A new analysis of samples delivered by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and

Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft from asteroid Bennu has revealed the discovery of sugars, a gum-like substance,

and stardust.

“Three new papers published in the journals Nature Geoscience and Nature Astronomy present remarkable discoveries:

sugars essential for biology, a gum-like substance not seen before in astromaterials, and an unexpectedly high abundance

of dust produced by supernova explosions,” NASA said.

Bennu was discovered in 1999 and it is a near-Earth asteroid that passes by our planet every 6 years.

Sugars essential to life found in Bennu

Scientists led by Yoshihiro Furukawa of Tohoku University in Japan identified the five-carbon sugar ribose and the

six-carbon sugar glucose in Bennu’s samples.

“All five nucleobases used to construct both DNA and RNA, along with phosphates, have already been found in the Bennu

samples brought to Earth by OSIRIS-REx,” said Furukawa. “The new discovery of ribose means that all of the components

required to form RNA are present in Bennu.”

While ribose had previously been detected in two meteorites, this discovery indicates that ribose “may have been more

common than deoxyribose in environments of the early solar system.”

Furukawa explained: “Present-day life is based on a complex system organized primarily by three functional biopolymers:

DNA, RNA and proteins. However, early life may have been simpler. RNA is the leading candidate for the first functional

biopolymer because it can store genetic information and catalyze biological reactions.”

Ancient “Space gum”

Another study in Nature Astronomy, led by Scott Sandford at NASA’s Ames Research Center and Zack Gainsforth of UC

Berkeley, revealed the discovery of a gum-like substance in the Bennu samples. The material appears to have formed in

the early solar system and is "extremely" rich in nitrogen and oxygen.

This findings from the Bennu samples help scientists to know how life began and whether it exists beyond planet Earth.

“With this strange substance, we’re looking at, quite possibly, one of the earliest alterations of materials that

occurred in this rock,” said Sandford. “On this primitive asteroid that formed in the early days of the solar system,

we’re looking at events near the beginning of the beginning.”

Stardust

Another analysis revealed that two different rock types in the Bennu sample contained six times more supernova dust than

any previously studied astromaterial.

According to a study led by Ann Nguyen of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Bennu’s parent asteroid “experienced extensive

alteration by fluids,” yet “there are still pockets of less-altered materials within the samples that offer insights

into its origin.”

“These fragments retain a higher abundance of organic matter and presolar silicate grains, which are easily destroyed by

aqueous alteration in asteroids,” Nguyen said. “Their preservation in the Bennu samples was a surprise and shows that

some material escaped alteration. Our study reveals the diversity of presolar materials the parent body accreted as it

was forming.”