Organic substances have been discovered on a rocky S-class asteroid. It is this class of asteroids that most often falls on Earth.
The organics were obtained from samples of the Itokawa asteroid taken by the Hayabusa mission back in 2010, nature.com reports. Scientists from Royal Hollway University of London studied them in detail and reached a unanimous verdict – primitive organic matter ended up on the asteroid after it was heated. In addition, on the asteroid itself, the transformation and chemical evolution of organic matter took place without the presence of an atmosphere; The water on the asteroid appeared as a result of the fall of carbon-rich meteorites.
Scientists also claim that organics are characteristic of class C carbon asteroids.
Recent discoveries demonstrate that in space there are many substances for the origin of life; everything is seeded with organic matter, including lifeless rocky asteroids.