Possibility of Production of Amino Acids by Impact Reaction Using a Light-Gas Gun as a Simulation of Asteroid Impacts

In order to investigate impact production of carbonaceous products by asteroids on Titan and other satellites and planets, simulation experiments were carried out using a 2-stage light gas gun. A small polycarbonate or metal bullet with about 6.5 km/s was injected into a pressurized target chamber filled with 1 atm of nitrogen gas, to collide with a ice + iron target or an iron target or a ice + hexane + iron target. After the impact, black soot including fine particles was deposited on the chamber wall. The soot was carefully collected and analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Laser Desorption Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (LD-ToF-MS). As a result of the HPLC analysis, about 0.04–8 pmol of glycine, and a lesser amount of alanine were found in the samples when the ice + hexane + iron target was used. In case of the ice + iron target and the iron target, less amino acids were produced. The identification of the amino acids was also supported by FTIR and LD-ToF-MS analysis.