A new model suggests that
most young planetary systems start with several close - in, rocky planets, which later destroy each other in a cascade of collisions.
In a fascinating set of projects we will look at the smallest scales and back in time, probing the mineralogy and composition of micron - sized grains in ancient meteorites using the
most sophisticated microscopic techniques, to explore the history of volatiles and organics in
planetary building blocks at the time when the Solar
System was
young.