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The Cassini Mission has greatly improved our understanding of the dynamicsand chemical processes occurring in Titan's atmosphere. It has also provided uswith more insight into the formation of the aerosols in the upper atmosphericlayers. However, the chemical composition and mechanisms leading to theirformation were out of reach for the instruments onboard Cassini. In thiscontext, it is deemed necessary to apply and exploit laboratory simulations tobetter understand the chemical reactivity occurring in the gas phase ofTitan-like conditions. In the present work, we report gas phase resultsobtained from a plasma discharge simulating the chemical processes in Titan'sionosphere. We use the PAMPRE cold dusty plasma experiment with an N2-CH4gaseous mixture under controlled pressure and gas influx. An internal cryogenictrap has been developed to accumulate the gas products during their productionand facilitate their detection. The cryogenic trap condenses the gas-phaseprecursors while they are forming, so that aerosols are no longer observedduring the 2h plasma discharge. We focus mainly on neutral products NH3, HCN,C2H2 and C2H4. The latter are identified and quantified by in situ massspectrometry and infrared spectroscopy. We present here results from thisexperiment with mixing ratios of 90-10% and 99-1% N2-CH4, covering the range ofmethane concentrations encountered in Titan's ionosphere. We also detect insitu heavy molecules (C7). In particular, we show the role of ethylene andother volatiles as key solid-phase precursors.

In situ Investigation of Neutrals Involved in the Formation of Titan Tholins