The disguised chromatograph, part III: Space surveyor



VENUS, Photo by NASA

Gas Chromatography is as a well stablished technique, with many in situ applications and robust instruments. That's way it's was chosen to complete the apparatus of many spacecraft probes sent to Venus, Mars and Titan. To test the atmosphere and soil.

One of the most important informations about planet that we need is the compostion of atmosphere. This data can explain geological history, and give evidences of life forms in present or past. To achive this, the chromatographs in 70's and 80's used adsorption column most based in Porapak polymer, and all of them packed. As noted in the table below, after the 90's the use of capillary Wall Coated Open Tubular, the actual standard for gas chromatography was more used. Not just a matter of resolution but the weight and economics was an a great inprovement, since to put 1 kg at orbit cost about US$11,000.



Space probes equiped with chromatographs

Mission	Launch	Column used	Detector
NASA/ VIKING	1976/1977 1978/1978	Two Porapak Q (7.6 m x 1 mm) One Tenax coated with polymetaphenoxylenex (2 m)	TCD MS
NASA Pioneer-Venus	1978/1978	Porapak N (15.85 m x 1.1 mm)	TCD
USSR Venera -VEGA/ Venus	1978/1985	Polysorb (2 m),molecular sieve (2.5 m), Porapak T, Porapak QS. All of them packed	Ne ionization
NASA/ESA  Cassini–Huygens Titan, largest satellite of Saturn	1997/2004	Carbon molecular sieve and  CNPP-DMPS, two WCOT (0.18mm) and one packed (0,75mm)	GC–MS/ Ion trap
ESA Rosetta COSAC/ Comet Wirtanen	2003/2011	In parallel: carbon molecular sieve, DVB-styrene,DMP, three chiral columns, all  of them with ID inferior to 0,25mm	Eight nano-TDCs and TOF-MS

Note: I found this photograph on flickr with the exactly position of Gas Chromatograph at the probe.

Source:

-Gas chromatography in space, Journal of Chromatography A, 843 (1999) 147–162.

-Development and Analytical Aspects of Gas Chromatography for Space Exploration, LCGC Europe - February 2001.
-NASA Website: http://www.nasa.gov/