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NASA’s OSIRIS-REx ngo delivered samples from asteroid Bennu, revealing important molecules linked to life, including amino acids and nucleobases recovered successful DNA and RNA. The beingness of ammonia and formaldehyde suggests conditions ripe for forming analyzable molecules successful space.
Scientists besides discovered a suite of evaporite minerals, indicating Bennu erstwhile had water-rich environments that could person supported prebiotic chemistry. The ngo highlights nan wide imaginable for life’s building blocks crossed nan star system, leaving unfastened nan mobility of why Earth remains nan only known big of life.
Asteroid Bennu’s Secrets: Ingredients for Life?
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft has brought backmost stone and particulate samples from asteroid Bennu, revealing molecules basal for life connected Earth. Scientists besides recovered grounds of ancient saltwater, which could person served arsenic nan “broth” that helped these molecules interact and germinate into much analyzable compounds.
While nan findings do not show grounds for life itself, they propose that nan early star strategy had nan correct conditions for life to emerge, making it much apt that life could person formed connected different planets and moons.
“NASA’s OSIRIS-REx ngo already is rewriting nan textbook connected what we understand astir nan beginnings of our star system,” said Nicky Fox, subordinate administrator, Science Mission Directorate astatine NASA Headquarters successful Washington. “Asteroids supply a clip capsule into our location planet’s history, and Bennu’s samples are pivotal successful our knowing of what ingredients successful our star strategy existed earlier life started connected Earth.”
The root of life is 1 of nan deepest mysteries successful science, but nan clues to solving it person been buried by sheet tectonics, nan h2o cycle, and moreover life itself. For answers, scientists are looking beyond Earth to primitive asteroids for illustration Bennu, nan target of NASA’s daring OSIRIS-REx sample return mission. OSIRIS-REx gathered pristine worldly from Bennu successful 2020 and delivered it to Earth successful 2023. Now, rocks from Bennu are revealing a mislaid world from nan dawn of nan star system, pinch nan correct conditions to foster nan building blocks of life. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Unveiling Life’s Building Blocks successful Space
In investigation papers published successful nan journals Nature and Nature Astronomy, scientists from NASA and different institutions shared results of nan first in-depth analyses of nan minerals and molecules successful nan Bennu samples, which OSIRIS-REx delivered to Earth successful 2023.
Detailed successful nan Nature Astronomy paper, among nan astir compelling detections were amino acids – 14 of nan 20 that life connected Earth uses to make proteins – and each 5 nucleobases that life connected Earth uses to shop and transmit familial instructions successful much analyzable terrestrial biomolecules, specified arsenic DNA and RNA, including really to put amino acids into proteins.
Scientists besides described exceptionally precocious abundances of ammonia successful nan Bennu samples. Ammonia is important to biology because it tin respond pinch formaldehyde, which besides was detected successful nan samples, to shape analyzable molecules, specified arsenic amino acids – fixed nan correct conditions. When amino acids nexus up into agelong chains, they make proteins, which spell connected to powerfulness astir each biologic function.

A Pristine Sample, Untouched by Earth
These building blocks for life detected successful nan Bennu samples person been recovered earlier successful extraterrestrial rocks. However, identifying them successful a pristine sample collected successful abstraction supports nan thought that objects that formed acold from nan Sun could person been an important root of nan earthy precursor ingredients for life passim nan star system.
“The clues we’re looking for are truthful minuscule and truthful easy destroyed aliases altered from vulnerability to Earth’s environment,” said Danny Glavin, a elder sample intelligence astatine NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center successful Greenbelt, Maryland, and co-lead writer of nan Nature Astronomy paper. “That’s why immoderate of these caller discoveries would not beryllium imaginable without a sample-return mission, meticulous contamination-control measures, and observant curation and retention of this precious worldly from Bennu.”

Tracing Bennu’s Watery Past
While Glavin’s squad analyzed nan Bennu samples for hints of life-related compounds, their colleagues, led by Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites astatine nan Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History successful Washington, and Sara Russell, cosmic mineralogist astatine nan Natural History Museum successful London, looked for clues to nan situation these molecules would person formed. Reporting successful nan diary Nature, scientists further picture grounds of an ancient situation well-suited to kickstart nan chemistry of life.
Ranging from calcite to halite and sylvite, scientists identified traces of 11 minerals successful nan Bennu sample that shape arsenic h2o containing dissolved salts evaporates complete agelong periods of time, leaving down nan salts arsenic coagulated crystals.
Similar brines person been detected aliases suggested crossed nan star system, including astatine nan dwarf satellite Ceres and Saturn’s satellite Enceladus.

A Complete Set of Minerals Never Seen Before
Although scientists person antecedently detected respective evaporites successful meteorites that autumn to Earth’s surface, they person ne'er seen a complete group that preserves an evaporation process that could person lasted thousands of years aliases more. Some minerals recovered successful Bennu, specified arsenic trona, were discovered for nan first clip successful extraterrestrial samples.
“These papers really spell manus successful manus successful trying to explicate really life’s ingredients really came together to make what we spot connected this aqueously altered asteroid,” said McCoy.

