From Asteroids to Earth: Discoveries from NASA's OSIRIS-REx Mission to Bennu

by Prof. Dante Lauretta (Arizona Astrobiology Center)

Wednesday 3 Dec 2025, 14:00 → 15:00 Portugal

Sala de Conferências (Departamento de Física FCTUC)

Asteroids are time capsules from the earliest history of the solar system, preserving the raw materials from which planets, and possibly life itself, emerged. NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission has returned samples from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, providing pristine material for study in laboratories on Earth. These samples contain evidence of ancient ices, minerals, and carbon-rich compounds that shed light on how Earth acquired the ingredients for habitability. In this talk, I will tell the story of the OSIRIS-REx mission, share highlights from the latest scientific results, and explore what Bennu is teaching us about the connections between cosmic chemistry, planetary origins, and the possibility of life elsewhere.