First Contact (32 page)

Ivuna,
118

micrometeorites,
72

Murchison,
69
–74,
110
,
112
,
115
,
117
–18,
124

Orgueil,
69
,
115
,
118
–19

Tagish Lake,
115

and “thermal shock” hypothesis,
108

meteoriticists,
73

methane:

on Earth,
4
,
8
,
80
,
81
–82

mapping for,
93
,
95

on Mars,
4
,
6
,
8
–9,
13
,
79
–83,
88
–95,
96
,
102
,
123
,
144

and serpentinization,
82

as sign of life,
143

and volcanoes,
66
,
82

methanogens,
81
–82

METI (messaging to extraterrestrial intelligence),
174
–76

Meyer, Michael,
44
,
45
–46

Microgravity Science Glovebox,
76

Miller, Stanley,
77

material from original experiments of,
61
–62

and origin of life,
54
,
59
;
see also
Miller-Urey experiment

and volcanic studies,
62
–63,
66
–68

Miller-Urey experiment,
59
–65,
67
,
74

basic logic of,
77

new incarnation of,
63
–65,
68

and related research,
74
–78

in space,
76
–78

Mono Lake, California,
156
,
158
–60

Moore's law,
165
,
167

Morris, Dick,
106

Mountain, Matt,
145
–46

Mount Redoubt, Alaska,
63
–67

Mount St. Augustine, Alaska,
64
,
65

multiverse theory,
151
–53,
154
,
155

Mumma, Michael:

and Martian water,
95

and methane on Mars,
79
–83,
94
,
102

at Paranal,
85
–87,
89
–95

Murchison meteorite,
69
–74,
110
,
112
,
115
,
117
–18,
124

Nagy, Bartholomew,
118

Narusawa, Shin-ya,
161
–66,
177

NASA:

and Allan Hills meteorite,
93
–94

Apollo program,
7
,
41
,
115

and astrobiology,
4
,
12
–14,
130
,
158
,
160
,
181
,
184

budget cuts in,
142
,
143
,
145

and definition of life,
35
–39,
46

and desert varnish,
47

and European ExoMars,
83
,
101

Goddard Space Flight Center,
68
,
80
,
99
,
144

Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
99

Kepler spacecraft,
10
–11,
142

Marshall Space Flight Center,
114
–15

and Mars Science Laboratory,
13
,
42
–43,
96
–100

and Murchison meteorite,
73

and origin of life,
75

and politics,
169

and SETI,
12
–13,
169
,
171

and shadow biosphere,
156
,
159
–60

Spirit and Opportunity,
103

Terrestrial Planet Finder,
142
–43,
144
–45,
148

and Viking missions,
39
–45,
97
,
105
,
122
–24

National Academy of Sciences,
12
,
52
,
148

National Science Foundation,
47
,
148

natural selection, cosmic,
152
–54

Navarro-González, Rafael,
42
,
124

nematodes,
19
–21,
22
–24

neutron,
150

Newton, Isaac,
154

Nickles, Tom,
49
–51

Nishi-Harima telescope,
162
–63,
165
–66

nitric acid,
37

nitrites,
60
–61

nitrogen, and volcanoes,
66

nitrous oxide,
30
,
143

Northam Platinum mine,
17
–24

Northrup Grumman,
145

nucleotides,
53

occulters,
6
,
141
–42,
144
–48

Oliver, Bernard “Barney,”
171

olivine,
82

one-world view,
183

Onstott, Tullis,
5
,
15
–17,
22
,
23
–24,
48

Oremland, Ron,
157
–58,
160

Orgueil meteorite,
69
,
115
,
118
–19

oxygen,
6
,
28
,
143
,
153
,
172

Ozma project,
166

ozone,
143
,
172

Paine, Thomas,
183

paleogenomics,
53

panspermia,
78

Paranal, Chile, Atacama Desert,
11
,
83
–85,
87
–89,
93

particle physics,
151

Pasteur, Louis,
69

peridot,
82

petroglyphs,
46

Phoenix mission,
43

phosphorus,
158
–59

physics, laws of,
149
,
189

and cosmic natural selection,
152
–54

evolution of,
152
,
154

and gravity,
153

Pikuta, Elena,
119

Pizzarello, Sandra,
71

Planetary Society,
162

planets:

