Phosphate in NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample suggests space rock Bennu originated from an ocean world

On September 24, 2023, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft dropped a capsule on Earth containing pristine carbonaceous regolith collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. These samples were obtained after the probe completed an impressive seven-year tour of the solar system and back.

Since these pieces of space rock arrived (about 120 grams of sample, to be precise), scientists have eagerly awaited an analysis of the specimens that could tell us which molecules are in Bennu. They hoped to find clues about the history of our solar system, since Bennu should have been present when our cosmic neighborhood converged, and prebiotic molecules that could provide insight into the origins of life on Earth. It’s possible, many experts speculated, that these samples could contain the seeds of other essential ingredients, such as water, that could have contributed to Earth’s habitability if they had also landed on our planet.

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