NASA's got a mission-ready instrument that re-defines the search for life...

[NNadir]

1. Not too bad for Daily Kos.

Last edited Thu Jan 26, 2023, 09:18 AM - Edit history (1)

Generally discussions of science there have a journalistic quality, i.e. badly mangled.

I've been involved for much of my career with mass spec, and we have an Orbitrap in our lab, and while I would certainly quibble with the emphasis on fatty acids and the claims of chain length, the instrument can certainly do more than described.

One can, within certain limits, measure chirality using a mass spec having an ion mobility instrument in the line.

I do not know the details of the NASA instrument, and there are certainly weight constraints an energy constraints, but I would consider this approach were I asked to speculate.