"NASA's Bennu Samples: Clues to an Ancient Ocean World"

Preliminary analysis of samples from the asteroid Bennu, collected by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, suggests the presence of carbon and water, leading scientists to consider the possibility that Bennu may have originated from an ancient ocean world. Principal investigator Dante Lauretta believes that Bennu's composition, particularly its rare calcium and magnesium-rich phosphate crust, bears similarities to materials found on Saturn's moon Enceladus, known for its subsurface ocean. The mission has been a success, exceeding sample collection goals, and experts are tentatively supporting the hypothesis that Bennu was once part of a water-rich planet or pseudoplanet billions of years ago.