Mass spectrometry in the U.S. space program: Past, present, and future

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed significant progress on the miniaturization of mass spectrometers for a variety of field applications. This article describes the development and application of mass spectrometry (MS) instrumentation to support of goals of the U.S. space program. Its main focus is on the two most common space-related applications of MS: studying the composition of planetary atmospheres and monitoring air quality on manned space missions. Both sets of applications present special requirements in terms of analytical performance (sensitivity, selectivity, speed, etc.), logistical considerations (space, weight, and power requirements), and deployment in perhaps the harshest of all possible environments (space). The MS instruments deployed on the Pioneer Venus and Mars Viking Lander missions are reviewed for the purposes of illustrating the unique features of the sample introduction systems, mass analyzers, and vacuum systems, and for presenting their specifications which are impressive even by today's standards. The various approaches for monitoring volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in cabin atmospheres are also reviewed. In the past, ground-based GC/MS instruments have been used to identify and quantify VOCs in archival samples collected during the Mercury, Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle, and Mir missions. Some of the data from the more recent missions are provided to illustrate the composition data obtained and to underscore the need for instrumentation to perform such monitoring in situ. Lastly, the development of two emerging technologies, Direct Sampling Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry (DSITMS) and GC/Ion Mobility Spectrometry (GC/IMS), will be discussed to illustrate their potential utility for future missions. (J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 2001, 12, 656 -675)

Order of Magnitude Signal Gain in Magnetic Sector Mass Spectrometry Via Aperture Coding

“…Miniaturization of mass spectrometers, and magnetic sector instruments in particular, would enable hand-held and portable instruments for in situ analysis in a variety of applications from security to environmental monitoring and health care. Although designs for miniaturized mass spectrometers have been presented [7][8][9], miniaturization is currently accompanied by a simultaneous decrease in performance, including resolution and throughput, thus limiting the utility of such instruments for in situ chemical analysis and identification.…”

Distance-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry: What, Why, and How?

“…This spatially selective detector can be identical to those found in MHMS instruments as shown in Figure 2. Just as in other spatially dispersive MS approaches, such as the MHMS, in 1 Time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) 2 Sector-field mass spectrometry (SFMS) 3 Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) 4 Quadrupole mass spectrometry (Q-MS) 5 Quadrupole-ion trap mass spectrometry (QIT-MS) 6 Triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (QqQ-MS) 7 Distance-of-flight mass spectrometry (DOFMS) Figure 1. In 1987, Kurt Brunée imagined the Bmass-spectrometer islands^in a cartoon representation of the distinction among mass analyzers based on analyzer-specific performance characteristics [31].…”

“…An impressive but not comprehensive list of research fields outside analytical chemistry influenced by MS development includes forensics [1,2], archaeology [3], physics [4], cosmology [5][6][7], geosciences [8], atmospheric sciences [9,10], materials science [11], biosciences [12,13], and medicine [14]. Moreover, the analytical performance of modern mass spectrometers is compelling.…”

Chemical Analysis Program for the Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry System

“…To identify TLC (Thin Layer Chromatography) information from MSI (Mass Spectrometry Imaging) data sets, a program (DetectTLC) was developed [20]. Homemade software or package programs were used for biological tissue identification [21] or cancer detection [22] by using mass spectrometry data.…”