‘Untouched by Earth’: Asteroid Bennu’s salts may hold clue to a billion-year-old puzzle
Produced by: Manoj Kumar
Ancient Brines
Asteroid Bennu samples contain halite, a common salt, hinting at past briny environments suitable for forming organic molecules. A cosmic recipe for life’s origins?
Extraterrestrial Salts
Curtin researchers found pristine salts, confirming their extraterrestrial origin, untouched by Earth’s contamination. A glimpse into untouched cosmic chemistry.
Bennu’s Parent
Bennu’s fragments stem from a 4.5-billion-year-old body formed beyond Saturn and destroyed in a collision. A story of cosmic violence and creation.
Pristine Evidence
Sealed in nitrogen, Bennu samples avoided Earthly contamination, preserving clues about ancient water activity in the solar system.
Icy Connections
Findings suggest processes on Bennu’s parent body resemble those on icy moons like Enceladus, raising questions about potential life in distant oceans.
Briny Origins
Evaporite minerals, like those in Earth’s salt lakes, suggest Bennu’s parent body hosted conditions perfect for assembling life’s building blocks.
Asteroid Water
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx detected signs of water on Bennu through hydrated minerals, pointing to a wet and dynamic past in space.
Cosmic Collision
Bennu was shaped by violent space events. Its rubble-pile structure holds materials from the solar system’s earliest moments.
Advanced Tools
Curtin’s state-of-the-art instruments validated extraterrestrial salts, cementing the discovery as one of the most significant in planetary science.