scholarly journals Synergies between exoplanet and Solar System life detection efforts: Encouraging collaboration to enhance science return

2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niki Parenteau ◽  
Shawn Domagal-Goldman ◽  
Nancy Y. Kiang ◽  
Edward Schwieterman ◽  
Victoria Meadows ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Life Detection ◽  
System Life

scholarly journals Contamination Control for Ultra-Sensitive Life-Detection Missions

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Eigenbrode ◽  
Robert Gold ◽  
John S. Canham ◽  
Erich Schulze ◽  
Alfonso F. Davila ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Contamination Control ◽  
Particulate Contamination ◽  
Science Operations ◽  
Monolayer Adsorption ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Life Detection ◽  
Low Probability ◽  
System Life ◽  
Adsorption Desorption

A key science priority for planetary exploration is to search for signs of life in our Solar System. Life-detection mission concepts aim to assess whether or not biomolecular signatures of life are present, which requires highly sensitive instrumentation. This introduces greater risk of false positives, and perhaps false negatives. Stringent science-derived contamination requirements for achieving science measurements on life-detection missions necessitate mitigation approaches that minimize, protect from, and prevent science-relevant contamination of critical surfaces of the science payload and provide high confidence to life-detection determinations. To this end, we report on technology advances that focus on understanding contamination transfer from pre-launch processing to end of mission using high-fidelity physics in the form of computational fluid dynamics and sorption physics for monolayer adsorption/desorption, and on developing a new full-spacecraft bio-molecular barrier design that restricts contamination of the spacecraft and instruments by the launch vehicle hardware. The bio-molecular barrier isolates the spacecraft from biological, molecular, and particulate contamination from the external environment. Models were used to evaluate contamination transport for a designs reference mission that utilizes the barrier. Results of the modeling verify the efficacy of the barrier and an in-cruise decontamination activity. Overall mission contamination tracking from launch to science operations demonstrated exceptionally low probability on contamination impacting science measurements, meeting the stringent contamination requirements of femtomolar levels of compounds. These advances will enable planetary missions that aim to detect and identify signatures of life in our Solar System.

scholarly journals Biosignatures in the solar system

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 6-9
Author(s):  
David Slade ◽  
Alex Price ◽  
Rachael Hamp ◽  
Nisha Ramkissoon
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Planetary Bodies ◽  
Planets And Satellites ◽  
Life Detection ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Intelligent Life

Humanity's interest in whether or not we are alone in the universe spans generations, from Giordano Bruno's 16th century musings on other worlds and Giovanni Schiaparelli reporting seeing ‘canali’ in 1877 on the surface of Mars (which were thought to have been created by intelligent life) to alien invasions portrayed in today's movies. However, it is still unclear if other planetary bodies are capable of supporting life. In the search for life there are two broad areas we look into, the requirements of life and actual signs of life. The identification of the key requirements for life enables scientists to focus life detection efforts onto planets and satellites that are considered habitable and more likely to support life. However, our ability to find life or detect signs of life is based on our understanding of life on Earth.

scholarly journals Planetary Mass Spectrometry for Agnostic Life Detection in the Solar System

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luoth Chou ◽  
Paul Mahaffy ◽  
Melissa Trainer ◽  
Jennifer Eigenbrode ◽  
Ricardo Arevalo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Ion Trap ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Mass Spectrometers ◽  
System A ◽  
Solar System Bodies ◽  
Formation And Evolution ◽  
Life Detection ◽  
Unique Chemical

