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(meteorobs) NASA Astrobiology To Shower Attention On Leonids

Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                  November 12, 1998
(Phone:  202/358-1727)

Kathleen Burton 
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
(Phone:  650/604-1731)

RELEASE:  98-202

NASA ASTROBIOLOGY TO SHOWER ATTENTION ON LEONIDS

       On Nov. 17, NASA scientists will conduct unprecedented, 
detailed aircraft and ground measurements of the Leonid meteor 
storm.  

       The Leonid meteors originate from a trail of dust and debris 
in the wake of the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which orbits the Sun every 
33 years.  The Earth crosses this trail every November, but every 
33 years the debris trail is especially dense, sometimes resulting 
in a meteor storm.  The "shooting stars" streak through Earth's 
upper atmosphere, sometimes at rates of up to thousands per hour.  
The storm's peak lasts approximately one hour.  This year, Earth is 
expected to pass a region just behind the comet and outside of its 
orbit, a favorable set of conditions for a larger-than-normal storm 
event.  The best viewing of this storm will be in eastern Asia and 
the western Pacific region.  

         NASA's mission consists of two research aircraft that will 
carry a broad array of scientific instruments to observe and 
explore the meteors.  Operating simultaneously, the aircraft will 
provide three-dimensional views, making high-resolution 
stereoscopic images and spectrographic observations of meteor 
dynamics and chemistry.  A team of interdisciplinary scientists -- 
astronomers, atmospheric physicists and meteor specialists -- will 
use state-of-the-art-sampling techniques to provide a "window on 
the sky" over Japan during the storm.

       "The central theme of this mission is astrobiology," said 
Peter Jenniskens, mission principal investigator and astronomer at 
the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, 
Mountain View, CA.  "We are especially interested in learning the 
composition of Tempel-Tuttle's debris, the molecules that are 
created during the meteor's interaction with the Earth's 
atmosphere, and the composition and chemistry of the atoms, 
molecules and particles detected in the meteor's path.  This may 
help us understand how extraterrestrial materials helped create the 
conditions on Earth necessary for the origin of life."

       The Leonid mission is NASA's first operational astrobiology 
mission.  Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution and 
destiny of life in the universe.  The mission may provide important 
clues about what extraterrestrial materials were brought to Earth 
by comets, and what part that may have played in the beginnings of 
life on Earth, as well as clues on how biogenic compounds formed in 
stars are eventually incorporated into planets.

       A modified L-188C Electra aircraft from the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Center for 
Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO, and sponsored by the National 
Science Foundation, will act as the mission "spotter" and recorder.  
It will carry a two-beam Lidar, a type of radar with light pulses 
that measures the altitude of neutral atom debris in the meteor 
trails.  Other instruments include airglow, visible wavelength 
imagers and high-definition TV cameras.

       Scientists aboard the first aircraft are seeking to learn 
how a meteor's mass compares to its brightness and to the mass of 
the resulting comet.  Currently, they can only guess how much 
material enters the atmosphere during a meteor bombardment.  
Researchers will compare the meteor's image with information from 
the dual Lidar, providing an indication of the chemical evolution 
of the meteor debris.

       The second aircraft, a U.S. Air Force-owned FISTA (Flying 
Infrared Signatures Technology Aircraft) from Edwards Air Force 
Base, CA, will have 20 upward-looking portholes to observe the 
meteors.  It will carry imagers and infrared and visible-light 
spectrometers to dissect the meteor's light in search of the 
fingerprint of atoms and molecules.

       The mission will fly out of Kadena AFB in Okinawa, Japan, 
over the East China Sea.  The FISTA aircraft will fly as high as 
39,000 feet to be above the lower atmosphere's water vapor layer, 
while the Electra will maintain an altitude of about 22,000 feet, 
just above the clouds.

       NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, is 
collaborating in this international effort with the SETI Institute, 
the National Science Foundation and several other science 
organizations.  Aircraft and other support are being provided by 
NOAA and the U.S. Air Force.  Instruments are being contributed by 
the University of Illinois at Urbana; the Aerospace Corporation; 
the Air Force Research Laboratory; the Japanese Broadcasting 
Company (NHK); Kobe University, Japan; the Ondrejov Observatory 
(Czech Republic); Mt. Allison University (Canada); the SETI 
Institute; and the University of East Anglia, England. 

       Additional information on the Leonid meteor storm and the 
mission can be found on the worldwide web at: http://www-
space.arc.nasadot gov/~leonid/.   During the mission, video animation 
and images will be available at:     

                 http://leonid.arc.nasadot gov 

                           - end -


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