Scientists found 11 minerals in Bennu samples, including calcite, halite, and sylvite, that form when water with dissolved salts evaporates over time, leaving solid crystals. Similar brines have been ...

This artist’s concept shows NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending towards asteroid Bennu to collect a sample of the ...

The first compound the team discovered in the Bennu sample was sodium carbonate, which had never been observed before in any other asteroid or meteorite. As it incorporates water into its crystal ...

By studying the Bennu samples, they hope to gain more insight into how these ingredients could have evolved. An important reason NASA selected Bennu for the sample return mission is because of its ...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Studies of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA's OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and ...

“Comparing the sample return to meteorites in our Collection, using state-of-the-art analytical facilities here in the Museum, is invaluable in helping us understand our origins.” Bennu is thought to ...

The sample, which the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collected from the asteroid Bennu and returned to Earth in 2023, contains all five nucleobases — the "letters" that make up DNA and RNA — alongside ...

More:High resolution photos of asteroid materials revealed. How NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft brought Bennu sample back to Earth. The findings were reported in two journal articles on Wednesday.

To circumvent that issue, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission brought 121.6 grams of sample from asteroid Bennu in September 2023. An international team of scientists analyzed the largest asteroid sample ever ...