In the magazines Nature and Nature Astronomy, two articles were published about the first deep analysis of soil samples from asteroid Bennu. They were delivered to Earth in September 2023. The material was collected far in space from a small asteroid, where, as in the time of time, the substance has rested since the origin of the solar system. The mission was successful and provided in the hands of scientists a rich field to verify theories about where the basis for the emergence of life came from on earth.
Image source: NASA
The article in Nature Astronomy talks about the detection of Bennu 14 out of 20 natural amino acids in the samples, from which all biological organisms are built on our planet. Squirrels are created from these “bricks”. Also, all five nitrogenous bases were found in the samples that record information in DNA and RNA for the production of proteins from amino acids.
Perhaps other groups of scientists working with samples with Benn will find missing amino acids, but even now it is safe to say that conditional seeds to emerge biological life, it seems, is in all corners of the solar system. This is all the more important that global oceans can be on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and it is possible that they are full of life, what it is there.
Also, traces of ammonia – compounds, which in conjunction with formaldehyde form complex molecules, including amino acids, were found in the samples from an asteroid. The presence of formaldehyde in samples with Benn was also discovered by this group of researchers.
«The mission of NASA OSIRIS-REX is already rewriting the textbook that we know about the origin of our solar system, ”said Nicky Fox, deputy administrator of the Directorate of Scientific Misses at the NASA headquarters in Washington. “Asteroids are a temporary capsule in the history of our native planet, and Benn’s samples are crucial for our understanding of what ingredients in our solar system existed before life originated on Earth.”
The artist’s idea of the capture of samples from an asteroid
The second work sheds light on conditions in which life could arise or at least, amino acids, proteins and other complex molecules could form. Samples with Benn also shared this information. They found traces of the presence of saline broth in antiquity – a liquid medium that would suit well for the emergence of chemistry of life.
Thus, scientists revealed traces of 11 minerals – from calcite to Galit and Sylvit – which form when water containing dissolved salts evaporates for a long period of time, leaving salts in the form of solid crystals. Such brine have already been detected or expected to detect throughout our system, including the dwarf planet Cerenet and satellite Saturn Enzelad.
Although scientists previously found evaporites in the meteorites that have fallen to Earth, they never saw a complete set of minerals, which is formed in the process of evaporation, which lasted thousands or more. Some minerals found on Benna, such as the throne, were first discovered in extraterrestrial samples.
«These works really help to explain how the ingredients of life have actually united in order to create what we see on this asteroid, greatly changed by water, ”the scientists explain.
Despite all the answers that the samples of Benna gave, the questions are strongly. For example, many amino acids can be created in two mirror versions, such as a couple of left and right hands, which is called chiracy. Life on Earth develops almost exclusively with the left orientation of amino acids (L-amino acids), but the Benn samples contain an equal amount of both of them (D-amino acids). This means that on the early Earth, amino acids may also be in an equal ratio. The reason why life “turned left”, and not to the right, remains a mystery.