ExoMars’ MOMA: A Live Example of Interdisciplinary Communication

A chemist, two planetary scientists, and four systems engineers walk into a room. While it sounds like the setup to a joke, this was the opening scene of a presentation I delivered at the European Space Agency entitled “MOMA: A Summary”. As a recent graduate of organic chemistry, I had been asked to explain the Mars Organic Molecule Analyser (MOMA), a complex mass spectrometer instrument on board the Rosalind Franklin rover, to a room of non-chemists. For one hour, my goal was to bridge the gap between chemistry and planetary science.

 

The case for chemistry in planetary science has long been made. Experiments such as the Miller-Urey experiments in 1952, which simulated early-Earth atmosphere and environment, set a historical precedent for research into prebiotic Earth – which remains a major reason for Mars exploration. Indeed, as was explained in my presentation, there is no agnostic life detection without chemistry; how can we develop instruments to detect something that might be unique to life on Earth? The answer lies in universal chemical principles, such as chirality, molecular complexity, and molecular mass. Many agnostic life detection methods may be taken advantage of with MOMA’s laser desorption and gas chromatography modes.

 

The main challenge lies in engaging the audience in concepts they may be unfamiliar with; not just explaining the terminology and the concepts but creating a memorable experience for long-lasting knowledge retention. In the talk, there were expected challenges in communicating rather complex chemical concepts to non-experts. I employed the use of visuals and metaphors; a gas chromatography column could be likened to a horse race.

 

We can correlate components of the horse race (the horses, the wind, and the track) to their chromatographic equivalents (sample, mobile phase, and stationary phase, respectively). The horses of the same colours (i.e. molecules with similar polarity) all have the same speeds on this track, meaning that we can separate out the different colours of horses, and track their arrival at the destination (mimicking the elution times of a separated sample). After the talk, this metaphor was specifically mentioned in later discussions as a helpful memory aid, due to its absurdity in this context.

 

Metaphors, storytelling, and analogies are all powerful tools in interdisciplinary science. Not only does this help people from different expertise understand and share knowledge, but it also facilitates scientific communication skills even within academic spaces. This case highlights the potential of creative and targeted communication in planetary sciences and across disciplines, ensuring that the base chemical knowledge vital to astrobiology is available to all who are seated at the table.