Bennu, Asteroid

Bennu Asteroid Contains Material Needed for Life, NASA Mission Finds
This mineral-rich asteroid might have carried the seeds of life. Planetary scientists have discovered organic matter essential to life in dust and rock retrieved from an asteroid known as Bennu. The finding supports the theory that near-Earth asteroids,
The Bennu asteroid reveals clues to how the building blocks of life on Earth may have been seeded
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission returned from space with a sample of an asteroid named Bennu and scientists got to dive into a tale of rock, ice and water that hints at how life could have formed on Earth.
NASA brought back samples from asteroid Bennu. They revealed clues about the possible origins of life.
A NASA spacecraft has returned asteroid samples that hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world.
NASA finds ‘key to life’ in Bennu asteroid samples
Rock and dust samples from the Bennu asteroid contain molecules that are the "key to life" on Earth, NASA officials announced on Wednesday.
Scientists find life-friendly molecules in NASA’s asteroid samples
Molecules friendly to life have been found in samples of the asteroid Bennu, which NASA collected with a robotic probe five years ago.
Life's key ingredients found in Bennu sample, proving asteroids can seed life on Earth and elsewhere
Samples from asteroid Bennu have delivered insights into the origins of Earth’s water and the organic molecules that may have seeded life.
Analysis of OSIRIS-REx Sample Shows Asteroid Bennu Has Ingredients for Life
When exposed to formaldehyde, which was also detected, ammonia can form amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. According to the study in Nature Astronom y, the team also found 14 of the 20 amino acids present in Earth-bound life in the Bennu sample. In addition, Bennu contains all five of the nucleotide bases present in DNA and RNA.
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.
Asteroids like Bennu may have ‘delivered’ water, chemical building blocks for life to Earth — check NASA’s new discovery
The latest discovery, unveiled by the NASA on January 29, came as a bit of a surprise and posed many exciting questions such as “Why didn’t life form on Bennu?”
NASA finds building blocks for life in the Bennu asteroid sample
Scientists from NASA and other institutions who have been analyzing the Bennu asteroid sample that returned to Earth last September found molecules, including amino acids, which are essential ingredients of life as we know it.
Building blocks of life identified in sample collected from asteroid Bennu
This artist’s concept shows NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending towards asteroid Bennu to collect a sample of the asteroid’s surface. NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona Scientists studying the sample collected in 2023 from asteroid Bennu have announced a dramatic finding: they have identified the key building blocks of life within the sample.
NASA Says Asteroid Bennu Samples Hold Secrets Of Life's Origins
The asteroid Bennu contains a lot of organic molecules, including many essential building blocks of life, according to a ...
The asteroid NASA landed on is carrying ingredients for DNA and RNA. It's a promising sign for prospects of alien life.
NASA scientists found amino acids, key minerals, and nucleobases for DNA in samples from the OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission.