Studies of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and analyzed by, among others, researchers from MPE’s Center of Astrochemistry (CAS), have revealed molecules that, on our planet, are key to life, as well as a history of saltwater that could have served as the “broth” for these compounds to interact and combine.
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, increasing the odds life could have formed on other planets and moons.
"NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission already is rewriting the textbook on what we understand about the beginnings of our solar system," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Asteroids provide a time capsule into our home planet’s history, and Bennu’s samples are pivotal in our understanding of what ingredients in our solar system existed before life started on Earth."
In research papers published Wednesday in the journals Nature and Nature Astronomy, scientists from NASA and other institutions, including MPE, shared results of the first in-depth analyses of the minerals and molecules in the Bennu samples, which OSIRIS-REx delivered to Earth in 2023.
“The CAS group is very proud to have contributed to analyzing the sample from asteroid Bennu using the CAS Raman Microscope. The Bennu sample from the OSIRIS-Rex mission was given to us by our long-term visiting scientist, Prof. Dr. Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin (Helmholtz Zentrum, München)”, says Paola Caselli, director at the Center for Astrochemical Studies (CAS), which contributed to the study. The work done at CAS has been part of the Master’s Thesis of Anique Shahid, under the supervision of Dr. Michela Giuliano, Dr. Tommaso Grassi, Paola Caselli (all CAS) and Prof. Schmitt-Kopplin (Helmholtz).
Detailed in the Nature Astronomy paper, among the most compelling detections were amino acids – 14 of the 20 that life on Earth uses to make proteins – and all five nucleobases that life on Earth uses to store and transmit genetic instructions in more complex terrestrial biomolecules, such as DNA and RNA, including how to arrange amino acids into proteins.
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, increasing the odds life could have formed on other planets and moons.
"NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission already is rewriting the textbook on what we understand about the beginnings of our solar system," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Asteroids provide a time capsule into our home planet’s history, and Bennu’s samples are pivotal in our understanding of what ingredients in our solar system existed before life started on Earth."
In research papers published Wednesday in the journals Nature and Nature Astronomy, scientists from NASA and other institutions, including MPE, shared results of the first in-depth analyses of the minerals and molecules in the Bennu samples, which OSIRIS-REx delivered to Earth in 2023.
“The CAS group is very proud to have contributed to analyzing the sample from asteroid Bennu using the CAS Raman Microscope. The Bennu sample from the OSIRIS-Rex mission was given to us by our long-term visiting scientist, Prof. Dr. Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin (Helmholtz Zentrum, München)”, says Paola Caselli, director at the Center for Astrochemical Studies (CAS), which contributed to the study. The work done at CAS has been part of the Master’s Thesis of Anique Shahid, under the supervision of Dr. Michela Giuliano, Dr. Tommaso Grassi, Paola Caselli (all CAS) and Prof. Schmitt-Kopplin (Helmholtz).
Detailed in the Nature Astronomy paper, among the most compelling detections were amino acids – 14 of the 20 that life on Earth uses to make proteins – and all five nucleobases that life on Earth uses to store and transmit genetic instructions in more complex terrestrial biomolecules, such as DNA and RNA, including how to arrange amino acids into proteins.
About NASA’s OSIRIS-REx
NASA Goddard provided overall mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security–Regolith Explorer). Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator. The university leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft and provided flight operations. NASA Goddard and KinetX Aerospace were responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Curation for OSIRIS-REx takes place at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. International partnerships on this mission include the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter instrument from CSA (Canadian Space Agency) and asteroid sample science collaboration with JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Hayabusa2 mission. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
Contacts:
Prof. Dr. Paola Caselli
Director of the CAS group at MPE
tel:+49 89 30000-3400
fax:+49 89 30000-3399
caselli@mpe.mpg.de
Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching
Dr. Barbara Michela Giuliano
scientist in CAS group
tel:+49 89 30000-3317
giuliano@mpe.mpg.de
Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
Dr. Tommaso Grassi
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, IT
tel:+49 89 30000-3639
tgrassi@mpe.mpg.de
Prof. Dr. Dr. Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin
Director of the Research Unit Analytical Biogeochemistry
tel:+49 89 3187-3246
philippe.schmittkopplin@helmholtz-munich.de
https://www.helmholtz-munich.de/en/bgc/pi/philippe-schmitt-kopplin
Helmholtz Munich
Further Information
Official Press release of NASA about analysis of Bennu asteroid.
