Scientists reveal what they found in sample taken from Bennu asteroid
Launched in 2016, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx for short, traveled to the asteroid – about 200 million miles away from Earth.
NASA said the spacecraft successfully collected a sample of rocks and dust from the asteroid's surface in 2020, before dropping the capsule back on Earth in 2023. The historic mission was the first successful U.s. endeavor to collect a sample from an asteroid and return it to Earth.
In studies published in Nature and Nature Astronomy, researchers revealed that the sample contained amino acids along with genetic material similar to DNA and RNA.
"The clues we're looking for are so minuscule and so easily destroyed or altered from exposure to Earth's environment," Danny Glavin, a senior sample scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in a statement. "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."
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Researchers stressed that the compounds suggest that the basic components for life were common throughout the early solar system, but they are not direct evidence of life.
Alongside the notable molecular discoveries, the research team said they found evidence that Bennu was rich in salts and other minerals.
"Although scientists have previously detected several evaporites in meteorites that fall to Earth's surface, they have never seen a complete set that preserves an evaporation process that could have lasted thousands of years or more. Some minerals found in Bennu, such as trona, were discovered for the first time in extraterrestrial samples," NASA stated.
Jason Dworkin, a project scientist with OSIRIS-REx at Nasa, described the findings as adding "major brushstrokes" to the picture of a solar system full of potential for life.
The agency said the spacecraft that completed the sample return is on its way to investigate asteroid Apophis.
The asteroid, previously known as 99942, is estimated to be around 1,100 feet wide and was only discovered in 2004.
At the time, Apophis was thought to be on a trajectory toward Earth. After additional assessments, astronomers now believe that there is no risk of a hazardous collision, at least for a century.
The spacecraft, now known as OSIRIS-APEX, is expected to reach the asteroid in 2029 and begin studying its surface composition.
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