Ultra high mass-resolution for space exploration: the Orbitrap mass analyser

We describe a new concept of space mass analyser that is lightweight, uses pulsed DC voltages, and provides ultra-high mass-resolving power capabilities (m/'m = 100,000 up to m/z 400). Such mass-resolving power allows ascribing exact mass to each detected species and therefore opens new opportunities for molecular characterisation, isotopic abundance evaluation, and more generally environmental characterization of the atmospheres and surfaces of planetary bodies.