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Planetary Environments Laboratory

Charles A Malespin

(Chief)

Charles A Malespin's Contact Card & Information.
Email: charles.a.malespin@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.614.6042
Org Code: 699
Address:
NASA/GSFC
 Mail Code 699
 Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer:
NASA

Missions & Projects

Brief Bio

Charles Malespin is the Chief of the Planetary Environments Lab (Code 699), and serves as the Principal Investigator for the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite currently on the Curiosity rover in Gale Crater, Mars. Malespin additionally is the Gas Processing System payload element lead for the mass spectrometer on the New Frontiers Dragonfly mission to Titan, and is the Venus Mass Spectrometer (VMS) lead for the DAVINCI mission to Venus. He previously served as PI for CADMES (a Europa Lander sample delivery system).  


 

 

Current Projects

Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Principal Investigator

Mars

Malespin leads a team using an interdisciplinary treatment of SAM data, both science and engineering telemetry, to produce expert interpretation of surface mission science products. He is an expert in understanding the SAM instrument and led the development, testing, and interpretation of several major experiments that have made some key discoveries for MSL/SAM, such as the first in situ geochronology experiment on another planet, the enrichment of atmospheric methane, and measurements of the trace heavy noble gases krypton and xenon in the Martian atmosphere.

DAVINCI Venus Mass Spectrometer Lead

Venus

Malespin serves as the VMS lead for the DAVINCI mission to Venus.

Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS) Gas Processing System Lead

Solar System

Malespin is the GPS lead for the DraMS instrument on the Dragonfly mission to Titan.

Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Testbed and Operations Lead

Mars

The SAM testbed is a duplicate of the instrument currently operating on the Mars Science Lab (MSL) rover Curiosity in Gale Crater, Mars. It is run inside a Mars chamber at GSFC which replicates the thermal and atmospheric conditions found on Mars. Charles leads the development, testing, and validation of experimental procedures using SAM testbed before use on Mars. 

Malespin is also the operations lead for the SAM instrument suite.

Principal Investigator for Instrument Concepts for Europa Exploration (ICEE) sample handling system, CADMES

Solar System

Malespin is the PI for the Collaborative Acceptance and Distribution for Measuring Europan Samples (CADMES) sampling system. The CADMES system serves as a common sample delivery system for a future Europa lander, designed to simplify interface and sampling requirements on both the lander and payload. 

Awards

2017 NASA Agency Honor Award - Early Career Public Achievement Medal

2014 NASA Group Achievement award to MSL and SAM development and Science Team

2013 NASA GSFC Solar System Exploration Division dedication and service award
 

 

 

Research Interests

Instrument development

Solar System: Solar System

Mass spectrometry

Mars

Professional Service

External reviewer and panel member for several NASA grant programs

 

