The idea that we might all be aliens is a fascinating concept. Samples from an asteroid, collected by NASA, contain ingredients that could support life from an aquatic world. This asteroid, known as Bennu, is a rocky object that orbits the Sun. When pieces of asteroids like Bennu fall to Earth, they are called meteorites. One famous example is the Jupiter meteorite that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The NASA spacecraft Osiris-Rex brought back samples from Bennu in 2023. These samples not only contain the basic elements of life but also salty remains from an ancient aquatic world. The findings suggest that asteroids may have played a role in bringing the seeds of life to Earth, mixing with water from the beginning. From the samples, scientists were able to extract sodium-rich minerals and confirm the presence of amino acids, nitrogen in ammonia, and parts of the genetic code. This combination, in a salty water environment, could provide answers about the origins of life.
Asteroids like Bennu are essentially time capsules of the early solar system, unchanged over time. The combination of rock, water, and organic matter in these asteroids is one reason why Osiris-Rex chose to collect samples from Bennu, which is rich in organic matter and contains water and essential organic compounds for the origin of life. The elements found in Bennu are similar to those found in clay and are formed when ice melts in an old asteroid, altering the rock. These elements are also rich in prebiotic organic molecules, some of which are basic components of life.
The rocks on Bennu were formed 4.5 billion years ago in a large asteroid that was wet and muddy. Under its surface, water bags were evaporating, leaving behind evaporite minerals that are also found in old lake beds on Earth. The asteroid that Bennu came from was probably broken apart 1,000 to 2 billion years ago, and some of the fragments joined to form the rubble pile that is now Bennu. Similar minerals are found in icy bodies in the outer solar system, such as the dwarf planet Ceres, where some believe life might exist.
Based on these findings, it is possible that liquid capsules on asteroids like Bennu could have been the perfect environment for organic molecules to form and become more complex, eventually giving rise to life on Earth. The discovery of sodium carbonate, phosphates, sulfides, chlorides, and fluorides rich in sodium in Bennu’s samples supports this idea. These components are commonly found in evaporated lakes on Earth. While Bennu’s progenitor body may not have been large enough to maintain an atmosphere or have surface lakes, it could still have housed water masses.
The impact of asteroids like Bennu on early Earth could have provided the necessary ingredients for life, including complex molecules, water, phosphate, and ammonia. Together, these components could have transformed the initially sterile landscape of Earth into a habitable world, raising the possibility that we might all be aliens, or at least that the seeds of life on our planet came from elsewhere in the solar system.