"Have any studies investigated the changes in cellular biology under microgravity? "
-
Exploring the Late Heavy Bombardment
PI: Mojzsis, Stephen
EXPLORING THE HADEAN EARTH
We propose a 3-year project to investigate a record of thermal effects, which include impacts, to the earliest terrestrial crust as recorded by pre-4 Gyr old minerals. We will use these “ground truth” data – verifiable with known examples of shock-metamorphosed samples from terrestrial impacts – as crucial input parameters to existing solar system dynamical models. With this knowledge, we will investigate impact-induced modifications to planetary surfaces (including radiometric age-resetting) with detailed thermal models of rocky planetary crusts. We will use the unique resource of the Hadean zircons to probe the geochemical and dynamical environment of the Hadean Earth’s surface zone, and use this information to place quantitative constraints on habitability.
