The best viewing of this storm will be in eastern Asia and the western Pacific region. NASA's mission consists of two research aircraft that will carry a broad array of scientific instruments to observe and explore the meteors. We are especially interested in learning the composition of Tempel-Tuttle's debris, the molecules that are created during the meteor's interaction with the Earth's atmosphere, and the composition and chemistry of the atoms, molecules and particles detected in the meteor's path. This may help us understand how extraterrestrial materials helped create the conditions on Earth necessary for the origin of life. The Leonid mission is NASA's first operational astrobiology mission.
Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution and destiny of life in the universe.
The mission may provide important clues about what extraterrestrial materials were brought to Earth by comets, and what part that may have played in the beginnings of life on Earth, as well as clues on how biogenic compounds formed in stars are eventually incorporated into planets. It will carry a two-beam Lidar, a type of radar with light pulses that measures the altitude of neutral atom debris in the meteor trails. Other instruments include airglow, visible wavelength imagers and high-definition TV cameras. Scientists aboard the first aircraft are seeking to learn how a meteor's mass compares to its brightness and to the mass of the resulting comet. Currently, they can only guess how much material enters the atmosphere during a meteor bombardment.