Space Studies Board Annual Report 2007 (2008) / Chapter Skim
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5.7 Exploring Organic Environments in the Solar System
5.7 Exploring Organic Environments in the Solar System
Pages 79-85
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From page 79... ...
The chemical reactions involving carbon can be driven by many different sources of energy and can occur in diverse environments, many of which are inimical to life as we understand it. Many carbon compounds are extremely hardy, and their preservation in the geological record can tell researchers much about processes and environmental conditions in the distant past.
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From page 80... ...
The answers to the first two questions -- sources of reactants and energy that lead to abiotic synthesis and the distribution of organic compounds in the solar system -- depend strongly on what part of the solar system is being considered. This report therefore deals separately with the various solar system environments -- which range from the surfaces of cold, dark asteroids in remote, eccentric orbits to the hot, turbulent atmospheres of the giant gas planets.
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From page 81... ...
New analyses of carbonaceous chondrites would benefit from modern analytical methods (e.g., compound-specific isotopic analysis) that allow the separation of signals from terrestrial contamination and indigenous extraterrestrial organic matter, thus overcoming a problem that severely hindered analyses throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
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From page 82... ...
Carefully designed laboratory experiments will allow an assessment of this problem and will point to the most effective strategies for direct analysis of organic materials by future Mars landers such as the Mars Science Laboratory. Regolith simulations may help address issues related to, for example, optimal minimum drilling depths for future Mars lander missions.
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From page 83... ...
Thus, it may be possible to obtain additional information about the associated organic matter present in these mineral assemblages in a single measurement of the organic and inorganic material present. Recommendation: Currently planned missions to Mars should seek to identify silicified martian terrains associated with ancient low-temperature hot springs in concert with a high probability of ground ice deposits to locate organic materials formed on Mars.
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From page 84... ...
The Europa Geophysical Explorer, a somewhat more elaborate version of the Europa Orbiter, was the highest-priority large mission recommended by the 2003 solar system exploration decadal survey.6 NASA responded to the survey's recommendation by initiating the development of the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) mission, the first of a line of advanced-technology spacecraft with significantly expanded science capabilities compared to previous concepts for missions to Europa.
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From page 85... ...
JIMO was indefinitely deferred in 2005, and NASA and the planetary science community are currently assessing plans for a more conventional and very much less expensive alternative.7 Recommendation: The task group reiterates the solar system exploration decadal survey's findings and conclusions with respect to the exploration of Europa and recommends that NASA and the space science community develop a strategy for the development of a capable Europa orbiter mission and that such a mission be launched as soon as it is financially and programmatically feasible. Any future Europa lander mission should be equipped with a mass spectrometer capable of identifying simple organic materials in a background of water and hydrated silicates.
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