A New Method and Mass-Spectrometric Instrument for Extraterrestrial Microbial Life Detection Using the Elemental Composition Analyses of Martian Regolith and Permafrost/Ice

We propose a new technique for the detection of microorganisms by elemental composition analyses of a sample extracted from regolith, permafrost, and ice of extraterrestrial bodies. We also describe the design of the ABIMAS instrument, which consists of the onboard time-of-flight laser mass-reflectron (TOF LMR) and the sample preparation unit (SPU) for biomass extraction. This instrument was initially approved to fly on board the ExoMars 2020 lander mission. The instrument can be used to analyze the elemental composition of possible extraterrestrial microbial communities and compare it to that of terrestrial microorganisms. We have conducted numerous laboratory studies to confirm the possibility of biomass identification via the following biomarkers: P/S and Ca/K ratios, and C and N abundances. We underline that only the combination of these factors will allow one to discriminate microbial samples from geological ones. Our technique has been tested experimentally in numerous laboratory trials on cultures of microorganisms and polar permafrost samples as terrestrial analogues for martian polar soils. We discuss various methods of extracting microorganisms and sample preparation. The developed technique can be used to search for and identify microorganisms in different martian samples and in the subsurface of other planets, satellites, comets, and asteroids—in particular, Europa, Ganymede, and Enceladus

Proposal of the Dust Complex for the ExoMars-2018

International audienc

Co NO3 2 as an inverted umbrella type chiral noncoplanar ferrimagnet

The low dimensional magnetic systems tend to reveal exotic spin liquid ground states or form peculiar types of long range order. Among systems of vivid interest are those characterized by the triangular motif in two dimensions. The realization of either ordered or disordered ground state in triangular, honeycomb, or kagome lattices is dictated by the competition of exchange interactions, also being sensitive to anisotropy and the spin value of magnetic ions. While the low spin Heisenberg systems may arrive to a spin liquid long range entangled quantum state with emergent gauge structures, the high spin Ising systems may establish the rigid noncollinear structures. Here, we present the case of chiral noncoplanar inverted umbrella type ferrimagnet formed in cobalt nitrate Co NO3 2 below TC 3K with the comparable spin and orbital contributions to the total magnetic momen