Selected Publications

Refereed

2024. "Highly enriched carbon and oxygen isotopes in carbonate-derived CO2 at Gale crater, Mars.", PNAS, 121 (42): e2321342121 [Full Text] [10.1073/pnas.2321342121] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Constraining Alteration Processes Along the Siccar Point Group Unconformity, Gale Crater, Mars: Results from the Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument.", Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets, 127 (11): e2022JE007387 [10.1029/2022JE007387] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Organic carbon concentrations in 3.5-billion-year-old lacustrine mudstones of Mars.", Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 119 (27): e2201139119 [Full Text] [10.1073/pnas.2201139119] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Evolved gas analyses of sedimentary rocks from the Glen Torridon Clay-Bearing Unit, Gale crater, Mars: Results from the Mars Science Laboratory Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Suite.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 127 (9): e2022JE007179 [10.1029/2022JE007179] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Revealing the Mysteries of Venus: The DAVINCI Mission.", The Planetary Science Journal, 3 (5): 117 [10.3847/psj/ac63c2] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Depleted carbon isotope compositions observed at Gale crater, Mars.", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119 (4): e2115651119 [Full Text] [10.1073/pnas.2115651119] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Organic molecules revealed in Mars’s Bagnold Dunes by Curiosity’s derivatization experiment .", Nature Astronomy, 6 129-140 [Full Text] [10.1038/s41550-021-01507-9] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Influence of calcium perchlorate on search for Martian organic compounds with MTBSTFA/DMF derivatization.", Astrobiology, 21 (9): 1137-1156 [Full Text] [10.1089/ast.2020.2393] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Day-night differences in Mars methane suggest nighttime containment at Gale crater.", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 650 A166 [10.1051/0004-6361/202040030] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Billion-year exposure ages in Gale crater (Mars) indicate Mount Sharp formed before the Amazonian period.", Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 554 116667 [10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116667] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Curiosity Mars methane measurements are not confused by ozone.", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 641 L3 [10.1051/0004-6361/202038815] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Benzoic Acid as the Preferred Precursor for the Chlorobenzene Detected on Mars: Insights from the Unique Cumberland Analog Investigation.", The Planetary Science Journal, 1 (2): 41 [10.3847/psj/aba690] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "The search for organic compounds with TMAH thermochemolysis: from Earth analyses to space exploration experiments.", TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, 115896 [Full Text] [10.1016/j.trac.2020.115896] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "First detections of dichlorobenzene isomers and trichloromethylpropane from organic matter indigenous to Mars mudstone in Gale Crater, Mars: Results from the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument onboard the Curiosity Rover.", Astrobiology, 20 (2): 292–306 [Full Text] [10.1089/ast.2018.1908] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Indigenous and exogenous organics and surface-atmosphere cycling inferred from carbon and oxygen isotopes at Gale crater.", Nature Astronomy, 4 526-532 [Full Text] [10.1038/s41550-019-0990-x] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Influence of perchlorate on the search for organics on Mars with TMAH thermochemolysis.", Talanta, [10.1016/j.talanta.2019.06.076] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Seasonal Variations in Atmospheric Composition as Measured in Gale Crater, Mars.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 124 (11): 3000-3024 [10.1029/2019je006175] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Role of the Tenax® adsorbent in the interpretation of the EGA and GC‐MS analyses performed with the Sample Analysis at Mars in Gale crater.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 2819-2851 [Full Text] [10.1029/2019je005973] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "In Situ Geochronology on Mars and the Development of Future Instrumentation.", Astrobiology, ast.2018.1871 [10.1089/ast.2018.1871] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Application of TMAH thermochemolysis to the detection of nucleobases: application to the MOMA and SAM space experiment.", Talanta, 204 802-811 [Full Text] [10.1016/j.talanta.2019.06.076] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Recovery of Fatty Acids from Mineralogic Mars Analogs by TMAH Thermochemolysis for the Sample Analysis at Mars Wet Chemistry Experiment on the Curiosity Rover.", Astrobiology, 19 (4): 522-546 [Full Text] [10.1089/ast.2018.1819] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Abiotic input of fixed nitrogen by bolide impacts to Gale crater during the Hesperian. Insights from the Mars Science Laboratory.", Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets, 124 (1): 94-113 [Full Text] [10.1029/2018JE005852] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Major Volatiles Evolved From Eolian Materials in Gale Crater.", Geophysical Research Letters, [Full Text] [10.1029/2018gl079059] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Organic matter preserved in 3-billion-year-old mudstones at Gale crater, Mars.", Science, 360 (6393): 1096-1101 [Full Text] [10.1126/science.aas9185] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Background levels of methane in Mars’ atmosphere show strong seasonal variations.", Science, 360 (6393): 1093-1096 [10.1126/science.aaq0131] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "A Two-Step K-Ar Experiment on Mars: Dating the Diagenetic Formation of Jarosite from Amazonian Groundwaters.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, [10.1002/2017je005445] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Evolved Gas Analyses of Sedimentary Rocks and Eolian Sediment in Gale Crater, Mars: Results of the Curiosity Rover's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument from Yellowknife Bay to the Namib Dune.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 122 (12): 2574-2609 [Full Text] [10.1002/2016je005225] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Initial SAM Calibration Gas Experiments on Mars: Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer Results and Implications.", Planetary and Space Science, 138 44-54 [Full Text] [10.1016/j.pss.2017.01.014] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Discordant K-Ar and Young Exposure Dates for the Windjana sandstone, Kimberley, Gale Crater, Mars.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 121 (10): 2176-2192 [10.1002/2016je005017] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "In situ measurement of atmospheric krypton and xenon on Mars with Mars Science Laboratory.", Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 454 1-9 [10.1016/j.epsl.2016.08.028] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Light and variable 37Cl/35Cl ratios in rocks from Gale Crater, Mars: Possible signature of perchlorate.", Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 438 14-24 [10.1016/j.epsl.2015.12.013] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "Organic molecules in the Sheepbed Mudstone, Gale Crater, Mars.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 120 (3): 495-514 [Full Text] [10.1002/2014JE004737] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "The imprint of atmospheric evolution in the D/H of Hesperian clay minerals on Mars.", Science, 347 (6220): 412-414 [Full Text] [10.1126/science.1260291] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Analytical Techniques for Retrieval of Atmospheric Composition with the Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer of the Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Suite on Mars Science Laboratory.", Planet. Space Sci., [10.1016/j.pss.2014.03.005] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Mars methane detection and variability at Gale crater.", Science, Vol 347 6220 [[doi:10.1126/science.1261713]] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "In Situ Radiometric and Exposure Age Dating of the Martian Surface.", Science, Vol 343. No. 6169 [10.1126/science.1247166] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Organics Analyzer for Sampling Icy Surfaces: a Liquid Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer for Future in situ Small Body Missions.", 2013 IEEE Aerospace Conference, [Full Text] [10.1109/AERO.2013.6497391] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Isotopes of Nitrogen on Mars: Atmospheric Measurements by Curiosity's Mass Spectrometer.", Geophys. Res. Lett., 40 6033-6037 [10.1002/2013GL057840] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Primordial Argon Isotope Fractionation in the Atmosphere of Mars Measured by the SAM Instrument on Curiosity and Implications for Atmospheric Loss.", Geophys. Res. Lett., 40 5605-5609. [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Organics Analyzer for Sampling Icy Surfaces: a Liquid Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer for Future in situ Small Body Missions.", IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings, [Proceedings]

