The search for organic molecules on Mars with NASA´s Perseverance and ESA´s Rosalind Franklin rovers.

Organic molecules are one of the main building blocks of life as we know it.

The ability to detect and characterize organic molecules is therefore key for determining whether life ever existed on Mars.

New measurements in situ on Mars with the Sample Analysis on Mars (SAM) instrument on the NASA Curiosity rover and on Martian meteorites indicate the presence of indigenous organic molecules on Mars.

However, further analyses are needed to verify these tantalizing results and find the origin of the detected organic molecules.

Two new missions to Mars provide opportunities for improved understanding of the carbon chemistry of Mars: the NASA 2020 Perseverance rover and the ESA ExoMars 2022 (Rosalind Franklin) rover.The NASA Perseverance rover landed February 2021 in Jezero Crater. Jezero Crater has been identified as lacustrine (lake)/deltatic setting and a potentially past habitable environment.

The crater and the surrounding region contain numerous sites and lithologies, such as clays and carbonates, that could have accumulated and preserved organic molecules including biosignatures.

One of the main goals of Perseverance, in addition to search for signs of past life, is to collect samples for future Mars sample return.

I have been selected, as an expert in production and preservation of organic matter in the solar system and in the analysis of organic molecules in samples related to Mars, to participate in the Mars 2020 mission as returned sample scientist participating scientist (RSSPS).

As an RSSPS and as a member of the Mars 2020 team I help select the best targets and samples, particularly ones that could contain organic material, to be analyzed and collected by the Perseverance rover.The ESA Rosalind Franklin rover, due to be launched in 2022, will search for signs of present and past life on Mars.

The landing site, Oxia Planum, which might have been habitable in the past, contain ancient (⁓4 Ga) wide-spread clay deposits optimal for preservation of organic molecules including biosignatures.

The rover has the capability to drill up to 2 m cores, which allows for the analysis of subsurface samples, including organic molecules, unaltered by surface destructive processes such as radiation and oxidants. The main instrument for organic analysis on the ExoMars rover is the Mars Organic Molecule Analyser (MOMA).

MOMA has two main modes of operation: a) pyrolysis-gas chromatography mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) and b) laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS). These different modes will enable MOMA to analyze range of different polar and nonpolar compounds up to 1000 u.

After the delivery of the flight model for integration into the ExoMars rover the focus of the MOMA team is to prepare for scientific activities on Mars.I am Co-I on MOMA and part of the ExoMars rover science operation working group (RSOWG).

Activities in the proposed project will include participating in the science activities of the MOMA instrument and the ExoMars rover before and during the flight phase and contributing to the MOMA and ExoMars rover characterization campaign.

The characterization campaign will focus on meteorites and Oxia Planum analogues and the samples will be analyzed with both prototypes of the MOMA instrument and commercial instruments.

This characterization data will be compared to data collected on Mars by MOMA, the ExoMars 2022 rover and Mars 2020 rover, and is critical for the success of these missions.With my research focus, expertise in analysis of relevant samples, and mission experience, I am well prepared to participate in the science activities of the Mars 2020 and ExoMars 2022.

By participating in both missions, I will be able to combine the data/science from them and contribute to a better understanding of the carbon chemistry of Mars including the origin of any detected molecules, the past and present carbon cycle on Mars and the potential for life on Mars.