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By NASA
NASA Science Live: Asteroid Bennu Originated from World with Ingredients and Conditions for Life
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By NASA
In this video frame, Jason Dworkin holds up a vial that contains part of the sample from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission in 2023. Dworkin is the mission’s project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.Credit: NASA/James Tralie Studies of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft have revealed molecules that, on our planet, are key to life, as well as a history of saltwater that could have served as the “broth” for these compounds to interact and combine.
The findings do not show evidence for life itself, but they do suggest the conditions necessary for the emergence of life were widespread across the early solar system, increasing the odds life could have formed on other planets and moons.
“NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission already is rewriting the textbook on what we understand about the beginnings of our solar system,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Asteroids provide a time capsule into our home planet’s history, and Bennu’s samples are pivotal in our understanding of what ingredients in our solar system existed before life started on Earth.”
In research papers published Wednesday in the journals Nature and Nature Astronomy, scientists from NASA and other institutions shared results of the first in-depth analyses of the minerals and molecules in the Bennu samples, which OSIRIS-REx delivered to Earth in 2023.
Detailed in the Nature Astronomy paper, among the most compelling detections were amino acids – 14 of the 20 that life on Earth uses to make proteins – and all five nucleobases that life on Earth uses to store and transmit genetic instructions in more complex terrestrial biomolecules, such as DNA and RNA, including how to arrange amino acids into proteins.
Scientists also described exceptionally high abundances of ammonia in the Bennu samples. Ammonia is important to biology because it can react with formaldehyde, which also was detected in the samples, to form complex molecules, such as amino acids – given the right conditions. When amino acids link up into long chains, they make proteins, which go on to power nearly every biological function.
These building blocks for life detected in the Bennu samples have been found before in extraterrestrial rocks. However, identifying them in a pristine sample collected in space supports the idea that objects that formed far from the Sun could have been an important source of the raw precursor ingredients for life throughout the solar system.
“The clues we’re looking for are so minuscule and so easily destroyed or altered from exposure to Earth’s environment,” said Danny Glavin, a senior sample scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and co-lead author of 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.”
While Glavin’s team analyzed the Bennu samples for hints of life-related compounds, their colleagues, led by Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, and Sara Russell, cosmic mineralogist at the Natural History Museum in London, looked for clues to the environment these molecules would have formed. Reporting in the journal Nature, scientists further describe evidence of an ancient environment well-suited to kickstart the chemistry of life.
Ranging from calcite to halite and sylvite, scientists identified traces of 11 minerals in the Bennu sample that form as water containing dissolved salts evaporates over long periods of time, leaving behind the salts as solid crystals.
Similar brines have been detected or suggested across the solar system, including at the dwarf planet Ceres and Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
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.
“These papers really go hand in hand in trying to explain how life’s ingredients actually came together to make what we see on this aqueously altered asteroid,” said McCoy.
For all the answers the Bennu sample has provided, several questions remain. Many amino acids can be created in two mirror-image versions, like a pair of left and right hands. Life on Earth almost exclusively produces the left-handed variety, but the Bennu samples contain an equal mixture of both. This means that on early Earth, amino acids may have started out in an equal mixture, as well. The reason life “turned left” instead of right remains a mystery.
“OSIRIS-REx has been a highly successful mission,” said Jason Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx project scientist at NASA Goddard and co-lead author on the Nature Astronomy paper. “Data from OSIRIS-REx adds major brushstrokes to a picture of a solar system teeming with the potential for life. Why we, so far, only see life on Earth and not elsewhere, that’s the truly tantalizing question.”
NASA Goddard provided overall mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator. The university leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft and provided flight operations. NASA Goddard and KinetX Aerospace were responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Curation for OSIRIS-REx takes place at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. International partnerships on this mission include the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter instrument from CSA (Canadian Space Agency) and asteroid sample science collaboration with JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Hayabusa2 mission. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
For more information on the OSIRIS-REx mission, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
Rani Gran
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
301-286-2483
rani.c.gran@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jan 29, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) Asteroids Bennu Goddard Space Flight Center Science Mission Directorate
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By European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) Planetary Defence Office is closely monitoring the recently discovered asteroid 2024 YR4, which has a very small chance of impacting Earth in 2032.
This page was last updated on 29 January 2025.
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By NASA
Jason Dworkin, project scientist for OSIRIS-REx at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, views a portion of the asteroid Bennu sample in the center’s astrobiology lab under microscope in November 2023, shortly after it arrived from the curation team at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.Credit: NASA/Molly Wasser NASA will brief media at 11 a.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 29, to provide an update on science results from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission, which delivered a sample of asteroid Bennu to Earth in September 2023.
Audio of the media call will stream live on the agency’s website.
Participants in the teleconference include:
Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington Danny Glavin, senior scientist for sample return, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland Jason Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx project scientist, NASA Goddard Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites, Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Washington Sara Russell, cosmic mineralogist, Natural History Museum, London Media interested in participating by phone must RSVP no later than two hours prior to the start of the call to: molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.
After the teleconference, NASA Goddard will host a limited onsite media availability for reporters local to the greater Washington area. The availability will include opportunities to tour the center’s astrobiology lab, which contributed to the study of the Bennu sample. Interested reporters should request participation by Sunday, Jan. 26, to: rob.garner@nasa.gov.
