Cape Canaveral: The asteroid samples returned by NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft have not only provided pristine building blocks for life but also revealed the salty remnants of an ancient water world, scientists announced on Wednesday. These findings are the strongest evidence yet suggesting that asteroids may have played a key role in seeding life on Earth, with the essential ingredients of life mixing with water early in the planet’s history.
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Asteroid Bennu’s Salty Clues to Life’s Origins
The samples, which consist of 122 grams of dust and pebbles from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, were brought back to Earth in 2023 and delivered to the Utah desert. Scientists have since analyzed these materials, revealing the presence of amino acids, nitrogen in the form of ammonia, and even components of the genetic code. The minerals found in Bennu’s samples are rich in sodium, similar to the salts found in Earth’s desert lakebeds, such as those in California’s Mojave Desert and Africa’s Sahara.
A Window into Early Life’s Building Blocks
According to Tim McCoy, a lead study author from the Smithsonian Institution, these findings offer critical insight into the type of environment that could have been essential for life’s emergence. “That’s the kind of environment that could have been essential to the steps that lead from elements to life,” McCoy explained. The discovery underscores the possibility that the essential ingredients for life may have been widespread and occurred much earlier than previously thought.
New Surprises from Bennu’s Organic Molecules
One of the most surprising findings from Bennu’s samples was the relatively high abundance of nitrogen, including ammonia. NASA’s Daniel Glavin emphasized that while the organic molecules found in the Bennu samples have been identified before in meteorites, the material from Bennu is authentic extraterrestrial organic material. “These are real extraterrestrial organic molecules formed in space, not a result of contamination from Earth,” Glavin stated.
A Water-Rich Parent Body Behind Bennu
Bennu itself is a rubble pile about one-third of a mile (half a kilometer) across, believed to be a fragment of a much larger asteroid that was shattered by collisions with other space rocks. The latest results suggest that the parent body of Bennu had an underground network of lakes or oceans, which evaporated, leaving behind the salty remnants found in the samples.
Global Research Efforts and Future Missions
Sixty laboratories worldwide are currently analyzing Bennu’s precious materials, with many more studies planned. The majority of the samples are being set aside for future analysis, and scientists are calling for more asteroid and comet sample return missions to expand our understanding of the building blocks of life.
China plans to launch an asteroid sample return mission this year, and other missions are being discussed to collect samples from potentially water-rich bodies like the dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroid belt, as well as Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Meanwhile, NASA is preparing to retrieve core samples from Mars, although their delivery has been delayed.
A Step Closer to Understanding Life’s Origins
“Are we alone?” asks Tim McCoy. “That’s one of the questions we’re trying to answer.” As scientists continue their analysis of Bennu’s samples, the findings suggest that the building blocks of life could have been spread throughout the solar system, offering new perspectives on the origins of life and our place in the cosmos.
