Science Opportunities - Basic Research Opportunities in Earth Science - page 75

decade are critical for furthering understanding of the processes of
mixing, accretion, and differentiation of planets and meteorite parent
bodies.
• Processing local resources to obtain various materials will be crucial to the
establishment of self-sufficient planetary bases. 14 The study of soil
formation and past aqueous weathering on planetary surfaces will be a
prerequisite for developing extraterrestrial “soils” for growing plants. The
factors that influence the activity, ecology, and population dynamics of
microbes in soils are important for nutrient cycling, biodegradation, and
regenerative life support on a planetary base.
BOX 2.3. RECENT STUDIES OF MARS
NASA has identified exploration of Mars as a top research priority, and
early results of this focused effort are now being obtained. These results
illustrate some of the basic research opportunities and challenges posed by
intensive solar system exploration: 1 , 2
• Much of the interest in Mars has arisen from the study of SNC (Martian)
meteorites, which permit detailed studies of rocks derived from a
planetary body similar to Earth. In addition, one of these meteorites was
initially believed to carry evidence of fossil life. Although the existence of
fossils is not widely accepted, the exciting possibility of detecting and
characterizing extraterrestrial life (or its fossil imprints) has invigorated
study of the physical, chemical, and mineralogical composition of Martian
rocks in a way analogous to what future returned samples will require.
The lesson from these studies is that understanding detailed aspects of
another planet (e.g., composition of the planet, petrogenesis and
planetary evolution, climate history, possible existence of life) will require
intensive and diverse studies with investigators derived from the
planetary science and Earth science communities, and beyond. For
studies at the micro- and nanoscale and with very limited amounts of
material, new analytical techniques and instrumentation are critical. This
broad effort to understand Mars has required specific initiatives from
federal funding sources (i.e., NASA, NSF) because existing mechanisms
within these organizations were not suited to such an effort.
• In 1998 the Mars Global Surveyor began orbiting Mars, and the first
science returns were reported in early 1999. As with the SNC
meteorites, the data already obtained from this mission illustrate
important new linkages between the planetary and Earth sciences. For
example, the first high-resolution magnetic survey of Mars has revealed
regions of alternating magnetic polarity that provide exciting and
unexpected insight to
14 Microgravity Research in Support of Technologies for the Human Exploration and
Development of Space and Planetary Bodies, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.,
in press, 2000.