NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission collected samples from asteroid Bennu and found important building blocks of life. Scientists discovered:
- 14 of the 20 amino acids that make up proteins in living things.
- All five pieces of DNA and RNA.
- Lots of ammonia and other important chemicals for life.
- Special salts that suggest Bennu’s parent asteroid once had liquid water.
 |
| This special scan of a tiny grain from Bennu’s surface shows where salty deposits sit on top of clay. The colors represent different elements: phosphorus (green), calcium (red), iron (yellow), and magnesium (blue). A very thin line of magnesium sodium phosphate (the green spot in the center) formed when water evaporated. This phosphate might have helped create some of the important organic molecules found in the sample. |
These findings don’t mean life existed on Bennu, but they do show that the early solar system had the right ingredients for life to form elsewhere.
One surprising discovery was that Bennu’s amino acids twist in both directions, unlike on Earth, where they mostly twist one way. This challenges earlier ideas about how life might have started here.
Scientists are keeping most of the samples safe for future study, hoping to learn even more about how life’s building blocks spread through space.
No comments:
Post a Comment