All articles tagged with #water on earth
China’s Chang’e-6 mission discovered fragile CI chondrite meteorite fragments on the Moon’s far side, suggesting ancient asteroid impacts delivered water and volatiles to the Moon and Earth, potentially influencing the development of life and reshaping our understanding of early Solar System processes.
A new study reanalyzing data from the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission suggests that comets, particularly Jupiter-family comets like Comet 67P, may have played a significant role in delivering water to Earth. The study found that the deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H) ratio of Comet 67P is closer to Earth's than previously thought, indicating that comets could have been major contributors to Earth's water supply. This challenges earlier beliefs that comets were unlikely sources of Earth's water.
An international team of astronomers has identified dark comets, which may constitute up to 60% of near-Earth objects, as potential carriers of water to Earth in the distant past. These objects, originating from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, contain small amounts of ice and could have contributed to seeding Earth with water and possibly life-essential molecules.