Chang'e Mission Samples Reveal How Exogenous Organic Matter Evolves On The Moon - Astrobiology

Moon dust preserves record of life’s building blocks – Astronomy Now

Schematic illustration of the formation and evolution of organic matter in lunar soil. Credit: HAO Jialong’s Group. The Moon may preserve a record of the raw ingredients that helped life begin on Earth. New analysis of lunar samples returned by China’s Chang’e missions has revealed a diverse suite of organic compounds embedded within the soil. They offer a rare glimpse of the early Solar System’s chemistry that has long since been erased from ou…

Chang'e Mission Samples Reveal How Exogenous Organic Matter Evolves On The Moon - Astrobiology

Elements essential to life, such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur, were “delivered” to the Earth and Moon during the early stages of the Solar System via asteroids and comets impacting their surfaces. These exogenous materials may have provided the chemical building blocks necessary for the origin and early evolution of life on Earth. […] The post Chang’e Mission Samples Reveal How Exogenous Organic Matter Evolves On The Moon …