Leiden University Scholarly Publications

Kate, Inge Loes ten (2006)

Organics on Mars : Laboratory studies of organic material under simulated martian conditions

Doctoral Thesis

The search for organic molecules and traces of life on Mars has been a major topic in planetary science for several decades, and is the future perspective of several missions to Mars. In order to determine where and what those missions should be looking for, laboratory experiments under simulated Mars conditions have been performed. This thesis describes the effects of simulated martian surface conditions on organic material (amino acids) and living organisms (halophilic archaea). Experiments have been performed to study the stability of thin films of glycine and alanine against UV irradiation under different conditions. Thin films of glycine and alanine have a half-life of 22 ± 5 hours and 3 ± 1 hours, respectively, when extrapolated to Mars-like UV flux levels in vacuum. The presence of a 7 mbar CO2 atmosphere does not affect these destruction rates. Cooling the thin films to 210 K (average Mars temperature) lowers the destruction rate by a factor of 7. The intrinsic amino acid...Show moreThe search for organic molecules and traces of life on Mars has been a major topic in planetary science for several decades, and is the future perspective of several missions to Mars. In order to determine where and what those missions should be looking for, laboratory experiments under simulated Mars conditions have been performed. This thesis describes the effects of simulated martian surface conditions on organic material (amino acids) and living organisms (halophilic archaea). Experiments have been performed to study the stability of thin films of glycine and alanine against UV irradiation under different conditions. Thin films of glycine and alanine have a half-life of 22 ± 5 hours and 3 ± 1 hours, respectively, when extrapolated to Mars-like UV flux levels in vacuum. The presence of a 7 mbar CO2 atmosphere does not affect these destruction rates. Cooling the thin films to 210 K (average Mars temperature) lowers the destruction rate by a factor of 7. The intrinsic amino acid composition of two martian soil analogues, JSC Mars-1 and Salten Skov, has been investigated. The results demonstrated that these analogues are inappropriate for a life-science study in their raw state. Besides amino acids, the response of the halophilic archaea Natronorubrum sp. strain HG-1 to Mars-like conditions, such as low pressure, UV radiation and low temperatures, has been studied. From the results we concluded that this strain would not be a good model organism to survive on the surface of Mars.Show less

Mars

Astrobiology

Laboratory simulations

Amino acids

Halophiles

Photochemistry

Martian Soil Analogues

All authors

Kate, Inge Loes ten

Supervisor

Ehrenfreund, P.; Loosdrecht, M.C.M. van

Qualification

Doctor (dr.)

Awarding Institution

Leiden Institute of Chemistry and Leiden Observatory, Faculty of Science, Leiden University

Date

2006-01-26

ISBN (print)

9085591325