Analysis of samples from asteroid Bennu reveals a surprising inventory of organic molecules, including amino acids and nucleobases, key ingredients for life. While no signs of life were found, the discovery provides valuable insights into the chemistry of the early solar system and suggests that life's building blocks may be more common throughout the solar system than previously thought.
Scientists analyzing samples from asteroid Bennu have found something remarkable: Despite being a cold, lifeless rubble pile that formed around 65 million years ago, it holds a rich inventory of organic molecules - key ingredients for life. harvested from the surface of Bennu were published Wednesday. While no signs of life were found, the results provide valuable insights into the chemistry of the early solar system.
All those organic compounds need a proper environment to develop in, and Bennu shows evidence of containing that, too. The Nature paper found evidence of evaporated brine minerals, suggesting that Bennu's parent body - a larger proto-planet or asteroid - once contained liquid water and compounds critical to life, including sodium-bearing phosphates and carbonates, as well as sulfates, chlorides, and fluorides.
"The clues we're looking for are so minuscule and so easily destroyed or altered from exposure to Earth's environment," Danny Glavin, NASA Goddard senior sample scientist and co-lead author on the Nature Astronomy paper,."That's why some of these new discoveries would not be possible without a sample-return mission, meticulous contamination-control measures, and careful curation and storage of this precious material from Bennu.
"The transport and delivery of organic compounds from could have been a source of molecules available for the emergence of life on Earth and potentially elsewhere," the authors of the Nature Astronomy paper said. This might be the first look at what sort of surprises Bennu has in store for us, but more remains to be discovered.
ASTEROID ORGANICMOLECULES LIFEBEGINNINGS SOLARSYSTEM SAMPLEANALYSIS
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