Complex organic matter in Titan's atmospheric aerosols from in situ pyrolysis and analysis

Israël, G.; Szopa, Cyril; Raulin, F.; Cabane, Michel; Niemann, H. B.; Atreya, S. K.; Bauer, S. J.; Brun, J. F.; Chassefière, Éric; Coll, Patrice; Condé, E.; Coscia, David; Hauchecorne, Alain; Millian, P.; Nguyen, M.-J.; Owen, Tobias; Riedler, W.; Samuelson, R. E.; Siguier, Jean-Michel; Steller, M.; Sternberg, R.; Vidal-Madjar, Claire

doi:10.1038/nature04349

Cited by 223 publications

(132 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The ability for ammonia oxidation is not necessarily an advantage for the survival on the Red Planet, but could be beneficial when introduced in the environments of the Saturn's moons Titan or Enceladus. Although the temperature on both moons is quite low, the presence of ammonia, H 2 O and other prerequisites for a possible growth of specialized microbes has been discussed (Israel et al, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaea in artificial environments: Their presence in global spacecraft clean rooms and impact on planetary protection

Moissl-Eichinger

2010

The ISME Journal

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The presence and role of Archaea in artificial, human-controlled environments is still unclear. The search for Archaea has been focused on natural biotopes where they have been found in overwhelming numbers, and with amazing properties. However, they are considered as one of the major group of microorganisms that might be able to survive a space flight, or even to thrive on other planets. Although still concentrating on aerobic, bacterial spores as a proxy for spacecraft cleanliness, space agencies are beginning to consider Archaea as a possible contamination source that could affect future searches for life on other planets. This study reports on the discovery of archaeal 16S rRNA gene signatures not only in US American spacecraft assembly clean rooms but also in facilities in Europe and South America. Molecular methods revealed the presence of Crenarchaeota in all clean rooms sampled, while signatures derived from methanogens and a halophile appeared only sporadically. Although no Archaeon was successfully enriched in our multiassay cultivation approach thus far, samples from a European clean room revealed positive archaeal fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) signals of rod-shaped microorganisms, representing the first visualization of Archaea in clean room environments. The molecular and visual detection of Archaea was supported by the first quantitative PCR studies of clean rooms, estimating the overall quantity of Archaea therein. The significant presence of Archaea in these extreme environments in distinct geographical locations suggests a larger role for these microorganisms not only in natural biotopes, but also in human controlled and rigorously cleaned environments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaea in artificial environments: Their presence in global spacecraft clean rooms and impact on planetary protection

Moissl-Eichinger

2010

The ISME Journal

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“…We then compare our results with a) the spectral characteristics of laboratory-made tholins reported in the literature (e.g., Khare et al 1984;Quirico et al 2008;Gautier et al 2012); b) those derived from highaltitude (600−1250 km) emission observed by Cassini/VIMS López-Puertas et al 2013); and c) the low-altitude (20−130 km) results from the Huygens/Aerosol Collector and Pyrolyser (ACP; Israël et al 2005). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Spectral characteristics of the Titanian haze at 1−5 micron fromCassini/VIMS solar occultation data

Kim

Courtin

2013

A&A

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We retrieved optical-depth spectra of the Titanian haze in the range 1−5 μm from solar occultation data obtained by the Cassini/Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) at altitudes of 59−502 km. Only limited wavelength intervals within this spectral range have been analyzed before. The haze spectra we retrieved are mostly similar to those of alkane particles (or powders), with three major absorption peaks typical of alkane powders at 2.3, 3.4, and 4.3 μm. This result suggests that at least in the ∼60−500 km altitude range, the Titanian haze is mostly composed of alkane particles, possibly with some trace impurities. The absence of the 3.0 and 4.6 μm features excludes the molecules containing NH and CN bonds that are typical of laboratory-made tholins reported in the literature. The alkane-like spectral characteristics of the haze we observed at ∼60−500 km differ from previous results obtained at different or overlapping altitudes: a) the presence of aromatic compounds derived from solar-pumped emissions observed at high altitude (600−1250 km) by Cassini/VIMS near 3.3 μm; and b) the detection of HCN and NH 3 in the cores of haze particles collected at low altitude (20−130 km) by the Huygens/Aerosol Collector and Pyrolyser (ACP). We suggest that these different characteristics arise from different structural layers formed by coagulation/coalescence during particle sedimentation.

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“…This supports the tholin hypothesis. From these new in situ measurements it seems very likely that the aerosol particles are made of a refractory organic nucleus, covered with condensed volatile compounds [18].…”

Section: A Complex Prebiotic-like Chemistrymentioning

confidence: 96%

TandEM: Titan and Enceladus mission

et al. 2008

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International audienceTandEM was proposed as an L-class (large) mission in response to ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Call, and accepted for further studies, with the goal of exploring Titan and Enceladus. The mission concept is to perform in situ investigations of two worlds tied together by location and properties, whose remarkable natures have been partly revealed by the ongoing Cassini-Huygens mission. These bodies still hold mysteries requiring a complete exploration using a variety of vehicles and instruments. TandEM is an ambitious mission because its targets are two of the most exciting and challenging bodies in the Solar System. It is designed to build on but exceed the scientific and technological accomplishments of the Cassini-Huygens mission, exploring Titan and Enceladus in ways that are not currently possible (full close-up and in situ coverage over long periods of time). In the current mission architecture, TandEM proposes to deliver two medium-sized spacecraft to the Saturnian system. One spacecraft would be an orbiter with a large host of instruments which would perform several Enceladus flybys and deliver penetrators to its surface before going into a dedicated orbit around Titan alone, while the other spacecraft would carry the Titan in situ investigation components, i.e. a hot-air balloon (Montgolfière) and possibly several landing probes to be delivered through the atmospher

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Complex organic matter in Titan's atmospheric aerosols from in situ pyrolysis and analysis

Cited by 223 publications

References 27 publications

Archaea in artificial environments: Their presence in global spacecraft clean rooms and impact on planetary protection

Archaea in artificial environments: Their presence in global spacecraft clean rooms and impact on planetary protection

Spectral characteristics of the Titanian haze at 1−5 micron fromCassini/VIMS solar occultation data

TandEM: Titan and Enceladus mission

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