101955 Bennu (provisional designation 1999 RQ36) is a carbonaceous asteroid in the Apollo group discovered by the LINEAR Project on 11 September 1999. It is a potentially hazardous object that is listed on the Sentry Risk Table and has the third highest cumulative rating on the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale. [ 9 ] .

Jan 29, 2025 · Studies of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft have revealed molecules that, on our planet, are key to life, as well as a history of saltwater that could have served as the “broth” for these ...

Oct 16, 2020 · Bennu is a carbonaceous asteroid that hasn’t undergone drastic, composition-altering change, meaning that on and below its deeper-than-pitch-black surface are chemicals and rocks from the birth of the solar system.

Oct 11, 2023 · Initial studies of the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu sample collected in space and brought to Earth by NASA show evidence of high-carbon content and water, which together could indicate the building blocks of life on Earth may be found in the rock.

Dec 20, 2024 · Bennu is a small, near-Earth asteroid that passes relatively close to Earth about every six years. It was the target of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission to collect an asteroid sample and bring it to Earth.

Jan 30, 2025 · Studies of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft have revealed molecules that, on our planet, are key to life, as well as a history of saltwater that could have served as the “broth” for these compounds to interact and combine.

Jan 29, 2025 · When asteroids like Bennu hit the young Earth, they could have provided a complete package of complex molecules and the ingredients essential to life, such as water, phosphate and ammonia. Together, these components could have seeded Earth’s initially barren landscape to produce a habitable world.

Jan 29, 2025 · NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft returned 122 grams (4 ounces) of dust and pebbles from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, delivering the sample canister to the Utah desert in 2023 before swooping off after another space rock. It remains …

Feb 4, 2025 · Bennu is a relatively small asteroid that passes close to Earth about every six years. Bennu was the target of NASA's OSIRIS-REx, the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid and deliver it to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023.

Jan 29, 2025 · A new analysis of samples from the asteroid Bennu, NASA’s first asteroid sample captured in space and delivered to Earth, reveals that evaporated water left a briny broth where salts and minerals allowed the elemental ingredients of life to intermingle and create more complex structures. The discovery suggests that extraterrestrial brines provided a crucial setting for the development of ...