2012. "The Sample Analysis at Mars Investigation and Instrument Suite.", Space Sci Rev, 170 (1-4): 401-478 [10.1007/s11214-012-9879-z] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Volatile Analysis by Pyrolysis of Regolith for Planetary Resource Exploration.", IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings, 1-11, 3-10 [Full Text] [10.1109/AERO.2012.6187065] [Proceedings]

2010. "VAPoR – Volatile Analysisby PyrolysisofRegolith–an instrument for in situ detection of water, noble gases, and organics on the Moon.", Planetary andSpaceScience, (58): 1007–1017 [10.1016/j.pss.2010.03.006] [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "VAPoR - Volatile Analysis by Pyrolysis of Regolith - an instrument for in situ detection of water, noble gases, and organics on the Moon.", Planetary and Space Science, 58 1007-1017 [Full Text] [10.1016/j.pss.2010.03.006] [Journal Article/Letter]

Non-Refereed

2015. "Martian Chlorobenzene Identified by Curiosity in Yellowknife Bay: Evidence for the Preservation of Organics in a Mudstone on Mars .", Lunar and Planetary Science Conference , 46 1178- [Proceedings]

Contact Us

For general inquiries about the Planetary Environments Laboratory .

Charles Malespin

Chief

301-614-6042 charles.a.malespin@nasa.gov
General inquiries about the scientific programs at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center may be directed to the Office of Public Affairs at 1.301.286.8955.