The nitrogen in the gum was found to be in nitrogen heterocycles, which are the building blocks of nucleobases in DNA and RNA. This brings us to the other new discovery, reported in Nature Geoscience, ...

Japanese collaborators detected all five nucleobases — building blocks of DNA and RNA — in samples returned from asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. Asteroids, small airless bodies within the ...

This figure illustrates key molecules and minerals discovered in samples of near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu, which were delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission in September 2023. Bennu is a ...

In September 2016 NASA will launch a very special mission. The target: near-Earth asteroid 101955 Bennu. The primary objective of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and ...

The OSIRIS-REx mission collected a sample from the near-Earth asteroid (NEA) 101955 Bennu, revealing its "rubble pile" structure and composition, including potential biogenic components. Bennu is ...

Bennu and Ryugu are considered near-Earth asteroids because they orbit the sun within the orbit of Mars; however, they are not considered a danger to Earth, having a closest approach of about 1.9 and ...

A groundbreaking study recently published in the Planetary Science Journalhas raised the possibility that asteroids Bennu, Ryugu, and Polana may all be fragments of a common parent body. The paper, ...

Analysis of samples from asteroid Bennu has revealed objects resembling chondrules, though not identical to those found in meteorites, suggesting greater asteroid diversity than previously understood.

NASA says an asteroid larger than the Empire State Building is heading toward Earth. But don't worry, it's not expected to arrive until the year 2182 and there's only a .05% chance it will hit our ...

(Nanowerk News) Rock and dust samples brought back from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu contain organic matter, including amino acids and all five DNA and RNA bases, as well as salts that formed early ...