Asteroid Breaks off, Becomes Orbital Organic-Grocery Store:

Ever dunked a basket, missed, and then it landed perfectly in the washing machine? Well, let's raise the stakes. Miss a shot on Mars and net a swish on Earth — with all the vital ingredients for life. Yep, a cataclysmic asteroid collision from several billion years ago just keeps on delivering.

The Bennu Benefaction:

The asteroid born from a massive collision, charmingly named Bennu, had samples of its inner riches recently returned to Earth by the US robot space probe OSIRIS-REx. Like knocking on the door of Whole Foods, scientists discovered a cornucopia of complex chemicals essential for life. Cosmic mineralogist Prof Sara Russell said it best, "The diversity of the molecules and minerals preserved are unlike any extraterrestrial samples studied before.” We tell you what, alien soils never looked so good.

The Life-Spice Asteroid:

The ingredients of Bennu bode well for the existence of life. This particular lump of rock had plenty of underground salt lakes — evaporating to leave a residue much resembling our dry lake beds. Not to leave us salivating, the samples included phosphates, ammonia, and a smorgasbord of amino acids that construct Earth proteins, along with RNA and DNA building blocks. Simply put, an asteroid gifted a potluck that jump-started life on Earth.

A Starry Spice Market:

While Bennu isn’t regarded as the melting pot of life, other asteroids, similar in composition, might have furnished various planets with the prerequisites for life. Mars and Jupiter and Saturn’s moons Europa, Ganymede, Titan, and Enceladus are all promising environments for life development. Rosalind Franklin, a UK-built robot, is scheduled to probe Mars in 2029 to drill for life evidence.

The Moon, Mars, and Us:

Historically, researchers' celestial rock source was limited to meteorites and astronaut or robot-probe returns from the moon, with some Martian remnants thrown in because they fell onto Earth from an asteroid’s impact on Mars. In an upcoming Natural History Museum exhibition, visitors will be able to feel lunar and Martian material, along with a meteorite — let’s pause for effect — that is older than Earth itself. Mind blown yet?

The Universal Organic Food Bubble:
To brighten your day further, James Webb space telescope’s observation of the exoplanet K2-18b uncovered two compounds produced only by life on Earth. It doesn’t certify alien activity, but it does light a little hope in the cosmic void that we're not the only participants in the universal sweepstakes. Now the challenge lies in proving that distant life exists. Might I suggest Quintessence Travel? But, obviously, that’s pending the discovery of life in our very own solar system.

The Real Martian Salad:

Now for the philosophical challenge: What do we do when we find alien life? Regardless of your cause, it’s a question to sit and sip with your afternoon tea. As the museum’s senior exhibitions manager, Sinead Marron aptly puts it, “Would we stay away from it or try to interact with it?...Or would we try to eat it, like we eat lifeforms with whom we share this planet?” As our space probes continue seeking life in the universe, they help us contemplate our own engagement with life here on Earth. Now that’s some food for thought.

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