In Situ Analytical Chemistry Laboratory for the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide In this paper, we report a fully automated, end-to-end (sample-in/data-out) capillary electrophoresis system. The system’s dimensions conform to the cylindrical shape and power/data requirements of the science payload compartment of the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS), a snake-like robot capable of autonomously navigating challenging terrain on Earth or other worlds. The capillary electrophoresis system is equipped with three contactless conductivity detectors: two dedicated to analyte detection and one for characterizing bulk sample flow. The system enables simultaneous detection of cations and anions, including K +, Na +, Ca 2+, Mg 2+, Cl –, and SO 4 2–, at submicromolar concentrations. For the first time, we deployed and demonstrated autonomous capillary electrophoresis operation on a glacier with the system tested in three environments: on-ice, partially submerged in an active stream, and fully submerged in a glacial pond.