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From: Stig_Agermose@online.pol.dk (Stig Agermose)
Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 04:19:57 +0200
Fwd Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 08:04:00 -0400
Subject: Re: NASA Announces Astrobiology Institute

Just released.

Stig


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NASA announces astrobiology institute


United Press International - May 18, 1998 17:09

UPI Science News


ATLANTA, May 18 (UPI) - The head of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration pledges $9 million for a "virtual" Astrobiology
Institute to help study life in outer space.

At the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in
Atlanta, Daniel Goldin says Monday NASA also will pump more funds into
programs to study how to keep astronauts alive and healthy in long
trips to the planets; how to determine what forms of life exist on other
planet and how to keep humans from contaminating alien worlds.

Goldin admits that until recently NASA has not committed much effort to
the microbiological search for life in the universe, but now he says,
"Biology is essential to what we do."

Rita Colwell, professor of microbiology at the University of Maryland
and the designated director of the National Science Foundation,
"Previously, NASA has concentrated on human health aspects of space
exploration. Now NASA is showing its seriousness in using microbiology
to understand what life in space might be like."

Goldin says the astrobiology institute will not be made of brick and
mortar, but will connect experts around the country via the Next
Generation Internet, putting specialists in touch in a virtual world.
He says he expects the scientists to help NASA get humans to the
planets.

Goldin says spacecraft will have to become mini-ecosystems, utilizing
microbes to create a self-sustaining environment for space trips that
can take years. Goldin says biologists will be necessary to figure out
how to prevent bone loss in space.

He said, "Astronauts lose about 1 percent of bone a month in space." He
said that type of bone loss is unacceptable in a space journey to Mars
that will keep astronauts in space for three years. He says
microbiologists are going to have help select specimens on the planets;
figure out how to get samples back to Earth without contaminating the
rocks and how to prevent life forms on or in those specimens from
contaminating earth.

Goldin says that for too long NASA has relied too much on telescopes
and not enough on microscopes. He says, "We need telescopes and
microscopes to explore the universe."

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Copyright 1998 by United Press International
All rights reserved

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