Understanding the Origin and Evolution of Earth`s Biosphere via CubeSats

One of the greatest mysteries facing science is understanding the origin and evolution
of Earth’s biosphere. Comets and asteroids may well be the vector used to deliver organic
compounds to the Earth billions of years ago and much research has gone into studying
both. While missions such as the Rosetta spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, and NASA’s upcoming
CAESAR (Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return) spacecraft provide invaluable
science, they are extremely prohibitive due to cost and production time. Faster and far more
timely are CubeSat missions that monitor controlled substances of cometary and asteroidal
substances. By performing experiments on CubeSats payloads of known substances in the
natural environment of space, we will better understand the rich astrochemistry present in
the early Solar System and its relation to organic synthesis on the prebiotic Earth.

Simulated mass spectrometer readings for a cometary sample at the initial (left) and final
(right) stages of a one-year CubeSat mission in low-Earth orbit. The sample begins with
an average cometary composition, and its chemical composition is evolved over time. Peak
heights are normalized to 100 counts for the H 2 O peak (mass-to-charge ratio or m/z = 18).
While laboratory work is important, it can never fully replicate the space environment at
which prebiotic compounds evolve, and thus CubeSat missions become invaluable.