Dr. Samuel Teinturier is a planetary scientist, physicist and research engineer employed by GESTAR/USRA at NASA GSFC in the Planetary Environments Laboratory (Code 699). His research interest involves designing and using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry experiments on Earth and analyzing data from science payloads onboard spacecrafts in order to identify organic material in space. Dr. Teinturier has a strong background in engineering, computer data analysis and experimental setup.
Samuel Teinturier
(SCIENTIST II)
| Email: | samuel.m.teinturier@nasa.gov |
| Phone: | 301.286.6744 |
| Org Code: | 699 |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 699 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: | CATHOLIC UNIV OF AMERICA |
Brief Bio
Current Projects
Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Science Team Member
Mars
Dr. Teinturier is a member of the Mars Science Laboratory Science Team since the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars (2009). He is a member of the SAM team (PI: P. Mahaffy). He contributes to the analysis of the SAM data using complex, multi-disciplinary treatments and experimental set-ups with about 40 scientists and engineers from the SAM team. He is an expert in understanding the SAM instrument and developing, testing and analyzing all the experiments and data from the instrument.
Dr. Teinturier is also a member of the Tactical Operations Team on MSL and acts as a PDL (Payload Downlink Lead) and PUL (Payload Uplink Lead) for SAM onboard Curiosity on Mars.
Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Testbed Lead at Goddard
Astrobiology
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. Dr. Teinturier leads the development, testing, and validation of experimental procedures using SAM testbed before use on Mars. This experiment is a key element of the SAM mission: to test under the same conditions each experiment which will be run on Mars; and to be able to understand the science data from Mars, with the analysis of Mars Analog Samples for instance.
Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS) Gas Chromatographic Deputy PDL
Astrobiology
Dr. Teinturier is the Deputy PDL (Product Design Lead) for the GC (Gas Chromatographic) on DraMS (Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer) instrument onboard the Dragonfly mission to Titan.
Selected Public Outreach
Mars in a Box: How a Metal Chamber on Earth Helps us do Experiments on Mars
April 2019 - April 2019
NASA Tumblr post
Samuel Teinturier - From Concert Halls to Consorting With the Mars Rover’s SAM
November 2018 - November 2018
Publications
Refereed
2025. "Diverse Organic Molecules on Mars Revealed by the SAM TMAH Experiment." Nature [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Unveiling the Nitrogen Chemistry of Titan with the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer: Experimental Focus on Amines and Amides." ACS Earth and Space Chemistry 8 (9): 1832-1846 [10.1021/acsearthspacechem.4c00143] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Long-chain alkanes preserved in a martian mudstone." PNAS [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Evaluation of the Interference of Tenax®TA Adsorbent with Dimethylformamide Dimethyl Acetal Reagent for Gas Chromatography-Dragonfly Mass Spectrometry and Future Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry in situ Analysis." Journal of Chromatography A 464388 [10.1016/j.chroma.2023.464388] [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. "Influence of Calcium Perchlorate on the Search for Organics on Mars with Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide Thermochemolysis." Astrobiology 21 (3): 279-297 [10.1089/ast.2020.2252] [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. "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. "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]
2016. "In situ analysis of martian regolith with the SAM experiment during the first mars year of the MSL mission: Identification of organic molecules by gas chromatography from laboratory measurements." Planetary and Space Science 129 88-102 [10.1016/j.pss.2016.06.007] [Journal Article/Letter]
2014. "Origin of Chlorobenzene Detected by the Curiosity Rover in Yellowknife Bay: Evidence for Martian Organics in the Sheepbed Mudstone? ." MSL Science Team, Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 45 1157- [Proceedings]
2014. "Volatile and Organic Compositions of Sedimentary Rocks in Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars." Science 343 (6169): 1245267 [Full Text] [doi:10.1126/science.1245267] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "A Habitable Fluvio-Lacustrine Environment at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars." Science 343 (6169): 1242777-1242777 [10.1126/science.1242777] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Mineralogy of a Mudstone at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars." Science 343 (6169): 1243480-1243480 [10.1126/science.1243480] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Elemental Geochemistry of Sedimentary Rocks at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars." Science 343 (6169): 1244734-1244734 [10.1126/science.1244734] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Mars' Surface Radiation Environment Measured with the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity Rover." Science 343 (6169): 1244797-1244797 [10.1126/science.1244797] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Volatile and Organic Compositions of Sedimentary Rocks in Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars." Science 343 (6169): 1245267-1245267 [10.1126/science.1245267] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Evidence for perchlorates and the origin of chlorinated hydrocarbons detected by SAM at the Rocknest aeolian deposit in Gale Crater." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 118 (10): 1955-1973 [Full Text] [10.1002/jgre.20144] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Soil Diversity and Hydration as Observed by ChemCam at Gale Crater, Mars." Science 341 (6153): 1238670-1238670 [10.1126/science.1238670] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "X-ray Diffraction Results from Mars Science Laboratory: Mineralogy of Rocknest at Gale Crater." Science 341 (6153): 1238932-1238932 [10.1126/science.1238932] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Volatile, Isotope, and Organic Analysis of Martian Fines with the Mars Curiosity Rover." Science 341 (6153): 1238937-1238937 [10.1126/science.1238937] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "The Petrochemistry of Jake_M: A Martian Mugearite." Science 341 (6153): 1239463-1239463 [10.1126/science.1239463] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Curiosity at Gale Crater, Mars: Characterization and Analysis of the Rocknest Sand Shadow." Science 341 (6153): 1239505-1239505 [10.1126/science.1239505] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Abundance and Isotopic Composition of Gases in the Martian Atmosphere from the Curiosity Rover." Science 341 (6143): 263-266 [10.1126/science.1237966] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Martian Fluvial Conglomerates at Gale Crater." Science 340 (6136): 1068-1072 [10.1126/science.1237317] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Evidence for perchlorates and the origin of chlorinated hydrocarbons detected by SAM at the Rocknest aeolian deposit in Gale Crater ." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 118 1955-1973 [10.1002/jgre.20144] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Evidence for perchlorates and the origin of chlorinated hydrocarbons detected by SAM at the Rocknest aeolian deposit in Gale Crater." J. Geophys. Res. 118 1955 – 1973 [10.1002/jgre.20144] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Volatile, Isotope, and Organic Analysis of Martian Fines with the Mars Curiosity Rover." Science 341 (6153): 1238937 [Full Text] [10.1126/science.1238937] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Evidence for Perchlorates and the Origin of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons Detected by SAM at the Rocknest Aeolian Deposit in Gale Crater." J. Geophys. Res. 118 1955-1973. [Journal Article/Letter]
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]
2010. "Small-scale instabilities of an island wake flow in a rotating shallow-water layer." Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans 49 (1): 1-24 [10.1016/j.dynatmoce.2008.10.006] [Journal Article/Letter]
2009. "Amplification of a Surface-Intensified Eddy Drift along a Steep Shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea." Journal of Physical Oceanography 39 (7): 1729-1741 [10.1175/2009jpo4106.1] [Journal Article/Letter]