Launched on Sept. 8, 2016, OSIRIS-REx was the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid in space. The spacecraft traveled to near-Earth asteroid Bennu and collected a sample of rocks and dust from the surface in 2020. It delivered the sample to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023.
To learn more about OSIRIS-REx, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/osiris-rex/
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Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jan 24, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) Asteroids Bennu Goddard Space Flight Center Johnson Space Center Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) Planetary Science Division Science Mission Directorate View the full article
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Typically, asteroids — like the one depicted in this artist’s concept — originate from the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, but a small population of near-Earth objects may also come from the Moon’s surface after being ejected into space by an impact.NASA/JPL-Caltech The near-Earth object was likely ejected into space after an impact thousands of years ago. Now it could contribute new insights to asteroid and lunar science.
The small near-Earth object 2024 PT5 captured the world’s attention last year after a NASA-funded telescope discovered it lingering close to, but never orbiting, our planet for several months. The asteroid, which is about 33 feet (10 meters) wide, does not pose a hazard to Earth, but its orbit around the Sun closely matches that of our planet, hinting that it may have originated nearby.
As described in a study published Jan. 14 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers have collected further evidence of 2024 PT5 being of local origin: It appears to be composed of rock broken off from the Moon’s surface and ejected into space after a large impact.
“We had a general idea that this asteroid may have come from the Moon, but the smoking gun was when we found out that it was rich in silicate minerals — not the kind that are seen on asteroids but those that have been found in lunar rock samples,” said Teddy Kareta, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, who led the research. “It looks like it hasn’t been in space for very long, maybe just a few thousand years or so, as there’s a lack of space weathering that would have caused its spectrum to redden.”
The asteroid was first detected on Aug. 7, 2024, by the NASA-funded Sutherland, South Africa, telescope of the University of Hawai’i’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). Kareta’s team then used observations from the Lowell Discovery Telescope and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawai’i to show that the spectrum of reflected sunlight from the small object’s surface didn’t match that of any known asteroid type; instead, the reflected light more closely matched rock from the Moon.
Not (Old) Rocket Science
A second clue came from observing how the object moves. Along with asteroids, Space Age debris, such as old rockets from historic launches, can also be found in Earth-like orbits.
The difference in their orbits has to do with how each type responds to solar radiation pressure, which comes from the momentum of photons — quantum particles of light from the Sun — exerting a tiny force when they hit a solid object in space. This momentum exchange from many photons over time can push an object around ever so slightly, speeding it up or slowing it down. While a human-made object, like a hollow rocket booster, will move like an empty tin can in the wind, a natural object, such as an asteroid, will be much less affected.
Researchers studying asteroid 2024 PT5 have plotted its looping motion on two graphs. To a trained eye, they show that the object never gets captured by Earth’s gravity but, instead, lingers nearby before continuing its orbit around the Sun. NASA/JPL-Caltech To rule out 2024 PT5 being space junk, scientists at NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), which is managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, analyzed its motion. Their precise calculations of the object’s motion under the force of gravity ultimately enabled them to search for additional motion caused by solar radiation pressure. In this case, the effects were found to be too small for the object to be artificial, proving 2024 PT5 is most likely of natural origin.
“Space debris and space rocks move slightly differently in space,” said Oscar Fuentes-Muñoz, a study coauthor and NASA postdoctoral fellow at JPL working with the CNEOS team. “Human-made debris is usually relatively light and gets pushed around by the pressure of sunlight. That 2024 PT5 doesn’t move this way indicates it is much denser than space debris.”
Asteroid Lunar Studies
The discovery of 2024 PT5 doubles the number of known asteroids thought to originate from the Moon. Asteroid 469219 Kamo’oalewa was found in 2016 with an Earth-like orbit around the Sun, indicating that it may also have been ejected from the lunar surface after a large impact. As telescopes become more sensitive to smaller asteroids, more potential Moon boulders will be discovered, creating an exciting opportunity not only for scientists studying a rare population of asteroids, but also for scientists studying the Moon.
If a lunar asteroid can be directly linked to a specific impact crater on the Moon, studying it could lend insights into cratering processes on the pockmarked lunar surface. Also, material from deep below the lunar surface — in the form of asteroids passing close to Earth — may be accessible to future scientists to study.
“This is a story about the Moon as told by asteroid scientists,” said Kareta. “It’s a rare situation where we’ve gone out to study an asteroid but then strayed into new territory in terms of the questions we can ask of 2024 PT5.”
The ATLAS, IRTF, and CNEOS projects are funded by NASA’s planetary defense program, which is managed by the Planetary Defense Coordination Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
For more information about asteroids and comets, visit:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/topics/asteroids/
NASA Asteroid Experts Create Hypothetical Impact Scenario for Exercise NASA Researchers Discover More Dark Comets Lesson Plan: How to Explore an Asteroid News Media Contacts
Ian J. O’Neill
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-2649
ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
Kevin Schindler
Lowell Observatory Public Information Officer
928-607-1387
kevin@lowell.edu
2025-007
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Last Updated Jan 22, 2025 Related Terms
Asteroids Earth's Moon Jet Propulsion Laboratory Planetary Defense Planetary Defense Coordination Office Planetary Science Explore More
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