The team that flew Thursday will continue to test the Miller-Urey experiment, which involves the production of amino acids - the building blocks of proteins - from basic gases.

The Miller-Urey experiment has become a classic, and is often repeated in school laboratories. The decades since, however, have enabled a better understanding of early earth, including a key finding.

the Miller-Urey experiment, which used a laboratory device that replicated the early Earth to create lightning-like discharges and synthesize the amino acids that gave rise to life.

The experiment was such a long shot that Miller’s adviser, Harold Urey, thought it a waste of time. But over the next few days, the water turned deep red. Miller had created a broth of amino acids.

American chemist Stanley Miller, using original laboratory equipment, recreates the Miller-Urey experiment, which supported the scientific theory that life could emerge from nonliving molecules.

American chemist Stanley Miller, using original laboratory equipment, recreates the Miller-Urey experiment, which supported the scientific theory that life could emerge from nonliving molecules.

The Miller-Urey experiment, as it is now known, supported the scientific theory of abiogenesis: that life could emerge from nonliving molecules.