Sugars, ‘Gum,’ Stardust Found in NASA's Asteroid Bennu Samples

Scientists have made remarkable discoveries from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx samples of asteroid Bennu, including sugars essential for biology, a unique gum-like substance, and a high abundance of stardust from supernova explosions. Researchers found five-carbon ribose and six-carbon glucose, supporting the 'RNA world' hypothesis and indicating widespread biological building blocks in the early solar system. The mysterious 'space gum,' rich in nitrogen and oxygen, suggests early chemical alterations on Bennu's parent asteroid. Additionally, the presence of six times more supernova dust than previously studied astromaterials indicates Bennu's parent body formed in a dust-enriched region of the protoplanetary disk.