NASA's got a mission-ready instrument that re-defines the search for life...

[WestMichRad]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/25/2148521/-NASA-s-got-a-mission-ready-instrument-that-redefines-the-search-for-life-in-our-Solar-System

“… what we really want to do on upcoming missions is to get much more sophisticated at analyzing samples in place” (that is, without having to retrieve them to Earth). “There really are ‘smoking-Gun’ finds we can make that would exclude every other reasonable explanation besides life (described in article). We just need the right instrumentation to do it. That means light enough, small enough, tough enough, and energy-efficient enough to endure a space flight and get by on the limited auxiliary power of a landing module.

“NASA and the University of Maryland have been collaborating on developing devices for inclusion on upcoming missions to Mars, Europa, Titan, and anywhere else there is a shot at finding current or former life. They report on the latest state-of-the-art device (this one specifically adapted to the near-future Europa Lander mission, but suitable for others too) in the January 16 issue of Nature Astronomy.

“This device is a miniaturized laser-desorption mass spectrometer (LDMS). The idea is to blast molecules off a surface with lasers and then capture them in the gas phase to analyze and identify them. …”

Article does a nice job of explaining what happens in mass spectrometry and why the newly designed instrument is just the ticket for seeking molecules that are strongly indicative of life.

[NNadir]

1. Not too bad for Daily Kos.

Last edited Thu Jan 26, 2023, 09:18 AM - Edit history (1)

Generally discussions of science there have a journalistic quality, i.e. badly mangled.

I've been involved for much of my career with mass spec, and we have an Orbitrap in our lab, and while I would certainly quibble with the emphasis on fatty acids and the claims of chain length, the instrument can certainly do more than described.

One can, within certain limits, measure chirality using a mass spec having an ion mobility instrument in the line.

I do not know the details of the NASA instrument, and there are certainly weight constraints an energy constraints, but I would consider this approach were I asked to speculate.