NASA reveals ‘incredible’ findings from asteroid that could explain origins of life on Earth
NASA has revealed its “incredible” findings from a sample that was scooped up from the surface of an asteroid and delivered to Earth by spacecraft.
The sample, ancient black dust and chunks, was collected from the carbon-rich asteroid named Bennu, almost 60 million miles away.
It is the largest ever returned to Earth.
NASA‘s Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected the samples three years ago and then dropped them off sealed in a capsule during a flyby of Earth last month.
Asteroid Bennu seen from the Osiris-Rex spacecraft. Pic: NASA/AP
Scientists hope it can shed light on the origin of the solar system and of life on Earth.
An Osiris-Rex sample analyst, Daniel Glavin, said during a news conference to reveal the material that the sample was “loaded with organics”.
“This is just incredible material,” he said.
“This stuff is an astrobiologist’s dream, I just can’t wait to get at it.”
The scientists have been investigating whether asteroids like Bennu seeded the Earth with pre-biotic chemicals.
Mr Glavin said: “We’re going to learn so much about the origin of the solar system, the evolution and potentially how even life started here on Earth.”
Dante Lauretta, Osiris-Rex principal investigator, said the different sized stones contained in the sample would provide invaluable information for scientists.
‘Something from space we have never seen in our laboratories’
“Something like that would not make it to the surface of the Earth as a meteorite,” he said.
“So to have something from space that we have never seen in our laboratories, there is nothing more exciting.”
Bennu is considered the most dangerous asteroid in the Solar System – although NASA has estimated its chances of actually hitting Earth in 2182 are remote, at just one in 2,700, or 0.037%.
Lori Glaze, director of the agency’s planetary science division, explained how the latest sample could help protect our planet from a catastrophic impact with a space object.
She said the mission allowed NASA to measure a small force created by the sun’s heat and an asteroid’s rotation – explaining this force was “really important for helping us to predict when a particular asteroid might be dangerous”.
A recovery team member examines a capsule containing NASA’s first asteroid samples before it is taken to a temporary clean room at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah
“What we really want to know is if an asteroid is going to cross over Earth’s orbit at the same time that we are in that place, and we want to not be in that place when an asteroid comes by,” she said.
Administrator Bill Nelson – explained the discovery was unprecedented.
“At nearly 5% carbon by weight, carbon being the central element of life, far exceeding our goal of 60g, this is the biggest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever returned to earth,” he said.
Carbon and water molecules are “exactly the kind of material that we wanted to find”, Mr Nelson added.
“They are going to help us determine the origin of elements that could have led to life.”
A view of the outside of the OSIRIS-REx sample collector.
Pic:NASA/Reuters
Sky News Science Correspondent Thomas Moore explains what it all means.
So much material has been brought back from asteroid Bennu that it has spilled out of the collection cannister.
NASA scientists still haven’t got inside – they’ve been carefully sweeping together their “bonus sample” to make sure it’s not wasted.
It’s slowed them down, so they’ve only had time to do a basic analysis of the material in the fortnight or so since the capsule parachuted down to Utah’s western desert last month.
Results so far show that it is rich in carbon, an essential element for the organic molecules that are the building blocks of life.
And stunning high magnification images taken with an electron microscope reveal fibrous clay particles that contain water.
That adds to evidence that asteroids bombarding planet Earth billions of years ago brought water that formed the oceans, and also the seeds of life.
But this is just the start.
They now need to work out exactly what chemicals are in the sample.
Analysis of material brought back from another asteroid called Ryugu by a Japanese spacecraft revealed dozens of organic compounds, including amino acids that form proteins.
There was only a tiny amount of material brought back from Ryugu and scientists haven’t yet been able to detect any of the chemical ingredients for making RNA and DNA, the genetic codes of life on Earth.
But there is much more material brought back from Bennu.
Just over a quarter of the material will be analysed over the next two years by scientists at laboratories around the world, including a team at the Natural History Museum in London.
The rest will be preserved for future analysis, as NASA says, by scientists who haven’t been born yet using techniques that can only be imagined.
That might tell us more about our origins. But perhaps also give clues to how our planet formed.
Bennu is a window into the early days of the solar system, 4.5 billion years ago. It’s likely to have changed very little since it was formed from loose rubble orbiting between Mars and Jupiter.
