Scientists said they didn't find evidence of life on Bennu, but they did find evidence of the building blocks of life.

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.

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.

Samples returned from an asteroid contain a surprising abundance of the basic ingredients of life. They were discovered to be rich in carbon, nitrogen and ammonia, with over 30 kinds of amino acids and the five nucleobases found in RNA and DNA. 1 The asteroid, Bennu, was targeted by a Nasa mission that returned a capsule to Earth in September 2023.

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

The pristine nature of the Bennu samples is crucial. Daniel Glavin of NASA noted, “The clues we’re finding are incredibly fragile and could never survive Earth’s contamination.” This ensures that the organic molecules detected are genuinely extraterrestrial, not contaminants from Earth.

Samples of asteroid Bennu contain molecules that suggest the "conditions necessary for life" were widespread across the early solar system, according to NASA.

Rock and dust samples from the Bennu asteroid contain molecules that are the "key to life" on Earth, NASA officials announced on Wednesday.

Studies of asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft have revealed molecules that, on our planet, are key to life.

“NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission already is rewriting the textbook ... Those chemicals are key to building both DNA and RNA, the compounds that give rise to all living things on Earth. The sample also contained evidence of a salty, briny broth where the ...

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