Bennu asteroid contains building blocks of life, say scientists

This latest study adds to growing evidence that asteroids brought water and organic material to Earth.

“The early Solar System was really turbulent and there were millions of asteroids like Bennu flying about,” explained Dr Ashley King, from the Natural History Museum.

The idea is that these bombarded the young Earth, seeding our planet with ingredients that gave us the oceans and made life possible.

But Earth wasn’t the only world getting hit by space rocks. Asteroids would have been colliding with other planets too.

“Earth is unique, in that it’s the only place where we have found life so far, but we know asteroids were delivering those ingredients, the carbon and the water, throughout the Solar System,” said Dr King.

“And one of the big things that we’re trying to understand now is, if you have the right conditions, why do we have life here on Earth – and could we potentially find it elsewhere in our Solar System?”

It’s a key question that scientists will continue to try and answer.

They have decades of research ahead on the dust brought back from Bennu, and parts of our cosmic neighbourhood still to explore.