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The Origin of Amino Acids in Lunar Regolith SamplesWe analyzed the amino acid content of seven lunar regolith samples returned by the Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 missions and stored under NASA curation since collection using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Consistent with results from initial analyses shortly after collection in the 1970s, we observed amino acids at low concentrations in all of the curated samples, ranging from 0.2 parts-per-billion (ppb) to 42.7 ppb in hot-water extracts and 14.5 ppb to 651.1 ppb in 6M HCl acid-vapor-hydrolyzed, hot-water extracts. Amino acids identified in the Apollo soil extracts include glycine, D- and L-alanine, D- and L-aspartic acid, D- and L-glutamic acid, D- and L-serine, L-threonine, and L-valine, all of which had previously been detected in lunar samples, as well as several compounds not previously identified in lunar regoliths: -aminoisobutyric acid (AIB), D-and L-amino-n-butyric acid (-ABA), DL-amino-n-butyric acid, -amino-n-butyric acid, -alanine, and -amino-n-caproic acid. We observed an excess of the L enantiomer in most of the detected proteinogenic amino acids, but racemic alanine and racemic -ABA were present in some samples.
Document ID
20160000364
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Cook, Jamie E.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Callahan, Michael P.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Dworkin, Jason P.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Glavin, Daniel P.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
McLain, Hannah L.
(Catholic Univ. of America Washington, DC, United States)
Noble, Sarah K.
(NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Gibson, Everett K., Jr.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
January 6, 2016
Publication Date
January 1, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Publisher: elsevier
Volume: 172
Subject Category
Space Sciences (General)
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN27884
Report Number: GSFC-E-DAA-TN27884
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX10AK71A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
lunar regolith
proteinogenic amino acids
liquid chromatography

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