Historic asteroid sample reveals the ‘building blocks of life are in fact extraterrestrial in origin,’ scientists say. Story by Ashley Strickland, CNN • 3d.

A NASA spacecraft brought samples from the asteroid Bennu back to Earth in 2023. The first in-depth analyses of that material have revealed organic molecules, including building blocks of life.

Samples from the asteroid Ryugu contain uracil, one of the four building blocks of RNA, as well as niacin and other compounds that are important for living organisms.

The samples are priceless, the preserved building blocks from the dawn of the solar system, NASA said. For the next two years, the mission's science team will study the samples from Bennu.

Researchers say they have found more than ten types of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, in samples collected from a diamond-shaped asteroid 200 million miles from Earth.

NASA said during a live stream Wednesday that Bennu asteroid samples collected by the OSIRIS-Rex mission contain water, carbon and organic molecules - the building blocks of life.

When the OSIRIS-REx mission touched down in Utah with a sample from the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid, Bennu, scientists who opened the hatch gave an audible gasp when they saw what was inside.

Rock and dust samples retrieved by NASA from the asteroid Bennu exhibit some of the chemical building blocks of life, according to research that provides some of the best evidence to date that ...

Historic asteroid sample reveals the ‘building blocks of life are in fact extraterrestrial in origin,’ scientists say. CNN. January 29, 2025, 12:33 PM. Share This: share on facebook; ...

A NASA spacecraft brought samples from the asteroid Bennu back to Earth in 2023. The first in-depth analyses of that material have revealed organic molecules, including building blocks of life ...

Rock and dust samples retrieved by NASA from the asteroid Bennu exhibit some of the chemical building blocks of life, according to research that provides some of the best evidence to date that ...