"Maldek" sounds a little like Marduk, I think. Another Babylonian connection here. Was this the supposed Earth-like 5th planet that blew up, leaving the asteroid belt?

Hoagland on Enterprise Mission has something on this relating to the Deep Impact mission. Apparently, the composition of comet Tempel I included limestone-like deposits which could only have formed in the presence of oceans, and powdery "sand" which was the product of erosion. Hence Tempel I might have been a fragment of a large, well-developed planetary body and not a mere "dirty snowball".