TOKYO: After analysing unique samples obtained during a six-year Japanese space mission, scientists speculated that water may have been transported to Earth by asteroids from the extreme reaches of the solar system.
Researchers are studying the debris returned to earth in 2020 from the asteroid Ryugu in an effort to give light on the beginnings of life and the creation of the universe.
The Japanese Hayabusa-2 space probe, which touched down on the celestial planet and launched a “impactor” into its surface, collected the 5.4 grammes (0.2 ounces) of pebbles and dust.
Studies on the material are starting to be published, and in June one team of researchers said that they had discovered organic material that suggested that some of the amino acids, the fundamental components of life on Earth, may have evolved in space.
