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Recognizing life in the Solar System: guidance from meteoritic organic matter

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 February 2006

Mark A. Sephton
Affiliation:
Impacts and Astromaterials Research Centre, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ e-mail: [email protected]
Oliver Botta
Affiliation:
GEST NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 699, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA

Abstract

In the next decade, numerous space missions will attempt to detect organic matter on planets and other objects in the Solar System. Recognizing carbon-based life or its remains will be a fundamental goal of future missions. In preparation, studies of organic matter in meteorites are enabling scientists how to discriminate between biogenic and abiogenic materials.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press

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