NASA finds key molecules for life in OSIRIS-REx asteroid samples. Here's what that means
There are 20 amino acids that create the proteins required for life on our planet — and scientists have now found exactly 14 of them on an asteroid millions of miles away. The asteroid in question, named Bennu, was the focus of a very dreamy NASA mission called OSIRIS-REx that launched in 2016.
Minerals Crucial to Life Found in Asteroid Samples From Space
The building blocks for life, including salts, organic matter and amino acids have been found in samples returned to Earth from outer space.
NASA scientists find 'ingredients for life' in asteroid sample
Samples of asteroid Bennu contain molecules that suggest the "conditions necessary for life" were widespread across the early solar system, according to NASA.
Historic asteroid sample reveals the ‘building blocks of life are in fact extraterrestrial in origin,’ scientists say
Scientists have detected organic compounds and minerals necessary for life in the samples collected by the OSIRIS-REx mission from a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu.
Asteroid had 'all the stuff' to make life, OSIRIS-REx samples reveal
Bennu samples brought back by a University of Arizona-led space mission contain the key ingredients of life and signs of the stew needed to mix them.
NASA’s Asteroid Bennu Sample Reveals Mix of Life’s Ingredients
Studies of asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft have revealed molecules that, on our planet, are key to life.
Asteroids: Cosmic Seeds of Life Unearthed by NASA's Osiris-Rex
NASA's Osiris-Rex mission has uncovered invaluable samples from asteroid Bennu, revealing ancient salty minerals and amino acids. This discovery suggests that asteroids could have contributed to the origins of life on Earth.
Bannu asteroid sample holds building blocks for life, researchers say
Researchers say the asteroid Bennu has the building blocks for life on it. The samples collected and returned to Earth were part of the University of Arizona-led OSIRS-REx mission.
NASA's asteroid sample reveals key chemistry that could lead to life
All forms of Earth life have specific chemicals in their makeup, such as amino acids and sugars. Scientists have known that asteroids hold molecules believed to be the precursors to these chemicals. By studying the Bennu samples, they hope to gain more insight into how these ingredients could have evolved.
NASA’s returned Bennu asteroid samples contain the building blocks for life
NASA's findings provide the strongest evidence yet that asteroids may have planted the seeds of life on Earth and that these ingredients were mingling with water almost right from the start.
NASA's Bennu samples contain life's building blocks, including amino acids and DNA/RNA nucleobases
Samples contain all five nucleobases of DNA and RNA, supporting theory that asteroids may have seeded Earth with life's essential ingredients.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission teases new insights on how life began
NASA and its partners have published the first wave of information about the samples collected in the OSIRIS-REx mission.
New Atlas6h
Asteroid Bennu came from a distant, lost world of salty ponds
Asteroid Bennu seems to have come from a long-lost world on the fringes of the solar system, where saltwater pooled and dried ...