Abstract
Comets hold answers to mysteries of the Solar System by recording presolar history, the initial states of planet formation and prebiotic organics and volatiles to the early Earth. Analysis of returned samples from a comet nucleus will provide unparalleled knowledge about the Solar System starting materials and how they came together to form planets and give rise to life: 1. How did comets form? 2. Is comet material primordial, or has it undergone a complex alteration history? 3. Does aqueous alteration occur in comets? 4. What is the composition of cometary organics? 5. Did comets supply a substantial fraction of Earth's volatiles? 6. Did cometary organics contribute to the homochirality in life on Earth? 7. How do complex organic molecules form and evolve in interstellar, nebular, and planetary environments? 8. What can comets tell us about the mixing of materials in the protosolar nebula?
Highlights
Comets are time capsules from the birth of our Solar System that record presolar history and the initial states of planet formation, and likely contributed prebiotic organics and volatiles to the early Earth
The composition of chiral amino acids and the presence of other important prebiotic organic molecules in comets that could have contributed to the origin of life on Earth remain largely unknown
A returned sample will permit the necessary elemental, isotopic, organic, and mineralogical measurements to be performed”. This recommendation was reaffirmed by the 2011 Decadal Survey (Visions and Voyages)and led to three proposals to the 2016 New Frontiers (NF) 4 Announcement of Opportunity (AO) [29,30,31], one of which was selected for Phase A study (CAESAR)
Summary
Comets are time capsules from the birth of our Solar System that record presolar history and the initial states of planet formation, and likely contributed prebiotic organics and volatiles to the early Earth. The precision and sensitivity of Earth-based laboratory analyses will lead to major advances in disciplines ranging from molecular cloud chemistry to the evolution of the Solar System’s volatile reservoirs, including the first steps of prebiotic organic synthesis. Instrument limitations and an anomalous touchdown by the Philae lander left the details of cometary organic chemistry undetermined [25] This leaves open the question of whether or not comets contain prebiotic organic compounds that may have contributed to the origin of life on Earth. Non-cryogenic comet nucleus sample return represents a logical step in comet science, and will reveal the composition of comet nuclei, the physical process of accretion and formation, and help constrain the origin of Earth’s volatiles and prebiotic organic inventory [2]
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