TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Philae probe has discovered organic molecules, which are essential for life, on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Although scientists are still to reveal what kind of molecules have been found on the comet, the discovery could provide new clues about how the early chemical ingredients that led to life on Earth arrived on the planet.
The organic molecules, which is a compound containing carbon and hydrogen, could form basic building blocks from all living organisms on earth. Philae managed to send back a signal revealing the discovery of carbon and hydrogen chemicals shortly before it entered hibernation mode to conserve falling power supplies.
The DLR German Aerospace Centre, which built the Cosac instrument said that the Philae or Cosac was able to sniff the atmosphere and detect the first organic molecules after landing.
"The discovery is fascinating. There has long been indirect evidence of organic molecules on comets as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms have been found in comet dust. It has not been possible to see if these are forming complex compounds before and if this is what has been found then it is a tremendous discovery," said Professor John Zarnecki, a space scientist at the Open University who was the deputy principal investigator on another one of Philae’s instruments, on Wednesday, November 19, 2014.
Fred Goesmann, principal investigator on the Cosac instrument at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, said that his team were still trying to interpret the results acquired by Philae. "Hopefully we can reveal whether the molecules contain other chemical elements deemed important for life."
Philae landed in comet 67P after a ten-year journey aboard the Rosseta rocket. Philae's successful landing on the high-speed comet is a big leap in space science.
INDU P. HESTYA | THE GUARDIAN
