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Research on Cosmic Matter on the Earth and in Nearby Space;
Research on the Biological and Geochemical Specifics of the Early Earth

Research and development will include:

• Biogeochemical studies of cosmic dust
  
  
• Studies of biofossils and organic compounds in meteorites and ancient terrestrial rocks
  
  
• Studies of cosmic matter with nuclear physics methods
  
  
• As a result of studying and generalizing the research materials on modern and fossil cosmic dust as well as ancient terrestrial objects and modern organisms of the extreme ecosystems, data will be obtained on the forms of ancient terrestrial and extraterrestrial life.
  

As the results:

• Obtaining new data on the amount of cosmic matter falling on the whole Earth's surface.
  
  
• Obtaining data on the dynamics of cosmic dust fallout on large territories.
  
  
• Evaluation of the following parameters of particles of extraterrestrial origin (focusing on carbonaceous chondrites): morphology, structure, size distribution, and elemental, isotopic, and mineralogical composition. Assessment of changes in these characteristics in different plates in different time intervals.
  
  
• Creation of a cosmic dust collection, where dust microparticles will be characterized by quantity (concentration) and the size distribution.
  
  
• Cosmic dust research with spacecraft at the altitudes of 300 - 600 km: data generalization; creation of a comparative collection that is necessary for the isolation of the space component of the samples from the Earth's surface.
  
  
• Obtaining new information on the role of microorganisms in the formation and evolution of life on the Earth and processes of weathering, precipitation growth, etc.
  
  
• Obtaining data on Archaean and Proterozoic microfossils (including possible eukaryotic organisms) from different regions and microfossils in ancient residual soils and volcanogenic sedimentary rocks. The new data will be compared with data on younger - Phanerozoic - rocks.
  
  
• Generalization of the obtained data on the forms of ancient terrestrial and extraterrestrial life.

Expected main results in 2013:

• Detection and study of biofossils and organic matter in meteorites and the most ancient terrestrial rocks.
  
  
• Development of methods of detecting microorganism remnants in Archean and Proterozoic rocks and evaluating the level of their organization.
  
  
  
  

List of Activities
	Activity or Experiment	Leader	Status
	Laboratory and Responsible person	Main researchers for the Laboratory
1.	Studies of biofossils in meteorites and ancient terrestrial rocks	A.Yu. Rozanov E.A. Krasavin	Data taking Realization Simulation
	LRB	+ 2 pers.
2.	Biogeochemical and biological studies of cosmic dust	L.M. Gindilis	Data taking Realization Simulation
	LRB	+ 3 pers.
3.	Cosmic matter research with nuclear physics methods	V.N. Shvetsov	Data taking Realization Simulation
	FLNP	I.A. Bobrikov, A.Yu. Dmitriev, P.V. Sedyshev, M.V. Frontasyeva

Collaboration
Country or International Organization	City	Institute or Laboratory
Italy	Rome	Univ. "La Sapienza"
	Viterbo	UNTUS
Norway	Trondheim	NTNU
Poland	Poznan	AMU
Romania	Bucharest	UB
Russia	Moscow	IGEM RAS
		IKI RAS
		MSU
		PIN RAS
		SAI MSU
	Borok	IPE RAS
	Gatchina	PNPI
	Novosibirsk	BIC SB RAS
United Kingdom	Buckingham	UB
USA	Athens, AL	ASU

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