Space dust might sound like something out of a 1950s-era science fiction novel, but such particles actually may hold some of the greatest secrets of our universe. The problem is that the material is extremely difficult to examine, especially when larger meteorites are more available.

In a Feb. 3 study done by researchers at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., it is now possible to analyze extremely small dust, comet particles and other extraterrestrial material for certain organic compounds such as amino acids: the building blocks of life.

Michael Callahan of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center and lead investigator of the study said examining small materials almost as thoroughly as meteorites could prove useful in examining these organic components.

It started out kind of a technical challenge, he said. Looking at very small samples just is always difficult, even when its not even a meteorite sample If we knew that we could be successful doing these techniques and methods, [we could] look at very specific organic molecules which are the classes of amino acids.

The new analysis is made possible through a new technique aided by a previously used nanoflow liquid chromatography instrument, which separates mixtures into their components.

If we could do this on meteorite samples, we could do this on other very small extraterrestrial materials like interplanetary dust particles and potentially cometary particles that were returned from NASA missions, he said. These later types of samples are much less studied and really havent been studied for these biologically relevant molecules.

Researchers were motivated because current methods of analyzing small particles of extraterrestrial material did not prove successful in identifying organic compounds, Callahan said.

Existing methods are not well suited for these classes of organic compounds in extraterrestrial samples, he clarified in a subsequent email.

So Callahan and his team of researchers decided to build on previous techniques of analyzing organic molecules, but with a more specific focus.

Callahan says the technique is based on the dissection of a meteorite.

See original here:

Smaller is better: Researchers at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., discover new technique to ...