Organic Matter Responses to Radiation under Lunar Conditions.

Large bodies, such as the Moon, that have remained relatively unaltered for long periods of time have the potential to preserve a record of organic chemical processes from early in the history of the Solar System. A record of volatiles and impactors may be preserved in buried lunar regolith layers that have been capped by protective lava flows. Of particular interest is the possible preservation of prebiotic organic materials delivered by ejected fragments of other bodies, including those originating from the surface of early Earth.

The Moon as a recorder of organic evolution in the early solar system: a lunar regolith analog study.

The organic record of Earth older than ∼3.8 Ga has been effectively erased. Some insight is provided to us by meteorites as well as remote and direct observations of asteroids and comets left over from the formation of the Solar System.

Type IV kerogens as analogues for organic macromolecular materials in aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrites.

Understanding the processes involved in the evolution of organic matter in the early Solar System requires extensive experimental work. The scientifically valuable carbonaceous chondrites are principal targets for organic analyses, but these meteorites are rare. Meteoritic analog materials available in larger quantities, on which experiments can be performed, would be highly beneficial.

Pumice as a remarkable substrate for the origin of life.

The context for the emergence of life on Earth sometime prior to 3.5 billion years ago is almost as big a puzzle as the definition of life itself. Hitherto, the problem has largely been addressed in terms of theoretical and experimental chemistry plus evidence from extremophile habitats like modern hydrothermal vents and meteorite impact structures.