eccentric orbits of,
10
,
131

gravitational force of,
131
,
134
–35

habitable,
132
,
148

in other solar systems (exoplanets),
3
,
5
–6,
10
,
143

terra-forming,
185

plurality of worlds,
183
–84

Polkinghorne, John,
154

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),
76
,
77
–78

Pontifical Academy of Sciences,
179
–80

Popa, Radu,
36

precision Doppler velocity,
135

proof of principle,
55

proteins, and amino acids,
35
,
56
,
60
,
67
,
70
,
72

proton,
150

quantum theory,
155

Quran,
180

Race, Margaret,
185

Raman, C. V.,
98

Raman spectrometer,
98
–100

“Rare Earthers,”
187

Rees, Lord Martin,
150

religion, and first contact,
179
–85

Renno, Nilton,
36

respiration,
45

cellular,
28

ribose,
54

right-handed formation,
8

Rio Tinto, Spain,
24

RNA, preformed,
56

RNA enzyme,
55
–56

robot, submersible,
31
–32

Rozanov, Alexi,
119

Russell, Mark,
75

Russia, Lake Vostok,
30
–31,
33

Sagan, Carl,
12
,
37
,
57

and Allan Hills 84001 paper,
124
–25

on extraordinary proof,
9
,
124

and Miller-Urey,
60

and SETI,
161
–62,
163

and Viking,
122

Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM),
97
,
102

Schrödinger, Erwin,
36

Seager, Sara,
6
,
140
–44

sea ice,
26

Second Law of Thermodynamics,
36

serpentinization,
82

SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence):

Allen Telescope Array,
167
,
169
,
170

assumptions about the “other,”
175
–77

and astrobiology,
173

Cosmic Water Hole,
171

and Dyson spheres,
174

at Hat Creek,
166
–71

in Japan,
161
–66

and METI,
174
–76

and NASA,
12
–13,
169
,
171

project Ozma,
166

SETI Institute,
168
,
171
–72,
175

shadow biosphere,
156
–60

Shostak, Seth,
170

silicon,
52

single-cell organisms,
188

61 Virginis,
128
–29

Skidmore, Mark,
27
,
29

Smolin, Lee,
152
–54

sodium, discovery,
141

solar systems:

architecture of,
128
,
130
,
132

life support in,
11
,
98
,
131

origin of life in,
78

Soummer, Remi,
146
–48

space, organic compounds in,
76
–78

spectroscopy:

adaptive optics of,
92
–93

CRIRES,
85
–86,
88
,
93

and deuterium,
94

development of,
86
–87

GCMS,
41

and Hubble telescope,
87

and infrared band,
81

and Mumma,
80
–81,
87
,
94

Raman,
98
–100

and SAM,
102

SPIE,
115

Spielberg, Steven,
162

Squyres, Steve,
103

star, central,
174

star bacteria,
15
–16,
22

star creation,
153

stargazing,
88

Steele, Andrew “Steelie,”
110
–14,
120
,
124

Stone, Bill,
31

Strecker, Adolph,
63

stromatolite,
121

strong anthropic principle,
152

sugars, right-handedness of,
8
,
71

sulfur dioxide,
82

sulfur oxide,
66

Svalbard, Norway,
100
–102,
112
,
120

Syrtis Major volcano,
90

tagatose,
43

Tagish Lake meteorite,
115

Talmud,
180

tartaric acid,
69

Tarter, Jill,
168
,
171

Taylor Glacier, Antarctica,
27
–30

tectonic plates,
91
,
92

terra-forming,
185

“thermal shock” hypothesis,
108

Thomas, Ronald,
63
–66

Thomas-Keprta, Kathie,
108

Treiman, Allan,
108
–9,
112

Trent, Jonathan,
121

universe:

bubble universe theory,
152

and cosmic natural selection,
152
–54

evolution of,
153
–54

fine-tuning,
149
–53,
155
–56

multiverse theory,
151
–53,
155

strong anthropic principle,
152

Urey, Harold,
59
,
118

Vakoch, Doug,
175

Vatican Observatory,
181
–82

Ventura, Laura,
84

Vesuvius, Mount,
64

Viking missions,
39
–45,
97
,
105
,
122
–24

Villanueva, Geronimo,
85
,
94
–95

viruses,
53

Vogt, Steven,
139
–40

volcanoes:

in Alaska,
63
–67

amino acids at mouths of,
62
–63,
65
,
67

lightning,
63
–66,
67

on Mars,
90
,
91
–92

and methane,
66
,
82

and Miller-Urey,
62
–63,
66
–68

Vostok, Lake (Russia),
30
–31,
33

Voytek, Mary A.,
119
–21

Ward, Peter,
186

water:

definitions of,
37

deuterium,
93
,
94

hydrothermal activity,
103

on Mars,
43
,
81
,
88
–90,
93
–95,
97
,
102
–3,
109
,
123

necessary for life,
172

as sign of life,
143
,
148

Watson, James,
59
–60