FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A new center for space and planetary science at the University of Arkansas and Oklahoma State University will help support NASA’s space missions through science-based research on the ground.

The Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary Sciences has received a two-year, $1.6 million award from the National Science Foundation and from its two university partners to bring together a critical mass of researchers and state-of-the-art facilities to help facilitate robotic exploration of the solar system.

"The center will be an interface between university researchers and scientists who put together space missions," said Derek Sears, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and director of the center.

The researchers will primarily direct their work through the UA’s planetary environmental chamber. Called Andromeda in honor of the constellation by the same name, the chamber is the largest facility of its kind in North America and will be available to scientists interested in simulating conditions on planetary bodies - which include comets, asteroids and planetary surfaces.

In Andromeda, narrow copper tubes coiled around the 10-foot, one-ton, stainless steel container carry liquid nitrogen to cool the interior and 18 sensor tubes to measure temperature and pressure at different locations. The sensors also can be attached to machines used to measure and detect molecules.

The researchers can leak in different gases to create various environments in the chamber, and ten xenon lamps can be used to simulate the sun’s radiation at various points in space.

Scientists can watch their simulated world through a small window on the top of the chamber, which will be reached by climbing a small staircase.

At least four UA researchers from three different departments and two different UA colleges and several researchers from OSU plan to use Andromeda for research projects.

"The Center gives Arkansas and Oklahoma scientists the opportunity to compete at the leading edge of space and planetary research. It provides a unique facility in the US for the simulation and study of planetary surfaces," said Steve McKeever, OSU physics professor and co-director of the center. The two-state collaboration, initiated by Arkansas and enthusiastically endorsed by Oklahoma, adds a new dimension to the capabilities of both states."

Sears and McKeever use techniques called thermoluminescence and optically simulated luminscence to determine the radiation histories and chemical properties of meteorites. They plan to use Andromeda to create miniaturized equipment that can survive Martian surface conditions, and bring back data on sediment ages if sent to Mars

Tim Kral, associate professor of biological sciences, will work with methanogens, anaerobic microorganisms found in volcanoes and cow guts, to see if they can survive under some of the conditions found in a Mars-like environment.

Wes Stites, associate professor of chemistry, plans to place biological molecules - like nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and other molecules - in Mars soil simulant within the machine, then expose them to Mars-like conditions of atmosphere, temperature, UV exposure and pressure. Afterwards, he will examine the degradation products, searching for patterns that may one day tell us if Mars historically had life on or below its surface.

Sears studies the composition, formation and impacts of asteroids and comets. He plans to simulate a comet’s approach to the sun and study what happens to the comet’s minerals during such an event. He also plans to study the changes that take place on a planet’s surface after a simulated comet or asteroid impact, which will be accomplished using a giant jackhammer located under the planetary environmental chamber. These results can be compared to meteorites and asteroid craters.

Larry Roe, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, seeks to create inflatable structures that one day may be used on robotic missions to Mars. The Andromeda chamber will provide him with a test environment for his technologies.

In addition to the current faculty involved with Andromeda, the U of A and OSU each have one new faculty member who will specialize in planetary and space science. The U of A has hired Pamela Jansma, a geochemist with expertise in remote sensing, and OSU has hired Deba Banerjee, a radiation physicist with expertise in environmental radiations. Glenn Mattioli, a geochemist at the University of Puerto Rico, will also work with the group.

"With this center we can make a strong contribution to missions," Sears said. "Ultimately, however, you’ve got to get out there and do missions in space."

The center is already working on its first mission proposal, project Hera, a multiple near-earth asteroid sample return. Sears is currently organizing a team and making the case for this mission, which, if chosen, would take flight in 2006.

Sears said that the timing is right for a mission like this, following the footsteps of the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous and the discovery of at least 1,000 near-earth asteroids in orbit around the planet.

"We have the right engines, another spacecraft that has shown it can be done, and we now have plenty of targets," Sears said. "The nuts and bolts for the mission will be provided by the center."

The center has an external advisory board, including Carle Pieters, of Brown University; Walter Huebner, of Southwest Research Institute; Hermann Kochan, of the German Space Agency, Ben Clark of Lockheed Martin Astronautics and Chris McKay of NASA Ames Research Center.

The center has seven industrial partners, including Barringer Crater Co., Nomadics, Inc., Nextep Technologies, SpaceWorks, Inc., Hastings Chariots, Combustion Science and Engineering, Eril Research and Bioengineering Resources, Inc.