A recent study published by Nature Communications reported the discovery of organic molecules in samples obtained from the asteroid nearest to Earth called Ryugu. Ryugu is a carbon-rich asteroid that was visited by Japan’s Hayabusa2 in 2019.

One of these samples was found on the asteroid’s surface and another from an impacted crater, after firing a copper bullet into the asteroid.

According to the analysis of two samples collected from the mission aircraft, the presence of several organic compounds, including uracil, which is a nucleobase found in DNA and RNA, was found.

“We found uracil in the samples in small amounts, in the range of 6–32 parts per billion (ppb), while vitamin B3 was more abundant, in the range of 49–99 ppb,” Hokkaido University Associate Professor Yasuhiro Oba said.

“Scientists have previously found nucleobases and vitamins in certain carbon-rich meteorites, but there was always the question of contamination by exposure to the Earth’s environment,” Oba says.

The discovery of organic compounds in Ryugu’s samples adds to the growing evidence that the building blocks of life may have originated in space and were transported to Earth by meteorites.

NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex mission of collecting samples of the asteroid Bennu back to Earth is set to return to Earth later this year as well as the Perseverance rover collecting samples of Martian rock on Mars for further studies. Honestly, everyone is eager to find out whether aliens ever existed or if they exist today.

The Hayabusa2 mission is significant as it was the first mission to return a subsurface sample from an asteroid to Earth, providing valuable information for scientists to study the composition and origin of the Solar System.

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