The Bennu sample returns
Carbon-rich dust from an asteroid lands in the Utah desert, and turns out to be wetter than expected.
- When
- Known to
- ± 12 hours
- Era
- Contemporary, Holocene
- Where
- Dugway, Utah, United States · 40.1236° N, 113.4622° W
OSIRIS-REx dropped its capsule on 24 September 2023 with about 120 grams from asteroid Bennu — the largest sample returned from beyond the Moon. Analysis found clays, carbon, phosphate and all five nucleobases of DNA and RNA, alongside evidence that Bennu's parent body once held liquid water. The material is a direct sample of the chemistry available when the solar system formed.