Asteroid Bennu, sampled by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission in 2020, is a mixture of dust that formed in our solar system, organic matter from interstellar space, and pre-solar system stardust. Its […]
Bennu
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Sample Return
Asteroid Bennu Is A Time Capsule Of Materials Bearing Witness To Its Origin And Transformation Over Billions Of Years
Asteroid Bennu — the target of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample return mission, led by the University of Arizona — is a mixture of materials from throughout, and even beyond, our solar […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Sample Return
Astrogeology: Asteroids Bennu And Ryugu Are Part Of The Polana Family
A Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) review of data collected from near-Earth asteroids Bennu and Ryugu supports the hypothesis that they were originally part of the Polana collisional family in the […]
![Estimated sampleability efficiency for Nightingale (left) and Osprey (right) [12]. Blue indicates high efficiency while red indicates low efficiency. The tan circle denotes the area that contained 98.3% of Monte Carlo cases while the blue circle contained 80%. -- astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/OSIRIS-REx-Operational-Key.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Status Report
OSIRIS-REx Operational Key Decision Points: A Retrospective
OSIRIS-REx, NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission, rendezvoused with the near-Earth asteroid Bennu in 2018 and delivered a 121.6-gram sample to Earth in 2023, the largest amount of material ever […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Ceres, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Sample Return, Status Report
Challenges and Opportunities in Using Amino Acids to Decode Carbonaceous Chondrite and Asteroid Parent Body Processes
Carbonaceous chondrite (CC) meteorites are fragments of planetesimals that hold clues about the early solar system’s organic matter. Amino acids are key to life on Earth; thus their study from […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Missions & Hardware, Press Release
Life’s Building Blocks Discovered In Samples From Asteroid Bennu
Japanese collaborators detected all five nucleobases — building blocks of DNA and RNA — in samples returned from asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return
Pristine Asteroid Samples Reveal Secrets Of The Ancient Solar System
Curtin University researchers have gained an unprecedented glimpse into the early history of our solar system through some of the most well-preserved asteroid samples ever collected, potentially transforming our understanding […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return
Exploring The Mysteries Of Asteroid Bennu
During the past year, there’s been an unusual set of samples at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab): material gathered from the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu when […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return
Dust From asteroid Bennu: Building Blocks Of Life And Possible Habitats Were Widespread In Our Solar System
It took two years for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx space probe to return from asteroid Bennu before dropping off a small capsule as it flew past Earth, which was then recovered in […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Origin & Evolution of Life, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return
Traces Of Ancient Brine Discovered On Asteroid Bennu Contain Minerals Crucial To Life
A new analysis of samples from the asteroid Bennu, NASA’s first asteroid sample captured in space and delivered to Earth, reveals that evaporated water left a briny broth where salts […]