Rosetta Spacecraft Picks Up Nasty Scent Of Comet
- 10 years ago
According to the latest scientific evidence, one comet probably smells like a combination of horse urine, rotten eggs, formaldehyde, alcohol and vinegar. The European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft has picked up traces of the chemical compounds present on the comet known as 67P/C-G.
According to recent scientific findings, comet 67P/C-G probably smells like a combination of horse urine, rotten eggs, formaldehyde and alcohol.
The European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft has picked up traces of the chemical compounds present on the comet.
After orbiting the comet since September, there are plans for Rosetta to launch a probe, Philae, that will land on its surface. Before doing that, they had to test the chemicals present using the ROSINA, or the Rosetta orbiter sensor for ion and neutral analysis.
Although the chemical amounts are so small their odors could go undetected by a human, the results of the study show that there is a larger variety of substances than researchers expected.
Kathrin Altwegg, head of the ROSINA project at the Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern, said, “What’s surprising is we already have extremely rich chemistry at this distance from the Sun.”
These findings might help astronomers understand more about the beginning of our solar system, which occurred an estimated 4.6 billion years ago.
According to recent scientific findings, comet 67P/C-G probably smells like a combination of horse urine, rotten eggs, formaldehyde and alcohol.
The European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft has picked up traces of the chemical compounds present on the comet.
After orbiting the comet since September, there are plans for Rosetta to launch a probe, Philae, that will land on its surface. Before doing that, they had to test the chemicals present using the ROSINA, or the Rosetta orbiter sensor for ion and neutral analysis.
Although the chemical amounts are so small their odors could go undetected by a human, the results of the study show that there is a larger variety of substances than researchers expected.
Kathrin Altwegg, head of the ROSINA project at the Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern, said, “What’s surprising is we already have extremely rich chemistry at this distance from the Sun.”
These findings might help astronomers understand more about the beginning of our solar system, which occurred an estimated 4.6 billion years ago.