Rosetta discovered key elements of life on the comet tchouri – Le Figaro

VIDEO – The European spacecraft has detected the presence of glycine, a basic component of proteins, but also phosphorus. This finding reinforces the idea that comets may have played an important role in the emergence of life on Earth.

It is a discovery more to the credit of the European Rosetta mission’s instruments detected in the gas surrounding the comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko signed glycine, the simplest amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein basis. The first traces of glycine were measured from October 2014, shortly after the release of the Philae lander by the mothership Rosetta.

“At first, the measures were at the limit of detection instruments, but had later in 2015 much clearer detections, indisputable, when the comet approached the sun and its activity increased, ejecting more dust core, “says Hervé Cottin, astrochemist at the University of Paris-Est Creteil and one of the authors of the publication describing the discovery in the online journal Science Advances.

This direct detection of glycine by Rosetta confirms measurements American Stardust probe on the comet Wild 2. NASA probe had captured the dust in the tail of the comet, then had brought to Earth for analysis. Despite the precautions taken by US researchers, it was impossible to say that this glycine was not formed on Earth, during the solution treatment of dust recorded by the probe.

“No Rosetta ‘currently not detected with other amino acids as glycine, but that does not mean they are not present in the comet. The other amino acids have more complex chemical formulas and are more difficult to train, and therefore more rare, “says Hervé Cottin.

In addition to glycine, the European probe has also made a discovery actually unexpectedly, the presence of phosphorus under the form of isolated atoms. This element was not seen by Stardust, and his presence still further strengthens the idea that comets may have played an important role in the dissemination of Earth Life bricks. “Phosphorus is indeed an essential element of many biological molecules, such as DNA and cell membranes, but one wonders how it could have been extracted from the terrestrial rocks to blend in organic chemistry,” says Hervé Cottin.

A deluge comets could have brought into the oceans phosphorus and amino acids necessary for the emergence of life.