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2mo ago

NASA's Bennu Sample Reveals Key Ingredients for Life Beyond Earth

Organic molecules, amino acids, and evidence of water in asteroid Bennu samples offer new insights into the origins of life in the Solar System.

A top-down view of the OSIRIS-REx Touch-and-Go-Sample-Acquisition-Mechanism (TAGSAM) head with the lid removed, revealing the remainder of the asteroid sample inside. The picture was taken using manual high-resolution precision photography and a semi-automated focus stacking procedure. The result is an image that can be zoomed in on to show extreme detail of the sample. The remaining sample material includes dust and rocks up to about 0.4 inch in size.
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A vein of sodium carbonate appears like needles, falsely colored in purple to show detail, within the clay-rich rock of the Bennu sample. Each needle is less than 1 micrometer wide.
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Overview

  • Samples from asteroid Bennu, collected by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, contain organic molecules, including all five nucleobases essential for DNA and RNA.
  • Researchers identified 14 of the 20 amino acids used in Earth's proteins, along with rare non-protein amino acids, in the pristine asteroid material.
  • Evidence of water was found in the form of salt minerals, suggesting Bennu's parent body once had a wet or muddy environment conducive to prebiotic chemistry.
  • The findings support the theory that asteroids could have delivered the building blocks of life to Earth and other planetary bodies in the Solar System.
  • This discovery highlights the potential for similar life-enabling compounds to exist throughout the Universe, expanding the scope of astrobiological research.