Analysis of OSIRIS-REx Sample Shows Asteroid Bennu Has Ingredients for Life
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission successfully returned a generous chunk of the asteroid Bennu to Earth in 2023, and scientists have been analyzing it ever since. International scientific teams have published a pair of studies this week highlighting the incredible assortment of materials found in the sample.
NASA's Osiris-Rex probe: Sample from asteroid Bennu weighs more than 121 grams
For months, NASA was unable to open the sample container from the Osiris-Rex asteroid probe. It was found to contain over 51 grams.
Scientists find life's ‘building blocks' in asteroid Bennu samples
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft returned triumphantly to Earth in 2023 after collecting 4.3 ounces (121.6 grams) of precious grains of dust and rock from the asteroid Bennu in 2020. While that sample return was an incredible feat of engineering,
Asteroid Bennu contains the 'seeds of life,' OSIRIS-REx samples reveal
Scientists have found all five nucelobases alongisde minerals essential for life as we know it on the potentially hazardous asteroid Bennu.
Scientists find building blocks of life in OSIRIS-REx...
Scientists from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission recently delivered remarkable findings about asteroid
Building Blocks for Life Found in OSIRIS-REx Sample Retrieval Mission, NASA Confirm
It was all the way back in September 2023 when the return capsule from NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample-return mission landed at the DOD's Utah Test and Training Range.
Asteroid had 'all the stuff' to make life, OSIRIS-REx samples reveal
Bennu samples brought back by a University of Arizona-led space mission contain the key ingredients of life and signs of the stew needed to mix them.
LISTEN: NASA OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Mission of 2023 Findings Set for Release Jan. 29
NASA will provide an update on science results from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, January 29, which delivered a sample of asteroid to Earth.
Bennu Asteroid Contains Material Needed for Life, NASA Mission Finds
The discovery supports the theory that asteroids seeded life on Earth.
NASA finds ‘key to life’ in Bennu asteroid samples
Rock and dust samples from the Bennu asteroid contain molecules that are the "key to life" on Earth, NASA officials announced on Wednesday.
NASA’s findings from asteroid Bennu suggest solar system could be ‘teeming with the potential for life’
The rocks and dust collected from asteroid Bennu hold amino acids, ammonia and other molecules essential to life on Earth, NASA reported Wednesday. The findings suggest the conditions necessary for life were widespread across the early solar system and boost the odds that life could have developed elsewhere.
Mashable3d
NASA's asteroid sample reveals key chemistry that could lead to life
The doorbell camera caught it all. A crew wheels the OSIRIS-Rex asteroid sample return capsule into a cleanroom on Sept. 24, 2023. Credit: NASA / Keegan Barber NASA's $800 million OSIRIS-Rex ...
Space.com3d
NASA finds key molecules for life in OSIRIS-REx asteroid samples. Here's what that means
In a separate train of thought — and my personal favorite Bennu discovery so far — the OSIRIS-REx sample analysis also communicated something peculiar about the "chirality" of molecules found ...
Phys.org3d
Asteroid Bennu samples found to contain five nitrogenous bases crucial to supporting life
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission returned 121.6 grams of sample from asteroid (101955) Bennu in September 2023—the largest sample ever returned to Earth. Now, an international team of OSIRIS-REx ...
Popular Science2d
Scientists find traces of life’s building blocks in historic asteroid samples
OREX-800044-101, the sample that was analysed by the Japanese members of the OSIRIS-REx sample analysis team. Credit: Yasuhiro Oba One of the reasons that the discovery is so significant is that ...
WXXI2d
University of Rochester professor had a key role in keeping an important asteroid sample safe
Kevin Righter started at University of Rochester last year, but before that he worked on NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission to collect ...