Mass spectrometry in the exploration of Mars

Potential Role of Methyl-Radical Adducts with Carbon Dioxide in the Martian Atmosphere

“…While methane and related hydrocarbons are abundant in prebiotic atmospheres, no evidence for a significant methane concentration on Mars has been found. 1 In a general sense, any potential route towards a gas-phase synthesis of more complex organic molecules in the Martian atmosphere relies on the availability of some source of hydrogen.…”

“…The atmosphere of Mars by and large consists of carbon dioxide with a pressure in the mbar region and temperatures between 150 and 300 K. 1 Because CO 2 has a pretty high ionization energy (IE = 13.78 eV) 2 and other components of the Martian atmosphere (e.g. N 2 , Ar) are not ionized easily, energetic photons can penetrate the atmosphere deeply.…”

Mass Spectrometric Methods for Atmospheric Trace Gases

“…Mass spectrometric determinations of trace gases in the atmosphere will become more routine, both on the ground though global instrument networks, and in the air on commercial and research aircraft. Experience gained in this way will aid the investigation of extra terrestrial atmospheres by mass spectrometry for trace gas species, which has already begun (Fenselau & Caprioli, 2003).…”

Spectroscopic requirements for Raman instrumentation on a planetary lander: potential for the remote detection of biosignatures on Mars

“…Raman spectroscopy is currently being considered for adoption as a component of the instrumentation suites for robotic landers on planetary surfaces (Dickensheets et al 2000;Wang & Haskin 2000;Wang et al 2003;Edwards 2004), especially Mars. The advantage of having a molecular-specific analytical device with the potential for the non-destructive detection of biosignatures in selected specimens is clear, especially when compiled with data from elemental specific techniques which are already proven on space missions, such as X-ray diffractometry (Arvidson et al 1998;Sarrazin et al 1998;Vaniman et al 1998;Cornaby et al 2001), Mossbauer spectroscopy (Kankeleit et al 1994;Klingelhofer et al 2002Klingelhofer et al , 2003Dyar & Schaefer 2004) and mass spectrometry (Rodier et al 2002;Fenselau & Caprioli 2003), which involves molecular fragment analysis from heated or laser-ablated specimens. Although infrared spectroscopic techniques can provide molecular information of a similar nature to that of Raman spectroscopy, this is not precisely the same as that given from Raman spectra ; there are several features of the latter which could be critically important for extraterrestrial sampling situations : .…”