Researchers in the United Kingdom are gearing up to unravel the mysteries of a rock sample retrieved from the asteroid Bennu, following the arrival of its dust at the Natural History Museum in London. Notably, the asteroid poses a 1-in-1,750 chance of colliding with Earth in the next 300 years.
A capsule, returning in late September, delivered material collected by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from the near-Earth asteroid. The museum has received a 100mg sample for testing, and various assessments will be conducted at the museum, as well as at the universities of Open, Manchester, and Oxford.
During an extraordinary mission, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully touched down on Bennu, collecting over 60g of untouched material—a quantity exceeding what was brought back during the Apollo program.
Dr. Ashley King, a planetary scientist involved in analyzing the grains at the museum, expressed excitement, stating, “It’s amazing. It’s like a little treasure trove that takes us back to the start of the solar system. I can’t wait to get my hands on them and see what we can learn about the early solar system.”
NASA recently confirmed that the Bennu asteroid sample contains water and carbon molecules, both crucial building blocks for life. This discovery provides further support for the theory that life on Earth may have originated from outer space.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, during a press event at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, highlighted that this is the largest “carbon-rich asteroid sample ever returned to Earth.” He mentioned that carbon comprises almost five percent of the sample’s total weight in both organic and mineral forms, with water found within the crystal structure of clay minerals.
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