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Science 30 January 1970:
Vol. 167. no. 3918, pp. 760 - 762
DOI: 10.1126/science.167.3918.760
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Articles

Search for Organic Compounds in the Lunar Dust from the Sea of Tranquiblity

Cyril Ponnamperuma 1, Keith Kvenvolden 1, Sherwood Chang 1, Richard Johnson 1, Glenn Pollock 1, Delbert Philpott 1, Isaac Kaplan 2, John Smith 2, J. William Schopf 2, Charles Gehrke 3, Gordon Hodgson 4, Irving A. Breger 5, Berthold Halpern 6, Alan Duffield 6, Konrad Krauskopf 6, Elso Barghoorn 7, Heinrich Holland 8, and Klaus Keil 9

1 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
2 University of California, Los Angeles
3 University of Missouri, Columbia
4 University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
5 U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C.
6 Stanford University, Stanford, California
7 Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
8 Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
9 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

A sample of lunar dust was examined for organic compounds. Carbon detected in concentrations of 157 micrograms per gram had a dgr13C per mil (PDB) value of + 20. Treatment with hydrochloric acid yielded hydrocarbons of low molecular weight, suggesting the presence of carbides. The gas chromatogram of the acylated and esterified derivatives of the hydrolyzate was similar to that obtained for the Pueblito de Allende meteorite. There were no detectable amounts of extractable high-molecular-weight alkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, isoprenoid hydrocarbons, normal alkanes, fatty acids, amino acids, sugars, or nucleic acid bases. Traces of porphyrins were found, perhaps arising from rocket exhaust materials.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Evidence for Compounds Hydrolyzable to Amino Acids in Aqueous Extracts of Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 Lunar Fines.
K. Harada, P. E. Hare, C. R. Windsor, and S. W. Fox (1971)
Science 173, 433-435
   Abstract »    PDF »
Carbon, Carbides, and Methane in an Apollo 12 Sample.
S. Chang, S. Chang, K. Kvenvolden, J. Lawless, C. Ponnamperuma, and I. R. Kaplan (1971)
Science 171, 474-477
   Abstract »    PDF »
Concentration and Isotopic Composition of Carbon and Sulfur in Apollo 11 Lunar Samples.
I. R. Kaplan, I. R. Kaplan, and J. W. Smith (1970)
Science 167, 541-543
   Abstract »    PDF »
Pyrolysis-Hydrogen Flame Ionization Detection of Organic Carbon in a Lunar Sample.
R. D. Johnson, R. D. Johnson, and C. C. Davis (1970)
Science 167, 759-760
   Abstract »    PDF »
Search for Porphyrins in Lunar Dust.
G. W. Hodgson, G. W. Hodgson, E. Peterson, K. A. Kvenvolden, E. Bunnenberg, B. Halpern, and C. Ponnamperuma (1970)
Science 167, 763-765
   Abstract »    PDF »
Micropaleontological Studies of Lunar Samples.
J. W. Schopf and J. W. Schopf (1970)
Science 167, 779-780
   Abstract »    PDF »


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