For the past fifty years of space exploration, mass spectrometry has provided unique chemical and physical insights on the characteristics of other planetary bodies in the Solar System. A variety of mass spectrometer types, including magnetic sector, quadrupole, time-of-flight, and ion trap, have and will continue to deepen our understanding of the formation and evolution of exploration targets like the surfaces and atmospheres of planets and their moons. An important impetus for the continuing exploration of Mars, Europa, Enceladus, Titan, and Venus involves assessing the habitability of solar system bodies and, ultimately, the search for life—a monumental effort that can be advanced by mass spectrometry. Modern flight-capable mass spectrometers, in combination with various sample processing, separation, and ionization techniques enable sensitive detection of chemical biosignatures. While our canonical knowledge of biosignatures is rooted in Terran-based examples, agnostic approaches in astrobiology can cast a wider net, to search for signs of life that may not be based on Terran-like biochemistry. Here, we delve into the search for extraterrestrial chemical and morphological biosignatures and examine several possible approaches to agnostic life detection using mass spectrometry. We discuss how future missions can help ensure that our search strategies are inclusive of unfamiliar life forms.

scholarly journals Organic chemistry in space and the search for life in our Solar System

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascale Ehrenfreund
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Organic Material ◽  
Space Missions ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
Space Environment ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Solar Ultraviolet Radiation ◽  
Life Detection ◽  
Hayabusa 2 ◽  
Human Exploration

<p>One of the most fascinating questions in planetary science is how life originated on Earth and whether life exists beyond Earth. Carbonaceous compounds in the gas and solid state, refractory and icy are identified by astronomical observations in our Solar System, and distant galaxies. Among them are a large number of molecules that are essential in prebiotic chemistry and used in contemporary biochemistry on Earth. Life on Earth originated approximately 3.5 billion years ago and has adapted to nearly every explored environment. What was chemical raw materials available for life to develop? Small Solar System bodies hold clues to processes that formed our Solar System and probably contributed carbonaceous molecules and volatiles during the heavy bombardment phase to the young planets. This process may have contributed to life’s origin on Earth. Space missions that investigate the composition of comets and asteroids and in particular their organic content provide major opportunities to determine the prebiotic reservoirs available to the early Earth and Mars. Recently, the Comet rendezvous mission Rosetta has monitored the evolution of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko during its approach to the Sun and observed numerous volatiles and complex organic compound on the cometary surface and in the coma. Several asteroid sample return missions are currently operational such as JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 which was launched in 2014 and will return samples to Earth in 2020. Hayabusa-2 also carried the German-French landing module MASCOT (mobile asteroid surface scout) that provided during the 17 hours of intensive scientific exploration new insights into the structure and composition of the asteroid Ryugu.</p><p>A fleet of robotic space missions currently targets planets and moons in order to assess their habitability and to seek biosignatures of simple extraterrestrial life beyond Earth. Prime targets in the outer Solar System include moons that may harbor internal oceans such as Europa, Enceladus, and Titan. Life may have emerged during habitable periods on Mars and remains may still be preserved in the subsurface, evaporite deposits, caves or polar regions. On Mars, a combination of solar ultraviolet radiation and oxidation processes are destructive to organic material and life on and close to the surface. However, the progress and the revolutionary quality and quantity of data on “extreme life” on Earth have transformed our view of habitability. In 2020, ESA’s ExoMars program will launch the Rosalind Franklin Rover and landing platform, and drill for the first time 2m deep into the Martian subsurface. Mars is still the central object of interest for habitability studies and life detection beyond Earth, paving the way for returned samples and human exploration.</p><p>Knowledge on the evolution of organic material in space environment such as their photochemistry and preservation potential are crucial to advance life detection strategies and instrument development. This Cassini lecture will review the evolution of organic matter in space including recent observations, space missions and laboratory research and discuss the science and technology preparation necessary for robotic and human exploration efforts investigating habitability and biosignatures in our Solar System.</p>

The Origin of the Moon

1962 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 149-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. L. Ruskol
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Solar System ◽  
The Moon ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Origin Of The Moon

The difference between average densities of the Moon and Earth was interpreted in the preceding report by Professor H. Urey as indicating a difference in their chemical composition. Therefore, Urey assumes the Moon's formation to have taken place far away from the Earth, under conditions differing substantially from the conditions of Earth's formation. In such a case, the Earth should have captured the Moon. As is admitted by Professor Urey himself, such a capture is a very improbable event. In addition, an assumption that the “lunar” dimensions were representative of protoplanetary bodies in the entire solar system encounters great difficulties.

