Housing for All: Addressing the Housing Needs of Massachusetts\u27 North Shore Residents

The aim of this report is to support North Shore efforts to build a regional approach to housing. The report explores the housing needs of people who are caught in the squeeze between low incomes and high housing costs. The report has two goals: to provide information for understanding the need to expand below market rate housing; to illustrate that need by providing detailed documentation on the situation in Gloucester, Peabody, and Salem. The report is not intended to propose solutions, but to provide groundwork for solutions

Detection of Organics at Mars: How Wet Chemistry Onboard SAM Helps

For the first time in the history of space exploration, a mission of interest to astrobiology could be able to analyze refractory organic compounds in the soil of Mars. Wet chemistry experiment allow organic components to be altered in such a way that improves there detection either by releasing the compounds from sample matricies or by changing the chemical structure to be amenable to analytical conditions. The latter is particular important when polar compounds are present. Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM), on the Curiosity rover of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, has onboard two wet chemistry experiments: derivatization and thermochemolysis. Here we report on the nature of the MTBSTFA derivatization experiment on SAM, the detection of MTBSTFA in initial SAM results, and the implications of this detection

The Search for Nitrates on Mars by the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument

Planetary models suggest that nitrogen was abundant in the early Martian atmosphere as N2 but it was lost by sputtering and photochemical loss to space, impact erosion, and chemical oxidation to nitrates. A nitrogen cycle may exist on Mars where nitrates, produced early in Mars' history, may have been later decomposed back into N2 by the current impact flux. Nitrates are a fundamental source of nitrogen for terrestrial microorganisms, and they have evolved metabolic pathways to perform both oxidation and reduction to drive a complete biological nitrogen cycle. Therefore, the characterization of nitrogen in Martian soils is important to assess habitability of the Martian environment, particularly with respect to the presence of nitrates. The only previous mission that was designed to search for soil nitrates was the Phoenix mission but N-containing species were not detected by TEGA or the MECA WCL. Nitrates have been tentatively identified in Nakhla meteorites, and if nitrogen was oxidized on Mars, this has important implications for the habitability potential of Mars. Here we report the results from the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite aboard the Curiosity rover during the first year of surface operations in Gale Crater. Samples from the Rocknest aeolian deposit and sedimentary rocks (John Klein) were heated to approx 835degC under helium flow and the evolved gases were analyzed by MS and GC-MS. Two and possibly three peaks may be associated with the release of m/z 30 at temperatures ranging from 180degC to 500degC. M/z 30 has been tentatively identified as NO; other plausible contributions include CH2O and an isotopologue of CO, 12C18O. NO, CH2O, and CO may be reaction products of reagents (MTBSTFA/DMF) carried from Earth for the wet chemical derivatization experiments with SAM and/or derived from indigenous soil nitrogenated organics. Laboratory analyses indicate that it is also possible that <550degC evolved NO is produced via reaction of HCl with nitrates arising from the decomposition of perchlorates. All sources of m/z 30 whether it be martian or terrestrial will be considered and their implications for Mars will be discussed

Housing for All: Addressing the Housing Needs of Massachusetts\u27 North Shore Residents

The aim of this report is to support North Shore efforts to build a regional approach to housing. The report explores the housing needs of people who are caught in the squeeze between low incomes and high housing costs. The report has two goals: to provide information for understanding the need to expand below market rate housing; to illustrate that need by providing detailed documentation on the situation in Gloucester, Peabody, and Salem. The report is not intended to propose solutions, but to provide groundwork for solutions

Extremophile Metabolite Study to Detect Potential Biosignatures and Interpret Future Gas Chromatography-Mass spectrometry Ocean Worlds in situ analysis (e.g. Dragonfly mission with its DraMS instrument and EuropaLander with its EMILI instrument).

International audienceOne of the objectives of the various space exploration missions carrying GC-MS (Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry) instruments is the search for traces of life, in particular through the detection of biomolecules or bioindicators. This is for example the case of missions to Mars such as Mars Science laboratory and the SAM instrument but also the future ExoMars mission with the MOMA instrument. Up to date, we are looking for primary metabolites (such as fatty acids, amino acids or nucleobases) (Engel et al., 2001; Martins et al., 2008). Other organic molecules (produced by organisms) should also be considered for future space explorations of extant or present trace of life. More than 3.5 billion years ago, Mars had a similar weather and surface (in terms of geochemical composition, geodynamics, or resources necessary to define a planetary habitability (e.g. water, energy sources, complex organic molecules)) (Sterns et al., 2022; Raulin-Cerceau et al., 2004). Thus, the primordial soup necessary for the origin and evolution of life might be the same as on the Early-Earth. Therefore, if life exists or have existed on Mars, the primary cells produced on Mars might be similar to those found on Earth, and their (primary and secondary) metabolites might be identic. Based on this hypothesis, we have searched for biosignatures and bioindicators in extremophile cultures found in environmental Mars analogues, which may resist to the different stress measured on Mars (namely irradiation, salt matrices, low temperatures, water shortage, etc...): Chroococcidiopsis cubana and Halobacterium salinarum (Caiola et al., 2007; Ruginescu et al., 2019). To compare with a previous study conducted on these extremophiles with the TMAH thermochemolysis protocol, we conducted a parallel study with the two other wet chemistry protocols ahead the GC-MS analysis onboard the SAM , and the MOMA instruments, namely DMF-DMA and MTBSTFA derivatizations (Freissinet et al., 2010; Brault, 2016). The current study might help to understand which organic molecules are detectable with our space protocols and to construct a decisional tree for future in situ Mars results’ interpretations as it was a success analyzing ancient life fossils in Atacama desert (Crits-Cristopher et al., 2013; Santiago et al., 2018)

Extremophile Metabolite Study to Detect Potential Biosignatures and Interpret Future Gas Chromatography-Mass spectrometry Ocean Worlds in situ analysis (e.g. Dragonfly mission with its DraMS instrument and EuropaLander with its EMILI instrument).

