Life in Outer Space

1. AT SBI4U Life in OuterSpace

2. Extraterrestrials, Society & Media

3. Exploration • Is the Sun the only star withlife around it? • There are millions of planets orbiting stars in our galaxy, one of them must contain life • Exploration around other stars • About 100 found • Planets with similar environments to Earth may sustain life • Explorations of Mars and Europa • Future explorations will give better results

4. Exploration(cont’d) • Astrobiology uncovering new organisms • Life prominent in certain zones on Earth • Some similar environments are bottom of frozen lakes and Earth’s crust • New microorganisms found in Idaho; called methanogens and live 700ft below Earth’s crust • Gives us ideas of what to look for in similar places

5. Mars • Very similar to Earth • Viking Landers sent in 1970’s • Discovered that it is cold, has a thin atmosphere and no water • Viking Landers executed Labelled Release tests • Nutrients dropped into Mars soil; tested for changes and checked if they were organically induced • Positive results were acquired • Some scientists were sceptical and rejected the idea of life on Mars; believed that oxides caused chemical reactions in soil

6. Mars(cont’d) • In 1996 NASA discovered life on Martian meteorite ALH84001 • Found fossilised bacteria and organic chemicals • Scientists again did not believe it and rejected it; believed they were non-living minerals • Both these observations needed more insight and research • The Mars Global Explorer showed dense atmosphere and water in past

7. Europa • Jupiter’s sixth largest moon • In 1995 a Galilean probe took pictures of surface • There are cracks in the ice • There are probably oceans below the ice • Geothermal heat and tidal pumping keep water from turning into ice • May be thermal vents at the bottom of oceans • Gravitational pulls from Jupiter and other moons also produce warmth

8. Europa(cont’d) • Similar to Arctic Sea and Lake Vostok in Antarctica • Lake Vostok lies under 15,000ft of ice • Microbes found in freshwater ice • This means there may also be life in Europa’s oceans • Only question is: “How do they survive without light?” • Could be similar to methanogens which do not need light • National Research Council advises NASA to explore Europa

9. SETI • “Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence” • This organization began in 1959 • Searching for extraterrestrial life by means of microwave radios • First proposed by GiuseppiCocconi and Philip Morrison • In early 1960’s Frank Drake conducts first microwave radio search • Project Ozma did not acquire any results but got others interested • Soviet Union dominated SETI; searched the sky instead of stars

10. SETI(cont’d) • Bernard Oliver introduces Project Cyclops in late 1970’s; analyzed science and technology issues in SETI • SETI was now growing and radio astronomers conducted searches • Some projects include: Planetary Society’s Project META, UCLA’s SERENDIP Project and observations at Ohio State University • There were new programs at NASA’s Ames Research Center and at Jet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL) • Created a joint search; Ames does Targeted Search on stars and JPL searches sky • In 1988 NASA funds the idea and in 1992 observations begin

11. SETI(cont’d) • In one year Congress ends funding from NASA • SETI Institute continues with private funding • Lots of long-term projects such as: SERENDIP(Search for Extraterrestrial Radio Emissions from Nearby Developed Intelligent Populations) and observations at SETI Australia Center • Australian’s brought SERENDIP technology to do experiments • Future goals include building an array of telescopes known as Allen Telescope Array • Large radio arrays will also be built • This is just the beginning; people believe SETI will find something

12. Conclusion • We should first search our own solar system before the rest of the galaxy • More organizations like SETI • Should stop being brainwashed by the media

13. Bibliography • Life On Europa. (n.d.). In Astrocentral. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from http://www.astrocentral.co.uk/lifeoneuropa.html • Life On Mars. (n.d.). In Astrocentral. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from http://www.astrocentral.co.uk/lifeonmars.html • SERENDIP. (n.d.). In The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence at UC Berkeley. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from http://seti.ssl.berkeley.edu/serendip • SETI 101. (n.d.). In SETI Institute. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from http://www.seti.org/node/662 • The Search For Life In Outer Space. (n.d.). In Astrocentral. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from http://www.astrocentral.co.uk/life.html • Williams, D. R. (2006, December 18). Viking Mission To Mars. In NASA. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/viking.html

14. Image Bibliography • cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/SETI1.jpg • nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/spacecraft/viking_lander_model.jpg • peacesymbols.org/svg/art/opencl.part.org/laurent_little_green_alien-800px.png • upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/ALH84001_structures.jpg/300px-ALH84001_structures.jpg • upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Europa-moon.jpg/275px-Europa-moon.jpg • www.thewatcherfiles.com/images/alien3.jpg • www.universogp.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/250px-Mars_Valles_Marineris.jpeg