Ryugu Asteroid Samples Might Point to How Life Began on Earth

Amaze Lab

A probe landed on asteroid Ryugu as part of the Hayabusa2 mission back in 2020. Its goal was to bring back samples from the asteroid which is currently whizzing around the Solar System at around 38,000 mph and it succeeded. Now, experts say, the material contains some very interesting materials.

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:04 This is asteroid Ryugu, the epicenter of the Hayabusa 2 mission,

00:08 which landed on the giant space rock back in 2020.

00:11 Its goal was to bring back samples from the asteroid,

00:14 which is currently whizzing around the solar system at around 38,000 miles per hour.

00:18 The mission was the first of its kind,

00:20 with their previous analysis discovering amino acids,

00:23 vitamin B3 and interstellar dust within the samples.

00:26 Now experts say they've found evidence of micrometeorite impacts as well,

00:30 and it could lead to answers about the origins of life on our planet.

00:34 The researchers say the micrometeorites probably came from other comets,

00:38 and they contain carbonaceous materials.

00:40 They add it's quite similar to primitive organic matter

00:43 that is often found in extremely old comet dust,

00:46 with Megumi Matsumoto, the lead investigator studying the Ryugu material,

00:49 saying about it, quote,

00:50 "This organic matter might be the small seeds of life once delivered from space to Earth."

00:55 Asteroids orbiting our sun are believed to be the leftovers of our solar system's assembly,

01:00 and experts are hoping further investigation

01:02 will finally answer the question of where we came from.

01:06 [music]

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