Extraction of Organic Molecules from Mars Analog Materials: Preparation for the 2009 MSL Mission

Details Extraction of Organic Molecules from Mars Analog Materials: Preparation for the 2009 MSL Mission Extraction of Organic Molecules from Mars Analog Materials: Preparation for the 2009 MSL Mission

Sep 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.4510m&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #45.10; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.569

Other

Scientific paper

One of the primary science goals of the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission is to assess sites on Mars as a potential habitat for present or past life (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl). Mission objectives include the determination of the nature and inventory of organic compounds at the landing site and a characterization of its geology and geochemistry. The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite on board MSL addresses these mission objectives using a gas chromatograph (GC), a quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS), and a tunable laser spectrometer (TDS) to analyze either atmospheric samples or gases extracted from solid samples such as loose soil or powdered rock cores.
The capability of SAM to detect and characterize a broad range of organic compounds in near surface samples will help to unravel the source of these molecules as well as their potential chemical transformation pathways. By measuring isotopes of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and other light elements in sampled organic and inorganic species SAM provides additional complementary information. Here we describe the methods of extraction of organic compounds to be utilized on SAM and the status of our laboratory studies on the optimization of these methods using Mars analog samples on the SAM prototype system. The two extraction methods are (1) thermal processing of a solid sample in a helium stream at temperatures between 400-800 C to release volatile organic compounds including small hydrocarbons and aromatic compounds and to pyrolyze the more refractory organics and (2) solvent assisted extraction in combination with chemical derivatization to transform molecules such as amino acids, amines, nucleobases, and carboxylic acids into species sufficiently volatile to be analyzed by the SAM GC-QMS instrument. Mars analog samples include those from the dry Atacama Desert soils, carbonaceous meteorite materials, sulfur rich weathered basalts from Hawaii, and carbonate deposits from Svalbard.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Extraction of Organic Molecules from Mars Analog Materials: Preparation for the 2009 MSL Mission does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Extraction of Organic Molecules from Mars Analog Materials: Preparation for the 2009 MSL Mission, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Extraction of Organic Molecules from Mars Analog Materials: Preparation for the 2009 MSL Mission will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1001043