(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-01-25)
Seaton, Kenneth Marshall
Our search for extraterrestrial life is enabled by both the development and maturation of chemical instruments capable of life detection and the characterization of extraterrestrial analogues on Earth representing the extreme conditions present on other planetary bodies. Yet, despite the extreme physical and chemical conditions present in these extraterrestrial analogues (salinity, acidity, pH, etc.), terrestrial life finds a way to adapt and even thrive. Here, I present an outline of my thesis, the goals of which are twofold. The first portion of my thesis focuses on the development of analytical methods to enable the quantitative compositional analysis of these extraterrestrial analogue environments using capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection, enabling a better understanding of the relative abundances of amino acids present in extreme environments hosting complex ecosystems. The second part of my thesis explores the development of a New Frontiers class mission concept for the Saturnian moon Enceladus to (1) directly search for life through a combination of in situ chemical compositional analysis and (2) contextualize these measurements through a combination of geophysical and geomorphological investigations to assess the habitability of Enceladus. Reviews of instrumentation for planetary chemical and astrobiological studies are presented, followed by the mission concept study undertaken.