The Origin of the Moon and its Relationship to the Origin of the Solar System

1962 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 133-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold C. Urey
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
The Moon ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Origin Of The Moon

During the last 10 years, the writer has presented evidence indicating that the Moon was captured by the Earth and that the large collisions with its surface occurred within a surprisingly short period of time. These observations have been a continuous preoccupation during the past years and some explanation that seemed physically possible and reasonably probable has been sought.

Stellar Evolution

1962 ◽  
Vol 11 (02) ◽  
pp. 137-143
Author(s):  
M. Schwarzschild
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Stellar Evolution ◽  
Space Craft ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
Substantial Body ◽  
Individual Stars ◽  
The Past ◽  
Evolution Of Galaxies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fast Flow

It is perhaps one of the most important characteristics of the past decade in astronomy that the evolution of some major classes of astronomical objects has become accessible to detailed research. The theory of the evolution of individual stars has developed into a substantial body of quantitative investigations. The evolution of galaxies, particularly of our own, has clearly become a subject for serious research. Even the history of the solar system, this close-by intriguing puzzle, may soon make the transition from being a subject of speculation to being a subject of detailed study in view of the fast flow of new data obtained with new techniques, including space-craft.

Dynamics of comets in the collapsing protosolar nebula

1999 ◽  
Vol 173 ◽  
pp. 45-50
Author(s):  
L. Neslušan
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Velocity Distribution ◽  
Oort Cloud ◽  
Interstellar Clouds ◽  
Protosolar Nebula ◽  
Moving Bodies

AbstractComets are created in the cool, dense regions of interstellar clouds. These macroscopic bodies take place in the collapse of protostar cloud as mechanically moving bodies in contrast to the gas and miscroscopic dust holding the laws of hydrodynamics. In the presented contribution, there is given an evidence concerning the Solar system comets: if the velocity distribution of comets before the collapse was similar to that in the Oort cloud at the present, then the comets remained at large cloud-centric distances. Hence, the comets in the solar Oort cloud represent a relict of the nebular stage of the Solar system.

Hydrogen Cyanide Polymers from the Impact of Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 179-187
Author(s):  
Clifford N. Matthews ◽  
Rose A. Pesce-Rodriguez ◽  
Shirley A. Liebman
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Hydrogen Cyanide ◽  
Nitrogen Heterocycles ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Heterogeneous Solids ◽  
The Many ◽  
Comet Halley ◽  
The Impact ◽  
By Products

AbstractHydrogen cyanide polymers – heterogeneous solids ranging in color from yellow to orange to brown to black – may be among the organic macromolecules most readily formed within the Solar System. The non-volatile black crust of comet Halley, for example, as well as the extensive orangebrown streaks in the atmosphere of Jupiter, might consist largely of such polymers synthesized from HCN formed by photolysis of methane and ammonia, the color observed depending on the concentration of HCN involved. Laboratory studies of these ubiquitous compounds point to the presence of polyamidine structures synthesized directly from hydrogen cyanide. These would be converted by water to polypeptides which can be further hydrolyzed to α-amino acids. Black polymers and multimers with conjugated ladder structures derived from HCN could also be formed and might well be the source of the many nitrogen heterocycles, adenine included, observed after pyrolysis. The dark brown color arising from the impacts of comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter might therefore be mainly caused by the presence of HCN polymers, whether originally present, deposited by the impactor or synthesized directly from HCN. Spectroscopic detection of these predicted macromolecules and their hydrolytic and pyrolytic by-products would strengthen significantly the hypothesis that cyanide polymerization is a preferred pathway for prebiotic and extraterrestrial chemistry.

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