00:00I think I messed up. I used to think asteroids were just boring space rocks.
00:05Turns out they're cosmic time capsules packed with clues about life itself.
00:09In 2020, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft pulled off something incredible.
00:14It touched down on asteroid Bennu, a half-kilometer space rock orbiting near Earth.
00:20OSIRIS-REx scooped up a bit of Bennu's surface,
00:23revealing it's basically a floating rubble pile held together by gravity.
00:26When the samples made it back to Earth in 2023,
00:30scientists found organic molecules, the building blocks of life.
00:34So, Bennu isn't just a rock.
00:37It's a storybook from the beginning of our solar system.
00:40But NASA doesn't stop there.
00:42Giant telescopes and international teams are always on the lookout,
00:46tracking asteroids that might cross our path.
00:49Every new discovery helps us protect Earth and understand our cosmic neighborhood.
00:53So next time you see the stars, remember.
00:56NASA's asteroid adventures are helping keep us safe and teaching us where we come from.
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