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Dust that NASA brought back from the asteroid Bennu contains amino acids and all five nucleobases, the chemical 'letters' of DNA and RNA: key ingredients for the chemistry of life, though not signs of life itself.

Nature Astronomy / Nature (2025)

SpaceScience

The story behind the card

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft launched in 2016, reached Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid about 500 metres wide, in 2018, and in 2020 touched its surface for a few seconds to collect loose rock and dust. The capsule landed in Utah in September 2023 with 121.6 grams of material. Studies published in 2025 found 14 of the 20 amino acids that life on Earth uses to build proteins, all five nucleobases, and salt minerals left behind as ancient brine evaporated. Life on Earth uses almost only 'left-handed' amino acids; Bennu's came in a roughly equal mix of left- and right-handed forms. None of this is evidence of life; it shows these ingredients were widespread in the early Solar System.

Türkçe oku
NASA'nın Bennu asteroidinden getirdiği tozda amino asitler ve DNA ile RNA'nın kimyasal “harfleri” olan beş nükleobazın hepsi bulundu. Bunlar yaşam kimyasının temel bileşenleri, ama yaşamın kendisine işaret etmiyor.
Nature Astronomy / Nature (2025)

NASA'nın OSIRIS-REx uzay aracı 2016'da fırlatıldı, 2018'de yaklaşık 500 metre çapındaki, karbonca zengin Bennu asteroidine ulaştı ve 2020'de yüzeyine birkaç saniyeliğine dokunup gevşek kaya ve toz topladı. Örnek kapsülü Eylül 2023'te ABD'nin Utah eyaletine 121,6 gram malzemeyle indi. 2025'te yayımlanan çalışmalar, Dünya'daki canlıların protein yapımında kullandığı 20 amino asitten 14'ünü, beş nükleobazın hepsini ve eski bir tuzlu suyun buharlaşmasıyla geride kalmış tuz minerallerini ortaya çıkardı. Dünya'daki yaşam neredeyse yalnızca “sol elli” amino asitleri kullanır; Bennu'dakilerde ise sol elli ve sağ elli biçimler aşağı yukarı eşit oranda. Bunların hiçbiri yaşam kanıtı değil; bu yapı taşlarının erken Güneş Sistemi'nde yaygın olduğunu gösteriyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: 101955 Bennu
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