Comets and Asteroids Archives

Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Comets and Asteroids, Commercial & Private Sector, Microbiology & Virology, Microgravity, Missions & Hardware, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release, Space Life Science, Space Stations

BioAsteroid Payload On Orbit

by Keith CowingJanuary 15, 2021February 3, 2026

Inside one of the containers of this 40-cm-across miniature laboratory in orbit, a battle is set to start between asteroid-like fragments and rock-hungry microbes, to probe their use for space […]

A preflight view of BioAsteroid Experiment Unit where the BioAsteroid investigation is performed integrated into the Experiment Container for the BioAsteroid investigation. Each Experiment Unit has two culture chambers. Credits: ESA

Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Comets and Asteroids, Commercial & Private Sector, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Microgravity, Missions & Hardware, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release, Space Life Science, Space Stations

Microbes To Demonstrate Biomining Of Asteroid Material Aboard The Space Station

by Keith CowingDecember 3, 2020February 3, 2026

As humanity moves closer to the possibility of living and working millions of miles from Earth on planets like Mars, scientists are looking beyond our planet at how to acquire […]

Astrochemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Press Release

Infrared Detection Of Aliphatic Organics On A Cometary Nucleus

by Keith CowingSeptember 30, 2020August 15, 2022

The ESA Rosetta mission has acquired unprecedented measurements of comet 67/P-Churyumov-Gerasimenko (hereafter 67P) nucleus surface, whose composition, as determined by in situ and remote sensing instruments including VIRTIS (Visible, InfraRed […]

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Sample Return

Cryogenic Cometary Sample Return

by Keith CowingSeptember 1, 2020April 22, 2024

Comets likely formed in the outer regions of the protosolar nebula where they incorporated and preserved primitive presolar materials, volatiles resident in the outer disk, and more refractory materials from […]

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return

Volatile Sample Return in the Solar System

by Keith CowingJuly 29, 2020April 22, 2024

We advocate for the realization of volatile sample return from various destinations including: small bodies, the Moon, Mars, ocean worlds/satellites, and plumes. As part of recent mission studies (e.g., Comet […]

Astrochemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Press Release

Cometary Ions Detected By The Cassini Spacecraft 6.5 au Downstream Of Comet 153P/Ikeya-Zhang

by Keith CowingJune 1, 2020August 15, 2022

During March-April 2002, while between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft detected a significant enhancement in pickup proton flux. The most likely explanation for this enhancement was […]

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release

Swift Mission Observed Water from Interstellar Comet Borisov

by Keith CowingApril 27, 2020July 12, 2025

For the first time, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory tracked water loss from an interstellar comet as it approached and rounded the Sun. The object, 2I/Borisov, traveled through the solar […]

Astrochemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release

The Carbon Monoxide-rich Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov

by Keith CowingApril 20, 2020July 12, 2025

Interstellar comets offer direct samples of volatiles from distant protoplanetary disks. 2I/Borisov is the first notably active interstellar comet discovered in our solar system[1]. Comets are condensed samples of the […]

Comets and Asteroids, Press Release

Exocomets: A Spectroscopic Survey

by Keith CowingMarch 25, 2020

While exoplanets are now routinely detected, the detection of small bodies in extrasolar systems remains challenging. Since the discovery of sporadic events interpreted as exocomets (Falling Evaporating Bodies) around β […]

Astrochemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Press Release

Puzzle About Nitrogen Solved Thanks to Cometary Analogues

by Keith CowingMarch 12, 2020August 15, 2022

Comets and asteroids are objects in our solar system that have not developed much since the planets were formed. As a result, they are in a sense the archives of […]