Michael Zolensky
Michael Zolensky
came history perhaps solar water
Much of the earth's water and organics perhaps came from comets. This can give us a history of organics in the solar system.
atoms basically came delivered earth minerals molecules perhaps rocks samples small water
They are very small rocks, but they are rocks nonetheless. And what do these minerals tell us about how these grains form? We think that much of the Earth's water and organics ... perhaps came from comets. So what will these samples tell us about basically where our atoms and molecules came from and then how they were delivered to Earth and in what amount?
collectors covered maybe open
We thought maybe the collectors wouldn't open properly, or maybe they would be covered with gunk from the spacecraft.
arrived atoms bodies formed learn materials trying water
We are trying to learn more about comets to see what the first materials were like or how water arrived on Earth. It's important because all the atoms in our bodies were formed from the stars.
came molecules water
We think much of the earth's water and organics . . . the molecules in our bodies, perhaps, came from comets.
catching days exactly job opened pleased time worried
We were really worried about that and got more and more worried as time went by. So when we opened the tray just two days ago in the lab, we were pleased to find that everything went exactly right -- just fabulous. We couldn't have done a better job catching these particles.
exactly opened
But we opened the tray, and everything went exactly right. It's fabulous.
huge laughing saw talking
When we saw the huge impacts, we all started laughing and talking excitedly.
explode large might pass
We thought we might be able to see grains if they were large enough, but we really didn't know what would happen. They might just disintegrate and explode or pass all the way through.
few study tiny
There are so few of them and they are so tiny that we have little idea how to study them today.
time
We had a long time to come up with all of the things that could go wrong.
coming information quickly
You'll see a lot of information coming out quickly from these samples.
disposal studied
I was 8 years old. We studied wastewater disposal and planets.
qualified samples wants
By this week, more than 200 samples will be circulating. Everyone who wants one, and who is qualified to do the analysis, will have one.