International audienceOne of the objectives of the various space exploration missions carrying GC-MS (Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry) instruments is the search for traces of life, in particular through the detection of biomolecules or bioindicators. This is for example the case of missions to Mars such as Mars Science laboratory and the SAM instrument but also the future ExoMars mission with the MOMA instrument. Up to date, we are looking for primary metabolites (such as fatty acids, amino acids or nucleobases) (Engel et al., 2001; Martins et al., 2008). Other organic molecules (produced by organisms) should also be considered for future space explorations of extant or present trace of life. More than 3.5 billion years ago, Mars had a similar weather and surface (in terms of geochemical composition, geodynamics, or resources necessary to define a planetary habitability (e.g. water, energy sources, complex organic molecules)) (Sterns et al., 2022; Raulin-Cerceau et al., 2004). Thus, the primordial soup necessary for the origin and evolution of life might be the same as on the Early-Earth. Therefore, if life exists or have existed on Mars, the primary cells produced on Mars might be similar to those found on Earth, and their (primary and secondary) metabolites might be identic. Based on this hypothesis, we have searched for biosignatures and bioindicators in extremophile cultures found in environmental Mars analogues, which may resist to the different stress measured on Mars (namely irradiation, salt matrices, low temperatures, water shortage, etc...): Chroococcidiopsis cubana and Halobacterium salinarum (Caiola et al., 2007; Ruginescu et al., 2019). To compare with a previous study conducted on these extremophiles with the TMAH thermochemolysis protocol, we conducted a parallel study with the two other wet chemistry protocols ahead the GC-MS analysis onboard the SAM , and the MOMA instruments, namely DMF-DMA and MTBSTFA derivatizations (Freissinet et al., 2010; Brault, 2016). The current study might help to understand which organic molecules are detectable with our space protocols and to construct a decisional tree for future in situ Mars results’ interpretations as it was a success analyzing ancient life fossils in Atacama desert (Crits-Cristopher et al., 2013; Santiago et al., 2018)

Extremophile Metabolite Study to Detect Potential Biosignatures and Interpret Future Gas Chromatography-Mass spectrometry Ocean Worlds in situ analysis (e.g. Dragonfly mission with its DraMS instrument and EuropaLander with its EMILI instrument).

International audienceOne of the objectives of the various space exploration missions carrying GC-MS (Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry) instruments is the search for traces of life, in particular through the detection of biomolecules or bioindicators. This is for example the case of missions to Mars such as Mars Science laboratory and the SAM instrument but also the future ExoMars mission with the MOMA instrument. Up to date, we are looking for primary metabolites (such as fatty acids, amino acids or nucleobases) (Engel et al., 2001; Martins et al., 2008). Other organic molecules (produced by organisms) should also be considered for future space explorations of extant or present trace of life. More than 3.5 billion years ago, Mars had a similar weather and surface (in terms of geochemical composition, geodynamics, or resources necessary to define a planetary habitability (e.g. water, energy sources, complex organic molecules)) (Sterns et al., 2022; Raulin-Cerceau et al., 2004). Thus, the primordial soup necessary for the origin and evolution of life might be the same as on the Early-Earth. Therefore, if life exists or have existed on Mars, the primary cells produced on Mars might be similar to those found on Earth, and their (primary and secondary) metabolites might be identic. Based on this hypothesis, we have searched for biosignatures and bioindicators in extremophile cultures found in environmental Mars analogues, which may resist to the different stress measured on Mars (namely irradiation, salt matrices, low temperatures, water shortage, etc...): Chroococcidiopsis cubana and Halobacterium salinarum (Caiola et al., 2007; Ruginescu et al., 2019). To compare with a previous study conducted on these extremophiles with the TMAH thermochemolysis protocol, we conducted a parallel study with the two other wet chemistry protocols ahead the GC-MS analysis onboard the SAM , and the MOMA instruments, namely DMF-DMA and MTBSTFA derivatizations (Freissinet et al., 2010; Brault, 2016). The current study might help to understand which organic molecules are detectable with our space protocols and to construct a decisional tree for future in situ Mars results’ interpretations as it was a success analyzing ancient life fossils in Atacama desert (Crits-Cristopher et al., 2013; Santiago et al., 2018)

Analyses in situ des tholins à l'aide de la dérivatisation DMF-DMA pour l'instrument DraMS à bord de la future mission Dragonfly

International audienceTo prepare for the future mission Dragonfly [1,2], and the in situ analyses of Titan samples with the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS) instrument [3], laboratory sample preparation and analysis with Gas Chromatographic – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) has to be developed and optimized. For this astrobiologically focused mission, one of the objectives is the detection and quantification of heavy and complex organics relevant for prebiotic chemistry [2]. For instance, amino acids are one of the targets as they constitute proteins necessary for life [4]. One of the reagents that is carried within DraMS, called dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal (DMF-DMA), will help to volatilize refractory and polar organic molecules in order to be analyzed by GC-MS [5,6]. To prepare the derivatization experiment, we have investigated the analysis of Titan analogs [4,7,8] and the efficiency of the DMF-DMA reagent to derivatize low volatility organics under DraMS-like conditions. DMF-DMA will also be used to preserve the chiral conformation of derivatized organics [5] – separated on a chiral column – to enable the detection of an enantiomeric excess. Enantiomeric excess of amino acids, for example, represents a potential biosignature if found on the surface of Titan [9]