Potential Life on Other Planets Detected Due to These Findings

Harianjogja.com, JAKARTA – The potential for life on other planets has been revealed.

Japanese scientists say dust from asteroid Ryugu collected by spacecraft Japan provide clues about the origin of life in the universe.

That’s because the asteroid samples brought to Japan and studied contain nearly two dozen amino acids.

Amino acids are substances that make protein and are needed to support life. This is also the first time they have been found on an asteroid.

According to a Japan Times report, University of Chicago researcher Geochemist Nicolas Dauphas who worked with an international team of scientists led by Japan to analyze the samples, said scientists previously had only a handful of rocks to study all the meteorites that fell to Earth and were kept in museums for decades, which changed their composition.

“Having pristine samples from outer space is incredible. They are witnesses of a part of the solar system that we have never explored before,” Dauphas released in a statement.

In 2018, Hayabusa2 landed on Ryugu and collected particles from above and below its surface. He returned to Earth in a sealed capsule containing about five grams of dust and rock.

Japan’s Hayabusa2 space mission dropped samples from the asteroid Ryugu to Earth in the Australian outback in December 2020. It was then transferred to Japan to be studied to determine the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.

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