Final answer:
One major obstacle that Wachtershauser faced in validating his theory in 1985 was skepticism and resistance from the scientific community. Scientists demanded more evidence and a clear mechanism that would fit their understanding of nature. Developing an understanding of the mechanism and providing additional evidence would take time and further research in the field.
Step-by-step explanation:
One major obstacle that Wachtershauser faced in validating his theory in 1985 was skepticism and resistance from the scientific community. Similar to Wegener's continental drift hypothesis or Chandrasekhar's ideas about the death of stars with cores greater than 1.4 Msun, Wachtershauser's theory was met with hostility from many scientists.
Scientists maintained a skeptical attitude and demanded more evidence and a clear mechanism that would fit their understanding of nature. They needed strong supporting evidence and a mechanism to explain Wachtershauser's theory before accepting it.
Developing an understanding of the mechanism and providing additional evidence would take time and further research in the field, just as in the cases of Wegener and Chandrasekhar.