Mass Spectrometry in Solar System Exploration

A mass spectrometer system designed to measure chemical composition of gaseous, liquid, or solid samples in planetary environments must include the following components: a sampling system, an ionization source, a mass analyzer, a detection system, a vacuum system, data acquisition and processing system, and various sensors to monitor the operation of the instrument. Over the last couple of decades, research and engineering advances of mass spectrometers have undergone an evolution from room-sized instruments to portable, in situ miniature devices. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been embracing these developments, given its need for small, low power, low mass, yet analytically powerful instruments to accomplish its objectives in space exploration [1]. The study of planetary atmospheric composition, including constituent species, their concentrations, and isotopic ratios, provides a better understanding of both the formation and evolution of the planets and the solar system as a whole. Beyond the principals of planetary formation and evolution lies the question regarding the existence of extinct and/or extant life elsewhere in the universe. Discoveries by previous NASA missions of a period where Mars had an extended aqueous history [2-4], evidence of oceans beneath Europa's ice crust [5-7], and the rich organic chemistry on Titan [8,9] have initiated an exciting period of solar system exploration, as an array of robotic missions might be sent to these bodies to answer questions of astrobiological significance