Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

NASA Finds Evidence of Water on Asteroid Bennu

posted by martyb on Tuesday December 11 2018, @05:46PM   Printer-friendly
from the water+solar+electrolysis=rocket-fuel-and-oxidizer dept.

takyon writes:

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which "arrived" at the asteroid Bennu on December 3 but has been slowly approaching it for weeks, has found evidence of Bennu's interaction with liquid water in the past:

In a conference today, scientists announced that OSIRIS-REx has found evidence of hydrated minerals on the surface of Bennu using its on-board spectrometers - tools used to determine the exact chemical composition of a specific spot.

That means "evidence of liquid water" in Bennu's past, according to Amy Simon, the scientist overseeing OSIRIS-REx's spectral analysis.

"To get hydrated minerals in the first place, to get clays, you have to have water interacting with regular minerals," says Simon. "This is a great surprise."

And they're abundant, too. There's "strong convincing, evidence that the surface is dominated by these hydrated minerals," according to Dante Lauretta, leader of OSIRIS-REx's sample return mission, leading the team to believe Bennu is "water rich".

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
NASA Finds Evidence of Water on Asteroid Bennu | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 36 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 12 2018, @01:35AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 12 2018, @01:35AM (#773228)

    Looks like the opposite of a Nobel Peace Prizes:

    Politician: I'm going to pull out of Iraq!
    Nobel: Awesome stuff man! Here's a Peace prize! With a capital 'P'!
    Politician: Thank you. I'm so glad this went to someone so deserving as myself.
    Nobel: You're welcome!
    Politician: Changed my mind, Iraq is a cash cow for the military industrial complex, and they recommend we stay in.
    Nobel: Maybe you should consider giving back the prize?
    Politician: No.
    Nobel: Ok, as you were. Sorry to bother you.

    Nobel Prize for Physics:

    Physicist:
    Nobel: Interesting...
    Other physicists: We've confirmed the results of the physics theory with numerous experiments and studies.
    Nobel: Hmmm...
    More physicists: Really, this shit is earth shatteringly awesome, it's changed the way we approach physical modelling.
    Nobel: Hmmm...
    More physicists: Physicist is old and will probably die soon.
    Nobel: Oh shit... Let's get on this.
    Physicist: Really, my discovery is nothing much, just something I thought up standing on the shoulder of giants far greater than I.
    Nobel: That put's a tear in our eyes. Have this Nobel Prize for Physics! With a capital 'P'!
    Physicist: I'm humbled really, but so many others deserve this prize.
    Nobel:

  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday December 12 2018, @11:49AM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Wednesday December 12 2018, @11:49AM (#773405) Homepage Journal

    Somewhere I read that the peace is not awarded for what one has actually done, but what one has the potential to do in the future.

    Yes that sounds like bullshit to me to, but that's what someone in the know actually said.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]