NASA moves one step closer to answering human origin story as they study asteroid that may carry the building blocks of life

NASA scientists studying a 4.5 billion-year-old asteroid say they may be about to uncover secrets about the origins of life on Earth.

On Monday, the agency announced its first results from a historic seven-year mission that saw them intercept the rover The ancient asteroid Bennu as it orbits the sun and brings samples to be studied here on Earth.

These preliminary results showed that the sample collected from the asteroid is richer in carbon, one of the basic building blocks of life, than any other extraterrestrial sample.

They also contain large amounts of water in the form of hydrated minerals, yet they are another essential ingredient in the recipe of life.

Scientists say it is possible that an asteroid like Bennu delivered these and other elements essential to life to Earth billions of years ago, triggering the process that led to our existence.

Roughly 5% of the sample is carbon, according to Dante Lauretta, head of the OSIRIS-REx asteroid return mission.

“This is a very carbon-rich sample, the richest we have of all extraterrestrial materials,” he said. Tell The Washington Post at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

“We're still unraveling the complex organic chemistry, but it seems promising to really understand: Did these carbon-rich asteroids provide essential molecules that may have contributed to the origin of life?”

Some scientists believe that the beginnings of life occurred in the primordial soup, where chemical reactions eventually produced the molecules that lead to life: amino acids, sugars, fats, and so on.

However, others suspect that these chemicals came from outer space, and were released by asteroids that struck the young Earth. This theory, called “pseudo-panspermia”, differs from “panspermia”, which proposes that actual organisms were delivered between planets and star systems.

Loretta's team also found a light-colored triangular stone, a material he claims he has never seen in a meteorite before.

'It's a head scratcher now. What is this substance? Loretta said.

It is unclear whether he means that the material is completely unknown, or whether it is a known material that is unusual to see on a meteorite.

Whichever case is true, these preliminary results are all the more exciting.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Loretta for details on the mineral and will update the story with a response.

Lauretta and his team don't promise to find a definitive answer to the chemical origin of life on Earth, but they are keeping it at the forefront of their minds as they analyze materials collected from Bennu.

They do not expect to find biological materials – signs of animals, plants or microorganisms – in the asteroid debris.

What they hope to find are some of the basic chemical elements of life: sugars that form the basis of DNA, lipids that make up cell membranes, or amino acids, the building materials for proteins.

The team has not yet published its findings in a scientific journal, so their findings have not been examined by other experts.

“There will be some detailed and exciting organic molecular results coming soon,” Loretta said. He added: “But the team needs more time to think about it because we need to make sure all the results are correct.” This is very important, and we don't want to make a mistake.

There's one complicating factor: They can't open the sample tray.

All analyzes so far have been based on dust and debris that returned to OSIRIS-REx, but did not reach the canister.

Of the 35 fasteners that keep the case closed, 2 will not open.

NASA scientists and engineers are now working on special tools that can be used to completely open the can, which likely won't happen until the new year.

“The samples are a few billion years old; they can wait a few more weeks,” NASA Planetary Science Director Dr. Lori Glaze said. Tell BBC.

Not only will they need to develop the tools, they will also have to test them to make sure they are suitable for the precise task of extracting space gravel from the collecting device.

Another problem the team faces, albeit less serious, is that they appear to have much less material than initially expected.

So far, they've been able to remove 70.32 grams of asteroid dust that didn't make it into the container.

And based on the weight of the device, compared to when it first left, there will likely be 120 grams left inside — plus or minus about 20 grams.

Last September, when the spacecraft touched down, scientists estimated it contained about 250 grams (8.8 ounces) of material.

This number has now been cut in half, to about 170 grams. Fortunately, that's more than enough, Loretta said.

'We're ecstatic; sixty grams was what was needed before the mission and we already have 70. So, I couldn't be happier.'