First in-depth analysis of NASA’s Bennu sample return reveals conditions for life were widespread in early solar system

· Scientists found that evaporated water left a briny broth where salts and minerals allowed the elemental ingredients of life to intermingle and create more complex structures.

· The discovery suggests that extraterrestrial brines provided a crucial setting for the development of organic compounds.

· These conditions and ingredients were, and are, likely common across the solar system.

A team of scientists from across the globe have discovered minerals in the asteroid sample Bennu that have never before been seen in meteorites that have fallen to Earth.

Prof Sara Russell, cosmic mineralogist at the Natural History Museum, London and co-lead author on a new paper published today in Nature, said “There were things in the samples that completely blew us away. The richness of the molecules and minerals preserved are unlike any extraterrestrial samples studied before. Comparing the sample return to meteorites in our Collection, using state-of-the-art analytical facilities here in the Museum, is invaluable in helping us understand our origins.”

Mineralogy analysis – the findings

The paper is one of two published today on the first findings of Bennu. It shows evidence that Bennu had both the environment and chemical ingredients necessary to produce precursor molecules known to be associated with life as we know it.

Bennu’s parent asteroid was home to pockets of brine, or salt-saturated water. The new findings reveal that this water evaporated, leaving behind salts that resemble those found in dry lakebeds found on Earth. Brines are critical in the search for life because they can foster chemical reactions and produce biologically relevant molecules.

The fact we find them on Bennu — a carbonaceous asteroid, which is the most common type — suggests these ingredients are likely widespread throughout the solar system.

Among the new findings were some more familiar minerals such as halite, which is sodium chloride - also known as table salt.

Bennu consists of pieces of a larger asteroid that formed nearly 4.6 billion years ago, around the same time as the solar system. By understanding the composition of the Bennu samples, scientists can gain unparalleled insights into the conditions of that time, helping answer questions about how the solar system, and Earth, formed.

Prof Russell went on to say, “It’s interesting that although Bennu had everything needed for life – it did not form. The complex and delicate conditions needed to catalyse life really bring into focus the abundance of biodiversity here on Earth.”

Co-lead author Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites at the Smithsonian Museum, Washington said, “This extraordinary work, done at the scale of microns, will help us understand what happens at the scale of planets.”

OSIRIS-REx

Bennu is a carbon-rich asteroid whose components have remained relatively unchanged since the solar system's early days. NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex mission captured samples from the surface of the asteroid and delivered 121 grams to Earth in 2023. It is the largest sample ever captured in space and brought back to Earth from a world beyond the Moon.

As part of the NHM’s mission to transform the science of natural history, our research is focussed on providing solutions from and for nature. This study is part of our Planetary Origins and Evolution research theme which explores the systems underpinning the evolution of the Earth, its Moon and planetary systems. ‘An evaporite sequence from ancient brine recorded in Bennu samples’ was published in Nature today.

Notes to editors

Organics section

Senior scientists, Danny Glavin and Jason Dworkin, at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, are lead authors on the Nature Astronomy paper that found the chemical components of proteins and nucleic acids that are found in DNA and RNA, some of which have not been observed in meteorites that fall to Earth.

Assets: Images are available here.

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