In situ cleaning of instruments for the sensitive detection of organics on Mars

Organic cleanliness of the Mars Science Laboratory sample transfer chain

One of the primary science goals of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover, Curiosity, is the detection of organics in Mars rock and regolith. To achieve this, the Curiosity rover includes a robotic sampling system that acquires rock and regolith samples and delivers it to the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on board the rover. In order to provide confidence that any significant organics detection result was Martian and not terrestrial in origin, a requirement was levied on the flight system (i.e., all sources minus the SAM instrument) to impart no more than 36 parts per billion (ppb by weight) of total reduced carbon terrestrial contamination to any sample transferred to the SAM instrument. This very clean level was achieved by a combination of a rigorous contamination control program on the project, and then using the first collected samples for a "dilution cleaning" campaign of the sample chain prior to delivering a sample to the SAM instrument. Direct cleanliness assays of the sample-contacting and other Flight System surfaces during pre-launch processing were used as inputs to determine the number of dilution cleaning samples needed once on Mars, to enable delivery of suitably clean samples to the SAM experiment. Taking into account contaminant redistribution during launch thorough landing of the MSL on Mars, the amount of residue present on the sampling hardware prior to the time of first dilution cleaning sample acquisition was estimated to be 60 ng/cm(2) on exposed outer surfaces of the sampling hardware and 20 ng/cm(2) on internal sample contacting surfaces; residues consisting mainly of aliphatic hydrocarbons and esters. After three dilution cleaning samples, estimated in-sample contamination level for the first regolith sample delivered to the SAM instrument at the Gale Crater "Rocknest" site was bounded at ≤10 ppb total organic carbon. A Project decision to forego ejecting the dilution cleaning sample and instead transfer the first drill-acquired sample at the "John Klein" site to SAM resulted in an estimated level of terrestrial contamination of ≤430 ppb. The estimated terrestrial contamination for portions from the second drill-acquired sample, at Cumberland, was ≤69 ppb; the estimate for a future, third, drilled sample is ≤38 ppb. These levels are comparable in magnitude to the SAM instrument blanks at the nanomole level (as chlorohydrocarbon).

Volatile and organic compositions of sedimentary rocks in Yellowknife Bay, Gale crater, Mars

H2O, CO2, SO2, O2, H2, H2S, HCl, chlorinated hydrocarbons, NO, and other trace gases were evolved during pyrolysis of two mudstone samples acquired by the Curiosity rover at Yellowknife Bay within Gale crater, Mars. H2O/OH-bearing phases included 2:1 phyllosilicate(s), bassanite, akaganeite, and amorphous materials. Thermal decomposition of carbonates and combustion of organic materials are candidate sources for the CO2. Concurrent evolution of O2 and chlorinated hydrocarbons suggests the presence of oxychlorine phase(s). Sulfides are likely sources for sulfur-bearing species. Higher abundances of chlorinated hydrocarbons in the mudstone compared with Rocknest windblown materials previously analyzed by Curiosity suggest that indigenous martian or meteoritic organic carbon sources may be preserved in the mudstone; however, the carbon source for the chlorinated hydrocarbons is not definitively of martian origin.

Curiosity at Gale crater, Mars: characterization and analysis of the Rocknest sand shadow

The Rocknest aeolian deposit is similar to aeolian features analyzed by the Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) Spirit and Opportunity. The fraction of sand <150 micrometers in size contains ~55% crystalline material consistent with a basaltic heritage and ~45% x-ray amorphous material. The amorphous component of Rocknest is iron-rich and silicon-poor and is the host of the volatiles (water, oxygen, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and chlorine) detected by the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument and of the fine-grained nanophase oxide component first described from basaltic soils analyzed by MERs. The similarity between soils and aeolian materials analyzed at Gusev Crater, Meridiani Planum, and Gale Crater implies locally sourced, globally similar basaltic materials or globally and regionally sourced basaltic components deposited locally at all three locations.