Bennu Asteroid Discovery: Compelling Evidence for the Origins of Earth’s Life

A sample from the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu contains abundant water and carbon, important materials from the formation of our planet, according to Nasa.

The discovery provides even more evidence for the theory that the foundations of life on Earth were sown from space.

– The first analysis shows samples that contain plenty of water in the form of hydrous clay minerals, Nasa head Bill Nelson said at a press conference on Wednesday.

– This is the largest carbon-rich asteroid sample that has ever been returned to Earth, he says. The carbon was found in the form of both minerals and organic molecules.

The Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected rock and dust from Bennu in 2020, and a capsule containing the precious cargo landed safely on Earth just over two weeks ago.

Since then, it has been painstakingly analyzed by specialists at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

It is the first time NASA has brought samples from an asteroid to Earth. In the past, Japanese space scientists have succeeded in two similar projects.

Asteroids like Bennu are considered “surplus material” from the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago, and samples from here can give an insight into the conditions when the Earth and the other plates were formed.