From StarTalk.
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Could the ingredients for life have arrived on asteroids? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice unpack what the sample collected from asteroid Bennu is teaching us about the origins of life itself with Harold Connolly, geologist and mission scientist for OSIRIS-REx.
How do you pick which asteroid to collect samples from? We discuss the selection of Bennu and how the context of the rock is important, not just the chemical makeup. What’s the difference between a metallic asteroid and a carbonaceous one? Why is Bennu a rubble pile, and why did that make the mission so unpredictable? They break down the touch-and-go mechanics of the sample return, including the moment the spacecraft sank 48 centimeters into Bennu’s shockingly soft surface and the scramble to stow the sample before stones caught in the valve cost them everything.
Harold walks through the identification of evaporite minerals and the detection of all 15 amino acids and what they mean. How does Japan’s Hayabusa2 sample from asteroid Ryugu compare? What can dust that predates our own solar system tell us about where we came from? And what is the role of phosphorus in assembling the prebiotic compounds that bridge the gap between chemistry and life?
The conversation expands outward to Mars, where minerals like gypsum and vivianite hint at ancient flowing water, and inclusions that some scientists argue point to microbial life. Are those claims convincing? Could lithopanspermia actually work? If the same amino acid ingredients exist in space and on Earth, why invoke panspermia at all? Learn about Earth’s molten past and how the ingredients for life got here.
We discuss what it takes to get from prebiotic compounds to actual life, why the universe doesn’t care how we’ve divided our sciences, and why geologists, astronomers, and biologists are going to have to keep holding hands to find the answer. Oh, and Bennu has a small but real chance of hitting Earth in 2182. Plenty of time to prepare. Keep Looking Up!
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Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction: Harold Connolly Jr.
03:56 – Why Go to an Asteroid?
11:00 – Why Bennu?
21:47 – Looking at the Sample in the Lab
27:00 – Amino Acids on Asteroids
31:20 – Mars Rocks & Rugu Sample
37:40 – What Made the Asteroids?
41:49 – Phosphorus & Presolar Grains
47:45 – Signs of Life on Mars
54:18 – Lithopanspermia: Are Meteors Seeding Life?
1:03:44 – Is Bennu Going to Hit Us in 2182?
1:06:33 – Reflections on Geology & Astrophysics
1:11:00 – Closing
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Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!
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