The planets would have been formed from the same material. But Bennu’s material is pristine, unchanged by the intense heat and pressure involved in making a planet.
You can sense the excitement of the scientists. They’ve had so many questions about our place in the Universe.
And with the Bennu sample they might start getting some answers.
We’ve seen this many times before.
Highly anticipated talks and meetings with America, Israel’s closest ally and the one country with the power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change course, then nothing changes.
We need to give Steve Witkoff time to report his assessments back to the White House before we can give a complete verdict on this visit but what we’ve seen and heard so far has offered little hope.
The pressure on Donald Trump to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is mounting after a small but vocal contingent of his base expressed outrage.
Even one of his biggest supporters in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Green, has referred to it as a genocide.
It was little coincidence Mr Witkoff was dispatched to the region for the first time in three months to speak to people on both sides and “learn the truth” to quote US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who accompanied him to an aid site in Gaza.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Gaza nurse: ‘We’re rationing care’
The pair spent five hours in Gaza speaking to people at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation centre and it’s understood saw nothing of the large crowd of Palestinians gathering a mile away waiting for food.
Their sanitised tour of Gaza did not include a visit to a hospital where medics are receiving casualties by the dozen from deadly incidents at aid sites, and where they’re treating children for malnutrition and hunger.
A critical trauma nurse at Nasser hospital told us a 13-year-old boy was among the people shot while Mr Witkoff was in the enclave.
An American paediatrician at the same hospital who had publicly extended an invitation to meet with Mr Witkoff heard nothing from the US delegation.
Read more from Sky News:
90mph ‘danger to life’ winds to hit UK tomorrow, Met Office warns
Search for five trapped Chilean miners suffers setback
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Come here, right now’: Gaza doctor’s message to US envoy
Dr Tom Adamkiewicz described people “being shot like rabbits” and “a new level of barbarity that I don’t think the world has seen”.
The US delegation was defensive of the controversial GHF aid distribution that was launched by America and Israel in May, hailing its delivery of a million meals a day.
But if their new system of feeding Gaza is truly working, why are we seeing images of starved children and hearing deaths every day of people in search of food?
The backdrop of this trip is very different to the last time Mr Witkoff was here.
In May, life was a struggle for Palestinians in Gaza, people were dying in Israeli bombings but, for the most part, people weren’t dying due to a lack of food or getting killed trying to reach aid.
Mr Netanyahu’s easing of humanitarian conditions a week ago, allowing foreign aid to drop from the sky, was an indirect admission of failure by the GHF.
Yet, for now, the US is standing by this highly criticised way of delivering aid.
A UN source tells me more aid is getting through than it was a week ago – around 30 lorries are due to enter today compared to around five that were getting in each day before.
Still nowhere near enough and it’s a complex process of clearances and coordination with the IDF through areas of conflict.
Lorries are regularly refused entry without explanation.
Then there was Mr Witkoff’s meeting with hostage families a day later where we began to get a sense of America’s new plan for Gaza.
The US issued no public statement but family members shared conversations they’d had with Mr Trump’s envoy: bring all the hostages home in one deal, disarm Hamas and end the war. Easier to propose than to put into practice.
Within hours of those comments being reported in the Israeli media, Hamas released a video of hostage Evyatar David looking emaciated in an underground tunnel in Gaza.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Video released of Israeli hostage
Now 24 years old, he was kidnapped from the Nova festival on 7 October and is one of 20 hostages understood to be still alive. The release of the video was timed for maximum impact.
Hamas also poured water on any hopes of a deal in a statement, refusing to disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established.
Hamas has perhaps become more emboldened in this demand after key Israeli allies, including the UK, announced plans for formal recognition in the last week.
It’s hard to see a way forward. The current Israeli government has, in effect, abandoned the idea of a two-state solution.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The Trump administration’s recent boycott of international conferences on the matter suggests America is taking a similar line, breaking with its long-standing position.
Arab nations could now be key in what happens next.
In an unprecedented move, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt joined a resolution calling for Hamas to disarm and surrender control of Gaza following a UN conference earlier this week.
This is hugely significant – highly influential powers in its own backyard have not applied this sort of pressure before.
For all the US delegation’s good intentions, it’s still political deadlock. Israeli hostages and Palestinians in Gaza left to starve and suffer the consequences.
Tens of thousands of Sydney residents marched across the city’s iconic Harbour Bridge to support Palestinians in Gaza and call for an end to the war.
