Researchers from Curtin University have made a groundbreaking discovery after analyzing some of the most well-preserved asteroid samples ever collected.
These samples, taken from the ancient asteroid Bennu, could change what we know about planet formation and even the origins of life in our solar system.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission spent seven years traveling to Bennu, a rocky asteroid thought to be made of fragments from a 4.5-billion-year-old parent body.
Scientists believe this parent body once contained materials from beyond Saturn before being destroyed in a collision.
Curtin University researchers were among the first in the world to study these samples.
Their findings, published in Nature, reveal the presence of various salts, including sodium carbonates, phosphates, sulfates, and chlorides.
One of the most surprising discoveries was the mineral halite, also known as table salt—the same type used for seasoning food.
Associate Professor Nick Timms, one of the lead scientists, explained that these salts formed from briny water that once existed on Bennu’s parent body. Similar processes occur on Earth’s salt lakes, where water evaporates and leaves behind mineral deposits.
By studying these ancient salts, scientists can recreate the conditions of the asteroid’s parent body and understand how water may have influenced the development of organic molecules in space.
“A briny, carbon-rich environment on Bennu’s parent body was probably suitable for assembling the building blocks of life,” said Timms.
This discovery supports the idea that liquid water once existed on asteroids, making them potential carriers of life-building materials across the solar system.
The key to this discovery was the pristine condition of the asteroid samples. Many of these salts break down quickly when exposed to Earth’s atmosphere. To prevent contamination, NASA sealed and preserved the samples with nitrogen gas immediately after they arrived on Earth.
Curtin University was chosen to analyze the samples because of its world-renowned John de Laeter Centre, which has over $50 million in advanced scientific equipment.
“Our facilities allowed us to confirm that these salts were truly extraterrestrial and not contaminated by Earth’s environment,” said Associate Professor Will Rickard, the center’s director.
The discovery of these space salts could also help scientists study distant icy worlds, such as Saturn’s moon Enceladus and the dwarf planet Ceres. Both of these bodies have subsurface oceans of briny water, much like what might have once existed on Bennu’s parent body.
“Even though Bennu doesn’t have life, the big question is whether other icy worlds could,” said Timms.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has provided a rare and valuable look at the ancient history of our solar system. These asteroid samples may hold clues to how planets formed—and whether the conditions for life exist beyond Earth.
