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NASA's OSIRIS-REx Finds Life's Building Blocks on Asteroid Bennu

2/3/2025

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Summary

Story summary

NASA's groundbreaking OSIRIS-REx mission has uncovered a treasure trove of life-building molecules in samples from the asteroid Bennu, including 14 of the 20 amino acids and all five nucleobases essential for DNA and RNA. This discovery hints at a cosmic connection, suggesting that asteroids could have seeded Earth with the building blocks of life, illuminating the conditions that fostered life in our early solar system.

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Story summary

NASA's groundbreaking OSIRIS-REx mission has uncovered a treasure trove of life-building molecules in samples from the asteroid Bennu, including 14 of the 20 amino acids and all five nucleobases essential for DNA and RNA. This discovery hints at a cosmic connection, suggesting that asteroids could have seeded Earth with the building blocks of life, illuminating the conditions that fostered life in our early solar system.