Space probe confirms chemicals of life in comet's halo

Space probe confirms chemicals of life in comet's halo

Frank Jordans, Associated Press

Updated 7:27 pm, Friday, May 27, 2016



In this March 27, 2016 photo released by the European Space Agency ESA Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and its coma are backlit by the sun.


BERLIN (AP) — Scientists have found further evidence supporting the theory that some of the building blocks for life may have come to Earth from outer space.

Using instruments aboard the European space probe Rosetta, researchers detected glycine and phosphorus in the dusty halo around a comet.

Glycine is an amino acid, one of the molecules needed to make proteins, while phosphorus is essential for DNA and cells.

Their presence in the coma enveloping comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko "supports the idea that comets delivered key molecules for prebiotic chemistry throughout the solar system and, in particular, to the early Earth," according to the study published online Friday by the journal Science Advances.

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