Guest article by Gregory Zaugg Master’s thesis at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (CA, USA) The time I was able to spend at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is something that will stay with me forever. From the open-mindedness of the Americans and the rooms where history was written to the endless bureaucracy, it was an incredible experience — and one for which I’m extremely grateful. Arrival and 昀椀rst day at JPL: the obligatory photo with the big JPL logo Sur昀椀ng trip with the interns: As a hobby surfer, I simply had to give the that greets you at the entrance every morning. other interns a taste of the real California vibes. After an intensive week at JPL, what better way to relax than by driving down the Paci昀椀c Coast Highway with the windows down and surfboards on the roof to go and ride a few waves at Sunset Beach in the “Endless Summer” of LA. Most of all, I was amazed at how people who are or were wood and 昀椀lms like “The Martian” suggest, only the mis- involved in major missions such as Mars 2020 (Persever- sion-critical parts of JPL are “high-tech.” This made it even ance & Ingenuity) or Europa Clipper took the time to more impressive to see the groundbreaking research and meet up and chat with an “ordinary” intern like me. I had development being carried out there. the chance to sit down for a co昀昀ee with lead scientists and I had the privilege of working on research into head engineers to discuss the challenges of performing the origins of life in a wonderful group known as the Raman spectroscopy on Mars, for example. The wealth Origins and Habitability Lab. Speci昀椀cally, the lab is con- of knowledge and contacts that various people happily cerned with hydrothermal vent systems and the theory shared with me is simply invaluable. that these are where the 昀椀rst complex biomolecules (e.g., JPL itself has a special status among NASA’s labo- RNA, amino acids and ATP/ADP) may have been formed. ratories. It is managed externally and also co昀椀nanced for As these systems are found on the seabed, however, and NASA by Caltech, resulting in a close relationship with the are therefore not particularly easy to reach or research, a next generation of engineers and scientists. I think this lot of work goes into developing laboratory simulations. is one of the reasons why interns like me feel so valued This was also the subject of my project. and involved. The interns themselves were an incredibly So-called “chemical gardens” — structures that friendly, active and diverse group of people from all over self-assemble when contrasting chemicals mix in a cer- the world, and this made both my time at the lab and the tain way — have long served as promising analogs for task of developing new contacts hugely enjoyable. vent systems. In my research, we investigated how vent Despite all of the splendor, it was interesting to morphology is in昀氀uenced by the composition and con- see that JPL is nevertheless a state research institute that centration of the starting chemicals. operates with limited funding. Contrary to what Holly- SNI INSight December 2024 16