" Exploring Life at the Extreme"

2004 Mars Underwater at Licancabur

Expedition Overview

October 27-November 23, 2004

NASA Astrobiology Institute

Project Summary

Mars Underwater (MU) is a NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) funded project investigating the limits of life in several of the highest lakes on Earth. It is supported by the SETI Institute Center for the Study of Life in the Universe (LITU), NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), and Stanford University. This new project is building on a NASA Ames DDF reconnaissance on 6,014 m high Licancabur volcano (2002-2003) and will extend into 2008. MU will explore the summit lakes of the Licancabur, Poquentica, Aquas Calientes, and Acamarachi volcanoes located between 6,046 m and 5,950 m, focusing on habitats and the short and long-term effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on life. Their physical and environmental conditions are uniquely analogous to ancient martian lakes c.a. 3.5 billion years ago (Table 1). These lakes are open windows into the past habitability and biological potential of Mars. The study of their primitive ecosystems and microbial life will also provide critical clues to our own past and the understanding on how life originated and survived on Earth in early times when no ozone layer had yet formed to protect it.

This project will:

•  Explore and characterize habitats, life and its limits in the highest lakes on Earth as unique analogs to Mars. The first phase will deploy scientific expeditions in the Bolivian and Chilean Andes;

•  Identify the adaptation strategy developed by microbial life in shallow lakes against UV radiation;

•  Advance our understanding of both the habitability and biological potential of Mars and the limits of life on Earth;

•  Further our knowledge of the signatures of life, whether geological or biological, and help their remote and in situ identification on future missions to Mars;

•  Survey the adaptation of humans under extreme conditions and develop monitoring systems to increase astronauts safety in future manned planetary mission; Improve general public health; and

•  Develop an integrated educational and public outreach program to share the excitement of science, exploration, and discoveries with children, students, and the general public.

Table 1: Compared Physical and Environmental Conditions: Licancabur and Mars 3.5 Gyr. Ago.

The 2004 Expedition

The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission is demonstrating that Mars had environmental conditions suitable for life as we know it in early geological times, c.a. 3.5 billion years ago. The discovery of an ancient dry lake 30 times the volume of Lake Erie in Meridiani Planum and altered rocks in Gusev in the Columbia Hills is solid evidence of a sustained and abundant water activity over long periods of time. The presence of water, reduced compounds through widespread volcanism and potential nutrients through minerals show that life ingredients were present early on. It is unknown whether this potential for life was ever realized on Mars, but Spirit and Opportunity provide daily evidence that environments, such as lakes, existed and could have been favorable crucibles to its inception. Therefore the quest to answer the question over whether life was able to get a foothold in the Early Mars environment is at the scientific forefront as the MER mission enters its extended phase. The MU expeditions to Licancabur and beyond are documenting this exact question.

Our goals and objectives for the 2004 expedition are to:

Goal 1 : Collect critical astrobiological information about the limits of life on Earth and scientific clues about potential analogous sites on Mars; and Goal 2 : Define elements to design science mission strategies for robotic and human planetary exploration and the search for life in the Solar System.

Objective 1: Understand the environment and its analogy to Mars .

•  To map the geology, morphology and establish the bathymetry of unique ancient Mars lake analogs;

•  To sample and core sediments, characterize the mineralogy and compare with the lacustrine environments explored by the Mars Exploration Rovers in Gusev and Meridiani;

•  Study the geophysical environment by measuring temperature variations (sol, air, water), humidity, pressure, and UV flux;

•  Characterize and understand the physical extremes and their respective roles with respect to life and its adaptation, including: cold, UV, salt, wind, aridity, and low atmospheric pressure.

Objective 2: Identify and characterize habitats and life .

•  Establish the bio-mapping of microbial species living in the lake and explore for new species;

•  Understand the mechanisms of adaptation (or lack thereof) to UV radiation in very shallow waters with analogy to early Mars.

•  Discover and characterize the signatures of life, whether mineralogical or biological and learn to discriminate between living and non-living signatures;

Objective 3: Human physiology at high altitude: Implications for health and human exploration of space and planetary surfaces .

•  To monitor the physiological adaptation of humans in extreme environment;

•  To record unique physiological data from free diving at ~ 6000 meters elevation;

Highlights.

