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Asteroid Bennu contains the stuff of life, sample analysis reveals
- Samples taken from 101955 Bennu, an asteroid from the Asteroid Belt were found to contain a diverse range of salt minerals and water-bearing sodium carbonates leading researchers to conclude that Bennu could have delivered the essential building blocks of life to Earth during the formation of the Solar System.
- The minerals that served as templates for organic molecules precipitated from the parent body’s liquid water that was heated by the radioactive decay of aluminium-26, a heat source that has since dissipated.
- Contrary to previous beliefs, new studies show that the amino acids in Bennu's sample are a mix of left- and right-handed forms. This further deepens the mystery of why all life on earth uses left-handed amino acids
- Researchers also found that nucleobases were present in the samples, however, neither RNA or DNA have been found in any extraterrestrial sample yet.
- Astrobiologists could use the samples to answer the question of whether biological cells, proteins, or RNA formed in the early solar system within celestial objects such as Bennu's parent planetesimal or if complex biochemistry only began on Earth once the materials had been delivered from space.
- The findings also raise uncertainty regarding why the organic chemistry on Bennu's parent body reached a certain point and then stopped, rather than forming more complex organic molecules or even life.
- Researchers still search for more complex chemistry while continuing to study the available samples in a controlled environment.
- More samples will be taken soon by the Tianwen-2 team in an upcoming mission to capture a 100-gram sample from the small near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamo'alewa.
- Learning about and eventually being able to replicate the formation of life will have large implications for astrobiologists and their understanding of the origin of life on Earth.
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