Nasa has given the first look at the samples of the asteroid Bennu (named after an Egyptian god) that show the presence of high-carbon content and water.
Over two weeks after the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft returned to Earth carrying samples from a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu, NASA has finally given us the first look at the pieces of rocks alongside some interesting findings. At first glance, the regolith collected by Bennu looks similar to the samples collected from the Ryugu asteroid, thanks to its ashy black appearance. But Bennu’s a special case.
Following an early analysis, NASA has found that it contains a crucial building block of life –- water. « Sample collected in space and brought to Earth by NASA show evidence of high-carbon content and water, » the space agency notes in a blog post. But it’s just the start of more surprising discoveries, primarily because scientists have a much larger sample to study this time.
More carbon than expected and an abundance of water were found in the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid sample returned to Earth by #OSIRISREx. The two combined could mean that the building blocks for life on Earth might be locked in these rocks: https://t.
