Possibility of production of amino acids by impact reaction using a light-gas gun as a simulation of asteroid impacts

Kazuki OKOCHI; Tetsu MIENO; Kazuhiko KONDO; Sunao HASEGAWA; Kosuke KUROSAWA

Presentation information

International Session (Oral)

Symbol B (Biogeosciences) » B-AO Astrobiology & the Origin of Life

[B-AO01_28AM2] Astrobiology: Origins, Evolution, Distribution of Life

Mon. Apr 28, 2014 11:00 AM - 12:41 PM 502 (5F)

Convener:*Kensei Kobayashi(Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Yokohama National University), Akihiko Yamagishi(Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science, Department of Molecular Biology), Masatoshi Ohishi(Astronomy Data Center, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan), Eiichi Tajika(Department of Complexity Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo), Takeshi Kakegawa(Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University), Shigeru Ida(Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology), Chair:Kensei Kobayashi(Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Yokohama National University), Eiichi Tajika(Department of Complexity Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo)

12:20 PM - 12:35 PM

[BAO01-P03_PG] Possibility of production of amino acids by impact reaction using a light-gas gun as a simulation of asteroid impacts

3-min talk in an oral session

*Kazuki OKOCHI¹, Tetsu MIENO², Kazuhiko KONDO¹, Sunao HASEGAWA³, Kosuke KUROSAWA⁴ (1.Dept.Physics, Shizuoka Univ., 2.Grad.School of Sci. and Technol, Shizuoka Univ., 3.ISAS/JAXA, 4.Planetary Exploration Research Center, Chiba Institute of Technology)

Keywords:impact reaction, gas gun, Titan, asteroid, amino acid, HPLC

We are interested in the production process of amino acids in space. Especially, asteroids coming to Titan satellite have made impact reaction on the surface including nitrogen gas, water ice and methane. On the Titan surface, various material, produced by the impact reactions, have been stored under low temperature and dark condition. To do the simulation experiment, a JAXA 2-stage light-gas gun has been used. A projectile with 6.5km/s of speed hits a water + iron target in 1 atm of nitrogen gas, causing an impact reaction. Figure 1 shows a crater on the target. Figure 2 shows produced black soot which deposited onto the aluminum sheet. The samples produced are carefully collected and analyzed by HPLC, FTIR, TOF-MS. As a result of HPLC, peaks suggesting the existence of glycine and alanine in the samples produced were confirmed.