Inside Curiosity, the Sample Analysis at Mars laboratory (SAM) heats powdered rock to release gases for analysis. Its wet-chemistry option adds solvent to a sample, allowing reactions to break apart larger molecules that would otherwise be difficult to detect. NASA reports that Mary Anning 3 was the first sample treated with its tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solvent. [S1]

To test how TMAH reacted with extraterrestrial material, the paper’s authors applied it on Earth to the ancient Murchison meteorite. The treatment broke larger molecules into some also detected in Mary Anning 3, including benzothiophene; the authors say this means the Martian molecules could have come from breakdown of more complex compounds. [S1]

NASA says it has had practice conducting this chemistry on Mars and is prepared to run similar experiments on future missions. The agency’s account identifies wet-chemistry instruments using TMAH for ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover and NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Titan, extending the method’s relevance beyond Curiosity. [S1]

Source documents

  1. NASA’s Curiosity Finds Organic Molecules Never Seen Before on Marshttps://www.nasa.gov/missions/mars-science-laboratory/curiosity-rover/nasas-curiosity-finds-organic-molecules-never-seen-before-on-mars/