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Organic molecules revealed in Mars’s Bagnold Dunes by Curiosity’s derivatization experiment

Maëva Millan 1, 2, * Samuel Teinturier 3, 2 C. Malespin 2 J. Y. Bonnet 4 Arnaud Buch 5 Jason Dworkin 2 J. Eigenbrode 2 Caroline Freissinet 6 Daniel Glavin 2 Rafael Navarro-González 7 Anushree Srivastava 8, 2 Jennifer Stern 2 B. Sutter 9 Cyril Szopa 10, 6 Amy Williams 11 R. Williams 2, 12 Gregory Wong 13 S. Johnson 1 P. Mahaffy 2
* Corresponding author
1 Department of Biology [Washington]
2 GSFC Solar System Exploration Division
GSFC - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
3 USRA - Universities Space Research Association
4 Telespazio France
5 LGPM - Laboratoire de Génie des Procédés et Matériaux
6 PLANETO - LATMOS
LATMOS - Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales
7 UNAM - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
8 School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences [Milton Keynes]
9 Jacobs Technology ESCG
10 IUF - Institut Universitaire de France
11 UF|Geological - Department of Geological Sciences [Gainesville]
12 CRESST - Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology [College Park]
13 Department of Geosciences [PennState]
Abstract : The wet chemistry experiments on the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument on NASA’s Curiosity rover were designed to facilitate gas chromatography mass spectrometry analyses of polar molecules such as amino acids and carboxylic acids. Here we present the results of such a successful wet chemistry experiment on Mars on sand scooped from the Bagnold Dunes with the N-methyl-N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide derivatization agent. No amino-acid derivatives were detected. However, chemically derivatized benzoic acid and ammonia were detected. Mass spectra matching derivatized phosphoric acid and phenol were present, as were several nitrogen-bearing molecules and as yet unidentified high-molecular-weight compounds. The origin of these compounds, including those that may be internal to the Sample Analysis at Mars background, is examined. This derivatization experiment on Mars has expanded the inventory of molecules present in Martian samples and demonstrated a powerful tool to further enable the search for polar organic molecules of biotic or prebiotic relevance.
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https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03414492
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Submitted on : Thursday, November 4, 2021 - 2:24:26 PM
Last modification on : Tuesday, January 4, 2022 - 2:20:37 PM

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INSU | LATMOS | GS-GEOSCIENCES | SORBONNE-UNIVERSITE | CENTRALESUPELEC | GS-ENGINEERING | LGPM | SU-SCIENCES | UVSQ | INSTITUT-SCIENCES-LUMIERE | CNRS

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Maëva Millan, Samuel Teinturier, C. Malespin, J. Y. Bonnet, Arnaud Buch, et al.. Organic molecules revealed in Mars’s Bagnold Dunes by Curiosity’s derivatization experiment. Nature Astronomy, Nature Publishing Group, 2022, (in press). ⟨10.1038/s41550-021-01507-9⟩. ⟨insu-03414492⟩

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