Exobiology in the Solar System & The Search for Life on Mars - ESA

team II: <strong>the</strong> search <strong>for</strong> chemical <strong>in</strong>dicators of life/II.5
RECOMMENDED PAYLOAD AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH PROGRAMME
Tak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to account <strong>the</strong> mass, power and volume restrictions, <strong>the</strong> follow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>strumentation appears to be essential <strong>for</strong>
reach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> exobiological objectives of <strong>the</strong> package as described earlier <strong>in</strong> this document.
FIRST PRIORITY
Microscope: <strong>for</strong> general exam<strong>in</strong>ation of <strong>the</strong> samples
– resolution: 3 µm
– mass: 250 g (100 g, with <strong>the</strong> close-up imager but with 50 µm resolution)
– heritage: Beagle-2
Raman spectroscopy: molecular analysis of m<strong>in</strong>erals and organics (with IR)
– must <strong>in</strong>clude near IR excitation <strong>for</strong> biological applications, as well as geochemical
– spectral range: 200-3500 cm -1
– resolution: 8 cm -1
– projected mass: 1 kg
– heritage: Mars Surveyor 2001
APX Spectrometer: elemental analysis, detection limit a few 0.1%
– mass: 570 g
– power: 340 mW
– data output: 16 Kbytes per sample analysis
– heritage: Mars Pathf<strong>in</strong>der, Mars Surveyor 2001, Rosetta
Mössbauer Spectrometer: quantitative analysis of Fe
– mass: 500 g
– power: 1.5 W
– radioactive source of about 300 mCi
– heritage: Mars Surveyor 2001 A<strong>the</strong>na mission (MIMOS II <strong>in</strong>strument)
PYR-GC-MS system: isotopic, elemental, organic and <strong>in</strong>organic molecular composition, and chirality measurement
– PYR: <strong>in</strong>cludes several ovens (<strong>for</strong> pyrolysis, combustion and chemical trans<strong>for</strong>mation of <strong>the</strong> samples)
– GC: a m<strong>in</strong>imum of four columns, <strong>in</strong> parallel, likely to be capillary open columns <strong>for</strong> separation, respectively of:
permanent gases and very low molecular weight organics
volatile higher molecular weight organics of small polarity
volatile higher molecular weight organics of high polarity
column <strong>for</strong> enantiomer separation (chiral or, if derivatisation with chiral reactant, non-chiral column)
heritage: COSAC
additional detectors (nano-TCDs, chiral detectors) <strong>for</strong> each GC column
– MS: ion trap (heritage: MODULUS) or magnetic (Beagle-2) or Quadrupole (heritage: CHARGE). In all cases, a pump<strong>in</strong>g device
(such as a m<strong>in</strong>iaturised turbo molecular pump) will have to be developed.
total mass: 5.5 kg
power: 10-20 W (to be confirmed)
H 2 O 2 and o<strong>the</strong>r oxidant-dedicated sensors (still to be fully studied and developed):
– expected mass: 100 g (to be confirmed)
SECOND PRIORITY
Infrared spectroscopy: molecular analysis of m<strong>in</strong>erals and organics (with Raman)
– wavelength range: 0.8-10 µm
– spectral resolution: >100 (λ/∆λ)
– spatial resolution: 200 µm
– expected mass: