NASA’s asteroid Bennu samples reveal a 4.5-billion-year-old secret
Chemical analysis of asteroid Bennu samples collected by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission reveals new insights into the formation of the early Solar System. The study suggests that Jupiter played a critical role in shaping the materials that formed ancient objects like Bennu.
Why it matters
Understanding the chemical composition of asteroids helps scientists reconstruct the history of our Solar System and the origins of planetary materials.
Samples collected from asteroid Bennu by NASA are revealing surprising new details about how our Solar System formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago. A new chemical analysis challenges earlier theories about the asteroid's birthplace and suggests that Jupiter played an important role in shaping the materials from which Bennu and other ancient objects formed.
Bennu completes one orbit around the Sun every 1.2 years and makes a relatively close approach to Earth about every six years, coming within roughly 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles). NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission traveled to the asteroid, collected material from its surface, and successfully delivered the samples to Earth in 2023.
On September 23, 2023, a capsule carrying approximately 120 grams of asteroid material landed in the Utah desert. Scientists around the world subsequently received small portions of the precious cargo for detailed study.
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