Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2023

5 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2023 ASTRO PUBLISHING I nitial studies of the 4.5-billion- year-old asteroid Bennu sample collected in space and brought to Earth by NASA show evidence of high-carbon content and water, which together could indicate the building blocks of life on Earth may be found in the rock. NASA made the news Wednesday from its John- son Space Center in Houston where leadership and scientists showed off the asteroid material for the first time since it landed in September. This finding was part of a prelimi- nary assessment of NASA’s OSIRIS- REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer) science team. “The OSIRIS-REx sample is the biggest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever delivered to Earth and will help scientists investigate the origins of life on our own planet for genera- tions to come,” said NASA Adminis- trator Bill Nelson. “Almost every- thing we do at NASA seeks to an- swer questions about who we are and where we come from. NASA missions like OSIRIS-REx will improve our understanding of asteroids that