."

Collinson is the first author of a paper on these results that appeared online in the Journal of Geophysical Research in February 2014. The work is based on observations from the European Space Agency's Venus Express. The results show just how large and how frequent this kind of space weather is at Venus.

Earth is protected from the constant streaming solar wind of radiation by its magnetosphere. Venus, however, has no such luck. A barren, inhospitable planet, with an atmosphere so dense that spacecraft landing there are crushed within hours, Venus has no magnetic protection.

Scientists like to compare the two: What happened differently at Earth to make it into the life-supporting planet it is today? What would Earth be like without its magnetic field?

At Earth, hot flow anomalies do not make it inside the magnetosphere, but they release so much energy just outside that the solar wind is deflected, and can be forced to move back toward the sun. Without a magnetosphere, what happens at Venus is very different.

Venus's only protection from the solar wind is the charged outer layer of its atmosphere called the ionosphere. A sensitive pressure balance exists between the ionosphere and the solar wind, a balance easily disrupted by the giant energy rush of a hot flow anomaly. The hot flow anomalies may create dramatic, planet-scale disruptions, possibly sucking the ionosphere up and away from the surface of the planet.

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NASA researcher finds planet-sized space weather explosions at Venus

Beltsville, MD (PRWEB) February 20, 2014

NASA recently awarded ASRC Federal Space and Defense a two-year extension to the Multidiscipline Engineering and Technology Services II contract. The two-year bridge contract with an extension option has a maximum value of $110 million.

Under the METS II Bridge contract, ASRC Federal Space and Defense will continue to provide systems engineering support and guidance, navigation and control services for various projects at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., including the James Webb Space Telescope, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, the Magnetosphere Multiscale mission and other critical Goddard missions.

The bridge contract award underscores excellent work performed by our ASRC Federal Space and Defense team on the current METS II effort, said Paul Dillahay, ASRC Federal president and CEO. We look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship with NASA Goddard and supporting the centers space exploration activities.

ASRC Federal Space and Defense will continue supporting several operating divisions in Goddard's Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate, including mechanical systems, software management, instrument systems and technology, electrical engineering and mission engineering, and systems analysis. Support provided to the operating divisions includes the formulation, design, development, flight and non-flight fabrication, integration, test, verification, and operation of components, subsystems, systems, science instruments and complete spacecraft for multiple projects.

About ASRC Federal ASRC Federal is a holding company with multiple subsidiaries, including ASRC Federal Space and Defense, which provide reliable, cost-efficient services to federal government agencies. Headquartered in Greenbelt, Md., ASRC Federal is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. ASRC Federal Space and Defense delivers high-performance space systems engineering, integration and satellite operations services to civil and defense agencies. For more information about the ASRC Federal family of companies, please visit: http://www.asrcfederal.com.

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ASRC Federal Space and Defense Awarded NASA METS II Bridge Contract