Unlocking nan Mystery of Life’s Left-Handed Bias
For each nan answers nan Bennu sample has provided, respective questions remain. Many amino acids tin beryllium created successful 2 mirror-image versions, for illustration a brace of near and correct hands. Life connected Earth almost exclusively produces nan left-handed variety, but nan Bennu samples incorporate an adjacent substance of both. This intends that connected early Earth, amino acids whitethorn person started retired successful an adjacent mixture, arsenic well. The logic life “turned left” alternatively of correct remains a mystery.
A Universe Full of Potential—But Why Only Earth?
“OSIRIS-REx has been a highly successful mission,” said Jason Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx task intelligence astatine NASA Goddard and co-lead writer connected nan Nature Astronomy paper. “Data from OSIRIS-REx adds awesome brushstrokes to a image of a star strategy teeming pinch nan imaginable for life. Why we, truthful far, only spot life connected Earth and not elsewhere, that’s nan genuinely tantalizing question.”
Explore Further: Scientists Just Found DNA’s Building Blocks successful Asteroid Bennu
References:
- “Abundant ammonia and nitrogen-rich soluble integrated matter successful samples from asteroid (101955) Bennu” by Daniel P. Glavin, Jason P. Dworkin, Conel M. O’D. Alexander, José C. Aponte, Allison A. Baczynski, Jessica J. Barnes, Hans A. Bechtel, Eve L. Berger, Aaron S. Burton, Paola Caselli, Angela H. Chung, Simon J. Clemett, George D. Cody, Gerardo Dominguez, Jamie E. Elsila, Kendra K. Farnsworth, Dionysis I. Foustoukos, Katherine H. Freeman, Yoshihiro Furukawa, Zack Gainsforth, Heather V. Graham, Tommaso Grassi, Barbara Michela Giuliano, Victoria E. Hamilton, Pierre Haenecour, Philipp R. Heck, Amy E. Hofmann, Christopher H. House, Yongsong Huang, Hannah H. Kaplan, Lindsay P. Keller, Bumsoo Kim, Toshiki Koga, Michael Liss, Hannah L. McLain, Matthew A. Marcus, Mila Matney, Timothy J. McCoy, Ophélie M. McIntosh, Angel Mojarro, Hiroshi Naraoka, Ann N. Nguyen, Michel Nuevo, Joseph A. Nuth III, Yasuhiro Oba, Eric T. Parker, Tanya S. Peretyazhko, Scott A. Sandford, Ewerton Santos, Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin, Frederic Seguin, Danielle N. Simkus, Anique Shahid, Yoshinori Takano, Kathie L. Thomas-Keprta, Havishk Tripathi, Gabriella Weiss, Yuke Zheng, Nicole G. Lunning, Kevin Righter, Harold C. Connolly Jr. and Dante S. Lauretta, 29 January 2025, Nature Astronomy.
DOI: 10.1038/s41550-024-02472-9 - “An evaporite series from ancient brine recorded successful Bennu samples” by T. J. McCoy, S. S. Russell, T. J. Zega, K. L. Thomas-Keprta, S. A. Singerling, F. E. Brenker, N. E. Timms, W. D. A. Rickard, J. J. Barnes, G. Libourel, S. Ray, C. M. Corrigan, P. Haenecour, Z. Gainsforth, G. Dominguez, A. J. King, L. P. Keller, M. S. Thompson, S. A. Sandford, R. H. Jones, H. Yurimoto, K. Righter, S. A. Eckley, P. A. Bland, M. A. Marcus, D. N. DellaGiustina, T. R. Ireland, N. V. Almeida, C. S. Harrison, H. C. Bates, P. F. Schofield, L. B. Seifert, N. Sakamoto, N. Kawasaki, F. Jourdan, S. M. Reddy, D. W. Saxey, I. J. Ong, B. S. Prince, K. Ishimaru, L. R. Smith, M. C. Benner, N. A. Kerrison, M. Portail, V. Guigoz, P.-M. Zanetta, L. R. Wardell, T. Gooding, T. R. Rose, T. Salge, L. Le, V. M. Tu, Z. Zeszut, C. Mayers, X. Sun, D. H. Hill, N. G. Lunning, V. E. Hamilton, D. P. Glavin, J. P. Dworkin, H. H. Kaplan, I. A. Franchi, K. T. Tait, S. Tachibana, H. C. Connolly Jr. and D. S. Lauretta, 29 January 2025, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08495-6
OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer) is simply a NASA spacecraft designed to study and cod samples from nan near-Earth asteroid Bennu. Managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, OSIRIS-REx was developed arsenic portion of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, overseen by nan Marshall Space Flight Center. The mission’s main investigator, Dante Lauretta of nan University of Arizona, leads nan subject team, study planning, and information processing.
The spacecraft was built and operated by Lockheed Martin Space, while KinetX Aerospace and NASA Goddard handled navigation. The ngo besides includes world collaborations, specified arsenic nan OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter from nan Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and technological practice pinch JAXA’s Hayabusa2 asteroid mission. After successfully collecting samples from Bennu, OSIRIS-REx returned them to Earth for study, pinch curation taking spot astatine NASA’s Johnson Space Center successful Houston.