Samples of 4.5 billion-year-old asteroids that traveled millions of kilometers to reach Earth may reveal the origins of life on the planet.
The teaspoon-sized sample taken from the asteroid Bennu is being examined by scientists at the Natural History Museum (NHM).
The normally unobtrusive black dust-like sample could help shed light on some of the biggest questions about how Earth formed.
Experts say it could hold vital clues about the formation of planets and our solar system.
NHM senior research leader Professor Sara Russell told the PA news agency: “We’re really excited at the moment because we’ve just had a tiny teaspoonful of black powder, but it’s actually coming from space.”
He added: “We are really excited to have obtained part of the asteroid Bennu because we believe that this asteroid dates back to the earliest times of the solar system, when the sun and planets formed four and a half billion years ago.”
“It formed from a rotating disk of dust and gas, and we think we may have components from that period here.”
Prof Russell is already meticulously examining the sample found in the nitrogen glove box; This means it is not contaminated by exposure to air to maintain its natural state.
The task involves standing in front of the closed box and using the attached gloves to conduct experiments.
Explaining what the sample might contain, Prof Russell told PA: “We think it also contains minerals such as clay, which retain a lot of water, so it may contain a lot of water, and that could tell us how a watery habitable Earth became.” planet.
“We also think it may contain a few percent carbon, which could be in the form of organic carbon, so we need to investigate this further.
“But asteroids like Bennu may also provide nutrients necessary for life to thrive on Earth.”
In September, NASA’s Osiris-Rex (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Source Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) became the first US mission to collect a sample from an asteroid and return it to Earth.
Scientists at NHM were among an international team that collected part of the sample for analysis.
Bennu is an asteroid containing about 5% carbon by mass, some of which is organic.
The team also believes extraterrestrial water may be trapped within its minerals, and analysis of these minerals will help the team test the theory that asteroids brought water to our planet 4.5 billion years ago.
Prof Russell said: “The Earth was probably really hot when it formed and things like water would have boiled and escaped into space, it would have been very dry when it first formed.
“So the question is; How did we end up on this beautiful blue planet covered in oceans?
“And probably the answer is that water got here from the impact of asteroids and comets from the outer solar system.
“But we want to understand this process more. “If we understand this, we can better understand how likely it is to find habitable worlds around other stars.”
He added: “It will definitely help us understand the origin of life.”
Asked what his dream find would be, Prof Russell said: “It’s beyond my wildest dreams just to get a sample, but I think I’m looking forward to seeing if we don’t just find grain in there.” It’s old, but it’s very old, it was formed before the asteroid was formed, maybe even before our solar system was formed.
“So these could be pre-solar grains that formed around stars that were our ancestors, and it could be really interesting and exciting to explore those.”
Asteroid Bennu is thought to be similar in composition to the Winchcombe meteorite that fell to Earth in 2021.
Although the rapid accretion of the Winchcombe meteorite has left it relatively uncontaminated, it still interacts with our atmosphere.
Bennu samples collected in space remain uncontaminated, making them pristine time capsules of our solar system’s earliest history.
UKRI Natural History Museum Future Leaders Fellow Ashley King said: “The Natural History Museum has one of the best collections of meteorites in the world, but many of them we don’t know where they come from in the solar system.
“We know its origin thanks to this sample collected by NASA from the surface of the asteroid Bennu.
“This means our findings can be placed in a broader context and potentially help us understand the origins of organic matter and water that may have led to life on Earth.”
The museum is one of four UK institutions studying samples from NASA, alongside the Open University, the University of Oxford and the University of Manchester.