The decision to centre the protest on such an iconic landmark was controversial. The bridge is considered a symbol of unity in the city.
However, the Israel-Hamas war has been deeply divisive in Australia and increased tension between the country’s Jewish and Muslim communities.
Protesters walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Pic: AAP/Dean Lewins/Reuters
On Sunday there were pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.
In Sydney organisers hoped 50,000 people would attend, despite heavy rain.
In the end, the bridge and the central business district were so packed – and the weather so bad – that police and organisers called the march off mid-way, fearing there would be a crush in the crowd.
Protest in Sydney. Pic: @emafranklin via Storyful
Police said the crowd numbers in the Sydney Harbour Bridge march were “far greater” than expected, creating the risk of a crowd crush.
“It was perilous,” said senior officer Peter McKenna, adding his force was “very lucky the crowd was well-behaved”.
The final figures for the number of people who attended haven’t been released. But it was an impressive turnout in the tens of thousands.
Some of those attending the march, called by its organisers the March for Humanity, carried pots and pans as symbols of the hunger in the besieged enclave of Gaza.
Julian Assange joined protesters. Pic: AAP/Dean Lewins/Reuters
There was also a surprise guest, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
He has largely kept a low profile since his release from a British prison last year. He didn’t speak to the crowd, but he was among those leading the march.
However, the demonstration almost didn’t happen after New South Wales police tried to stop it from taking place on the Harbour Bridge.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
On Saturday, the country’s Supreme Court ruled it could go ahead.
Despite the rain, there were families with children and seniors as well. It was a true cross-section of Australian society.
One of the protesters, Sarah, drove up from the Blue Mountains outside Sydney to attend.
She said, “enough is enough” and the Australian government should take “stronger action”.
Pro-Palestine protesters on Sydney Harbour Bridge
Read more:
Videos of emaciated Israeli hostage released by Hamas
Gaza nurse: ‘We’re rationing care’ – watch
Sarah also said Australians want people to know they care about what’s happening in the world.
Australia has not joined France, the UK and Canada is announcing plans to recognise a Palestinian state in September.
The government here says recognition is a matter of “when not if”. But it has not committed to any timeline.
Public pressure is growing on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to take a stronger stand against the war. So far, he has largely resisted that pressure.
But the government’s language towards Israel is becoming more critical.
Just 36 aid trucks entered Gaza on Saturday – despite the humanitarian situation in the enclave worsening, Palestinian officials have warned.
According to the Gazan government’s media office, most of the humanitarian supplies were looted and stolen – “as a result of the state of security chaos that the Israeli occupation systematically and deliberately perpetuates”.
Officials say at least 600 truckloads of aid are required on a daily basis, adding: “The needs of the population are worsening.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Gaza nurse: ‘We’re rationing care’
A statement released late last night called for “the immediate opening of crossings, and the entry of aid and infant formula in sufficient quantities” – and “condemned in the strongest terms the continuation of the crime of starvation”.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, refuted this – and accused Hamas of “stirring up a slanderous propaganda campaign against Israel”.
He said: “The cruelty of Hamas has no boundaries. While the State of Israel is allowing the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, the terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving our hostages and document them in a cynical and evil manner.
“The terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving the residents of the Strip as well, preventing them from receiving the aid.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Aid drops continue over Gaza
It comes as the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza said its headquarters in Khan Younis were hit by an Israeli strike, killing one staff member and injuring three others.
Footage posted on social media shows a fire broke out in the building.
Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel for a 60-day ceasefire, and a deal for the release of half the hostages still held in Gaza, ended in deadlock last week.
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy told the families of the hostages yesterday that he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would end the war.
Steve Witkoff arrives to meet families of hostages in Tel Aviv. Pic: AP
Steve Witkoff claimed that Hamas was willing to disarm to stop the conflict, despite the group’s repeated statements that it would not do so.
In response, Hamas said it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital.
Read more from Sky News:
Rescuers searching for five trapped miners find body
Man tries to detonate 14 explosive devices while being arrested
After Mr Witkoff’s meeting with the families of the hostages, Hamas released two videos of an emaciated Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, who was abducted from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023 and has been held in captivity in Gaza since.
The 24-year-old looked skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back. He was heard saying that he had not eaten for three days. The distressing videos show him digging his own grave, he said in the footage.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike