Water and carbon have been found in Bennu asteroid samples, the US space research agency NASA said. The company announced this information in a press conference held at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA on October 11, Wednesday. The Osiris-Rex spacecraft returned with 100 to 250 grams of samples from asteroid Bennu. This water and carbon were found in that sample. According to NASA, 5 percent of the total collected material is carbon.

Asteroid Bennu

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at the press conference, 'This is the largest carbon-rich sample ever brought to Earth from anywhere. These are exactly the kind of carbon and water-rich samples we've been looking for. They seem to be important elements in the formation of the earth.'

Carbon and water are considered to be one of the most important elements for the creation of life on earth. In fact, they can also be called the basic elements of life. Because asteroid Bennu contains carbon and water, studying this sample may reveal the secrets of Earth's creation. Because the Bennu asteroid is about 4.5 billion years old. Around this time the world was created. Scientists are therefore quite optimistic about this sample. But there is still a lot of research left for that.

The chief scientist of the Osiris-Rex mission is Professor Dante Loretta of the University of Arizona. He said, 'Ancient secrets are preserved in the rocks and dust of the Bennu asteroid. If that secret is revealed, the secret of the creation of the solar system will also be known.'

Earlier, on September 24, the Osiris-Rex spacecraft returned to Earth after collecting samples from the Bennu asteroid. That sample was initially tested at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas. So far, the largest number of samples collected from an asteroid has been collected in this mission. However, this is not the first time samples have been collected from an asteroid. Earlier, the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa 2 collected samples from asteroid Ryugu. However, the amount of sample collected at that time was very small, equal to a teaspoon.

The Osiris-Rex mission began in 2016. At that time, the budget of this mission was 1 billion dollars. Two years later, in 2018, the spacecraft approached asteroid Bennu. Two more years later, in 2020, the spacecraft used a robotic arm to collect samples from asteroid Bennu. It takes another two and a half years to return the sample from there to Earth. During this time, the spacecraft has traveled about 620 million kilometers.

After collecting samples from the Bennu asteroid, Osiris-Rex headed for an asteroid named Apophis. If all goes well, the spacecraft will reach the asteroid by 2029.