The task after that will be to deliver a sample of dirt to one of eight miniature ovens in the TEGA apparatus, where it will be heated to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit over several days. This will cause constituents of the soil, including water, to evaporate at specific temperatures. As each “fraction” comes off as a gas, it will be directed into the mass spectrometer for analysis. The researchers are especially interested in carbon-based compounds. Ones made by living organisms on Earth generally vaporize below about 750 degrees Fahrenheit. Ones carried in by comets and meteors tend to be heavier. They vaporize at 1,400 degrees F.
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