Q & A WITH AN ASTEROID ASTROBIOLOGIST

The secret of how life started on Earth could lie in a sample brought back from the asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission in 2023

What is Bennu? Bennu is a ‘rubble pile’ asteroid, almost spherical in shape but with a bulging belt. It’s about half a kilometre wide. It’s formed from reassembled fragments from a parent asteroid that was disrupted by an impact in the early Solar System. The pieces would have flown all over the place, reassembling into bodies like Bennu. Fortunately, Bennu’s orbit brings it close to Earth, so we could more easily venture there to get a sample. What exactly was the OSIRIS-REx mission? It was a sample-return mission. We sent a probe to Bennu to collect a sample that was brought back to Earth. These missions are challenging and complex but have amazing advantages. For example, when you get a sample back, you can study it with any instrument you…

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BBC Sky at Night United Kingdom (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025

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