O2 on a comet? They can't even provide adequate coverage on earth.
I bet the roaming fees are astronomical though.
One of the big surprises in the Rosetta probe's visit to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko was the 2015 announcement that the rock was surrounded by a thin cloud of molecular oxygen. The discovery, announced in October 2015, set boffins scratching their heads. Since, it was assumed at the time, the oxygen had accompanied the …
If this was the mechanism there would be twice the amount of molecular hydrogen produced. Whilst this wouldn't be as gravitationally bound as the oxygen I would have expected significant detection of it in the 'atmosphere' and especially in the comet's plume but I can find no report of either. There is the possibility of chemical reaction with CO, CN etc to form some of the larger molecules they did find but a plausible mechanism for that reaction cycle would then be needed ...
> The hydrogen combines with other materials and is bound to solid materials on the surface ...
That is the part that I find a "very optimistic" thought ...
UV that breaks H2O up? ok ... but hydrogen gas that "combines" with solids on the surface, you need quite some energy for that and, if you have the energy, you have to keep oxygen away ... :-\ This makes little sense imho and I am not a physicist ...
"UV that breaks H2O up? ok ... but hydrogen gas that "combines" with solids on the surface, you need quite some energy for that and, if you have the energy, you have to keep oxygen away ... "
As I said, there has to be a mechanism which doesn't result in significant quanities of free hydrogen...
"ways in which oxygen could be produced on the comet: photolysis and radiolysis of water, solar wind–surface interactions, [motocross racing, space dolphins, crashed NASA weather baloon, ants (those guys get everywhere, especially during the summer months), Furbys, outplaced IBM engineers, crashed garbage pod filled with old SCUBA diving gear,] and gas-phase collisions have all been observed in cometary environments."
Indeed.