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Harpooning Comets

If I were to say the harpoon, what would your natural first thought be? Mine would be to think of the classic novel Moby Dick and Captain Aham’s quest to kill Moby. Now NASA is using harpoons in its latest series of experiments to unlock the answers of creation. 

The scientists at NASA are planning to create a harpoon that can penetrate comets. At the moment NASA have a prototype harpoon built that is capable of launching test harpoon tips over a mile away.

Once a comet has been harpooned, scientists then hope to recover samples that will reveal the origins of the planets and how life was created on Earth. 

The scientists at NASA firmly support the theory that some of life's ingredients had formed in space and had been delivered to Earth by meteorite and comet impacts. 

In 2002 NASA launched their Stardust Mission. During the Stardust Mission particle samples were recovered and found to include an amino acid and glycine, which is used by living organisms to create proteins.