Triple F - a comet nucleus sample return mission

The Triple F (Fresh From the Fridge) mission, a Comet Nucleus Sample Return, has been proposed to ESA's Cosmic Vision program. A sample return from a comet enables us to reach the ultimate goal of cometary research. Since comets are the least processed bodies in the solar system, the proposal goes far beyond cometary science topics (like the explanation of cometary activity) and delivers invaluable information about the formation of the solar system and the interstellar molecular cloud from which it formed. The proposed mission would extract three sample cores of the upper 50cm from three locations on a cometary nucleus and return them cooled to Earth for analysis in the laboratory. The simple mission concept with a touch-and-go sampling by a single spacecraft was proposed as an M-class mission in collaboration with the Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS. © The Author(s) 2008

Asymmetric vacuum UV photolysis of the amino acid leucine in the solid state

International audienc

The effects of circularly polarized light on amino acid enantiomers produced by the UV irradiation of interstellar ice analogs

Two irradiation experiments on interstellar ice analogs at 80 K under interstellar-like conditions were performed with the LURE SU5 synchrotron beamline to assess, for the first time, the photochemical effect of circularly polarized ultraviolet light (UV CPL) at 167 nm (7.45 eV) with right and left polarizations on such ice mixtures. Methods. This effect was measured by determining the enantiomeric excesses (e.e.s) for two amino acids formed in the solid organic residues produced during the subsequent warm-up of the irradiated samples to room temperature: alanine, the most abundant chiral proteinaceous amino acid produced (both polarizations) and 2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (DAP), a non-proteinaceous amino acid (rightpolarization experiment). These excesses were compared to those measured for the same amino acids produced after unpolarized UV irradiation of the same ice mixtures (expected to be zero), in order to determine the contribution of CPL only. A careful estimate of all the associated uncertainties (statistical and systematic errors) was also developed. Results. It appears that the enantiomeric photochemical effect at this wavelength is weak, since both alanine and DAP e.e.s were found to be small, at most of the order of 1% in absolute values, and tends to be inconclusive since the effects obtained for both amino acids and both polarizations are not those expected. In light of these results, the hypothesis that CPL may be one source responsible for the e.e.s measured for such amino acids in some meteorites and, more generally, that CPL may be directly related to the origin of biomolecular homochirality on Earth is discussed

COSAC prepares for sampling and in situ analysis of cometary matter from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

International audienceThe comet rendezvous mission Rosetta will be the first mission to encounter and land on a comet nucleus. After a 10-year journey Rosetta is set for rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in summer 2014. The mission goal is: to study the origin of comets; the relationship between cometary and interstellar material and its implications for the origin of the solar system. The Rosetta spacecraft with an overall mass of about 3000 kg was launched in March 2004 and brought into cometary orbit towards comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with 4 gravity assist maneuvers. On its way Rosetta passed and observed two asteroids, (2867) Šteins in 2008 and (21) Lutetia in 2010, respectively. In June 2011 Rosetta entered into hibernation and woke up - as planned - on January 20, 2014. In November 2014 Rosetta's Philae lander and 10 science instruments will be deployed onto the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This will be followed by the first ever in situ investigation of a comet nucleus. Onboard Philae is the COmetary SAmpling and Composition experiment (COSAC), one of two evolved gas analysers that will investigate organic compounds within the material of the nucleus. Data from the COSAC instrument are expected to provide important insights into the early history of our solar system and contribute to our knowledge of small bodies that may have seeded the early Earth through impacts. In this paper we review recent developments in cometary science, including new data on target comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. We report on laboratory measurements and the calibration of the COSAC instrument as well as the preparation for operations on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

An overview of the measurements made by the COSAC instrument at comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko

In this paper data recorded by the Cometary Sampling and Composition experiment (COSAC), a pyrolysis - gas-chromatograph - mass-spectrometer (pyr GC-MS) aboard Philae are presented. After landing in a somewhat non-nominal way on the cometary nucleus of 67/P, Philae carried out its First Science Sequence. As part of these activities COSAC acquired seven mass-spectra in sniffing mode, the first while still flying, the other at the final landing site. In addition, since drilling of a soil sample was attempted at the final site, a combined GC-MS measurement was performed on the sample transferred to COSAC. In the MS measurement made after the first touch- down a wide range of mass peaks was observed. These are ascribed to a variety of organic compounds, quite a few of them oxygen and nitrogen bearing species. However, no sulfur compounds were detected. The following six MS sniffings showed peaks of decreasing signal intensity mostly, but not completely, following the temperature drop pertaining aboard Philae. The results of the GC-MS measurement were, if at all, only marginally different from an empty run performed by COSAC in April 2014 when Rosetta was still far from the comet. The implications of this result namely: (1) was a sample delivered at all? (2) what do the small signals mean?) will each be discussed

Organic compounds on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko revealed by COSAC mass spectrometry

Comets harbor the most pristine material in our solar system in the form of ice, dust, silicates, and refractory organic material with some interstellar heritage. The evolved gas analyzer Cometary Sampling and Composition (COSAC) experiment aboard Rosetta’s Philae lander was designed for in situ analysis of organic molecules on comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Twenty-five minutes after Philae’s initial comet touchdown, the COSAC mass spectrometer took a spectrum in sniffing mode, which displayed a suite of 16 organic compounds, including many nitrogen-bearing species but no sulfur-bearing species, and four compounds—methyl isocyanate, acetone, propionaldehyde, and acetamide—that had not previously been reported in comets

What makes a planet habitable?

This work reviews factors which are important for the evolution of habitable Earth-like planets such as the effects of the host star dependent radiation and particle fluxes on the evolution of atmospheres and initial water inventories. We discuss the geodynamical and geophysical environments which are necessary for planets where plate tectonics remain active over geological time scales and for planets which evolve to one-plate planets. The discoveries of methane–ethane surface lakes on Saturn’s large moon Titan, subsurface water oceans or reservoirs inside the moons of Solar System gas giants such as Europa, Ganymede, Titan and Enceladus and more than 335 exoplanets, indicate that the classical definition of the habitable zone concept neglects more exotic habitats and may fail to be adequate for stars which are different from our Sun. A classification of four habitat types is proposed. Class I habitats represent bodies on which stellar and geophysical conditions allow Earth-analog planets to evolve so that complex multi-cellular life forms may originate. Class II habitats includes bodies on which life may evolve but due to stellar and geophysical conditions that are different from the class I habitats, the planets rather evolve toward Venus- or Mars-type worlds where complex life-forms may not develop. Class III habitats are planetary bodies where subsurface water oceans exist which interact directly with a silicate-rich core, while class IV habitats have liquid water layers between two ice layers, or liquids above ice. Furthermore, we discuss from the present viewpoint how life may have originated on early Earth, the possibilities that life may evolve on such Earth-like bodies and how future space missions may discover manifestations of extraterrestrial life