NASA says sugars crucial for life found in sample from Bennu, dubbed 'Space gum'

The near-Earth asteroid Bennu, a carbon-rich space rock, continues to provide scientists with critical insights into the origins of life in our solar system. More than two years ago, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft returned samples from Bennus surface, giving researchers a rare opportunity to study pristine asteroid material directly.

Analysis of the samples has revealed remarkable findings. Scientists have detected sugars essential to life, such as ribose and, for the first time, glucose. Ribose is a key component of RNA, while glucose serves as a primary energy source for living organisms, suggesting that essential life-building compounds were present in the early solar system.

Researchers at NASA's Johnson Space Center also examined presolar grainsdust older than our solar systemfound within Bennus material. This supernova dust sheds light on Bennus parent body, which likely formed in the protoplanetary disk of gas and dust surrounding young stars.

One of the most unusual discoveries is a substance NASA has dubbed "space gum." This soft, pliable material, unlike anything previously observed in asteroid samples, likely formed during the infancy of our solar system. Composed of polymer-like molecules rich in nitrogen and oxygen, the material could have played a role in sparking life on Earth.

Finding these compounds in Bennus pristine samples is a major step for understanding how life could emerge and whether it may exist elsewhere, NASA said.

The OSIRIS-REx mission, which launched in 2016, collected the samples from Bennu in 2020 and delivered them to Earth in September 2023. The spacecraft has since been renamed OSIRIS-APEX and redirected to study asteroid Apophis during a close approach in 2029, further contributing to planetary defense research.

Author: Harper Simmons