Author name: Gregory T. Shanos PharmD

Gregory T. Shanos, PharmD, is a pharmacist by profession and NASA Solar System Ambassador by passion. Greg is an avid amateur astronomer and member of the St. Petersburg Astronomy Club (SPAC) Local Group of Deep Sky Observers (LGDSO) and Museum Astronomical Resource Society (MARS) in Florida. Greg’s interest in astronomy began in 1985 with the apparition of Halley’s Comet. His passion for meteorites began a year later when Sky & Telescope advertised authentic meteorites for sale. After purchasing three iron meteorites for a total of $60, he was hooked for life! Dr. Shanos has also published over 30 review articles in Meteorite magazine regarding organic compounds in meteorites. Greg has lectured extensively on various astronomical topics and has submitted observational data on meteors, comets and grazing occultations that have been published by the International Meteor Association, International Occultation Timing Association and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. He has also participated in distributive computing projects such as SETI@home and Stardust@home. An avid eclipse chaser, Greg has witnessed thirteen total solar eclipses, three annular and the entire transits of Venus from Greece and Hawaii. Recent advances in digital technology have led Dr. Shanos into planetary and deep sky astrophotography. Other hobbies include playing folk and pop classics on my Guild D55 acoustic guitar. In addition, Greg has been studying the martial arts and earned his blackbelt in Mi Zong Long Horn, a Northern Shaolin Kung Fu System in 2007. Currently Greg is studying Chen Style Tai Chi and Yoga.

Returned Sample Identification of Organic Compounds from Asteroid Ryugu

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The Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) launched a spacecraft named Hayabusa2 to study asteroid 162173 Ryugu on December 3, 2014. Hayabusa2 arrived at Ryugu on June 27, 2018 then successfully orbited, mapped and sampled the asteroid. On Dec. 6, 2020, the Hayabusa2 returned to earth and released a capsule containing a sample of the asteroid. I published an article entitled: Initial […]

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Initial Sample Return Analysis from Asteroid Ryugu

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The Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) launched a spacecraft named Hayabusa2 (Hayabusa means Falcon) to study asteroid 162173 Ryugu on December 3, 2014. Ryugu is classified as a C-type carbonaceous asteroid. (See figure 1) Hayabusa2 arrived at Ryugu on June 27, 2018 then successfully orbited and mapped the asteroid. The spacecraft soon deployed a series of two rovers and a small

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An Extraterrestrial Protein identified in the Allende & Acfer 086 CV3 Carbonaceous Chondrites

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The year 1969 was a pivotal point in the history of space science. The Allende CV3 carbonaceous chondrite fell on February 8, 1969 in Chihuahua Mexico, Apollo 11 landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969, and the Murchison CM2 carbonaceous chondrite fell on September 28, 1969 in Victoria, Australia. Sandwiched between all these incredible events was the Woodstock Music

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Extraterrestrial Produced Sugar: Ribose in the Murchison Meteorite

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The fall of the Murchison meteorite on September 28, 1969 in Victoria, Australia is perhaps one of the most serendipitous events in the history of science. (See photo 1) This single meteorite has revolutionized our understanding from the formation of the solar system to the origins of life on Earth. This information is contained in a single element namely carbon!

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Initial Identification of Extraterrestrial Amino Acids in the Aguas Zarcas CM2 Carbonaceous Chondrite

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A large fireball was witnessed on April 23, 2019 at 9:09 p.m. local time by residents in Costa Rica.   As the meteor entered the Earth’s atmosphere, it broke apart and deposited meteorites centered upon the small town of Aguas Zarcas.   Early reports indicated that this meteorite belongs to a special group called carbonaceous chondrites which are typically rich in

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