Experimental Molecular Assembly Estimations for Space Exploration Using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry

Abstract Most biosignature methods are biased by what we know about life on Earth. However, an agnostic approach would be more beneficial when looking for life on other planets. Molecular Assembly (MA) is an experimental agnostic biosignature method that could help to look for unknown life. To date, there has been no experimental test employing MA with an instrument type that is spaceflight ready. To explore whether MA can be used for biosignature detection on flight-like instrumentation, we used gas chromatography-electron impact-mass spectrometry (GC-EI-MS) to estimate MA in a range of different samples. We have demonstrated how GC-EI-MS can be used for experimental EI-MA estimation, showing that we can replicate trends from previous MA experimental work with volatile organic compounds and distinguish samples from abiotic and biotic origin. This is the first extensive laboratory experimental study, demonstrating how EI-MA can be used for measurements on instruments that are spaceflight ready and already deployed in space, showcasing a direct route of how MA could be deployed for life detection measurements in the future. This work is a significant step toward making molecular assembly measurements in situ, advancing the search for unknown life in our solar system.