Asteroid Bennu Carries Most of the Building Blocks of Life: NASA

Amaze Lab

Samples from asteroid Bennu were first brought to Earth in 2023. Now, NASA has published its key findings revealing that the cosmic traveler is carrying many of the key components for life.

Transcript

00:00Samples from Asteroid Bennu were first brought to Earth in 2023, and they have been painstakingly

00:08quarantined and investigated since then.

00:11But why?

00:12Well, the researchers were looking for the building blocks of life, ones that were from

00:15out in the solar system and not derived from Earth, meaning they needed to prevent contamination

00:19from any terrestrial life forms.

00:21Now NASA has published its key findings, and they're pretty remarkable.

00:25Samples from Asteroid Bennu contained 14 of the 20 amino acids that are essential for

00:30life and all 5 nucleobases found in DNA and RNA.

00:34They also discovered high levels of ammonia and formaldehyde, which can combine under

00:38the right conditions to form more complex molecules.

00:41So what does this all mean?

00:42Well, the researchers say, these findings suggest that chemical precursors for life

00:46are widespread, increasing the possibility that life could have formed elsewhere.

00:51They even detected a history of saltwater on Bennu, indicating an ancient environment

00:55suitable for prebiotic chemistry.

00:57They even found a salt-based mineral called Trona, the first ever extraterrestrial sample

01:02found.

01:03With NASA scientist Jason Dworkin saying about the Bennu mission, OSIRIS-REx adds major brushstrokes

01:08to the picture of a solar system teeming with the potential for life.

Category

Transcript

Recommended