Development of a low power, high mass range mass spectrometer for Mars surface analysis

The Nakhla meteorite represents basaltic rock from the martian upper crust, with reduced carbon indicative of the ingress of carbonaceous fluids. Study of a terrestrial analogue basalt with reduced carbon from the Ordovician of Northern Ireland shows that remote analysis could detect the carbon using Raman spectroscopy. Analysis of gases released by crushing detects methane-rich fluids in the basalt and especially in cross-cutting carbon-bearing veinlets. The results suggest that automated analysis on Mars could detect the reduced carbon, which may be derived from magmatic and/or meteoritic infall sources.

Section: Potential To Detect On Marsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of reduced carbon in a basalt analogue for martian nakhlite: a signpost to habitat on Mars

Parnell

McMahon

Blamey

et al. 2013

“…In addition, anhydrous Na-sulphate (thenardite) is a proven host mineral in direct detection of bio/organic compounds using laser desorption Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (LD-FTICR-MS) (Richardson et al 2008(Richardson et al , 2009). The role of microbial activity in mineralization of Na-sulphates in the basaltic subsurface of COM and the ability of these minerals to assist in direct detection of bio/organic compounds has implications for the search for life on Mars, especially considering the potential future use of laser desorption mass spectrometry instruments that could search for similar bio/organic compounds on various space missions (Evans-Nguyen et al 2008;Becker et al 2009;Kolleck et al 2010;Richardson & Becker 2010;Scott et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for biological activity in mineralization of secondary sulphate deposits in a basaltic environment: implications for the search for life in the Martian subsurface

Richardson

Hinman

Scott

2013

Evidence of microbial activity associated with mineralization of secondary Na-sulphate minerals (thenardite, mirabilite) in the basaltic subsurface of Craters of the Moon National Monument (COM), Idaho were examined by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, laser desorption Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (LD-FTICR-MS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Peaks suggestive of bio/organic compounds were observed in the secondary Na-sulphate deposits by LD-FTICR-MS. FTIR provided additional evidence for the presence of bio/organic compounds. Sulphur fractionation was explored to assist in determining if microbes may play a role in oxidizing sulphur. The presence of bio/organic compounds associated with Na-sulphate deposits, along with the necessity of oxidizing reduced sulphur to sulphate, suggests that biological activity may be involved in the formation of these secondary minerals. The secondary Na-sulphate minerals probably form from the overlying basalt through leached sodium ions and sulphate ions produced by bio-oxidation of Fe-sulphide minerals. Since the COM basalts are one of the most comparable terrestrial analogues for their Martian counterparts, the occurrence of biological activity in the formation of sulphate minerals at COM has direct implications for the search for life on Mars. In addition, the presence of caves on Mars suggests the importance of these environments as possible locations for growth and preservation of microbial activity. Therefore, understanding the physiochemical pathways of abiotic and biotic mineralization in the COM subsurface and similar basaltic settings has direct implications for the search for extinct or extant life on Mars.

“…Instruments designed to detect organic molecules or other potential tracers of life on Mars include gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS), as installed aboard NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (Mahaffy et al 2012) and proposed for the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars rover (Evans-Nguyen et al 2008;Goesmann et al 2009); Raman spectroscopy (Ellery & Wynn-Williams 2003;Jorge Villar & Edwards 2006;Marshall & Olcott Marshall 2010;Rull et al 2010), and antibody-based systems such as the Life Marker Chip (Sims et al 2005). Such instrumentation can offer very high sensitivity and discriminatory power, but often requires sample preparation, long exposure times or limited resources or reagents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Degradation of microbial fluorescence biosignatures by solar ultraviolet radiation on Mars

Dartnell

Patel

2013

Recent and proposed robotic missions to Mars are equipped with implements to expose or excavate fresh material from beneath the immediate surface. Once brought into the open, any organic molecules or potential biosignatures of present or past life will be exposed to the unfiltered solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation and face photolytic degradation over short time courses. The key question, then, is what is the window of opportunity for detection of recently exposed samples during robotic operations? Detection of autofluorescence has been proposed as a simple method for surveying or triaging samples for organic molecules. Using a Mars simulation chamber we conduct UV exposures on thin frozen layers of two model microorganisms, the radiation-resistant polyextremophile Deinococcus radiodurans and the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) are generated of the full fluorescence response to quantify the change in signal of different cellular fluorophores over Martian equivalent time. Fluorescence of Deinococcus cells, protected by a high concentration of carotenoid pigments, was found to be relatively stable over 32 h of Martian UV irradiation, with around 90% of the initial signal remaining. By comparison, fluorescence from protein-bound tryptophan in Synechocystis is much more sensitive to UV photodegradation, declining to 50% after 64 h exposure. The signal most readily degraded by UV irradiation is fluorescence of the photosynthetic pigments -diminished to only 35% after 64 h. This sensitivity may be expected as the biological function of chlorophyll and phycocyanin is to optimize the harvesting of light energy and so they are readily photobleached. A significant increase in a *450 nm emission feature is interpreted as accumulation of fluorescent cellular degradation products from photolysis. Accounting for diurnal variation in Martian sunlight, this study calculates that frozen cellular biosignatures would remain detectable by fluorescence for at least several sols; offering a sufficient window for robotic exploration operations.