Scientists have discovered evidence of water on asteroid Bennu, using data from NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft which recently reached the rocky cosmic body to unravel its mysteries.
From August through early December this year, the spacecraft aimed three of its science instruments toward Bennu and began making the mission's first observations of the asteroid.
During this period, the spacecraft travelled the last 2.2 million km of its outbound journey to arrive at a spot 19 km from Bennu on December 3.
Data obtained from the spacecraft's two spectrometers reveal the presence of molecules that contain oxygen and hydrogen atoms bonded together, known as "hydroxyls."
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