(Photo : ESA - C. Carreau/ATG medialab)
Posted on 11/15/2014 1:28:14 AM PST by Swordmaker
ROSINA, the mass spectrometer aboard the Rosetta spacecraft gives scientists an idea how comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko smells like: it stinks.
Given its distance from the Earth, it seems far-fetched to have an idea what comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the target comet of the Rosetta mission, smells like.
The Rosetta spacecraft of the European Space Agency has so far hinted scientists on how the comet looks like but it appears that the robotic space probe isn't just equipped to take images. It also has an instrument on board that can give scientists clues on what the comet smells like. Rosetta has a device called Rosetta Orbiter Sensor for Ion and Neutral Analysis, or ROSINA, a mass spectrometer which can analyze the signature of gas from the comet's coma that envelops 67P/C-G as it draws closer to the sun.
With the aid of ROSINA, scientists can "smell" the comet and it appears that its whiff is not something that people want to be nearby. ROSINA principal investigator Kathrin Altwegg described the scent to be a mixture of rotten eggs, horse stable, formaldehyde and alcohol, which means that the comet stinks.
Altwegg said that the "perfume" of the comet is a bit strong due to the presence of hydrogen sulphide which gives off the odor of rotten eggs, ammonia that smells like horse stable and formaldehyde.
"This is mixed with the faint, bitter, almond-like aroma of hydrogen cyanide," Altwegg said. "Add some whiff of alcohol (methanol) to this mixture, paired with the vinegar-like aroma of sulphur dioxide and a hint of the sweet aromatic scent of carbon disulphide."
ROSINA detected molecules that include ammonia, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulphide and methane. The scientists behind ROSINA believed that only carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, the most volatile molecules would be released as the icy surface of the comet begins to warm and the detection of the instrument of a number of different molecules at this stage when the comet is still more than 400 million kilometers from the Sun actually comes as a surprise.
ESA said that a detailed analysis of the chemical makeup of the comet and how this changes when the comet becomes more active will help scientists determine the composition of the comet.
The Rosetta mission was launched to orbit around 67P/C-G and land the Philae lander on its surface in a bid to learn more about the comet, which scientists hope could light on the history of the solar system. Rosetta's lander is scheduled for landing on the surface of the comet next month.
Recent revelations about comets are more easily understood when an electric comet theory is considered. Black, burned nuclei (Haley’s comet); craters and rocky landscapes instead of ice fields (Comet Wild 2); energetic jets; ion tails; sulfur compounds that require high temperatures to form; and an abundance of ultra-fine dust all point to electricity as an active agent. Most important of all, water vapor is more prevalent farther away from comet nuclei than close in—the exact opposite of what should be found if water ice and sublimation drive cometary jets. — Water, Water, Non-Existent (on 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko Thunderbolts.info September 9, 2014
And astronauts who walked on the Moon also reported that the odor they found there was quite sulfurous:
“All I can say is that everyone's instant impression of the smell was that of spent gunpowder, not that it was 'metallic' or 'acrid'. Spent gunpowder smell probably was much more implanted in our memories than other comparable odors," said Apollo 17's Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, a scientist-astronaut who walked the moon's surface in December of 1972.Schmitt said that he believed all the moonwalkers agreed and commented at the time that, when they took their helmets off, 'fresh' regolith (the scientific name for moon dirt) in the cabin air smelled like spent gunpowder. [Apollo Quiz: Are You A Moon Landing Expert?]
"For what it is worth, I always have suspected that the olfactory sensors are reacting to a variety of unsatisfied electron bonds as one would have in both just fired gunpowder and lunar dust newly introduced in the cabin," Schmitt said. "By the way, the time from starting re-pressurization [of the lunar lander] to my first comment about gunpowder was almost exactly seven minutes." — The Moon Smells: Apollo Astronauts Describe Lunar Aroma, Space.Com, August 25, 2014
Again, the orthodox cosmologists are surprised at the findings when a comet is composed of something OTHER than ice! In fact they are finding little to no ice. . . and the compounds are NOT the carbon dioxide, water, and carbon monoxide they expected to found. Nope. Instead they are finding sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon disulphide (CS2), ( (ammonia (NH3), formaldehyde (CH2O), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), methanol (CH3OH) hydrogen sulphide (H2S), and methane (CH4). There are plenty of building blocks there to break down into H2O, but that was one thing they did not find. SURPRISE!
Are they sure it didn’t land in Chicago?
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That is a distinct possibility if it didn't land on a garbage barge in the East River. . . They are still trying to figure out exactly where it bounced to.
Maybe that’s why nobody is living there. All the aliens escaped to another comet.
So it smells like Putin?
Hey it’s French, would you expect anything less...I’m sure it’s a familier odor
...it makes your teeth turn green...
Why are “scientists” telling us how something sound and smells in the vacuum of space? transmits sound through space, nor could a person smell the comet.
Great. It smells like Occupy Wall St..
...Tastes just like gasoline.
CC
Yep. The horse urine smell reminds me of the alleys of New Orleans. Mostly used beer.
Not true. Water is the most abundant constituent of comet nuclei -- they simply focused on the most unusual components for this press story.
Here's the mass spectra that ROSINA detected:
The peak at amu 18 is water (H2O)
I would expect this one to be relatively dry since its a short term comet and has made lots of passes around the sun.
So no dirty snowball?
Actually it was Newark!
“smells like of horse urine, vinegar, rotten eggs”
That`s what my daughter said about her Moochie school lunch/
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