Development of Extreme Environment Systems for Seeking Out Extremophiles

Gindi D. French

*Jet Propulsion Laboratory*, California Institute of Technology

*Pasadena, Ca. 91109*

*USA*

<Gindi.French@jpl.nasa.gov>

Arthur L. Lane, Frank D. Carsey, Lloyd C. French, and Alberto Behar

*Jet Propulsion Laboratory*, California Institute of Technology

*Pasadena, Ca. 91109*

*USA*

Hermann Engelhardt

California Institute of Technology

*Pasadena, Ca. 91125*

*USA*

> The last 25 years have witnessed a tremendous change in the way
> scientists view the viability of lifeforms. We now understand that
> organisms can adapt to rather incredible environments and establish
> methods for both surviving and replicating in those harsh conditions.
> Past efforts to study and understand these organisms often involved
> extracting (or attempting to extract) them from their environment to
> place them in laboratory settings for examination. Often this approach
> results in too drastic a transition, resulting in destruction of the
> objects of interest. The new task facing extremophile explorers is to
> find ways to detect and observe these entities in their natural state
> without excessive disturbances.
>
> Several years ago we started our development with the task to image
> the interior walls of a hydrothermal vent on Lo'ihi. The request came
> from Prof. McMurtry at SOEST, U.Hawaii, because there had been
> observations of gelatinous material emanating from vent throats. At
> that time (1997-8) the reported water temperature was \~200°C, at a
> depth of 1300m. We designed a simple system that was able to image
> interior walls and yet withstand many minutes of high temperature
> fluid. The following year we developed a more advanced system that
> could withstand full ocean depth (\>8000m) and sustain temperatures
> approaching 400°C. This system included imaging and a first effort at
> UV-induced fluorescence and spectroscopy aimed primarily at
> investigating the interior of hydrothermal vents and chimney systems.
> The team is now investigating the possibility of using the probe to
> perform microbiological assays, especially with regards to sample
> integrity/contamination issues and planetary protection
> investigations. A partnership with JAMSTEC has been proposed, and
> potential deployments as early as February 2002, are under
> consideration.
>
> In preparation for eventual exploration of Europa's ocean and polar
> cap regions on Mars we developed another set of instrumentation that
> saw its first application in Antarctica in Dec. 2000. The instrument
> probe contained down and side looking imaging with a real-time data
> display from both views in order to guide the scientific staff's
> observational decision process. IceProbe1 had a number of deployments
> in the hot-water drilled holes created by the Caltech Glaciology
> Group. Side looking images, with zoom controlled from the surface
> station, recorded data in 100 m segments from the surface to a maximum
> depth of \~1250 m. Material trapped in the deep ice was imaged at
> scales as fine as 100 µm. In two different holes we imaged the bottom
> of the glacier from a small water channel upon which the glacier
> floated. A new system is currently in fabrication to allow deeper
> observations and controlled focusing, along with new instruments
> designed to markedly enhance the capability to seek potential
> cryo-organisms that can survive in the interstitial water channels
> found between ice crystals. This new system is anticipating deployment
> in Antarctica in Nov. 2002.