On September 24, at 10:55 PM (Vietnam time), NASA’s OSIRIS-REx will drop off samples collected from the asteroid Bennu, which may contain the building blocks of primitive life.
“There is no need to alarm or worry” – scientist Jason Dworkin from the OSIRIS-REx mission reassured the public amid rising concerns that this spacecraft might accidentally release tiny extraterrestrial organisms along with the dust and rock it brings back.
In an interview with Space, Dr. Dworkin acknowledged that the mission to return samples from Bennu is indeed a “no-holds-barred return to Earth.”
OSIRIS-REx flying by Earth to return samples – (Graphic from NASA).
This means that the samples being brought back have no restrictions, including those related to biology.
According to NASA’s schedule, the sample from the ancient asteroid Bennu is expected to land at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range at 10:55 AM on September 24, Eastern Daylight Time, which corresponds to 10:55 PM on the same day in Vietnam.
From the beginning of the mission, NASA scientists selected Bennu, a 4.5 billion-year-old asteroid, because they believed it was composed of the primordial materials of the early Solar System.
The materials from it may contain “planetary building blocks” that are important, including components that make up rocky planets with oceans and conditions suitable for life like Earth.
Moreover, it is also expected to contain organic molecules in the form of “building blocks of life,” similar to the first seeds of life that other meteorites brought to Earth when it was still “young.”
Dr. Dworkin confirmed that there are no current organisms on Bennu, and even if there were, they would be similar to those already present on Earth, as the building materials of the early Earth are also similar to those of Bennu.
The OSIRIS-REx scientist also emphasized that the team did not find life on Bennu during their study of this asteroid, but they are looking for the building blocks of life.
The building blocks of life – such as important amino acids – need to undergo certain reactions under specific conditions and a complex evolutionary process to become life.
The landing of the Bennu sample – contained in a capsule released from OSIRIS-REx as it flew by Earth and then parachuted down to the desert area of the military zone in Utah – will be livestreamed by NASA on its NASA Television channel as well as on Space.com.
