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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

• 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.

• Continuation of the detection and study of biofossils and organic matter in meteorites and the most ancient terrestrial rocks.
  
  
• Irradiation of formamide samples in the presence of catalysts from different meteorites at JINR's accelerators and reactor. Evaluation of the molecular composition of the mixtures after irradiation.
  
  

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