Description:

The emergence of life on Earth (and elsewhere) relied heavily on the inventory of available organics and the environs in which they were found. This research opportunity focuses on the relationships between organic materials and their mineralogical hosts; bridging the gap between observed organics and the processes that affected them. The relationship between organic molecules and mineral hosts informs the formation and evolution of amino acids and peptides on asteroidal, cometary, and planetary bodies, as well as the emergence of homochirality on Earth. 

Coordinated analyses are performed on extraterrestrial samples, terrestrial analogs, and experimental products using the wide array of instrumentation available in the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science division at JSC, including liquid and gas chromatography mass spectrometers, scanning electron microscopes, and transmission electron microscopes. General chemistry, experimental impact, and petrology laboratories are used to simulate processes affecting organic molecules.

By exploring the relationship between organic components of astromaterials and their mineralogical hosts and environments, we can place more robust constraints on the histories of our samples. 

Field of Science: Planetary Science
Advisors:

Eve Berger
eve.l.berger@nasa.gov
(281) 244-6723