RSSA - Meteorites and the origins of Earth’s oceans

Did the ingredients for life on Earth come from outer space? Many planetary scientists believe that meteorites rich in water and organic matter seeded the early Earth with bioessential compounds, making the oceans and creating conditions needed for the evolution of life. In this lecture I will describe results of current research on these space rocks including insights from the recent missions by NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to collect samples of primitive water-rich asteroids, and the fall of the Winchcombe meteorite in 2021, which was a pivotal event for UK planetary science.