Detection of Nitric Oxide by the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Implications for the Presence of Nitrates
Year: 2014
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: One of the main goals of the Mars Science Laboratory is to determine whether the planet ever had environmental conditions able to support microbial life. Nitrogen is a fundamental element for life, and is present in structural (e.g., proteins), catalytic (e.g., enzymes and ribozymes), energy transfer (e.g., ATP) and information storage (RNA and DNA) biomolecules. Planetary models suggest that molecular nitrogen was abundant in the early Martian atmosphere, but was rapidly lost to space by photochemistry, sputtering impact erosion, and oxidized and deposited to the surface as nitrate. Nitrates are a fundamental source for nitrogen to terrestrial microorganisms. Therefore, the detection of nitrates in soils and rocks is important to assess the habitability of a Martian environment. SAM is capable of detecting nitrates by their thermal decomposition into nitric oxide, NO. Here we analyze the release of NO from soils and rocks examined by the SAM instrument at Gale crater, and discuss its origin.
Source: HAL
Authors: Navarro-González, R., Stern, J., Freissinet, Caroline, Franz, H., B., Eigenbrode, Jennifer, Mckay, C., P., Coll, Patrice, Sutter, B., Archer, D., Mcadam, Amy, Cabane, Michel, Ming, D., Glavin, D., Leshin, L., Wong, M., Atreya, S., Wray, J., J., Steele, A., Buch, A., Prats, B.D., Szopa, Cyril, Coscia, David, Teinturier, Samuel, Conrad, P., Owen, T., C., Mahaffy, Paul, Grotzinger, J., P.
Institutions: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Goddard Space Flight Center, Ames Research Center, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques, Jacobs (United States), Laboratoire atmosphères, milieux, observations spatiales, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Johnson Space Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Michigan, Georgia Institute of Technology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Geophysical Laboratory, CentraleSupélec, Laboratoire de Génie des Procédés et Matériaux, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, University of Hawaii System, California Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Space and Planetary Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1490807897