Studies of rock and dust from the asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft have revealed molecules that – on our planet – are key to life, as well as a history of saltwater that could have served as the “broth” for these compounds to interact and combine. These building blocks for life detected in the Bennu samples have been found before in extraterrestrial rocks. However, identifying them in a pristine sample collected in space supports the idea that objects that formed far from the Sun could have been an important source of the raw precursor ingredients for life throughout the solar system. For all the answers the Bennu sample has provided, several questions remain.
Panelists include: • Dr. Jason Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx Project Scientist • Dr. Harold Connolly, Professor of Geology at Rowen University and Mission Sample Scientist of OSIRIS-REx • Dr. Amy Simon, Project Scientist for OSIRIS-APEX, NASA’s Apophis Explorer mission.
Hosted by Briana Horton and moderated by James Tralie.
Presented by NASA Goddard's Office of Communications. Directed and produced by Dustin Barringer and Travis Wohlrab, NASA/GSFC. Recorded live on February 25, 2025 from 1pm – 2pm ET at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers, and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments, and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe.
