Produced by: Manoj Kumar
Minerals found on asteroid Bennu match those in California’s Searles Lake, linking cosmic and Earthly chemistry.
Evaporites on Bennu suggest its parent body once had liquid water—4.5 billion years ago!
The OSIRIS-REx mission collected asteroid dust in 2020, returning it to Earth in 2023 for analysis.
Bennu’s minerals formed in alkaline, salty water—similar to conditions that may have sparked life on Earth.
Six key minerals—like trona and halite—exist both on Bennu and in Searles Lake, showing a shared chemical process.
On Earth, salt forms in “bathtub rings” as water evaporates. Bennu’s parent body likely underwent a similar process.
Scientists used electron microscopes to reveal tiny mineral structures—some just micrometers wide!
Searles Lake has been mined for over a century, but Bennu offers a glimpse into mineral formation billions of years ago.
Bennu’s chemistry hints that water-rich asteroids may have delivered life’s building blocks to early Earth.