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The Apollo program and amino acidsApollo lunar sample analyses designed to detect the presence of organic compounds are reviewed, and the results are discussed from the viewpoint of relevance to laboratory experiments on the synthesis of amino acids and to theoretical models of cosmochemical processes resulting in the formation of organic compounds. Glycine, alanine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, serine, and threonine have been found repeatedly in the hydrolyzates of hot aqueous extracts of lunar dust. These compounds represent an early step in the sequence of events leading to the rise of living material and were probably deposited by the solar wind. The results of the Apollo program so far suggest that the pathway from cosmic organic matter to life as it evolved on earth could have been pursued on the moon to the stage of amino acid precursors and then may have been terminated for lack of sufficient water.
Document ID
19740041452
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Fox, S. W.
(Miami, University Coral Gables, Fla., United States)
Date Acquired
August 7, 2013
Publication Date
December 1, 1973
Publication Information
Publication: Science and Public Affairs
Subject Category
Biosciences
Accession Number
74A24202
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NGR-10-009-008
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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