AN ASTEROID'S SECRETS.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully retrieved a sample from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, bringing back 121.6 grams of material dating back 4.5 billion years. Preliminary analysis suggests that Bennu was once part of a water-soaked world with prebiotic organic material, resembling the early Earth. The sample contains presolar grains that provide insights into the starting mineralogy of the solar system and the diverse origins of its dust. Scientists hope to understand how Earth formed and the sources of its water and organic compounds by studying the asteroid's composition. [Extracted from the article]