CORALS: A Laser Desorption/Ablation Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer for In Situ Exploration of Europa

Willhite, Lori; Ni, Ziqin; Arévalo, Ricardo; Bardyn, A.; Gundersen, Cynthia; Minasola, Niko; Southard, Adrian; Briois, Christelle; Thirkell, L.; Colin, Fabrice; Grubisic, Andrej; Fahey, Molly; Yu, Anthony W.; Hernandez, Emanuel; Ersahin, Akif; Danell, Ryan M.; Makarov, Alexander

doi:10.1109/aero50100.2021.9438221

Cited by 14 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…A prototype of the LDMS instrument (Fig. 1) has been highly miniaturized relative to the proof-of-concept breadboard reported previously [12] but without a compromise in analytical performance (as discussed further below), representing an engineering model of a spaceflight design that fits within the limited resources expected for a mission to the outer Solar System (e.g., the Europa Lander [13]; see Supplement).…”

Section: Main Text (Upper Limit 3500 Words Excl Abstract Methods Refe...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Laser desorption mass spectrometry with an Orbitrap analyser for in situ astrobiology

et al. 2023

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Section: Main Text (Upper Limit 3500 Words Excl Abstract Methods Refe...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Laser desorption mass spectrometry with an Orbitrap analyser for in situ astrobiology

et al. 2023

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“…Two example LDMS instruments being designed for space are CORALS [52] and ORIGIN [53,54]. These instruments can detect trace levels (~fmol) of complex organic compounds (>200 Da) from chemically diverse samples without prior knowledge of the sample chemical composition-a feature crucial for chemical characterization of the unknown environment of the clouds of Venus.…”

Section: Alternative Science Payloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Venus Life Finder Habitability Mission: Motivation, Science Objectives, and Instrumentation

Seager

Petkowski²,

Carr³

et al. 2022

Aerospace

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For over half a century, scientists have contemplated the potential existence of life within the clouds of Venus. Unknown chemistry leaves open the possibility that certain regions of the Venusian atmosphere are habitable. In situ atmospheric measurements with a suite of modern instruments can determine whether the cloud decks possess the characteristics needed to support life as we know it. The key habitability factors are cloud particle droplet acidity and cloud-layer water content. We envision an instrument suite to measure not only the acidity and water content of the droplets (and their variability) but additionally to confirm the presence of metals and other non-volatile elements required for life’s metabolism, verify the existence of organic material, and search for biosignature gases as signs of life. We present an astrobiology-focused mission, science goals, and instruments that can be used on both a large atmospheric probe with a parachute lasting about one hour in the cloud layers (40 to 60 km) or a fixed-altitude balloon operating at about 52 km above the surface. The latter relies on four deployable mini probes to measure habitability conditions in the lower cloud region. The mission doubles as a preparation for sample return by determining whether a subset of cloud particles is non-liquid as well as characterizing the heterogeneity of the cloud particles, thereby informing sample collection and storage methods for a return journey to Earth.

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“…Importantly, MS n enables the selection and accumulation of ions within a particular mass range, allowing for subsequent fragmentation of ions of interest, leading to a greater discernibility of the mass spectrum, and thus improved structural characterization of molecules. Ultrahigh mass resolution systems, such as Orbitraps mass analyzers, are presently being developed by a number of researchers due to the value of separating isobaric interferences with additional sample processing (Arevalo et al, 2018;Selliez et al, 2019;Willhite et al, 2021).…”

Section: Types Of Planetary Mass Spectrometersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This method, known as Kendrick mass analysis, can only be achieved with highly resolved mass peaks that allow for the discrimination between repeating mass defects, and thus the presence of repeating subunits in a sample. Fortunately, high and ultrahigh resolution MS is the next frontier of planetary MS exploration; for example, the MASPEX instrument is capable of mass resolution (m/Δm) of 25,000 at 10% peak height (up to m/Δm 50,000 FWHM) (Waite et al, 2019), and Orbitrap analyzers capable of up to m/Δm > 100,000 (FWHM at m/z 100) (Arevalo et al, 2018) are currently in development for spaceflight applications (Brockwell et al, 2016;Willhite et al, 2021).…”

Section: Ongoing Efforts In Molecular Agnostic Biosignatures Detectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As the community looks ahead to surface exploration at Europa, instrumental capabilities such as those discussed throughout this review will be critical to meet the mission's scientific goals (Hand et al, 2018). The Characterization of Ocean Residues And Life Signatures (CORALS) instrument, a candidate instrument for a Europa Lander mission, comprise of a solid-state UV laser source capable of active beam scanning and an ultrahigh resolution Orbitrap mass analyzer, to derive 2D chemical images of Europa samples (Arevalo et al, 2018;Willhite et al, 2021) (Figure 4). Such ultrahigh resolution MS instruments can be used to distinguish polymeric patterns, or chemical complexity, helping assess the potential biogenicity of samples indigenous to Europa's surface or subsurface (via plumes) (Quick et al, 2013;Jia et al, 2018).…”

Section: The Future In Planetary Mass Spectrometry and Life Detectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Planetary Mass Spectrometry for Agnostic Life Detection in the Solar System

Chou

Mahaffy

Trainer

et al. 2021

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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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.

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CORALS: A Laser Desorption/Ablation Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer for In Situ Exploration of Europa

Cited by 14 publications

References 28 publications

Laser desorption mass spectrometry with an Orbitrap analyser for in situ astrobiology

Laser desorption mass spectrometry with an Orbitrap analyser for in situ astrobiology

Venus Life Finder Habitability Mission: Motivation, Science Objectives, and Instrumentation

Planetary Mass Spectrometry for Agnostic Life Detection in the Solar System

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