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.
Are humans the aliens? NASA finds all of life's key ingredients in asteroid Bennu sample
Samples from asteroid Bennu have delivered insights into the origins of Earth’s water and the organic molecules that may have seeded life.
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. "The findings do not show evidence for life itself, but they do suggest the conditions necessary for the emergence of life were widespread across the early solar system,
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.
Asteroid Bennu contains the 'seeds of life,' OSIRIS-REx samples reveal
Scientists have found all five nucelobases alongisde minerals essential for life as we know it on the potentially hazardous asteroid Bennu.
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.
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 reveals results from asteroid Bennu's sample return, hinting at the origins of life
New insights from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission have unveiled intriguing clues about the potential origins of life on Earth. The mission, which launched in Septembe
Scientists find traces of life’s building blocks in historic asteroid samples
It took a while for scientists to gain access to the samples that NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission took from the asteroid Bennu, but the wait is proving to be worth it. A new study published January 29 in Nature describes an unexpected discovery in the material delivered by OSIRIS-REx: residues of compounds left over by the evaporation of liquid water.
Bennu Asteroid Contains Material Needed for Life, NASA Mission Finds
The discovery supports the theory that asteroids seeded life on Earth.
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.
New Atlas29m
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 ...
Life in space? NASA discovers essential substances for life on a distant asteroid
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission successfully returned samples from asteroid Bennu, revealing 14 of the 20 essential amino acids for ...
The odds of alien life just increased, NASA says after discovering DNA ingredients on an asteroid
NASA scientists found amino acids, key minerals, and nucleobases for DNA in samples from the OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission.
Scientists find a 'next step on a pathway to life' in space
Samples of organic matter returned from the asteroid Bennu support the theory that asteroids could have brought the building ...