Archive · 3 Dec 2025
NASA finds sugars, gum, and stardust in Bennu
Scientists from NASA and other universities found special molecules in samples from an asteroid named Bennu.
They discovered sugars like ribose and glucose, which are important for life.
They also found a strange gum-like substance and dust from exploding stars.
These findings help us understand how life might have started on Earth.
The scientists collected these samples in 2020 and brought them back to Earth in 2023.
They also found other important molecules in the samples that are part of our DNA.
This helps us understand how life might have started on our planet.
NASA and University of Arizona researchers detected tryptophan in asteroid Bennu samples, which is crucial for producing serotonin, the 'happy hormone'.
Scientists identified the five-carbon sugar ribose and the six-carbon sugar glucose in Bennu’s samples, essential for biology and RNA formation.
A gum-like substance rich in nitrogen and oxygen was discovered, potentially one of the earliest alterations of materials in the early solar system.
Bennu samples contained six times more supernova dust than any previously studied astromaterial, providing insights into its origin.
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Geoscience, and Nature Astronomy.
- Who
- NASA, University of Arizona, Tohoku University, NASA Ames Research Center, UC Berkeley, NASA Johnson Space Center
- What
- Detection of sugars, gum-like substance, and stardust in asteroid Bennu samples
- When
- Sample collected in 2020, returned in 2023
- Where
- Asteroid Bennu, studied on Earth
- Why
- To understand the origins of life and the chemical pathways of amino acids
- Asteroid
- Bennu
- Molecule Detected
- Tryptophan, ribose, glucose, gum-like substance, stardust
- Research Team
- NASA, University of Arizona, Tohoku University, NASA Ames Research Center, UC Berkeley, NASA Johnson Space Center
- Publication
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Geoscience, Nature Astronomy
- Mission
- OSIRIS-REx
- Sample Collection Year
- 2020
- Sample Return Year
- 2023
- Nucleobases in Bennu
- Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Uracil
