Ancient asteroid may hold clues on water’s origin on Earth

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00:00 After a journey spanning over 96 kilometers, scientists now study fragments of an ancient

00:05 asteroid that could explain water's origin in our home planet.

00:10 V-Way's Arash Rabasadi has this story.

00:14 We begin this week with what could be the future for sustainable farming on Earth and

00:19 in space.

00:20 Paris and Los Angeles-based biotech company Interstellar Lab designed the BioPod.

00:26 The company's founder says BioPod allows farmers to localize the production of common

00:31 crops that would otherwise require global supply chains and therefore reduce greenhouse

00:36 gases that come with long journeys.

00:39 "Brewing vanilla, for instance, here, then this is when the BioPod makes a lot of sense.

00:44 And so it's reduced the CO2 impact of making the travel of the ingredients from one country

00:49 to the other.

00:50 We optimize the consumption of water.

00:53 So compared to traditional agriculture, it's like 99 percent of the water is recycled and

00:57 reused.

00:58 We take CO2 from the atmosphere to enrich the level of CO2 inside the bubble."

01:03 By stacking the units, Interstellar Lab says it can reduce the footprint for growers while

01:08 providing a more efficient space to grow crops in units that go up instead of out.

01:14 In collaboration with NASA, a space-based version of BioPod is scheduled for use on

01:18 the Moon by 2027.

01:21 The Reuters news agency reporting Interstellar Lab founder Barbara Balvisi will attend the

01:26 COP28 climate conference to raise interest and money for the project.

01:31 When commercial production begins, each unit will sell for $350,000.

01:37 In other news, the dust and fragments in these still images come from the 4.5 billion year

01:43 old asteroid Bennu.

01:46 NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collected the samples in October 2020.

01:51 After a journey of more than seven years, it landed at the Utah Test and Training Range

01:55 military facility.

01:57 Researchers say they found water trapped in the fragment, which may be a clue as to how

02:02 water came to Earth.

02:03 "When the Earth formed, it probably formed really, really hot and most of the water would

02:09 have evaporated.

02:10 So it could be that the Earth got its water because it was pummeled by asteroids like

02:15 Bennu that provided this water to the Earth's surface."

02:20 Russell added that Bennu is perhaps the most hazardous threat to Earth in our solar system,

02:25 so part of the research is to better understand its orbit and composition if scientists ever

02:31 had to find a way to deflect it.

02:33 Regardless, Russell says it will take months and years to unlock the many questions scientists

02:38 have about this ancient asteroid.

02:41 Finally this week, if you've ever had a rough day at the office, try losing your tool bag

02:46 in Earth's orbit outside the International Space Station.

02:50 That's what happened in early November when NASA astronauts Jasmine Mogbele and Laurel

02:55 O'Hara lost theirs.

02:57 The bag was visible with just binoculars and joined a long list of space junk orbiting

03:02 our planet.

03:03 Arash Arbasadi, VOA News.

03:05 way to use.

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