Organic synthesis in experimental impact shocks

Science

Volumn 276, Issue 5311, 1997, Pages 390-392

  McKay, Christopher P ^a   Borucki, William J ^a  

^a NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ACETYLENE; CARBON DIOXIDE; HYDROGEN CYANIDE; METHANE; ORGANIC COMPOUND;

ASTRONOMY; ATMOSPHERE; CHEMICAL COMPOSITION; LIGHTNING; NEODYMIUM LASER; ORGANIC CHEMISTRY; PRIORITY JOURNAL; REVIEW; SHOCK WAVE; SYNTHESIS; TEMPERATURE; THERMODYNAMICS;

NASA CENTER ARC; NASA DISCIPLINE EXOBIOLOGY; NASA DISCIPLINE NUMBER 52-80; NASA PROGRAM EXOBIOLOGY;

ACETYLENE; AMINES; AMINO ACIDS; CARBON DIOXIDE; EVOLUTION, CHEMICAL; GASES; HEAT; HYDROGEN CYANIDE; LASERS; METEOROIDS; METHANE; THERMODYNAMICS;

IMPACT EXPERIMENT; ORGANIC SYNTHESIS; ORIGIN OF LIFE; SHOCK;

EID: 0030620488     PISSN: 00368075     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1126/science.276.5311.390     Document Type: Review

References (33)

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11. 2. The gases other than water were obtained as premixed research-grade gases. This gas was added to the correct amount of distilled water in a 250-ml glass flask to achieve the final mixture. The sample flasks and the controls were placed within an oven held at 80°C, such that all the water was in vapor form.
12. Typically, the beam contained ∼0.2 J in a pulse of ∼15 ns, repeated 10 times a second (6). A plasma formed when the laser beam was brought to a focus, as first reported by P. D. Maker, R. W. Terhune, C. M. Savage [in Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Quantum Electronics, Paris, 11 to 15 February 1963 (Columbia Univ. Press, New York, 1964), vol. 2, pp. 1559-1576]. See also Yu. P. Raizer, Sov. Phys. Usp. 8, 650 (1966); L. R. Radziemski, T. R. Loree, D. A. Cremers, N. M. Hoffman, Anal. Chem. 55, 1246 (1983); D. D. Davis, G. R. Smith, W. A. Guillory, Origins Life 10, 237 (1980). The spectral properties and optical emission of the laser-induced plasma have been characterized (6, 13, 23, 24). For gas-phase analysis, we used a 4-min exposure. The total energy deposited is sufficient to heat only about 15% of the gas to a freeze-out temperature of 2500 K. However, some experiments were conducted in which the exposure time was increased to 20 min to allow for maximal processing of the mixture and the production of a solid residue. The laser output was directly measured with a bolometric power meter. None of the gaseous species in the experiment caused significant absorption at the 1.06-μm laser line over the short pathlengths (1 cm) used. The efficiency with which this power was converted to plasma energy was determined by direct measurement of the total power deposited in the test chamber as described (24).
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14. Typically, the beam contained ∼0.2 J in a pulse of ∼15 ns, repeated 10 times a second (6). A plasma formed when the laser beam was brought to a focus, as first reported by P. D. Maker, R. W. Terhune, C. M. Savage [in Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Quantum Electronics, Paris, 11 to 15 February 1963 (Columbia Univ. Press, New York, 1964), vol. 2, pp. 1559-1576]. See also Yu. P. Raizer, Sov. Phys. Usp. 8, 650 (1966); L. R. Radziemski, T. R. Loree, D. A. Cremers, N. M. Hoffman, Anal. Chem. 55, 1246 (1983); D. D. Davis, G. R. Smith, W. A. Guillory, Origins Life 10, 237 (1980). The spectral properties and optical emission of the laser-induced plasma have been characterized (6, 13, 23, 24). For gas-phase analysis, we used a 4-min exposure. The total energy deposited is sufficient to heat only about 15% of the gas to a freeze-out temperature of 2500 K. However, some experiments were conducted in which the exposure time was increased to 20 min to allow for maximal processing of the mixture and the production of a solid residue. The laser output was directly measured with a bolometric power meter. None of the gaseous species in the experiment caused significant absorption at the 1.06-μm laser line over the short pathlengths (1 cm) used. The efficiency with which this power was converted to plasma energy was determined by direct measurement of the total power deposited in the test chamber as described (24).
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22. 6, and 0.1 to 1% HCN. Our results correspond to similar yields for the UV production, ≃1 to 10% of the total shock production is due to UV.
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27. -1.
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32. 2 has been removed to account for oxides in the rock fraction of the cometary material, as in D. Simonelli, J. B. Pollack, C. P. McKay, R. T. Reynolds, and A. L. Summers [Icarus 62, 1 (1989)].
33. This research was supported by subventions from the NASA Exobiology Program. We thank M. Carter of Carter Analytical Laboratories for performing the GC-MS analysis and for helpful discussions. GC analysis was performed by D. Kojiro, F. Church, and R. Quinn.