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Peter A. Willis

Publications and source records attributed to Peter A. Willis.

5 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2022

Europan Molecular Indicators of Life Investigation (EMILI) for a Future Europa Lander Mission

The Europan Molecular Indicators of Life Investigation (EMILI) is an instrument concept being developed for the Europa Lander mission currently under study. EMILI will meet and exceed the scientific and technical/resource requirements of the organic composition analyzer identified as a core instrument on the Lander. EMILI tightly couples two complementary analytical techniques, based on 1) liquid extraction and processing with capillary electrophoresis and 2) thermal and chemical extraction with gas chromatography, to robustly detect, structurally characterize, and quantify the broadest range of organics and other Europan chemicals over widely-varying concentrations. Dual processing and analysis paths enable EMILI to perform a thorough characterization of potential molecular biosignatures and contextual compounds in collected surface samples. Here we present a summary of the requirements, design, and development status of EMILI with projected scientific opportunities on the Europa Lander as well as on other potential life detection missions seeking potential molecular biosignatures in situ.

Europa↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Simulated Drilling Mission to Search for Bio-molecular Signatures of Life on Mars Performed in the Atacama Desert (Chile): Demonstrating Drilling, Sample Handling, and Life-Detection Instruments Remotely Operated with Mission-like Protocols

The search for evidence of life on Mars requires accessing materials that are protected from the oxidizing and irradiated conditions at the surface. Mars rovers Curiosity and Perseverance have performed shallow (few cm) drilling to access relevant samples. The upcoming ExoMars mission will acquire samples from up to 2 meters depth. Field experiments in Mars analog sites help prepare for this and other future deep drilling missions. In Sept. 2019 the ARADS (Atacama Rover Astrobiology Drilling Studies project (Glass et al. 2022) conducted a rover-based drilling mission to search for bio-molecular evidence of life in a Mars analog site in Atacama Chile.

Carol R. Stoker↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Simulated Drilling Mission to Search for Biomolecular Signatures of Life on Mars Performed in the Atacama Desert (Chile): Demonstrating Drilling, Sample Handling, and Life-Detection Instruments Remotely Operated with Mission-like Protocols

The search for evidence of life on Mars requires accessing materials that are protected from the oxidizing and irradiated conditions at the surface. Mars rovers Curiosity and Perseverance have performed shallow (few cm) drilling to access relevant samples. The upcoming ExoMars mission will acquire samples from up to 2 meters depth. Field experiments in Mars analog sites help prepare for this and other future deep drilling missions. In Sept. 2019 the ARADS (Atacama Rover Astrobiology Drilling Studies project (Glass et al. 2022) conducted a roverbased drilling mission to search for biomolecular evidence of life in a Mars analog site in Atacama, Chile.

Carol R. Stoker↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Extraterrestrial Molecular Indicators of Life Investigation (EMILI)

Future missions to Enceladus, Europa, Mars, and beyond may seek the molecular signs of extraterrestrial life through chemical analysis of acquired samples. Particularly on ocean worlds such as Enceladus and Europa, samples may contain trace ocean-borne molecular biosignatures of extant life that may or may not share similarities to those of terrestrial life. In situ analyses must be prepared to detect and characterize a wide range of possible molecular species, structures, and patterns, typically with exquisite sensitivity and within a complex, poorly-characterized planetary environment. The Extraterrestrial Molecular Indicators of Life Investigation (EMILI) is designed to meet or exceed the requirements of such missions for organic molecular analysis through a powerful combination of dual chemical separation and both optical and mass spectrometry detection techniques, realized in an integrated, compact instrument package fully compatible with anticipated flight resources and conditions. The full EMILI instrument combines two sample analysis subsystems to provide wide-ranging and complementary detection of organic compounds and inorganic salts. The Gas Analysis Processing System (GAPS) uses a chemical derivatization protocol with gas chromatography (GC) separation prior to detection in an ion trap mass spectrometer (ITMS) to enable full characterization of lower-polarity, volatile and semi-volatile molecules such as fatty acids and hydrocarbons. The Organic Capillary Electrophoresis ANalysis System (OCEANS) uses a liquid-based extraction protocol with CE separation to enable precise analysis of more water-soluble/polar compounds. OCEANS features a laser-induced fluorescence detection mode to perform ultra-sensitive quantitative analysis of chiral amino acids. In EMILI, OCEANS is additionally coupled to the same ITMS through a novel electrospray ionization interface. The common ITMS allows EMILI to identify and cross-correlate molecular species and patterns, detected through either or both protocols, of molecular weights to over 1000 u, potentially even revealing complex biosignatures such as alien oligopeptides and informational polymers.

Europa↗