Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook

'Serpent Pastor' Dies of Snake Bite Mack Wolford believed faith compelled him to face the risk »

Key Component of Earth Life Found in Comet

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 18, 2009 2:47 PM CDT

(Newser) – An amino acid necessary to the construction of proteins, and therefore life on Earth, has been found in a comet that passes through our solar system, Space.com reports. Glycine was found in samples picked up by a NASA spacecraft in 2004. The discovery suggests... Read full story »

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

You need to Log in to Newser to comment. Don't have an account yet? Sign up now!

23 comments

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

What's Popular Now on Facebook

'Serpent Pastor' Dies of Snake Bite

Miami Face-Eater Identified

Space.com (Source Grid »)

Science

NASA • life • comet • Stardust • spacecraft • amino acids • glycine • panspermia

More Newser Stories

NASA Retires Comet Hunter

Stardust spacecraft will burn out, then fade away

(NEWSER) - NASA's comet-hunting Stardust spacecraft ended its 12-year career with a final experiment. The probe, which has traveled billions of miles since its launch in 1999, was ordered to burn the remaining fuel in its tanks, allowing engineers to calculate how much was left and improve fuel consumption models, Popular Science reports. "I think this is a fitting end for Stardust. It's going down swinging," a NASA engineer said. More»

NASA Spacecraft Set to Rendezvous With Comet

It'll be within 125 miles of Manhattan-sized rock

(NEWSER) - A NASA spacecraft is about to make a massive comet its valentine. If all goes as planned, the Stardust spacecraft will get up close and personal today with a comet half the size of Manhattan that’s hurtling through space at 24,000 miles per hour, the Washington Post reports. The spacecraft will be a scant 125 miles from the rock, called Tempel 1—which is pretty impressive, given that the rendezvous will be 210 million miles from Earth. More»

Astronauts Enter the Dragon

World's first commercial supply ship has 'new car' smell

(AP) - Space station astronauts floated into the Dragon today, a day after its heralded arrival as the world's first commercial supply ship. NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, the first one inside the docked capsule, said the Dragon looks like it carries about as much cargo as his pickup truck back home in Houston. It has the smell of a brand new car, he added. "I spent quite a bit of time poking around in here this morning, just looking at the engineering and the layout, and I'm very pleased," Pettit said from the brilliant white compartment. More»

SpaceX Counts Down to Maiden ISS Mission

Private space firm hopes to dock Dragon next week

(NEWSER) - Commercial space firm SpaceX may be just days away from going where no private company has gone before: the International Space Station. The company is preparing to send its unmanned Dragon capsule on a mission to supply the ISS with 1,100 pounds of food, water, and other cargo. The launch, which could happen as soon as Monday, marks the next step in space strategy for the US after the retirement of the shuttle fleet, the Washington Post notes. NASA aims to turn ISS missions into low-cost, largely private ventures, leaving the agency free to plan missions further afield. More»

Russia's Failed Mars Probe Will Crash to Earth

Phobos-Grunt, carrying toxic fuel, will come down in mid-January

(NEWSER) - A failed Russian spacecraft will plummet back to Earth next month, and more than two dozen chunks of it could make impact, along with a load of toxic fuel. The expected crash date of the Phobos-Grunt probe is mid-January, and nearly 400 pounds of fragments could survive re-entry, reports Fox News . The Russian probe launched last month —it was going to land on one of the moons of Mars and collect samples— but failed to hit its planned trajectory. It's too early to predict where it will come down, but NASA's best bet, as usual, is in an ocean somewhere. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Key Component of Earth Life Found in Comet

NASA • life • comet • Stardust • spacecraft • amino acids • glycine • panspermia

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

NASA Retires Comet Hunter

Stardust spacecraft will burn out, then fade away

NASA Spacecraft Set to Rendezvous With Comet

It'll be within 125 miles of Manhattan-sized rock

Astronauts Enter the Dragon

World's first commercial supply ship has 'new car' smell

SpaceX Counts Down to Maiden ISS Mission

Private space firm hopes to dock Dragon next week

Russia's Failed Mars Probe Will Crash to Earth

Phobos-Grunt, carrying toxic fuel, will come down in mid-January

About Us

Site

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?