LIPIDS ARE ORGANIC MOLECULES OF GREAT INTEREST FOR FUTURE ASTROBIOLOGICAL PLANETARY EXPLORATION TO THE MOON MARS AND ICY WORLDS. LIPIDS ARE ESSENTIAL TO LIFE AS WE KNOW IT AND LIKELY ALSO TO PUTATIVE EXTRATERRESTRIAL ORGANISMS. LIPIDS ARE ALSO SYNTHESIZED ABIOTICALLY AND ARE HYPOTHESIZED TO BE PRESENT ON THE MOON. LABORATORY CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUES ARE WELL ESTABLISHED BUT ARE LABORIOUS OPERATOR DEPENDENT AND REQUIRE LARGE VOLUMES OF CONSUMABLES PRECLUDING IN SITU ANALYSIS. OUR SOLUTION IS TO DEVELOP AN AUTONOMOUS MINIATURIZED FLUIDIC SYSTEM INTEGRATING LAB TECHNIQUES FOR LIPID ANALYSIS WHILE MINIMIZING REAGENT VOLUMES AND CONCENTRATING ORGANICS FOR ANALYSIS THEREBY INCREASING SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIOS BY ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. THIS SYSTEM FOR FUTURE ASTROBIOLOGICAL AND LIFE-DETECTION MISSIONS (EITHER IN SITU OR SAMPLE RETURN) WILL EXTRACT LIPID ORGANICS FROM (ICY) REGOLITH USING (1) A FLUIDIC SAMPLE PROCESSOR MADE OF INERT MATERIALS COMPATIBLE WITH ORGANIC SOLVENTS AND (2) A MACHINE-LEARNING SYSTEM TO SELECT PROCESSING STEPS AND PARAMETERS TO MAXIMIZE LIPID YIELD. OUR TEAM OF ARC EARLY-CAREER ASTROBIOLOGISTS AND ENGINEERS WILL ADVANCE A BENCHTOP BREADBOARD FROM TRL 2 TO 4 OVER A 2-YEAR TIMEFRAME USING A MODIFIED SCRUM MANAGEMENT APPROACH. PARTNERS AT SHELL WILL CONSULT ON OPTIMAL LIPID-EXTRACTION TECHNIQUES FROM ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES. COUPLING THE BREADBOARD TO FLIGHT-HERITAGE ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION AT GSFC S PLANETARY ENVIRONMENT LABORATORY WILL PROVIDE AN ULTIMATE DIRT TO DATA DEMONSTRATION. OUR SUCCESS STRATEGY LEVERAGES THREE AREAS OF ARC EXPERTISE: (1) PROVEN DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF SPACEFLIGHT AQUEOUS MICROFLUIDIC PLATFORMS (2) GOLD STANDARD LIPID BIOMARKER LABORATORY ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES DEVELOPED AND REFINED OVER 50 YEARS AND (3) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING SUITABLE FOR IN-THE-LOOP ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF ROBOTIC ANALYTICAL SYSTEMS.