UK Researchers Set to Examine Rare Asteroid Sample from Bennu at London's Natural History Museum

Researchers in the United Kingdom are eagerly anticipating the examination of a small rock sample from asteroid Bennu, now housed at the Natural History Museum in London. This asteroid is notably identified with a 1-in-1,750 chance of colliding with Earth over the next three centuries.

Sampling on Bennu asteroid (Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab/Jonathan North)

The sample, a modest 100mg in size, was brought back by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and will be subjected to rigorous tests at the museum and several universities, including Open, Manchester, and Oxford. The OSIRIS-REx mission accomplished a remarkable feat by collecting over 60g of untouched asteroid material, a quantity exceeding that retrieved in the Apollo moon missions.

Bennu 60mg sample (Credit: NASA)

Dr. Ashley King, a planetary scientist at the museum, expressed his enthusiasm about the project, saying, "It's amazing. It's like a little treasure trove that takes us back to the start of the solar system. I can't wait to get my hands on them and see what we can learn about the early solar system."

NASA recently confirmed that Bennu's sample contains water and carbon molecules, crucial building blocks for life. This discovery lends further credence to the hypothesis that life on Earth may have been seeded from outer space. Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, emphasized the significance of this finding during a press event at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. He remarked, "This is the biggest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever returned to Earth," adding that carbon made up nearly five percent of the sample's total weight, present in both organic and mineral forms, and that the water was locked inside the crystal structure of clay minerals.

Sample container containing material from the Bennu asteroid (Credit: NASA)

At the London Museum, the research will focus on analyzing hydrogen isotopes in Bennu's water to see if they match those in Earth's oceans. The sample will not only enhance our understanding of asteroids but also inform future strategies for dealing with potential threats they may pose to Earth. King confidently stated, "It doesn't sound like a lot of material, but it's plenty to work with. The museum is home to one of the world's leading meteorite collections, and the staff are well-used to handling small amounts of extremely precious materials from outer space."