NASA lab hopes to find life's building blocks in asteroid sample

HOUSTON

A sample from the asteroid Bennu, which could be key to understanding the formation of the solar system and our own planet, is set to be analyzed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston after it reaches Earth in late September.

The precious cargo is currently aboard OSIRIS-REx, a US space probe launched in 2016 to Bennu, which orbits the Sun at an average distance of about 105 million miles (168 million kilometers).

Long white sleeves hang from the huge metal and glass box in which the sample will be handled.

Scientists will separate pieces of the rock and dust for study now, while carefully storing away the rest for future generations equipped with better technology, a practice first started during the Apollo missions to the Moon.

"We don't expect there to be anything living but rather the building blocks of life," Nicole Lunning, lead OSIRIS-Rex sample curator, told AFP.

"That's really what motivated going to this type of asteroid, to understand what the precursors were that may have fostered life in our solar system and on Earth."

Once the return vessel arrives at the Texas "cleanroom," Lunning's job will be to carefully disassemble it and separate the contents, all while keeping the material pure and uncontaminated.

The spacecraft is scheduled to land in the Utah desert on Sept. 24, carrying an estimated 250 grams of material - just over a cupful.