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Cometary coma chemical composition (C4) missionCometary missions are of enormous fundamental importance for many different space science disciplines, including exobiology. Comets are presumed relics of the earliest, most primitive material in the solar nebula and are related to the planetesimals. They undoubtedly provided a general enrichment of volatiles to the inner solar system (contributing to atmospheres and oceans) and may have been key to the origin of life. A Discovery class, comet rendezvous mission, the Cometary Coma Chemical Composition (C4) Mission, was selected for further study by NASA earlier this year. The C4 Mission is a highly focused and usefully-limited subset of the Cometary Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) Mission, concentrating exclusively on measurements which will lead to an understanding of the chemical composition and make-up of the cometary nucleus. The scientific goals of the Cometary Coma Chemical Composition (C4) Mission are to rendezvous with a short-period comet and (1) to determine the elemental, chemical, and isotopic composition of the nucleus and (2) to characterize the chemical and isotopic nature of its atmosphere. Further, it is a goal to obtain preliminary data on the development of the coma (dust and gas composition) as a function of time and orbital position.
Document ID
19950032174
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Carle, G. C.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, US, United States)
Clark, B. C.
(Martin Marietta Civil Space & Communications, Denver, CO US, United States)
Niemann, H. B.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, US, United States)
Alexander, M.
(Baylor University Waco, TX, US, United States)
Knocke, P. C.
(Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Cal. Tech., Pasadena, CA US, United States)
O'Hara, B. J.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, US, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
June 1, 1994
Publication Information
Publication: Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere
Volume: 24
Issue: 2-4
ISSN: 0169-6149
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Accession Number
95A63773
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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