NASA's Next Frontier: Return from Space and the Search for Life's Building Blocks

NASA reaffirms its plan with SpaceX to return two astronauts from the ISS, following President Trump's remarks. Another breakthrough involves samples from asteroid Bennu, which hold chemical building blocks of life, offering insights into how life may have originated on Earth.

NASA has confirmed its collaboration with SpaceX to expedite the return of two astronauts from the International Space Station. This announcement comes after President Donald Trump pushed for a quick return, though the astronauts were already on schedule to come back in March.

Meanwhile, a significant discovery has been made in the realm of planetary science. Samples retrieved by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from the asteroid Bennu have shown traces of the chemical building blocks necessary for life. Researchers suggest that such asteroids might have provided Earth with essential ingredients for the evolution of living organisms.

The samples, collected in 2020, were delivered to Earth by a capsule released by OSIRIS-REx, which landed safely in the Utah desert in 2023. This finding could bolster the theory that extraterrestrial matter played a role in the emergence of life on our planet.

(With inputs from agencies.)