Signs of life have been discovered in NASA’s Bennu asteroid sample that returned to Earth

When the OSIRIS-REx mission landed in Utah with a sample of the 4.5 billion-year-old asteroid Bennu, the scientists who opened the door let out an audible gasp when they saw what was inside. Now, early studies of material parachuted back to Earth have revealed why: The sample contains evidence of carbon and water, which “together could point to the building blocks of life on Earth,” according to NASA. press release.

Samples from Bennu could reveal answers to questions about how the solar system formed that scientists have been pursuing for decades. In the two weeks following the delivery of the Bennu sample, scientists analyzed rocks and fragmented dust surrounding the main box from the mission to get preliminary readouts on the asteroid’s composition. The main analysis will be done in the next few weeks when the box is opened. according to natureIt was found that Bennu actually contains the highest percentage of carbon ever measured in an extraterrestrial body at 4.7 percent.

“The abundance of carbon-rich materials and the abundant presence of water-bearing clay minerals are just the tip of the cosmic iceberg,” Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx, said in the press release. “These discoveries, made possible through years of dedicated collaboration and cutting-edge science, push us on a journey to understand not only our celestial neighborhood but also the possibilities for the beginnings of life.”