“Comets are loaded with all the raw materials like water, CO2, methane, ammonia, needed to assemble more complex organic molecules, perhaps sparked by UV-photons from the Sun or cosmic rays, or in the shock that occurs when a comet hits the surface of a planet like the young Earth”, said Mark McCaughrean, a senior scientific adviser at the European Space Agency.
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With the help of the Philae lander that was deployed by the Rosetta spacecraft last November, the lander has detected 16 carbon compounds that are rich in nitrogen and considered to be organic that was never before observed on comets, according to ESA scientists.
Scientists are starting to think that life on earth could have been kick-started by a comet strike.
“The existence of such complex molecules in a comet, a relic of the early Solar System, imply that chemical processes at work during that time could have played a key role in fostering the formation of prebiotic material”.
“Although it remains to be seen whether these observations hold true for all comets, the discoveries made by Philae – including these initial results – will continue to shape our view of the history of the solar system”, said the authors behind the seven research papers featured in the July 31 Science.
As it ended up, Philae moved and found its way into dark, at which its battery life in the near future lost. Several amino acids were also found. Amino acids are what make up proteins, which are very important for life. These experiments were expected to begin after the probe had touchdown but Philae had to carry them out in flight, after a surface rebound as its harpoons had failed to latch it to the comet’s surface.
With the comet speeding toward the sun, the probe woke up last month and established its first contact with controllers in seven months.
The space probe Philae has discovered building blocks of life during its mission on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
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“We have definitely learned at least one thing with this first comet landing: bouncing is a bigger problem than a possible sinking into the ground”, said Philae project manager Stephan Ulamec.
