Building blocks of life found on asteroid

After traveling two billion miles over more than two years, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at asteroid Bennu, collected a small sample of rock, and brought it back to Earth in 2023. Today, NASA announced that the pinch of dust contains the chemical building blocks of life. Analysis revealed amino acids—molecules that make protein—and nucleobases, that form the structure of DNA.

   LIKE BOING BOING BUT NOT THE ADS?
   CLICK HERE TO GO AD-FREE!

"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 reports.

From the BBC News:

This latest study adds to growing evidence that asteroids brought water and organic material to Earth.

"The early Solar System was really turbulent and there were millions of asteroids like Bennu flying about," explained Dr Ashley King, from the Natural History Museum [in London].

The idea is that these bombarded the young Earth, seeding our planet with ingredients that gave us the oceans and made life possible.

But Earth wasn't the only world getting hit by space rocks. Asteroids would have been colliding with other planets too.

"Earth is unique, in that it's the only place where we have found life so far, but we know asteroids were delivering those ingredients, the carbon and the water, throughout the Solar System," said Dr King.

"And one of the big things that we're trying to understand now is, if you have the right conditions, why do we have life here on Earth – and could we potentially find it elsewhere in our Solar System?"

Previously:
• A video tour of the Bennu asteroid
• Incredible images of NASA spacecraft's arrival at asteroid this morning