American space agency NASA has demonstrated fragments brought to Earth by a distant asteroid.
The space agency says that these black and dusty samples are four and a half billion years old Asteroids are brought from and may also be the ‘basic unit of life’.
The space agency says the first material from asteroid Bennu has found traces of carbon and water, but it will be dissected from the point of view of fully understanding how life existed in our solar system’s history. i came
Scientists and space agency leaders showed photos and video of material from the asteroid brought back to Earth last month in a live-stream event at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
The display was preceded by a 250-gram capsule of rocks and soil collected from asteroid Bennu on September 24 in the Utah desert near Salt Lake City.
NASA says it is the largest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever brought to Earth and its contents are now being hailed as a ‘scientific treasure’.
“This sample will help scientists investigate the origins of life on our planet for generations to come,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
He added, ‘Everything we do at NASA is about trying to answer the questions of who we are and where we come from.
‘NASA missions like Osiris Rex will improve our knowledge by providing a glimpse into the future of asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth.’
He said, ‘Samples have arrived on Earth, but there is still a lot of science to be done, science that we have never seen before.’
About six million miles away, the asteroid Bennu is a 4.5-billion-year-old remnant of our early solar system, and scientists believe it could help shed light on the formation and evolution of planets.
The spacecraft was launched on September 8, 2016 and arrived at Benue in December 2018. He sealed the samples in a capsule and delivered them last month.
“It’s already a scientific treasure,” says the mission’s lead scientist, University of Arizona professor Dante Loretta.
In a statement they added: ‘By peering into the ancient secrets preserved in the soil and rocks of asteroid Bennu, we are opening a time capsule that will give us a deeper insight into the origins of our solar system.
‘The abundance of carbon-rich materials and hydrous clay minerals is only the tip of the cosmic iceberg.
‘The discoveries, made possible by years of dedicated collaboration and cutting-edge science, take us on a journey to understand not only our celestial neighbors, but the possibilities for the beginning of life. With every revelation of Bennu, we come closer to uncovering the secrets of our cosmic heritage.’
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The purpose of NASA’s mission was to collect a 60-gram sample of the asteroid.
But when the canister lid was opened, NASA said scientists found ‘bonus material’ covering the outer parts of the collector head, canister lid and base.
NASA says it contained so much extra material that it slowed down the initial sample collection and storage process.
Scientists are not sure how much of Bennu they have recovered because the main sample chamber has not yet been opened.
Loretta said, ‘It’s going slowly and cautiously, but the science has already begun.’
There is, he said, “a whole wealth of extraterrestrial material” that has yet to be examined.
During Wednesday’s press conference, Osiris Rex sample analyst Daniel Galvin added: ‘These things are an astrobiologist’s dream, I can’t wait to get to them. We are going to learn a lot about the origin of the solar system, the evolution and possibly the beginning of life on Earth.’
Additional Reporting: Agencies
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