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Bennu Samples Reveal Building Blocks of Life and Early Solar System Water
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission retrieved samples from near-Earth asteroid Bennu containing organic molecules, including amino acids and DNA/RNA nucleobases, and salts suggesting past water presence, offering insights into early solar system chemistry and prebiotic synthesis, as detailed in two Nature publications.
- What is the significance of the salts found in the Bennu samples, and what does their presence suggest about the asteroid's history?
- The Bennu samples, the first from an asteroid's surface obtained by NASA and the only ones collected from a planetary body in nearly 50 years, reveal thousands of organic molecules. These include 14 proteinogenic amino acids found in Earth life, 19 non-proteinogenic amino acids, and all five biological nucleobases. The asteroid's richness in nitrogen-containing compounds suggests formation in cold, outer solar system regions.
- How might the findings from the Bennu samples inform our understanding of prebiotic synthesis and the potential for life beyond Earth?
- Bennu's organic complexity surpasses that of Earth biology, suggesting its parent body may have originated in the outer solar system. The presence of salts, possibly formed from evaporated brine, points to the existence of water. Further research is needed to understand the implications for prebiotic synthesis.
- What key components for life were discovered in the Bennu samples, and what implications does this discovery have for our understanding of the early solar system?
- Samples from asteroid Bennu contain organic matter, including amino acids and all five DNA and RNA nucleobases, along with salts formed early in its history. These findings, published in Nature Astronomy and Nature, offer new insights into early solar system chemistry. The OSIRIS-Rex mission collected these samples in 2018.
Sustainable Development Goals
The discovery of organic molecules, including amino acids and nucleobases, on asteroid Bennu provides insights into the early solar system and the potential for the building blocks of life to exist beyond Earth. Understanding the composition of asteroids can inform our knowledge of the origins of life and the distribution of organic matter in the universe. This has indirect implications for the understanding of life on Earth and the potential for life elsewhere.