Working and diving at 6,014 m (~19,750 ft) can be a challenge with the combination of altitude, cold, high winds up to 100 km/hr (60 mph), and water environment. The team will acclimatize for two days at 2,400 m (8,000 ft), and eight days at 4,430 m (~14,700 ft) at base camp at the foot of the Licancabur volcano. After this period of acclimatization, the ascent towards the Licancabur summit lake will begin. The team will sleep one night at camp 1 (5,000 m / 18,000 ft) and then spend 4 days and 3 nights at the summit camp (5,900 m / ~18,900 ft).

Highlights of the expedition include:

In the region around base camp (Altiplano) the exploration of two lakes initiated in 2002 will resume. The team will:

•  Explore and document living stromatolite structures that were discovered by the 2003 expedition team. Modern stromatolites are extremely rare. They are formed by one of the most primitive microbial organisms on Earth. Because of the altitude and environmental and physical conditions at the site, these stromatolites might be closer than any other on Earth to the very first organisms populating Earth more than 3.5 billion years ago, when no ozone layer had formed in the atmosphere yet to protect life. By exploring them, we will learn about our own past and, as they are very primitive forms of life, we might learn about the biological potential of Mars as well;

•  Extract the data accumulated by our stations, dosimeters, and dataloggers over the past year. Among them, an ELDONET UV dosimeter was left on the shore of one of the lakes to record the variation of UV radiation (UVA, UVB, PAR and temperature) over a period of 1 year. The data will give us for the very first time deep insights about what extremes life does have to face;

•  Monitor the physiology and adaptation of the team members during activity and sleep using state-of-the-art physiological monitors that may be used in future manned missions to the Moon and Mars to increase astronauts safety.

At the summit lake:

•  Acquire unique physiological data by performing free diving (without oxygen tanks) to study physiological responses that cannot be monitored at sea level because of the saturation of oxygen in the air;

•  Perform the first bathymetry of the Licancabur summit lake by using an RC boat and sonar system. The sonar mapping mapping will be accompanied by a thermal mapping that will complement our understanding of the habitat;

•  Sample micro-organisms to complete our vision of habitats and life;

•  Extract one year worth of data accumulated by the ELDONET station positioned last year at the summit lake on UVA, UVB, PAR and temperature. The team will especially search for any sign in the data of a possible seasonal advance of the Antartic ozone hole.

Our Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) program and website will be maintained both at the refuge and the summit and will include:

•  Daily updates on science activities (texts, summaries);

•  Daily images and the "image of the day"

•  The "Kids Corners" for the tiny explorers.explaining the daily science in simple words for kids 3-7 years old;

•  Videos and audio from the field;

•  Communication links (satphone) with the science team for live Q&As;

•  Electronic Q&As via emails;

•  Prizes (expedition patches and pins) for best questions, drawings, experiment for kids, students, teachers, and classes;

•  The filming of the 2004 expedition by a German television in association with "Passport to Knowledge" for a science documentary;

http://extremeenvironment.arc.nasa.gov/2004/main2.shtml

The Team

This year will be the last main expedition to Licancabur before the team moves on to Poquentica in 2005. Our crew is composed of veterans of two summit ascents in 2002 and 2003 on Licancabur and new members who brings their expertise to the project. Scientific domains covered by the team encompass: astrobiology, astronautics, bioengineering, education and public outreach, geophysics, hydrogeology, mechanical engineering, microbiology, physiology-medicine, and planetary geology.

Table 2: 2004 Mars Underwater Expedition Team

Partners

In addition to the main sponsors (NAI, SETI Institute, NASA Ames, and Stanford University), the MU project benefits from the support of many institutions and "friends of the expeditions" to whom we are extremely grateful.

They are:

UCLA - NASA JSC - NCSBT - University of Washington - SERGEOTECMIN (Bolivia) - SERNAP (Bolivia) - Universidad Catolica del Norte (Chile) - CHEP CHILE - ARISE - SCOE- "Passport to knowledge" - ARD -TV Channel (Germany)

A special thanks goes to our guides and porters in Bolivia, and to our extended "family" at the refuge and to all those who are making this project possible behind the scene

Expedition Schedule

* Crossing the Atacama Desert.

Project Motto

This project is dedicated to those who are not afraid of climbing all the mountains that life presents to them.

2004 Expedition Patch