Asteroid Sample Return
Hayabusa2 (December 2020) and OSIRIS-REx (September 2023) returned samples of asteroids Ryugu and Bennu; Bennu's held amino acids and all five nucleobases.
Open in the interactive tree →Japan's Hayabusa2 reached Ryugu in June 2018, collected surface material and, after an artificial crater, subsurface material, and its capsule landed in Australia on 5-6 December 2020 with 5.4 grams. NASA's OSIRIS-REx landed its capsule in Utah on 24 September 2023 with 121.6 grams from asteroid Bennu. Analyses published on 29 January 2025 found 14 of the 20 protein-building amino acids, all five nucleobases of DNA and RNA and 11 salt minerals, including trona, first seen in extraterrestrial samples, in ammonia-rich material, with amino acids in a nearly equal mix of left- and right-handed forms. Both spacecraft flew on: OSIRIS-APEX is to reach Apophis in April 2029, and Hayabusa2 flew past asteroid Torifune in July 2026 on its way to 1998 KY26 in 2031. Japan's first Hayabusa returned grains of Itokawa in 2010; China's Tianwen-2 launched in May 2025 toward Kamoʻoalewa with sample return planned for about 2027.
Prerequisites
- Radiometric age of the Earth1956Ages of asteroid material are fixed by radiometric dating
- Moon landing1969
- Deep-space probes (Voyager)1977
Unlocks
- Finding extraterrestrial lifeopenBennu held amino acids and nucleobases: life's raw ingredients exist off Earth
- Planetary defenseopenRyugu and Bennu samples show how rubble-pile asteroids are built, key to deflection