Russian scientists will soon start an experiment on collecting dust particles from ISON comet in Antarctica.
Researchers intend to check the hypothesis of the possibility of transferring organic substances from one planet to another.
This has been reported in the Russian mass media with reference to Sergey Bulat, a research officer of the eucaryote genetics laboratory of the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute.
Polar explorers of the Antarctic Station Vostok are engaged in collecting dust particles. Researches will be held all January long. Scientists will spread special 150 square meter large polyethylene cloths on snow in the vicinities of Station Vostok. Then these cloths will be filled in with inert gas argon to force out oxygen, and then in this frozen state will be transported on board the Academician Fedorov ship to Petersburg, since these particles can be studied only through a laboratory microscope.
Cometary particles cause interest of scientists first of all because they represent primary substance of the Solar system. Scientists expect to find organic molecules on these dust particles. It has something to do with the mystery of the origin of life. According to scientists, it makes sense to collect meteoric dust in Antarctica, because this region of the planet Earth is least polluted, the atmosphere is pure, and extraterrestrial dust is comparatively simple to be segregated.
Author: Vera Ivanova