[meteorite-list] NASA Researchers Seek Astrobiology Insights on the Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:07:03 2004
Message-ID: <200210211718.KAA14661_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/news_stories/news_detail.cfm?ID=170

NASA Researchers Seek Astrobiology Insights on the
Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign

By: David Lamb
NASA Astrobiology Institute
October 18, 2002

This November, Peter Jenniskens will again be leading a
NASA team to explore the 2002 Leonid meteor storm
from high altitudes.

Meteor showers may be a beautiful, heavenly spectacle
that can provide for a good evening of entertainment, but
they are also much more. Meteors, or "shooting stars"
are streaks of light that appear in the sky when small
particles from space enter Earth's atmosphere. They
have amazed stargazers for millennia. But only recently
have scientists realized their importance to understanding
the evolution of the solar system - and their connection to
astrobiology. One shower in particular, the Leonids, has
been especially strong recently. And this year, stargazers
and scientists alike are in for a spectacular show, and
astrobiologists will be closely monitoring from high
altitudes.

In 1965, Comet (55P) Tempel-Tuttle, the comet
responsible for the Leonid meteor shower, was
rediscovered after being lost for nearly a century. The
following year, many onlookers viewed flurries of meteors
that may have reached 40 per second! Although we
probably won't experience rates that high this year, we
will still be in for a good show. This is good news for Dr.
Peter Jenniskens, the Principal Investigator (PI) for the
Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign (MAC),
which is designed specifically around tracking, monitoring,
and recording the recent increased rates of the Leonids.
Dr. Jenniskens has been following the Leonids closely
since he noticed an increase in their rates in 1994. This
year, after three successful missions, he and his team are
gearing up for another intense Leonid storm (a heavy
meteor shower).

About the Leonid MAC Mission:

Since 1998, Dr. Jenniskens has been leading the Leonid
Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign. The MAC is an
airborne NASA mission that brings together researchers
from different disciplines to be able to examine the meteors
from different scientific perspectives. Only an airborne
mission can guarantee clear viewing and appropriate
location to study the Leonids. The aircraft serves as a
platform for various scientific instruments. Researchers on
board use spectrometers, cameras, and counters (for
meteor flux measurement) to gather their data.
Experiments on the MAC help to answer important
questions such as:

"Will a particularly intense meteor storm cause satellites
to malfunction some time in the future?"

"What chemical reactions will occur as the meteors
incinerate?"

"Might cometary debris have influenced the development
of life on Earth?"

MAC missions also took place in 1999 and 2001 (low rates
prevented a comprehensive MAC mission in 2000). This
year, two planes will be monitoring the Leonids, the NKC
135-E FISTA and the NASA DC-8 Airborne laboratory.
The planes can fly at a 100-km distance and make
stereoscopic observations of the Leonids. For more details
on the mission specifications, click here:

http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/logo.html

MAC Astrobiology Initiatives and International
Cooperation

The 1998 MAC was dubbed as NASA's first
astrobiology mission. One of the overall objectives of the
MAC is to "learn how extraterrestrial materials may
have been brought to Earth at the time of the origin of
life." Also, MAC seeks to understand more about the
reactions of meteors and Earth's atmosphere.
Specifically, Peter Jenniskens and his team are looking to
find the fate of organic matter in the meteors as the plunge
into Earth's atmosphere. At the 2001 Meteoroids
conference in Kiruna, Sweden, Dr. Jenniskens notes that
"Meteors dominated the supply of organics to the early
Earth if organic matter survived this pathway efficiently.
Understanding these processes relies heavily on empirical
evidence that is still very limited."

Depending on the year, the MAC team has flown to
various parts of the globe to get the best views of the
Leonids. In 2002, they will be flying above Spain. The
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB), an NAI International
Partner, will host the deployment of the MAC. CAB will
also participate in some of the key experiments on the
DC-8 airborne lab. The Centro de Astrobiologia
previously helped coordinate Leonid observations in 2000.

Experience the Mission!

Information on the Leonids and the Multi-Instrument
Aircraft Campaign is well documented on the MAC
website. For example, during the 2001 mission researchers
recorded some spectacular shots of the Leonids. You can
view still images and even a short video on an 8 sec
"Taurid fireball" at the MAC 2001 scientific results
page:

http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/01images.html

If you are interested in viewing the Leonids this year, you
will soon be able to access the Leonid MAC Flux
Estimator to help find prime viewing conditions in your
area:

http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/estimator.html

also has an article giving more information on viewing.

You too can also be a part of the mission! Amateur
astronomers are needed to help count local rates of the
Leonid storm. If you are interested in being a counter for
the mission, click here:

http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/leonid/stormcount.html
Received on Mon 21 Oct 2002 01:18:25 PM PDT