Clues from Organics in Asteroid Bennu Samples

A team of researchers, including BAERI alumnus Michel Nuevo, analyzed the oldest organics in samples retrieved from the asteroid Bennu during the 2024 OSIRIS-REx mission. Their paper, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, shows how molecules that are thought to be necessary for life may have begun in the cold early days of our solar system, over 4 billion years ago.

Per lead author Scott A. Sandford, “It was amazing…By studying microscopic grains of material, we were able to understand things that happened billions of years ago on a remote asteroid.”

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