As NASA has suggested, space rocks like Bennu could have carried vital elements for life to Earth
NASA has revealed a flawless test of a space rock that could be a time container from the evolution of our nearby planetary group, with the likely structure of the building blocks of life in a new revelation of space organization.
According to NASA Director Bill Nelson, the rocks and debris are rich in carbon and contain huge amounts of water, indicating that space rocks like Bennu could have brought the building blocks for life to Earth. Almost 5% of the weight of the example is carbon.
"Far exceeding our goal of 60 grams, this is the largest test of carbon-rich space rocks at any point that has made it back to Earth," Nelson said. "Carbon and water atoms are exactly the kinds of material we needed to find. They are fundamental components in the makeup of our own planet. What's more, they will help us decide on the beginnings of the components that could have fueled life." "
On September 24, a case that NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission took from the 4.5-billion-year-old near-Earth space rock Bennu in October 2020 crashed from the spacecraft.
Since then, scientists have been working intently on a fundamental survey of the overflow of material just inside the highest point of the canister, which is more than they expected.
On Wednesday, the Prime Probe Finder and the probe's findings were presented during a NASA live broadcast from the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The largest space rock test yet to be brought back to Earth.
The group has yet to open a bulk example because there was so much "reward" material when the scientists opened the jar.
"Treasure chest of alien material"
The scientific team has been inspecting some of the rocks and debris over the last two weeks using an electron magnifying lens, infrared estimates and examining the constituents of the materials.
They also used X-rays to create a 3D model of one of the particles to decide its synthesis, revealing the "logical luck" of the carbon and water content, OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta said.
"The main examination shows tests that contain abundant water as hydrated impurity minerals and contain carbon as two minerals and natural particles," Nelson said.
The water-bearing mud minerals should have been visible in the fine-grained photographs of the particles that the specialists provided.
"That's our thought process, water got to Earth," Lauretta said. "The explanation that Earth is a sustainable world, that we have seas and lakes and waterways and downpours, is based on the fact that these clay minerals arrived on Earth 4.5 years ago, so our reality is livable." So we're seeing the way the water integrated into the solid material.”
The test also revealed iron oxide minerals called magnetite that respond to attractive fields, sulfide minerals, "a fundamental component of planetary development and science," and various minerals that could be critical to organic development, Lauretta reports.
According to Dr. Daniel Glavin, principal investigator at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and an investigator of the OSIRIS-REx test, the science team was thrilled to find natural materials and an excess of carbon, which is essential for everyone. life.
"We're just starting here, but we've picked the right space stone, and not only that, we've set the right example," Glavin said. “This is an astrobiologist's fantasy.
Moving forward, the group hopes to see exactly how much science has developed on Bennu to decide whether the building blocks of life are made by peptides or the chains of amino acids that structure proteins, Glavin said.
Meanwhile, actually held inside the canister is "a whole treasure chest of alien material," Lauretta said.
What the example might reveal
Moments ago, the OSIRIS-REx shuttle tried to deal with Bennu, so it fully extended the head of the TAGSAM – Dicey Example Securing System – and shot a nitrogen gas impact on the space rock. The aftershocks and debris were lifted by the gas explosion as far as possible from 19 inches (50 centimeters) somewhere below the space rock. TAGSAM's head was weighed down by debris.
Bennu's inner and outer remnants and rocks together may have the potential to reveal insights into the arrangement and evolution of space rock over the long term. These revelations will also reveal insight into the overall cosmetics of a space rock, allowing NASA to more easily predict how it can redirect a space rock that may one day hit Earth.
From the launch of the OSIRIS-REx mission in 2016 to the arrival of the container last month, it took seven years for the eagerly awaited announcement to finally be made. Some estimated this energy much longer. It took Lauretta about 20 years to see the example and realize what it might reveal about our planetary group. She assisted the mission in the initial sequence of events.
"Our labs were ready for whatever Bennu had in store for us," said Vanessa Wyche, head of NASA's Johnson Space Center. “We've had researchers and designers working side by side for a really long time to create specific containers and devices that will keep the space rock material flawless and arrange examples so that specialists can now and for a very long time focus on this valuable gift from space."
In a specific clean room at the Johnson Space Center, scientists will look at rocks and soil over the next two years. In addition, the example will be separated and distributed to other test authorities around the world, remembering OSIRIS-REx collaborators at the Canadian Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. In order for people in the future with further developed innovations to learn much more than what is currently feasible, approximately 70% of the examples will be completely left out.
"Rocks tell you a story," Lauretta said. "The best mystery we're dealing with right now is, how would you get from a ball of mud to something alive? When will you make that kind of progress? The deepest desire is for us to make some progress in trying to solve somebody's explanation of why we're here in this universe. "
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