Laboratory studies on complex organic molecules on Mars part 2 - Experimental set-up and related work

In 1976 the Viking missions arrived at Mars to search for traces of extinct and extant life. Although this mission brought a range of sophisticated instruments it neither detected any traces of life, nor any organic compounds in the Martian soil. Since it is still unclear why the Viking landers did not detect any organic molecules, laboratory experiments under simulated Martian conditions are crucial in support of future life-seeking Mars missions. This paper describes ongoing experiments investigating the stability of organic molecules in the Martian soil. We present a short rationale, the experimental set-up and approach and a description of the organic compounds that will be used during the experiments. The research programme described in this article is developed at the European Space Research and Technology Centre of ESA, ESTEC and at Leiden University, in the frame of a Mars Express Recognised Cooperating Laboratory RCL.