Members of the first Russian Antarctic meteoric expedition of the Ural Federal University intend to find there the substance, which possibly caused the advent of life on the Earth, the head of the expedition, Prof. Victor Grokhovsky reported to TASS.
"The biological material, which became the reason for the life on this planet, might have been brought to the Earth by a meteorite, but that is a controversial issue. During the Antarctic expedition we will collect the samples of matter that will help scientists study the subject of archebiosis in more detail. In particular, we aim at finding this biological matter", - he said.
To start with, the expedition members plan to collect space dust by melting ice. "This continent is a unique place with concentration of extraterrestrial matter. In the areas of blue ice located there the concentration of extraterrestrial matter is several hundreds of thousands times higher, than on this planet in general. The Antarctic ice is a centuries-old conveyor of everything that has ever fallen from the sky", - Mr. Grokhovsky explained.
"We plan to start the expedition to Antarctica on November 22, 2015. Presently its members are being trained in the Pamirs in Kyrgyzstan. They master mountaineering skills and adapt to severe climatic conditions", - he added.
It will take around 10 million rubles to carry out the first expedition to Antarctica. According to Mr. Grokhovsky, with the help of sponsors, fundraising on internet and financing of the Ural Federal University they have obtained nearly half of the amount required.
Meanwhile, the organizers of the expedition go on admitting memebership applications from both Russian and foreign scientists, for instance, from the Czech Republic and Finland.
Author: Vera Ivanova