Mars Organic Molecule Analyser

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The Mars Organic Molecule Analyser (MOMA) is a

mass spectrometer Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a '' mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is us ...

-based instrument on board the ''Rosalind Franklin'' rover to be launched in 2028 to

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

on an astrobiology mission.

s (carbon-containing molecules) in the collected soil samples. By characterizing the molecular structures of detected organics, MOMA can provide insights into potential molecular

biosignature A biosignature (sometimes called chemical fossil or molecular fossil) is any substance – such as an element, isotope, or molecule – or phenomenon that provides scientific evidence of past or present life. Measurable attribute ...

s. MOMA will be able to detect organic molecules at concentrations as low as 10 parts-per-billion by weight (ppbw). MOMA examines solid crushed samples exclusively; it does not perform atmospheric analyses. The Principal Investigator is Fred Goesmann, from the

Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (abbreviation: MPS; german: Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung) is a research institute in astronomy and astrophysics located in Göttingen, Germany, where it relocated in February 201 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Overview

The goal of MOMA is to seek signs of past

life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...

(biosignatures) by analysing a wide range of

organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The ...

s that may be found in drilled samples acquired from 2 meters below the Martian surface by the ''Rosalind Franklin'' rover. MOMA examines solid crushed samples only; it does not perform atmospheric analyses. MOMA will first volatilize solid organic compounds so that they can be analysed by a

; this volatilisation of organic material is achieved by two different techniques:

laser desorption A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

and thermal volatilisation, followed by separation using four GC-MS columns. The identification of the organic molecules is then performed with an ion trap mass spectrometer.

Organic biosignatures

While there is no unambiguous Martian biosignature to look for, a pragmatic approach is to look out for certain molecules such as

lipids Lipids are a broad group of naturally-occurring molecules which includes fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include ...

and phospholipids that may be forming

cell membrane The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane (PM) or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of all cells from the outside environment ( ...

s which can be preserved over geological timescales. Lipids and other organic molecules may exhibit biogenic features that are not present in abiogenic organic material. If biogenic (synthesized by a life form), such compounds may be found at high concentrations only over a narrow range of molecular weights, unlike in carbonaceous meteorites where these compounds are detected over a broader range of molecular weights. In the case of sugars and

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...

s, excessive molecular

homochirality Homochirality is a uniformity of chirality, or handedness. Objects are chiral when they cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, the left and right hands of a human are approximately mirror images of each other but are not their ow ...

(asymmetry) is another important clue of their biological origin. The assumption is that life on Mars would be carbon-based and cellular as on Earth, so there are expected common building blocks such as chains of amino acids (

peptide Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides. A ...

s and proteins) and chains of nucleobases (

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) are nucleic acids. Along with lipids, proteins, and carbohydra ...

, DNA, or their analogs). Also, some

isomers In chemistry, isomers are molecules or polyatomic ions with identical molecular formulae – that is, same number of atoms of each element – but distinct arrangements of atoms in space. Isomerism is existence or possibility of isomers. ...

of high molecular weight organics can be potential biosignatures when identified in context with other supporting evidence. Other compounds targeted for detection will include

fatty acid In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, ...

s, sterols, and

hopanoid Hopanoids are a diverse subclass of triterpenoids with the same hydrocarbon skeleton as the compound hopane. This group of pentacyclic molecules therefore refers to simple hopenes, hopanols and hopanes, but also to extensively functionalized deriv ...

Background organics

The surface of Mars is expected to have accumulated significant quantities of large organic molecules delivered by interplanetary dust particles and carbonaceous meteorites. MOMA's characterization of this fraction, may determine not only the abundance of this potential background for trace biomarker detection, but also the degree of decomposition of this matter by radiation and oxidation as a function of depth.Detecting Organics with the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) on the 2018 ExoMars Rover
(PDF). H. Steininger, F. Goesmann, F. Raulin, W. B. Brinckerhoff, MOMA Team. This is essential in order to interpret the samples' origin in the local geological and geochemical context.

Development

The components of MOMA related to GC-MS have heritage from the ''Viking'' landers, the COSAC on board the comet lander ''Philae'', and SAM on board the ''Curiosity'' rover. But the methods applied in the past on board the ''Viking'' landers and the ''Curiosity'' rover are mostly destructive (pyrolysis), and consequently important information of the organic material is lost. Also, only volatile molecules can be detected and, only nonpolar molecules can get through the GC columns to the detector. MOMA will combine pyrolysis–derivatization with a less destructive method: LDMS (Laser Desorption Mass Spectrometry), which allows large and intact molecular fragments to be detected and characterized by the mass spectrometer (MS). The LDMS technique is not affected by these drawbacks, and it is unaffected to the presence of

perchlorates A perchlorate is a chemical compound containing the perchlorate ion, . The majority of perchlorates are commercially produced salts. They are mainly used as oxidizers for pyrotechnic devices and to control static electricity in food packaging. Pe ...

, known to be abundant on the surface of Mars. Tandem mass spectrometry can then be used to further characterize these molecules. The

is leading the development. International partners include NASA. The

(MS) and the main electronics of MOMA are provided by NASA's

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC empl ...

, while the gas chromatography (GC) is provided by the two French institutes

LISA Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...

and LATMOS. The UV-Laser is being developed by the Laser Zentrum Hannover. MOMA does not form a single compact unit, but is modular with numerous mechanical and thermal interfaces within the rover. The final integration and verification will be performed at

Thales Alenia Space Thales Alenia Space () is a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer. A joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (33%), the company is the largest satellite manufactur ...

in Italy.

References

External links

* (NASA; 24 May 2018)) {{Use British English, date=December 2017 ExoMars Spacecraft instruments Astrobiology Space science experiments