NASA asteroid WARNING: Bennu ‘on collision course with Earth’ revealed in INCREDIBLE shots

“We know from having studied Bennu through Earth- and space-based telescopes that it is a carbonaceous, or carbon-rich, asteroid. Carbon is the hinge upon which organic molecules hang.

“Bennu is likely rich in organic molecules, which are made of chains of carbon bonded with atoms of oxygen, hydrogen, and other elements in a chemical recipe that makes all known living things.

“Besides carbon, Bennu also might have another component important to life: water, which is trapped in the minerals that make up the asteroid.”

The space probe took the closeup using its NavCam 1 navigation camera, which it normally uses to track the path of Bennu’s orbit.

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