Comets can be used as cosmic laboratories to enable assembling of the essential elements for life, said researchers after analyzing data collected by Philae space probe.
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Reported by the European Space Agency, while that may have been stressful at the time, it’s proven an “unexpected bonus” as it meant Philae could gather data from two different landing locations in differing terrains, making it possible to check for both variations and consistencies.
Scientists are starting to think that life on earth could have been kick-started by a comet strike.
BERLIN/FRANKFURT The comet lander Philae could be antisocial in the meanwhile, however the images and photos and estimations required along the way moved down upon a comet in November have indicated specialists that this comet comes rude resource, rather than dust, and it is more challenging than envisioned. These compounds, as mentioned by the ESA, “play a key role in the prebiotic synthesis of amino acids, sugars and nucleobases: the ingredients for life”.
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko contains at least 16 organic compounds, four of which had never before been detected on a comet, the first analysis of the data found. Whether the complex, carbon- and nitrogen-rich molecules were formed in the early days of the solar system or later on the comet remains a mystery.
Data were obtained during the lander’s seven-hour descent to its first touchdown at the Agilkia landing site, which then triggered the start of a sequence of predefined experiments.
Philae used two instruments, Ptolemy and COSAC to achieve its findings.
The Philae lander also detected gases similar to those found here on Earth such as water vapour, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. For example, formaldehyde is implicated in the formation of ribose, which ultimately features in molecules like DNA.
He said they have not been able to figure out when the complex molecules found in 67P came into existence.
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Complex molecules that could be key building blocks of life were discovered on the surface of Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko, according to a new research published by ESA scientists in a special edition of the journal “Science”. This fact was because the probe had come to rest near a cliff face that partly shielded it from the sun, preventing its solar panels from recharging its battery.
