The image shows pieces collected by the OSIRIS-REx from the asteroid Bennu.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) regularly posts captivating space-related imagery on its social media platforms, piquing the curiosity of science enthusiasts. These images serve as a means to acquaint ordinary individuals with the world beyond our home planet, the Earth. In its latest social media updates, the space organization featured an image of the asteroid Bennu, a prime example of a rocky celestial object. Their Instagram post highlighted the potential significance of ancient space rocks, suggesting that they may hold valuable insights into the formation of rocky planets, including our own Earth.
The caption of the post on Instagram reads, "Parts of ancient space rocks may contain clues about how rocky planets, including Earth, formed." The image shows pieces collected by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from the asteroid Bennu.
"For the next two years, the #OSIRISREx science team will continue to study the samples. NASA will preserve at least 70% of the sample at @NASAJohnson for further research by scientists worldwide, including future generations of scientists," they wrote.
OSIRIS-REx marks NASA's inaugural mission aimed at gathering specimens from an asteroid. The spacecraft has now completed its journey back to Earth, where it delivered a sample obtained from the asteroid Bennu.
"Asteroids are remnants from the period of planet formation, so by studying asteroids, we can learn what existed in our solar system before the Earth was fully formed. Has there been water yet? Organic molecules? DNA? RNA?" NASA wrote.
"Initial studies of this asteroid sample show evidence of high concentrations of carbon and water, which, when found together, are among the building blocks of life as we know it on Earth," they added.