The Philae research module, launched on the surface of comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko, discovered organic molecules - the simplest building blocks needed for life to arise. About this newspaper The Wall Street Journal with reference to the German aerospace agency, taking part in the Rosetta mission.
An instrument aboard Philae discovered organic compounds in the comet's atmosphere, which contain carbon atoms that form the basis of life on Earth. Scientists are now analyzing the data to find out whether the organic compounds discovered by Philae are simple, like methane and methanol, or more complex, like amino acids - the building blocks of proteins. The airborne drill also helped Philae extract material samples from the comet's solid surface, but these have not yet been fully studied.
Comets contain material from the early solar system, which has not changed over the past 4.5 billion years. Previous research has shown that organic material can form in the dusty atmosphere of comets.
A study of the organic material of comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko will help researchers understand whether organic molecules were brought to the early Earth by comets or whether life on our planet originated in some other way. For the first time, scientists were able to conduct a direct search for organic molecules in the atmosphere and on the surface of a comet.
The data collected by Philae will be checked against information received from Rosetta in orbit 67P. In August, when the probe was 200 km from the comet, one of its sensors was able to study the cloud of dust and gas surrounding the comet's nucleus.
Analysis of previously collected data showed the presence of water, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide on the comet, which most likely were released from under the surface layer of the comet. The Rosetta spacecraft also found traces of ammonia, methane and methanol. In October, members of the Rosetta mission, studying comet coma, reported traces of an organic compound called formaldehyde, as well as other molecules, including sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, which smell like rotten eggs.
But the main target of the search on comet 67P, where glycine was discovered in 2009, is amino acids. Their finding will strengthen the opinion of scientists that life was brought to Earth from outer space by comets, which delivered organic compounds.
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The Philae research module ran out of energy on Friday. The researchers, however, managed to perform a maneuver to reorient one of its solar panels closer to sunlight. This gave hope that the probe could recover next year when the comet approaches the Sun.
We are confident that in the coming months we will get enough sunlight and energy to reopen Philae, said the German Aerospace Center.