[meteorite-list] Searching for Earthites on the Moon

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 01:30:41 -0400
Message-ID: <d6o4d3hdiab7jvncqjhrlk9kab48282ru3_at_4ax.com>

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/08/26/scimeteror12.xml

Moon meteorites may hold clue to life on Earth
By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 26/08/2007

Scientists are planning a mission to drill beneath the Moon's surface for buried
meteorites that may hold clues to how life began on Earth.

British space experts are to reveal plans next month to send robotic drills to
the Moon to collect cores of lunar rock.

They believe that beneath the Moon's dust-covered surface they will find the
remains of meteorites that date back to the early history of the earth.

As the Moon is geologically inactive, the scientists hope to find rocks that
would have been destroyed long ago by volcanoes and earthquakes on our own
planet. They claim it will be possible to find a record of meteorites dating
back more than 3.8 billion years, around the time that life is thought to have
begun on Earth.

These preserved meteorites may hold evidence for theories that water and even
the precursors of life on our own planet were carried here on asteroids.
Scientists also hope they will find fragments of rock from Earth itself in the
lunar crust, knocked off by meteorite bombardments, giving an insight into the
planet's early history.

The European Space Agency will outline its plans to land the equipment on the
Moon next month at the European Planetary Science Congress in Germany.

British scientists and oil industry executives met early this month to discuss a
similar mission. The space technology company LogicaCMG, which organised the
meeting, will also reveal the outcome of those talks next month.

Stuart Martin, the director of space and satellite communications at LogicaCMG,
said: "Drilling on the Moon presents some unique challenges
 Anchoring a rig to
the surface, which is covered in a couple of yards of dust, is also something
that will need to be solved."

He added: "The oil industry is keen to help as it is searching for oil in
increasingly extreme environments so it wants drilling rigs that can be
controlled remotely."

Scientists expect the first drilling mission to use a lightweight rig, powered
by solar panels, which will drive a two-inch-wide drill into the surface. Cores
obtained from the drill will be analysed on board and the results beamed back to
earth.

The ESA also hopes to use small, 400lb rockets to fire samples back to the earth
to be analysed.

While Dr Bernard Foing, the ESA's senior research co-ordinator, said there was
"a possibility we will find prebiotic forms of life", Dr Ian Crawford, a
planetary scientist at London University's Birkbeck College, added that drilling
on the Moon would also provide valuable training for exploring other planets.




(When found, they will be auctioned off alongside walrus wangs):

http://www.knbc.com/news/13979613/detail.html
Received on Mon 27 Aug 2007 01:30:41 AM PDT