Asteroid Bennu Probes Reveal Key Ingredients for Life

NASA’s Osiris-Rex mission uncovers organic molecules and salts in Bennu samples, offering new insights into the origins of life in the solar system.

Probes from asteroid Bennu, delivered to Earth in September 2023 by NASA's Osiris-Rex mission, contained a rich variety of organic molecules and minerals.
Scientists identified all five nucleobases of DNA and RNA, as well as 14 of the 20 amino acids essential for life on Earth.
The samples revealed evidence of ancient saltwater reservoirs, which may have created conditions conducive to the formation of complex organic compounds.
The findings strengthen the theory that life's building blocks could have been delivered to Earth via meteorites or asteroids in the early solar system.
These results, published in 'Nature' and 'Nature Astronomy,' suggest that similar processes may have occurred on other celestial bodies, increasing the likelihood of life elsewhere in the universe.