Source: http://news.yahoo.com/comet-team-detects-organic-molecules-basis-life-earth-161825051.html
The ESA actually defied NASAs protocol and announced that their lander Philae detected molecules of carbon life. This must have really upset NASA. Not only that but they said that they tried to drill 40 cm into the comet floor, but were blown away when they could not. Below the 10-20cm layer of dust the drill stopped as it hit an extremely hard surface. I think it hit the outer metal walls. No ice could withstand a drill. This comet may just be a space station camouflaged to look like a comet so it won't freak out primitive civilizations that spot it flying past. Three hours on the comet and already they released more evidence of life than the NASA did using their Mars Rover for last year and a half. Also the comet mission was substantially cheaper, even though the mission took a whopping 10 years to fly there. The ESA just put a boot in NASA's back side.
Yahoo News states:
BERLIN
(Reuters) - European comet lander Philae 'sniffed' organic molecules
containing the carbon element that is the basis of life on Earth before
its primary battery ran out and it shut down, German scientists said.
They
said it was not yet clear whether they included the complex compounds
that make up proteins. One of the key aims of the mission is to discover
whether carbon-based compounds, and through them, ultimately, life,
were brought to early Earth by comets.
Then goes on to say:
The
lander also drilled into the comet's surface in its hunt for organic
molecules, although it is unclear as yet whether Philae managed to
deliver a sample to COSAC for analysis.
Also
onboard the lander was the MUPUS tool to measure the density and
thermal and mechanical properties of the comet's surface. It showed the
comet's surface was not as soft as previously believed.
A
thermal sensor was supposed to be hammered around 40 cm into the
surface but this did not occur, despite the hammer setting being cranked
up to its highest level.
The
DLR reckons that after passing through a 10-20 cm thick layer of dust,
the sensor hit a layer of material estimated to be as hard as ice.
"It's
a surprise. We didn't expect such hard ice on the ground," Tilman
Spohn, who leads the MUPUS team at the DLR, said in a statement on
Tuesday. (more at source).
