NASA is soon planning to launch a mission in which samples of an asteroid will be collected and studied to find clues to the origin of life on Earth. This is a long impending mission idealized by Dante Lauretta, a scientist from the University of Arizona.
Nearly twelve years ago, Lauretta was on the verge of a big breakthrough, according to Science Magazine. The meteorite scientist and his team had recovered traces of triphosphates from carbon-rich meteorites. These are the same triphosphates present in adenosine triphosphate or ATP molecules that act as power cells for the human body.
However, the team could not achieve the breakthrough because of possible contamination of the asteroid material on Earth. The meteorite material that the team was studying has landed into a manure ditch in Australia and that is exactly what prevented the researchers from proving their point.
As of now, Lauretta has been designing a science case for Lockheed Martin that initially wanted to build a spacecraft for NASA. The opportunity put forward by Lauretta's mentor Michael Drake, involved the launch of a spacecraft that would leave Earth and go to an asteroid to collect fresh and pure samples.
Now, on Sept. 8, a project called Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) is being launched that will let Lauretta fulfill his wish so many years after his initial attempt. The project, which is worth $1 billion is expected to provide an insight into the building blocks of the solar system and the chemical nature of the molecules that arrived on Earth as a result of an asteroid impact.
The mission spacecraft would access a small asteroid called Bennu. It is believed to be as black and dense as coal. In fact, it is one of the B-type asteroids, a type that is the parent to other carbon-rich meteorites, similar to the one that Lauretta and his team studied many years ago.
The spacecraft would reach Bennu in August 2018, would identify 12 potential sites for collecting samples. The team would narrow down their choice and accordingly guide the spacecraft for actual sampling.
