MARS — Scientists have confirmed that the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) instrument aboard the European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin rover can detect chiral differences in organic molecules, according to a study published on July 9, 2026. The rover is scheduled to begin searching for traces of life on Mars in 2030.

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the University of Göttingen, and Côte d'Azur University confirmed MOMA's ability to differentiate between enantiomers of pristane and phytane. These hydrocarbons, pristane (C19H40) and phytane (C20H42), originate from living organisms and are found in petroleum on Earth. "Petroleum forms in these rocks over millions of years at great depths under the influence of heat and pressure," said Manuel Reinhardt, a scientist at the University of Göttingen.

Chiral molecules possess two mirror-image forms called enantiomers. Living organisms typically produce almost exclusively one mirror image of a chiral molecule, while non-biological processes produce both forms in approximately equal amounts. Guillaume Leseigneur, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, stated, "If life once existed on Mars, then molecules like pristane and phytane represent important molecular biosignatures that could have survived to this day."

The MOMA instrument, developed under the leadership of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, integrates a gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer, small furnaces, and an excitation laser for analyzing rock samples. To assess MOMA's capabilities, researchers used identical replicas of its capillary tubes to separate the chiral forms of pristane and phytane. Fatma Yesil Sahan, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, stated, "Chiral separation of pristane and phytane requires high instrument sensitivity and measurement accuracy, both of which we show MOMA can achieve."

The study also involved the analysis of organic molecules found in the Murchison meteorite, which fell in Australia in 1969. The Murchison meteorite samples contained equal amounts of every mirror image version of pristane and phytane. Researchers concluded that these organic molecules in the meteorite were likely contaminated by aerosols from fossil fuel combustion during its passage through Earth's atmosphere.

Uwe Meierhenrich, a scientist at Côte d'Azur University, stated, "Chirality is a valuable tool in the search for past extraterrestrial life." The findings of this study were published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.