Bulletin de la Société Royale des Sciences de Liège Bulletin de la Société Royale des Sciences de Liège -  Volume 84 - Année 2015  Actes de colloques  Workshop d'astrochimie expérimentale 

Photochemical studies in low Earth orbit for organic compounds related to small bodies, Titan and Mars.
Current and future facilities.

Hervé Cottin
LISA, University Paris Est-Créteil & Paris Diderot, UMR 7583 CNRS, Créteil, France
Kafika Saiagh
LISA, University Paris Est-Créteil & Paris Diderot, UMR 7583 CNRS, Créteil, France
Dara Nguyen
LISA, University Paris Est-Créteil & Paris Diderot, UMR 7583 CNRS, Créteil, France
Noël Grand
LISA, University Paris Est-Créteil & Paris Diderot, UMR 7583 CNRS, Créteil, France
Yves Bénilan
LISA, University Paris Est-Créteil & Paris Diderot, UMR 7583 CNRS, Créteil, France
Mégane Cloix
LISA, University Paris Est-Créteil & Paris Diderot, UMR 7583 CNRS, Créteil, France
Patrice Coll
LISA, University Paris Est-Créteil & Paris Diderot, UMR 7583 CNRS, Créteil, France et Institut Universitaire de France, 103 blvd St-Michel, 75005 Paris, France
Marie-Claire Gazeau
LISA, University Paris Est-Créteil & Paris Diderot, UMR 7583 CNRS, Créteil, France
Nicolas Fray
LISA, University Paris Est-Créteil & Paris Diderot, UMR 7583 CNRS, Créteil, France
Diana Khalaf
LISA, University Paris Est-Créteil & Paris Diderot, UMR 7583 CNRS, Créteil, France
François Raulin
LISA, University Paris Est-Créteil & Paris Diderot, UMR 7583 CNRS, Créteil, France
Fabien Stalport
LISA, University Paris Est-Créteil & Paris Diderot, UMR 7583 CNRS, Créteil, France
Nathalie Carrasco
Institut Universitaire de France, 103 blvd St-Michel, 75005 Paris, France et LATMOS, Université Versailles St-Quentin, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, CNRS, 11 Blvd. D’Alembert, 78280 Guyancourt, France
Cyril Szopa
LATMOS, Université Versailles St-Quentin, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, CNRS, 11 Blvd. D’Alembert, 78280 Guyancourt, France
Didier Chaput
CNES, Centre spatial de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
Marylène Bertrand
CBM, CNRS, UPR 4301, Orléans, France
Frances Westall
CBM, CNRS, UPR 4301, Orléans, France
Andrew Mattioda
NASA AMES Research Center, Moffet Field, CA, USA
Richard Quinn
NASA AMES Research Center, Moffet Field, CA, USA
Antonio Ricco
NASA AMES Research Center, Moffet Field, CA, USA
Orlando Santos
NASA AMES Research Center, Moffet Field, CA, USA
Giuseppe Antonio Baratta
INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Italy
Giovanni Strazzulla
INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Italy
Maria Elisabetta Palumbo
INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Italy
Aurélie Le Postollec
Université de Bordeaux, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux, UMR 5804, F-33270 Floirac, France et CNRS, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux, UMR 5804, F-33270 Floirac, France
Michel Dobrijevic
Université de Bordeaux, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux, UMR 5804, F-33270 Floirac, France et CNRS, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux, UMR 5804, F-33270 Floirac, France
Gaëlle Coussot
IBMM, Universités de Montpellier 1 & 2, Université de Montpellier 2, UMR 5247 CNRS, Montpellier, France
Flavie Vigier
IBMM, Universités de Montpellier 1 & 2, Université de Montpellier 2, UMR 5247 CNRS, Montpellier, France
Odile Vandenabeele-Trambouze
IBMM, Universités de Montpellier 1 & 2, Université de Montpellier 2, UMR 5247 CNRS, Montpellier, France
Sébastien Incerti
CENBG, UMR 5797 CNRS, Gradignan, France
Thomas Berger
German Aerospace Center, Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Cologne, Germany

Abstract

The study of the evolution of organic matter subjected to space conditions, and more specifically to solar photons in the vacuum ultraviolet range (120-200 nm) has been undertaken in low Earth Orbit since the 90's, and implemented on various space platforms. The most recent exposure facilities are BIOPAN outside the Russian automatic capsules FOTON, and EXPOSE-E & -R (1&2) outside the International Space Station. They allow the photolysis of many different samples simultaneously, and provide us with valuable data about the formation and evolution of organic matter in the Solar System (meteorites, comets, Titan's atmosphere, the Martian surface...) and in the Interstellar Medium. They have been used by European teams in the recent past(ORGANIC on BIOPAN V-FOTON M2 and UVolution on BIOPAN VI-FOTON M3, PROCESS on EXPOSE-E, AMINO and ORGANICS on EXPOSE-R), and a new EXPOSE set is currently exposed outside the ISS (PSS on EXPOSE-R2). These existing tools are very valuable; however, they have significant limitations that limit their capabilities and scientific return. One of the most critical issues for current studies is the lack of any in-situ analysis of the evolution of the samples as a function of time. Only two measurements are available for the experiment: one before and one after the exposure. A significant step forward has been achieved with the O/OREOS NASA nanosatellite and the OREOcube ESA project with onboard UV-visible measurements. However, for organic samples, following the evolution of the samples would be more informative and provide greater insight with infrared measurements, which display specific patterns characteristic of major organic functionalities in the mid-infrared range (4000-1000 cm-1).

Keywords : comet, interstellar medium, Mars, meteorite, photochemistry, Titan

To cite this article

Hervé Cottin, Kafika Saiagh, Dara Nguyen, Noël Grand, Yves Bénilan, Mégane Cloix, Patrice Coll, Marie-Claire Gazeau, Nicolas Fray, Diana Khalaf, François Raulin, Fabien Stalport, Nathalie Carrasco, Cyril Szopa, Didier Chaput, Marylène Bertrand, Frances Westall, Andrew Mattioda, Richard Quinn, Antonio Ricco, Orlando Santos, Giuseppe Antonio Baratta, Giovanni Strazzulla, Maria Elisabetta Palumbo, Aurélie Le Postollec, Michel Dobrijevic, Gaëlle Coussot, Flavie Vigier, Odile Vandenabeele-Trambouze, Sébastien Incerti & Thomas Berger, «Photochemical studies in low Earth orbit for organic compounds related to small bodies, Titan and Mars.», Bulletin de la Société Royale des Sciences de Liège [En ligne], Volume 84 - Année 2015, Actes de colloques, Workshop d'astrochimie expérimentale, 60 - 73 URL : https://popups.ulg.ac.be/0037-9565/index.php?id=4689.