Imagine opening a time capsule from deep space and discovering that it contains the ingredients for life. Samples collected from asteroid Bennu by NASA's mission Osiris-Rex they revealed organic compounds, salts and even traces of an ancient aquatic world.
This extraordinary discovery raises fundamental questions: Are we really children of the stars? What if the ingredients for life are more common than we thought?
The Ingredients of Life on Asteroid Bennu
The samples collected from the asteroid Bennu represent a milestone in scientific research. With approximately 122 grams of powder and fragments returned to Earth in 2023, this mission has become the largest return of extraterrestrial material from the Moon. But what makes these samples unique is not the quantity: it is the content. Scientists have identified amino acids, nitrogen in the form of ammonia, and even components of the genetic code, all elements that constitute the ingredients of life.
“These processes probably occurred much earlier and on a larger scale than we thought,” he said. Tim McCoy, meteorite curator at the National Museum of Natural History.
Analysis of the samples also revealed the presence of salts rich in sodium, similar to those found in dry terrestrial lake beds such as those in California's Mojave Desert or Africa's Sahara Desert. These salts would have been destroyed if they had entered Earth's atmosphere as meteorites, making the direct collection from Bennu an unprecedented achievement.
An ancient aquatic world
One of the most surprising discoveries is that the asteroid Bennu, today a debris mass just 800 meters, It was once part of a much larger celestial body. This “parent” of Bennu It probably hosted a vast underground system of lakes or even oceans. The evaporation of the water left behind salt traces that now provide us with valuable clues.
The combination of ingredients of life and an environment rich in salts and water represents a crucial step towards the formation of life. As he pointed out Daniel Glavin, one of the scientists involved in the study published in Nature, the relatively high presence of nitrogen, including ammonia, was one of the biggest surprises. These organic molecules are authentic, formed in space and not contaminated by Earth.
“This discovery was only possible by analyzing samples collected directly from the asteroid and then carefully preserved on Earth,” he commented. Yasuhito Sekine ofInstitute of Science Tokyo.
Implications for the origin of life
The discovery of the ingredients of life on Bennu raises profound questions about the origin of life itself. If these compounds were abundant in primordial asteroids, it is plausible that they “seeded” Earth with the building blocks necessary for life. This theory, known as panspermia, suggests that life may have spread throughout the solar system via celestial bodies such as asteroids and comets.
But the implications go further. If the ingredients for life are so common in space, then the chances of finding life elsewhere in the universe increase significantly. If Bennu offers a snapshot of the past, future missions could yield even more extraordinary discoveries.
Ingredients of life, towards new frontiers
Currently, approx 60 laboratories worldwide are analyzing fragments of Bennu as part of initial studies. However, most of the collected sample has been set aside for future analysis. Scientists emphasize that more tests are needed to better understand the Bennu samples and to plan similar missions to other celestial bodies.
Among the next objectives there is the dwarf planet Ceres, located in the main asteroid belt and potentially rich in water. Even the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, like Europa and Enceladus, represent promising destinations for the search for water worlds. Meanwhile, samples from Mars waiting to be recovered for further analysis.
“Are we alone?” McCoy asks. “That’s one of the questions we’re trying to answer.”
Conclusion
The ingredients of life found on Bennu not only confirm existing theories, but open new doors to understanding the origins of life and our place in the universe. As we continue to explore space, each new discovery brings us a little closer to answering one of the oldest and most fundamental questions: Where did we come from?
Note: This article is based on research published in journals Nature e Nature Astronomy, conducted by teams led by scientists such as Tim McCoy e Daniel Glavin, with contributions from Dante Lauretta, the principal scientist of the Osiris-Rex mission.