Search for amino acids in apollo returned lunar soil
Charles W. Gehrke;Robert W. Zumwalt;Kenneth Kuo;Cyril Ponnamperuma;Akira Shimoyama;Charles W. Gehrke;Robert W. Zumwalt;Kenneth Kuo;Cyril Ponnamperuma;Akira Shimoyama;
origins of life1970Vol. 6pp. 541-550
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gehrke1970originssearch
Abstract
The lunar samples from Apollo flights 11 through 17 provided the students of chemical evolution with an opportunity of examining extraterrestrial materials for evidence of early prebiological chemistry in the solar system. Our search was directed to water-extractable compounds with emphasis on amino acids. Gas chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography and gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry were used for the analysis. It is our conclusion that amino acids are not present in the lunar regolith above the background levels of our investigations.