Indian lunar probe reportedly picked up signature of carbon compounds

[Ichingcarpenter]

Indian researchers say they have found organic matter on the moon, a discovery that may be seconded by U.S. teams analyzing a plume of debris kicked up by the deliberate crash of a rocket body into a lunar crater.

Finding organic materials on the moon could help scientists understand the history of comet and meteorite impacts, as well as provide valuable resources for future lunar travelers or colonies.

Indian Space Research Organization scientists announced last week that a probe dispatched from the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter detected chemical signatures of organic material. The Moon Impact Probe, or MIP, separated from the Chandrayaan 1 orbiter on Nov. 14, 2008, and flew into Shackleton Crater, located on the moon's south pole.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34449441/ns/technology_and_science-space/

I read this in the Indian Press first but waited to post it until more came out

At a press conference Tuesday at the American Geophysical Union fall conference, scientists from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter also hinted at possible organics locked away in the lunar regolith. When asked directly about the Chandrayaan-1 claim of finding life on the Moon, NASA's chief lunar scientist, Mike Wargo, certainly did not dismiss the idea but said, "It is an intriguing suggestion, and we are certainly very interested in learning more of their results."

Chandrayaan-1's Moon Impact Probe, or MIP impacted the within the Shackleton Crater on the Moon's south pole on Nov. 14, 2008. An anonymous Chandrayaan-1 scientist said MIP's mass spectrometer detected chemical signatures of organic matter in the soil kicked up by the impact.
"Certain atomic numbers were observed that indicated the presence of carbon components. This indicates the possibility of the presence of organic matter (on the Moon)," a senior scientist told DNAIndia.

The scientist added the source of the organics could be comets or meteorites which have deposited the matter on the Moon's surface but the recent discovery by another impact probe — the LCROSS mission — of ice in the polar regions of the Moon also "lend credence to the possibility of organic matter there."

Undoubtedly, getting from carbon compounds directly to organics is a bit of a stretch, but amino acids have been detected in comets and were also found in pieces of the asteroid 2008 TC3 that landed in Africa over a year ago. Over the millennia, the Moon has been bombarded by comet and asteroid hits.

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/12/16/signs-of-life-detected-on-the-moon/

[caraher]

1. I'm confused...

"getting from carbon compounds directly to organics is a bit of a stretch"

I thought the very definition of "organic" in chemistry was a compound containing carbon.

Are they using "organic" to mean something more like "of biological origin?" I could see that as a "stretch," though I thought there was evidence of possible "building blocks or life" in some meteors.

[TheMadMonk]

3. Long chain carbon compouds, or building blocks of same...

ie. amino acids.

Carbonates, diamond contain carbon, but are not considered organic.

[NNadir]

5. The distinction is, however, arbitrary.

This is particularly true of diamond, since diamond is a huge array, a single molecule, with sp³ hybridization, in effect a <0.0.0.0.0.0...> bridged polycycle, which is not to elevate the many zeros of whom I am aware, here and elsewhere.

Surface functionalized diamond, including diamond functionalized with surface hydrogens, is well known, and consideration of that fact is an important area of research in catalysis and materials science.

Similarly carbonate radicals are well known in radiochemistry and electrochemistry, and these tend to be very reactive with hydrogen, giving formates, which can, under the right circumstances exist in an equilibrium setting. Organic or inorganic? You decide.

[bananas]

2. Mushroom spores?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia

[Indenturedebtor]

4. There was actually a really cool video I watched awhile back about that idea

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/badgers

I'm certain that it's mushrooms!

It could also be bacteria:

ISRO finds ‘alien’ life in upper atmosphere

2009-03-17 09:13:28
Bangalore: Indian scientists have discovered three new species of bacteria in the upper atmosphere. The bacteria, highly resistant to ultra-violet radiation, are not found elsewhere on Earth, leading to speculation on whether they are extra-terrestrial in origin.

The Indian Space Research Organisation announced on Monday that the bacteria had been found in the upper stratosphere.

“All the three newly identified species had significantly higher UV resistance compared to their nearest phylogenetic neighbours. One of the three, identified as a member of the genus Janibacter, has been named Janibacter hoylei, the second Bacillus isronensis, and the third Bacillus aryabhata,” ISRO said in a release.

http://sify.com/news/isro-finds-alien-life-in-upper-atmosphere-news-national-jegs2lccdfc.html