Sample Analysis at Mars

The next landed missions to Mars, such as the planned Mars Science Laboratory and ExoMars, will require sample analysis capabilities refined well beyond what has been flown to date. A key science objective driving this requirement is the determination of the carbon inventory of Mars, and particularly the detection of organic compounds. While the gas chromatograph mass spectrometers (GC/MS) on the Viking landers did not detect any indigenous organics in near surface fines, it is possible that these measurements were not representative of Mars on the whole. That is, those compounds to which the GC/MS was sensitive would likely not have survived the strong oxidative decomposition in the regolith at the landing sites in question. The near surface fines could very well contain a significant quantity of refractory compounds that would not have been volatilized in the sample ovens on Viking. It is also possible that volatile organics exist on Mars in sedimentary, subsurface, or polar niches.