Researchers at the University of Arizona's Kuiper-Arizona Laboratory for Astromaterials Analysis have begun studying particles brought to Earth by the OSIRIS-REx mission.
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Tom Zega, professor of planetary science at the UArizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, leads the sample analysis team that has been allocated about 200 milligrams – roughly seven-thousandths of an ounce – of sample from the asteroid Bennu.
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Thanks to the lab's extremely sophisticated equipment, they can extract a wealth of information from sample particles down to the nanogram, even picogram level, referring to a billionth or trillionth of a gram, respectively.
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In the video above, hear from Zega and his team about what they hope the sample can tell them about the origins of life in the universe.
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Read more about the Bennu sample analysis at UArizona News.