Bennu’s potential collision with Earth is a remote but unsettling possibility, according to a new study. Bennu is about 500 metres wide—taller than the Empire State Building and as wide as ...

The researchers boiled rocks and dust from Bennu in water and acid to extract organic compounds, then used mass spectrometry to identify the molecules, including 14 of the 20 amino acids that life ...

In 2018, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission reached asteroid 101955 Bennu. Two years later, the spacecraft snagged a sample of its surface, which has since been returned to Earth. Now, astronomers are ...

Dust and rocks from Bennu contained all five nucleobases—molecules that make up DNA and RNA—and 14 of the 20 amino acids in proteins. These organic molecules had been found in other asteroids. But ...

This image, taken by NASA's Osiris-Rex probe in December 2018, shows the asteroid Bennu. Scientists have identified 14 of the 20 amino acids used by terrestrial life, as well as the five nucleic acid ...

Bennu’s surface samples contained organic molecules, which are carbon-based substances necessary for life. These substances, which include complex carbon structures and amino acids, remarkably ...

Of the 20 essential amino acids, nine are actually essential. Of those nine, three are branch-chain amino acids (BCAAs). Leucine falls into both groups. All BCAAS are vital for building and ...

WASHINGTON, USA – The rocky object called Bennu is classified as a near-Earth asteroid, currently making its closest approach to Earth every six years at about 186,000 miles (299,000 km) away ...

The 120 g of material came from the near-Earth asteroid 101955 Bennu, which OSIRIS-REx visited in 2020 ... deepening the mystery of why life only uses “left-handed” amino acids. Amino acid molecules ...

If the near-Earth asteroid Bennu were to collide with Earth in the future, the space rock could cause substantial global damage, even though it’s a fraction of the size of the asteroid that ...